Thanks Dad!: Launched and Sailing

On Friday the boat yard launched “Thanks Dad”, stepped and tuned the mast. They asked me to come up because they had a couple questions. So I left work at 10:00 am and got there at 11:00am. It turns out that an important piece of hardware was missing from one of the “shrouds” (cable that support the mast at the sides). The missing piece was a metric M10 left hand turnbuckle jaw. They don’t have them and couldn’t find a supplier who had then either. So they are going to make a new shroud using American standard fittings. It will be a couple days until they get the parts, but I could still go sailing without that shroud.

Guy tuning the mast

Mast is up and the boom is on

On Saturday, my brother had to work, so I asked an experienced sailor friend from work to help me move the boat from the boat yard to its new home at the Waukegan marina (a short trip out of the Waukegan channel, into the lake and south to the marina. ) Everything went smoothly until the engine died once we got into the lake. We restarted it, but it would die after about a minute or 2. This occurred 6 or 7 times, then I decided to drop the anchor until we could figure out what the problem was. I called my dad in Maryland using my cell phone and ask him if he had any ideas. He suggested all the things we had already tried, then said we should bleed the fuel line. We did and everything worked fine after that.

My friend bringing in the mooring lines

Me at the helm coming out of the Waukegan harbor channel

We got into the marina and tied up at “Thanks Dad’s” new address, Dock 6, slip 3. My friend had to leave and I spent the rest of the day doing a few odds and ends, like wiring the mast lights to the boats electrical systems, priming and then painting the area in the cockpit where the cockpit seat backs would be mounted.

Thanks Dad's new home0

On Sunday, my brother and I spent most of the day mounting the cockpit seat backs (which I now know are call the cockpit’s coaming) and wiring the VHF marine radio. I also rigged a temporary fix for the missing piece of hardware on the shroud. We then put the mainsail on the mast and boom, and rigged the jib. Finally at 4:45pm we set out for our first sail! Yipee!!!

We motored out of the marina for about 15 minutes, then raised the sails and headed mostly east for 45 minutes. We came about and head back to Waukegan which took another 45 minutes and then motored 15 minutes back to the boat yard. (they will be installing the new shroud this coming week). So we sailed for an hour and a half….it was fun : )