First Social Sail of 2015

April 19^th was our first official Social Sail event of 2015! It was a glorious day.

We had a good turnout – Sandy, Chris, Jack, Troy, and the two of us newbies.

Don and Jessica

Don and I joined the club at the beginning of the year but it’s been about six years since we’ve been on a sailboat and we’ve never been on a C-Lark before. Lucky for me, Don has loads of general boating experience and he understands the fundamentals of sailing quite well so we had a successful first day. The wind did pick up at one point and Don lost the tiller while wrangling with the mainsail. We spun in a circle and I squealed with anxiety but he quickly recovered and all was well. 

Chris and Jack

We also didn’t have our jib rigged properly at first so the other boats were skipping past us on the water. Don kept grumbling about how much faster they were. Chris and Jack passed us closely and Jack pointed out our mistake with the jib. Once corrected, we picked up speed - to Don’s delight. :)

Lots of boats on the water that day.

Our three boats caught the attention of another boater who came to ask about membership after the group called it quits for the day. We hope to welcome him and his wife as new members soon.

Anyone interested in sailing is encouraged to stop by and talk to us any time. You do not have to be experienced to join. We do not have formal lessons currently but we do have very experienced members who can teach you one-on-one and with whom you can sail until you are comfortable and competent to sail independently. For more membership information, visit our website. 

Our next Social Sail is coming up this Saturday, May 2^nd. Hopefully the weather will be warm and bright again. :)

~ Jessica, PSC Treasurer

Work Party!

I drove to the work party with a little wooden boat in the back of my van that most would consider seaworthy enough. It had a small leak in the hull and the sail comes out of the boom, but so what! I could still sail it! Now, after starting the repairs, I have a boat that is most assuredly not seaworthy any longer. In fact the more we sat there and looked at it, poked it, the more things we found to fix. as is usually the case with any seagoing vessel.

We had a great turnout with at least five of us working on something at any given time. Because our self appointed social committee of one (Andrzej) was in attendance our work was readily interspersed with the fine art of drinking spirits. I think we were able to get at least one more boat ready to go into service, which is great because that's one less leaky boat on the dock to worry about. I'm sure Troy will be happy to get a little extra driveway space as well.

Andrzej and Jessica sanding a rudder. We discovered that this one was made of foam and had a great foil shape to it. It is our new 'racing' rudder.

Chris is sifting through our various boxes of assorted hardware looking for just the right piece to finish his project. (Sorry Chris, I didn't see what you were working on. Tell me in the comments!)

Andrzej likes to get dirty.

Sandy is putting the finishing touches on one of our trailers.

That's me trying to get some old screws out of the hull.

Sandy really get's excited at our work parties and it shows!

Andrzej takes a brief break to hydrate himself with some unlabeled booze.

After hours of digging in boxes, I think Chris finally found the hardware he needed.

Nikki and I spent most of our time on the porch with the El Toro drilling out screws that had broken their heads off.

This is the 'brain trust' figuring out how to fix a wooden boom that has a crack in it.

If you hold the boom like Don here, your opinion on how to fix it carry more weight for sure!

Sandy and Chris make a great team!

This is the extra parking spot that will be opening up soon.

Here's that new racing rudder I was talking about.

Jessica sanded the crap out of this rudder and it has a new layer of epoxy coating.

Troy is super stoked that we got some stuff done today!

I'm glad Troy seems to enjoy having us all crash his place and use his tools. These kinds of repairs would not be possible without his garage and the cumulative knowledge from the club. I can't wait for the next one!

Elbow Grease

Our dear Commodore has more projects than you can shake a ten foot stick at. Each new boat and trailer that gets donated to the club is obviously a blessing, but it sure takes a lot of hard work to get each boat rigged consistently. More hard work than I realized for sure.

A year or two ago, Commodore Troy took on the task of reviving "Old Red Boat" which has been laid up in our bone yard above the Brownsville Marina. Many of our esteemed members fondly remembers the good ol' days of the red boat proudly flashing that breathtaking red underside. It's days of sailing and glory were cut short by a hole poked in the side due to a cleat when she was being pulled up onto the dock. This accident was several years ago, I know, because I have yet to see her sail since I joined the club. Here she is now in her final stages of repair.

Saturday, she got some TLC from Troy and Chris. She had a few holes in her transom sealed up and got the majority of her hardware attached to the hull including a new traveler. She got a good scrub and her centerboard top cap got a nice coat of epoxy after some skillful router work. I took a moment to admire the beauty of the finished piece of wood. Although it had filled in holes and cracks and a variety of materials holding it together, it was something that human hands had touched, sailed, broken, neglected, then learned to love again.

In the midst of our Old Red Boat's revival, we were donated a couple more, one being our New Red Boat. This one came to us in pretty decent shape, but we've got a list of items in store for her. 

We've got a beautiful new centerboard top cap that is almost ready to mount. The hardware was fairly in tact, but we'll update a few items for fleet consistency. I think I remember that she is missing a halyard, traveler, and hiking straps and will also need her rudder refinished. Well, at least the trailer looks like it's in good shape!

Another donation that came recently is this new Yellow Boat. Well the top is yellow... I've really got to get more creative with our boat names. She's also in pretty good shape. Probably some hardware upgrades to match the fleet, but otherwise I only see a traveler on the to do list.

Primarily we just want to get these boats ready for the water and out of Troy's garage!

You can see in the background that boats are not the only project going on in this garage. In the foreground is the new centerboard top cap for the New Red Boat. Chris is just getting ready to use the router on the Old Red Boat's top cap.

BAD Brownsville Appreciation Day 2014

Brownsville Appreciation Day (BAD) is an event put on by the Port of Brownsville as a fundraiser for their local school and also a way for the Port to give back to the community that supports them. It also acts as a great event that raises awareness about all the activities that go on at this great little port. As is often the case, BAD brings a day of beautiful weather intersecting the rainy days of late September.

Check out the booth babe we got this year! Yeah, that's my wife, so I'm a little biased. She did an excellent job pretending to know about sailing and boating. She learned just to smile, nod, and get excited about stuff at key moments. Like me, she knows enough about our club and our boats to dispense some knowledge, so it wasn't all made up. It paid off well because she handed out some club membership forms and got a boat and an outboard donated to the club. What a lady!

Our booth and sailboat was ready to go by 11:00 am, a whole hour early! Commodore Troy used that extra time to warm up and take my kids out for a quick lesson. Each got some tiller time, and I'm sure Troy got some interesting conversation.

Once people saw a sailboat in the bay they were already starting to make their way down to the dock by 11:30 for their free rides. Chris showed up about the same time and we were able to rig another C-Lark for action. Two boats is always better than one!

By 2 o'clock we had a steady stream of guests going for rides all the way until we shut down just after 4pm. We had families, kids, parents and grandparents from all over kitsap getting rides. Some were veteran sailors that had never been in such a small boat, experiencing the thrill of weight induced heel. Others had never been on a sailboat at all and just loved the calming peace and quiet while zipping past the marina. I think I enjoy the kids the most, especially because I make them part of my crew. Whenever somebody gets in with me, I automatically give them the jib sheets so they can help me sail. The kids are usually fascinated by the fact that they are allowed to control the boat with me.

Overall it was a great event, and I can't think of a better activity for me to give back to the Port and the community than with sailing. I might enjoy taking strangers for rides more than they enjoy the ride. I can't wait for next year!ds