The last couple weeks have focused on preparing Milagra for its first trip up the San Juans. The plan (starting tomorrow!) is to have Mike, Sam, and others transit to Lopez via Port Townsend, then have the Veirs clan cruise for 3-5 days followed by 7-10 days of cruising by Mike and family, and then return to Seattle (Mike, Scott, Liam, and ??)… You can track our progress here — http://econscience.org/tiki/sail/

This meant that we needed to finish up the new main sail, find and mount an engine, build a dodger, and create a head! Additionally we organized our cruising ear/tools/materials, and added a tracking device to our safety gear.

Two weeks ago, Mike and Catherine laid out the dodger and two Tuesdays Mike and Scott stayed up most of the night installing it. Last Friday, Mike and I got the boat in the water at the UW WAC, revved up the engine and made it to the locks in about 30 minutes (minor cavitation if too much weight forward or wake lifts the engine up), locked through smoothly, and took a guest berth at the Shilshole H dock. Mike and Catherine then spent the weekend at Blake Island, reporting an easy downwind passage (2 hours) there, and some good motor sailing back. This week we tuned the rig a bit during an evening sail on Monday, a working/sailing Tiki Tuesday with Julian and Matt Johnson (put tell tales all over main, finished 1/2 dodger struts), and a final session tonight — I installed the head while Liam and Cora assembled the new tool and repair boxes and Annie organized the first aid kit.

Here’s a link to a prioritized sailing checklist for coastal cruising on a Tiki 21.

And here’s links for helping plan and execute safe coastal cruising in the Salish Sea — with a focus on Puget Sound’s main basin and the San Juan Islands.

It wasn’t quite as sunny as the day before, but today brought us a nice combination of dry decks and 5-7 m/s April winds.  We got to the trailer around 2, had it in the water around 3, sailed for about an hour, and had it out of the water around 5:30.  The sail was very pleasant with Union Bay in classic form — unpredictable gusts and lulls sweeping over the arboretum from the south.  We enjoyed a long beam reach over to the east end of the 520 bridge and back.  A highlight was being approached by a little red zodiac which at first glance looked like a Coast Guard boat.  It was a treat to realize it was actually Fritz and Erin coming over to check out what appeared to be a felucca making good speed in light winds with minimal sail area.  Thanks to Fritz for the great photo above!

Liam, Ryden, and Cora tested out the new benches, determining they make great tables and desks for kids.  Annie got cold hands, but seemed right at home on deck, reading over the wind to the kids nestled down in the hulls.  The sailing was very smooth and the only problems I noticed were another stress crack in the main hatch covers (this time inboard forward corner of the aft half of the port hatch) and rain water having leaked into the forward two (round) waterproof hatches (likely due to o-rings scratched too much by last summer’s sand).

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Overall, the trailer modifications worked well.  With only 10-15 cm clearance under the keels, I was surprised we didn’t touch going over bumps and undulations.  The final dip and rise at the top of the ramp, however, led to the skeg/rudders hitting.  Liam and I propped up the stern beam on the skids with 4×4 blocks and made it over.  Lowering with the climbing rope worked fine, but it was way too stretching on the way back up.  I think the winch is the way to go, though it’s slow; maybe bring a cordless drill?  Another a-ha was realizing the trailer tongue could be raised or lowered with the front wheel jack to keep the keel from hitting the ground.  The longer-term solution though is to raise the skids another 10 cm or so.

While it was good to get Milagra in the water and under sail again, it was also nice to spend enough time at the boat ramp working out the trailer/launching/recovery kinks that we bumped into the local WYC+ guard.  Gavin kept an eye on the end of the boat ramp and offered some suggestions, Chris (owner of the Supercat) chatted about trailer solutions that might work for hand-deploying off the ramp, and John discussed the rig and vessel, before volunteering ideas for improving the WAC winch and finally heading home around 5:30.  I ended the day sponging out the bilges (old rainwater, not new!) and the prolific fish cracker crumbs left behind by my crew.

Last weekend we finished the trailer conversion, assembled the boat on the carpeted skids, and confirmed the beams would take the load of the hulls hanging from them by the lashings.  We ended up with the desired proximity of hull and ground (about 20 cm) that will enable us to move the boat from the storage area to the short boat ramp and deploy the boat at all Lake Washington levels without having to lift the hulls on/off of the trailer.

On Saturday the Veirs Reese clan drove down to the UW WAC with shiny beams, tillers, and platforms atop the VW.   I forgot the boat keys, so Liam was denied frisbee access and spent a long time ascending the climbing wall with Cora.  I started the trailer conversion (from <8′ wide trailerable hulls on V-cradles to boat-ramp ready) with the stepwise scheme for one person getting the hulls off the trailer:

1. Tie support cradles to snugly to hull;
2. Remove inner straps holding forward cradles to trailer and all straps on aft cradles;
3. Place a sturdy box (about 50-75 cm high) adjacent to an aft cradle;
4. Lift stern of that hull and rotate hull on forward cradle beam and strap until aft cradle can be lowered onto the box;
5. Remove forward cradle strap;
6. Lift bow, rotate hull on box until trailer wheel/fender is cleared, and then lower forward cradle to the ground;
7. Return to stern, lift and hold it while removing box (with foot or free hand), then lower to ground;
8. Move box to other side and repeat steps 3-7.

I then drilled holes for the T-legs in the ends of the trailer 9×9(cm)’s and through-bolted them, adding straps on the inboard sides of the T-legs.  With unexpected help from a nice boat-owner named Paul, we drilled holes in the tops of the T-legs and bolted the carpeted skids to them using the original hardware (shifted slightly at the aft end to meet the aft T-legs).  The beams looked happy sitting up on their soft perch and the rest of the bits got stored on the trailer’s new double 2x6x8′ treated lumber “gangway” or central shelf.  This shelf was intended for storing beams during transit, but had an unexpected benefit of creating an overhang at the aft end of the trailer which makes a handy step on which to stand during platform assembly.

On Sunday we returned in search of frisbees and climbing walls, with books, sleeping bags, and picnic cooler at the ready.  Proceeding at a leisurely pace (with some assistance lacing up the tramp from Cora), I assembled the Milagra in about 4 hours.  I started by adjusting and aligning the hulls, using 9x9s and 4x9s to raise up the V-cradles until the hulls touched the beams that were resting across the skids.  Lashings went on pretty quick, platform got fit (after some attempts at gluing a spongy split portion of the port section), tramp got laced (again painful that we didn’t put holes higher in central beam so platform doesn’t impede lacing), forestay bridle and traveller tightened, and mast and standing rigging popped up.

Then Liam kicked out the cradles (as I lifted each hull end).  We were happy to see that the beams did not explode in splinters when asked to hold the hanging hulls with the skids acting as fulcrums.  Kevin and the grlz showed up about then and helped walk around on the hulls to further test the beams.  Then Kevin helped me get the cradles back in place.  (Lifting each hull end is a tough affair when it’s all lashed together… Doing it alone will take a jack of some sort, or another use of a sturdy, kickable box.)

So, there she sits, ready for her inspection next weekend!

In the meantime, I spent this Tiki Tuesday laying out, cutting, and taping up a new bigger (13 m^2) crab claw sail.  It took a couple hours on the tennis court under a starry sky, but guided by Polaris and the Wharram/Boone crab claw for Tiki 21 plans, the sail came out looking great.  Used white WeatherGuard polytarp again (this time a 6×9 m), Samson , and Rhino Grip carpet tape.  The new meter tape measure worked great for getting nice curves, especially when ends were steadied by dual cinderblocks.  Next steps are to sew, grommet, and lace up to the long bamboo spars!

Cora helped Scott measure and cut the trampoline material that arrived yesterday. It was easy to cut with pushed open scissors.

Scott also turned the larger tarp scrap into a jib with a 60 degree tack. The Pfaff has no trouble stitching through double layer of tarp and 2-4 layers of dacron tape. It is so empowering to create a whole sail in about an hour!

Blank beam bottoms

Liam and Cora sanded the tillers, cut out the 2nd rudder slot, and then gave a 2nd epoxy coat to the whole shebang.  They may need a tiny bit of fairing in the seams and basalt sock, but are very close to  being ready for paint (black?)…

Scott used extra epoxy to coat the sides of the sockets and pads, as well as Thomas’ mast foot and the shovel.  The he started sanding beams (tops, bottoms, and sides/webs) and dolphin striker.  Kevin and Thomas lent a hand later, and Thomas bought 4 potential SS handle/hinges for the main hatches.  We all discussed Kevin’s idea of putting a 4″ diameter basalt sock over a cheap 2×4 to make a stout compression beam for his gazebo.

After finishing most of the sanding (still have sides of center one), Scott and Kevin followed Thomas over to his workshop.  There they helped him expansion-glue the deck to his new surf/paddle board.  We also got to see where he built Tsunami, tour Rachael’s tree house, and examine the quiver of paddles and surf boards he has built.

Upon his return, Scott tried coating dolphin striker and a tiny portion of the third beam with the high-gloss blank easypoxy.  It seems a bit thin and I’m worried it is going to take way too many coats before we get nice uniform coverage.

Tillers bent

Cora and Liam helped mix up some peanut butter.  Cora did a fine job of plastering it on the bottom of the dolphin striker plate and then screwed it into the bottom of the center beam.  Liam used his to fill countersunk holes that we accidentally put in two of the cleats.  After they finished their root beer and headed for bed, Scott used the left overs to glue layers 1 and 2 of the beam sockets together, and to fix the gap in the fillet of one of the beam struts.

While Kevin and Russ made strides fiberglassing Kevin’s BMW hood, Thomas and Scott threw together some tillers.  Although the 3/4 x 1.5 pine boards from True Value were worrisome, we glued them together with a lot of epoxy and hope that they’ll be plenty strong after being sheathed in fiberglass.  The trickiest part was figuring out how to space and (later) fit the rudder to the blocks within the tiller ends.  In the end, we got both tillers constructed by inserting packing and blue masking tape between them and then gluing, clamping, and saran-wrapping them all together.

Liam and Cora clamping cleats

Scott, Liam, and Cora lined up the rounded mooring cleats, clamped them, and drilled them.  Liam did a great job marking and clamping, and Cora proved a great assistant.

Thomas powered by home brew

Scott and Thomas decided the Tiki 21 I-beams would elegantly support the trampoline with holes through the beam web (unlike the Tiki 26 triangular beams where such holes seem prone to rot).  Thomas measured and drilled the trampoline holes while Scott rounded the beam ends with belt and hand sanders.  Later, Scott gave the cleats and socket/pad pieces a first coat of epoxy.

Enzo and Liam beaming

Despite unseen rainwater in the hulls, we teamed up on a gorgeous sunny day to move the hulls out onto the sidewalk and street to align and mark the beams.  It went smoothly and was good fun, particularly walking the “balance beams” over the planters and hoisting of the crab claw rig from Thomas’ ulua.

Scott quickly cut 1×2 fir and Thomas helped line up, level, and mark the locations of beam pads and sockets, as well as the beam edges.  Things were a little loose until we hammered the wedges in hard to hold the cedar 1x2s that ensured the hulls were parallel.  Unfortunately, we missed a few key markings and accidentally placed the sockets on the outboard deck, rather than the inboard where they belong!

Not healthy to eat

Top planks glued to crossbeam webs

Liam, Cora, Elliot, Marcus, Oliver (0.25 hrs each), Thomas (3.5 hr), Kevin (3 hr), Scott (6 hr) | Photos

Cora and Liam and I started off by sanding the lashing pads and dolphin striker mount so they’ll be all ready for gluing to the hulls.  Oliver, Elliot, and Marcus stopped by and helped sand the pads, knock the nodes down on the bamboo poles, and belt sand the compression struts flush with the crossbeam web edges.

Thomas biked over with his 4″ belt sander and used 40 grit to very quickly smooth flush the top and bottoms of the 3 webs.  I made some progress with the 3″ and 50 grit, but it was a lot slower.  Rather than mark the center line and stitch and glue, we pooled our big clamps and easily bent the mahogany planks to the tops of the webs.  I had added a coat of epoxy to the top plank undersides (2nd coat) and the bottom plank’s second side (single coat on both sides now).  We positioned the webs and marked with indelible pen, then removed the web and used the ziploc-pastry bag method to lay down a bead of epoxy (80/20 micro-ballon/wood-flour fillet).

Two of three guys

We did all three at once and would have been screwed if we didn’t have 6 hands to form the fillets from the epoxy that squeezed out upon clamping.  A few more clamps would have been helpful, but we got away with 3-6 per beam.  As it was, the epoxy gelled pretty quickly and we used a lot of alcohol to keep working it. Thank the Gods that we won’t have to sand all those fillets in the close confines between struts!

Overall, the beams are looking great.  They are starting to exude both beauty and strength.  The fillets are probably too small (Wharram called for 1 1/4″ radius ones), so I’ll add material in next 24 hrs…

Pirates defending the starboard hull

Scott (3hr), Kevin (1hr); Liam, Cora (0.5 hrs) | Photos

Liam and Cora helped “decorate” the inside of the starboard hull.  We replaced the sole and then drilled holes for 1-1.5″ gold hooks.  Cora strung up a hammock for her animals.  Liam tried hanging jackets, flash lights, and light sabers.  They even sanded off some errant epoxy “pokers” from the ceiling.

Scott and Kevin sanded down the two S1 coats, knocking off the top of the raised grain.  Then Scott filled in all gouges, holes, and major grain/cracks with wood filler epoxy mix.  Should be ready to sand and glass the deck next time!