Saturday, January 24, 2015

Procrastination Can Be a Good Thing

Time to regroup my plans for the lug-yawl sail plan for Gardens of Fenwick.

The initial lug-yawl rig drawing from John Welsford (in 2012) featured the Scamp sail and spars appropriately sized for the Pathfinder. This, I thought, was a good thing. The Scamp lug sail measures 100 sq. ft. While the dimensions are not identical, the lug sail for the Goat Island Skiff measures 105 sq. ft. Seemed to me I could use the GIS sail on Gardens (can't sail two boats at one time so having just one lug sail didn't pose a problem). However, over time, I became aware that the lug sail DuckWorks sells for the Pathfinder lug-yawl rig measures 148 sq. ft. That is quite a difference.

As previously noted, I sent John an email with my questions. In the meantime, I ordered the Pathfinder Lug Yawl sail plan drawing from DuckWorks (which I should have done a long time ago). That drawing arrived the other day and confirmed the larger sail (which is what I suspected to be the case).

So, I have work to do: New spars and a new sail. But since I hadn't begun the spars for the Pathfinder (the mast is taller, the boom is longer and the yard is longer than on the GIS, necessitating new ones), this change in plans didn't really cost me anything.

Procrastination can be a good thing.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

An AHA Moment...

Well, not a life-changing AHA moment but an important one for me and the building of Gardens.

Let's just say a situation arose when I planked the hull. And let's just say the cause was either mistakes made in laying out the frames or in beveling the stringers. And let's just say I've been trying to come to grips with a solution for more than a year (planking was completed in November 2013).

So, I had questions about the sail plan for John Welsford and earlier this week I wrote to John with my questions - including, "What can I do with the situation?" About 30 seconds after I hit "Send" I had the AHA moment and figured out how to correct my mistakes.

The solution came to me about that quickly after realizing I was looking at the situation from the wrong angle. Change the perspective about 90° and the solution was right there! Of course, with Gardens upside down until spring, implementing the solution will have to wait but it is exciting to have finally seen what I've missed all these months. (I'll save the details of the mistakes until they are well taken care of…)

As for the sail-plan question, I suspect I know the answer to that one, too, but I need confirmation of my suspicions.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Peace of Mind

Bah, Humbug!

That's about how I've felt over the last few days. No, I haven't been sick. And, no, it hasn't been about the recent holiday season. The holidays were really quite nice - despite the rush and hullabaloo to get everything done and perfect. And it hasn't been about the weather, although winter has definitely arrived and boat-building work is on hold until spring. We need winter and the cold that comes with it.

Bah, Humbug! was my initial reaction to several recent threads on the WoodenBoat Forum. Bah, Humbug! was my own internal reaction but, as has happened before, after thinking through the threads I chose peace of mind rather than a pointless need to be "right." No matter what I may have written in response to any of those "disturbing" threads, I would not have changed anyone else's opinion. I let those threads - and my initial reactions - go.

Peace of mind. Something to cultivate and cherish.