Daley Ponderings

We went sailing today in the Black Rabbit, which is the name of our Flying Junior.  I do need to find out the history of it, because I think I don't have it quite correct.  But Heather's grandpa have it to her when she was a kid and we've sailed it since we were married.

It needed a couple things fixed this year: the toe strap finally snapped while we were sailing under rough winds on Lake Owasco a couple weeks ago, and on the same trip, the main sheet cleat's screws rusted away and so we had an adventurous trip to get home.

I patched the holes from the rusted screws with toothpicks and wood glue and then drilled new holes and it seems to be holding well.  The rudder is threatening to break and I probably need to look into that.  We've put very little money into over the years, but it needs a little upkeep this year.

Our neighbor used to work at a marina and likes working on wooden boats, and offered to fix some of our boat problems, and somewhat as payment, gets to ride in our sailboat, which is a pretty good deal for us...  She painted over the patches I fiberglassed years ago, and that looks good, though we'll now have to paint the whole boat to make it all look good...  And she is sanding and refinishing the center board for our other boat: a sunfish named Midnight Sun.

I currently use the same trailer for both boats (one at a time) , and consequently, never bring both boats anywhere, but we're working on modifying our trailer to hold both boats, which should be a lot of fun.  Hopefully we'll be able to get it ready for our annual trip to the Connecticut River.