Early 50s sailfish restore

Be safe, bud... somehow that mainsail reminds me of an egg breakfast, maybe a two-tone omelet, LOL. You're not rigging a bow line? Perhaps you don't need one if you're simply sailing off a beach or lakeshore, but it's nice to have one should you decide to dock somewhere, and also to quickly bend on a towline in any kind of emergency. Not that I foresee that happening... I'm no fortune-teller, I just liked having a bow line whether I used it or not, and I'd run it aft to the cockpit and secure it so it was handy if I ever needed it. No future in trailing lines in the water, they look sloppy and slow ya down, LOL. Same goes for fenders which aren't secured properly aboard larger craft. I'll never forget this classic hand I sailed with back in the day, he had a Cal 27 and we'd regularly go on party voyages with other guys & gals. Whenever he saw some stooge under sail or power with fenders over the side (wildly bouncing and stress-testing their lines), he'd say in a loud voice which captured all attention:

"OH, LOOK!!! IT'S THE FENDER ISLAND YACHT CLUB!!!" :rolleyes:

He was a funny guy, and a damned good sailor too, we always sailed into and outta that tricky slip he had at CYC, over by the Chart House. He was also the first owner of Laser #2069, my beloved boat which carried me through so many fine adventures. But I digress... OP, you be safe out there, and go easy at first if it has been that long since you sailed, aye? You get any kind of breeze where you're sailing, you'll be feeling some sore muscles later, LOL, muscles you haven't used in awhile. Just sayin', since I'd feel those same muscles complaining after long days of hiking out in my 40s and 50s. After really brutal voyages, I'd be hobbling around like an old man that evening or the following morning, LOL. You've heard that line about 60 being the new 40 or whatever? Well, it doesn't apply when one is hiking out all day in stiff breeze & heller chop, that's for GODDAM sure. But hey, I sincerely hope you have a blast, maybe take a picnic lunch with ya in a soft cooler, those soft coolers come in handy when the cockpit is little more than a footbath. :confused:

GOOD LUCK TO YA, BE SAFE, AND CHEERS!!! PICS WOULD BE GREAT, EVEN IF THEY'RE ONLY TAKEN ON SHORE... WHICH REMINDS ME, DUMMY CORD OR SECURE WATERPROOF STORAGE FOR THE CAMERA & OTHER VALUABLES. MOI, I'D HIDE MY CAR KEYS ASHORE, USUALLY UNDER THE WHEEL WELL OR IN THE BUMPER. THOSE MAGNETIC KEY BOXES ALSO WORK... ;)
 
next hardware
 

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chucklane92 it looks great. Are you going to put a grip area where you will be sitting? I know it doesn't look good but one wave over the boat will make it a slip and slide.
 
Cactus Cowboy said:
Be safe, bud... somehow that mainsail reminds me of an egg breakfast, maybe a two-tone omelet, LOL. You're not rigging a bow line? Perhaps you don't need one if you're simply sailing off a beach or lakeshore, but it's nice to have one should you decide to dock somewhere, and also to quickly bend on a towline in any kind of emergency. Not that I foresee that happening... I'm no fortune-teller, I just liked having a bow line whether I used it or not, and I'd run it aft to the cockpit and secure it so it was handy if I ever needed it. No future in trailing lines in the water, they look sloppy and slow ya down, LOL. Same goes for fenders which aren't secured properly aboard larger craft. I'll never forget this classic hand I sailed with back in the day, he had a Cal 27 and we'd regularly go on party voyages with other guys & gals. Whenever he saw some stooge under sail or power with fenders over the side (wildly bouncing and stress-testing their lines), he'd say in a loud voice which captured all attention:

"OH, LOOK!!! IT'S THE FENDER ISLAND YACHT CLUB!!!" :rolleyes:

He was a funny guy, and a damned good sailor too, we always sailed into and outta that tricky slip he had at CYC, over by the Chart House. He was also the first owner of Laser #2069, my beloved boat which carried me through so many fine adventures. But I digress... OP, you be safe out there, and go easy at first if it has been that long since you sailed, aye? You get any kind of breeze where you're sailing, you'll be feeling some sore muscles later, LOL, muscles you haven't used in awhile. Just sayin', since I'd feel those same muscles complaining after long days of hiking out in my 40s and 50s. After really brutal voyages, I'd be hobbling around like an old man that evening or the following morning, LOL. You've heard that line about 60 being the new 40 or whatever? Well, it doesn't apply when one is hiking out all day in stiff breeze & heller chop, that's for GODDAM sure. But hey, I sincerely hope you have a blast, maybe take a picnic lunch with ya in a soft cooler, those soft coolers come in handy when the cockpit is little more than a footbath. :confused:

GOOD LUCK TO YA, BE SAFE, AND CHEERS!!! PICS WOULD BE GREAT, EVEN IF THEY'RE ONLY TAKEN ON SHORE... WHICH REMINDS ME, DUMMY CORD OR SECURE WATERPROOF STORAGE FOR THE CAMERA & OTHER VALUABLES. MOI, I'D HIDE MY CAR KEYS ASHORE, USUALLY UNDER THE WHEEL WELL OR IN THE BUMPER. THOSE MAGNETIC KEY BOXES ALSO WORK... ;)
Click to expand...

My wife is coming to watch from shore, should be pics, maybe video, perhaps entertaining, hopefully upright lol

Valuables will be in her keeping. I am rigging a bow line or something similar, no good attachment point on the bow so... creativity required

Wind is supposed to be light, 5-7 mph, probably bringing a paddle too :) Going on a small lake in the area

Next week, I may get Flotsam out on her maiden voyage

Have a great day
 
First run of the mini, almost becalmed :confused:
 

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Look like fun. We like a good breeze and we like drifters, a good chance to get to know the boat and marvel at how little wind it takes to move that boat around.

As for grip, the wood boats have a little grain and are not as slippery as the fiberglass boats. We didn't add anything gripwise to the Standard or the Super. And it is also important to be able to shift around quicker and not get stuck to something, or sandpapered to death. Our Super Sailfish had a toe rail as well, that came in handy at times. Everyone has different approaches, some folks use strips like you might find in the bottom of a bathtub. In they old days Alcort sold shorts with leather on the but called Scuttlebutts.

Our friends at Jamestown Distributors sell a new product called TotalTread which is a non skid that comes in Sand Beige, Kingston Gray, White and Light Gray. I'd imagine a little goes a long way.

And here's an important tip for tacking a Sailfish, Skipper discovered that it was easier to lay back whn tacking vs bend forward with legs and PFD in the way.

 
signal charlie said:
Look like fun. We like a good breeze and we like drifters, a good chance to get to know the boat and marvel at how little wind it takes to move that boat around.

As for grip, the wood boats have a little grain and are not as slippery as the fiberglass boats. We didn't add anything gripwise to the Standard or the Super. And it is also important to be able to shift around quicker and not get stuck to something, or sandpapered to death. Our Super Sailfish had a toe rail as well, that came in handy at times. Everyone has different approaches, some folks use strips like you might find in the bottom of a bathtub. In they old days Alcort sold shorts with leather on the but called Scuttlebutts.

Our friends at Jamestown Distributors sell a new product called TotalTread which is a non skid that comes in Sand Beige, Kingston Gray, White and Light Gray. I'd imagine a little goes a long way.

And here's an important tip for tacking a Sailfish, Skipper discovered that it was easier to lay back whn tacking vs bend forward with legs and PFD in the way.

Click to expand...


I was amazed at the fact she was moving at all, not sure if you can tell but the lake was like glass lol, barely any breeze and I was making headway, slow but moving. I think my super may have had the "scuttlebutts" there was some adhesive that I couldn't remove from the wood. It cause a little discoloration but, I didn't want to sand through the plys so... I left it. Call it battle damage :) I will remember the tip, mini was kind of small for that maneuver. BTW I just modified the tiller today for the next run, I found that the full length tiller (where it attaches to the rudder, not the extension) was to long and hit my back when I tried to turn. It wasn't a huge issue with very light wind but it could be a real issue when trying to move quickly. Shortened it about a foot.
 
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Tiller length goes to suit the boat's Skipper. My Skipper likes hers to come up just short of the cockpit lip, she can hook her knee over it or hold it with her foot.

Scuttlebutts were clothing :)

The recline maneuver is for non cockpit boats

Next outing we want you to get this shot...

2D081369-0519-48C9-AA7B-A886784D1D4A_1_105_c.jpeg
 
Truth be told, I think my Minifish sailed better with her lateen rig oriented that way... I've always considered myself to be a diehard Laser sailor, but aboard the Minifish I felt more comfortable with the geezer rig, somehow it made the Minifish perform more like a Laser, if that makes any sense to y'all, LOL. It wasn't solely about clearance between lower boom and deck (though that was nice to have), it just felt like the boat was FASTER rigged that way. Perhaps because I spent decades sailing my Laser, and my natural inclination was to sail the Minifish the same way... :D

And no, I'm not drunk, in fact I'm just about to crack my first cold beer, LOL. But perhaps there's a correlation between the way we sail in one class and the way we rig another, if ya catch my drift. My goal in Laser sailing was maximum performance, even on recreational party voyages... when I bought the Minifish and started sailing her, my goal was unchanged but I was in a different class, with a different rig and different handling characteristics. I experimented and ultimately decided that I liked the Minifish best with the geezer rig, as it delivered performance similar to that I was already accustomed to aboard my Laser. :rolleyes:

I suppose there are subtle nuances and factors involved, things which affect each individual skipper's boat handling and performance... and let's face it, each skipper worth his salt likes to rig and sail his boat a certain way, right? We might experiment, and if the experiment leads to increased performance we stick with the change(s), but if the experiment and its results suck then we go back to the way things were. And then there are the details, not only in rigging but in how we handle certain situations or conditions... toss in variables like wind strength, surface chop, tidal action, etc., and the whole scenario becomes more complex. :confused:

But I digress... over decades, I reckon we become accustomed to rigging and sailing boats a certain way, a way which each individual skipper has developed in order to obtain maximum boat speed and performance, or maximum efficiency. And if we move into another class, the tendencies still exist to rig and sail that new class of boat the way we rigged and sailed the last... but that can't always be done, due to differences in design, boat performance, etc. However, in classes which are somewhat similar, we can successfully transfer our knowledge and experience from one class to another... with excellent results. ;)

And that's all I'm trying to say... moi, I love going fast over the water, skimming the surface at speed for maximum exhilaration. I like knowing that I can sling a boat around like so much hash, but I strive to make each maneuver as smooth as possible, even when the boat is hauling @$$ or I'm dealing with unfavorable conditions like heller surface chop in opposing wind & tide. From roll tack to flying gybe, I try to exhibit smooth control and mastery of my craft, because that's the way I learned how to sail... and over the years, that's how I learned to specifically rig my boat. Some lessons learned in one class paid off in another... :D

To sum up this discourse upon the nautical world, I'll leave y'all with some classic memories... a tugboat skipper giving me the thumbs up while leaning out of his wheelhouse, my Laser the only sailboat on San Diego Bay in rough seas (small craft warning plus, wind and tide in opposition), and yours truly hiking out in the slop & spray, my boat making steady progress but taking a beating (they don't call it beating to windward for nothing, lemme tell ya, LOL). I always had respect for working craft, since I worked aboard 'em on more than one occasion, and for a moment this tugboat skipper & I were nautical brothers, so to speak. :cool:

I recall sailing my friend's C-15 and heaving to in perfect execution off the bayshore in Coronado, allowing some ferryboat skipper leaving the dock to carry on his mission... I was also demonstrating to that friend of mine how heaving to can be useful, but I'll never forget how the ferry skipper laid his throttles on the dash and bent on the knots, knowing that I was politely and deliberately surrendering the right of way. Small ferry too, I could've been a wanker and stood upon my privilege, but it was better to heave to, foot on the tiller down to leeward, and casually wave that ferry skipper past, LOL. :rolleyes:

Hmm, how about leading the Star of India back up the channel during one of her well-televised voyages? That was a cool experience, something I'll never forget (until death or Alzheimer's), and the Star has quite a history of her own. I also recall meeting the replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind as she reached up the channel... I had a friend aboard and we were in full party mode, heading out to pull beach patrol off Coronado when we met this fantastic replica. It was like being transported back in time, no other craft around except an escort tug hidden on the ship's far quarter. Awesome sight, and Sir Francis Drake was bad@$$!!! :eek:

I could go on about being hailed by various warships (including a nuke sub), crossing Zuniga Jetty (always an adventure), patrolling the beach, surfing the Point in the Laser, and sailing to the islands off the northern end of Baja, but I see that I've burned some time here and I need to take a break. I always secure my home as darkness falls, a habit I picked up in the Infantry, and even though the windows are all secured with the A/C running, I like to check. This neighborhood has virtually no crime, so I suppose this security check is a holdover from the Big City, LOL, but I still pull it every night. WTF, better safe than sorry, I reckon. ;)

LIKE THE TERMINATOR (OR A BAD RASH), "I'LL BE BACK..." :confused: HASTA LUEGO!!!
 
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