Rigging the mast

August 20, 2011
I've been putting off attaching the hardware to the mast; partly because I've been having fun with the dory and partly because I've been worried about screwing it up.  I've read through the manual several times, but here is where having some knowledge of sailing would have been really helpful.  The manual has detailed images, it doesn't really give the whole picture of rigging a sailboat for a rookie like me. 

The boom needed a 1/4 inch hole at its far end.  This was an easy one but I wasn't sure how close to the end I should be.  Since I haven't rigged a sailboat, I don't even know what the hole will be used for, but I just winged it and drilled the whole and then used a countersinking bit to relieve the edges.  The trickier hole was drilling in the mast end of the boom for the gooseneck pin.  The manual said to drill a 3/8" hole but the pin was 1/2" thick.  So I drilled a half inch hole.  It's the first time I found an error in the manual.   Fortunately, my old drill had a bubble level built into it to help me keep the hole straight.

Attaching the gooseneck pin to the mast was easy, and the manual was quite specific: center it 21-1/2" from the bottom of the mast.

Attaching an eyestrap centered 119" from the bottom of the mast seems like it should be simple, but since I didn't know the nautical terms, it took me awhile to figure it out.  Three shrouds and the "jib halyard block" needed to go through the eyestrap. The shrouds were wires that were pre-made by CLC.  Two of them had to go around the mast awhile the third one just went through the eyestrap.  I had a vague understanding that the shrouds would keep the mast in place and would need to go in different directions.  Hopefully, I've installed them in the right place.  When I first attempted in install it, I wasn't sure what the block was and didn't realize that it needed to be in place before putting the nuts on the bolts.  After looking at the parts I had left and looking closely at the picture in the manual again, I realized that the "block" was a pulley that had to be in place before bolting the eyestrap down. 

The mast eyestrap is in place with the three shrouds and the jib halyard block.

Attaching the cleats was an easy one except that the cleats came with the kit but the screws didn't. After a trip to town to get screws, I was all set.  They get screwed down with #8 x 1-1/4"  screws about 10" from the bottom of the mast.

One cleat is on the front face of the mast and the other is on the port side.

Eyestraps for the shrouds needed to be bolted to the forward bulkhead.

To anchor the shrouds to the dory, I needed to attach eyestraps to  the #1 bulkhead.  They are bolted through the bulkhead.  To protect the plywood, I dipped the bolts in silicon caulk before putting them through the holes.

Since I was working on eyestraps, I put in the ones for the "bridle" into the rail 28 inches from the stern of the boat.  The bridle is a line that spans the stern of the dory to hold a block for the main sail, or the "mainsheet" as sailors evidently say.  I put silicon caulking on the screws before putting them in.

Here is the finished installation of the stern eyestraps on the rail.

Mounting the rudder on the dory

August 13, 2011
It took a week to put five coats of varnish on each on the rudder, daggerboard, mast, boom and tiller extension.  Each day would rub everything with a scotch brite pad and then put on another coat.

Today, I worked on the rudder to get it mounted on the dory.  I put the upper grudgeon on the transom and attached the pintles to the rudder.   I had already attached the lower grundgeon.   I had to call CLC to confirm which screws or bolts to use because the manual didn't really specify and I had a bag of hardware to choose from.   They said to drill through the rudder and use the machine bolts.  Since I was drilling through the Okoume, I was concerned about water getting in and decided to put some caulking in the holes before I put the bolts through. 

Varnishing sailing kit

August 4, 2011
I'm coming down the final stretch in boatbuilding.  Today I put the first coat of varnish on the daggerboard, boom, mast, tiller extension, and rudder.  I have several coats to go, but I should have the dory ready to sail in another week.  Of course, I still need to figure out all the directions to install the bags of hardware that is in the box.

The rudder has its first coat of varnish

Varnishing the tiller extension, boom and mast is a little tricky because one side is in contact with the plastic.

It doesn't look a lot different but now the daggerboard has its first coat of varnish over the epoxy.

Rowing with sliding seat

 August 3, 2011
The morning was cool but there no fog when I took the dory out.  Although I'm still having trouble backing up the trailer, I was pleased that I managed to get it close enough to the dock that I put the dory in the water without getting my feet wet.  I've rubbed the top of my foot raw near my big toe from the strap that goes over my foot to hold it to the footrest on the sliding seat, and the water would just make it worse.  Today I focused on getting a good rhythm going.  I discovered that if I mentally went through the steps, I could keep a steady pace:  Exhale on the stroke, then lift the blade and flip my wrists toward my body, inhale and push my arms forward to bring the oars back and flip wrists back to where they were to "lock" the blade in position.  Repeat. Because of the D-shaped oars, then make a satisfying thunk as I twist them back and forth, I could hear the rhythm as well as chanting to myself.   Flip. Lock. Stroke.  Of course at the same time, I need to slide the seat back and forth in order to get full power in each stroke.  Sometimes I just focused on breathing--inhaling as a brought the oars back and exhaling on the stroke.  I don't know if this is "correct" for sculling but it help me to stay focused. When everything was coordinated, it felt great moving smoothly across the water.  When I flubbed up, I felt ridiculous, but at least there are only a few people on the river early in the morning.