Goldberry

This spring has been oh so wet and chilly. There have been very few days without any rain. Finally, this past weekend, Saturday was entirely dry. Yeah!

Light and variable winds are not exactly the preferred mode for this sailor but who is complaining?! It was such a pretty day!

Garth was ready to launch  Goldberry with her new rig. It proved to be a wonderful opportunity to get some excellent shots of the boat that inspired the creation of C-Lute. You might say that Goldberry was C-Lute's Godmother. So there, two tan-bark luggers lounging in Watts Bay! What a lovely sight!

Goldberry's new Lug sail and Mizzen were custom-made by Washington, PA-based Tom Bell, a highly-skilled and experienced sail-maker.

A number of years ago, Bell Sails made a beautiful miter-cut cruising chute for my SJ-21. Tom Bell also made C-Lute's  sleeve for the sail, boom and yard.

With three sets of reef-points, Garth will be able to take Goldberry out in hair-raising conditions...

... and though I love heavy air, one thing is certain, when he does tuck in that third reef, my lil C-Lute will not be allowed to go out to play.

Goldberry is a Iain Oughtred-designed, high-class displacement vessel, a "Ness Yawl" - which means business, y'all.



Let's say that she'll handle a blow and take on some serious seas.

One of the first outings - before the leaves emerged

By comparison, the Passagemaker Dinghy seems more like a toy. Of course, that would not be fair at all.  The PMD was designed for an entirely different purpose.  

Goldberry and C-Lute both are wooden boats that have tan-bark lug sails and - each in their own way - have a rather old-fashioned, salty look. But that is where the similarity ends.

Goldberry is a classic boat made by a master craftsman.  

C-Lute is a first-timers attempt at wood-work.

Ghosting along - ready for some serious air!

The fact that it turned out looking rather nice gives credit to John Harris and CLC for creating a wonderful kit that can be built by anyone able to read and follow the instructions.

In light air, the PMD does surprisingly well. As light as she is, it takes only a wisp of  zephyr to get her going.

Out to C

Pardon a bit of shallow humor but this blogger is out to sea...

on C-Lute  ~~~_/)~~

Also, this here don't look like no "C" to me!  More like an "L" for little lake. So there!

On C-Lute this little lake sure seems quite a bit bigger than on my other weapon of choice (see below)

At some point, I hope to get a picture or two (or video) of  the Passagemaker Dinghy in action.

For now, at least you get to see a bit of my stitching handiwork on the boom and part of the the down-haul and snuffer configuration.

Truth be told, it was not exactly the kind of day that the weather frog was all excited about either.

All the same, there was enough wind (at times) to test out the small modifications and adjustments I had been working on.

I replaced the block with becket at the traveler with a block, becket and cam cleat. That turned out to be a major - albeit not inexpensive - improvement!

I hope to take her out a couple of more times before I transport C-Lute to the OkoumeFest 2011 which CLC sponsors once a year as an annual Rendezvous of CLC boat builders. It'll be a great opportunity to actually take C-Lute "out to sea" as well as to evaluate which kayak exactly I should plan to build next winter.

Pic not of me but of the guy who convinced me to install the trap.

For now, I need to do a final coat of satin on the outside of the top strake.

I had planned it all along and now that I have the name plate, I'll be able to do it.

In the meantime, whilst waiting for the varnish to cure, I am hanging out on the new trapeze wire that I set up on my Johnson-18.

Generally I sail the JN-18 with my trusted crew. However, single-handing my JN-18 from the trap is a total blast.

Not a bad place to be!!!