So after 3 or 4 months of intense maintenance I finally put my boat on it's new mooring at the local lake yacht club this afternoon. The rig isn't up because I'm hoping to get everything measured this Saturday, and the last parts of my aluminum rudder head are still being finished.
But, the hull is done and in the water.
Sadly my modified c/b handle leaks more than I had hoped. I'll have to revisit that seal when I haul out to go to the NACR in 3 weeks. I also forgot to put screws in the no longer needed screw holes that used to hold the c/b handle plate.
I felt a shameful pride when the former owner of the boat didn't recognize it, and went to get his camera to take pictures of it saying "It never looked this good".
Of course after all my work to re-fresh and paint the hull... I scuffed it before it made it to the mooring.
On flotation I ended up stuffing 64 pool noodles inside the seats and in the (covered) space between the seats and the gunn'ls. Additionally I bought two large chunks of closed cell buoyancy foam, which I cut up into bricks and chunks that I then stuffed into the two front chambers. Aditionally I cut larger blocks which I placed in the space between the back of the seats and the transom. Not counting the pool noodles I figure I put about 600 pounds of flotation into the hull, add the noodles and subtract the space water can fill and I think I have a boat that will swamp but not go under.
I'll leave an open invite to anyone interested in doing some racing (strictly for fun). If you are close enough to Wakefield MA I plan to do the NE regionals this Saturday, as well as the regular Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening races. Contact me for more info if interested.
My wife has only a passing interest, and that is minimized by her expectant state... luckily due near the end of sailing season here in New England.