It's Thanksgiving today, and the morning broke with a drizzle of rain followed by light snow flurries. Ten years have passed since my last update here. I have done very little with boats since then. I met a girl at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse that first summer back from the Bahamas, and eventually married her.
I think I was pretty burned out on sailing after the Bahamas trip. Over the summers I would help my friend with his canvas business and doing the odd boat repair or outfitting, but basically didn't take any of my boats out again.
The lauan plywood that Hope's hull was built from didn't survive the elements and she quickly rotted enough that it was unrealistic to save her.
Cassandra sat on her trailer unused for a while and in 2020 I finally decided she should go to someone who would appreciate her. I sold her to a couple in Ithaca who just wanted a nice dry boat to go sailing in. I hope they have been happy with their choice.
That same year, I quickly patched up the last of the rot on Adra, threw on a protective layer of glass, and put her in the side yard so I could start construction on the fuselage for the airplane I've been building in my garage. (see my other blog: aviationcomingeventually@blogspot.com)
In the summer of 2024 I finally had some time and an itch to sail again. I pulled Adra out only to find that moisture had somehow made its way under the new fiberglass and worked its wicked magics on the wood underneath. By the time I removed all the wet wood she was left without a bottom, transom, the aft third of the hull, and chines. After 17 years in my life, it was time to say goodbye to my first boat. I had to cut her up and she is currently awaiting a proper viking funeral.
Around the same time, a coworker mentioned they had an old sailing dinghy in their garage they wanted gone. It was missing a centerboard and rudder, and had a crack in the hull, but if I wanted it, it was mine. I decided "why not?" and brought home a Barnett Butterfly. It took the rest of that summer to repair the crack in the hull, get the woodwork cleaned and revarnished, replace the running rigging, and make new foils for her. Also, having sold my truck some time earlier, I bought and rebuilt a rotten snowmobile trailer to get her to the water. By that time dinghy sailing weather was over for the year.
The whole time I owned Cassandra, I never really felt like I had a good handle on the basics of sailing. I could get the boat to go where I wanted, but often felt like my self-taught skills left some amount of performance unclaimed. Part of why I wanted a little sailing dinghy was to hone those skills and see if I couldn't pick up some of that untapped performance.
Summer of this year was the butterfly's first time in the water under my
care. I had her out a couple of times on the Seneca River and Onondaga Lake. She sails well, though I am still learning how to handle her. My family decided to rent a lake house for a week this summer and my brother asked offhandedly if I thought the Butterfly could take more than one passenger. At that point I had only sailed it once and was unsure how it would do with two people aboard, but was pretty sure three was out of the question. That evening I did a Facebook Marketplace search for cheap sailboats. Long story slightly shorter; I ended up buying a 16' Wayfarer in sore need of attention. It was a race to see whether I could get the Wayfarer finished in time for family, and ultimately I was one new halyard short of making that deadline. The butterfly came to the lake instead.
I wasn't able to stay the whole week, but even so, we sailed that little orange boat all over. I think one day I spent something like 14 hours on the water. My brother and I sailed it the entire length of the lake and anyone who wanted to got a short sailing lesson or a ride. Turns out, carrying a passenger wasn't an issue at all; at one point I even took two. I was also satisfied to find that after six days in the water on a mooring the Butterfly was dry inside. I guess my crack repair worked.
For now both boats are living beside the garage on their respective trailers. I built weather covers for both, so hopefully that will keep some that wicked water from having it's way with my newfound friends. Right now the hope/plan is to use the Butterfly for the occasional daysail, and the Wayfarer for some overnight dinghy cruising and sharing sailing with friends.
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