July 18th-19th

Yesterday, we were finally looking forward to a full day of work, uninterrupted by sunshine.  It materialized but we still had to put up a sun shade.  Uninterested in a cumbersome structure, we wanted a setup that could be put together and struck down in minutes.  

.  A couple of ropes and a tarp did the trick:  What a difference!  The plan for the day was to prepare a pallet to receive the dagger board when the yard employees lift the boat up next week.  That pallet will carry a weight of about 300-400lbs, plus it must be assembled on the spot:  We’ll slide the pallet under the boat before they lift the boat up.  Then, as the boat is raised, we have to get under there and install the lateral supports while the yard guys wait, i.e. rapidly.  They will therefore be bolted on, with holes pre-drilled on one side; We will drill the other side once the board is on there, in order to achieve a tight transverse fit.  The lateral supports are built simply:  A wide 2x10” base for stability, a 2x4” diagonal because that’s where most of the load will be and a couple of 2x2”s each to hold them up.  Another 10 minute job, as Grandpa would say, after it took 5 hours.

As for the dagger board, we are stuck.  Actually, it’s the board that’s stuck:  It won’t come out completely:  Its axis removed, it moves up and down at each end but after about 5 inches of travel, the forward end sticks and won’t come down any more, even after a generous spraying of WD40.  It might only be possible to remove it from the lowered position.  Perhaps not all the way lowered but enough so that the foot clears the boat so we can slide the whole board back.  We’ll only be able to verify that once the boat is in the air, which is not our favorite option right now.  We discussed this issue this morning with Mr. Gilbert Caroff, the (retired) Naval Architect that designed the boat.  That was the highlight of our day:  Quite a guy really; 6000 boats built on his plans, inventor of the modern twin-rudder sailboat.  In his opinion, the dagger board should be able to come out from the horizontal position but as his clients sometimes modify the plans during construction, it is not impossible that it might be different in this case.  We’ll see Monday!

Here’s a view of the Richelieu River from the cabin.  It is quite a perk to live so close to the boat.

Yesterday, a hard-chines metal boat anchored off across the river overnight.  He surely came from Champlain Lake, six or seven miles upstream.  Makes us dream…  Too bad, even with binoculars it’s too far to read the name on that beautiful yellow hull.