BYYB Forums

These are great days for me. My list of jobs to complete continue to shorten and I can see my launch date quickly approaching. I just pulled the clamps off the tiller, did some sanding and checked it out in positon on the rudder. Oh yeah!!! it's going to look great. Hopefully it will work great too. My sails from Doug Fowler will likely arrive in a couple of weeks and I should be just about ready for them in terms of having the rigging in place and the spars finished. It's just getting the coats of varnish on for the most part. She's beginning to have that finished look and that unmistakable element of grace about her. I didn't think I would, but I'm fairly certain I'll have my windows and companionway done in time too. I always figured that could always wait until after launch day if I had to.







My crew is beginning to come around more and seem very anxious for me to get going......



as I enjoy listening to them and watching them get their exercise!





Thery're a funny bunch, but don't take orders very well!!

She is looking good Tom. I am not sure about that crew though 8)

that is one beutiful boat, tom. the crew lookes something like adlas.... but perhaps greater in numbers. what a troublsom looking rable they are.

hey we are going to be at walker lake in nevada in a couple of months. i believe that would be less than 6 hours away from where you are. check out the sw fleet board. i think the date has been mooved to the first weekend of november. think you can make that one?? we would love to see you and your boat!



when is launch day going to be. do you know yet?

I am very jealous. I am still at the painstaking sanding/epoxy/fiberglass stage.

I sand....therefore I am.

Hang in there Jeff. I remember well many very unhappy hours spent removing paint that didn't take and patching fiberglass areas that I didn't get right. I made many mistakes that cost me dearly in repairs. However, where I have my boat is out behind a metal shop that belongs to a dear friend of mine who is a very talented artist and metal sculptor. We spent many days where he was busy with a project in the shop while I was toiling away out back. One day earlier this summer I realized that the time I have spent chasing this crazy dream have been some of the greatest days of my life. John and I were both inspired by each other. I wouldn't change a thing about my experience; neither the highs nor the lows. They make up my story which will go forward with me as I continue to "write" more stories. Hell, last spring, I was way too close to holding the first "Burning Boat" festival. I now have visions of launch day and the struggle to get there will make it all that much sweeter! For me, this is all about both the burden and triumph of dreams.

Aaron, I expect to launch the third weekend of October. We're planning a pretty big party at a local lake/park. Naturally I do have my eyes set on joining in on some of the Southwestern Fleet's activities. You guys are having way too much fun for me to not get in on some of it. I'm afraid I'll have to play it by ear as I still will need to buy a better vehicle to pull the boat around. My car has 277,000 miles on it. though it's an '88 Camry and it still runs great.....well, it's obvious..... I'll have to make an adjustment here soon. This is a very expensive part of the build: trailer, sails, and a car. I haven't made a car payment since about 1973, so I do take my time and try to make the best purchase possible. I must say, though that since I bought this Camry I will probably be a Toyota man from here on in. Best buy I ever made. Of course as soon as I have all my ducks lined up, I fully expect to extend my range to include your territory. Do you guys ever consider sailing at Tahoe? I've been thinking about that one a lot. Locally, I expect to sail out at Tomales Bay where Mike Stevenson likes to sail. Hopefully I may be able to do some in the upper reaches of the San Francisco Bay; the delta if I pick my days carefully. The chop out there could be pretty rough.

say no more, untill this year my daily driver has been a 40 year old bus. i am not lying it is a 1966 vw. i have to say that if i had not built a weekender, i would still be turtling around the local roads and be happy about it. there are just too many bodies of water to be explored. i am interested in taho but i here that the power boat traffic is murder. what is your experience there ? the last time i sailed in bussy waters i found it was like playing frogger. a slow sail boat trying to cross an interstate full of power boats that don't know what right of way is. i can't get as far as calafornia verry often but i do want to find some cool spots out there that are different than what i would find farther inland. perhaps one or two trips out there a year i think would be great.

i think walker lake is about an hour south of taho....... if you are not comfortable pulling that far, i know you would be welcome on the daydream if you came without. it is a fun group and i am sure this one is going to be a grand adventure.

good luck on the launch! be sure to take lots of pictures for us.

Aaron...that is one very cool bus. Do you still have it? A friend of mine had a '67 pop top that I really liked a lot. I always liked the louvered windows on the side of that model.

The vehicle I'll be using for a while is our other car: a "beater" pickup. We've had it for some time and we bought it cheap with the intent of just driving it into the ground and not throwing a bunch of money at it. As it turns out, it also has been very good to us. I should spring for a clutch job if I'm going to tow the boat even for short easy trips around here. Yesterday I scored a galvanized EZ Loader trailer from a local shop. Amazing... it was exactly what I've been looking for. I've been combing the "boat" section of Craigslist for some time now. Hopefully I'll get the boat loaded this weekend.

Tom your boat is looking great, not to long to the water now.
I know it's irrelevant but what I am doing to avoid that problem of the wire is laminating two 2x4's, and routing out the middle of each and running a small conduit up the center.
Good luck with the rest of Your build she's looking great.

Brian.

Thanks for the tip Brian, but my mast is already a solid 4x4. My first mast was laminated 2x4's with a channel routed up the middle. Unfortunately that one turned out so bad it became my "educaton". I've been thinking, however that I will be using line to attach the luff of the mainsheet to the mast and I could actually attach a small channel (pvc??) on the back side of the mast. It could be pretty discreet.

That stuff they use for hideing power cords in houses would work but it is not UV proof.