Keith and I took "Fair Wind" for a sail today at Lake Lanier, winds were 5 to 10 knots. The fastest speed that we saw on the GPS was 4.9 mph but one big gust lifted the windward chine out of the water for a short spell causing us to scrambal to windward [no time to look at the gps]. Keith spent over an hour trying to start the Seagull and just as we were about to call it quits and head home, he took one last pull and it ran perfect the rest of the day. The gps showed that the 5 hp. Seagull pushed the over sized PC at 3.5 knots against a fair head wind. We had plenty of lookers and nice comments on the PC. We had one large sailboat and one large power cruiser come along side for a look-see and a nice comment.
I'm glad Y'all had a good time Ed, Shes a really beautifull boat Probubly the best looking boat on lake lanier this week end, Keep it up It's healthy!
Brian.
Ed, glad you and Keith got her out on the water. Sunday was absolutely gorgeous and I am extremely envious :!: I am also glad Keith got so much free exercise trying to crank your Seagull outboard :lol: . Hope it behaves better in the future. When next will you hit the lake?
Saturday and Sunday (including Saturday night) I was attending outdoor leader training for the cub scouts so that I can take my son's den on camping trips. Even though I have years of camping experience, I learned a lot about how to keep kids happy and healthy while camping. Overall it was worth it even though it worsened a cold I was catching causing me to be at home sick today.
The bad part (besides the cold) was that the boy scout camp we were at was on an absolutely beautiful large peninsula on Lake Allatoona, the same lake I have my big sailboat on, so I got to look at all of this lovely water but couldn't get out on it
. It was absolute torture. I tried to bring my boat down to sleep on instead of in a tent but the sleeping in the tent part was required for the training.
BTW, I learned of a couple of scout camps on the lake one of which has sleeping shelters. I am fairly confident I could rent out a nice group camp area on the lake for a messabout especially for a donation.
Scott do the scouts still hace a camp ground on Little River, I use to go to one on Little River 50 years ago that was wilderness?
I believe they do. I was at the Aquatics base. There is also one by Kellog Creek.
My arm is about to fall off today, I must have pulled that engine cord 200 times. It paid off finally and we went sailing. We had a few other problems, mostly minor that come out when you sail a new boat. We got luck on something that could have been a major problem. When we pulled the boat out Ed noticed one of the links in the chain on the bowsprit was almost competely streched out. The link had been cut through probably before he bought it and it was never noticed till yesterday. It was within a millimeter of breaking loose. If it had the bowsprit would have taking a quick leap toward the mast and its hard to say where the mast would have landed. The winds were pretty strong, they were higher than 10 like Ed said, there were whitecaps for most of the time we were out. I would guess about 15 to 20. The PC stayed pretty level for the most part. Ed was on the lee side when a gust came up and sent us over on a pretty steep heel but it was nothing to worry about. We had a great time sailing and learning about the boat. This was the first time it was out with any real wind to sail in and a few problems popped up which is always the case with a new boat. All easy fixes though, now Ed has something to keep him busy till the next time he sails
Keith
I did a quick fix on the rudder by enlarging the pull rope hole to 3/4" and putting the front edge toward the front, in other words I had the rudder on backwards. I have just noticed that the camber is backwards as well :oops: :oops: . I also relocated the pivit hole. I still have to replace the chain and clean the carborator. I have a feeling that the mast winch may be history [cheep E-Bay junk]. The cable drum is sagging to one side and will not mesh with the gears and won't turn.
Well done Ed, glad that you got Fair Wind out for a sail. Sounds like a great time was had by you and Keith. Hear's to wishing you and your vessel good heath and fair winds.
Most of the small lakes are solid up here now, thye big lake is still open, with some ice forming in the bays. Can't believe the warm spell we've had, hardly any snow, however too cold to sail. I'm :mrgreen:
Greg
Way to go Ed. I told you old Keith wouldn't notice the plug wire being off. Glad to hear y'all hade a good sail Bud.
Thanks Bud, I should have know you were behind that. My arm is still sore!
Keith