I entitle this blog, "How to break your sailing kayak."

Things that should have told me not to go sailing today:

North wind where I had to sail North.

The fact that the farthest the sail boat moved up wind was when I was walking on the lake bed dragging the thing behind me.  (I did that for about an hour.)

And here are the things that broke today.

The rudder.  Not a very serious thing.  I can fix that in a couple of days with left over ply wood and epoxy.

The big break was the hull, by the wing.

I was moving along against the wind with the mainsail up when it really pulled to the side and the pontoon did it's job by keeping the boat upright.

I think I'll get the sails cut so there won't be so much force on the boat.

So I'm packing it away for the season and I have already designed a fix for this problem and reinforcements for it as well.

So that's it for the blog till next season.

Have a good winter everybody.

So I had to make some minor changes this week so I could get her back out on the water on Sunday.

Here is what happened.

I put a bolt in the mast so it won't spin any more between the mast and the mast step.

I also changed some of the pulleys around.  I now have a double pulley for the jib instead of two separate ones.

I got the double pulley from the boom.  It is now a single pulley and works a lot smoother.  The double pulley would get caught and not go out or in that well.

Here's a view from the deck.  Lookin' pretty good.

Here's a shot with the sun behind her.  The backyard never looked so beautiful.

So if the weather is good I'll launch it tomorrow on the testing waters of Morris Lake and have some fun.

30% chance of rain so I'm optimistic.

More next week.

I know it's been awhile since my last blog, but I haven't really done much.  I've been kinda busy.

So here is what I have done.

Pontoons painted.

Pontoons totally painted.

I added some spreaders and more shrouds to the mast.  This will give it more stability.  It was pretty bendy without them.

With a cool flag on top.

Also this is what happened.

Things learned.

Rounds pegs in round holes spin.

I'm going to have to put a pin through the steel pipe of the mast step and the mast so it doesn't spin.

When the spreaders of the mast are perpendicular to the hull they work great.  When the mast spins they might as well not be up there.

Also I think I need a new lee board design.  They like to pull away from the hull when it gets up to speed.  That's not good.

One thing that is weird is when she's going fast she likes to hum.  I don't think that is a good thing.

I also learned to tack.

I think it will be ready by the time it's too cold to sail any more.

Always next summer I guess.

I laid down some primer on the pontoons and lee board supports, and varnished the cockpit combing.

The pontoons are going to be painted red.  I'm just using exterior paint.  Next year I'll break out the Interlux.  That stuff isn't cheap so I'll wait a year.

Also for the mast being bendy I have 3 ideas.

A square pipe down the mast.

Wooden dowel with a 3/8" steel round going down the middle of the dowel.

Beefing up the Port and Starboard stays.

I think I might do the square pipe with beefing up the stays.

That could be the lightest idea.

Beefing up will mean installing spreaders into the stays.

So I checked the epoxy work I did late last night and it was still tacky.

So I added more epoxy to fill in more holes I found on the top of the starboard pontoon.

It should dry faster outside today.  It's hot, sunny and breezy.

It's perfect for sailing.

Glad I get to work in my shed.

That was all that was done today.

I don't know when I'll be able to get out sailing again, but at least I won a fridge.

Tonight I made the lee board support water deflectors and fixed the starboard pontoon and made a flag pole.

Here are the pics

These will deflect the water underneath the support while sailing.  This way it won't splash up into the cockpit and should keep it more hydrodynamic.

Here is the starboard pontoon.  It looks like the water was coming out from under the piece of oak on the outboard side.  So I lined it with more epoxy.  It should be ready by morning.

Here is the flag pole.  It screws into the mast head and should give me a good indication of wind direction.

So that is that.  Now it's just sailing on the weekends and painting during the week.

I also have to sail it to find out what I needs alterations.

Life sucks doesn't it.

Yesterday was launch day.  Here are some pics.

All set up and ready to go.

I forgot to put the lee boards on.

Now it's all set up.

In the water. 

Heading out.

I had to paddle against the wind, so I could sail back.

Sailing.

Coming back.

Standing beside her.

Out on the lake.

On an angle.

The cleats on the starboard side are for the main sail.

Things learned in the maiden voyage are:

The mast likes to bend when the wind catches it.  A lot.

I'm thinking of putting in wooden dowels inside the mast with a piece of steel running in the middle of the dowels Not a thick piece though.

The water deflectors work great on the lee board supports, but I might add a piece on the bow side of them to help deflect some more.

Water is getting inside the starboard pontoon.  I think I know where so I'm going to have to fix that.

Right now it's in my living room drying out.

So that's about it.  I have some work to do tomorrow.  So I'll blog again then.

Tonight didn't take too long.

I have a system for wheeling around my kayak that I finally fixed.  The wooden axle broke so I replaced it with a thick piece of threaded steel rod.

Now it works like a charm.  Especially now that I can tie the ropes to the cleats.

Here is what it looks like by its self.

Here it is installed on the kayak.

Side view.

Sorry no video of it actually working.

I just lift up the aft end and roll it along.  It also can come apart and fit in the aft storage for use later in a portage or something like that.

All that is left to do is paint now.

That's not really exciting I know, but it needs to be done.

Getting close to launch day.

Tonight I worked on carrying supports for the mast for transport on my car and a cockpit cover while it is under the tarp.

I know, not very exciting, but essential.

Here is are the carrying supports.

Aft.

Forward.

And the cockpit cover.

Forward.

Aft.

With tarp, Aft.

This prevents rain water from puddling in the centre of the cockpit and will also prevent ice build up in the winter.  I'm thinking about adding a roof vent in the middle of it for air flow.  This would also mean I have to put a hole in the tarp, but I don't know if I want to do that or not.

Next project is to fix my wheels that I attach to it for one manned land movement.

This thing isn't exactly light, so wheels help.

All I have to do to the boat is add paint.  Pontoons, wings, and lee boards need it.  Not too overly concerned about that though since it's coated in epoxy.  More for looks.

Doing a launch on Sunday morning to test out the jib.  I'll bring the main sail too, but since I'm still learning how to sail it, one step at a time. 

So I've been working on the lee boards this week.

Here are the pics.

I fibre glassed each side to give it added stability while I'm going through the water.

Here they are complete and drying.

For the lee board supports on the side of the kayak I put covers on them.  If any water gets in it will drain out the side nearest the hull of the kayak.  I found water was splashing up in through the support and going right into the cockpit.  Not good.

I also made a plug to go into the mast step while in kayak mode and travelling.  This will prevent water from going down the pipe.

That is a compass in the back ground.  I haven't installed it yet.  I'm trying to find a good spot on the kayak to do it.

Next step is to paint the pontoons and lee boards.

I also have to get a wooden plug that broke off inside the mast.

I now have an aluminium replacement for the wooden plug.

It's all coming together.

Built a desk last night for the girlfriend, so I worked on the boat tonight.

Here is the little that I did.

I installed the traveller on the wing.  Ta Da.

I had to dye the 5/16 rod.  It sucked and was really hot and humid out.

There isn't much clearance between the traveller and the knobs that hold the wing to the kayak body itself.  (Which I forgot to take a picture of).  So I don't have any room to put a cover on the wing.

I didn't really want to put a cover on anyway.  I think It will have better airflow under sail this way as well.

So here is what's left to do.

Lee boards, and painting.  That's about it.

I'm also trying to win a new fridge.  Here is the link to the site and you can vote once every 24 hours.

Every vote could win you 5000 air miles points.

http://bit.ly/OwARYO

Thanks for your votes.

Haven't done much lately.  I'm off vacation and back to work, progress might be slower now.

So here is what has happened since the last blog.

I bent a steel rod and dyed it to bolt it onto the wing to make a traveller for the main sail.

This will let it swing over the cockpit faster to either hit me in the head harder or to tack faster.  Haven't figured that one out yet. 

Here I got a line going form the mast head to the end of the boom to hold up the boom while the sail is down.  Mostly so it's not lying over my body while I'm trying to kayak.

And I made a box for the battery to go in and to hold the charger.  This way it won't be falling over in my car on the way to the water.  There is also a small piece of plywood underneath the battery and charger.  It's a metal box.  Don't want to get it to de-charge.

So that's about it.  This week I'll be fibre glassing the lee boards, painting the pontoons and putting a sheet of plywood on the wing to cover it all up.  I want to make some crutches that will fit on the kayak and will hold the mast along it while it's on the roof of my car.

Just doing all the last details now.

I think it'll be ready just in time to store it away for winter.