Tuesday, December 6, 2016

______________________ MARINERS DINGHY ? (12) ______________________

I have finished the inside of the dinghy with a 'two pot' marine paint system and it is now almost complete. I may install a couple of inspection ports in the the stern and bow buoyancy chambers which will allow access so that I can bolt on rudder gudgeons and mast support blocks. I will also be able to remove whatever clunks around in both chambers whenever the boat is turned 180 degrees.

It's only when I see a photograph such as this (above) that I realise how much progress has been made.

By installing a centre board and a sail I am transforming the dinghy from a simple yacht tender to a small boat in her own right. Should she continue to be called 'Mariners Dinghy' ? or should I give her a name ? ....... which reminds me; I have a list of names for the restored Starling dinghy, but to date I haven't given her a name - ye salt laden sea gods, that's almost as unlucky as sailing on Friday the 13th or forgetting to give the crew their rum ration!!

12 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Looking good Alden! Very good... got a rig for her? Enquiring minds await the first trial sail... :o)

Paul Mullings said...

Good work Alden

Dan Gurney said...

Well done, Alden. I'd give her a new name since she's got more to live for and more to offer you than simply being your "Mariner's Dinghy."

Alden Smith said...

Thanks Steve. Yes I am going to rig her with a gaff lugs'l similiar to the dinghy featured on Maxs Blog on Monday the fifth of September here:

http://bursledonblog.blogspot.co.nz/2016/09/not-quite-firefly.html

I will make the mast as long as the dinghy so that the whole outfit (mast, boom, gaff, sail) can be stowed inside the dinghy.

Alden Smith said...

Thanks Paul. It's been a labour of love really and I am now excited to see how she will perform. She is one of perhaps four builds or restorations I want to do before I take off to that big long spinnaker run in the sky.

Alden Smith said...

Thanks Dan, and good advice. I have given the task of naming her to my wife so I am looking forward to her suggestions. She might want to call it "Cantankerous Old Bastard" which would be a form of poetic justice - I await her deliberations with interest.

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Ahh... same kind of rig Dylan Winter is using on his duck punt.. or similar anyway. I think he uses an old Optimist rig- are they available in NZ and would it save you some cash?

Alden Smith said...

Steve, good idea, an old Optimist rig could probably be purchased but I think I would like a wooden mast which would be more in keeping with the dinghies more traditional look (despite the fiberglass hull) and I want to tweak the sail area to the largest I can get - the dinghy with all the additional wood work is now quite heavy and I will need all the horse power I can muster to get her to perform well.

Paul Mullings said...

Hi Alden, did you catch up with this?
https://www.facebook.com/chesapeakelightcraft/posts/10154778426777398:0
Cheers
Paul

Alden Smith said...

Hi Paul, thanks for the link - yes I took a look and saw the canoe yawl 'Autumn Leaves' featured in the Small Boat Advisor magazine - a boat which is still on my 'to do' list!

Delwyn said...

Happy Christmas my friend

I would have written to your email address however didn't know if it is operational since the spammers took it over...I still get spam from your address now and then....


So I hope you have a very happy time with family and much good cheer...many happy days...

Love Delwyn

Alden Smith said...

Hi Delwyn - long time no contact. Hope all is well with you and yours.

I am a bit alarmed to think that maybe my email account has been compromised and hacked - but Yahoo Xtra has been having a lot of problems, I will look into it, although the account still seems to be working ok.

Have a very merry Christmas and a great 2017 - Alden.