Thread: Running Rigging for the Goat

MAM, I agree with Mik, she looks stunning on the water and the trim look right on!

Your comment about someone asking "Is it fiberglass" b/c the finish is so smooth raised the hackles on the back of my neck. I have few pet peeves. One BIG one is when people see a really fine paint job and see the glossy smooth surface and think it must be fiberglass. ARGGGHHHHHHHH. Why don't you move your eyes two inches inboard and see the clear finished WOOD sides!!!!! Are you blind, people!? People ask if one of my LAPSTRAKE dinghies is fiberglass. No it is not!!!!

Phew. I feel better now.

Anyway, looks awesome, MAM. Is it a semi or low gloss finish on the white. Interlux Perfection, right? Looks perfect.

I have a suggestion about the oars...take the diameter down near the blade right at the transition. Those oars don't need more than 1 1/2" going fore-aft and an 1 to 1-1/8" going vertically. Oval. The big diameter is oriented the way you need the wood to take the stress. The outboard weight of the oar diminishes. I'd need to see more blade shots, but they look beefy too. Keep the weight inboard.

Cheers,
Clint

The topsides and varnish are both Interlux Perfection...two very different animules, actually. The opaque Perfection (it's high gloss) requires some thinning and can be sprayed. The clear Perfection doesn't require thinning and is not supposed to be sprayed. Apparently the chemistry is similar so they call both Perfection.

My topsides fall short of perfection, though--I applied it outdoors without a cover and there are tiny bits of something in the final coat. You don't see them but you can feel them. I'll buff it sooner or later, probably right before I apply a third coat during the next off season. I wet-sanded the bottom with 1500 or 2000 grit just so it would slide through the water and that killed a little of the high gloss... a good thing IMO. It will be done to the topsides eventually.

Your boot looks mighty fine! An excellent build & paint job!

I am sure you are very proud of her and you must be looking forward to sailing her after this initial rowing splash.

Best regards, Joost

Thanks to all for the compliments. Greatly appreciated.

At the ramp yesterday I was thinking the "did you BUILD that?" question was a clue that the boat looks home-made--not professional--not from a mold. But that was just my natural paranoia at work , the conversations that followed clued me to the fact that "did you BUILD that?" really meant "I've never seen anything like that around here from Boston Whaler, or Luhrs, or Sea Ray or Catalina."

MIK has designed a classic in this Goat Island Skiff. She turns heads and will be turning more heads as the years go by.

Thanks, Michael Storer!

Here's a pic that shows the ramp:



The slope of the ramp is about average in my limited experience. I have seen ramps that are steeper (in Charleston) and shallower (at the lake where I used to sail the Dovekie). I suspect ramps here in Savannah have slopes that are dictated in large part by the tidal range--7-8 feet normally with 10-12 feet spring tides.

I bring this up as support for the contention that in most cases there is no reason to wet your trailers when launching a Goat. I asked my son to attend but I insisted that he stand by and let me do all of the work. It was convenient to have his assistance while I parked the car but that was optional.

Here the boat is looking very sleek...I wish I could say the same for the oarsman:

I'm rowing against a current of a knot or two--not really a problem bucking it but the time spent with the starboard side facing the camera was much greater than while rowing the other direction.



I'm barely working but you can see the smooth "wake" where we were a few seconds earlier.

Savannah's famous Bonaventure Cemetary is about a quarter mile away, just out of the picture to the right, on the far shore. There is a high bluff there and it's a short distance from there where you'll find our poet laureate's grave, marked with his name--Conrad Aiken--and the inscription he chose--"Cosmos Mariner, Destination Unknown." There is no traditional tombstone...Aiken wanted people to sit and stay awhile so his grave is marked by a granite bench with the inscription on the top..

MAM - your boat looks fantastic! Congratulations on a successful build and beautiful boat.

-Jamie

MAM,

The boat looks great, and you look like you're enjoying rowing it. Stylin'. The scary thing is how much you resemble (though you are clearly more handsome) another Notorious GIS (and PDR) Owner... shown here accepting his trophy after a day of cut-throat sailing:

Evil twins!

Dam D... Dave, how many twins do you need?

Shirt--check.

Grey hair--check.

A little thick around the middle--check!

But you and Thorne have a lot more facial hair than yours truly.

Triplets?

From last Saturday's outing on Lake Chabot in the SF Bay Area



Bob

There's no use trying to fool the masses, Bob and Dave. We're not twins and we're not triplets, we're just old farts and everyone knows OFs look (and smell) alike.

Originally Posted by Compass Project

...I have a suggestion about the oars...take the diameter down near the blade right at the transition. Those oars don't need more than 1 1/2" going fore-aft and an 1 to 1-1/8" going vertically. Oval. The big diameter is oriented the way you need the wood to take the stress. The outboard weight of the oar diminishes. I'd need to see more blade shots, but they look beefy too. Keep the weight inboard.

Cheers,
Clint

Thanks for the suggestion and numerical guidance, Clint. I knew mine were somewhat larger than your numbers but didn't know how much more until I measured this afternoon. Mine are very slightly oval, about 1 5/8 the smaller dimension and 1 13/16 the larger. I was just going to take them down for a better fit in the locks but your numbers give me some confidence that it will be OK to reduce the shafts along their entire length.

As a matter of fact this would be a perfect time to make some oar shaft sawdust!

Originally Posted by MiddleAgesMan

There's no use trying to fool the masses, Bob and Dave. We're not twins and we're not triplets, we're just old farts and everyone knows OFs look (and smell) alike.

Hey! Stink for yourself. I, myself, have been told on numerous occasions... by numerous friends, enemies, girls, and police officers... that I don't act a day over 13. So there - neener neener

What I want to know, though, is -- why is everyone trying to copy "my look"????