Thread: GIS Build in New Jersey, USA

Congratulations on the successful sea trials! Your boat is looking mighty fine.

When disaster strikes (your yard holing the front deck), there is only one thing to do after some swearing (and perhaps a dose of some strong alcoholic beverage): repairing it in a constructive way. An additional inspection port will look okay and be convenient as well.

I also wonder why you are trailering your boat upside down... Right side up allows you to rig the boat completely on shore before launching.

Joost

Congratulations!!

Feels good, don't it? Even unfinished, the boat wants to be wet. It's like she knows what she was made for and is positively straining to get in the water. I'm glad you were able to make her happy before the end of the season.

(Dirty secret: I STILL don't have hiking straps. I'd always rather be sailing than screwing around with the boat in the garage. So the webbing and hardware I bought have been on my workbench for almost a year now. Going sailing with the boat 70% done truly is better than thinking about someday going sailing with her 100% done, assuming a boat is ever really "done".)

She does look lovely and your sail looks great.

Have fun with her!

Thanks for the compliments and thanks to everyone for the great support.

The upside down trailering was chosen for long-haul trips. This particular journey is 230 mi./370 km, or about 4 hours of highway driving. This set up is also very likely to be how she stores in her off time. I have no place to "hide" the trailer--or the boat for that matter--so she will likely spend most of her time on the trailer upside down in front of my house or at some rented storage lot when my wife puts her foot down. I may stitch or tape up a tarp/Tyvek cover to fit.

But I do intend to trailer the boat upright on sailing days when the distance is local and time at the ramp short. The lateral bunks will get notches to fit the hull bottom. My ultimate goal is to have spar storage tubes/boxes/slots incorporated beneath/between the two bunks. Those will have to allow for flooding and draining during launch operations but could potentially stiffen up the whole trailer structure. There are other trailer tweaks I've identified.

I am SO happy with how she came out and I look forward to making progress on the remaining 30%. My goal--and it's only a goal at this point--is to have her on display at the Woodenboat Show in Mystic Connecticut next summer. And to get her salty in the greater New York Harbor/Jersey Shore vicinity. And to gather with other Goats somewhere on the Eastern seaboard in the fall. And to give my kids a way to better enjoy Lake St. Catherine. Et cetera...

To anyone in progress with building, or at the beginning, or still on the fence I say: WOO HOO!!! DO IT! BUILD A GOAT!

Originally Posted by davlafont

...My goal--and it's only a goal at this point--is to have her on display at the Woodenboat Show in Mystic Connecticut next summer....

Um, this is NOT OPTIONAL. The lack of Goats at the 2012 show was a serious problem. If you can't get the time off, just get her to the show somehow and we'll put together a roster of other Goat owners to stay with her and show her off. She belongs there.

Huge Congrats Dave! She's looking great even at thumbnail size .

Congratulations, Dave! Army Brat (aka something else) looks great.

I'll have to plan an East Coast trip to see all those Goats in the NE.

I swear my heart rate increased looking at your launching photos.

Howdy,

I disappear for 12 1/2 minutes and look what happens!

Very exciting Dave - and CONGRATULATIONS!

MIK

Originally Posted by warm beer

I swear my heart rate increased looking at your launching photos.

Mine, too, but it settled down once I saw they remembered to turn the hull right-side up.

Congratulations!

Hi Dave, she looks great, and I can't see the hole at all. The first sail of your creation is such a thrill. I only just read of your small disaster. Why did the camcleat for the halyard let go? You don't want this to happen while sailing. Did the halyard pull out? If so, do you know why? Would a fairlead above the cleat prevent that? Or was the cam cleat defective? I use a regular horn cleat on the mast for the halyard. It never lets go. I don't have to get it really tight as that is done after cleating, with the downhaul.
Peter

Originally Posted by Glug

Hi Dave, she looks great, and I can't see the hole at all. The first sail of your creation is such a thrill. I only just read of your small disaster. Why did the camcleat for the halyard let go? You don't want this to happen while sailing. Did the halyard pull out? If so, do you know why? Would a fairlead above the cleat prevent that? Or was the cam cleat defective? I use a regular horn cleat on the mast for the halyard. It never lets go. I don't have to get it really tight as that is done after cleating, with the downhaul.
Peter

I'm pretty sure I know why. I have the halyard come down to the deck along the aft face of the mast then through a deck block and aft to the center board case. (My downhaul routes there too but with removable tackle). My cam cleats are installed at the leading edge of the case, where I created a "hammerhead" mounting surface (for lack of a better term).

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The case and cleats are lower than the deck block but I didn't angle the cleats to match the line. The small upward force is causing the line to slip out of the top of the cleat. It happened underway during my trial, so I wrapped the line around the hammerhead and that worked. Then the downhaul did the same thing. I'll be fabricating an angle mount for the cleats sometime this winter.

I give you the sailing vessel, Chivita!

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Chivita is Spanish for the small pointy beard known in English as a Goatee.

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There's more narrative on my blog. I'll be hanging a video on YouTube shortly.

Man, I am one cranky​ son of a goat.

YOU WIN!!! OH DAVE, this is awesome! Holy baloney I totally dig! Now, we absolutely must go sailing together.