RACING TO THE START LINE

 The Notice of Race (NOR) is out and published. This is the exact requirements you and your boat, need to join the regatta. With this list in hand I could finish the build, and prepare for the race. Safety gear check, food check, spares check, paperwork to join the 5.80 one design fleet … uhhh, ok let’s get that done. Well first thing, my lead bulb was a little too heavy. I think what happened was, I kept all the keel weights separate (but within specifications) and now I have a little re-do. I removed the bulb, drilled a series of large holes to remove weight and reinstalled  the bulb.

Also I had built the boat to the letter of original specification. This called for “fluorescent color” on the house and observation pod. Now we are able to use “a high visibility” color. The original fluorescent paint had faded to white, I had the areas wrapped in vinyl (it came with a 3 year fade warranty).

before wrap

after wrap

Shipping has been a 100% up hill learning curve. No one seems to be able to help you. Finding a local “freight forwarder” (shipper) at your local port was not difficult. But finding a receiving freight forwarder in a country where you do not speak the language, or do not know a single person was tough. My local shipper does not have any offices or contacts in Portugal, 5.80 race control does not know of anyone. Somehow by emailing a friend of a friend of a friend, I made a random contact in Portugal. 

“Totalplan” is the freight forwarder I am using in Sines. (Sines, Portugal is where the container will be unloaded from the ship). Totalplan will clear the boats through customs and will overland truck the container to the shipyard in Lagos for vessel reassembly. I will highly recommend them … when I see how things turn out in the end. I really just wanted to pay someone to tell me what to do, or better yet do it for me. Turns out I have learned (against my will) a great deal about shipping, that I never wanted to learn.

The boats rolled easily into the container, using the dollies we built the boats on. Somehow we ended up with a "HC" container. "HC" might mean high ceiling. We did not need this but the extra height was nice for strapping the boats down, and moving around to wedge fenders on the hull sides and such (yes we put two boats in a 40 foot container and split the costs). Below are the boats in the warehouse and in the container. Fingers crossed we will be sailing soon.

Next stop PORTUGAL !

MAIDEN VOYAGE

I enlisted two sailing friends (thanks JACK J and RON R!) for the maiden voyage. The wind did not cooperate, blowing only a couple of knots. It did give us just enough breeze to sort out the sails and deck rigging. Fourteen months from opening the kit crate, I now have an ocean capable sailboat. After the maiden voyage, I now have a new list of to-do items to tend to, but I can now go sailing as a reward. The maiden voyage revealed a few short falls on my part: I seem to have forgotten any cleating system for the asymmetrical jibs, I never evened opened up the electronics manuals, the jib sheets were two feet too short, and the motor mount needs to travel up/down farther. These were all easy fixes. A few days later I sailed solo, and took the "hard on the wind" picture.

Maiden Voyage

Ron and Jack

Looking Up

Ghosting Along

Hard On The Wind (yes, the Pacific Ocean is just past that jetty)

MOTOR MOUNT

The electric outboard is on a custom high/low mount. It travels up and down on standard 25MM “Tee Track”, and uses standard 25MM cars. The best part is it comes off with no tools, and only sticks past the transom by 5MM (so it will fit in a shipping container, without having to unbolt anything). After real-life motoring, I had to make it travel both up and down a just little farther, and brought it inward toward the transom.

Epoxy backed holes

Low Mount (first try)

High Mount (first try)

Finished Mount, (Both Higher/Lower/Closer)