Gone Fishing

I took my sun out fishing for a short while Sunday morning...   short, because it was less than pleasant... that is, it was freezing... low 40's & windy.  Did get a chance to cast a few times, but it wasn't much fun.  We'll try again in a week or two if it warms up.

A change of title

Yes, I've changed the title of this blog to include more than just boats.  Unfortunately, at certain times of the year I get away from boat building... and winter turns out to be one of those times.  I'll get back to it in a few months, but for now, the fever is off.


Instead, let's talk fishing, since the two are not mutually exclusive.

Last Sunday, I took my boy to the local Fishing Expo down at the fairgrounds.  He's been bugging me to take him fishing, so I figured I should get some gear.  Haven't been fishing for years... OK, decades, and while I was never into fishing as much as some people (for instance, my sister), I enjoyed it on occasion.  Also went an signed up for a fishing water (freshwater only).


Needless to say, I was unsurprised at my ability to spend close to $100 on tackle... and I didn't get much beyond the bare necessities.  Since I've no experience fishing the local water, we'll have to see if I guessed right as far as the types of lures and such goes.  Hoping to get out in a week or so on one of the local ponds.

Working on my sun burn

OK post isn't about my boat plans exactly...  I took my boy down to Bond Park for the little sailing class they offer.  We spent a few hours out on the water playing around on little sunfish.  The idea was to familiarize him (and re-familiarize myself) with small sailboat handling, preparing the way for the day that I actually get my boat in the water.  Lots of fun.

And yes, it has got me thinking about the boats in my future.  I'm thinking now to forgo building the Tango in favor of the smaller Glen-L 14 sloop.  No cabin, but plenty of seating.  It will fit in the garage, take less time, and overall cost about half as much (or less) than the Tango.  Still want to build the larger boat(s), but I can determine what, if any, later.  Come to think of it, this takes me back to my earlier plans.

Considerations

I posted my thoughts on shortening the Tango a foot on the Glen-L forum, and only received one response, that recommended against it.  I did an engineering analysis (regarding balancing the boat) and concluded that I could shorten the boat by chopping a foot off the back, where it wasn't in the water anyway (I'd have to mount the rudder on some sort of post so it would provide the same leverage as before).  However....

On second (or is it third?) thought, it really is probably better NOT to mess with a successful design.  So I am left with the conundrum of how to fit an 18'-6" boat into an 18'-0" space.   I thought about it a bit, and concluded that the boat only needs to have the 18'-6" while the hull is upside down.  Once the boat is righted, the bow could overhang the workbench I mentioned (yes, I'd have to build the supporting cradle a little higher than I otherwise would, but this was entirely doable).  For those months (about 10 by my estimate) that I needed the extra space, I could use the other side of the garage (the one my wife usually parks in), and let her park on the shortened side.  Since she drives a Toyota Echo, the length doesn't matter to her.  The only time when I would need BOTH sides of the garage  would be a very short (< 2 weeks) period while I actually shifted the completed hull onto the cradle.

Of course, this is still not an ideal solution. HER side has a freezer that will have to be moved.  Putting a boat there will also make getting to the door to the house a pain.  But it is doable, and that's what its all about.

As far as the 8Ball build goes... delay delay delay.  Money and Time.  I've just about finished off the various work on my honey-do list (see my House blog), but the bank account needs a break.  I figure I can buy a couple of sheets of marine plywood in August (19th?), by which time I should also have the garage cleaned up (see House blog re: Shed).

Maybe not quite THAT big...

Ok, I remeasured the garage. 

The total length of the garage is almost exactly 20'.  Width isn't a consideration, but if I take up too much such that my wife can't park her car inside, it is a non-starter.  Unfortunately, earlier this year I built a really nice work bench on my side, shortening the usable length by 2'.  So any build can be no longer that 18'.

This doesn't preclude building a Tango.  I will just have to modify the build to make the hull length shorter than 18'.  I'll just shorten the build by 1' (17' - 6").  This is easily within the 10% allowable.  It won't affect the boat much... and the difference will mostly come out of the cockpit.  Cabin space should be unaffected.

Getting Antsy... Gotta Go Bigger

I'm getting frustrated having to wait to resume working on my sailing dingy (8-ball).  I started thinking (again) about what I'll be doing next year, and I (once again) changed my mind as to my next boat.

Last time I posted, I was planning to move on to the 15' Glen-L Minuet, which would easily fit in my garage, with plenty of space to work.  The only problem is that it would easily fit in the garage, and didn't really have enough room for me inside.  The ideal solution would be to move onto a boat like the 36' Glen-L Delphine, like I still hope to tackle some day... but as I've mentioned before... that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

So instead, I'm thinking that I should go back to my ORIGINAL idea, and build a 18½' Glen-L Tango.  Yes, it will still fit in the garage... barely.  I will have to evict my wife's car to the other side (the side shortened by 2 feet by my tool bench)  for part of the build, and I'll have to rig up a larger rolling platform to drag the beast outside any time I actually want to work on it.  The advantage is that there is actually room inside the cabin.... an extra 11" of headroom over the Minuet, and a similar increase in beam and cabin length.  Plus, this thing will be quite a bit more sea worthy, in case I ever decide to take it out to the coast.  The fact that it provides an extra 600# of displacement (call it 400# of usable load) is a bonus.  Sure, the price tag is another $4 - $5 K, but I should be able to live with that, since the build time is similar (~3 years).

Either way, it will be 9 months or so before I would be ordering plans.  Stay tuned as I birth this idea.

Tic Tic Tic...

Two weeks before I can start back on the boat.

As you will read (if you follow my other blogs), I am almost done with my other summer projects.  In 14 days (next payday), I will have no excuse not to run down to the lumber yard and buy two pieces of marine plywood.  Actual construction time for the 8Ball should run me about two months.