First splash - tryout rowing

I'm very happy with the dolly: I can actually move the boat around by myself, including bringing it uphill from the water over sand. 😊

After delivering the boat to the yard on Wednesday, I spent the rest of the day clearing out all of my tools and equipment from the shop.

I really wanted to see how she floats and handles, so yesterday, Thursday, Andrew and I each took her for a bit of a spin.

Andrew checks out the oars:

Having the transom clearing the water as above is exactly what is wanted in a boat, so that the water flows off smoothly and doesn't produce turbulent eddies as it goes around that corner.

 

Observing the mini-12 races:

I took the board off for the rowing trials.

Harassing the goslings:

Joking of course, silly! I meant observing the goslings.

Overall I'm very happy with the build. My only complaint at this point is that she's so tippy—which I expected, but hoped wouldn't be the case. I couldn't put all of my weight on the seat bench without feeling like she was going to start shipping water. Presumably that means that I won't have to be hiking out when the wind blows, which would be a good thing for sailing. And perhaps she'll endear herself to me more as a sailboat. The oars are definitely too short to be really powerful, but they'll be fine to get me home in a calm, which is mainly why they're there; no motor needed. 

First daylight

Bruce (on the mezzanine) and Vidas pause to let me take a picture:

Bruce was a pro, swung her down so nice and easy. Thanks, guys!

Tied down on Bruce's trailer with a piece of carpet under her:

My assigned spot in Cadboro Bay seemed to be taken by another boat, so Vladi and I parked her in what looked like an empty spot:

I might need to ship the rudder so others can get by.

Dolly & wheels

Bought some proper beach wheels:

And built a dolly to fit the boat:

Just made it up on the fly, all nice cedar boards, mahogany ply, epoxy, stainless screws, some Titebond III. The hole in the forward upright is for a line that will attach to the bow cleat on the boat. It has a coat of primer on it. The final coat will be grey Tremclad. The aluminum tube axle has cedar cores glued in so that the ends are solid.

 

The first iteration was built without the leeboard on the boat. Fortunately, I checked it with the leeboard in, and realized that the crosspiece on this side had to be extended an extra 4" so that the wheel is outside the board.