Oktoberworkfest.

What’s happening ? autumn 2023.

I had to go and have a quick read of the list of jobs written up on the inside of the shed door – not only to see which jobs i’d crossed off as being completed but also to see what was on the shopping list of materials needed for the autumn round of jobs. Following September’s post the jobs and shopping list now include a new waterproof torch to replace my lost one, a new folding knife – and I would really like a new Fjallkniven U2. Ok so those are almost luxury ‘toys’ although essential on a boat so at the low/normal end of the shopping list is a replacement box of Nitrile gloves, a box of mixing sticks and some disposable epoxy brushes – really pushing the boat out as you can see.

So….the new bowsprit is made and although epoxy coated hasn’t been primed, painted or got it’s fixtures and fittings back on : it has been on and off the bow though because iv’e also been raising and lowering the mainmast several times. Smaller but essential jobs in the workshop at the same time included making a raised rowing seat and a taller mast support crutch for when I am rowing with the mast down (reduces windage) or am using the mast as a ridge pole for the boat tent….not finished yet but being experimented with.

Moveable rowing seat plus comfy bum-pad and drop-in stretcher. With any luck, having my body at the right height for rowing plus having my feet braced should allow for more powerful rowing as and when I need to. In this photograph I haven’t shown that the central compartment cover was also briefly off , during which I added one more Granite block to the ballast – eventually (some time this winter) the Granite will come out and be replaced by a pair of batteries.

For the record.

When I started the Pathfinder project I thought I would get the whole job done in one year by treating it as a full time job. Then, when it rolled into year two with only a hull to show for it I was pretty sure it would be all complete by the end of that year. Then of course it turned into year three and I was really sure that it would be both done and that I would be out there, right now, sailing around some part of the UK coast : of course,where I actually am is planning out the work for the winter of year three.

For the record the boat is about 95% complete in terms of jobs but only perhaps 90% done in terms of cost because all of the parts I need now are the most expensive ones (except for the trailer). With a big push of work and a fair amount of hard cash thrown at the job I could be ready (again) for sailing sea trials but only if I sail the boat as a sloop and not do the longer and more expensive conversion to a yawl with a decent motor and boat tent. Right now I think that it is reasonable to put project boat 2 aside (‘Holy Scow’) and concentrate both working time and budget on completing the Pathfinder to expedition sailing standard.*

Completion 1…..sailaway standard. So, I have three stages of ‘completion’ in mind although, as I am want to say, “boats are never finished”….the first stage of completion is that of being able to sail the boat as a sloop and crucially being able to hoist, hand and reef quickly and positively. The first and most current part of this stage has been me making a new bowsprit – as soon as I have a spare pair of hands the new one will get bolted back in which will allow me to get the mainmast back up again and also allow for version two of my cockpit deployed anchoring set up.

Sailaway standard does also require an outboard motor – which represents a fair chunk of the finishing budget but also needs a boat tent….less expense as i’ll only be buying fabric but does require me to do a lot of actual work.

Where I got to with the mainsail not quite fitted : the new bowsprit and it’s further forward tack is partly due to the mainsail luff being further aft than it should be,

Completion mark 2….would be the completion of rig conversion from sloop to yawl and quite a bit of the work is already done as I initially built and fitted out the hull with a different form of yawl rig in mind. Right now (as of today) I finished fettling and finishing the holes through the aft deck and aft compartment such that my length of alloy tube slides through both but still sticks in the mast foot base inside the aft compartment. The boomkin is already made and has been in and out several times but is currently out of the boat and it’s transom hole covered with a cover plate which has part of the boat’s name painted on……if I take it off I lose a little nit of my **CK !. What this job needs is the alloy tube to go off for some kind of coating and for me to make top and bottom plugs. If anything the tube is a touch heavy because it’s all 3mm thick rather than being 1.5mm with a sleeved bottom end – i’m a bit wary of thin wall alloy tubes for unsupported masts having broken one on my last boat. I do still have in mind making a more flexible wooden mizzen mast but not in birdsmouth style ; if I go ahead with that it’s more likely to be later on in the winter.

Older picture with the boomkin slot open and no boat name.

Not very exciting I know but that’s my ‘placeholder’ mizzen tube fitted : just to add that getting all three ‘bores’ lined up and the mast at a reasonable angle was a whole work ‘session’.

And another thing…..

Apropos of nothing in particular (it’s odd but iv’e never used the term in a post before but hey !). Anyway, i’m not sure what’s going on with my video channel stats right now ; not so much this one which is obviously dropping as I have stopped posting several times every week….but my fledgling Youtube channel. I really don’t get it because iv’e now had a 2 week spike in my views despite not having put out a new video segment for over a month. With the work that iv’e been doing I did remember to get some film clips of the actual work and even tried some ‘chat’ but nothing was interesting enough to base a video around – there being only so much of workshop tidying and me measuring things that can sustain interest.

And so….Oktober. I admit that my enthusiasm for anything boat related is at a pretty low ebb and i fact i’m a long way behind on the outside (garden) work because it’s been such a wet September. Although I used to be a year-round sailor along Maurice Griffiths lines it’s a bit different with a small boat that has neither cabin or Pansy stove so I think iv’e missed my chance for sailing sea trials this year. For me that means another year slips past with no sailing and equally no time spent out on the water other than one bruising trip. Have I reached a natural end with this ?…I don’t know : meanwhile I continue with the work because it would be better to have the boat as a finished thing and that will make it easier to sell one day.