Thanks for all the help, especially Dale and Pete. Polaris is now back in the water. Not to say that there isn't a lot to do still, but she is floating. It was a perfect weekend, harbor seals in the harbor, bald eagles flying high cover and sunny skies.
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/daveanddella/F8D31A4B-FF8D-4843-A1C2-3916D949EAE2_zps0t8ltsiy.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/daveanddella/media/F8D31A4B-FF8D-4843-A1C2-3916D949EAE2_zps0t8ltsiy.jpg.html)
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/daveanddella/B47C6CCD-D6E1-4408-BF4C-4A7950FD615F_zpssvp1tabn.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/daveanddella/media/B47C6CCD-D6E1-4408-BF4C-4A7950FD615F_zpssvp1tabn.jpg.html)
D&D,
The boat looks great! But... what in the heck is that stuff in the background of the pictures? Doesn't look like sailing weather to me.
Dale
Dale, we call that Snow. As long as it stays on the mountains, that's ok. Btw, it hit 70 degrees on Saturday in the harbor. And there were sea lions in the harbor too. Having her in the water was a great Mother's Day present.
Had to load the chart for Point Erlington into my chart plotter. Looks like a challenging sail. 18 nm to Cape Resurrection at the bottom of Resurrection Bay. The wind must blow in your face the entire way. The tidal currents must be unreal at that latitude. Not a good time to loose a motor. Not sure if Dale realizes that most of that snow up there is glaciers. Get em while they last.
Two friends of mine go up there every summer from southern Cal. They left last month in a couple of trawlers. Jerry and Mac.
Looks like you got it done, Awesome. Pete
Pete, we got a lot done, but still a lot to do unfortunately, but the list is getting shorter, not longer.
You are right about the tidal "currents". Sometimes they are more like a really big wave. We call them "Bore Tides." Not so much in resurrection bay, although you always have a tide table with you. I took this picture on a flight last Thursday in our airplane from where we live in Chugiak Alaska to Seward, over what is known as Turnagain Arm. I can get there faster because going over the mountains is faster rather than around them.
It got it's name from Captain Cook, the British explorer, when he came to the Alaska coast in the late 1700's looking for the Northwest Passage. He was frustrated and had to "turn again" thus the name. This day the tidal swing was "only" 30.8 feet according to the tide table I picked up as a freebie at my bank. In the winter, they carry ice bergs with the wave. Pretty awesome power in that.
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/daveanddella/D8AA0CD3-54C2-42C3-9EC5-9A32970BDA47_zpsqh6isn7y.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/daveanddella/media/D8AA0CD3-54C2-42C3-9EC5-9A32970BDA47_zpsqh6isn7y.jpg.html)
I took it from 5000 feet flying over the arm. The arm is about two miles wide here. Brave surfers sometimes surf the wave that can get to 10 feet as the incoming tide hits the outgoing tide. Beluga whales hunt for salmon and other fish down there. Bald Eagles and brown bears also fish along the are and there are Dahl Sheep on the cliffs.
You do not see sailboats in Turnagain arm..........
Resurrection Bay however, is the first entry in "50 places to sail before you die" 8)
We finically got Polaris out of the harbor and got her sails up and drawing. Still a few things to sort out, but making progress.
(http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/daveanddella/C0CD113F-E162-438A-80E2-26C76799FEC8_zpsy4qve3qy.jpg) (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/daveanddella/media/C0CD113F-E162-438A-80E2-26C76799FEC8_zpsy4qve3qy.jpg.html)
Dave & Della,
Now that you have had some time to actually sail your boat, I was just wondering what your initial impressions were. What do you like, what wasn't as expected? What would you change, what will you strive to improve? Was all of the effort you put in so far worth the time and money? What would you do different and how? All and all would you recommend the boat to someone else that is looking at one and what advice would you give them?
Dale
Good question, but I think it would be easier to answer in a couple of months when we have had more time sailing her. So far, we have only had the opportunity to sail her the once. (Work trip to Oklahoma City as I write this) She handled a 22+ knot wind well with the 130% Genny furled in to about 110% and the main all the way up, and no mizzen. Nothing scary and handled well under sail, keeping in mind this is a real novice opinion. She felt heavier on the wheel than I was used to from dingy sailing, but that is what I would expect. Due to confidence issues mostly, we left the engine running the whole time, neophytes in a fjord with strong tides and all.
Docking is something I am still working on. It worked, but the keystone cops might have done a better job. The starboard prop walk in reverse is easy to understand, but a bit of a bear in practice. I didn't anticipate it well. My sailing class was on a Beneteau 32, which is a lot lighter, has different throttle and transmission controls, and port prop walk instead of starboard, so Polaris quite different from what I learned on, and that wasn't much experience anyway. Finding neutral is sort of by bear, mostly by ear.
Our knot meter needs calibration because of a new transducer, so I have no idea how fast she was going, but it seemed to be getting close to hull speed looking at the waves.
We need to get tell tails on the sails and stays so we can see the wind better. Inside the dodger and bimini with the gap between them closed up and the dingy on the foredeck visibility was less than ideal. The good thing is that this setup protect us from the weather pretty well, but that's also the drawback when you try to feel the wind. We have davits for the dingy and a helm seat that I think will help, plus I think the gap filler between the dodger and bimini is going to go while sailing. I'd like a bigger window in the bimini to be able to see the sails, it's only about 10 inches square. The sight line from the helm through the window to the windex goes through the radar, so I can't see it from the helm. I can see better forward sitting on the high side.
We still have a bunch of projects, fixing the sort of glow plug, an instrument wiring problem, reinstalling the helm seat, figuring out how to get a Saint Bernard down the companionway easily, etc...
It was a real rush and really cool to sail her for the first time though. Worth all the time and effort. Hoping to go sailing again Sunday, weather permitting.
I agree with Dave overall. I was on the helm through several gusts to 22 knots and she felt solid and handled very well. I really dislike the visibility with the full Bimini and dinghy forward. Being shorter than Dave, I found this to be a serious issue. I am planning on taking the Bimini down completely if it isn't actively pouring down rain. I like to see the sails!
Keeping the engine on was also a big negative, engines being the root of all evil and all. Plus that big red beast is loud and vibrates a lot. But we were nervous about restarting because of the glow plug issue. Life will be better once that is fixed!
Handling in reverse is definitely something to get used to.
Overall I agree with Dave that once we get the glow plug issues sorted and can actually sail without the beast running, all the work will be worth it. Of course, I've spent a lot less time in the lockers than Dave!
And we still need to figure out how to run the anchor windlass. And get the head and the fresh water system up and running.