1st time out - Lessons Learned

I've had the boat out from under the carport and had it in the water a couple times over the last two weeks.  Getting it ready to actually sail has been a challenge.  If you are smart, you will piece togther your boat, to include putting up the sails BEFORE you get anywhere close to the water.  I can't tell you of how many clips, pins, cords, lines, snaps, bolts, and other pieces-parts I had to come up with the day before I was scheduled to take her out the first time.

From a boat-restorer's point of view, here are a few things I've learned from my first times out on the water:

1) If you have a bolt going through the hull at any point close to the waterline, assume you did a crappy job of installing it.  You are likely going to have to get to it again, very quickly.  I thought I had that aspect of this boat so well taken care of that I managed to seal over a keel bolt in my arrogance.  True, I could see the bolt, but that was as far as it went.  As soon as I got it off the trailer and in the water, I had to immediately put it back on the trailer when a rubber washer failed.  The pannel over the winch, something I carefully built out of cypress, had to be chiseled off while sitting on the ramp.  I ended up splitting it in two in order to get at the bolt behind it.  So much for that four hours of work.

2) Think ahead in respect to how the sails are packed and just how it all connects up.  We got out into the bay with 15-20 knot winds (I sailed in worse before).  As my 1st mate kept the boat into the wind, I realized I had the main and jib rolled up vs folded.  I had to unroll it and then manhandle it onto the deck, only then to figure out what else I had not thought of.  I lost my hold on the main halliard and spent 15 minutes standing on the rail trying to catch it again.

Also there was the challenge of keeping the pigtail in place. once I connect the boom to the rear stay via a pig-tail that clamped on to the stay, it promptly slid down until it was useless.  Lesson here: double check your connections for reliability.

3) Check and recheck you motor.  Mine quit on the way out from the launch on my 2nd time out.  It was something minor but it took me hours to figure it out. 

4) Tie it down.  If its not tied down, it will go flying or rolling, depending on how quickly you turn.  I left the dock with an interior that was fairly neat.  When we got back, it looked like an egg-beater had been at work.

5) Pumps - Make sure your bildge pump works and that water can get to it easily.  I negelcted to punch one hole through a bulkhead.  As such, I found myself pumping water out of the boat with a hand pump.  My bidge pump never got wet.  And you may think it silly, but buy a NICE emergency pump.  Mine was worth the extra money.

6) Pin it!  - If it can shake apart it will.  I lost a turn-bucket off the forward shrowd.  I had neglected to put pins in to keep it from spinning and it spun completely off.  I had a spare, but it was still an annoying lesson. 

7) Keep some plugs handy.  Each and every through-hull could pop loose from whatever connector is holding the sea at bay.  You should have a plug tied to a line/taped to an adjoining hull next to every through hull.  Water blasting in through a broken fitting is not a good time to try and find a correctly fitting plug someplace in your spare parts bin.

8)  Everyone complains about balencing the boat.  My interior is nowhere near completed and I should have had a problem of it leaning to port.  I could not feel any issues with balence.  Maybe a proficient sailer will have a different take.