Søren's project cont...

Søren Takes USA 114 Apart

I went to check up on Søren and borrow his gudgen templet and discovered he had tore apart the interior of USA 114. Apparently, he didn't mean to. He just got started and woke up realizing the mess he'd started. After getting the boat ready for the SF Cup we all figured he was done and would sell it. But never happy with the results until they meet Danish standards is his M.O.
New hatch hole cut, raised and ready for installation was as always well thought out.... More pictures to follow.

Rock of Wave Organ Collision Repair

The bottom of the keel took a beating. Phase 2 complete. The way the boats get put on the cradle we don't always have access to it to make repairs. Thankfully, we can hang the boat over the weekends for this sort of work.

Phase 2 of Aft Keel Fairing

Drillin' Holes in the Boat

So, somewhere along the line the rudders made in Denmark, now Germany, changed design and with the new design came the new style gudgens and a new location for the attachment points? Great. So, you either cut into your perfectly good new rudder or redrill two of the holes. After too much thought we opted to keep the lowest hole because it's below the water line and from that point the new rudder fits perfectly against the keel. The middle and top hole are easier to change and anything we do will be hardly seen when the rudder blocks the view so...
How to line up the holes? Well, once again I am humbled by the ever impressive talents of Søren Hansen. Of course he's had this problem before! Of course he's come up with a cleaver solution and for a six pack and awesome conversation he lent us his templet to line up and drill the holes. That was easy.

Thanks Søren.

It Curves to the Right?

I can't believe I never noticed this. It might explain our problems on port tack. We'll be sorting this out for sure.

So That's What Happened

There was that one time we were fending off Peter going downwind, cut it a little to close to the point where the wave organ is and we nailed that rock I thought was gone. We'll have to do a little grinding and filling here.

Rudder, Pintels and Gudgens

So, the new rudder doesn't match up exactly. With the bottom pintil lined up it fits above the keel, but the other two pintils are off by about an inch. Guys have been telling me I'll have to cut the rudder up to make it fit and I'm trying to figure out why I shouldn't just plug the top two gudgeon holes and redrill them to fit the way the rudders are made? Seems like the right path, so that and the rest of the keel work are next.

The Keel is Back on

Everything went according to plan. The new keelbolts are on and looks good. I even have the lift strap eyes on too so now i can hoist out... if i can find a lift that is capable. Now we go after the rust spots, fill, fair, prime and paint.

Keel Work Progress

Looks like we're almost ready to put her back together.

Old Men in Beaver Cabin Trying to go Fast

That's what the headline read on my trip to Sweden all those years ago. It was in Swedish, so that's what Bjorn told me it said. It was referring to our old fleet still competing after all these years with guys who were... Yeah, old. But the article went on to say that these old guys were no joke and if you think you're hot shit in whatever fleet you were in to go ahead and try to just jump in a folkboat and you will get your ass handed to you.

With all that said, this then is a picture of a folkboat building yard.

More Keel Droppin' Pictures

Droppin' the Keel

It's time...

... to drop the keel, really clean out the rust, rebed the keel, put in new keel bolts and really do a good job fairing the bottom. It makes sense now why we couldn't point with the top boats, look at all that drag! In retrospect, we had a great season with this liability of a keel. Somehow, with this shitty bottom we managed 2nd in everything and tied for 1st in the SF Cup. Obviously, the patchwork quick fixes didn't keep the rust at bay. No doubt this will be major work, but if I'm gonna keep this boat and maintain her resale value, this work has to be done. I'm not an expert at too many things, but I know when I'm over my head. If I had my father's knowledge, skill, tools, space, time and experience I'd take this task on myself. I have none of these things except for his observation skills. He was always talking about how things worked out for himself "partially by design." Over time, these words became for me, be observant. What it really means is pay attention to the details and look for things most overlook and when the opportunity presents itself be ready to capitalize on it. Then, you make it look like you're lucky when in fact you're really just good. Well, I've been watching Folkboats for decades now and I've listened to the stories and I've watched guys make mistakes. And all my fact gathering has lead me to the conclusion that this job would be best done by someone else, professionals, not me. I have too many things that take up all my time, things y'all might be familure with? You know; work, family. So, I've been planning for this inevitable event in this boat's life by planning ahead. It's also good to have a friend who owns a boatyard. Its way good to have a crew member who dives your bottom and works at the boatyard. And it's uber good that I've forged multiple relationships with the guys at the boatyard. From Brock to Tim the lift op, I believe I'm getting exactly what my folkboat needs at Svendsen's Boatyard. Is this a shameless plug? No. Do I think winter is the best time of year to have major work done to your boat at the yard? Yes. They aren't exactly super busy right now and that means the quality of their work should be at its best and that's part of my calculation in this move to get this done. Combine this with the new rudder, new jib and my regular crew making a serious commitment to win... I'm starting to like my chances this next season. Game on.