Boat Projects

Last year while we lived and sailed aboard Gypsy we found out what worked and what needed improving. Much of our car load of stuff was new gear for Gypsy. We now have two inflatable kayaks to go exploring in. They should be much easier to get into if we paddle out to a snorkeling spot. The hard dinghy does not work well for snorkeling. We also installed our new replacement anchor, a 45 pound Mantus. The 35 pounder went back into the locker. Several lines (ropes) on Gypsy that were getting old and worn got replaced. We have a new main sheet, main sail traveler control lines, spinnaker halyard, topping lift and the mainsail first reef line. I think we have figured out why the reef line was chafing. It was rubbing on the bolts sticking up through the boom bottom that hold the main sheet blocks. The reef line is now routed away from the bolt ends.

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Gypsy has a rigid boom vang. Its job is to hold the boom up and supply main sail control. Our vang was doing a very poor job of holding the boom up. We discovered we needed a new spring, which is now installed and the boom stays up much better.

We don’t like the sound of clinking dishes. Last year we stuffed pot holders and dish rags between glasses everytime we went out for a sail. This summer we made dividers. They ended up modular for flexibility. Nina also made dividers for the spice drawer.

Bill made a teak swim ladder before we left Portland in 2019. It was a good idea that did not work well in practice. Gypsy now has two stainless steel ladders. One is a folding swim ladder and the other is a short boarding ladder. They mount to the toe rail with fast pins and can be switched from side to side. Gypsy has wide boarding gates, so the ladders don’t have to get lowered to use the gate.

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We also made new tools to assemble our dinghy. The marlon (plastic) thru-hulls we use to bolt the dinghy halves together sometimes need more than fingers. Last year they got stuck a couple of times and our plastic and wood tools didn’t fare well. Bill made aluminum tools this summer at Becker Enterprises and had them anodized.

We have a couple more projects to do yet. Making a shade cover and modifying the main sail cover are the last of the big projects. Being a boat, however, means that there will always be something that needs to be done.