The World Through His Eyes...

This idea has been slowly building in the back of my mind.   We bought this boat to see the world, but what would really be valuable is to chronicle that journey through the eyes of an autistic young man and have him narrate the story as it unfolds.  That young man is our son, and at 17, he has been the most wonderful gift that could have been given to us.   

Chain Counter

Turned on the the windlass switch and marked the gypsy and the chain.  I let the chain out by 1 rotation of the gypsy and measured the result as 12 inches of chain.  SO the calibration of the chain counter will be based on this measurement.

America's Cup Cat Aeronautical Engineering

Try this for a great explanation of how these sails rudders and dagger Boards work

America's Cup

America's Cup racing boat digs the bow in as she turns.  This is astounding!!

Len's Sail Loft

Arriving at our home slip at Shelter Island Marina, we took down the staysail.  The sacrificial cover was in tatters at the head of the sail and was showing major damage across the entire leech, so it is time to redo it.   BUT....

1. The original sacrificial cover was just another layer of sailcloth - NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
2. Have ordered SUNBRELLA material from Sailrite along with a professional hot knife because I've got the REALLY BIG SAIL - THE GENOA next because its cheap sacrificial cover is showing it's time - x'ed as well and I'll be making lots and lots and lots of cuts to the rolled Sunbrella material and a good hot knife will seal the edges and protect the material from fraying.  
3. So how do we do this on a sailboat you might reasonably ask?  Well, the staysail is only 170 square feet and one can manage that inside the living space of a larger sailboat such as ours and do what you need to do with your trusty and amazing Sailrite Sewing Machine.  BUT....  the genoa is 495 square feet and "there ain't no way" as you might colloquially express it.  So enter....
4. Val - a dear friend and Executive Assistant to one of our VP's at the office - who has so kindly offered her garage, ping-pong table and two other folding tables to turn the garage into "LEN'S SAIL LOFT" complete with space for my Sailrite LZ1 Sewing Machine.  God bless you Val.  This makes a big job much easier and limits the hard part to taking down the sail and transporting it in a VW Jetta to the "Loft".   

Wireless Chain Counter

Just received my wireless chain counter components and instructions....

I used to build model airplanes without looking at the instruction sheet.  I don't think I'll be doing that this time around...

Attempted Sinking of Island Packet yacht...

News at 11:00

Packeteers Pack It On...