The AM Forum

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

The winds were supposed to be gusting to 30mph today with 75 degrees temps... perfect WX for sailing.  So Yaz and I got out the kayak,  homemade outriggers and sail and drove to the huge state owned reservoir. This is a beautiful place with no private property - you can land anywhere. Lots of little islands and coves. Boating is allowed.

The pics are in order of arriving and getting in the water.  The wind was brutal - the gusts hit 35 mph at times and almost flipped the kayak a few times, despite the outriggers. There were actually waves later in the day. We had the ride of our lives today.  We worked our way upwind for a mile and then zig zagged all the way back at breakneck speed.... ;D  Notice the pic of the outrigger starting to torpedo - it later fully submerged from the sail torque.   I got hit in the face by the boom rope and dropped my sunglasses to the bottom - gone. We were out for a good 8 hours today..

Looks like kayak wx is over for now - it's a wet sport. The canoe (dry) and sail will be used in Oct and Nov.  Hope any of you sailors get out before the good wx is gone.

73,

Tom, K1JJ

Yaz was barking orders in the back.  He moves freely from the back to the front for different views and action.  Yaz has fallen off only once - has great balance.

Notice the reasonably "tight" sail under wind - not that many flutters and folds.    Folds = inefficiency.   That's called a Crab Claw - a Polynesian design used for thousands of years cuz of its simplicity. It uses aluminum from an old 75M Yagi. Not too bad for a homemade sail, huh?   ;D

We landed on a few shores and islands and had lunch.  I paddle when I must - sail when I can. The sail adds at least X2+ to the kayak's range.

It was a bitch'in day!

Yargghhh! The life of a pireeet is sweeet, eh matey? Almost like the old times in this picture eh? I'll bet Yaz is much better company than Mr. Vu's babes.

Nice job on the Kayak rig.  i was sailing a rowboat I converted this summer up at camp.  Lee boards and a gaff rig with jib cut from Blue poly tarps & duct tape. Mast was a maple sapling about 10ft tall with PVC boom and gaff. The rest was scrap lumber from finishing the porch and a couple trips to the hardware store for real pulleys and some rope.

Ugly as sin but it would sail to windward!  and it was fun in a good breeze.

That's some of the best sailing.   35 Knots!   Hold on JJ!   I need a rig like that up at the camp.   I had an old plywood sailfish but the years (and some neglect) caught up with it.   Ed

Tom,

4X1 208 with the stick is priceless.  ;D

working at a yacht club at this time of year, transients on their way to points south sometimes require dockage for whatever reason, mostly weather related. One particular evening I was hailed on vhf from a vessel requesting a slip for the night. As I was tying up the boat I noticed the bow was oddly covered with lush green turf. Asking the captain about this, two springer spaniels appeared from the cockpit and the reason became apparent. Talk about dog friendly!
Just thought I'd Share.
Greg n1exi

 ;D ;D   Yep many boat owners take their dogs out here too. I see quite a few dogs on the water in kayaks and canoes.  

When I first wondered what type of boats to get, I had Yaz in mind. I RTV'd down  carpeting on all the major foot paths and ledges for him. It worked out well since he uses them and they grip well.


Rob:   Yep, looks like that young Tom Vu had VERY high maintainence babes on his boat. I wonder how many of them wud want to join Yaz and me on our kay-yacht?


Ed: Your sailing rowboat sounded like fun. There are a number of dingys out here that are similar. The blue tarp works FB. I used the silver stuff to make my canoe sails. They are very durable compared to the non-rip nylon sail material I use on the kayak.

Ed/XAW: I've always liked the Sunfish. It uses a lot of sail and even planes when it gets going. It's a great little sailboat for fun.

Derb:  Yep, Yaz is a retriver by breed. He will search and search until he finds that stick. Sometimes it will sink and I have to act like I'm leaving to get him to give up and swim back in...  ;D

Well, back to work. The high winds yesterday rotated  the top 40M Yagi to slightly vertical. Gotta make up some additional strut brackets and outfit all three beams before the 50mph++ winter winds come along. I under-estimated the twist. Thought I was done climbing for the season... sigh.

T