Color Me Red

Alabama don't care!

If it's possible to have a recurring theme after a single post, I'm a cheap bastard. Example: CLC sells the line kit for $249 plus S&H. The nice thing about buying from CLC, as always, is that much thought went into the scheme and lazy sailors like myself may have an easier time finding the right line to pull. I wouldn't have any of that.

So when I heard that West Marine was having a 75% off sale on lines, I ran down to see what was left. Truthfully, it was slim pickings. But, using the schedule posted on the CLC site, almost all the right widths were there, and all the right lengths. And if I have to use a 3/8" red line for my jibsheets instead of a 3/8" white line and save $50 doing it, well, paint me red all over. It might even look good with the tanbark sail I'm planning to get.

I did wind up having an interesting conversation as I was buying this. One of the lines needs to be 50' but the West Marine guy asked if that was really meters, since the first line of the schedule is in millimeters. I replied with 100% certainty that it was feet, because, number one, it's a 16' boat. Why would I need 150' for a halyard on a 16' boat? But the guy asked again, and I was less certain, so I called my trusty fellow Minnesota builder and his first statement was, "It's a 16' boat." Logic sucks, West Marine! My theory is that, since the lines were 75% off, he was trying to sell 3 times as much to break even.

This will eventually help take me to the Bahamas.

I should add, though, that it wasn't completely without thought. West Marine only sells New England line and the recommended brand is Samson. That means I wound up with StaSet vs. XLS. The West Marine guy assured me that they were comparable, especially if I'm not racing. I was convinced, though the alternative was adding $200 to my bill. Your mileage may vary on this raging debate. In addition to the rigging, I bought 80 feet of nice deck line (not included in the CLC kit, by the way) for basically cost.

I also picked up my boxes of epoxy from the new MAS (now known as Endurance Technologies), which relocated to South St. Paul from New Jersey not long ago. That meant it was $3 in gas instead of $220 for shipping and for that I'm forever grateful to the CLC guys for arranging the pick up.

Dylan deciding if this is edible. He can't read the "Corrosive" sticker on the large box, so I'm going to suggest yes.

I must have been a strange sight to the epoxy guys, having stopped by after work, still in my bank clothes and wearing a Yankees cap, amongst thousands of gallons of extremely flammable and corrosive chemicals. The warehouse manager brought the set of boxes right out to my waiting CRV and I was home in 15 minutes. I wish all service could be this awesome. For now, the boxes sit in my living room as I figure out what to do with them until I need them a few weeks from now.

In total, I spent $80 for all the line except the Warpspeed and the 2mm stuff for a savings of about $150. Add the $220 of shipping savings on the epoxy and $270 knocked off the kit price for "buying" at the Canoeopia boat show, I feel pretty good about being ahead ~$650 so far. The kit should be here in two weeks. I'm still nervous about the garage but no turning back now!

PocketShip, a.k.a. s/v TBD

I put an order in for PocketShip kit today from Chesapeake Light Craft. What is a PocketShip? A dream, really. A 16-foot, hopefully not-too-expensive dream. In reality, it's a small sailboat built from marine plywood, glue, and lots and lots of sanding. When finished, it is (theoretically) capable of sailing the 50 miles from Florida to the Bahamas and then cruising from island to island. Whether or not this skipper is (theoretically) capable of sailing the 50 miles is another question.

An important point to make, however, is that I'm not building this because I want a boat. I can have a 26' sailboat for half the price of the expected cost of build. I can have a 30' boat for a little less. You get the idea. I'm building it because I think there is simply nothing cooler than being able to sail and sleep on a boat built largely by my own hands.

How it arrives (pallet and epoxy) - not my photo

The trick, though, is to build it first. It will be a two year project in a small garage here in Minnesota. What better way to enjoy the land of 10,000 lakes than in your own boat? And once done, there's the Apostle Islands to explore, the St. Croix River, even the nooks and crannies of Lake Minnetonka. Minnesota is literally swimming in lakes! But it has to be built first.

At first, I planned to pick it up in Madison at the Canoeopia boat show and drive it back, to the Twin Cities, but Ed from CLC called me and outright said that would be "stupid" -- gotta love east coasters.

Anyway, he gave me the boat show price instead. And to boot, the company that makes MAS moved to South St. Paul from New Jersey! Just like me! So Ed arranged for me to pick up my epoxy right from the warehouse. Both efforts knocked off about $450. At that price, plywood vs. kit is comparable and after my ongoing escapades in making an imperfect router table, having a CNC machined kit raises the prospects for a successful build.

Unpacked from the pallet (not my photo)

However, Ed mentioned a backorder on the sapele for the transom, so they don't plan to ship until the second week of March. That'll give me just enough time to finish clearing out the garage and maybe it'll be just warm enough to start the keel build? Time will tell.

PocketShip sails around the Island of Brehat in France