Gone to a Better Place

Well, I sold my boat. It was an amazing boat to sail, but not what I needed. I am no racer and want to be able to go out with more than one of my kids at a time. So, I sold the Fireball to a nice guy on Lake Erie, where I am sure he will have a blast.

Me. I bought a 1981 Albacore. Quite a deal, too. I bought it for less than 1/2 of what I got for the Fireball. And I am used to Albacores. They claim 4 people on an Albacore... It seems a bit cramped, but I will try.

So ends this blog.

Oh, what fun it is to ride...

Well, my son and I have been out many times on the boat. It is great fun and handles extremely well, even in high waves. It is somewhat cramped, but fun... Fun...FUN! One problem I have come to realize regarding this blog is that I do not own a waterproof camera, so I can't do pictures. Seems a shame, because it would add a great deal to my comments.

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.
Chinese Proverb

I had a call tonight from a gentlemen who found my rudder and saw one of my 'Lost' signs. I have my rudder back... There are too many good people in the world to stay cynical.

Disaster! Heartbreak!

Well, I have really done it! It seems on our first sail, I drove away without the rudder! I didn't know it until this Tuesday when we went to go sailing and couldn't find it. I have been distraught for two days.... Well, not distraught, but certainly cheesed off at myself. I am now finding out as much as I can about the construction of rudders, because laying out over $500 for a new one just isn't happening!

Loads of Work! And Our First Sail!

We spent an entire day on the hull. It was filthy and needed a lot of attention. No holes or patch work was needed at all, but it was in dire need of cleaning and waxing. Brown grime covered the bottom and it was ground in. Also, one of Elvstrom bailers needed some real work. I took it apart and it seems fine now.

After some serious elbow grease, the boat is much more shiny!

On another day, the trailer got its lights and is ready to roll!

On the same day, the mast and boom get rigged for the first time as a test!

This Tuesday, the boat was loaded on the trailer and hitched up to the old family bus. Off we went to the lake!

After a bit of a struggle getting the trailer in the water, the boat was rigged and in the water. It was time to sail!

Off we sailed...

Well, off we paddled and sailed. There was almost no wind that day. Look at the water... As smooth as glass! We sat on the lee of the boat most of the time to try and get some shape into the sails. Once out the boat launch area, we found the slightest breeze. But it was very slight. we were the only sailboat on the water the whole time! We puttered back and forth on the harbour for a while, but the wind did not pick up. So, we went back in. The first launch was an 'inauspicious' success. We were successful in getting the boat launched and sailed, however, it was soooo slow, it took a lot of the fun out of it.

A Pretty Boat

Well, the hardest work is now done. The deck has been sanded, stained and varnished. At present, it has four coats of Behr Super Spar varnish, but I will do one more once I have turned the boat over to wash and wax the hull completely.

Now, I need to consider where to set the hardware to set-up the boat for use. Right now, there isn't much on hte boat, but as you may have seen in an earlier post, I have a great deal of hardware to work with. Now, the boat has a wooden thwart. Its original and all I did was give it a light sand, leaving many flaws from over the years. It got a coat of stain and then varnish. I felt it would be best to leave at least one thing from the original deck. Toward the fore of the cockpit, near where I will secure the mast, there are two wooden pieces that seem to act as some sort of reinforcement for the hull. I have sanded, stained and varnished these as well. If you look at the photo on the right, you will see the wood piece clearly. You will also see a tube that leads under the foredeck. I don't know why that is there. It look like it would have been attached to a white fibreglass piece I have. (See photo below). It would have come out of the foredeck on the original deck. I have seen pictures of this on old Fireballs. I just can't see the purpose, other than to let water pour into the cockpit! Or as some sort of odd, open-air head.... Maybe someone can enlighten me.

What The Heck Is That?

I am introducing a great new game, called "What The Heck Is That?" The rules are very simple:

1. Look at the photos below carefully.

2. Identify as many of the parts as you can.

3. Send me a response, giving me you answers.

The prize is the great satisfaction you will get at helping me identify the parts of my sailboat.


The reason for this game is that my boat was disassembled when I got it. All the items you see above were in a box that came with the boat. As I have said, the guy who had the baot before me had no idea of how to sail, let alone how to assemble the boat. I know how to sail, but this set-up is much different from what I am used to working with. Now the owner before him, who was the one that constructed the new deck, had owned the boat for a long time. He rebuilt the deck, but never finished the project. These pieces were removed from the boat prior to the rebuild, with some of the peices labelled. but you can tell he labelled them for his own reference. For instance, the item I have labelled 'C' has masking tape that says 'Port Aft'. Obviously, he knew where this went, but wanted to distinguish it from the item labelled 'D', which says 'Port Fore'. Now, lining up the holes on these itmes and holeson the thwart, I am assuming they go on the thwart for some reason. But I can't see their purpose.


Others are more obvious, such as the items labelled 'I' & 'J', which are for the jib sheets. However, even with items like this, I can't determine the best area to place them on the boat. I went back to my old sailing club and took pictures of the old Albacores I used to sail. They were not set-up for racing, as the club is primarily for recreation and learning. A few pictures of these boats is posted below.

I am going to post pictures of the boat very soon as I have completed most of the sanding, staining and varnishing. Now I need to figure out the rigging. I intend to use this for recreational sailing, not racing. So, I want only the most basic rigging I can get away with. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

My New Toy!

Well, here it is.... My new toy. Or, should I say, my newest toy.

It was an odd journey to owning this boat. I have purchased a motorcycle to fix up, but for various reasons, I got rid of it. I found someone wanting to trade this boat for my motorcycle, so I jumped at the chance. I have sailed in the past, bit never owned a boat. I have belonged to the Hamilton Bay Sailing Club, which keeps a fleet of Albacores for its members to sail. The Albacore is a stable dinghy, great for learning. owever, the one limitation to belonging is that I could not sail with my children. For insurance reasons, the club did not allow children to sail. So, in the end I stopped belonging.

This Fireball is very different from an Albacore. It is smaller, slimmer... Sleek is the best word for it. I am sure it will be very fast, but am a little concerned about its stability, especially compared to the Albacore.

My boat's number is 4350. It was originally built in the mid-1970's. Overall, the baot is in good shape. The hull is sound, with no cracks or even sings of patching over the years. The sails are not ripped or frayed, although they are no longer in racing shape. They are good enough for recreational sailing, which is all I am interested in doing. The rudder and centreboard are in great shape. The deck was replaced a few years ago, but was never properly finished. So, I madde that my first task to complete.

So, I spent the day sanding the boat. The wood is in great shape! It will turn out great once it is stained and sealed.

And it will need a lot of cleaning. It was left outside, uncovered. When I got it, it was full of leaves!

Once she is ready, she will be a beauty!

Stay tuned for more!