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Nice workWood work and finishing complete. Now to put her back togethet!
Very nice, those handrails look amazing. And you're going to like that small extra bit on the skeg, the Sailfish need all the help they can get to mitigate leeway. The bigger daggerboard, 1960 or newer, is definitely a must and I think you had that worked out already.
Any opinions? thinking 1/4 - 3/8"I'm thinking she needs a white pinstripe where it meets the natural wood
White or offr white, standard super sailfish sail, I haven't opened it up yet. Looked in the box, seemed ok.Pinstripe, sure, what color is the sail? We have Fire Red accents on ZIP.
I second the pinstripe... a bit more work, but it'll look sharp. Doesn't have to be white either, other colors would also look nice. You ever name the boats you bring back to life? Not in the traditional location on transom or stern, but in bold letters along the side, where all can read the name as the boat heels slightly? A name outlined in another color looks primo, check out "VOODOO CHILD" in that first link in Post #1 of my 'Laser Island Voyages' thread (photo is on the second page of the linked thread), that was a boat I was restoring for my young niece at the time. A boat should have a name, and if she doesn't have one, it's not bad luck to give her one, ya know? Changing a name, well, some believe THAT will bring bad luck, LOL.
Maybe you're simply restoring these boats to sell 'em? In which case you probably wouldn't bother with it, but if you're gonna sail this craft yourself, why NOT give her a name? Something to bring her even closer to your heart, and a way to identify with the boat... you see how Signal Charlie & Skipper name all their boats, it's a cool tradition. Not trying to wax sentimental here, but you're doing such a fine job of restoring these craft, it only seems fitting that each should be named. A small point of pride as well, almost like saying, "I BROUGHT THIS BOAT BACK TO LIFE, AND I GAVE HER THIS NAME." My Minifish was named "HEART OF DIXIE" after I restored her and converted her into a Confederate Gunboat... hull, sail & all.
She remained "HEART OF DIXIE" even after further conversion into a pirate ship, then a Z-Flex/Wild West craft with a Z-Flex skateboard logo on the port side of the main, four aces and two blazing crossed six-shooters on the starboard side, LOL. In each phase, that boat was filmed & photographed by countless tourists and locals while under way, folks ashore or aboard the cattleboats in San Diego Bay. [Cattleboats = harbor excursion craft & ferries.] Moi, I was the Master of Low Profile, dressed in baggy Cabela's pants, baggy white long-sleeved T-shirt, brimmed Henschel hat or ballcap, sunglasses & goon cord, gloves, booties, etc.---me own beloved & dear departed mum wouldn't have recognized me, and I let my BOAT do all the talkin', if ya catch my drift.
Anyway, I like seeing the progress you've made on each boat, there's a certain magic in bringing boats back to life... it's almost like therapy for hands who've been around for awhile. I see that same magic & dedication in others at this website: Breeze Bender, L&VW, Signal Charlie, et al, happily bringing boats back to life, even if that process can occasionally be a PITA. Meh, work is good for the soul, and so is the restoration of old boats... particularly old sailboats, LOL. If I ever hit the Big-Time, I'm gonna buy an old wooden schooner and totally bring her back to life, just so I can pull my usual routine and let the schooner do all the talking. Probably won't cross Zuniga Jetty like I did a thousand times with my Laser & Minifish... timing the crossing of the semi-submerged jetty with an old wooden schooner would be a different proposition, and a dangerous one, LOL.
I miss crossing the jetty on my way to patrol the beach in my home town, that was always an exciting adventure. Spooky too, seeing those dark and forbidding rocks below the surface, knowing that if ya didn't correctly time your crossing you'd rip the hull open like a friggin' sardine can, LOL. Might even get hurt or die, with a strong swell running and the rocks regularly exposed---what I call "showing their teeth." But a skipper could choose his moment and commit to the crossing... if conditions were dicey, I'd hold off and work my way close to the jetty, eyeballing each swell and trying to time my crossing so I had the max amount of water under my hull as I crossed, gliding over the submerged rocks with daggerboard halfway up. If conditions were REALLY DICEY, I'd simply sail round Zuniga Point, forgoing the crossing & adding time to my voyage, no worries. But those crossings were radical, LOL... good times in those days.
Enough rambling and thread-jacking, it's a Sunday morning after all... nice and quiet here, just the way I like it. Weather has eased a bit too, not so friggin' hot in double digits, that run of triple-digit weather was kind of early for late spring. Meh, high temps are part of the program here in warmer months, at least we don't have the miserable humidity at this elevation. BTW, going back to those Henschel hats I mentioned earlier, those make GREAT sailing hats, though I beefed up the cord on my Advantage Camo hat from Henschel. Best brimmed sailing hat I ever had, though I'd switch to a ballcap when the small craft warning hit. Had that Henschel hat for YEARS, until one gusty day on North Bay, the wind howling and the surface chop a regular maelstrom... a powerful gust whipped my hat from my head, cord and all, and even though I quickly pulled the 'Man Overboard' drill my hat had already sunk just far enough for me to lose it.
TO THIS DAY, I TELL FOLKS: "POSEIDON STOLE MY HENSCHEL HAT!!!"
LOL... that was a rough day on the bay, with strong wind and spring tide in opposition and the surface chop the worst I've ever seen it in that location, which is off NASNI (Naval Air Station, North Island) right in that area where winds descending from Point Loma hit the surface hard. Most experienced sailors know that when wind crosses a landmass like Pt. Loma (roughly 425' high), it takes awhile before that breeze drops back down to the surface, but when it does, LOOK OUT!!! Same goes for the mouths of those canyons on the Point, even in the lee of the Point the wind comes BARRELING out of those canyons like an express train... and woe to the skipper who isn't prepared for each gust, that skipper will be swimming in short order, LOL. Don't ask me how I know this... I've done my share of Mark Spitz action under the Point, that was just part of the learning curve back in the day. Okay, NOW I'm done thread-jacking, CHEERS!!!
P.S. Anyone who wants a decent brimmed hat for sailing or other outdoor adventures, you can find the Henschel Hat Company on the web... whenever I get around to buying another boat for these lakes in Arizona (and possibly my old stamping grounds in San Diego Bay & environs), I'm gonna order a Confederate Cavalry Officer's Hat from Henschel, just to make a statement, LOL. It'd go over well with these rednecks in the AZ boondocks, not so much with the libtards in Kalifornia, AYE? Of course, those Confederate hats have probably already been outlawed in Kalifornia... it'll be a "hate crime" to wear one, LOL. Wind up doing life in one of those privatized jails, don'tcha know? The hot new investment opportunity in Kalifornia: the privatized jail, pffffffft. Maybe I'd better wear an ANTIFA cap in Kalifornia, that way no cops will bother me, LOL. I'm outta here, and OP, KEEP UP THE GOOD RESTORATION WORK!!!