Joe Dupere
09-30-2004, 12:08 PM
Which seemed to surprise pretty much everybody. Did anybody else feel really nervous when they launched their boat for the first time? It was quite a relief to see her floating with no leaks and no lists.
I started my Shellback at the end of April. I had been given the molds, strongback, stem, midship frame and transom pattern so in the words of one person I talked to, all I had to do was plank her and paint her. Yeah, right! I posted off and on over the summer about my progress, and on August 7th, we launched her when were at Rangely Lake in Maine for our vacation.
The week before we left, there was a thread here on Misc Boat Related about naming boats. Ian McColgin had some interesting thoughts on the subject and I took that into account whilst musing. As soon as we put it in the water though, the name came to me, and she became 'Hope'. The name is symbolic of what I wanted to get out of this experience and the direction I want to go with work and my life in the next few years.
Enough talk, here are the pictures:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p5701ccebf77e02b8b0c088de4256ca07/f6d26be4.jpg
This is your handsome reporter rigging the sail before the launch. Note the boat on the roof rack. This is not the best way to lug a Shellback around. It takes at least two people to get it on and off. Since then, I've taken the cap off of the truck and I just haul the boat in the bed. I can manage that by myself.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p4f7443f022e800e30009493f22c346cb/f6d26bf5.jpg
This is my lovely wife Kyle christening Hope. We had a bottle of Shipyard Ale for the ceremony. A libation was poured in the water for the old man of the lake, she and I had a sip, and then somebody drank the rest of it before I got to the end of the dock!!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pcd1adb479f30bcda17466e70891d3168/f6d26bef.jpg
And here she is.. Hope floats. As you can see there wasn't much wind, which was fine for the first trial. You can see that the tiller needs a bit of adjusting, as does the rig. I had to tweak things a bit over the next few days.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p7275189e2be2789f4860707585ff0e08/f6d26be6.jpg
Here I am with my older daughter Sarah at the tiller.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pbe735c5f5bf8cda419d077769282c237/f6d26be2.jpg
After going out with Sarah, here I am with my wife at the tiller. There's plenty of room for two adults.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pe8b0532c8a324d93fab3e84325a0b07a/f6d26bf0.jpg
This is a few days later. I took my youngest son and his friend out. Very overcast day with a stiff breeze and lots of gusts. It was a wet ride and the boys loved it. We went about 3 miles or so down the lake, around an island and back.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pc81c987ae1dca3750ab6c91e5bc8dd73/f6d26bec.jpg
And here we are approaching the dock. Ian's eyes look as big as saucers because we're about 10 feet from the dock and he was sure we were going to smash into it. About 4 feet out, I turned up into the wind and sweet as you please, she drifted right up to the dock without a scratch.
This has been a great adventure. I can't wait to start on my next boat.
Joe
I started my Shellback at the end of April. I had been given the molds, strongback, stem, midship frame and transom pattern so in the words of one person I talked to, all I had to do was plank her and paint her. Yeah, right! I posted off and on over the summer about my progress, and on August 7th, we launched her when were at Rangely Lake in Maine for our vacation.
The week before we left, there was a thread here on Misc Boat Related about naming boats. Ian McColgin had some interesting thoughts on the subject and I took that into account whilst musing. As soon as we put it in the water though, the name came to me, and she became 'Hope'. The name is symbolic of what I wanted to get out of this experience and the direction I want to go with work and my life in the next few years.
Enough talk, here are the pictures:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p5701ccebf77e02b8b0c088de4256ca07/f6d26be4.jpg
This is your handsome reporter rigging the sail before the launch. Note the boat on the roof rack. This is not the best way to lug a Shellback around. It takes at least two people to get it on and off. Since then, I've taken the cap off of the truck and I just haul the boat in the bed. I can manage that by myself.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p4f7443f022e800e30009493f22c346cb/f6d26bf5.jpg
This is my lovely wife Kyle christening Hope. We had a bottle of Shipyard Ale for the ceremony. A libation was poured in the water for the old man of the lake, she and I had a sip, and then somebody drank the rest of it before I got to the end of the dock!!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pcd1adb479f30bcda17466e70891d3168/f6d26bef.jpg
And here she is.. Hope floats. As you can see there wasn't much wind, which was fine for the first trial. You can see that the tiller needs a bit of adjusting, as does the rig. I had to tweak things a bit over the next few days.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p7275189e2be2789f4860707585ff0e08/f6d26be6.jpg
Here I am with my older daughter Sarah at the tiller.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pbe735c5f5bf8cda419d077769282c237/f6d26be2.jpg
After going out with Sarah, here I am with my wife at the tiller. There's plenty of room for two adults.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pe8b0532c8a324d93fab3e84325a0b07a/f6d26bf0.jpg
This is a few days later. I took my youngest son and his friend out. Very overcast day with a stiff breeze and lots of gusts. It was a wet ride and the boys loved it. We went about 3 miles or so down the lake, around an island and back.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pc81c987ae1dca3750ab6c91e5bc8dd73/f6d26bec.jpg
And here we are approaching the dock. Ian's eyes look as big as saucers because we're about 10 feet from the dock and he was sure we were going to smash into it. About 4 feet out, I turned up into the wind and sweet as you please, she drifted right up to the dock without a scratch.
This has been a great adventure. I can't wait to start on my next boat.
Joe