Cedar Key Small Boat Meet 2K26 Pt 2 of 3 . . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Clear, Blue skies. What a difference, a day makes!! 
My own humble boat, dwarfed by that monster 14-foot Catalina! 
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The pic that Dale saw on Facebook.
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(See my black rubber bungee cord, holding up the white rudder?!?) 

OK, pucker-time, Charles!!    Time to face the Gulf-side ramp for launching! 
It's an arduous ramp for a single-hander. 
You have to launch, quickly board the boat from the trailer, then motor around the ramp to a dock and tie off, using every fender you own, all while the on-coming waves beat your hull against the floating docks. 
Run quickly up the dock to your tow vehicle, drive off and park it and run back to the dock, untie and thread your way through fishing boats into the open bay and then raise your rig. 
Done it that way several times on Urchin except, I wasn't on Urchin, any more; I was on a MUCH smaller, lighter, boat. 
I had purposely built features on the SCAMP just for this particular ramp, such as a stainless steel rub strip under the nose and more stainless steel rub strips for the skegs.
I simply dragged the hull far enough up on the concrete, that any errant power boat loading wakes, would not let it drift off and calmly walked back to the truck and drove off, to park it. 
On my return, I pushed the hull far enough into the water to float, but then ground out again once under my weight, and hopped aboard.
Then I put the trolling motor in reverse and rocked the boat side to side a little, "walking" the hull back into deeper water, just like I do with kayaks, when launching from land.
Worked like a charm. 
After a decade of trepidation, I'm no longer afraid of that ramp. 

Got out into the bay and raised sails and started sailing and noticed the boat heeling a little more than I remembered. 
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DOHHH!!!! 
Wasn't at a dock to fill the ballast tank, now was I?!? 
Filled the ballast tank, with my bilge pump and then noticed my centerboard wasn't down.
Durn!!    I THOUGHT I fixed that!! 
Tried pushing down on it with the centerboard cover.
Didn't move.  Seemed to be jammed. 
Getting my head out of the cockpit, I suddenly realized I had drifted aground, while futzing with the water ballast and the centerboard was only doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Looked back at the rudder and saw the quick release clam cleat had also done what it was designed to do, on the rudder blade kick-up.
EVERYTHING aboard, was working correctly, except ME!! 
DOHHH!!!! 
Took the opportunity to practice tacking off a lee shore with the rudder blade up and only the skegs, for lateral resistance.
(Wasn't ABOUT to use the trolling motor, that close to oyster bars.) 
Worked reasonably well.

First good test of the tiller pilot; exulted in how well everything was working.  Almost like it had been BUILT that way!! 
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Very pleased with the rigging and how well the sail handles.
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And this was bit of a jolt: 
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Long-time readers of my posts, have seen the trope of: "Here she comes,  . . . . . .

 . . . . here she is, . . . . . .
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 . . . . and there she goes . . . . ."  Where other boats come up to me and then pass me by.
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Didn't happen this time;    was totally shocked that the SCAMP stayed right there with him!! 

Was so excited to go to the CKSBM, I had even popped for some new Sperries!! 
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Dropped the sail and motored in the last 100 feet, since I just don't know this boat well enough, yet. 
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I've always been struck, by the way boat builders seem to caress the boats they've built, when having their picture taken.
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Guy took a pic of me standing by the boat, right after I landed.
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And now, who's caressing a hull they built?!? 

The wind was light enough, that I raised the sail again for a pic, annnnnnd . . . . .  there it is:
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The mental image in my head, the one that had sustained me for the past 28 months, now standing there right before me in the flesh, or at least, standing there in the Okoume and epoxy, as it were.
Any guesses, as to the new smart phone home screen? 

But enough about me!! 
This guy is about as relaxed a sailor as I've ever seen, at a CKSBM weekend. 
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This Norseboat was zipping back and forth out there.
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And the Flying Scot finally got un-lashed enough, to make it to the island.
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He's shown here, trying to figure out how to sail off a lee shore.

Simple!!    Just walk it out past the sand bar and launch! 
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They're very egalitarian at the CKSBM and power boats are as welcome, as canoes or sailboats.
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This amazing little power boat was built at the Crystal River Boat Builders Works, a facility where guys can work on and build their boats.
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The most amazing thing, is that it is air-conditioned!! 
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I would say it's a cool little boat, but that would be redundant! 

Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

It can get very busy on a little ship!

[Timm R Oday25]

I will admit to casting an eye upon the powerboat . I like it .
The Norseboat have a timeless charm