Father's Day Sail on Crescent Lake . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

My son Chris, invited me to go sailing with him at Crescent Lake, on our respective boats, for Father's Day.
First look at the ramp, gave me a little pause for thought:
Why are Turkey Buzzards hanging out at THIS ramp?!?!? 
What do THEY know, that I don't?!?!? 
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Ah, well.  Easily startled.
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Wife supervising and making sure her son and husband are removing the tie-downs properly. 
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Dad and Son, discussing various things about the boat.
That's his Sea Pearl 21 in the foreground.
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Chris got his boat launched first (you can see the two masts at the lower right of the pic) and decided to help me with the launch.
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Mentally suppressed some "Don't teach yer Grandpa how to suck eggs"  thoughts and graciously accepted.

Wife waiting to board.
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Chris' wife got a shot of the Irish Pennant in the water, while I was parking the truck.
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The winds were < 8 mph, so it was a very calm day.
And off we went!! 
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Hmmm . . . . . . SOME of us, went faster than others . . . . .
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I didn't care,    I was enjoying the boat, the day, and the company.
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Pic taken right before I raised the Bimini top and before I trimmed the down haul properly
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So far, it seems to be a very good light air boat.

Chris is still "off we wenting" faster than me! 
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Notice the waves are less than a foot high.

Yup.
136 Sq ft of sail area on a Sea Pearl and 20 feet of water line, beats 100 sq ft of sail area and 10 feet of water line, on a SCAMP.
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Still and all, Chris wasn't disappearing over the horizon, as usually happens to me.
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This little boat definitely punches above her weight. 

Color me HAPPY!! 
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The wife was happy, too!
(The Original Little Mary Sunshine.)
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I was glad she was aboard.
I call these kinds of trips: This Is Where All The Money Went, Honey, Cruises.

She got so relaxed aboard, she decided a nap was in order, while we sailed around an island in the middle of the lake.
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Later on, in a dockside restaurant we sailed to, Chris asked: "Why are all these pics, only of my Transom?!?" 
(He comes from a Very Long Line of Smart-@$$e$,    so I was not overly surprised at the comment.) 
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Nothing like a tiller pilot, to make a lazy afternoon, even lazier!! 
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Have to say: The hole in my heart    where Urchin used to be, is getting smaller and smaller, all the time.
She's a good little boat!
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Right next to the dock where we launched, is a restaurant, called Three Bananas, so we sailed over from the island and tied off to their docks.
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Had a Shrimp Po' Boy that was far better than the one I had just last month, at Flounders, in Pensacola, during the Florida 120.
Very good food there, people.

While we were all having lunch, the skies opened up.
Hey! What happened to all the fleecy clouds and blue skies?? 
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Chris bemoaned all the rain water that had gotten into his Sea Pearl, and partially drowning his depth finder.
Because of my cabin/veranda and Bimini top, I only got about two inches of water in the foot well, which I loudly crowed, was entirely due to Superior Design. 
Hey!    You get your small, cheap, victories, wherever you can find them! 
It had mostly quit raining by the time we were done eating, so Chris and I left the wives in the restaurant and fetched our boats and rigged for the road.

A very good day and a memorable Father's Day.
Charles Brennan

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

There's that sweet Mary smile! 

[Charles Brennan]

There's that sweet Mary smile! 

Yup. Same smile I fell in love with, over 55 years ago.
Face it: I wouldn't be a Father without her!! 
Having her with me and sailing alongside my little boy, (You know: the same little boy, who's 4 or 5 inches taller than me?) made for a very special Father's Day.

Charles Brennan

[Doug SC]

What a great way to spend Father's Day. There is a lot of charm to the little boat and surprisingly decent performance for its size. It doesn't seem to mind big wind either. Why the black straps under the Bimini?

[Chris Muthig]

Just to rub salt in the wound, You know: the same little boy, who's 4 or 5 inches taller than me?"
Bear in mind your grandson at 15 is already 6'3" with no signs of stopping.

[Charles Brennan]

Doug, The black nylon straps were just another of the myriad compromises that most small boats entail.
For example, Bimini tops typically come in 4, 6, and 8 foot lengths; I needed 5 feet.  They are (in this range) 66"-72" wide, I needed 64". The closest I could find (at a good price) was a two-bow model for Jon boats.  Not a problem to get a 3rd bow from a marine salvage store and still spend far less than a 3-bow model.
3-bow Bimini tops typically have a third pocket sewn in across the top to hold that third bow in place. Since I already knew I was cutting a 6-foot top down to 5 feet, I had considered sewing in a 3rd middle frame pocket with the excess fabric.

But as Real World Compromises reared their ugly heads I realized the conventional solution came with its own issues. Like keeping the top from sagging, when a solar array was on top of the Bimini top. 
If I installed a 3rd frame pocket, I would have no good way to support the solar array longitudinally, when the top was up.
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Or support the fabric fore/aft along the center line. 
If I left out the center frame pocket, the 3rd frame would not stay in place, when folding/unfolding the Bimini top. (See above pic.)  By having a strap between the 1st and 2nd frame and another strap between the 2nd and 3rd frame, I could control frame spacing tension AND I could provide solar array support along the center line of the top.
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As we all know: On small boats, every single component has to do 2 or 3 different things.
Nothing on this boat, was done without considerable forethought (and occasional angst).
Another example was my 13 inch Bimini tracks.
Track kits are typically 24 inches, why cut it down?
Two reasons:
1) A full length track would be so far inboard on the curving deck, as to prevent mounting the coaming rail tops.
2) A 13" track allows the frame ends to slide all the way aft and fold down in front of the veranda, or slide all the way forward and lay down at the rear of the cockpit and still clear the traveler rigging. 
Forward:
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Aft:
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Shown here with the traveler on the wrong side of the top (which I corrected, as soon as I saw the traveler chafing the Bimini top).

Certainly, I could have made the track a little longer, but by making it to that exact b@$t@rd measurement of 13", I don't have to think about where to position the frame on the track.
I simply use it.
Those straps also helped immeasurably, when I was first fabricating the Bimini top and figuring out where everything had to (eventually) be.
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Finally, they allow tension to be distributed more evenly between the Bimini fabric and the tie-down straps.
Without them, there could be excessive strap tension, and solar array sag; so there they sit.

Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan