A New Boat

Well, we made it just over two years as non-boat owners. Actually only one if you include my kayak. However, a kayak, especially a folding one, doesn't quite count. It's just for recreational use and doesn't require any maintenance. A old wooden racing dinghy on the other hand is a completely different story.

Secretly, I think Mark just wanted a boat project since of the three boats we looked at, we bought the most beat up, albeit cheapest, one. Hopefully, it will prove to be a fast boat. It's saving graces were its lightness, new sails, and fair hull, all important speed factors and dramatic improvements from the club boats we'd been hiring.

I think having to sail the club boats as-is was a bit frustrating for Mark. Now that we have our own boat, he has already updated the rigging lines and started reshaping the foils. We are currently re-epoxying the frames and getting ready to paint the cockpit floor. Then, if there's time before racing starts again in February (after the Christmas break) I'll re-varnish the seats and main bulkheads. However, between my workouts and Erik's sailing camp and swimming, I'm not sure how much time I'll have. The hull definitely will have to wait until the off-season to get repainted, but eventually we are thinking about a navy blue as light blue is not my favorite boat color. We'll want to have her looking pretty for the Australian Nationals, which will be held in Queensland next year.

We haven't quite settled on a name, but "Sea Gherkin" (as used by Captain Haddock in Tintin comics, "son of a Sea Gherkin") is the current favorite.