Splash!

 Well it has been 4.5 years since I started my build. It’s probably longer than normal, but I have enjoyed the whole journey! I finally got her ( boat name DAMFINO) more to come on that, in the water on 9/24/20. I had to drive almost 300 miles, but we did it! 

I am not much of a sailer and was very anxious about putting her in the water. I picked Beaufort NC for our week’s vacation. The week started off with 3-4 days of 20 plus knots sustained/ 35 plus gusts! Needless to say, we did not go. We also had a king tide during the same time period with coastal flooding and a current/tide drop of 4 ish ft.  Not a good start for a beginner! 

Yesterday called for no king tide, winds around 5 knots, oh and I didn’t mention no small craft warning, which we have had for the last few days. We picked the local ramp, which had enough room to basically do circles. I will not go into all the concerns I had, but every thing worked out great! Some exceptions! Lol! 

I had no spaghetti tangles when raising the mast, the torqeedo motor with remote throttle work great! I did put a nice scratch in her putting her in the water, but that can be fixed! 

We got the name from an old silent movie by Buster Keaton “The Boat”.  My voyage was a lot better! 

More to come on my build. Already have some modifications in mind. 

Done! Ready for the water!

 Well I am finally done after over more than 4 1/2 years. Yes it took me that long, but I have enjoyed all of the journey! I still need to get her in the water. Or I should say DAMFINO wet. My wife came up with the name from an old Buster Keaton silent movie “The Boat”.  Google it and watch it. Pretty funny. The least I could do to let her name the boat for putting up with it for that long!  Hopefully my maiden voyage is better than the video.  Lol! 

I was hooked up ready to go a couple days ago, but had an insurance issue on the boat and trailer. Didn’t want to risk it and actually it was probably too windy. Going on vacation next week and may take the boat if weather permits. Calling for some windy days at 24+ knot winds. 

I still have some odds and ends to do and I am sure the maiden voyage will provide additional work. Still need to work on the electrical. I have basic running lights, but have some other components I want to install. I will post more these at a later time. 

I also need to install some additional hardware and lines for reefing. I need to get additional lines, since the kit doesn't seem to come with those. 

I did have some issues getting the mast up. Turns out the back piece of the tabernacle was too high, so the mast holes wouldn't match up to the tabernacle holes to lay it flat. I have to cut out some of it and re epoxy and re paint. 

Below are a few pictures!