Fall projects

This weekend it occurred to me that although the international cruising part of Cupcake’s adventures are over for the time being, there’s no reason not to bore you all with other boat-related activity.

Moss’ little Dyer dinghy named Moon Cracker served very well as tender this summer. When I rebuilt Moon Cracker several years ago I replaced the thwarts, centerboard trunk, and rails with cedar in an effort to make her as lightweight as possible.

The plan was to make Moon Cracker into a tender that one person could easily manage launching at the beach. Mission accomplished: Ellen can get the dinghy off her little cradle, down the beach, and back singlehandedly. The dinghy’s light-weight means Ellen can go for a row or a sail whenever she wants, even if her big, muscular man is not home but is instead working his fingers to the bone at the sweat shop in an effort to support the lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the tail end of one of this fall’s hurricanes brought an unusually high tide that swept Moon Cracker and her companions (two kayaks) off their cradles and bashed them around on the rocks for a few hours. Now that the sailing season is a distant memory, it’s time to repair the indignities these boats endured. (Side note: Moon Cracker sustained more damage from a not-even-tropical-storm than Cupcake did from Hurricane Florence. Cupcake chafed through one line. Moon Cracker got chewed up.)

I neglected to take pictures before I started the repairs. Here’s MC with her epoxy repairs.

Anyway, I patched the raw spots, primed, and painted the dinghy. Now she is ready to hibernate until next summer.

Skimmer with her rails clamped in place. A woodworker can never have too many clamps.

We’ve also made great progress in our restoration of Skimmer, the Dyer belonging to our friends Jim and Sherry. They bought Skimmer two summers ago and we’ve been slowly restoring her in my barn. This weekend Jim and I finished riveting the new oak rails. Earlier this summer we steam bent the rails. From this point on, it’s just sanding, varnishing, and reassembly.

Skimmer ready for reassembly.

Look at that fresh oak and those sexy copper rivets!

Fresh paint.

Two happy Dyers at the spa, getting their beauty treatments.

Since Moon Cracker is getting a new paint job, I might not be able to control myself and will likely give her oars the business as well. Moss and I are thinking sapphire blue would look nice alongside MC’s bikini blue insides.