This was the boat that Clinton Chase supplied as a precut kit.
John built it with huge contributions of labour, care and attention from his kids and family. They really took an active part.
The result is fantastic. Though we had a capsize alongside the dock when someone stepped on the gunwale by accident instead of stepping down into the boat.
Here is John’s report.
GIR gets wet damp; so does dad!
I started the day stepping onto the boat wrong just as a gust of wind blew the boat. My foot landed on the gunnel with all my 200 pounds of weigh and capsized the boat while tied to dock. It took a while to stop laughing, but we did get the boat bailed out.
Glad I got the first capsize out of the way so early.
We started with the sail reefed at the 2nd set of points, while the mizzen was full up. Note that I said we, wife, 2 kids and myself.
We all built the boat so we all went on the first sail. Our launch site is straight into a busy channel with a fast incoming tide so we going to play it safe.
We started to sail with a group of Lasers going upwind and against the current, but we did not have enough sail up to make progress against the tide, so we waved bye to the Lasers. GIR then headed down wind with the current and out into the lake.
For downwind sailing we were under powered and guessed the first reef would have been OK for the gusty conditions.
I don’t think anybody has seen a yawl rigged skiff before in these waters based on the waves and thumbs-ups we got. Maybe it was the lime green color, which looks really good on the water.
The kids steered while I handled the main sheet and mizzen. Did I mention it was a great day? The lake had its typical power boat wake waves but we had enough wind to power thru them.
I only heard and felt the flat bottom slapping a couple of times, but we were in a lull and it was a big wake. The huge speedboat that created the wake got pulled over by the local sheriff. I have never seen a speed trap on the lake before. The sheriff was hiding behind a bulkhead with radar gun. (hehe – ed)
We played in the lake sailing upwind, reaching and a little down wind, but it was too hot for much of that. We had gotten use to the boats movements and where ready to try full sail.
Worked our way up into an area without much traffic. Sheeted the mizzen tight and dropped the sail. With 4 people on board it was a circus. Son manned the mast, wife sat next the daggerboard, and daughter was at the helm and a brand new and very noisy sail tumbled into the boat. We sat for a few minutes to catch our breath and see how the mizzen held us head-to-wind. It did well. I helped rehoist the sail from behind the middle seat.
With full sail I was able to sit on the rail during the heavy gusts, but since we were cruising we all sat on the floor most of the time.
We headed back up the channel to the dock, it was so gusty we elected to drop the main and row back to the dock with just the mizzen up. It pushed the boat real well and I only dipped the unfinished oars a few times to control our direction and our last hard turn up to the tee-pier where my daughter stepped off the boat with the bow line and tied us up. No crashing or yelling just perfect.
What a great day.
I loved the detail on their rudder. These are hardwood dowels.
