Kaimusailing
s/v Kaimu Wharram Catamaran
| Vessel Name: | Kaimu |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Wharram Custom |
| Hailing Port: | Norwalk, CT |
| Crew: | Andy and the Kaimu Crew |
| About: | Sailors in the Baltimore, Annapolis, DC area. |
23 April 2024 | St Marys, GA
D4 Launchie
The laptop pooped the bed, so I have to scurry around with alternatives. Not as bad as typing on the phone.
17 April 2024 | St Marys, GA
Dinghy Skeg
I was suffering with what seemed like a cold and also had allergy symptoms. I awoke and felt fine. The green pollen that was coating everything was gone. Maybe it will return.
07 April 2024 | St. Marys, GA
Clammy Hands
Items came in from TEMU, the Chinese cut rate retailer. One was a nice little drone that cost about twelve and a half dollars. It looked like an easy thing to play with while I coughed and sneezed. I was fighting a summer cold, even though it is not summer elsewhere, it seems like it here. A nice [...]
02 April 2024 | St. Marys, GA
Sun Doggie
After laminating the cedar strips onto the gunwales of the dinghy I found the screws I used wouldn’t come out. The epoxy had seized them. The screw heads were stripped so I cut a straight slot in the heads with the cut off wheel. The cedar smoked when the screw heads got red hot. I could remove [...]
21 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA
Just Add Water
The rainy weekend started off with overcast and fog but no rain. It looked like I might be able to get something done on the D4 dinghy. I wanted to change the bow seat which is really the bow deck. The sailing option uses the deck to hold the freestanding mast. I didn’t like how the deck looked, [...]
01 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA
D4 Dinghy Alternative Seats
The rain event was more wind than rain, strong winds with gusts up to 44 mph. We drove into town to see what the harbor was like. There was a small sailboat that had dragged anchor and was sitting close to shore. The tide was out. We left and played with Bleu at Notter’s Pond.
Hobie Mania
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With the trapezes ready I could take the boat out for a test sail. The first shakedown involved getting the trapeze line caught in one of the battens and breaking a cleat on the mast. We were able to get back to the dock and only about 3 hours were necessary to make repairs. Another foray resulted in the hiking stick falling off and down to Davy Jones' Locker. The boat seemed to sail well and it was returned to the dock without further damage.
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The next day a new hiking stick was fabricated from an aluminum tube. There was a problem noted on the mainsheet ratchet block. There is a control on the block to turn the ratchet on and off. When it's on, the block only turns in the “sheet in” direction and the ratchet holds the line. This is like a self tending winch, a good thing when you're working upwind in heavy weather. When it's off, the line should run free in the block. In light weather it is beneficial to be able to ease the mainsheet without a one-way ratchet hanging things up. The control on the block didn't seem to have any effect on the ratchet, it was always on. Because these blocks are obsolete, there is no information about this problem on the internet. It was possible to temporarily release the ratchet by adding an aluminum piece to the winch. A permanent solution might be possible, otherwise the block will have to be replaced.
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This time the boat went out and sailed like a champ. I followed the old routine that I sailed in the 420 dinghy last year. Everything seemed so similar, the headwinds at the beginning of the inlet, the close reach out into the wider area on our way to the bay. It was very enjoyable. We sailed back on a quick broad reach. I was missing my cell phone and hoped it was still at the dock. When I got there, there it was. It rang. I answered. “You're late, did something go wrong?”, it was the Safety Officer, Dottie. I guess my excursion with the little catamaran wasn't as quick as it felt. It took longer than the old 420 dinghy.
