Kaimusailing

The Hobie 14 was done. All it needed was a bungee for the trapezes. When I disassembled the trapezes that came with the boat, I didn't make note of how they were configured. They were taken apart and the old dirty pieces of line were run through the washing machine, to come out like new. But when I went to my resources to see how they are put together, there was nothing that included all the parts I had just disassembled. I ended up putting them together and leaving out a bunch of parts that didn't fit.
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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.