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.
D4 with 6HP Hangkai
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The tiller extension made the dinghy trim better, but it still had trouble going any faster than about 4 knots, it just made a bigger wake. I had thought since the dinghy was about the same size as the 8.6RIB, both were about 9 feet long, it should plane out about the same, but it does not. The 8.6RIB planes beautifully, it’s a shame its fabric is shot and any attempts to stop it leaking air have come to naught.
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I decided to make another try at stopping the leaks in the 8.6RIB. In the past I had blown it up fully inflated, then brushed on soapy water which made bubbles wherever there were leaks, then marked those leaks. The problem was the soapy water would dissolve the marks and I would have to guess where the leaks were. This time I took photos of the leaks, printed out the pictures, and marked on the pictures where the leaks were. Then I flushed the surface of the dinghy to remove any soap, maybe that was preventing the Sika adhesive I was using from sealing the leaks.
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The next day I used my marked up photos to apply Sika to the leaks. We’ll see how it works this time. I had used the Sika Construction Adhesive, Gray, to seal the leaks in the other inflatable, a Seaworthy.
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The same day the new windlass motor arrived. It was hot, but out on the water I could assemble the windlass in the shade of the pilothouse. I ended up finishing the whole job, assembling the windlass, terminating the new wires with #10 crimp eyes, and testing the windlass. I also took a swim in the muddy waters of the North River off the dinghy dock when I lost my footing getting into the dinghy. Fortunately my crimping tools and connectors didn’t go in as well. It was difficult to get back aboard the floating dock. The old swimming ladders are covered with mussel shells that are very sharp. The dinghy is unstable with the 6HP outboard on its stern.
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The photo is of the D4 dinghy with the Hangkai 6HP 2 stroke outboard mounted on it.
