Boat Launches Today!

[braol]

After 5 years on the hard, H27 S/v Badger will launch today! Military life had forced the boat to remain dry-stored these last several years and finally this last year's hard work will now (hopefully) pay off. The plan is to launch today and then let the boat sit in the water to watch for any unanticipated leaks tonight, do a bunch of ops checks this afternoon, a test sail tomorrow to tune the rig, and then head for home (about 10 miles) on Wed.
There is still several things to be done (cabin cushion redo, winch disassembly/lube, general cleaning, new head install, sink footpedal attachment...) but the bones of the boat are now solid and it is all set to basically sail with no frills. All the frills will have to be done in the next three weeks in preparation for our sail South for the Chicago Air and Water Show (the Admiral will be in attendance). But I am very happy to report on the launch today. Stay tuned for photos! :dance:

 

[David in Sandusky]

Congratulations, braol! She is a great boat - I hope you and the Admiral enjoy her as much as we do ours!

 

[braol]

It floats!!! (Awaiting cleaning....)

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Where's the pictures?????

 

[braol]

A little rough around the edges. I scrubbed the topsides last night and it looks white now. As you can see I need to replace the lifeline netting which has finally had it.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Braol's pic

I need to replace the lifeline netting which has finally had it.

I was wondering what those dangly things were! --thought they were stains of Bleche-White or something. Looks great.

Notice the float line of the boat in this pic. That's just about perfect.

Hunter had this running pool every time they put a new model in the water the first time. People would lay down $5.00 each on 'one inch high in front, level in back' or 'level in front, one inch low in back' or whatever they expected. My dad would stand there watching and say, 'If that line is where I told you to put it, that's my five bucks.'

He never lost. In fact he never even took his hands out of his pockets.

* * *

 

[braol]

Thanks for the compliments. We're still a bit dirty and the paint could use a 4000-grit wet sand and wax...but she's very sturdy after these last 37-years! Boats birthday is FEB 1978. (I've a deep-keel H27, almost 5'9" waterline-to-keel bottom...takes a LOT to heel her over.)

You know, I've had more than one person say that she 'sits just right' in the water and the boat performs well for as heavily built as she is. I hit 7.1kts (verified by WAAS-enabled GPS) going upwind in about maybe a bit over 15 kts of wind last week...and that's with the original Main and a newer #1 Staysail. And that was unvanged because my boom vang is currently being reworked by myself and is unattached. I get quite a bit of leech flutter unvanged, either because I have no leech line or just because the sail is original, but I have no complaints.

I followed your Diana of Burlington blog and used your tips to epoxy fill some of my soft deck areas (mostly near the mast) and I have solved any and all leaks! Pleas contribute more! (Or at least add some new pictures.)

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Thanks for the compliments.... I followed your Diana of Burlington blog... Please contribute more! (Or at least add some new pictures.)

Thanks for the vote(s) of confidence, Braol. As far as the blog goes, progress has been been set back by the usual sort of family and professional hassles, mostly due to 'CBC' (used to stand for 'Cherubini Boat Company', aka 'Circumstances Beyond Control') but I'll be assaulting some of my own pre-launch jobs this coming week. Diana was moved out of her prior spot and is currently next door at the commercial marina ($$$). I've got a lot of the on-deck varnish done in preparation for the shrinkwrap coming off. I still have plexi cabin windows leaking, either due to imperfect application of Sikaflex or else leaks through the mounting screws (same difference) and that's a recurring nightmare. Sometimes I think I hate rainwater leaks more than seawater ones.

Re: http://dianaofburlington.blogspot.com/2015/07/press-release-for-general-distribution.html

But I have scheduled the final coat of paint, bottom paint, canvas and upholstery, and the mast-stepping crane to be done by next spring. Now it falls to me to rebuild the motor over the winter. So in spite of the early Easter (and thanks to alarms on the iPhone) it looks like a go for the recommissioning party in June. Stay tuned.

I didn't know your boat is a deep-draft, which is the real bargain of H27s. I recalled the designed depth at being 5'0" to 5'3"; could it be that (like me) you've 'cheated' your waterline up a little after all?

 

[Jackdaw]

Nice looking boat. Congratulations on getting her back on the water!

 

[braol]

I didn't know your boat is a deep-draft, which is the real bargain of H27s. I recalled the designed depth at being 5'0" to 5'3"; could it be that (like me) you've 'cheated' your waterline up a little after all?

Typo: 5'4" is what I should have typed...but a man's keel is always bigger in his imagination, ha, ha! (Or is it that some of us suffer from a 'short keel complex"?)