Bluebie
(The Sailboat)
Note:  The link to the Construction Log is at the bottom of the page.
 
First launch!
 
June 6, 2005:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"That's what a ship is, you know.  It's not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails.  That's what a ship needs.  But what a ship is... is freedom."
                                                               --Captain Jack Sparrow in Walt Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
 
 
January, 2004:  I decided (at nearly the last minute) that perhaps a winter project would be fun.
I'd never even been on a sailboat (well, unless you count visiting the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston or the "Columbia" at Disneyland).  So why build such a craft?:
 
1.  Because I'd never even been on a sailboat!--it was something new in both construction and operation.
 
2.  Because I want to be "seaman" (as opposed to being a "boater.")  I'm convinced that learning to sail will make me better in every area of my on-water activities.  In our visit to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy last Summer, I noted that sailing is obviously a part of educating Coast Guard officers in seamanship (see photos below).  That's good enough for me!
 
3.  I understand that sailing is both fun and relaxing in a way different from power boating.  I'd like to experience both!
 
4.  My wife bought me a copy of "Sailing for Dummies" for Christmas.  Let's go!
 
 
 
 
Sailboats at the Academy.
 
Me in my Coast Guard Auxiliary uniform with sailboats
in the background.
 
The project:  A Glen-L "Eight Ball"!
 
And here she is!
 
Construction Log

 
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Bluebie on "rigging day."
It's still too cold to get on the water with her, but I did take her "around the  block" to see how the trailering would go.