Port Townsend Sails

My only regret on little Sookie is that I didn’t get a suit of cruising sails from Carol Hasse before she retired. It’s snowing and blowing out. I’ve reluctantly left Ooku and I’m back in the city. My tiny house has lost most of its precious real estate to sails and boat gear. It may seem pointless to inspect new sails, but it’s fun tracing my fingers down each perfect line of stitching. These things are far too pretty to put on the boat.

I look out the window as our first snow drifts by. I want to be in our little cabin packing away a year’s worth of provisions. I want to be in the warm afternoon sun sanding a lazy day away. I want to be back on the water where I belong. Nevertheless, we have no provisions to store aboard her; that will come later. We have no car to deliver them anyways. My winter will be spent daydreaming with my ukulele. Making endless lists of things to check and check off. I’ll have to get rid of everything that won’t fit aboard, although I have an idea that everything will fit aboard. I’ll have to be patient and let all the pieces fall in line. Only 9 months till summer.

When I’m not practicing on my uke I have Hawaii Music Supply playing in the background. I ordered my custom Ko’olau in time so that I could bring Sookie’s mana over to Ooku. I’m still a little bit superstitious and these simple actions add value to the experience. I don’t know where I’ll stow her aboard, but she will always be within arm’s reach. When I ordered my uke I wanted something plain and simple. Something that wouldn’t be noticed til you play her. My uke was built to be played and heard, not looked at. Even so, she is a work of art.

This beautiful set of sails is the same. They are meant to be worked and experienced. They are plain and simple just like everything in my life. I don’t think many people would opt for a battenless main but I do. It has two deep cruising reefs, no headboard, and a hollow roach just like I like. I know all the arguments against this design but for me it works. All her head sails are simple hank-on. The icing on the cake is the big red drifter. She doesn’t have any specialized heavy weather sails and that’s fine because as of today I have no intentions of leaving this wonderful area. Having said that, north is always my preferred destination.

I have so much more to say about all of this but it’s time for my morning uke session. My audience is the snow blowing by my front window. I still get frustrated when I buzz a string or forget a note but my fingers are getting strong and my muscle memory is growing. If you want to learn something from instinct, it’s been said that you have to go through the motions 10,000 times. I feel like that is what brought Ooku into my life. That and a chance meeting on the high seas many years ago.

„Things are not magical because they’ve been conjured for us by some outside force. They are magical because we create them.“ David Levithan

6 thoughts on “Port Townsend Sails

  1. Those sails look unused. How new?

    Lynn & Larry like(ed) battenless as the sails last longer. If sail correctly cut the performance difference isn’t a huge deal for a heavy full keeled cruising boat. But if miss-cut a mess. SWALLOW had a battenless main when I bought her. It was a sack as it was just wrongly designed. A huge bag that made her sail like s#+@! The new set E0 sails made her fun to sail.

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    1. They are brand new, maybe 20 hours max on them. Quite a beautiful sight. The mast seems to have 9” of rake with zero bend. I’m very excited to play with the rig on this boat. I was so dizzy when we were there I had to leave. I’ll be back soon.

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      1. Not looked that closely at how much rake/bend Lyle penned for the 28. Challenge is those sails cut for a specific bend/rake. Change that much and all bets are off on how well they will set.

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      2. Very true. Today I’m
        More concerned about whether or not I need to winterize the engine. She is in the water. I think winter water temps average about 50 here so I’m not worried about it but it’s been a very long time since I’ve operated or maintained a diesel. It’s 31 years old with just a smidge over 1000 hours. I’d like to keep it purring to 8k hours 🤣

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      3. For boats kept in the Salish Sea saltwater never seen any folks winterize the raw water cooling.

        Without knowing where she is moored I’ll only say is if she is in a river then talk to dock neighbors about what they do.

        Is the raw water thru-hull intake valve closed? Don’t leave that open as they the only think keeping the water from flooding the boat is the raw water pump seal.

        Is your motor freshwater or raw water cooled? If fresh how old is the antifreeze?

        When was oil last changed? IMO if it was over a year ago change the oil (a project I need to do on DAJA VU). Oil change should be done based on hours (look in manual) or once a year – whichever comes first. Best to change oil just after cruising season ends (unless actively using boat through the winter).

        I also like changing the raw water pump impellor every year.

        There is also the belts to consider.

        How do the fuel filters look? Last time the fuel tank cleaned? Has biocide been added to the tank?

        Only 1000 …. very low for age of boat (to little use is almost as bad as a non-maintained motor).

        Yeah … motors are a PITA 😉

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