Category: Snipe Sailing

It’s been a goal to get the Snipe Strange Bird out sailing before the end of the year and it looks like this might happen on Labor Day weekend.  Since I picked it up in December a lot has been done to it to get it back into sailing shape:

  • patched holes in the hull
  • strengthened, reinforced and repaired damaged rails
  • fixed dings in the hull and smoothed it out
  • built a trailer
  • reinforced the deck under the seating
  • patched the centerboard trunk
  • cleaned and oiled the splash board and rub rails
  • re-ran halyards in the mast
  • replaced all running rigging

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I made another trip to Dallas in May to visit Jess that started out with a few delays getting there.  The plane I was scheduled to get on at LaGuardia had gotten hit by another plane on the way to the gate.  It was fun watching the commentary on twitter and contributing to it.  Fortunately, the damage was minor with no injuries and just an inconvenience for all of the passengers affected.

The first night in Dallas Jess and I joined Tim on his Flying Scot and we sailed down the lake near the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden where they were having their Thursday night concert series. We listened to a Michael Jackson tribute band while we relaxed on the water having drinks and eating dinner while we were surrounded by Stand Up Paddle boarders.  I had never been to a raft up where the Flying Scot was the ‘big boat’

5/11 Sunset Concert Sail

5/11 Sunset Concert Sail

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT-SQpRhXAS/?taken-by=jondeutsch

On Friday Jess and I went to Fort Worth and had the most Texas date ever – steak dinner followed by a rodeo followed by a honky tonk.

5/13 Fort-Worth Stockyards

On Saturday I got to sail a snipe for the first time on a very light-air day at Corinthian Sailing Club. Lauren let me sail her boat while Andrew and Jess practiced their light-air boat-handling for Nationals later this summer.

5/14 CSC Saturday Morning Snipe Sailing

5/14 CSC Saturday Morning Snipe Sailing

Sunday we relaxed and I made the trip back to Richmond.

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Late last year I came by a Snipe and began getting it back into sailing shape this year.  One element to getting it sailing was to get a road-worthy trailer under it.  After trading some cash and an old AppleTV I got a used Laser 2 trailer that would fit the snipe nicely.  I replaced some of the hardware, addeda jack and new wiring and lights. The hardest part would be building the bunks and what made it harder was the fact that I’d have to do it while the boat stayed upside down in my backyard.

We made a pattern for the bottom of the hull by using a jig to draw a line on the board that matched the shape of the hull.  See the device here.

The shape fit the hull perfectly and just needed to be mounted to the trailer.

And the boat finally upright on the trailer:

More pictures of the trailer build starting here.

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My adventure with the Snipe sailboat began in early December. It’s a boat that has intrigued me since looking at pictures of the 1st Snipe World Championship at the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club when I was growing up.  My girlfriend Jess has been sailing them in Dallas and I think for a variety of reasons they could be a good boat at FBYC for those that would want something smaller and with fewer sails than a Flying Scot.  A Laser sailing friend of mine has one that he hasn’t sailed for some time and said I could have it for a case of beer.  So today I rented a trailer and went up and got it.  It’s going to need some work, but it’ll make a good boat for getting started in the Snipe.

PICTURES

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