The Promise of a Voyage

We are resolved to take the first overnight sail this coming weekend. Expectation is as high as a Christmas morn (maybe bigger). Sailing this past weekend was a mixed bag. Day one had no wind and rain, but pleasant temps. Day two offered a steady breeze and sunshine,  as perfect a day as you could ask for. Heck, as the saying goes … even bad days can be made right in a boat and that's where we were.

Last Sunday's sunrise.

So, there are some things to do or make right before shoving off this weekend's shake down. There are also some items needing attention that I've delayed. One was taken care of a while ago: I've modified a gimballed butane stove. The fabrication is from aluminum tubes and bar. It was designed to fit a Coleman SS camp cup (24 oz). The burner came from a cannibalized $1 eBay purchase. I've yet to add the strap that will secure it to the thwart in similar fashion to the compass arrangement, but I will.

Gimballed stove.

The biggest item to solve, and it remains so, is the tent/awning. I've done quite a bit of sketching and after today's experiments, I'm still not settled on the solution.

Tent outline in green.

Cross section with ghost of person.

My initial take was to have an aerodynamic wedge of a tent by using a ridge line between masts. I need to see if leaving the masts up at anchor is best. My instinct tells me this will dampen the boat's rolling effect. If not, the main mast could be a ridge pole. A straight tent, while simple, does limit the volume. One idea I have uses wood battens that hang vertically in section from a ridge line and acts as an awning. Once the battens are horizontal and bowed, they would form a "Conestoga" tent. The whole could all be rolled up and lashed under the side seat when not in use.

Batten details.

However, to make a quick answer for this weekend, I pulled out the rain flies from a couple 2 man tents we have and one fit rather nicely. It is just shy of reaching the gunwales, but could serve well for now and offer a good template for a final version.

Added rain fly.

Just shy of reaching the gunwales.

A fit for this guy.

Aside from life jackets, we are now focused on the FOOD. Hearty grub will have to come from a 24 oz. galley. Looking forward to this voyage immensely. Will report back later-