As promised 

Sjogin’s mast was stepped yesterday after far too long.  I forgot the customary 1985 Bahamian quarter with a local sloop on one face.  A quarter was used yesterday with her traditional coin to be slipped under the mast today.  That should please Poseidon.

Looks like I managed to label the shrouds and stays correctly as everything seems to fit.  The rigging will settle down over time and especially after a few sails.  (Sailing, what a concept.)

Here are a few pics from yesterday:


 




Remember you can click on the photos for a larger image.

Thanks all for your patience over the years with my slow posting pace.  These new tools will hopefully shorten the publishing schedule.  We’ll see.

And now some recents at Beaton’s

No stopping me now. I added to new WordPress app to my phone (where all the pics are).  Here’s a test Post.


One of the recent Beaton skiffs home for a touch up.

Mary Ann ready for her 91st season.

Will the Bat  be back?  Stay tuned.

Ready to rig.  The BBYRA season starts next Saturday.

Lightning details.
Well, that wasn’t too hard.  More soon.

iPad Posting

this is a test to see if I can post pics directly from my iPad.  If it works you just may see more frequent posts.  I’m also trying Google Photo to serve the pics.

Here’s a recent pic of Sjogin in her slip.  I think Tuesday will be rigging day.

  

I think it works!

It does work!  Click on the image for a larger size.

Beaton pics next.

What happened to May?

Sorry for the lapse but life sometimes gets in the way of best laid plans. My so called semi-retirement is becoming more like regular work. No complaints here obviously but poor Sjogin slips down the list.

Pics soon I promise. She’s out of the shed and in her usual slip. Works proceeds on the cockpit seats and spars.

Don’t be shocked but we may be sailing in a week or so.

If you can’t wait for pics here, just Google Sjogin and you’ll find all you could ask for.

Thanks all for still watching.

Ice free and a bit of progress

The long Winter and early Spring of our discontent has passed. The ice is gone from the Bay and sailing season beckons.

The mast is in the shop and almost ready to go. The sheave and a few bolts are among the missing but should not prove to be too big a problem. The cockpit sole work is coming along with some of the old cockpit sole teak reused. I had a recent consultation with Paul Smith about cockpit seat options. Looks like the seat slats will be made of Jersey cedar with oak framing, just like Sjogin’s hull.

If all goes according to plan, we should be sailing in May. (The operative word being should.)

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Open water
Ice free and mares tails on a brisk spring day a few weeks ago. Sailing soon.

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Spar work
The mast work is almost done. When I have the rest of the screws the mast track will be done. Then it’s on to the gooseneck and mast head fittings. Also a new topping lift is called for. And then the same process with the boom.

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Sole cleats
Fitting supports for the end of the cockpit sole. The teak came from one of the original floor boards.

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Something new
Who says things never change at Beaton’s. New flag pole repurposed from an old mast. Nice SW breeze.

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Shadow
Shadow , a classic Blackjack,almost ready for her close-up.

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Myth
Myth, looking Beaton fresh.

That’s it for now. Perhaps a bit of more frequent posting now that heaving to off Swan Point gets closer.

Still Ice Bound

Signs of Spring are out there but you have to look under the snow. Sjogin’s still resting comfortably in her ice berth. There’s signs of open water but the Bay’s still frozen solid south of Curtis Point. Spar work begins next week with the assembling of the various bits and cleaning up the mast and boom tracks. And then on to the other long pending work.

Here are a few recent pics:

Reflective water

An inch of water over the ice makes for nice reflections. And just an inch or so of ice in the bilge.

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Open water?

You can just make out a strip of open water over by the Mantoloking shore. It will take a while for the basin to open up. Maybe in time for stepping the mast.

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Yet again

Yet another snow storm. I think this one was named Thor. Which I am from shoveling.

Hang in there fellow Northeasterners. The Osprey, crocuses and such harbingers of Spring are just around the corner.

Sjogin III News

As mentioned in the last post, there’s news of a Sjogin III being built in southwest Poland. I heard from the builder who wanted to know how the name is pronounced. When launched the owner will use her on local rivers and lakes. When confidence comes, the Baltic beckons. This the 19′ version of Sjogin designed by Paul Gartside. Details here.

This is the first one I know of where an actual build is taking place. Which is different from building her in ones head where most of us do it.

In comments to a prior post, there also appears to be a Sjogin “inspired” copy under way in Indonesia. If Roberto is reading this, please give us an update on your progress.

As for the original, she’s resting comfortably in the pit at Beaton’s for the most part. Apart from progress on the rigging, little else from this end. The January thaw looms and then it’s on to the cockpit sole.

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Listing comfortably

Taking the ground. Brisk westerlies dropped Barnegat Bay by several feet in January. It’s been remarkably ice free this winter (for now) except for an occasional bitter patch. Even at normal water levels, there’s only a foot or so under her keel. No harm except to her dignity.

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Brrrr.....

In mid January the upper Bay was covered with ice. A wind shift and then it was gone.

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Normal again

Here she is with a bit more water in the bay. Still cold enough to preclude comfortable work.

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Rigging progress

At least there’s some progress in the shop. Jeff Reid has been doing fine work on serving the rigging eyes and refinishing the blocks. This is the main halyard. It’s rigged as a burton? It has a rope part that’s fixed to the gooseneck band, up through the block, down to a turning block on the cabin, then aft to the cockpit.

All else is fine, just waiting out the cold and far too busy at work. These oldish fingers don’t work as well as they used to in this weather.

I’ll put together a Post of Beaton’s pics next.

Merry Christmas All

Greetings from Sjogin and Ourhouse on this cool and blustery Christmas Day. Little progress lately but the post Holiday period shows promise.

Enjoy slowly my friends.

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Merry Christmas

I promise this will be the last time the swag is placed on the stem. Next Christmas it will be back on the mast, perhaps while hove to.

The weeping is down to 12 strokes a week. She’ll stay in the pit for the rest of the Winter. When the stove’s back in place she can be slid outside for a sizzle.

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Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013

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Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012, six weeks or so after Sandy. We’ve come a long way since then.

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Post Sandy

Taken by David Turton just after Sandy. Sjogin’s laying on her port side in the foreground with with the jib cover flapping away up the forestay. It’s amazing she survived.

Thanks all for following along. Hope to have a report on a Sjogin III build soon.

It’s been a month

with precious little to show for progress on Sjogin absent a perfectly varnished mast and boom courtesy of Paul Smith.

The mast is now stored in the spar shed, accessible when it’s time to rig. Jeff’s working on the rigging, serving the eyes with nylon seine twine. They may get a coat of varnish or “boat soup” before using.

Little progress down below but for the fitting of the bulkhead extension down into the bilge. One of my perennial problems with Sjogin’s stove was the puff backs on starboard tack in a good breeze. The original bulkhead was open at the bottom allowing the free passage of air. It also allowed air to leave the cabin, thus sucking smoke and occasionally flame out the stove vent. Quite exciting. By closing this off (mostly, there are still limber holes), the stove should draw better.

Sjogin’s still in the pit in the South Shed. Stop by and say hi to her.

Here are a few pics from the last month.

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Resting comfortably
Looks like she’ll be here for the Winter. I expect the basin will freeze soon due to the cold November we’ve had. The rig’s still being worked on and will not be ready for a while. We’ve waited this long to go sailing so a bit more won’t hurt.

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Fitted!
The bulkhead extension is fitted. The gap below the original one allowed air to get sucked out of the cabin encouraging puffbacks, sometimes with spectacular results. Fitting this extension should keep the excitement to a minimum.

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Fifth coat
Here are the spars with their fifth coat of varnish. Paul Smith has put on the final (for now) coat. Very shiny. The mast and boom are now in storage awaiting rigging.

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Published!
Sjogin’s fame continues to grow. This is from Paul Gartside’s just published book Plans and Dreams, available here. The plans are from a series of how-to-build articles for Water Craft, a british publications. The design shown is of Sjogin III, a 19′ version of the plans made by Mr. Gartside a few years ago. You can build these boats from the plans in the book. Very generous.

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Better days
Paul included this photo taken by my son Jeff during Christmas years ago.

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Small boat work
Here’s Paul Smith doing a bit of very small boat work. That’s a model of the Emma C. Berry with her later Schooner rig. The models getting a little TLC before she’s returned to the Bay Head Yacht Club.

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The menagerie
Some of Jeff Reid’s handiwork. He’s becoming quite the carver. We have a Bufflehead in flight he carved for us last year. The cabinet is the one I made when working at Beaton’s those many years ago.

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