Turns out when your wife ends up the NW Fleet Captain, it's expected that you will contribute too. Should have thought about that before I let Doug talk Julia into taking on the job.
My contribution so far has been to take on the role of editor for the NW fleet newsletter. Our first issue is available here:
http://nw.moore24.org/wordpress/?page_id=5
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Things we want to do.
Interestingly, we seem to get asked a lot 'what we want to do' with the Moore. Now it is entirely possible we are getting this question because people have seen what it looks like as we stumble around the race course, and they are hoping that there is something additional that inspired our purchase of the boat. Really for us we just wanted (and got!) a boat that is super fun to sail, that we can learn a ton from, and that we can go fast(er) on. Seriously, the Moore 24 has got to be one of the best boats ever built.
That being said, it's Friday and nasty out, so here's a list of some events/things we hope to do someday on Morosaurus (in no particular order):
- Northern Century
- Trailer to the Sea of Cortez
- Trailer to Tahoe
- Cruise the Puget Sound
- Coastal Cup
- Port Townsend Dash
- The Gorge!
- Break 16.6 kts
- Have an excuse to own a sweet van
- Race to the Straits
- Delta Ditch Run
- Doublehanded Farallones
- Scare our friends who sail cruising boats
We'll probably add to this as we go. If you've got any good suggestions to add to the list let us know!
That being said, it's Friday and nasty out, so here's a list of some events/things we hope to do someday on Morosaurus (in no particular order):
- Northern Century
- Trailer to the Sea of Cortez
- Trailer to Tahoe
- Cruise the Puget Sound
- Coastal Cup
- Port Townsend Dash
- The Gorge!
- Break 16.6 kts
- Have an excuse to own a sweet van
- Race to the Straits
- Delta Ditch Run
- Doublehanded Farallones
- Scare our friends who sail cruising boats
We'll probably add to this as we go. If you've got any good suggestions to add to the list let us know!
Morosaurus in the 2011 PSSC Regatta (many more pics here)
Friday, November 4, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The lizard can sail!
It was a little scary for us in buying an older one-design boat that maybe, for some strange combination of boatyard karma's the thing just wouldn't go like she should. Thankfully we can put that particular concern to rest. We did our first race (doublehanded) on the good ship Morosaurus, and the little Moore can move!
We didn't have a one-design start, but there were 3 other Moore's in the race, so we got a chance to compare our boatspeed to the fleet. All in all we were very happy. At times we were off the pace (and point) but at other times we were consistent with the other boats. We were the problem, not the boat, and that's a fine starting point. We also had a wide variety of conditions over the weekend, from flat flat calm to a ripping frontal system, which was really helpful for us to learn about the boat.
We got lucky on Saturday and managed to catch a private puff of wind and current to propel us across the finish line as the first Moore to finish. Thankfully this came just before the turn of the tides, and the rest of the fleet was stuck yards from the finish line for an hour! We spent the night aboard, getting leaked on and sleeping fitfully as halyards slapped and we nervously anticipated doublehanding in our first windy race conditions.
On Sunday the big wind downwind day we got a good start, and were second Moore for 99% of the race. As we neared the finish we were absolutely screaming downwind in the biggest breeze we've personally seen on a Moore, but it wasn't nearly enough as the maniacs on Morjito found another gear and walked by us like we were standing still. Not knowing the boat well enough yet, we thought 'perhaps if we heat it up a little bit we too will go faster.' Nope, instead we rounded up (erh twice) within yards of the finish as Morjito flew by us, leaving us as the third Moore. The race committee thanked us as we finished, I assume for not hitting them. Couldn't be happier though, we had a great time, learned a ton, hit the first Morosaurus boatspeed record (13.1 kts doublehanded!), and in the end were just plain outsailed.
Beers before noon as we reached back across the sound to Shilshole. Julia drove both days and kicked ass. She cemented her place as driver when on Sunday in the big breeze I let my attention stray and she politely told me to 'turn the $#!& around and trim!'.
3rd in our division and 4th overall.
It's sorta wrong how much I love this boat.
Here's another write-up:
http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?1803-Challenging-Bainbridge
We didn't have a one-design start, but there were 3 other Moore's in the race, so we got a chance to compare our boatspeed to the fleet. All in all we were very happy. At times we were off the pace (and point) but at other times we were consistent with the other boats. We were the problem, not the boat, and that's a fine starting point. We also had a wide variety of conditions over the weekend, from flat flat calm to a ripping frontal system, which was really helpful for us to learn about the boat.
We got lucky on Saturday and managed to catch a private puff of wind and current to propel us across the finish line as the first Moore to finish. Thankfully this came just before the turn of the tides, and the rest of the fleet was stuck yards from the finish line for an hour! We spent the night aboard, getting leaked on and sleeping fitfully as halyards slapped and we nervously anticipated doublehanding in our first windy race conditions.
On Sunday the big wind downwind day we got a good start, and were second Moore for 99% of the race. As we neared the finish we were absolutely screaming downwind in the biggest breeze we've personally seen on a Moore, but it wasn't nearly enough as the maniacs on Morjito found another gear and walked by us like we were standing still. Not knowing the boat well enough yet, we thought 'perhaps if we heat it up a little bit we too will go faster.' Nope, instead we rounded up (erh twice) within yards of the finish as Morjito flew by us, leaving us as the third Moore. The race committee thanked us as we finished, I assume for not hitting them. Couldn't be happier though, we had a great time, learned a ton, hit the first Morosaurus boatspeed record (13.1 kts doublehanded!), and in the end were just plain outsailed.
Beers before noon as we reached back across the sound to Shilshole. Julia drove both days and kicked ass. She cemented her place as driver when on Sunday in the big breeze I let my attention stray and she politely told me to 'turn the $#!& around and trim!'.
3rd in our division and 4th overall.
It's sorta wrong how much I love this boat.
Here's another write-up:
http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?1803-Challenging-Bainbridge
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Easy Sailing
One of the reasons we wanted to move to a small boat (from our old cruising boat: svpisces.blogspot.com) was how easy a small boat is to manage, and hence how much more likely you are to actually go sailing.
We've been having a great time doing just that, sailing a bunch just the two of us, as well as with our friends from sv Hello World (who we hope to enlist as crew for some upcoming races).
In addition to an awesome boatwarming BBQ, we sailed this last weekend over to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge, and spent the night aboard. Surprisingly dry and comfortable aboard, and it was so great to be able to sail in and out of a new-to-us marina without even a little bit of an adrenaline bump. In fact, we haven't yet had to start the outboard. We are seriously considering downsizing from the current 5hp to a 2hp to get the weight off the stern, as I imagine that it would only be in flat flat calm that we would need to power, in which case a 2hp ought to do the job.
We've been having a great time doing just that, sailing a bunch just the two of us, as well as with our friends from sv Hello World (who we hope to enlist as crew for some upcoming races).
In addition to an awesome boatwarming BBQ, we sailed this last weekend over to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge, and spent the night aboard. Surprisingly dry and comfortable aboard, and it was so great to be able to sail in and out of a new-to-us marina without even a little bit of an adrenaline bump. In fact, we haven't yet had to start the outboard. We are seriously considering downsizing from the current 5hp to a 2hp to get the weight off the stern, as I imagine that it would only be in flat flat calm that we would need to power, in which case a 2hp ought to do the job.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Blue Tape Sailing
When we bought Morosaurus (ex. Mordacious) we knew we had some deck work that would need to be completed. She had sat more or less unused for at least two years, and with most of the fittings not being sealed this had led to rot in the balsa deck core. The most significant and pressing instance of this was just aft of the mast step, where the tension on the rig had started compressing the deck down into the rotten core, and had even cracked the inner fiberglass just aft of the main bulkhead.
Luckily we didn't find any surprises, and in fact were quite happy with the condition of the deck around the other fittings we removed. In a relatively quick turnaround of 2 weeks (during which time our work commitments and general hygiene suffered quite a bit) we finally got Morosaurus out sailing again!
Photo montage time:
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| Compression of the deck aft of mast. |
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| Under the mast step, cracking of interior skin. |
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| Cutting big holes in the deck. |
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| Rotten core, the mahogany under the mast itself was fine. |
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| Lots of scraping to get the core out, luckily our boatyard neighbors are also Moore 24s, so hopefully they didn't mind finding little pieces of core all over their decks. |
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| While we're at it. |
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| New core epoxied in with epoxy thickened with glass fibers. |
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| All holes drilled oversized and filled to prevent future rot if a fitting leaks. |
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| 1 layer mat, 3 layers fabric, topcoat, and then fairing material (shown) |
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| Post fairing round 1 (a bit too much enthusiasm necessitated another go around) |
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| Masked for painting. |
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| First coat, and hardware dry fitting. |
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| Looks a bit like a boat again. |
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| 6AM pre-work boatwork |
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| Launched! |
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| The sealant wasn't totally dry, and we were probably shedding bits of blue tape along the way, but we had an awesome first sail. |
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
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