Reenie K

Or perhaps "Call me Ishmael" is more fitting.
The Reenie K is (or will be the name) of my "new" old boat.

She is a 16' boat built in 1974 and not very well maintained over the years. There are some pictures of the model around the web - look for American 16 made my American Fiberglass.

I owned a sailboat mumble mumble years ago (a 14' lateen rig I sailed on Chautauqua Lake for 2 summers. She didn't even have a name.

First of all, never EVER EVER take possession of a boat without getting the paperwork - the title and registration. My niece was given the boat and then decided to give it to me cause she was moving. Two months later, I had the ownership history from the day she left the factory until the day she was 'docked' in my yard. But no paperwork!

Since you need a title to register a boat in New Jersey, I had a 16' planter on my hands. In fact, I did consider making her into a planter for a few days!

Finally, my 12 year old son, who is usually pretty mellow, snapped! While I was talking to the last registered owner (notice I didn't say the last owner), he yelled "You are driving my father CRAZY! Come get your FREAKING sailboat out of our yard!"

The next day, I had the title in hand! Two hours after that, I owned a sailboat! Where other people hang pictures of the boat, I framed and hung the title! First major hurdle cleared....

This is what the Reenie K looked like when I started on her. It took 2 weeks of scrubbing to get her looking more like a boat and less like an abandoned derelict.

By the way, Melaleuca products do a GREAT job of cleaning.

I did find out her hull is water tight. There was two feet of water in her! If she keeps water in, she'll keep water out.

I really don't want to post any more pictures like this one. It gives me a case of the 'collywobbles.' (the shuddery goose walked over your grave feeling - yuck!)

I now have an official crew!

Every time I walk NEAR the boat, my 12 year old son RUNS upstairs, grabs his Jack Sparrow hat and comes out to help. He's learning a few things about boats, a few new vocabulary words (some he better not use when he visits Mom!).

He's suggested a sail to Baltimore (which will take DAYS!), rigging the boat as a camper (which I'm working on) and has learned how to tie a few knots. He regularly swabs the deck too!

Seriously, I am now counting this as a successful adventure, whether we get launched or not. Brian is my youngest and this is a GREAT activity for us to spend time together.

The centerboard pocket has a wooden cap on the top. I wish I had taken a picture of it before our work. What little varnish that was felt was peeling badly and the wood was gray from weather and age.

A few hours of sanding by the crew and me resulted in this:

It was fun working with Brian tonight and I forgot how much I enjoy working with wood.

So far, we've completed the following things on the "Honey-Do" list:

* Taken the sails in for repair
* Found out we needed to replace the standing rigging
* Found out we need to replace the running rigging
* Re-wired the trailer
* Added a hitch to my car and wired it
* Redesigned the rudder assembly cause the original one is at the bottom of Lake Hopatcong!
* Re-wired the boat for running lights, anchor lights, a bilge pump and an electric trolling motor
* Cleaned her! (see pic of the clean boat and grubby crew!)
* Made a nuisance of myself at two marinas and 3 online boat suppliers
* Learned how to do eye splices using a Fid and using up a lot of patience
* Refinished the wood on board
* Added jib fairlead blocks (does this sound like gibberish to you? Welcome to the world of sailing!)
* Removed old nasty delaminated plywood because someone did not use marine grade plywood all around the cockpit!

* Fill all the holes left by removing delamintated plywood
* Paint the hull and deck
* Add 2 portholes and design screens
* Cut the mast and install a mast hinge
* Buy life jackets, flares, a horn and other safety equipment
* Make a chart locker
* Re-Christen her (here's the procedure)
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm
* Reinstall the new rudder
* Take a boating course (the last one I took was in 1964 or 1965)
* Mount batteries, add wiring for the anchor light and cabin light
* Engineer a cockpit tent for camping
* Install new bearings on the trailer
* Mount a flagpole and flag
* Take her out for the shakedown cruise

I'll post pictures as we get things finished up. Our target date to launch is now late April!

Well, the glacier stopped - about 2 miles north of here.

It's colder than a titch's wit!

There's not much I can do with the Reenie K right now, which is driving me a little crazy. All of the things that need to be done are outside things and it's cold enough that I'll stick to the tools.

Saturday is another run to the marina day. I'm gonna pick up more line to make up some of the running rigging that needs to be re-done. By the end of the cold snap, I'll be pretty good at making eye splices.

It sounds like I have a lot of time before April, but I can only work one day a week on her, and I'm on call every third week, so there isn't a lot of time really.

Maybe I can bring parts in to thaw them out to work on?

Well, progress of a sort.

We got the sails back! Whoo Hoooo! We also have the standing rigging back. The stays and shrouds were upgraded by one size.
Egger Sail Loft in Sayreville, NJ was the place I took the sails. He knows what he's about and was very patient with me.

We also made several trips to Home Depot, a boating supply place and an electronics store for hardware, stuff and wiring materials.

Today the crew and I cut a new hatch cover for a storage area at the stern (picture to follow when I finish it), then had to re-cut it. Oh well.

So we are making progress, if not in leaps and bounds then in gasps and staggers.....

The sun is now over the yardarm, and the smoking lamp is lit. Time for me to draw the daily ration of grog or rum or whatever the hell sailors drink...

God there's a lot of crap that goes with owning a boat!
Flares, fire extinguisher, horn yadda yadda yadda!

The crew and I managed to get something done tonight though. We reassembled the centerboard pocket cap (the dark wood piece shown in an earlier picture). After hours of on-line checking and several trips to boatyards, I found a couple of cleats that fit and look decent. We even added a lifeline cleat so if Bri goes for an unexpected swim, he's attached to the sailboat. (Yeah, I'm making a lifeline for me too)

We also finished a custom made hatch cover for a small storage compartment in the stern! Looks good. I'll post a picture later (it was dark when we finished). Every night we do something with the boat. I get home and we cook dinner and plan the evening's tasks. Then we spend a couple of hours working together.

Here's the new hatch cover:

I've forgotten how much I like working with wood. There is something very satisfying about shaping and sanding wood, making it fit properly and then making it look good. The cost savings help too

Tomorrow we start making oak porthole covers with screens. We are going to camp on the Reenie K this summer for at least one night. And after a day in the sun, we'll need all the ventilation we can get! One of these days, I have to figure out how to make a tent for the cockpit. Oh, well, that's a task for another day...

We got the new mast hinge set up today!

For a while, I thought I would have to replace the mast - I still want to replace the screws that hold the mast to the hinges, but its up and the new stay and shrouds work better than the old ones. I can even adjust them!

It took some real work to step the mast the first time, but things managed to come together after I cursed at it in two languages. In fact, it looked like trying to stuff a cooked noodle in a wildcat's ear with a red hot poker!

Here's the evidence: Not much detail in these two pictures. Once the new paint goes on (the other MAJOR project), I'll take LOTS of pictures.

She's coming along. Getting the mast set up and working was a major step. Only one glitch in the works - I drilled a couple of holes in the shroud spreaders in the wrong place. One sort of works, the other doesn't. I think I'm going to replace them again and drill a little more carefully next time.

If that's the biggest mistake I make, then we're in good shape