[Public-list] more dingy dialouge

[Roger L Kingsland]

Albergers,

I have been saving this until the appropriate "dingy forum" which Gord has provided and, I too, apologize for the long email.  As is often the case with my postings, if you are looking for information of any real value, no need to read further.

Last year the Kingslands attended the Canadian appreciation weekend and our daughter Morgan had a nice chat with George Dinwiddie.  George told me afterward Morgan needed her own boat and Michael Grosh was nice enough to provide a sailing rig from a dingy he misplaced, I believe in a storm at sea.  I took a few weekends off from rubbing and scraping good old #148 to make and install the dagger board trunk and mast steep and we launched "Stupid Dingy" last weekend (it sure is nice to get something in the water).  

You know that joke about two guys confronting a bear in the woods and one says, "let's run for it."  The other replies, "are you crazy, we can't outrun a bear."  His buddy says, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."  Like the faster runner, "Stupid Dingy" would be an undesirable target for any predators looking to steal a boat from the dingy dock.  Everything is crooked and the craftsmanship leaves much to be desired.  She has a little water tight compartment at the bow on which I bolted the mast step to the vertical bulkhead.  I stood her on end and leaned her on a trellis in the back yard so I could fill some recessed bolt holes with epoxy.  Looking at the boat from 15 feet away it is easy to notice the aft seat is about 2 inches forward of the transom on port and 4 inches on starboard.  The middle seat, which I reinstalled (raised) so it would brace the aft end of the trunk, is also crooked. This is because Morgan and I made the mistake of aligning the seat parallel with the forward bulkhead, which is also out of whack.  I am not even sure if the skeg is at the center of the boat.  Since she doesn't sail noticeably more sideways on either tack,  we seem somehow to have gotten the dagger board trunk in the right place.

We got the boat eight years ago with our 1962 Rhodes 19 day sailor and, near as I can figure, she was built in someone's back yard. The dingy that is, not the Rhodes which, by the way, is a sweetheart of a boat; easy to manage, fun to sail, very forgiving.  After sailing around the world a few times (at least in my mind), I hope to finish my maritime carrier sailing "Tonic" on a little bay for a few hours each day between my after lunch nap and evening cocktail hour(s).

Back to the dingy; Morgan painted the dingy (and herself) bright yellow so, if she does go missing (the dingy that is, not Morgan; the paint on her has worn off), she should be easy to spot from a distance.  I still need to install some kind of fender/bumpers on the gunwales and got a few of those "noodles" used as swimming pool flotation toys.  I plan to cut one side, slip them over the exposed fiberglass gunwales and fasten them with electrical ties.  I think their lime green color of the "noodle bumpers" will compliment the yellow hull nicely.  Does anyone know where I can get orange electrical ties?  

Anyway, the kids should have fun exploring anchorages in their "first command" (thanks Gord) and they might even learn to row in larger diameter circles.  I will post photos once I finalize the color scheme and we decide weather to paint the name on the upside down or right side up.  If you happen to see an A30 with a navy blue hull towing a really stupid dingy, you will know the Kingslands have finally splashed "PERFECT intentions" and expanded their definition of boating to include more than rubbing and scraping a trailer bound classic.

All for now,

Roger             


Roger Kingsland
Chief Boat Boy, Rubber/Scraper and Check Writer
Alberg 30 #148, PERFECT intentions
N40-33.92, W79-51.25

"You don't have to think outside of the box, but it doesn't hurt to peek over the edge once in a while."  Leonardo Da Vinci (or somebody like that)