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mysterious seduction...

I had planned to get underway at 10:00am on Oct.4 for Epilogue's Maiden Voyage. I invited a few people who have been instrumental in moving this dream forward with me. Of course there have been so many without whom I could have never pulled this off, the number grew to 15 and could have easily kept going. The forecast for the day called for 15-20 knots from the SW, building to 25-30 knots by afternoon, low clouds and 60% chance of rain. Eager to get out before the winds built above 25knots, I paced the docks waiting for a couple stragglers I'd already reminded would be left at the dock if not there by 10:00am. Well, one of them I had to wait for was Bob Doyle, the master rigger who was coming to sail-tune the rig under load. He wanted 20 degrees of heel to take the slack out of the leeward shrouds on each tack. He definitely got it, and then some. The day was really quite surreal for me. So caught up in the thrill, and stress, of sailing this boat for the first time, I think I forgot about the profound meaning of this day. Flanked by my father and some of my best friends, who've fought with me for this dream for nearly four years, we hoisted her sails and felt the rush of wind, water and silence. As her sails filled and tested the seams she nearly lept out of the water, quickly informing us of her power and beauty. With two fingers I steered her, perfectly balanced as we bore off onto a reach with the freshening breeze. The thousands of hours I've spent with her, tracing my hand over nearly every part of her many times, she's been whispering to me with a mysterious seduction of how it would feel to sail her. I hear those whispers, sometimes in my sleep, and they somehow keep me from quitting her altogether on the days when I leave her broken, bloodied and furious, wondering if she'll ever be more than a crushing burden. On this day she was far from a crushing burden. Everyone on board that day has a memory of how this story began nearly four years ago and to forget that tragedy would be to lose the fullness of the gift we all received. Truly, the Epilogue would be meaningless if not for the perspective of the full story. And the page we turned this day was utterly glorious.

translucent beauty...

Last night my friend Kirk and I shared a Single Malt (which we hijacked from Chinooks)aboard Epilogue in the cool dark night of Fisherman's Terminal. We lay in the center cockpit with life jackets for pillows staring up at the mast and rig 70 feet straight up...dizzying even lying down. We reminisced of conversations we'd had about this dream 4 years ago and talked about what it would be like to lead trips together next summer. Filled with possibility and excitement, I decided to unfurl the new Genoa and set sail at the dock. A strange phenomenon indeed to unfurl a big sail, watch it fill, trim the sheets and feel the boat tug at the dock lines, then casually step off the boat onto the dock and have a look at the boat, sails pulling full, nobody at the helm. Kirk stole a couple pictures with his iPhone of the sail with back lighting from the dock light casting a beautiful translucent vision of sailcloth and seams. It was mesmerizing and we wanted to stay and sail late into the night...then of course, a large puff arrived and we had to furl the sail in haste for fear of actually breaking the dock lines.

She's like a horse at the Kentucky Derby. She simply can't stand being pent up at a dock, a dock to which she's been tethered for almost two years with only an occasional trot around the lake with no mast, no sails, no nuthin', just a dream. Now when I unfurl the sails to see how they look, to measure sheets or to simply get a taste of what she'll feel like under sail, it's like she wants to bust the lines, smash right through the dock and keep going...She doesn't have to wait long to feel the wind and ply the water, but so much has to happen between now and then to get her ready. Well, no, actually, she could sail tomorrow, but it'll be more fun if we can tell how fast she's going or how deep the water is beneath her keel. I have a feeling she'll get restless all cooped up in the Puget Sound.

lines stretched to the limit as we hoisted Epi's sails for the first time today at the dock. We had to fit, fine tune, raise, lower and furl both the main sail and the genoa today as a normal part of installation. It went beautifully! We moved her around the dock so she was head to wind and installed both sails in less than an hour.

Today was kind of a big deal...

October 4th...she will sail again

The wheels are set in motion towards an October 4th christening and sail for Epilogue. She's far from finished, but getting her sailing has been a top priority for 2008 and it looks like it may actually happen.

Ptarmigan Reunion...

I was dragged, somewhat begrudgingly, away from Epilogue for an afternoon by talk of an evening hike to Mt. Pilchuk with my longtime friends Jeff and Dave. The three of us hiked the Ptarmigan Traverse http://ptarmigantraverse.home.comcast.net/ back in 2003. It was the trip of a lifetime and the three of us often talk of returning to the North Cascades. We finished off the evening of our short little hike up Mt. Pilchuck at the top near the old lookout tower with some food we'd packed, cold beer and rye whiskey. A stunning sunset and the relaxing ease of being with old friends was just what I needed.

Traveler, Main Sheet Design...

I've been designing the traveler and main sheet system for weeks now including purchasing Harken parts, test fitting components and endlessly walking the docks looking for ideas. I think we've decided on a solid system that will be both simple and efficient. It's going to be a double-ended main sheet which means we'll be able to adjust the main sheet from either side depending on the tack we're on. Also, there will be double line clutches for the main sheet and traveler, freeing up the winches for genoa sheets as well...it'll all make sense when it's installed. For now, just use your imagination and trust that it's going to be a fine sailing machine.

boom vang install...

My local NAVTEC hydraulics expert came out and helped me install the hydraulic line to the boom vang late Wednesday evening (we both have regular jobs too). After swaging new fittings on the line, we fed it through the hole in the mast, bled the air out of the line and pressure tested it...voila! works like a charm. The other image is one end of the traveler mount which I had to grind down, fair with West System Epoxy, and prep for new paint. Pics of that job to follow.

We are installing the traveler and mainsheet system, hopefully all the parts I bought will work well. This weekend, I'm hoping to, at the very least, get the traveler track installed. It looks like it's going to fit perfectly. So glad we measured the camber of the track well.


Dan, Dave and Alec helped me install the genoa tracks last weekend. I put at least 5 days of prep work into this job. It went off without a hitch and we think the tracks are stronger than ever. also shiney!!!

even if she sank tonight while I slept...

People ask me every time I see them..."how's the boat?" I'm kind of getting tired of the question, not because I'm bothered by people asking me so much, they're genuinely interested and fascinated by the whole process. I'm tired of the question because I'm ready for a different answer. Right now, the answer is, "it's like a snowball gaining speed, size and desctructive power that cannot be stopped. There is an inevitable quality to this endeavor...there is no turning back, I'm all in." It feels truly alive and vital. It's terrifying and thrilling all at once. Even if she sank tonight while I slept, it would have been a profoundly meaningful experience. So, progress moves forward with fits and starts, but it moves and I'm more sure every day that she will sail again some day quite soon...and she's definitely going to be beautiful.

making ready to sail...

The next six to eight weeks will be a push to get Epilogue ready to sail. Measurments have been taken, sails have been ordered and the final rig tune, running rigging purchases and deck hardware installations will be made while I wait for the sails to arrive. My goal is to have her sail-ready before the sails arrive, which is actually quite ambitious.

...mast day 2008...

...4 hours under way...

Epilogue made it safely through the locks on Saturday morning and steamed nicely all the way up to Everett where she is in a temporary slip until she is rigged and ready to come back to Ballard. The day was as boring as we had hoped for. Beautifully sunny, warm, and complete with lunch and a toast with Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum to celebrate Epilogue's first voyage under her own power.

We're crossing our fingers for decent weather on Wednesday, though it doesn't look promising.

she will sail again...

After seven months of waiting, we are scheduled with the Port of Everett to install the mast on Epilogue next Wednesday, 4/16. There have been several hang-ups in this process, mostly related to delays in part delivery and component compatibility. Issues that couldn't have been foreseen. My rigger is very deliberate and fastidious, which is good for ensuring a quality job, but frustrating for my time schedule. We will be taking her up to Everett under her own power this Saturday and she'll sit in Everett until the mast is stepped and the rig is made up. I'm guessing we'll bring her back down to Fisherman's Terminal between April 23rd and April 27th.

This monumental event will undoubtedly trigger all sorts of other progress, like new sails, new deck hardware, fixed rigging, running rigging and navigation instruments. I'm guessing I'll be spending the Fall and Winter of 2008 addressing the interior job. It's way behind my ideal schedule, but the trade off of reclaiming my life has been well worth it....indeed, she will sail again, and be beautiful.

fail, fail again, fail better...

-- Samuel Beckett

saw this on a random writer's blog the other day. it's short and sweet, needs no real explanation. in fact, to explain why it spoke to me threatens foreclose the possible meanings for others...

hibernation...

You may be inclined to think that's me way up that mast. While it certainly looked fun, I have to say I was the one at the helm that day. It was the first sail of 2008 on Augusta and the wind was blowing 20 knots out of the North with beautiful sunshine all day. It is days like this that inspire me to continue with Epilogue. It's been a long, cold winter and I'm just now waking up from hibernation to dive into "the project", as I affectionately refer to it. It's been a bit slow going, getting back into the rhythm of things. Part of it's frustrating but mostly it's because after nearly three years of giving every spare moment to this boat, I've decided to put some balance back into my life and start living again. Really, I've just now started coming out of the hibernation I went into three years ago. I've been hunkered down with a combination of laser beam focus on rebuilding this boat and a somewhat unconscious circling of the wagons in an effort to somehow regain some sort of footing. I suspect recovering from this sort of trauma takes place on a much deeper and often unconscious level. It feels like spring is thawing out parts of my life that have been in a deep freeze for three years. I feel the warmth of the sun on my face, I see crisp shadows, I smell fecundity all around.

disobedience was not our downfall...

One supposes that, even then, this new taste for turning away might have been overcome, but that is assuming the two had found the result unpleasant. The beginning of loss was this: each time some manner of beauty was offered and declined, the subsequent isolation each conceived was irresistible.

excerpt from The Entrance of Sin by Scott Cairns, Recovered Body (1998)