For those of you who saw myrecently completed Eastport at the Mystic Wooden Boat Shao last weekend, I can tell you that it does indeed float. And it sails quite well as well.
On Monday I took the opportunity to get the boat and my feet wet and begin learning to sail. I can say that the eastport is an excellent little boat for beginners. I felt very comfortable fumbling my way through maneuvers which I had only read about in the "how-to" books.
Later in the day when the wind picked up the boat was very stable and REALLY fast. The only times I scared myself were a few tacks which didn't go as planned which lead to some interesting boat maneuvers. Entertaining to the onlookers, but educational to say the least. The basic problem is that I'm not as maneuverable as I would lie to be changinh positions and I got the tiller hung up in my life jacket a couple of times as I crossed over. I wil be shortening the tiller a couple of inches before my next outing.
I built the boat from plans as a learing tool for a larger boat in the future (Pocketship??). Also to teach myself the basics of sailing. Mission one complete. Mission two in process. Need to dig myself out of the "Honey-do-list" deficit before I start mentioning the next boat.
Wayne
Ornge, CT.
