Last year there was a sailboat “incident” where the parts holding the centreboard in place were “lost”. Well, not exactly lost. I know where they are. They are in the bay in front of our cottage in about 40 feet of water, on the bottom.
Since my Fireball is from 1970, the parts I need are no longer available. However, through a couple of connections I located a great company that was able to recreate the parts from my diagrams and specifications.
Yesterday, the parts arrived. Very exciting
Stainless steel bracket for the Fireball Centreboard
I won’t be able to install them in the boat until the May long weekend but I’m looking forward to at least one more season of sailing. Hopefully with some Grandkids!
This is the Fireball sailboat my dad bought for me in 1970. Some of the early pictures of the start of my sailing adventures. That’s me in the green sweatshirt.
The couple in the canoe are Gary & Donna Wilstrop, good friends and neighbours on Lake Brereton.
This Drill Press Belt Sander project caught my eye in a recent issue of Wordsmith magazine, a long time favourite magazine of mine that I recently re-subscribed to. It seemed like it would come in handy (some day ?) and I wanted a bit of a project to work on. I have a drill press and I thought I had most of the materials hanging around the shop as I keep most odds and sods, just in case.
The Plan
Well, the deeper I got into the build the more I was making a run to Home Depot or Lee Valley or ordering some needed part online. I didn’t keep accurate track of the costs but I’m guessing a minimum of $200 of wood, knobs, hole saw, bolts, steel rod, threaded rod not to mention the sandpaper belts.
I have had a Fireball sailboat since 1970 and it has seen a lot of nautical miles over the years. However, it may have just seen the last sail.
Our neighbour at the cottage on Brereton Lake got a Y Flyer sailboat one year and that was the beginning of my teenage sailing adventures. I learned sailing with them and pestered them at every chance to go sailing.
The Y Flyer – Gary Wilstrop and I
One weekend we went to West Hawk lake to watch some sailboat racing. In the day there were Y Flyers, Lightenings and Fireballs. The Fireballs were fast and exciting racing boats and I started working on my Dad to get one. Then, one summer weekend in 1970, it arrived.
I sailed on Lake Brereton with my friend Gregg for many years just sailing around and racing any and all boats we could find.
Relaxin’ Solo
With the move to Lake of the Woods it was mainly solo sailing and the boat spent a fair bit of time on shore. I tried to get Eric and Scott to sail when they were young but a very windy first sail put an end to that. With Grandkids I thought I’d have another change to sail with this generation.
I got the ramp for the sailboat into a workable position and Eric & friends got the Fireball into the lake and up on the ramp. This would be the first time back in the water since 2019.
Easton was willing to go sailing so one Saturday afternoon we went out in a light wind. However, a few minutes in the wind stopped and Scott used the Sea-doo to push us back to shore.
Easton and I on the Fireball – Photo Credit: Mandy
The following day the wind was still fairly light so Easton and I set out again. Before going out I made an adjustment to the centreboard mounting that I thought would make it more secure. But, a few minutes in two of the four screws holding it in place pulled loose. I thought we’d still be OK for this sail and I could fix it later. However, this turns out to be a bad decision.
After a few tacks back and forth across the bay we were approaching the far shore right across from our cottage. As we came about we were slow to get to the high side and I’d left the main sail cleated (bad) and we caught a gust of wind which caused the boat to capsize!
Both Easton and I are in the water and the mast and sails go straight down and we are in a full “turtle” position. Well, all is not lost, I’ve been in this situation a few times over the years and all you need to do is climb up on the bottom of the boat, pull on the centreboard to get the sail back up to the surface and when it breaks free of the surface, quickly get into the boat before it carries on and capsizes again in the opposite direction.
But there is a problem. I’m no longer strong enough to haul myself up on the bottom of the boat. Easton can but he’s too light to pull the boat and sail up. Fortunately, there is a family on their dock right close to us and they offer to come out and help. They arrive in a nice boat with two adults, two twenty something guys (sons) and four grandkids who don’t want to be left out of this adventure.
We try to use the motor boat to pull the sailboat upright but that’s not working so we opt for towing to a nearby dock. As the water gets shallower the mast is now dragging on the bottom and the wind indicator is broken off along the way. At the dock we eventually get the boat upright and I’m thinking we can just sail home. However, the centerboard brackets have come fully loose and are now somewhere at the bottom of the lakes. We now need a tow across the bay to get the sailboat home.
At this point Shirley, Mandy and Clark have been watching from our dock and trying to launch a rescue attempt. But, nobody can drive the Sea-doo or motor boat so they call Alan Smith and he comes out with his boat and tows us home.
We all end up safe and sound back on our dock after spending over an hour in the lake wrestling with the sailboat. I’ve lost my Crocks and the centreboard brackets but kept my glasses. The sad part is that I now realize that my sailing days may be over. If I can’t right the boat after a capsize this could be a very bad thing especially if there is nobody around to come out and rescue me. It’s a sad day after over 55 years of sailing.
… your boat. Well not quite a boat but for the off-water season it’s an indoor rower, specifically a WATERROWER Club on loan from Mandy.
With the iPad attached to the arm on the front of the rower there are a number of applications that can make indoor rowing a bit more interesting. My current favorite is EXR which is like Zwift for indoor rowers. It has some decent animations which give you an avatar in a rowing scull on a variety of rowing courses, rivers and lakes. Not yet a sophisticated as Zwift but that seems to be the direction they are going with the app. Integration with Apple Health, Zwift and Concept2 logbook (not yet working for me)
Some other apps:
WATERROWER Connect – Software right from the rowing machine vendor. Displays various rowing stats. No Concept2 logbook integration ☹️
ERGdata – For the Concept2 rower with current PM5 monitor
ERGzone – workouts and stats, connects to the Waterrower and other machines. Can integrate with the Concept2 logbook which seems to be the Bible for tracking rowing efforts across multiple platforms. Most integrations require ERGzone+ for $$
Apple Fitness+ – row along workout classes. Links with Strava and Apple Health. Some coaching and motivational music.
The most thoughtful and memorable gift my parents ever gave me was a set of three gloves.
This gift was so thoughtful as each glove represented a sport that I was keenly interested in.
These were gifts on my birthday when I was in my early twenties and I still have these gloves, almost.
The first pair are cross country ski gloves. A wool inner liner and a very supple leather outer cover.
The second pair were for sailing. They got used sailing with friends on their boats or when skippering my Fireball. Now a days I’m using them on the Oarboard for rowing.
Protection from lines and sheets and now oars.
The third pair is the “almost” pair as they were stolen ☹️. This pair were Solomon down hill ski gloves made extra special by a large “S” on the back of the hand for Solomon or was it for Stewart??
Anyway on a cool day I was riding my Honda 550F and parked it to briefly go into a store. I locked the Helmut to the bike and stuffed the gloves in the Helmut. A short time in the store and the gloves were gone when I came out. I still miss those gloves.
The glove trio remind me of my parents love and the effort and thoughtfulness behind the gift. I remember them fondly when use these gloves many years later.
I got some good riding in this year with FOG, Southern FROGs, Northern FROGs and the Kenora RPCC folks. However, heath issues put a bit of a crimp in the late season riding.
Looking forward to some winter riding in 2023 and a full road bike season.
