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 Post subject: The wait is killing me.
PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2013 10:54 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:08 am
Posts: 215
Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
This is mostly just the ranting riff of an impatient man but there is a question at the end as well.

We are trading the little Bravo for a Wave.
Hey, don't make fun. A small, dagger-boardless, rotomolded boat is perfect for our often shallow bay (the shallow portions often equal razor sharp muscle beds) and for our primary purpose (as my wife keeps telling me) of sailing over to the beach on the other side. Actually, the Bravo was super-perfect for that but I miss sailing in faster winds and I miss being on the ocean. I just found the Bravo too finicky in combinations of 'somewhat' bigger winds and some ocean waves.

The Wave is in and our dealer is going to deliver and pick up the Bravo but we are waiting for a traveler kit to arrive for the Wave. The friendly dealer offered to do the traveler install for free and since he is a four hour drive away, I need to wait. All good but now that the weather is finally getting decent, not being on the water is killing me.

Worse still is that I'm totally land locked as I'm avoiding sea kayaking because I currently have something called a "frozen shoulder". Where I am at with it right now, I'm pretty sure I could paddle but if I dumped it in the still chilly waters, I would never be able to roll it back over. Pretty sure I could sail, as neither boat requires you to reach up high for anything but I'm trying to keep the Bravo clean for the trade.

Not sure how long it takes to get a small part to Atlantic Canada but if it continues to take incremental weeks instead of days, I think i'll just ask for the boat delivery and install the traveler myself. It's just a "want to have" vs. a "must have" for sure.

Anyone around who can speak to the effort of putting one on? I've read the posts on having to tweak the tip of a rivet gun to fit it in the channel but that's simple and otherwise it does not look to difficult at all. Nothing like hearing from someone who's done it though. Maybe free installation is worth the wait?


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PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2013 2:41 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:46 pm
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Ha!

The traveler is a not a gotta-have-it thing. Some say forget it. I say, it's a good addition. It's one of those things I think over, like -- what would I do if I had to do it all over again thing... Almost like what you're doing now.

My take is it's a good extra but not a major enhancement. So, if you're about to die, I'd just get the boat, keep the traveler in the box, and sail it a bit and then see if the traveler starts talking to you. It'll say, "Put me on... Put me on..." If it does speak to you like that you may have hypothermia from sailing too soon in the season anyway. :wink:


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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 5:29 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:08 am
Posts: 215
Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Thanks JJ.
I share your line of thinking. The traveler is one part because I sometimes got frustrated watching the boomless sail on the Bravo curl up on a broad reach and it is one part nostalgia. We used to convert all manner of odd crafts into sailing dinghies and one one particularly successful boat (meaning it went faster than we could handle some days) we had rigged up a makeshift traveler from some over sized t-track from a scrap pile of our local shipyard, a rough cut piece of metal and a bolt with a block very amateurishly welded to it. It broke often but helped us go silly fast on that particular boat.

Also, I'm very conscious of hypothermia. I've replaced my old drysuit that used to get me out in my kayak nearly as soon as the ice left. I've played it safe the last 5-7 years that I didn't have one but my return to sailing has returned my interest. Even then, I stuck close to the shore in my bay and never went alone until it's at least wetsuit weather. I've been there, done that so to speak. I'll not do it again.

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.


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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 7:38 am 
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Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:56 pm
Posts: 98
Location: mt tabor vt
Murph, I concur with everyone else. But, I would sail it first without the traveler installed. I will be posting a video shortly with the newly installed traveler, New custom jib and Harken carbo ratcheting blocks. It hauls some major a#*! But, as you'll see it is borderline unmanageable in sustained 28-34 mph winds. Wasn't the case before. Jib has way too much power for that air. Mast is raked back all the way(shorter shrouds and longer forestay) for block to block on the main. Sail it first. It's a big air boat that's for sure! Congratulations on your Wave! :)

_________________
"Liquid Plumber's Edition Wave" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z78PozP9dc0


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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:51 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:08 am
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Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Thanks Stevie and that was indeed a fun video to watch.

I'm not concerned with overpowering my boat with the traveler. Just because it's there, I'm not forced to use it. Plus if used in reverse, it can be used to de-power a boat as well.

I just figured that for a 'relatively' inexpensive option, it will be appreciated when I head down the thinner part of my bay with the muscle farm that often forces you into an agonizingly slow run if your main is all curled up. Also, I'm a never satisfied tinkerer by nature. So I will be the first to admit that something I can tweak to go faster or that simply just gives me more to do while sailing will appeal to my basic person.

In any case, it now looks like that I have to travel for pleasure and a volunteer duty for the last two weeks of May anyways. So I might as well stay patient and take advantage of that free install.


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