Launch day

After refitting all the fittings, and giving the spars a couple of coats of varnish, we were ready for the big day. It was a bright and sunny day with little wind so off we went.
We chose a sheltered lagoon with a sandbar across its mouth. A very protected area in case there were any problems. My son assisted and brought along one of his home made boats to assist if necessary.

Ready for a test sail

Catching what little wins is available

Sailing along gently, with no leaks

Rescue boat if needed

The wind is dying

Time to try out the oars

A successful completion of the test sail.

So the end of the project has arrived. It is far from a pristine restoration but is a fully functional mirror dinghy that I intend to have many adventures in. Apparently it is bad luck to change a boats name, but I am not really into suspicions so I decided to rename St Jim. The new name represents what many people may have thought, "Write Off".

I hope you have enjoyed my blog on what I found to be a fun and rewarding project.

Cheers

Bigbloke