R22 Discussion Group

Eric,
Welcome to the list and thanks for the introduction. It's always nice to  
have a little background information from list members. I love the name. It's  
very appropriate and believe me, we've all been there, done that with the  
misadventures you are experiencing. I probably have more dumb moments than most,  
but still enjoy the sail.

Rummy......still praying for rain on soon to be dry Lake Hartwell,  SC.

In a message dated 8/25/2008 3:32:08 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
errorinspelling at gmail.com writes:

My wife  and I started sailing in American Lake for the first weekend. Even
with no  sailing experience I found that American lake was somewhat confined
for my  spirited little Rhodes. Add to the fact that there is a plethora of
Power  Boats and PWC's that have no concept that a sailboat can't just power
down,  or make any arbitrary turn and keep on going. Well at least I  sure
couldn't. Since then We've been launching out of Solo point just South  East
of Kentron Island's southern tip and sailing North. There is no  Launching,
of course there is no dock either, so launching the Rhodes is a  little
tricky. Each trip has been an adventure and filled with many  instances of
"Oh! so that's how that works" or "Hey! That's what that is  for!" I have
only been on the water for about a month now and mostly on the  weekends.

I suppose this is as good of an opportunity as any to fully  introduce my
family and my sailboat "What Next". So Here goes.

Hi!  as you all know my name is Eric, my wife is Kim and I have three
children  Kayla, Kari, and Liam. My oldest unfortunately is has little
interest in  sailing, but my wife, middle daughter, and son tolerate it with
some  interest. I happened across an add on Craigslist for a '78 Rhodes 22
for  $2500 that needed a little work. I figured what the heck, I've  always
wanted a boat and fuel prices are absurd for running a powerboat.  She was in
actually rather nice condition for her age so off I went. Since  buying her
I've completely ripped out all the wiring, and relocated the  power panel,
and will be doing it again as I have found that I have had  some serious
misconceptions about corrosion control and affects of wiring  on the compass.
Other electrical items touched were the marine radio (Bad  LCD display
replaced with an LED display), a new mast mounted antenna, new  bilge pumps
and switches, Dual battery connections (But still need a  battery selector
switch and high current breaker). The mainsail and Genoa  had to be resewn,
and my poor little yard sale JC Penny sewing machine was  barely up to the
task but got it done none the less. After a couple  weekends sailing I found
the mainsail would not take a good shape and after  doing a little research
had found that my bolt rope had shrunk almost 2  feet. So I replaced that and
did some structural upgrades to the tack head  and clew while I was at it.
All told I went from getting about 5.* knot max  to reaching about 6.* on a
good wind and Saturday out by Shilshole Bay We  were holding about 7.4 -
7.6 knots water speed. We haven't had to many bad  problems so far, just a
jammed keel which was fixed with a quick little  swim, and a trashed roller
furling due to some miscommunication while  lowering the mast. Hood Yacht
Systems though still carried parts and we  were able to salvage it and get
the roller furling back into service.  During a quick haul out at 3:00 in the
morning just before a lightning  storm hit I did manage to fracture my wheel
studs leading to a complete  tire loss, oops! All this though becomes little
lessons learned and in the  long run will make me a better sailor.

Oh and about the name, it was  not intended to be something disparaging. It
was inadvertently named by my  wife, from her reaction when I told her I had
bought something new. I like  to think of "What Next" as being ready to go
and looking forward to new  adventures, but most seasoned sailor's I have ran
into say it is a very  appropriate name for a sailboat or any boat. (What
ever that means.  ;)  )

As for sailing in the Puget Sound Next Wednesday I am  looking at launching
from Point Defiance or maybe another port further up  and closer to Seattle
And do a an overnighter or two. I would love to meet  up with other Rhodes
owners in the area and really see how you have made  things work on your boat
as I am sure I have a few things done COMPLETELY  wrong. Hey! Why can't a
ratchet strap work as a boom vang? ;)

Well  Everyone Take care and will be sending pictures later today if anyone
is  interested.

Eric.
S/V "What Next"
1978 Rhodes 22  Continental

The Rhodes 22 Discussion Group

R22RumRunner at aol.com

Rhodes 22, Lake Washington