Finally a nice day to work!

Well most days we have had lots of rain. Plus I have been busy doing the usual stuff to take care of grown up life. When we finally had the sun come out for a day here and there I wanted to go out and do something. So I have not been spending much time at all on the boat. A little thing here and there. But not really getting any real work done.

Today the sun peaked out from around the clouds. The rain stopped falling. It was a good day to get a little work done. So I went to work on a project that I have been trying to figure out how to do and tackle it!

I saw a picture posted on a sailboat Facebook page with basically a frame was built on the sailboat to give the tarp a higher angle. This boat is in an area that they get a lot of snow in the winter time. So with building a frame to hold a 2X4 higher above the boat, it created a steeper slope for the tarp. This was important to keep the snow from piling up.

I have these 2 places where the rain water ends up collecting. It puts a lot of pressure on the tarp and ends up destroying it. So I thought it was a great idea to use. My only problem is I wanted to build something that it would not be to hard to take down when I didn't need it.

That was the part that I was having a hard time with. How to hold up a 2X4, and be able to take it down quickly and easily. I wanted it to be pretty simple and of coarse I wanted to be able to build it on the cheap.

So I came up with a simple 2X4 post the had a 12 inch foot nailed to the bottom of the post. This was to help spread out the weight on the boat. Then I nailed 2 5 inch pieces of 2X4 to the top on the sides of the 2X4 post. This was to hold the 2X4 on top of the post in place. Then I used some rope to lash the post to the mast. The post at the aft part of the boat also got lashed to the safety line.

So a pretty simple design. A post to hold up a 2X4 at each end. One is 12 feet long and the other is 10 feet long. So basically I will be able to take the tarp off. Take off the two top 2X4's. Untie 4 posts and I am all done! Easy peasy!

Here is one of the tarps on. It looks like a pretty good angle to allow the water to just run down the tarp. There should not be any places where the water can gather. That will prevent it from getting to heavy and trashing the tarps.

With this set up it is pretty easy to untie the tarp from the aft starboard and then I can climb the ladder and get in the boat. There is enough headroom that I can have the tarp in place and work under the tarp! So that is a nice bonus!

Hopefully this will help me keep motivated and able to keep working on her. There is quiet a bit for me to do. I think I have got enough information and knowledge to actually tackle doing the interior. I am sure hoping I will have a post about that in the near future.

By the way I am looking to get as much information and knowledge about these Reinell sailboats that I can. So if you have one or know somebody that does. Would love to get in contact with you. Send me an email and let me know. 

Thanks!