I have started a new blog called The Adventures of Ugo Igo Too for recording our ongoing experiences sailing/camping/fishing/pillaging/capsizing….etc…etc.
I didn’t want to bury the boatbuilding material too deep in case some people are visiting the blog to gain from my experience.
Thanks to everybody for visiting and encouraging me along the way. It was a great experience!
Above photo converted with Poladroid to simulate an SX-70 photo. I think it captures the day perfectly.
We finally got a good weather day when Patty had no Dr. appointments and the kids didn’t have any activities we couldn’t skip. Patty and I sent the boys off to school and didn’t tell them of our plans. When they came home for lunch I had the boat hooked up to the van and asked them if they were ready to go sailing. They loved playing hooky.
My friend Terry Dopson got here about noon, we ate, loaded a few more things and then hit the road for Emerald Lake. We had to stop and adjust a couple of things with the trailer but got to the lake about two fifteen. We were so eager to get the boat in the water we had it unloaded and floating before I remembered that it deserved a launch ceremony. Terry and I changed into our wetsuits and then got ready to officially name the boat.
It was a small group: Patty, Terry, Hunter and Cameron and an old friend, Brad Butler, that lives at the lake who I had emailed to watch for us and came down to the boat launch after he saw us drive in.
I told them how the only person that I knew that had built a boat was my dad, Fred. He built a little rowing and fishing boat and he named it UGO IGO. He had the name painted in big block letters on the boat. When people couldn’t figure out what it meant and he explained it, “You go, I go.” he got the biggest kick out of it.
I said, “So in homage and memory to my Dad I had decided to name this boat Ugo Igo Too.” We toasted Ugo Igo Too and I poured a glassful of champagne over the bow.
Then, for the first trip I had decided I wanted my family to go out using the outboard and that we wouldn’t try sailing with them until after Terry and I had tried sailing and returned dry and confident that the conditions were safe. It took me a while to get the Tokatsu 2 running properly…I forgot to turn on the fuel and it ran for a while and died when the fuel in the fuel line ran out. When I figured that out I got it going again and we cruised up and down the shoreline and then went back to switch crews.
We rigged the sail and set everything up and got ready to go. As the water was painfully cold and I was the only one with wetsuit booties I gave Terry a piggyback ride to the boat so he wouldn’t get his feet wet. We paddled out a bit and tried to figure out where the wind was coming from…it was very light close to shore as we were in the wind shadow of the trees. We finally got things sorted out enough to get moving. We went for a ways and then I decided to try a tack and turn us around. Didn’t make it around. Fiddled about, got moving again and tried another tack…didn’t work. Then, I noticed that the leeboard was still up! We put that down and immediately noticed how differently the boat handled, got moving with more speed and then tried a tack. It came right around. Big difference.
We were able to go back and forth on a reach sort of along the main beach. We played with pointing closer to the wind and waiting for the sail to luff. Terry was most impressed I knew all this “sailor talk.” 
We went back and picked up Hunter and Cameron and sailed back and forth, actually went right across to the “point” as I know it and then came back. The wind was dying and we decided it was time to call it a day. We loaded the boat, changed clothes, loaded everything else into the van and on the van and headed back to Saskatoon.
It was really a nice fall day. Cool but very pleasant. It was great to get out and enjoy it as we don’t have many of them left before winter arrives.
I can’t wait to be able to go out again next summer.
Here are some photos:
What a great day!
It is suggested by many people that one should have something at the stern to aid in re-entry from the water after a capsize…a slot cut in the rudder, a loop of rope attached to the rudder, a rope ladder, etc. I had been planning on attaching a u-bolt in the rear slop well to tie the outboard to and also tie a rope with a loop in it or something similar as a reentry aid. When I went looking for the u-bolt I thought I had I couldn’t find it and after some searching realized I had used it in the mast step for the downhaul anchor.
I started looking at what I had and how I could rig something up and then got an idea based on an ocean kayaking method of using a rope to help you re-enter a kayak. In kayaking you would have the rope loop around the cockpit coaming and then step into it. It occurred to me that I could have a rope around the rear hatch long enough to go into the water at the stern and use it as a step. I think it’s a pretty good idea. I have an old handle from a snow shovel that I will attach to the rope to give a solid step. Here are some pictures…
Best of all, it can be quite securely fastened under the latches for the hatch and not interfere with the operation of the hatch.
Flickr Photoset
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Plywood to boat!
Today I tried rigging the sail. Eventually got everything working properly. Had to change things a little bit but not too much. Will likely have to remove the cleat from the mast and reinstall it about a foot or so lower.
I am done. Today I mounted the last pieces of hardware, tied the sail to the spars (in the dark in the rain on the front lawn with lightning flashing), figured out how to rig the halyard, put on a final coat of varnish (for this year) and put the licence plate on the trailer.
The ghastly crew….
you’re finished, something else pops up.
Today I picked up a few bolts to finish things off and came home and was well underway when the fellow building my trailer called and came over with the trailer. We mounted the bunks I made on the trailer and then I finished everything except one thing.
Later in the evening I got a couple of neighbours to help me lift the boat onto the trailer. We were talking about things and then I thought…I should make sure the mast fits in the partner properly before I take it out sailing tomorrow. So, we rolled the trailer out int the driveway and I tried to drop the mast in…I need to cut the partner back on an angle about 3/16 of an inch so that the mast will fit. Due to the angle the mast makes and the fact I made the partner opening very close to 3″ square the mast just won’t drop in so I will be a while longer before I get that taken care of and a few other trailering items that were identified this evening.
