My very first boat...a Compac 16! (and my first adventure)

[B.Hart]

The best wayto learn is to do. Getting to know your boat and hardware is all part of it. HAPPY SAILING

[ramble on]

A tip I picked up somewhere is to keep a can of acetone handy when using epoxy or caulk. Acetone evaporates so quickly that it will totally dry  even a small puddle of water. Its almost like magic.

[janette70]

She's fixed and we finally sailed yesterday!
The fix went great and again I learned so much trying to rig her back up!
All is well though....we took her out yesterday and all seemed sound!
Thanks so much for all the advice - it helped soooo much.  I really do appreciate everyone's input.
Also, somewhere on this forum i had read about using the Mr. Clean magic eraser....and boy does that work well.  I had what looked like a seismagraph from where the mast rubbed on the cockpit and I was going to use rubbing compund but tried the "eraser" and if came right off!

Hope you all had a great weekend sailing and thanks again!

Cheers,
Janette

[mike gartland]

Janette

Glad to hear all has gone well with your repairs....as many above have testified, maintaining a sailboat, even one well made like a ComPac, requires constant attention and some ingenuity.  The longer you sail, the greater will be our skills and repair experiences you can share with the rest of us.

I'm responding to your posts for a second reason...I'm interested in your opinion of sailing ComPacs on Chatfield Reservoir.  I currently sail a CP23 on Galveston Bay, just south of Houston, but will be moving back to my permanent home in Columbine Hills, just a stone's throw from Chatfield, in the next couple of years.  I am in the process of trying to determine if it will be practical to sail a CP23 on Chatfield.  Other options are to trade down to something smaller like a CP19 or CP16, or take the 23 up into the hills to a bigger lake like Dillon, Grandby or  Shadow Mountain.  I've sailed Chatfield before but only on a small (14 ft ?) daysailer and that was years ago.  I also don't have a feel for how chopped up Chatfield gets on weekends from power boaters.

Any and all thoughts will be appreciated.

Fair winds for you and Pequena.

Mike

[ilbuildit]

Hey Mike. If I may inject my opinion for you here since I sail in and around the Denver/Mountain corridor (Denver Native here).

You obviously know about Chatfield and how "Chaotic" it can be on the weekends. I commend Janette for her bravery sailing on this lake on weekends. Years ago I water skied on this lake before the Front Range had the influx of people to the area and it was dangerous back then to say the least. Very busy and people just don't pay attention. I wouldn't venture out there to save my life on the weekend but to each their own as they say.

My advice would be if you sail Chatfield is to sell your 23 and buy something steel hulled with a battering ram on the front (just kidding).  I would keep your 23 and sail on Dillon Res or even Carter Lake up north of the Metro area. Both lakes are almost controlled by Sailboats and are much larger. Frisco Marina has come a long way in the past couple of years and built a new Bar/Grille to compete with Dillon Marina's famous Tiki Bar. It is a very nice Marina.

Well I hope this might help you in your thoughts. Janette might have better things to say about Chatfield and if so I am happy she is enjoying that res. It is nice and close by.

Lee...

[mike gartland]

Lee

Thanks for the input...it's the kind of up-to-date opinions I'm looking for.  It's been close to 20 years since I last sailed on Chatfield and I was afraid conditions might have deteriorated in that time period.  The only counter-thought to your suggestions is the fact that I will (hopefully) be retired when we move back to Columbine Hills and will have the luxury of sailing during the week and avoiding the weekend chaos.  Don't know if that will be sufficient to avoid the refit with the recommended steel plate and battering ram but I's a possibility.

I've nevers sailed Carter Lake but I suppose that is worth investigating.

As for Dillon, do you have any info on regulations for boating....eg, overnighting on board....since it is part of the Denver water supply system?  I seem to remember that certain activities like swimming were not allowed do to water quality concerns.

Thanks again for the input.

Mike

[ilbuildit]

Hey Mike.
As far as staying overnight, I don't know that right off hand. I have wondered that myself. I will find out this weekend. I recently sold my house up there so I thought I might stay overnight on my sailboat but because I don't know, I am getting a hotel room.

The Manger of the Frisco Marina is a friend of mine and I will be there this weekend. Everyone else I know at the marina is out there at all hours of the night on their sailboat but I don't know if there is an official rule about that. Just last Summer one of our ex Elected Government officials from Breckenridge was staying on his boat and was quite tipsy from too many rum runners and fell overboard in the middle of the night on his mooring on the Frisco side and drowned. They found him 15 feet below his boat. (Denver water you know).

Swimming is absolutely off limits. Besides, the water hangs around 45 degrees in the summer. Strange though on a cold Summer Day if you dip your feet in the water feels warm.

Carter Lake is not a bad drive. No 11,000 ft mountain roads to drive over and is an easy 40 minute drive from my home in Broomfield north of Denver.

I will get back to you about overnights on Dillon.

Lee...

[mike gartland]

Lee

Thanks for the update.  I will be interested in hearing anything else you learn about Dillon.  I will also have to start giving Carter a little thought.  It's a lot easier than fighting the weekend congestion on I-70.

Mike

[multimedia_smith]

Hi Jannette,
Once you get the chainplate and everything else on... you might want to look at the possible cause for the pin slipping out.  Were the shrouds tight enough?  They should be sort of like a bass string when plucked.... under sail, the leward shroud should be less tight as the windward one is taking all the strain, but should not go slack.  This would not only allow the pin to  come loose, but when you tack back and forth the slack allows the mast to gain momentum and snap into place with additional force that could damage the fittings.

One of the things I love about sailing is that it offers a constant learning experience... about the boat, the weather, and making the most of what we're dealt... it's always different.... and mostly wonderful.

I wish you many years of happy sailing experiences.

Dale