(re)Building a Wa'apa Outrigger Canoe: Boat Bash

On Sunday, we were back at it early. First we applied a new glass tape edge to the bottom of the hull to give it a little more abrasion resistance and repair a few scratches / gouges that had worn through the original glass layer. We also replaced all the shock cord on the deck, installed the leeboard, and finally, WENT SAILING!

The Rise, finally ready to (re)Launch

We went to Washington Sailing Marina in Alexandria and assembled the boat on the trailer before launching on a normal boat ramp. We got a lot of strange looks at the marina. It seemed that no one understood this was a sailboat and a canoe (and therefore could be easily paddled backwards away from the slip). A lot of helpful people offered their advice, some of which we took, and most of which we ignored. Trent and Dan were The Rise crew for our first voyage. Tim and JB headed to a different park to launch Tim's canoe (you can only launch sailboats at WSM - a huge pain!). We unrolled the sail as soon as we left the dock and sailed out into the Potomac, turning north to head towards Gravelly Point Park and meet the other guys. The new leeboard worked well, although we jury-rigged a bungee to hold it vertical - maybe the bolt tension wasn't high enough. We took on a little bit of water, which was initially alarming. After a while we realized that the control line sleeves were underwater because we had Dan in the back hatch, so water was being pumped into the main compartment. We'll re-rig these to put an upside down U in the lines to keep water out, and re-seal the tubes where they exit the hull.

The boat sailed nicely on one long upwind tack around Reagan National Airport while the big jets landed and took off right overhead. Trent got a real cockpit and seat, but Dan had to sit in the aft hatch. Later he moved up to the front hatch which was a little roomier... The boat sailed nicely, averaging about 3.5 to 4 kts on our first leg. We met the guys as they paddled out of Gravelly Point, where they successfully docked 'under our wing' and we continued sailing north towards Georgetown. The ride was fun especially because the interaction between the two canoe hulls would cause small waves to fountain into the boats. It started to get late, so we turned back and dropped Tim and JB at their put-in before sailing down to the marina, slowing down a little as the winds calmed. We picked up the paddles to make sure we would get back before dark. One last puff brought the boat right into the dock. All in all, it was a great (re)Launch and bodes well for the NCC!