[Rhodes22-list] Rhodes 22, Lake Washington

[Eric Nelson]

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

On 8/24/08, Steve <stevej78 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Eric,
>
> Good morning,
>
> I'm in Bellevue WA. and sail in Lake Washington.  David Bradley in Seattle
> keeps his Rhodes 22 in Lake Union.  David's email is dwbrad at gmail.com. If
> you would like to contact him.
>
> Are you sailing in the Puget Sound?  I haven't ventured out into the Sound
> yet.  One of my goals is to sail over to Kingston one of these days.  I
> would like to get together and see your Rhodes.  Fort Lewis area is only 45
> minutes from our home in Bellevue.  Please give me a call on my cell
> (206-300-3272) when you have a chance.  I'm going to try to go out sailing
> this morning if there is some wind on Lake Washington.
>
> Steve Jacobs
>
> Bellevue WA.
>
> 206-300-3272
>
>