PocketShip.net

After 3 1/2 years of sitting in my garage I've finally had the first maiden voyage of my PocketShip christened "MS TaTas". She is a kit build and I am amazed that it came out so well. It's a true tribute to John C. Harris design and product.

I promised my wife when I started her that I wouldn't give up our time together to build another (this is my 3rd and by far largest) boat. So I shut off the TV and used only the time I would be sitting and watching the tube to work on the boat. That's probably why it took double the time of most people to finish.

Last thursday she was christened and took her maiden sail. Wind was fluky and about 3-8 kts. Mind you I hadn't done much tuning of the rig but the boat sailed perfectly. I could literally let the tiller go for minutes at a time and she would hold her course like she was on a rail and it would only require gentle input to the rudder to get course corrections. She also tacks easily and heaves to with no problem. She is sitting a little high in the bow but I haven't put in the group 27 battery yet. I hope that will take care of the problem. If not I can add some weight under the battery platform. Also I will probably completely remove the Torqueedo while I am sailing in the future.

She's all that I hoped and dreamed while I was constructing her.

Regards,
Bill

Beautiful boat! Since I am approaching 72, I hope mine doesn't take quite that long to finish. It's slow-going though. You're right, the bow does seem to be riding a little high--how much does the Torqueedo weigh?

Just curious--looking at your first picture it appears you don't need a trailer. Do you plan to leave the boat in the water permanently? Is that fresh water or salt?

It's beautiful, I'm very jealous Can't wait to have mine on the water (LONG way from that though).

I'm also curious about the weight distribution, since I have no idea what to expect for my boat. How much internal ballast did you add? (above and beyond the keel lead). I don't plan to add a battery to mine, so I'll probably need to add a bit extra weight forward. Maybe I shouldn't have filled up the aft keel box with lead all the way, and just poured 3/4 or something. I guess I'll see how mine floats and can remove lead from the keel later if I need to, or add more into the bilges.

(I also won't have a motor, so that will lighten the transom too).

I believe the Torqueedo comes in at 32 lbs. I've got 150 lbs of internal lead in the front most bilge compartments. The group 27 AGM battery comes in at 57 lbs. I could probably get another 25 lbs under the battery platform. I don't think it's going to be too hard to get it balanced out.

I'm using my son's dock for her temporary berth. He's letting me keep it there while I finish the shake out sails. The lake he lives on is small and not very much to see (except expensive houses). I plan to trailer it out to the coast fairly frequently and after a couple of months on the lake it will probably live mostly on trailer.

I'm planning to have it all debugged and ready for next years Texas 200.

Bill