Soling 1 M... Soon to get wet ???

[DrElectron]

Hi Gang...

Just had to show this to you all... I bought this for my wife nearly ten years ago and finally got serious about building it before they ship me off to the farm... Just need to step the mast and rig the sails and she will be ready for her maiden voyage... Hoping for this weekend if the winds die down a bit... They have been running 20 to 30 kts for nearly a month... Great for the slope soarer but not so great for a sea trial...

I will add some more pictures when she is completed and in her stand as well as some first sail pics if I can... Our little bay should be ideal for my wife to sit on the porch and have me run chase in the Whaler... :) More pics to follow... Take care and have fun...

Bruce...

[RCheroske]

NICE decking!! Good luck on the maiden voyage!

[DrElectron]

Hi Gang...

Thanks for the comment on the decking... Yes it turned out very nice for a first effort... My wife did the frisket mask and airbrush work on the deck after I prepped it with a lite sanding and then Rustoleum plastic primer... The wood railing effect went on last after the hull and deck were mated... Then the entire surface received multiple lite coats of clear...

Spent the day stepping the mast and doing the rigging... Discovered a potential sail winch conflict so installed some guides to preclude the lines getting fouled on the winch arms... This evening will pin the mainsail to the mast, charge the batteries, and hope the winds die down for a maiden voyage tomorrow... I have attached a couple of photos with her rigged...

Take care and have fun...

Bruce... :cool:

[sailvt]

Hi Bruce, From the pictures it looks like you intend to sail her in salt water, be sure to protect the electronics form the salt sea/air. Placing them in a small plastic bag will help. there is also some stuff called Aeroplate to spray in the servos and on the connections. Its a lite dielectric oil and will help keep your electronics running without corrosion.

Ken

[DrElectron]

Ken,

Thanks for the "Heads Up" on the corrosion prevention tips... Yep, down here we refer to both the water and the air as the "Universal Solvent"... :eek:

The winds finally laid down this morning to around 12 knots so we took her down to the beach for her maiden voyage... I actually built the boat for my wife and was able to trick her into having the controls so I could be in the water with the boat... She seemed to set nicely on the water and will require little or no trim weights... Sailed like a dream even in the somewhat choppy water... This afternoon the winds dropped to around 8 knots and the bay was quite a bit smoother so Tosh (spousal unit) took the controls and sailed her for well over an hour and is hooked... Told me if I wanted to do some sailing, I had better get my boat ordered and built...

Have attached a couple of shots from the maiden voyage this morning... You all take care and have fun...

Bruce... :cool:

[RCheroske]

Yep, my first sailboat was a Soling. I've had many many pleasant hours sailing the boat till one day I tripped over the boat and smushed it. [:(]

[dgoebel]

RCheroske,
George is still turning out kits, a smushed Soling is a PERFECT reason to get a new one...

[RCheroske]

Yep, I know he's still turning them out. But I've moved up to a Marblehead. And down to a Footy :) :D

[new2heli]

Bruce,
Beautiful boat.......... and house!!!

Exactly how did you paint the deck? I was thinking of adding a veneer but after seeing your boat I might try my hand at painting.

Tom

[Hoghappy]

Bruce,
Beautiful boat.......... and house!!!

Tom

Ahhhh...what Tom said!

Man what a view.... :D

Do you live there?

[DrElectron]

Hi Tom,

I prepped the deck with some light sanding followed by a coat of Rustoleum Plastic Primer... My wife used "Frisket" which is a low tack masking material used in airbrush work, in strips to simulate the narrow caulk joint... The dark brown paint was applied and let dry and the frisk was removed... The lighter brown tone was applied over all and is transparent enough to let the caulk lines show through... After mating the deck to the hull, I masked off the rub rail area and had her shoot it with the dark brown again... This was then followed up with several coats of clear gloss as a sealer... Sounds complicated but was really quite easy... We used a standard artists airbrush and compressor and the paints were water based airbrush paints like one would use on a T-Shirt...

Let me know if you need anymore details and will get the straight scoop from my wife... It has had plenty of salt water on it and seems to be holding up just fine...

HogHappy...

Thanks for the comments... Yes we now live here full time... Came down about 4 years ago after I retired from nearly 30 years of flying in Alaska... The house has been in the family since built in 1976 and was a great place to come to recharge my batteries and warm up from the Alaska winters... Love both places, but this is the better place to retire... :)

Take care and have fun...

Bruce... :cool:

[markotina]

Very nice boat and beautiful bay.

[Tuggingafiver]

sent you a pm on exact instructions for the decking and rail,

sure looks great in the photos,,

[fliir]

Whose kit is that - the VMP kit?

D Goebels - are you talking about the same kit or another supplier?

David

[Sackie]

Hey DrE, I would suggest that you look for something a bit larger as the water in the ocean is ALWAYS more choppy that that in lakes or ponds. The wind over the ocean whips up chop that can be quite large for a 1M boat. I can attest as I used to live in Barbados and even on the leeward side (away from the wind for those non sailors like me) the chop could be quite big. And we both know that the wind on the ocean has no obstructions like trees or buildings to slow it down so blows pretty constantly with an occasional gust to get you when you least expect it. I think if you ask around you will find others that may be already racing in a club setting there, all can't afford full sized sailing and the continuing maintenance costs.
Happy sailing to you and the WIFE, cant believe that you havd found a spouse that enjoys what you enjoy, wish mine was like that, she thinks sailing boats is like watching paint dry!!!!!!....

[dgoebel]

Fliir,
Yep, The boat depicted is the Victor Model Products Soling 1M though DrElectron sure did an AWESOME job on the deck and finish.
Victor Model Products is at http://www.victor-model.com/

BTW, I'm originally from GR myself, now a bit west over in MN.