Images copyrighted by Chesapeake Light Craft Back in May when I began looking for a first sailboat to build, I decided on the 15-foot PocketShip from CLC boats. As of today, that build is completed with the raising of the sails. We started out by building the 13 foot Mill Creek kayak, (also designed by…
PocketShip: Raising the sails for the first time
It took several months to receive the sailtracks we ordered from the USA. I’d guess this is related to the COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. But they finally arrived last Friday, and today we raised the sails for the first time! Next step is to tow the boat out to a sailing club where they have…
PocketShip: Second water test
After recently testing PocketShip in the water for the first time, there were a few minor issues to address with drain holes and the battery storage compartment and hatch locks. So we took the boat back out and fixed those. We also added a few cleats that arrived in the mail. And we mounted the…
PocketShip: hull ballast
The PocketShip requires aadditional hull ballast in the 150-200lb (70-90kg) range. This is in addition to the lead that was smelted into the centerboard and skeg. The manual uses lead, but we have over a hundred kilograms of steel rebar ballast we used for a time to level the floating house, so we decided to…
PocketShip: First water test
Having gotten the boat onto the trailer a few days ago, we decided to try a first test of PocketShip in the water. Since we live in a floating house in a pond in the middle of our land, and we built PocketShip in a tent on the side of the pond, in only made…
PocketShip: moving the boat onto the trailer
Hoisting the boat up on a winch Pushing the trailer underneath PocketShip on the trailer for the first time
PocketShip: Mounting an electric outboard
It will require some additional pieces to get the outboard to mount properly on the transom, but we ordered and received a Carroute 160 ft-lb electric outboard trolling motor. It will be interesting to test.
PocketShip: Building the various spars
The mast design on the PocketShip is basically a hollow box sealed on the ends by a length of solid core for strength. Given how short it is, this was the easiest way for the designer to make it light and still buildable by home builders. But the other spars are solid. Finished mast Testing…
PocketShip : Welding our own custom trailer
We decided to weld our own custom trailer for towing the small boat, since we have access to good welders.