Presto Sharpie Sandpiper 32 Re-fit: 2016

Well the boat is home for the winter. She's in good shape but lots of work needs to be done. I'm planning on a Simpson style shed instead of the usual canvas cover so I can work in the winter.(in theory).
I rebuilt my old skiff this fall. A fun project. I also modified another skiff for my brother in law. Another fun project. The dingy is in the barn for a refit also.
We had a good cruise this summer. Made it to the Cape for some shoal water work, Waquoit Bay and into Cotuit, Fun anchoring in three feet. Due to a faulty eye bolt we almost lost the rig of the East Chop on the Vineyard. Thanks to our friends on the Island, repairs were made but our confidence shaken a bit. All the more reason to push ahead with the unstayed rig plan.
In the ongoing puzzle of too much weather helm, I'm thinking of shifting some ballast further aft, to raise the bow a bit. We also noticed better boat speed and balance with the boards raised half way although there's more lee way. With flatter sails and less mast rake, things should be better but who knows. The old rig worked but was very difficult to tune and didn't have enough area and that's too high.
Some pictures:

We've had an interesting season so far on Neena. She went overboard in early June at the nice state ramp in Bristol. Bob and I put up the rig at the ramp dock and I motored over to the mooring. Earlier in the spring I shortened the boards back to the designed length, so I was interested to see if the performance would be different. If anything, she went to windward better than before.. I never could get the long boards all the way down. Now they drop right down with no problem. The bronze bushings and pins work well. The four part tackles with new line, pull the boards up with no problems, although they both jam in the full position, but release with a little vibration. I think I need to lead them more fairly off of the boards.

Potter's Cove in late June

I took a nice little four day cruise around the bay towards the end of June. On the way to Newport, one leg of the split headstay pulled out of the bowsprit! I rigged a tackle and went on my way to Clingstone where Josh gave me some epoxy, bolts and clamps and I cobbled together a repair.

Hazel and Martin visited aboard at Clingstone. They liked the chocolate we had aboard.

The next day I sailed around out front to Third beach on the Sakonnet river with a little fog on the way in to make it interesting. A nice quiet night with lots of stars, awaking to a beautiful light north wind.

Sunset at anchor off of Third beach, Newport.

Later, in August, Phoebe and I cruised down the Sakonnet, out to Cuttyhunk, the Vineyard and the Cape where we sailed in some skinny water. Lot's of fun but on the way back to Martha's Vineyard, the rig almost came down after an eye bolt let go under the bowsprit. Luckily, I'd rigged a tackle on the bowsprit before we left the Cape. I guess my bowsprit rebuild was a complete failure. Our friend Roxy in Vineyard Haven helped me stabilize the rig and Nat at the boatyard sold me an eyebolt and we sorted it all out after we motored around to Lake Tashmoo. My buddy Dennis gave me some bolts and more repairs were made. I wouldn't have blamed Phoebe if she got on the ferry after all that trouble. Neena behaved her self one night in a squall that sent some boats dragging. She doesn't give the wind much to grab.

We eventually sailed back to Narragansett Bay and spent a delightful week anchoring around various quiet spots like Hog Island, Church's cove, Rome point and Potter's Cove not to mention the Kicky.