From Acorn To Arabella.
Throughout the process of building my own wooden sailboat, I had to make several important decisions. Some of these decisions were met with massive support, others…not so much. One important consideration was marine diesel engine maintenance—I wanted it to be as easy as possible! In this week’s episode, we’ll be exploring the 3 best decisions I made while building my sailboat, Arabella.
First, the Emmert Pattern Makers’ Vise and workbench, which has been a huge help for rigging projects! This week, the vise came in handy while splicing, seizing, and setting up a beefy anchor pennant line. My sewing skills also came in handy in creating the eye for the line. Ultimately, I’m really happy with how the anchor pennant came out. And I only had to get a little wet (and slightly concussed) to install it…
Installing the Pattern Makers’ Vise was one of the more controversial additions to my DIY sailboat, but I’m so glad I have it.
The next decision I’m so glad I made was installing a Dual Fuel Filter from Keenan Filters. This system has some great features. It uses twin Racor filters, so there are no expensive, proprietary filters to buy, which I really appreciate. This week, I do a filter swap, and I also show you one of the coolest tricks up this system’s sleeve: it clears any airlocks from the fuel system.
The third decision I’m so glad I made was being able to change the oil on our boat with the flick of a switch. Simply turning on the oil change filter and flipping a switch allows us to drain our oil quickly. Then, we just have to flip that switch the other way to fill back up with fresh oil.
Many a sailor turns green with envy when we show off these convenient marine engine maintenance systems!
After the engine maintenance was done, it was time for some fun! We met up with our friends, Kourtney and Pete, for a day of beaches and BBQ. Captains BBQ in Palm Coast, FL served up some flawless southern BBQ, I made friends with a lizard, and Matanza beach was pink with coquina sand (and plovers, much to Robin’s delight). We wrapped up the day with a visit to Princess Place, which gave us a peek into the high life—without any shortage of Spanish moss!
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Episode 336 – Acorn to Arabella: Journey of a Wooden Boat
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Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve began the journey as an amateur wooden boat builder crafting a 38′ wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin’s Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel’s gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and now sailing the boat—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that traditional wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project continues beyond the boat shop, as Steve and crew travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they’ve built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.
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Original Soundtrack available at benfundis.bandcamp.com
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