From Acorn To Arabella.
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We’ve sailed our beautiful wooden sailboat all the way from Maine to Boca Grande, where it’s time to stop and give our tender, Victoria, a little TLC. Her transom is in dire need of repairs. Remember, she was built with 100-year-old Honduran Mahogany from a boat we salvaged during the boatbuilding process, and some of that wood is starting to give up the ghost.
I was able to not-so-easily remove her knees using my pole saw and a hacksaw blade. Then, Robin and I hauled her out and propped her up against a palm tree where I could do the rest of the repairs and fiberglassing.
Without the knees in place, you can clearly see the transom is pulling away from the hull. We also have a few cracks in the transom from where our tender motor sits. I’m going to reinforce that part of the transom, apply TotalBoat Thixo, and fiberglass over it. That should get Victoria ready for whatever adventures lie ahead!
While the Thixo and fiberglass cure, I give Victoria a good bath—and Robin hits the Boca Grande bike path for a run with Akiva! They both need it!
Beyond being a great place to do Victoria’s transom repairs, Boca Grande is a hot spot for wildlife viewing. From the boat, we spotted pelicans and Ospreys, and from our paddle boards we spotted iguanas, manatees, rays, and about a million tropical fish!
Perhaps even more beautiful than Boca Grande is the quiet island of North Captiva, which me, Robin and Akiva were excited to explore. First stop: hiking Captiva’s beaches and nature trails, and passing a pod of about ten manatees soaking up the mid-day sun!
The destruction from hurricane Ian is still very evident on North Captiva, where not many homes made it our unscathed. Some have been rebuilt, but many have not.
The next stop for us is Sanibel, provided we can make it out of our anchorage without running aground. I think we’ve finally gotten to the fun part of cruising and living about Arabella!
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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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