I spent last weekend doing some work on the sailing dinghy we got from Henry and Birgitta.

First off, I am really excited about this sailing dinghy. Brendan was in the market for a new [hard] dinghy after a mishandling of his previous [inflatable] dinghy last summer resulted in a critical rip in the boat’s material. Names have not been mentioned to protect the guilty parties.

While the inflatable dinghy was declared reparable, this tragic event served as the impetus to start seriously thinking about getting a new — hard — dinghy. After all, the inflatable dinghy was in a rather sorry state (e.g., duct taped, straps that are raggedy and riddled with seaweed — sorry, Brendan) and it was high time to upgrade.

I think it was while Creeky was moored in Mattapoissett last August that I first saw a sailing dinghy and became aware that this was actually a thing. A man sailing in a little boat cruised right by Creeky. He was practically reclining and easily glided between the other sailboats in the mooring field. Aside from being struck by how adorable this vessel was, I thought that a sailing dinghy just seemed like such an natural choice for a pure sailor. What better way to get to a sailboat than with a mini sailboat? It also seemed practical for those times when you want to go out for an afternoon sail but don’t want to bother navigating a 46-foot sailboat out of a mooring field, for instance.

So as luck would have it Henry and Birgitta offered to sell theirs to us and we happily accepted. As a homage to the yacht rock genre, we’ve named it “Haulin’ Oates” (get it????).

Despite knowing close to nothing about its specs (I think it has an Optimist sail/rig? don’t shoot me..), responsibility for Haulin’ Oates has been bestowed upon me, and I now have a few boat projects of my own. Small in scope as they are — and no comparison to what Brendan is working on with Creeky — it’s fun to be solely responsible for carrying out the relatively short tasks required to make the dinghy sailable.

So, last weekend I sanded and varnished the spars — wooden boom and mast. Funnily enough, my experience with sanding and varnishing canoeing paddles at summer camp actually came in handy for this.

First, I removed all of the hardware — tracks, cleats and a small metal block.

Next came sanding.

Then the first coat of varnish.

Next, a bit more sanding and wiped the spars down with a tack cloth to pick up any dust. Then second coat of varnish.

Then I put the hardware on before it was completely dry (notice the gloves) because I got too impatient.

Next up will be figuring out measurements for creating the sprit: