A year and a half in the basement and she finally makes it on to the water.  A little over 60 degrees with a stiff breeze and off she goes.  The melonseed is just a beautifully shaped boat and she did a nice job cutting through the water.

Here are the two Melonseedbuld guys.  Doug’s boat was finished a while before mine. I am just hoping he has some barnacles on his so I can keep up.

Here is a link to PICS of the day.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103364032184059445248/albums/6008906306713646481?authkey=CJz1_qaXnYum8QE

And thank you to Mike “pvc for all your help today.

Tom,  the northern seed

Keeping up a Blog is not easy, but here it is!

A little over a year and a couple of lessons and kick in the ass from Doug, who has already finished and sailed his Melonseed.

IT IS DONE!

First worked on trim and deck.

Then broke my sewing machine and had to borrow a friends sail loft to finish the Sailrite sail….not too bad.

Though she has not got WET yet, She sure looks beautiful all rigged and ready.

The trailer needs some work and the weather need to improve a bit, but here she is.

I know, Iknow. Doug is waay ahead, but progress is happening.  It is hard to work and have time….Now that I am retired, I have no time . It is amazing all the stuff I find to do.

I got to sail with the southern boat a couple of times. she sure is sweet.

Funny how neither of us has named our melonseed yet.

6OZ. glass Wested to the deck

Man, Am I stickey

Almost ready for paint and rails.

I was told the mast, tiller and floor will make a great winter project.

Tom

NEVER sail an outgoing tide in a shallow river known for blue crabbing in the MUD!!

Looking for SOB Melonseed owners.You know who you are.Now that the southern seed is 99.825% done I find myself wondering if the thing performs as well as its contemporary’s.Have tried sailing out of Padinarim,Assonet,Snipatuit,and Long pond Lakeville.am willing to try other sites if someone south of boston wants to play
Doug

Ok,
Set the rig up in the driveway and tried to make a few adjustments. Might have helped to know what to do but fumbled along as best as I can guess. Tossed the little harken block I had on the tiller/kept jamming.Moved the cleat on the mast to change the lift on the sprit.In an attempt to lessen the wrinkle in the sail. Changed a bit of the sail tie arrangement.Loaded the stick to help the c/b to drop.
97degrees out but blowing good at home. Off to Long Pond,LKVL.Ma. Lousy ramp,all concrete and really busy, Blowing in hard!18-20 gusts25+
Wrestled the boat in and rigged it up Country music was playing in my head “What was I thinking” being the main lyric.
Snotter adjustment seemed to be in the right direction and all else appeared ok.
Off we went…omg! it is really blowing out here.
Again with the tracking problem out with the stick+down with the c/b….better
Lively little devil, lots of chop and too many jetskis, finally get every thing untangled,rail inches from under and off we go! Rig looking lots better room left to improve. Stopped at a small beach and tightened up.Better still.Ran up and back a few times in the lower cove ,then down wind to the ramp. Better than I thought but room to improve!
May wish to revisit the cleats,seem a little small. Think we may need more weight in the c/b.
Last the lines may need to change.
Still it was fun and the Kayak is still available

The southern seed was launched today. The day was HOT humid and almost devoid of wind……Perfect! On a borrowed trailer I drove to the launch site on Long Pond Lakeville, Ma. What a cluster! Jet skis,Bass boats and tubers galore. They were backed out on to the road. Slid by with barely a glance and drove on.
Snipatuit pond in Rochester Ma.was the winner a few kayaks and 1or2 small fishing skiffs.
Backed the trailer in and off I went… Shallow!
!st problem, C/B wont go down,knew it was tight and planed to bring a stick to assist.Stick did not help a lot sitting on the bench back home. Soldier on!
2nd problem Think the sprit may be a bit short ,hauled for all I could. Was never able to to clear a wrinkle mid way up the sail. Still it worked and despite looking a bit saggy I was sailing!
Sailed 3/4 of the pond the steering was a bit iffy think that was due to the c/b. Boat was stable and the cockpit super comfy.
Got back in after 2 hours of ghosting about. Lots harder to wrestle on the trailer than expected 1st time was down from saw horses in shop!OOP’s
Guess a bit of fiddling and trip #2wil bring a better report.
That said I loved it..wanna buy a kayak?
Doug

Well, here it is July 11th, Doug’s seed is almost ready to float and sail…..and I plan a camping vacation.  I cannot believe the retirement is so busy….Hey somebodies got to do it, there’s an economy to support.

Still can’t get over the beauty of her lines. Sure hope mine looks this good.

Had a great weekend watching the Melonhead Solstice sail.

This was a get together of Melonheads mostly all sailing Roger Crawford built Melonseeds and some homebuilt.  What beautiful vessels they are.  A wonderful group of great people. I certainly learned a lot about Seeds and hope to sail with them next time.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103364032184059445248/albums/5892021512907149233?authkey=CPma24rq1-fWTA

Doug’s boat is much close to that than mine. Take a look at this Beauty.

Wonder if she has a name yet?

This is Doug’s and what an inspiration to keep building.

I don’t even want to say anything about this.

She is just beautiful.