December 14, 2020. Carter Ott checking in as the new owner of Duckling

Ron,

I hope you are well. I am the new owner of Yankee Dolphin 24, Hull 84 “Duckling.” Jim was nice enough to tow Duckling, by trailer, to a boat yard in Richmond for some repairs and upgrades on November 10. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to work on the boat on the hard at my house or at any local yards.

Repairs and upgrades included new standing and running rigging, new lifelines, replacing the centerboard pin, new cockpit winches, bottom paint, etc. I took delivery from the yard and singlehanded her from Point Richmond to Coyote Point Marina yesterday. Unfortunately, the wind was light and the contrary currents strong (it took about 6 hours dock-to-dock).

It being my first sail on the boat, I also made a number of rigging mistakes, which I had to correct on the water. I look forward to learning more about the boats from the website. Thank you, by the way, for your lunch video at the St. Francis YC. It was a real inspiration.

Attached are a few photos of Duckling and some shots I took of the San Francisco Bay on my way yesterday

Carter

WELCOME ABOARD CARTER!!!

FAIR WINDS JIM

Lets start the show with a 'chart' so we know where Duckling is sailing

Click on these photos for larger images

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April 16, 2021. Carter sent in the following update

Ron,
Thank you for asking about Duckling. She’s doing well. I’m not able to restore her out of the water locally, so she’s in the water at a marina only about a 5 minute drive from my house. As a result, my family (my wife and our two young girls) regularly visit her, and walk the marina, including a lengthy jetty which visitors can walk over via a paved walkway.

To date, we have not taken her out for a sail. Instead, we’ve been focusing on taking “baby steps” in helping our kids feel comfortable on the boat. Mostly, this involves visiting Duckling and eating snacks in the cockpit after taking a walk around the marina. We plan on taking her out with the whole family aboard next weekend, which is Opening Day weekend here.

Since I last email you in mid December, I have focused on restoring Duckling’s interior. Per advice from Don Casey’s book, “This Old Boat,” I sanded and painted the fiberglass with exterior house paint; I sanded and painted the cabin sole with Bilgekote; and I’m close to done in refinishing the teak and mahogany with Cetol Natural Teak varnish. The result is a significant improvement in the feel of the cabin and the morale of my crew.

On the electronic side, I wired an automatic bilge pump to a new 12 volt Lithium battery, which is recharged by a solar panel wired to the battery. The old bilge pump was a hand pump (not unlike the Naples Sabot I sailed in elementary school), and the output tubing was cracked.

In the Bay Area, we receive nearly all of our rain between October and March. So now that the rainy season is nearly over, I plan on moving to refinishing the deck (fiiberglass and teak) and focusing on the rigging. In particular, Duckling came with a jib boom and has a traveler just forward of the mast. I plan on trying to decipher how that was intended to be rigged (I’ve been looking at photos of how jib booms are rigged on the J/100 and Alerion Express).

Included are several recent photos of Duckling, including a “before” and “after” of the cabin teak.

Best,

Carter

Look close - see the solar panel?

Before

After - Stay tuned

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March 15, 2022 - We have the following update and photos from Senior DFI Carter -

Ron

Here’s a quick update from last year. As the weather warmed, our restoration worked moved to the exterior -

Best

Carter

1. Topside teak - During the summer and early fall, I scrubbed, cleaned and brightened, sanded, and varnished (using Cetol Natural Teak) nearly all of the topside teak.

2. Topside decks - As you can see from the photos from my last update, Duckling’s decks featured a number of large black spots, which appeared to be where paint had stripped from the fiberglass. This was probably due to prior overuse of a pressure washer. I applied a few coats of marine primer to nearly all of the deck and cockpit, focusing on the black spots.

3. Canvas covers - Duckling’s canvas mainsail and tiller covers had become threadbare and were different colors. We replaced them and purchased covers for the winches, as a set from Lee Sail Covers (LeeSailCovers.com). It took them about three weeks to make the covers, and the prices were modest. The material is WeatherMax, and the color is Mist. I also replaced the fenders and added canvas covers to those.

4. Tiller - I planned to sand and Cetol the tiller. But when I detached the tiller from the rudder post, I noticed that in some areas the layers of teak that constitute the tiller were no longer joined, and I was concerned about its structural integrity. So I replaced the tiller with a prefabricated model, made of ash and mahogany, from West Marine (Model E). I will ultimately sand and Cetol the original tiller and keep it onboard as an emergency tiller.

5. Headsail furler - Last but not least, we replaced the headstay with a Harken furler. I’ll provide an update on headsails in our next update.

PS Despite the photo image the tiller is nearly identical in length and width to the original tiller.  I actually picked it because the dimensions matched

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This is the history we have on Yankee #84 - updated April 21, 2023

 

September 22, 2020. Jim confirmed Duckling is still for sale and he updated his email contact info. Here's a link to his current Latitude 38 magazine ad https://www.latitude38.com/advert/24-ft-yankee-dolphin-1968/.

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November 13, 2017. Jim has advised Duckling is FOR SALE. Below is a copy of his ad and his contact info.

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24' FT YANKEE DOLPHIN, 1968
On trailer in El Grenada $6000

Two axle trailer, radios, many sails and accessories included. Deteriorating eyesight provokes sale. Classic S&S design, stable and sea-kindly in SF Bay. Shoal draft, swing centerboard, club-foot jib for easy tacking, Bruce & Danforth anchors, custom step and rigging for safe single-handed mast handling. 6hp Sailmaster OB on transom, solid-fuel heater, kero two-burner stove, portable-potti. Hull clean, no blisters, needs bottom paint.

jimsutro@icloud.com (updated September 22, 2020)
(650) 867-5018

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