Spreaders, Smiles and Straight Courses

Friday morning’s lesson:  the “pop” in stainless steel pop rivets can be tough.  Very Tough!  The afternoon served up an opportunity for more Mission Beacon kids smiles outside the cove, in the “flats” and under the new Bay Bridge.

broken spreaderLate last year we lost a spreader on one of our J/24’s.  Friday offered up an opportunity to remove old brackets and install new ones complete with an updated “through-mast” spreader bar. Drilling out old rivets was easy; removing the brackets went without a hitch.

Installing the new brackets using 16 3/16 x 3/4  stainless pop rivets not so easy. The rivets took serious pressure to get them to “pop”.  I was able to do so using a combination “double wrist grip” plus “brace the gun on the mast and push” approach. Took more time than expected.

If anyone has suggestions on better approach let me know.  Although both guns were on the “aged” side they’ve worked fine on recent jobs using aluminum rivets.

Ten middle-school students from San Francisco Beacon Initiative showed up at 2pm.  The wind was cranking nicely so Philip and I decided to pass on a bay sail and treat the kids and two advisors to close up views of the large buoys and barges in the flats, underneath views of the new Bay Bridge and opportunity to see the Alameda cranes loading a container ship.

Friends Under New Bay Bridge     Afternoon Sun at our Backs

Angel Island BackgroundJ/24’s are great platforms for such cruises.  On our boat the two favorite spots were hanging out on (but not over) the bow and driving.  Everyone took a turn at both.  I was also reminded of the origins of the Star Wars battle bots by one of our guests (you’ve heard that story, right)?An Inspiration for Star Wars BattlebotEyes on the Bay

Focusing on where we were heading and keeping steady course was challenging for some, natural for others.  While a minor lesson compared to the goal setting, teamwork, communications and leadership taught as key elements of our summer youth program, these Everett Middle School students enjoyed their time with us and drove straight courses.  Something about being On the Cove and away from city distractions, I guess.

Focused Driving

Our programs staff is always on the alert for volunteers to help with orientation sails like the one above.  If you would be willing to help out call the office and get your name on our volunteer driving list. 

Regards from On the Cove, Dave G

In the wake:

Link to Volunteer Opportunities at TISC: HERE

Call the TISC office to discuss volunteer opportunities: 415.421.2225