@@crstothard yeah, I do miss sailing the Harpoon. But it was adopted out to a great friend who sailed it quite a bit. No sailing here in CO. But got a sweet mountain bike and that’s very satisfying. 😀 Best wishes.

Thanks

I’m sorry, we gifted the boat to a friend when we left TX, about 18 months ago. I no longer have access to it. I suggest the Harpoon 5.2 group(s) on Facebook. The folks there are very helpful.

Yes, I love the Stohlquist vest I'm wearing there. :)

Sold it in box about a year ago - never used. (No worries.)

Thx for great comment. Unfortunately we gave our boat to a friend when we relo’d to CO. I only remember replacing main sheet once.

Thanks for your interest. There will be more soon. Unfortunately, I’ve had to cut out video editing, but I will post raw footage of more experiments. ❤️

Hi Alan. I am VERY glad I had this surgery. My life has improved dramatically and in subtle ways too. My frequency and severity of acid reflux has been reduced by about 97%. (I'm including the freq. of heartburn ... which was my most mild symptom of reflux.) I haven't had problems with bloating or swallowing food. Contrary to what some people had warned me, I am able to belch without difficulty of gas builds up. But it's different than it was before the surgery. Before NF surgery: If gas accumulated in stomach, my body would belch it out automatically, like a normal person. After NF surgery: Only about 20% of it clears automatically. But about once a day, I become aware that there's more gas in stomach and I consciously help it along without much effort. (Sometimes it's surprising and amusing how much was hidden there ... but it's no big deal.) Having said that, I must report that I have since developed a NEW, minor hiatal hernia. So, if I drink too fast, it may trigger a 20-second bout of pain. It's minimal in comparison to my prior hiatal hernia, but it's there and occasionally causes me pain. I doubt this was caused by my NF surgery, but I mention it because the is always the risk of a new hernia, even if the NF is intact and perfectly executed. I don't feel and pain or discomfort that I would attribute to this surgery (3 years later). Hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask any further questions. Seriously ... I'm happy to help!

Advice: - Follow doctors recommendations. - During initial weeks of recovery: Avoid trapped gas at all costs. Doctor will give you anti-gas medication (simethicone?). Buy more of it than you need and carry some on your person at all times. Also keep some in car, kitchen, and every bathroom. - If you feel scorching burning pain in your stomach, it's probably gas. Take the anti-gas meds immediately. - DO NOT use baking soda to stop any burning feeling -- it's not heartburn, it's prolly gas putting pressure in your stiches. The baking soda will produce more gas and make it worse. Take the anti-gas at the first hint of pain, then consider other remedies if necessary. - Hiccups: Some hiccups are caused by overeating. These are avoidable. After NF surgery, overeating takes on an entirely different meaning. Start out eating as little as possible. Wait 10 minutes and ask urself if you need to eat more. - If you DO get hiccups, sit, raise your hands straight up high, look straight up at sky. - Ask doctor when you can start walking. Walk, walk, walk. The ore you walk, the faster your incisions heel.

@@DaveFer Hi Dave and thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Watching your vlogs and listening to your advice has given me hope for this operation and for that I thank you very much, I guess I’ll just have to see how my body reacts to the surgery and hope for the best. Kind regards Alan

Hi Dave, sorry but I forgot to ask if your swallowing has returned to normal after the NF operation and if so how long did it take and if there is still any food that you still have problems with even year later. Thanks Alan

@@alanwoodward8802 After about a month of recovery, I had no problems eating / swallowing anything except for chugging water. Don't chug liquids. Then about a year and a half later I developed another hiatal hernia and that causes me pain if I drink water too fast.

Unfortunately, we have relocated to CO this summer and gifted our Harpoon to a friend at the Austin Yacht Club. I was planning to do a farewell video with my daughter, but she’s been very shy about doing it. We’ve handed off the Harpoon Dreams KZbin channel to the same friend who took the boat.

Correct.

Thanks for watching. Yes, boom kicker is an alternative to a topping lift. It keeps the boom from falling down when mainsail is depowered or stowed. Not sure what comment you’re referring to that conflicts with that idea. Thanks.

i know this comment is a year old but no, spinies regularly eat caterpillars. he'll be fine.

On my trailerable boats I add a length of line to a halyard, mast end, and run the other end through a block at the bow, push up mast, tie the halyard addition off to most acceptable cleat on mast or deck. I use the block on the bow for jib down haul if it's not a furler. Just let the headstay hang till halyard is secured.

So glad you found it helpful. So ... in the absence of a boom vang, the main sheet is the only line that applies a downward force on the boom. As the main sheet is eased, the boom travels farther from center and the force of the main sheet becomes less vertical and more lateral, allowing the sail to pull the boom upward and form more of a belly. The boom vang helps apply a vertical force downward on the boom and contribute to a more efficient sail shape. (That's my interpretation of the traditional explanation. I'm sure others could explain it better.)

I should also add that in a subsequent outing, at the suggestion of the owner of the Boomkicker company, I flipped my Boomkicker over (the main hinge and 2 rods). This causes it to bow outward (downward) under tension instead of flexing inward (upward). The result is that the cradle becomes deeper and had more hold instead of more shallow when I sheet in and apply pressure to it. This is a better configuration and was recommended by the owner of the company. Unfortunately, I can't find the video segment where I explained that, so when I get my boat fixed that will be a subject for a future episode. :)

Hey, thank you. So glad to hear you're enjoying our videos. We hope you'll subscribe to our new, "Harpoon Dreams" channel where all our new episodes will land. Here's a link to the new channel page. kzbin.info/door/txQUErAHZgzPb6Fpd-Ur1g All the prior videos will be there on a playlist. Best of luck!

Thank you! Hope you enjoy our new channel.

Hey that's a great question. I can't say for sure what the max wind i have ever gone out in, but I can say that I've been out in 10-15 kn winds. As you know, I'm a noob. But it seems to be the risk of capsizing from heeling too much is pretty small. My feeling is that the greater risk is on a downwind run and you forgot to raise the centerboard. (The manual warns about this ... something to the effect of, [if the boom end touches the water, capsize may be imminent.] ... not guaranteed, but may imminent.) One of the best things I've done was to buy this SeaDog reefing hook ($12 on Amazon): www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WKDHMQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Make sure your JiffyReef line (side and end of boom) is in working order. Practice heeling in safe winds (10 kn) until water touches the rail. Practice holding it there to build nerve. Then look for an opportunity to reef your main and go practice same again ... this time in 15 kn wind. Best wishes! Be safe, but go fast. ;)

Thank you for your kind words. She is very special. Check out Episode 30 ... she's quite a little clown. Yeah, a Harpoon 5.2 sounds ideal for you and buddy. Yes. It's relatively stable and quite fast (hull speed 5.19 kn) and easy to optimize. She also provides feedback when you are doing things right. The bailers make a sucking sound as soon as you reach about 4.5 kn and she "growls" at a about 5 kn -- it's a low-frequency vibration when you do everything just right. It's a known thing among Harpoon sailors. I love these little idiosyncrasies. Best wishes, DaveFer & Ms Marie.

Thanks, Hudson! Glad you enjoyed it. Maybe y'all can come sailing with us some time. :)

So glad you find these videos helpful. That means a lot to us. Best wishes.

So glad u found it useful. Do check out my Harpoon Dreams playlist. If u do buy a boat, go small 1st time around.

@@DaveFer I have been around boats all my life, having owned many, from rowboats to powerboats. I am very comfortable around boats and water. However, I have only been on sailboats a handfull of times. Do you think A Capri-18 is too much boat for a beginning sailor? There is a very nicely maintained one available in my area for a reasonable price.

Hey Scott. Yes, this was a rental from Outbound Sailing, LLC. They rent sailboats to members, this was a sort of "entry level" boat that didn't require a membership, but did require lesson, which they considered a membership "fee". I would do business with them again. I enjoyed the lesson I took and sailing this boat. If you just want to get on the water as crew, I would recommend visiting the Austin Yacht Club website and posting an ad in their Want-To-Crew section: www.austinyachtclub.net/?page_id=221&awpcp_category_id=78%2Fwant-to-crew But if you're going to buy a boat, I would highly recommend joining the Austin Yacht Club and storing your boat there. Have Fun!

Hey, sorry I just saw your comment. No I haven't installed a furling jib. I decided it would add too much complexity to our sailing (complexity for both me and the kids) In fact, I just handed our furler and furling jib off to another sailor at our club. People at our club have been very generous with us so I'm just returning the favor.

Yes! Thats the idea, precisely. 😃

Hey, thanks for the comment. I have not seen the article you mention, but I'd love to view it. I Googled it, but didn't find anything like you described. I subscribe to Roger Barnes' Homely Dinghy series -- love it. Thanks for watching and commenting. I look forward to finding the article you mentioned. It sounds very interesting.

@@DaveFer I had a look through my files and didn’t find a copy. I think it was practical sailing magazine or some other small boat sailing magazine from the 80s. If I come across it I will send a link. His trip ended when sailing down wind with full main in strong wind the mast snapped forward since no back stay. But most boats in this size only use three stays. I didn’t consider it a design issue.

Small Boat Journal March 1988 Vol 59 "Carolina Cruising Down Pamlico Sound in a 17 Foot Open Boat" I found the image, but not the article.

@@shempdoll Thanks. It didn't come up in my Google search, but I'll keep looking. :) (I'm Google-challenged. ;) )

Thanks for the tip. We don't hold on to TX Spiny liz for very long. That one was released in short order. :)

@@DaveFer oh ok!

Thanks for watching and thanks for the idea! But all the vids are tagged so they will show up in searches. I'll double-check though. Best wishes. I'm real happy 18 months on. :)

Hey, thanks for the comments. Yeah, I have difficulty keeping my trap shut ... w/without video running. So I'm happy it's not just a stream of cuss words. Lol. Your boat sounds very cool. We need to get our trailer registered so we can transport to new waters. :)