Oh, How I Love Little MOUSE…

FIRST LOOK: Our Camp-Cruising Gunter Yawl Hits the Water!

In writing about any small boat and its history, design or construction, I normally stick with the linear approach: Beginning, Middle, End.

Although our little gunter yawl, MOUSE, has an interesting enough backstory, I’ve got to go non-linear and enjoy dessert first. (Right now, I’m just too excited, relieved and eager to share a few photos of the finished MOUSE. I can tell backstories later, but let’s get started today, with the first under-sail images.)

One of the first pleasant sails with MOUSE—so far—was during our recent Small Boat Festival on Port Ludlow Bay, south of Port Townsend. I’m still making almost-daily tweaks to the rigging (doing whatever I can to simplify, mostly), but I love the way MOUSE handles—like a beamy little ship—and she is surprisingly fast. Oh, what a great experience, learning the qualities and needs of a new rig and looking forward to years of camp-cruising enjoyment. Josh Colvin photo