Lester named his Navigator in honor of his father and his service during World War II.
"She's called Leighton which was the name of the British merchantman out of Liverpool my Dad was serving on in WW2 when he met my Mum in Fremantle West Australia."
Lester tells me he's "given the plastic a workout at Duckworks" and has "got to the really scary bit for me - the rigging."
"Still no rub rails but think I will get her in the water sometime in the next few weeks."
"I am not an experienced sailor so this is the most mysterious part of the whole thing. I am not an experienced boat builder either - gardener by trade and latter day pen pusher - so the building thing has been great fun."
Looks like fine workmanship to me, Lester!
"...sometimes I just go down to the shed (4th one so far in a seven year build) and look at her and feel happy. "
For his yawl rigged Navigator, Lester rigged his mainsail as a sliding Gunter main, but with a sprit boom in lieu of the conventional boom. I've seen this rig many times on other Navigators, but I haven't heard much discussion from those who have used this setup. I'm very interested in hearing how he likes it.
Congratulations, Lester, on your accomplishments thus far. We are all looking forward to your upcoming "splash", and wish you many, many years of joy and adventure aboard Leighton.
