In 2000 I had just purchased lake property and was browsing around for building ideas. Always had a liking for ships, sails, anything nautical attracts my interest. I wanted a place that would make you think of the sea and sailing. I guess that's all that was left of some old dream that lost itself over the years.

I was on e-Bay looking at model sailboats, thinking they would be kinda neat to sail on the lake.  Then I heard myself saying, "A lake for a front yard and I'm looking at toy boats!  Give your head a shake."

The old dream was alive and well, it just needed a little nudge.

-  Lorence

The Chicago Grip is a tool
I used many years ago
working as a telephone
lineman.  It is a tool for
temporarily griping wire
when raising spans be-
tween poles.  This model
has a V-grove in both top
and bottom jaws.  Contact
is made at four spots a-
round the wire the length
of the jaws.  The model
1613-30 grip can safely
exert 1500 lbs. of pull
without slipping or dam-
age to the wire. 
More info:  Klein Tools

The Luger Sailboat Mooring
at  www.lugerboats.com is
the reference website for
Luger sailboats.  The website
offers an extensive resource
of photographs, catalog de-
scriptions, detailed specifica-
tions, an established owner
Registration and many other
useful links.

I step my mast with a Gin
Pole similar to Dale Mack's method.  The grip is used to
hold onto the forestay two
feet above the deck attach-
ment.  The forestay is under
tension above the grip but
is slack below the grip,
making it easy to work
with a short piece of fore-
stay near the deck attach-
ment while the rest of the
forestay is tight.