Memorial Day weekend is normally the unofficial start of summer as well as the first day of the boating season. Pretty much all the boats that are going in this year have already left the boat yard, so right now it's me and a couple other boats that are still getting ready. There are another half a dozen boats here too, but they probably won't go in this year.
The weather's great right now, so I've been making pretty good progress. I've patched all the large holes in the cockpit and deck surrounding the cockpit, but still need to sand and finish fairing the last two. I also bit the bullet and removed my two large jib sheet winches. I had replaced the old ones with new larger self tailing ones, but since the holes didn't match up and I was in a hurry, I mounted them with 5200, a permanent caulk that's really hard to take off.
I was only able to get them off by using a 9" putty knife and a hammer. I was able to get an edge in and tap it with the hammer (pretty hard tapping as it turned out) and work it loose. It was tough getting the blade in, but once it was under, I had them off in just a few minutes. The putty knife I used is the kind you normally use for floating dry wall. I use it for spreading the epoxy putty used for fairing. Since it's designed to allow you to spread putty, the blade is very thin and flexible. That's the only reason I was able to get the winches off. My other smaller 4" putty knives were too thick, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get them off.
Taking them off makes it easier to paint, but I also want to build up the base with some additional fiberglass to strengthen it. It looks like the strain has caused it to deform a bit and since the bolt holes don't match up, the new holes would have weakened it even more. Now I can build it up and make it even stronger than brand new.
I was also planning on building up the locker hatches so that water wouldn't collect and stand in the middle when the boat wasn't heeled, but after taking a closer look, I'd have to build them up over a quarter of an inch. That's way too much. I will even them up a bit and fix where the hinges attach to the lazarette, but that's about it. I'm also going to replace at least one of the latches that's broken, but if I can't get one that matches, I may end up replacing all three.
With any luck, I may be able to start painting tomorrow. I still need to cleanup and sand, as well as fix the drains, but since I can't paint everything at once anyway, I may try to get ready and paint one section per day. I have to mix the paint, it's two part epoxy, so once it's mixed, I have to use whatever I've got, but I also can't mix and handle too much at one time either. I'd planned to use a different color for the non-skid, but have decided to use white for everything. It's much easier. I'm also thinking of using a two part for the top coat as well, but need to look into it a little more. I bought paint a couple of years ago, but am not sure it's really what I want. I think I like the idea of an epoxy, but will have to read up on it first.
30 May 2010
28 May 2010
KF5HBT
My call sign just appeared in the online database. It's sorta long, but I kinda like it, though I might try to get a shorter one once I pass my general exam. I think the general is all you need to qualify for the shorter call signs, the ones with only 4 characters. Sure wish I had my radio setup. I might start looking into it this evening, but I really need to finish the deck and get the boat "in the dry" before I do anything else.
I finished the messy part this morning, so I'm about to glue in the replacement cork core and should be able to put the patch in place on both holes today. It's a little cool and overcast, so I might not get it all done today, but it won't be much longer now.
I finished the messy part this morning, so I'm about to glue in the replacement cork core and should be able to put the patch in place on both holes today. It's a little cool and overcast, so I might not get it all done today, but it won't be much longer now.
Glass work
Started the glass work in the cockpit a couple of days ago. I finished fairing the largest area -- three holes on a vertical surface -- and fixed a leak where bolt holes for a turning block passed through the cork core, but still need to do the hole where the stern pole was mounted and the hole for the deck vent.
The one for the old vent is the worst. It's a 4" hole in the deck and cut into about an inch of the core. the core near the hole rotted out and disintegrated and after I dug out as much of the bad as I could, it looks like the void I need to fill is about 8 - 10 square inches. Since it's so big, I'll need to replace the core and reconstruct both the top and bottom laminates. I'll start by fixing the bottom, then glue in the core. At that point, I'll just be left with a regular deck hole that's fast and easy to fix. Sounds easy, but gluing fiberglass underneath a flat surface is a messy job.
That's exactly what I had to do the fix the leak caused by the bolt holes for the turning block. I ended up cutting away the cork since it just caught the edge and didn't affect much. However, it was directly overhead and I had resin dripping all down my hand while I was waiting for it to gel. I probably would have been better off if I'd waited a little longer. Of course, this was done while lying on my back in the starboard cockpit locker. I only mention that because I've spent a lot of time lying on my back in those lockers and working overhead lately. I had to spend a couple hours with a hammer and chisel in the port locker to remove the stern post sleeve under the deck and another thing that was mounted on the inner hull -- not sure what it was for, but had to chisel it off.
Hopefully, I can get the holes mostly done today, and start fairing. Fairing is where you mix up a batch of epoxy resin and a low density filler that's easy to sand. You try to get it to the consistency of mayonnaise and spread it over the area with a putty knife. It's sorta like doing dry wall work, and it's really an art to do it well. Doing it well means that you normally only need to do it once and don't need to sand much. I usually need at least two coats and sand a great deal. But I end up with an invisible patch, but it can take a lot of work.
I'm better at it now. The first time I did it was on the large area of deck in the bow. It had similar leaks -- the boat was probably pretty wet inside all the time -- and the previous owner had added a vent up there as well, but didn't seal it either. That caused major damage to the core, and I ended up having to remove 14 square feet of deck and replace almost that much of the core. I had to do the same thing under the mast step on the coach roof, but that was a much smaller area. It took a pretty long time to do, but I learned a lot during the process. It also ate up too much time and money and was a major reason I was forced to winter in Marion and go back to work early.
But it sure looks good and will look great once I paint it. Hopefully, that'll be in the next week or two.
The one for the old vent is the worst. It's a 4" hole in the deck and cut into about an inch of the core. the core near the hole rotted out and disintegrated and after I dug out as much of the bad as I could, it looks like the void I need to fill is about 8 - 10 square inches. Since it's so big, I'll need to replace the core and reconstruct both the top and bottom laminates. I'll start by fixing the bottom, then glue in the core. At that point, I'll just be left with a regular deck hole that's fast and easy to fix. Sounds easy, but gluing fiberglass underneath a flat surface is a messy job.
That's exactly what I had to do the fix the leak caused by the bolt holes for the turning block. I ended up cutting away the cork since it just caught the edge and didn't affect much. However, it was directly overhead and I had resin dripping all down my hand while I was waiting for it to gel. I probably would have been better off if I'd waited a little longer. Of course, this was done while lying on my back in the starboard cockpit locker. I only mention that because I've spent a lot of time lying on my back in those lockers and working overhead lately. I had to spend a couple hours with a hammer and chisel in the port locker to remove the stern post sleeve under the deck and another thing that was mounted on the inner hull -- not sure what it was for, but had to chisel it off.
Hopefully, I can get the holes mostly done today, and start fairing. Fairing is where you mix up a batch of epoxy resin and a low density filler that's easy to sand. You try to get it to the consistency of mayonnaise and spread it over the area with a putty knife. It's sorta like doing dry wall work, and it's really an art to do it well. Doing it well means that you normally only need to do it once and don't need to sand much. I usually need at least two coats and sand a great deal. But I end up with an invisible patch, but it can take a lot of work.
I'm better at it now. The first time I did it was on the large area of deck in the bow. It had similar leaks -- the boat was probably pretty wet inside all the time -- and the previous owner had added a vent up there as well, but didn't seal it either. That caused major damage to the core, and I ended up having to remove 14 square feet of deck and replace almost that much of the core. I had to do the same thing under the mast step on the coach roof, but that was a much smaller area. It took a pretty long time to do, but I learned a lot during the process. It also ate up too much time and money and was a major reason I was forced to winter in Marion and go back to work early.
But it sure looks good and will look great once I paint it. Hopefully, that'll be in the next week or two.
25 May 2010
Ham Radio License
Passed the Technician exam last night at Columbia, so as soon as my call sign appears in the online database, I'll be able to start using my radio -- which I'll still need to install. I also took the General exam, but didn't pass it; It's my own fault since I haven't studied for it at all since moving onto the boat. I went over the Technician question pool in the morning, and looked at about a quarter of the General question pool on the train, but was only able to get 24 out of 35 correct -- you need 26.
However, I did find out that there's a local club here in Huntington that holds exam sessions every couple of months and will have the next one on 12 June, so I'll make sure I'm ready for that one. That also means that I don't have to go back into Manhattan again, which is a good thing -- the 4 hour round trip is a killer. Although I was late for the exam, the LIRR schedule had changed, and I ended up taking the wrong subway up to Columbia, I got there about 45 minutes late, and they stayed around and let me take both exams. Columbia is setup like an armed camp, with only 2 ways in or out, which also caused me a delay in finding the building. But the guys giving the exam where really nice and everything went very smoothly.
Now, it's back to the boat. I finally did some fiberglass work yesterday. It turned out okay, but it was cool and a little rainy, so it took almost an hour for it to gel. It's going to be hot for the next couple of days, so I hope I can get a lot done. Normally, I have trouble with it gelling too fast, so we'll see how it goes today. I'll make up a small batch and time it so I'll know how long I've got. I want to fix the holes in the cockpit and seal around the holes for the portlights before I do anything else. Once that's done, I can start preparing the deck for painting.
I had to take off almost everything in the cockpit in order to get to the holes in the deck. I left the stern pulpit, the two eyes, and the aft center cleat in place since they didn't look too bad and I don't have anyone around to help remount them. I think I can get everything else I took off back on by myself -- with the help of a little gorilla tape.
Gorilla tape is great. It's basically the same stuff we used in the Corps years ago. It's like industrial strength duct tape that's a dark green color. Although I'm not that concerned with camouflage, it does work great for securing a wrench on one side of the deck while crawling into a locker on the other side and try to loosen or tighten a nut. I've used it for several things, including the wind vane and wouldn't have been able to get nearly this far without it. I'll need to make sure I've got a bunch on board before I leave.
The only wrinkle now is that I need to make sure I find time to study for the General exam (and Extra?), and get my radios setup so I can connect once my call sign appears in the database. I need to connect to Winlink so I can get email setup. My new email address will be callsign@winlink.org, but due to bandwidth constraints, I'll need to add people on a case by case basis to the "white list" in order for Winlink to forward them to me over the air. In addition to standard email, this will also allow me to get weather faxes, which can be a big deal when you're out at sea. You pretty much need to be your own weather forecaster if you aren't close to land.
However, I did find out that there's a local club here in Huntington that holds exam sessions every couple of months and will have the next one on 12 June, so I'll make sure I'm ready for that one. That also means that I don't have to go back into Manhattan again, which is a good thing -- the 4 hour round trip is a killer. Although I was late for the exam, the LIRR schedule had changed, and I ended up taking the wrong subway up to Columbia, I got there about 45 minutes late, and they stayed around and let me take both exams. Columbia is setup like an armed camp, with only 2 ways in or out, which also caused me a delay in finding the building. But the guys giving the exam where really nice and everything went very smoothly.
Now, it's back to the boat. I finally did some fiberglass work yesterday. It turned out okay, but it was cool and a little rainy, so it took almost an hour for it to gel. It's going to be hot for the next couple of days, so I hope I can get a lot done. Normally, I have trouble with it gelling too fast, so we'll see how it goes today. I'll make up a small batch and time it so I'll know how long I've got. I want to fix the holes in the cockpit and seal around the holes for the portlights before I do anything else. Once that's done, I can start preparing the deck for painting.
I had to take off almost everything in the cockpit in order to get to the holes in the deck. I left the stern pulpit, the two eyes, and the aft center cleat in place since they didn't look too bad and I don't have anyone around to help remount them. I think I can get everything else I took off back on by myself -- with the help of a little gorilla tape.
Gorilla tape is great. It's basically the same stuff we used in the Corps years ago. It's like industrial strength duct tape that's a dark green color. Although I'm not that concerned with camouflage, it does work great for securing a wrench on one side of the deck while crawling into a locker on the other side and try to loosen or tighten a nut. I've used it for several things, including the wind vane and wouldn't have been able to get nearly this far without it. I'll need to make sure I've got a bunch on board before I leave.
The only wrinkle now is that I need to make sure I find time to study for the General exam (and Extra?), and get my radios setup so I can connect once my call sign appears in the database. I need to connect to Winlink so I can get email setup. My new email address will be callsign@winlink.org, but due to bandwidth constraints, I'll need to add people on a case by case basis to the "white list" in order for Winlink to forward them to me over the air. In addition to standard email, this will also allow me to get weather faxes, which can be a big deal when you're out at sea. You pretty much need to be your own weather forecaster if you aren't close to land.
20 May 2010
Leveled the boat
I guess that might sound funny, considering there aren't any right angles on a boat, but there is a point at which she's level, both fore and aft and side to side. When they moved me to the corner of the yard late last year -- I didn't put her in the water last year, so she's been in this yard for about a year and a half -- they left her with a pretty good list to port and the bow down a few degrees. There's no way to really tell if she's level, but if you walk out about 50 - 100 feet in front, you can easily see that she's listing. There's usually a clinometer on board that measures heel, but I'm not sure I trust mine. It looks like it's been moved.
So, I ended up just using a ball and placed it on various flat surfaces amidships to see if it rolled or not. I also walked out in front and looked at the boat to see how she looked. I think I got her pretty level from side to side -- if she's not level, water will pool and various places and not drain, that's one the the reasons it's important to keep her level on land, especially right now when I'm trying to keep her dry so I can fix the leaks and paint the decks.
As for fore and aft, that was a bit more difficult. I had tried to level her the day after I moved on board, but had so much gear forward in the v-berth, I wasn't able to do it with the adjustable stanchions. Since the blocks under the keel were too far forward, the pivot point would have been too far aft and I would have had to lift the entire boat with the forward stanchions. It's not really that difficult, but with all the weight forward, I was worried I'd put too much strain on the hull. So this morning, I moved a whole bunch of gear to the aft end of the cockpit, including tools, paint, anchors, and pigs (pigs are lead ingots used for ballast, I've got 7 of them -- Bardens took two off the dock, but I figured I had more than I needed and let it go -- they weigh about 20 pounds each). Once I did that, it was pretty easy to lift the bow and I was able to level her in about 30 minutes. I think the bow is probably still a little low; the ball I used to check rested about 6 inches forward of the deck drains on both sides of the coach roof, but I think it's close enough for now. I'd need to adjust the blocks under the keel again to get it any closer. Maybe I'll do that tonight once it cools off.
Right now, it's getting hot, so I've opened up the cover and decided to take a break for lunch and get a few things taken care of online. Seemed like a good time to blog as well. Hope you enjoyed it -- it's a beautiful day here...
So, I ended up just using a ball and placed it on various flat surfaces amidships to see if it rolled or not. I also walked out in front and looked at the boat to see how she looked. I think I got her pretty level from side to side -- if she's not level, water will pool and various places and not drain, that's one the the reasons it's important to keep her level on land, especially right now when I'm trying to keep her dry so I can fix the leaks and paint the decks.
As for fore and aft, that was a bit more difficult. I had tried to level her the day after I moved on board, but had so much gear forward in the v-berth, I wasn't able to do it with the adjustable stanchions. Since the blocks under the keel were too far forward, the pivot point would have been too far aft and I would have had to lift the entire boat with the forward stanchions. It's not really that difficult, but with all the weight forward, I was worried I'd put too much strain on the hull. So this morning, I moved a whole bunch of gear to the aft end of the cockpit, including tools, paint, anchors, and pigs (pigs are lead ingots used for ballast, I've got 7 of them -- Bardens took two off the dock, but I figured I had more than I needed and let it go -- they weigh about 20 pounds each). Once I did that, it was pretty easy to lift the bow and I was able to level her in about 30 minutes. I think the bow is probably still a little low; the ball I used to check rested about 6 inches forward of the deck drains on both sides of the coach roof, but I think it's close enough for now. I'd need to adjust the blocks under the keel again to get it any closer. Maybe I'll do that tonight once it cools off.
Right now, it's getting hot, so I've opened up the cover and decided to take a break for lunch and get a few things taken care of online. Seemed like a good time to blog as well. Hope you enjoyed it -- it's a beautiful day here...
19 May 2010
Marvin Creamer
I've been doing a lot of reading about sailing and navigation in general and ocean voyages in particular. Since there really aren't a whole lot of people who've actually crossed an ocean in a sailboat, I don't think I've actually ever met one, or at least didn't know it at the time, so written accounts are about all I have to go by. I do know a lot of people who've crossed the Atlantic, and even did it four times myself. But that was when I was in the Corps and those trips were all on naval vessels, the Guadalcanal and the Nashville, never on a sailboat, and just as a passenger.
Anyway, I recently ran across a podcast interview with Marvin Creamer. I was searching for information concerning routes and navigation and this one caught my eye. Turns out that Creamer circumnavigated the globe via Cape of Good Hope (Cape Agulhas), Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn with no navigation instruments -- not sure if he also rounded the South East and South West Capes (all five make up the "great capes").
Think about it, he circumnavigated the globe in a sailboat with no navigation instruments. That's no compass, no clock, no sextant, not even a radio. Google him and read about it. It's amazing. The podcast interview is really good -- shouldn't be hard to find.
I've ordered his book. It was never published, but is available as a pdf on dvd. Can't wait to read it.
Anyway, I recently ran across a podcast interview with Marvin Creamer. I was searching for information concerning routes and navigation and this one caught my eye. Turns out that Creamer circumnavigated the globe via Cape of Good Hope (Cape Agulhas), Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn with no navigation instruments -- not sure if he also rounded the South East and South West Capes (all five make up the "great capes").
Think about it, he circumnavigated the globe in a sailboat with no navigation instruments. That's no compass, no clock, no sextant, not even a radio. Google him and read about it. It's amazing. The podcast interview is really good -- shouldn't be hard to find.
I've ordered his book. It was never published, but is available as a pdf on dvd. Can't wait to read it.
17 May 2010
Zoe gets her shots
Took Zoe to the vet today. She's all up to date now and has 14 months of heart worm and flea medication, so we should be in good shape for a while. They were very nice at the vet clinic and said that I could come down and get her health certificate whenever I'm ready to leave and it wouldn't cost anything extra.
Hopefully it won't be that much longer, but I've been really tired for the last few days and haven't been making as much progress as I would have liked. My cold is almost gone and the weather has warmed up, but I still feel worn out and sore all over -- guess I'm still not used to manual labor.
I got almost everything taken off in the cockpit today, but still have a few more bolts to remove to get the traveler off. I got the nuts off yesterday, but I still have to unscrew the bolts all the way to get them out. All the bolts used to mount deck hardware are stainless steal, and these are about three inches long. What makes it difficult and necessary to unscrew them the entire way is that all of this stuff was put on with a lot of sticky caulk so it wouldn't leak. So basically, you have to unscrew it out of the bed of caulk. I'm not taking off the traveler because it was leaking, though it's still a good idea to remount everything from time to time, but because it would be next to impossible to fix the hole in the deck next to it where the stern pole was mounted if I didn't take it off. If it hadn't been for that hole, I wouldn't have touched it. However, now that I have, I noticed that the caulk had given way at each end, so it was probably time to remount it anyway.
I did run into one problem today. The cover for the engine control panel was in bad shape, so I pulled it off. It looks like I'll have to replace it, but I'm not really sure how I'll do it. It's in the cockpit and will be under water if the cockpit gets filled, e.g., if a wave washes over the deck. The old one was just a sliding plexiglass cover that didn't actually seal, so it would have filled up with water. Not sure if getting wet would hurt it, but it also had a drain hole in the bottom that drained directly into the bilge. So if the cockpit did fill, I'd end up with a lot of water in the bilge, and that's a really bad idea. I'd like to seal it completely, but also make it usable, even in wet conditions. I'll have to talk to Gill about it tomorrow and see what he thinks. A lot of newer boats have all weather control panels that don't need a cover and don't leak. Perhaps I can seal mine in such a way that it won't matter if it gets wet and then just use a simple sliding cover like the one it had before.
Forecast calls for rain tomorrow, so I'll try to finish up the traveler and do all the sanding and grinding I need to do so I'll be ready to start glassing once it clears up later in the week. I'm really pretty close, but since it'll take several days to complete the glass work, I'll try to get the big holes ready right away. They'll take the longest and will require multiple applications. There are a couple of places where the cork core has been damaged and needs to be fixed. Those will take a little extra time as well.
Hopefully it won't be that much longer, but I've been really tired for the last few days and haven't been making as much progress as I would have liked. My cold is almost gone and the weather has warmed up, but I still feel worn out and sore all over -- guess I'm still not used to manual labor.
I got almost everything taken off in the cockpit today, but still have a few more bolts to remove to get the traveler off. I got the nuts off yesterday, but I still have to unscrew the bolts all the way to get them out. All the bolts used to mount deck hardware are stainless steal, and these are about three inches long. What makes it difficult and necessary to unscrew them the entire way is that all of this stuff was put on with a lot of sticky caulk so it wouldn't leak. So basically, you have to unscrew it out of the bed of caulk. I'm not taking off the traveler because it was leaking, though it's still a good idea to remount everything from time to time, but because it would be next to impossible to fix the hole in the deck next to it where the stern pole was mounted if I didn't take it off. If it hadn't been for that hole, I wouldn't have touched it. However, now that I have, I noticed that the caulk had given way at each end, so it was probably time to remount it anyway.
I did run into one problem today. The cover for the engine control panel was in bad shape, so I pulled it off. It looks like I'll have to replace it, but I'm not really sure how I'll do it. It's in the cockpit and will be under water if the cockpit gets filled, e.g., if a wave washes over the deck. The old one was just a sliding plexiglass cover that didn't actually seal, so it would have filled up with water. Not sure if getting wet would hurt it, but it also had a drain hole in the bottom that drained directly into the bilge. So if the cockpit did fill, I'd end up with a lot of water in the bilge, and that's a really bad idea. I'd like to seal it completely, but also make it usable, even in wet conditions. I'll have to talk to Gill about it tomorrow and see what he thinks. A lot of newer boats have all weather control panels that don't need a cover and don't leak. Perhaps I can seal mine in such a way that it won't matter if it gets wet and then just use a simple sliding cover like the one it had before.
Forecast calls for rain tomorrow, so I'll try to finish up the traveler and do all the sanding and grinding I need to do so I'll be ready to start glassing once it clears up later in the week. I'm really pretty close, but since it'll take several days to complete the glass work, I'll try to get the big holes ready right away. They'll take the longest and will require multiple applications. There are a couple of places where the cork core has been damaged and needs to be fixed. Those will take a little extra time as well.
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