Sailing.........Not quit yet

So we launched on Friday and spent the rest of the day adjusting lines and getting used to a slip.  The wind has been from the S-SW which for our particular slip is very bad.  There is a break in the sea wall that allows all the fetch from the S-SW so it is very rough.  Think "Washing Machine on a Roller Coaster".  We are taking all the waves on the bow which helps but a 10 knot breeze or greater is bad news. I keep meaning to ask why only half of the dock was protected with the sea wall?  It makes about 10 slips virtually uninhabitable.  I am very concerned about the safety of getting on and off the boat for a 10 yr old.  On Saturday, the Admiral woke up early and sick.  She slept in the truck until mid afternoon and then felt better.  It looks to be more of a migraine sickness and less of the sea sickness I was concerned about.  Sunday dawned after another rough night with SW winds but it was Easter  Morning.  Eggs to be found and baskets to secure.

After church we briefly contemplated going out for a sail but I vetoed that with the strong wind conditions predicted.  The wind filled in at 16 knots with gusts to 25 and we got blown around in the slip like a hobby horse.  2  larger boats went out with full crews of experienced sailors but it was way too much for us.

I tried to accomplish some tasks on the boat but the rocking and rolling proved too difficult.  Then the bilge pump started running.  It has been dry since I tightened the prop shaft stuffing box.  Odd.  After much excavating of lockers I was able to identify the leak. The old stuffing box on the rudder shaft had begun to leak. The one I left alone because it had never leaked before and I did not really know how to get at it.   All the banging around had created new forces to push water in.  The bilge was filling up every half hour and being pumped out.  Nothing catastrophic but definitely alarming.  I couldn't budge the stuffing box ring or retaining nut.  I soaked it in PB blaster and let it sit through the night.

And what a night it was.  We stayed up at the club house until very late hoping the winds would drop below 10 knots.  We finally went to the boat for a wild ride.  I laid awake listreningto the bilge pump and the girls fell asleep.  A long night.  The wind died down to a reasonable level about 2 or 3 AM and the bilge pump stopped working over time.  I finally fell asleep.

Getting Her Bottom Wet

Yes the time finally came for the long awaited splash of s/v əkwâr`ēəs.  We drove out Thursday evening and spent the night on the boat at the club.  We had power to run a little space heater but it dipped to 31 degrees and we were all a little chilled.  We made it over to the launching lift by 8:30 the next morning with a couple of new friends along from the club.  I was busy getting bottom paint on the spots I couldn't get to, applying the final vinyl on the stern and with the help from my club sponsor and all around good guy, we straightened out all of the stays and halyards, installed the spreaders and got ready for the launch.

We were in the sling probably 2 hours with all this work going but there was nobody waiting.  The yard lowered her into the water and I quickly checked all the through hulls for leaks.  The stuffing box I just packed was leaking at a good rate but that could be expected as I couldn't adjust until it got wet.  We lifted the mast and attached all of the stays. I adjusted the stuffing box to a minor drip and got ready to fire the trusty Yanmar.

The motor started on the third attempt after sitting 2 months.  it was running fine but not spitting out enough cooling water to make myself and all the other club members in attendance, comfortable enough.  I quickly switched out the water pump impeller and got better flow.  Enough to make me feel comfortable.  I never did get a engine temp reading but the color of the smoke and the amount of water told me I was in good shape.

We motored out of the launching marina and out Duck creek about 11:30.  The girls drove the truck and trailer over to the club marina to welcome us in about an hour. The creek in notorious shallow. They claimed to have dredged to 7'-0" recently and we didn't hit bottom but did go over 2 distinct "bumps".  The suspicion  is sunken logs.  We made it out into the main channel and had a good motor down stream in the Nuese with a good 10 kts tailwind.  When we turned up into Broad creek and got closer to the club entrance I played with reversing the boat to see how effectively she back up.  After 10 years of not being in the water, she had no plans on going backwards, only forward.

So we entered the slip bow first.  We had family and friends to take our initial lines and get us tied off until we had a chance to get better dock lines and spring lines in place.  Home at last, we took a much needed break for lunch.  We spent the rest of the afternoon getting some dock lines in place and getting ready for the denaming/naming ceremony. We invited some new friends over to bear official witness.  We asked Neptune to accept our boat and her new/old name with the appropriate amount of reverence and champagne.  More champagne for the gods of the winds, North , South, East and West.

We had our new boat, in a new place with new friends and new adventures to follow.  Stay Tuned.

The Final Stage

This week begins the final stage of the restoration and launching of  əkwâr`ēəs.  We will take the boat the rest of the way to the coast and launch at 8:00am Friday morning.  If the weather holds, we should be floating and prepping for the motor over to the slip by noon.  We plan on spending the next 5 days on the boat doing all the little tasks that need doing.  Wiring the mast lights, VHF antennae, running rigging, tuning the standing rigging, bending on sails, etc.  And hopefully after that a sail or two to get comfortable.  Pictures and a follow up next week if all goes well.

On The Road Again

What is wrong with this picture.  Nothing actually.  This is how it should be.  The nest is finally empty.  After ten plus years of being nestled in the trees at the end of the driveway, əkwâr`ēəs has finally moved one step closer to the sea.  First, to satisfy the Admiral, the trailer needed all new tires.  10 years in one spot can not be good for rubber.  My appointment for the tire center was supposed to be Saturday but the forecast took a turn for the worse so I moved it up to Friday morning.  we were supposed to get a lot of rain over the next couple of days so I decided to move her out of the driveway to more solid ground.  I was unsure of navigating the turn at the bottom of the drive and did not want to be doing it in the mud.  

Thursday nights pull out proved uneventful and I parked the truck and trailer at the top of the road in an open driveway.  Friday morning I drove the 20 miles to the tire center and within 30 minutes she had all new rubber.  The old tires were not dry rotted but were definitely flat spotted.  In the late afternoon we drove out to a building a 100 miles closer to the sea and left her inside all nice and neat.  I say we, because the Admiral insisted on following me with a chase vehicle all the way in case something happened.  It was an uneventful trip as I struggled to keep it up to the speed limit.  This was my first time pulling a 10,000 lb load and it took some getting used to.

Tentative Launch date is March 29th.

Stalling for Spring

The first and last snow of the spring brought an inch or two of white stuff to close out the viscous winter we have had here in NC.  The tarp, poles and couplings all made it through again.  This is the 10th year for this system.  I am on the second tarp but all the poles have made it, even though they have bowed out a bit.  total material cost over ten years for the system, $470.  That's less than $50 per year for covered storage.  Not bad.  It really only needs to last another month but could probably go another couple of years before the tarp gives out.  When I am done I will dismantle and discard all but the couplings.  The tarp and poles (1" conduit) are easily replaced.

I took the cover off the tiller and was surprised at how dingy the varnish looked against the back drop of shiny new varnish on the seats and coaming in the cockpit.  I guess my varnish work is not done.  Off came the tiller and into the basement for stripping and new varnish.  I used a chemical stripper so as to not remove a lot of material through sanding, plus it kept the dust to a minimum in the basement.  All cleaned up and sanded I have put three coats on so far.  I left some of the stains to allow it's age to show through a little.  Bleaching them out would have destroyed the nice coloring of the 40 year old teak.

We Have a Home

Can't see the forest for the masts.

It looks like this will be our new boat home for the foreseeable future.  After an exhaustive search along the coast in the cruising area I was looking for; Neuse, Palmico, Albermarle Sound, we have found a perfect place.  If we had to write a recipe for the ideal place; this would be it.  It has all the right elements as far as cruising area, depths, wind, sea state.  But more importantly it is a family focused, member run organization that has a true sailing community spirit. (and no power boaters)

It has a great kids program for the First Mate to learn without this Captain doing the teaching.  It has enough Admirals that participate and join in that our Admiral has a certain comfort level.  It also has a nice clean bath house and club house, a dog friendly policy with a fenced in dog play area; All very high on the admirals list. The entire property is fenced in with a card access gate in the back of a gated community that grew up around the club.  Safe, friendly atmosphere.  More pure sailing knowledge in one harbor than you will find anywhere. There is racing and cruising going on from this club. These are active sailors that actually sail their boats!  Very refreshing.

Timing is everything.  I had heard about this club about 4 years ago and looked into it.  At that time it was full and had a waiting list. You had to be known and nominated by two existing members.  It was, I thought, just too far to go.  Turns out the economy, age and a couple of Hurricanes have depleted the membership.  There is currently room for member families to join and there are some slips available as well.  We have spent two weekends there and met some wonderful people that I sure will become good friends.

Yes it is very, very far away.  4 hours is a long haul.  No we will not be there every weekend.  But with our schedule, we wouldn't be there every weekend if it was an hour away either.  We will have to take advantage of all the three day weekends and some vacation time to really get the most out of this.  Also, too much, too soon can be a bad thing.  This enables the Admiral and First Mate to ease into sailing life in a safe community environment where there are people to share their knowledge, experience and to ask questions.  My crew is still not convinced I have all the answers.  Who knew? 

Closer Still

This weekends projects were not that heavy.  All minor improvements.  I started with making two templates for the 4 main cabin windows.  They are large and should be covered with something for privacy and UV protection of the interior.  There is a 1 inch wood frame around them so I can mount rods to the frame if need be for a sheer or curtain.  I am also looking into a film.  The forward windows (port and Starboard) are symmetrical with the upper and lower edge being parallel but the rear are trapezoidal in shape which will complicate things a bit.

 I was able to get the stuffing box apart rather easily even if it was a tight fit to get in there.  I dug out the flax I had installed 10 yrs earlier.  There were two rings of 5/16 PTFE.  I recall having a hard time finding the right size and not sure if I just made due with what I could find.  The larger size would explain why only 2 rings instead of the normal 3.  Also the first ring was really crushed to only half it's original size, while the second ring further in the nut was hardly compressed at all.  I have ordered new Gore PFO which is supposed to be able to run a lot dryer by using the graphite to help cool the shaft rather than relying on water drips to cool it.  I ordered that in 1/4" which is recommended for 1 inch shafts so I think I can get three rings in this time.

 I made some improvements to the trailer assembly.  First I cleaned it all off.  It became quit the catch all for any wood or pipe that was long and needed a dry place to stay for a while.  Once that was swept and vacuumed I installed some hooks on the uprights of the cradle to hang a step ladder.  When I get to where ever I am going it would be nice to be able to get back on the boat.  This way I will always have a ladder with me.  I also bolted the storage box to the frame so that doesn't come flying off.  It holds tie downs, dunnage, blocks, jacks, etc.

 I took the three most decent lines that I had and gave them a wash in the washing machine inside a pillow case.  They came out OK with no snags or obvious wear.  Just a little bit cleaner and more presentable.  They will only be dock lines but look like they will last a season or two.