4-1-07

Haul out story continued from last month. (see March 07 archive)

Its Sunday and the boat yard is closed. Our boat has been tied up to the boat yard dock since last Thursday. We are hoping that the boat gets hauled out tomorrow. But for now we just stayed at home and enjoyed our Sunday.

Alma Del Viento

4-2-07

I called the boss and took another day off work and then we headed for the boat. We arrived at the boat yard about 9 am hoping we would soon see our boat hauled out and put on stands. We waited and waited and waited and then finally about 1pm it was our turn, Yeah!! They put the big lift crane in the ramp area and slid our boat over the straps and tightened them up. The lift operator balanced the boat and then slowly lifted it out of the water. With the keel about a foot off the ground they motored the boat and lift about 50 yards down the road and then blocked up the keel and gently set the boat down on the stands. In all it took about 30 minutes from the water to the stands. This is the first time I have got to see the bottom half of the boat and it looks really good. Their are no blisters on the hull at all and the keel only has a few. I am so glad the hull didn't have a case of boat pox blisters which is very expensive to fix and hard to sell the boat with them even though they are mostly cosmetic problems but can be damaging if left untreated. The keel blisters are no problem since the keel on a Catalina 27 is made of lead and lead does not rust or delaminate and those blisters can just be sanded and painted. Looks like I got lucky and made a good deal for the boat since I did not have a survey done before I bought the boat.

We watched the boat yard workers pressure wash the topsides and hull. All that green stuff along the sides is finally gone. Jose tried to talk me into painting the topsides and yes it needs it but I just cant afford it now so we are just going to compound and wax it for now.  Now it was time for Margie and I to go to work. First thing we did was to pull out the exhaust flange from the aft of the boat and I tried to install the new one I bought with a flapper valve but the hole in the boat was much larger than the new fitting so we cleaned up the old one and reinstalled it with proper sealant. That should stop the big leak we get while under way. The next thing I did was to repack the shaft stuffing box. I installed the dripless packing. I hope this will finally give me a dry bilge.  It was getting late, probably about 7 pm and Margie and I debated weather to start the next project which was to install the new grey rub rail all the way around the boat. I really didn't need to take off another day from work so we started. It was very slow going since we had to work from the top of 8 foot ladders and the rub rail is a very hard plastic that has to be shoved into a groove along the top of the boat. Margie ran the heat gun and heated the plastic up to make it pliable and I smashed it into the groove with my fingers and a rubber mallet. We could only heat about 6 inches at a time and after we completed about 2 foot of it we would have to stop and move the ladders. The rub strip is 65 feet long. WHEW! we were tired and sore but we had to finish today so we kept at it and finally finished about 2 am. THEN we packed up and drove home. It was a killer but we got it done.

(click here for more photos)

4-3-07

I had to go to work today. I am stiff and sore from all the work we did yesterday. The boat should have got scraped and sanded today. I will probably go check on it Thursday morning before I go to work.

Alma Del Viento

4-8-07

I have been sick all week but we got the call that the bottom job was done and we need to look at it so they can splash the boat tomorrow. So Margie Ben and I headed down to the boat and got there about 3pm. WOW the boat looks great. Nice black bottom with burgundy stripes. A really slick fast looking boat. The sides are all shiny with the compounding and wax. We looked the boat over and only found a couple details that I want them to look at before they splash the boat. One of them was where is my bottom step on the stern. The must have taken it off to paint the stripe and forgot to put it back on. Since I didn't feel so great I asked Ben to crawl into the hole and hook the exhaust back up and check everything down below to make sure it was secure. After that was done we shot a few pics and then headed back home.

4-9-07

We got to the boat yard about 9 am and Jose was ready to splash the boat since he had another one waiting. But I had my little list of stuff to go over with him first. He found my step and got it installed cleaned the strainer for the engine and just a couple of odds and ends finished up. Then Margie and I decided we needed new boat numbers so Jose had to wait for us to go to the store and back then we didn't get the right ones so another trip to the store. Jose scraped the old numbers and stickers off and I applied the new ones. Now we were ready! They got the boat on the lift and down the short road but before they made the turn to the ramp we had to stop for pictures. Ha! Jose posed for one too but I'm sure he was thinking "I wish they would get this damn boat in the water"  They splashed the boat and I climbed aboard and checked for leaks, none found I cranked the engine and checked again. Still good. So I head out of the ramp and across Clear Lake and just as I am about in the middle of the lake I get a big sploosh! of water coming from the engine compartment. I start the bilge pump and it keeps up with the water ok so I heave to and go look below. The stuffing box has spun off the shaft so according to the instructions for the new drip less packing I reinstall it only hand tight and it stops leaking so I start off again across the lake and in about 5 minutes it happens again. Well screw that, and I get out the wrenches and go below to tighten up the stuffing box good. It doesn't leak for the rest of the trip. I get to the back of the lake and there are no channel markers and I don't have the chart plotter hooked up so I run aground but its just soft mud and I spin the boat around and slowly pick my way around until I can see the condos and find the channel again. I made it on into the marina and park her in the slip. One of the guys in the condos yells out "hey it looks like you got a new boat". I just smiled and said thanks!  With the boat tied up in the slip I adjusted the stuffing box per the instructions and ran it in for a full 10 minutes in forward low power then adjusted again and it looks like it will hold this time and its not leaking. Margie cleaned out the bilge and pumped it mostly dry. We cleaned up the boat some and I took off some teak to bring home to sand and varnish. We packed up and headed for home.

Haul Out April 2007 Finished

(SEE ALL PHOTOS HERE)

None of the mast work got done because they could not start on the boat right away and I didn't have enough time off to work it.

Haul Out April 2007 Finished

(SEE ALL PHOTOS HERE)

Haul Out March 29 work list

HULL

1 paint bottom Done
2 new burgundy stripes Done
3 new rub rail Done
4 graphics and name on stern
5 new anodes Done


ENGINE

1 exhaust pipe and hose Done
2 shaft packing Done


MAST Not Done

1 antenna and coax
2 running/anchor light and wires
3 steaming/deck light and wires
4 new turnbuckles
5 turnbuckle covers
6 new halyards Must do soon
7 mount wind vane and wires
8 Windex ?? maybe

4-15-07

We got to the boat today about 2pm. We had hoped we could sail today but the weather yesterday was just awful so we stayed home and we still have lots of rigging to do before we can sail. We got the boom secure and installed our 57000 dollar sail. (see Jan 07 Archive for explanation) We installed the reef lines and boom vang. We flaked the main sail and covered it with our new burgundy sail cover. I got the tension gage out and tightened all the shroud wires and secured the turnbuckles. Next we dug the big 140 Genoa out of the sail bag and hauled it up to see how to rig it. That is a big sail and I'm not real sure how to run the sheets. I'll have to wait and see how it fills with wind when we get out on the bay then I can tell how to run the sheets. We lowered the big jenny but left it hanked on and stuffed it into the new burgundy sail bag/cover on the forestay. It looks really cool but it was getting too dark to take a good picture. That should take care of the sail rigging and we are hoping for good weather next weekend when we plan to sail down to Red Fish Island and spend our first night out on the hook. All done we load up and head for home.

Rigging our 57000 dollar sail at the dock.

4-22-07

Ben, Margie and I arrive at the boat about 10 am this Sunday. Ben came along today to climb the mast and take some photos of the mast head so I can see what we need to put all rope halyards on the rig.  So we got Ben into a safety harness and he scampered up the mast like a squirrel. The mast steps work really nice and make it easy to get up the mast. He shot a few pics of the mast head and we find the mast head needs a lot of work so we will have to take down the mast to get it done. I go below and finish hooking up the GPS antenna and get the running lights working and we decide to go sailing. We rig the boat for sailing and I dump 5 gallons of gas in the tank The motor starts up easy and we back out of the slip and head out of the marina and down the channel into Clearlake. With the GPS chart plotter hooked up we don't have any trouble finding the channel and no grounding. But there must be something about the middle of Clearlake a Bermuda triangle area or something because when we get about to the middle of the lake my motor starts cutting out and dieing. It would start back up and run for a while then die again and would not run in full power. It was probably when I added the new gas it stirred up the tank and some junk is blocking the filter. We finally get it running at slow speed and continue on out into the bay. The winds were a steady 15 knots with gusts up to 20 and the bay was very choppy and rough. The boat was really rocking and rolling and this time the spray was blowing over the boat. It was rough! The pitching of the boat had wrapped the halyards up and Ben went on deck to untwist them and we pulled the main sail up but it got really hard pulling the last couple of feet of main up so I winched it on up. The boat smoothed out some and we sailed on out to the last marker for the Kemah channel and then headed south on a close haul. Margie and Ben took turns at the helm and we all had a pretty good time up to this point. But when we decided to raise the jib we found it was stuck only a few feet off the deck and would not go up or down. We heaved-to or at least tried to but the main was stuck also and Ben went on deck to help pull it down. Now we are rocking and rolling again but Ben and I try to get the jib untangled and unstuck but it just not happening. What we have now is a severe case of EQUIPMENT FAILURE!!  and the boat is jumping and hopping pitching and rolling and Margie is now seasick and has to go below and lay down. Ben and I keep trying to fix it but no good. So we try to put the main back up but it is very hard to pull up, I keep fighting the waves to keep the boat pointed into the wind and we finally winch the main up fully and head the boat on a beam reach for the Kemah channel marker. We reach the marker and turn the boat down wind and head for Kemah. The boat was sailing nicely and we were doing 5 knots so when we reached the inner marker for Kemah I just kept sailing. We normally lower the sails and motor on in from this marker. Since I didn't feel like trying to get the main down and not knowing if the motor was going to run we just kept sailing and we sailed right on through the Kemah area right past the restaurants and under the bridge. I did adjust the sail to slow us down to 2-3 knots but we just kept on going, it was easier than I thought it would be, so we sailed down the channel all the way across Clearlake and right to the entrance to our marina. We did pull the main down at this point and the motor started right up and we motored back into the marina and into our slip. Huh! no problem. I will have to try that again next time, I thought that would be hard to do. Ben went back up the mast to see what the problem was and found that then halyard for the jib had jumped off the sheave and jammed into the side of the sheave which also pinched the main halyard making it hard to move. He pried it loose and back into the sheave and all the halyards worked normally again. Thanks Ben!!  Well we cleaned up the boat, picked up all the stuff that had spilled into the cabin floor during our rockin and rollin and helped Margie off the boat since she wasn't feeling too good and headed home. Margie was sure glad when we finally stopped moving.

South Shore Harbor Marnia seen on the way out

Ben climbing mast

Mast head up close

Ben on deck

4-27-07

I headed for the boat this Friday after work and arrived about 11 pm. It was too late to do anything so I just hooked up the chart plotter and played with it for a while, drank a beer, then made my bunk and went to bed. It was a nice night and I enjoyed being on the boat and I slept good. 

4-28-07

I woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning about 7 am. I hooked up shore power and got the batteries charging and started working on the teak wood companionway hatch boards. I sanded each one down and then rubbed teak oil into the boards.  This gave them a deep rich look that looks really nice. I also oiled the trim around the hatch so the entrance to the boat looks really good. I still need to do the handrails and hatch slides but Margie arrived about 3 pm and we start getting ready to go sail.

The motor starts right up and we back out of the slip and head out across Clear Lake. The motor is just purring along and we get through the Clear Lake Bermuda triangle without a problem. Ha-Ha! The motor has been running about 45 minutes and we are just approaching the Kemah restaurants and boardwalk area. The place is just packed with people everywhere and the channel is full of boats going in and out. We are just past the Kemah bridge and almost to Joes restaurant and the motor just dies and it will not start. I crank and crank it, but nothing. We are starting to drift backwards and the line of boats following us out are starting to part on both sides of us like the red sea. I make a mad dash to the mast and haul up the main sail but the wind is light and there is an incoming tide current and about the best I can do is slow our backward drift. I tried to hold us in the channel for a while hoping the motor would cool off and start, but it aint starting and all these people are looking at us! So, we have drifted back almost to the bridge and are headed for one of the bridge pilings so its time to RUN!!  I jump up and manually push the boom out as far as it would go to help us bring the bow around to a downwind position and we just skirt by the bridge piling. Now we are running downwind and I adjust the sails but about all we can get is 2 knots. Well at least we are sailing and we clear out of the Kemah channel and start across Clear Lake. Out in the open lake, well sort of, we still have to stay in the channel since the average depth of Clear Lake is 3 to 4 feet, I raise the Genoa sail. The jenny adds a knot to our speed so its going to be a slow sunset cruise across the lake. If it wasn't for being mad at the motor it would have been a beautiful sunset cruise, it was nice.

Well we have slowly sailed across Clear Lake making 3 knots with a 4 knot gust now and then and we make the turn for the final leg up the channel to the marina, wouldn't you know it, the wind has shifted and now it is blowing this light breeze directly down the channel. You cant sail a boat directly into the wind!  Soooo! We start tacking. The channel is only 50 yards wide which means we turn towards one bank for about 30 seconds to a minute then turn towards the other bank for another 30 seconds to a minute. The jenny is not a good sail to do a bunch of tacks with but we need all the power we can get in this light breeze and I send Margie to the foredeck to help slide the sail from one side to the other. We creep along slowly making progress towards the marina and we almost get there, just a stones throw to one of the docks of the marina, but I held a tack just a little too long and close to the bank and put the keel in the mud. Whew! I give! I give! I figure we will just spend the night right here, but just about that time a sailor comes out to meet us in his boat and says he has been watching us tack up the channel and wanted to give us a tow but finding out that we were aground he didn't think his 2 horsepower  motor would pull us out so he goes and flags down another boat to tow us the 300 - 400 yards to our slip. Finally back home!  The sailor that came out to meet us sure brightened the gloomy day I have had, First he called me Captain while we were talking and then as he left he said that sure was a nice job of tacking up that little channel. 

Satellite MAP Motor Dies Here

Satellite MAP Tacking up channel

4-29-07

Sunday stuck in the slip. Didn't get up too early today because I know what I will be doing all day. But finally got up, ate breakfast, and then began tearing into the motor.  I find the electric fuel pump has died. We make a list of parts we need and plan to upgrade the fuel system a bit. So off to the store we go and come back with a bag of parts. I first added a priming bulb to the fuel line ahead of the water separator to make it easier to prime the fuel system after changing the filters. I got a new Racor filter for the water separator and a new inline filter to go ahead of the electric fuel pump. I also installed a larger 9 psi electric fuel pump. I also got a fuel tank gage because it was hard to tell if the tank had fuel in it. When I opened the tank up to put the tank unit in I found the tank was over half full. Well it took most of the day doing all that but finally its all back together and we are ready to test. Cranked the motor and it fired right up on the second crank. yeah!! I ran the motor for a long time but noticed a hesitation in the motor when I advance the throttle. I tried spraying some carb cleaner in the carburetor but it didn't help. Since I already have a carburetor rebuild kit at home and I want these fuel problems to be over and done with I decide its time to pull the carburetor and rebuild it. Back in the hole I go and take out the carb and we box it up to take home. Well its getting dark so we clean up the boat get all the covers back on and the boat tied up in the slip properly and head for home.  WHAT A WEEKEND!! WHEW!