It's December!

A few of the boats in the yard

The yard is filling up with boats, local and foreign, waiting out the winter. They are being hauled, washed down, winterized and blocked up on a daily basis.

As for us, things are slowly taking shape - with emphasis on the "slowly".
We are seeing changes, which is heartening, as most of the work doesn't show.
The windows are finally on and (fingers crossed) leakproof.

The pulpit and pushpit are in position and bedded into place. The new handrail pieces have
been sourced (from 3 different places) and are beginning to be fitted together.
A big headache with the boat is the fact that it is so difficult to find something that simply fits.
Everything has to be tweaked, fiddled with and compromised over. It takes a lot of time :-)

The pulpit is on - it's starting to look like a boat

Chris is replacing the lenses in those of the original hatches that we are keeping, and they look great.
He is also re-anodizing the original stanchion bases and cleats. Although he is getting them done, we aren't sure the new look is worth all the trouble. Maybe we'll bite the bullet and buy new.

It is beginning to get cold. The puddles this morning were covered in ice, a sign that our work patterns will have to change. We are protected from most of the weather by being under cover, but not from temperatures. Today we are re-installing our interior doors, which have been part-way revarnished, in order to try and have a smaller area to heat with our little electrical fan heaters. We have found if we close everything off, we can stay relatively comfortable.

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The end of October saw a great party in the workshop. It was the day before Hallowe'en, several cruisers were leaving or on the verge of leaving (most heading to the south and warmth) and some sort of celebration was called for. The boatyard provided oysters, clams, and the expertise in roasting them. The rest of us provided food and nibbles. I was really glad to have a chance for some roast oysters. The annual Chrismas party at the yard always has them but I am never here to try them out (yes,we have been here for THREE Christmases now, though we did do some cruising between Christmas 1 and Christmas 2!)
First a large steel drum that has ventilation gaps near the base is filled with wood chunks and set alight. This is several hours before the oysters are due to be cooked, so that when you are ready to eat you have a wonderful hot and glowing bed of coals. After tipping the coals out and raking them into a flat layer, a metal sheet, supported by a couple of bricks, is placed over them. The oysters in their shells are emptied onto the sheet, levelled out and covered with water soaked burlap bags. A couple of minutes later the oysters start to open and dinner is served! Bobby the mechanic is the expert chef, and also oyster opener. He pointed out that some of the oysters had a bonus inside! Not a pearl, but a little fingernail sized crab. That was an extra treat, though I noticed my little crab was still wriggling when I ate him! After the oysters, clams were cooked the same way and were yummy. There was also Lucy and Rick's huge pot of chili and awesome finger food, Annette's world famous warm chili and cheese dip, and other offerings of wings, dips, chips and of course, liquid refreshment. The end of the evening saw us sitting around the fire on a lovely autumn night, mesmerized by the flickering flames, sated and mellow.

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There was another local offering a few weeks later. We have been told by several people (and seen the evidence) of deer running into cars, as opposed to cars running into deer. One evening just after the boatyard book-keeper was leaving work a deer at the side of the road ran straight into the front of the driver's side! It knocked itself out and dented the car at the same time. Very shaken up the book-keeper drove back to the yard to get some help. Right away two of the boys rushed out and found the deer length ways in the center of the road, his legs on one side of the yellow line, his body on the other. Not seeing any obvious injuries, the boys hoped that by getting the deer to the ditch at the side of the road he would have time to recover and join his friends. Right at this time a car came flying by, ran right over the deer's legs and kept on going! It was mere inches away from the guys! Although the boys were very lucky not to have been hurt, the deer had all 4 of it's legs broken and had to be put out of it's misery. Why that car was traveling like that is a mystery as we are literally at the end of the road here; it ends at the water. On the plus side, we all had venison stew the next day.

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One of the people who keep their boats here works at Jamestown with the 3 replica boats that are copies of the ones that brought the settlers to the first surviving British colony in America. Whit suggested that we might like to visit Jamestown and promised us a personal tour of the boats. We picked a nice sunny day just before Thanksgiving. We had driven by a few months earlier on a dull rainy day and got the impression of quite a small facility but we were very wrong.
The museum itself is very attractive with a theater and several exhibition rooms. One room was like a forest, another like a boat, one like a London street. There is a lot of interactive content, obviously aimed at the many children that visit. Outside there is an authentic reconstruction of the fort as well as one of the Indian village, both with knowledgeable costumed interpreters. Lastly there are the three boats, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery, all working replicas of the originals. Whit gave us a great tour, and we saw parts below decks that are not normally open to the public. We spent several hours there, and could have spent several more. It's definitely worth going.

Inside one of the Indian houses
- you can touch EVERYTHING!

Susan Constant, the largest of the 3 ships.
The decorative colouring was a way for people to identify the
ships from a distance

Captain Whit


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Mid November saw a doozie of a storm. Hurricane Ida was over a hundred miles away but apparently the combination of her winds with a couple of low fronts gave us quite a ride! It was way more extreme than Hurrican Hilda last year, which didn't amount to anything. The wind blew steadily for two and a half days. Trees were downed, land and roads flooded, houses battered and docks ripped away. The electricity and water were out, but only for a day or so. Clean-up started immediately. These folks are obviously ready and prepared to deal with this kind of weather on a regular basis.

On the left was a paved road leading to the house behind.
All the tarmac has been washed away and the large boulders,
meant to prevent water erosion, have been picked up, hurled high
into the air and several feet inland!

This house, without the protection of boulders, lost most of it's frontage.

The soil was washed across the road to the left and several hundred feet into
the trees on the other side.

One of the downed trees.This area was all under water
and the soil became too saturated to hold the trees up.
In the background they are sawing up another downed tree

Many hours after the storm stopped and the water
subsided the work dock is still under water

The storm is over but the trees are still being blown.
The water has receded from the high mark left by debris,
but normally sits where you see a thin line of reeds
on the right

The local paper has a link to some photos here: http://www.ssentinel.com/index.php/soundslides/play/the_perfect_storm_ida_meets_a_noreaster/

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The town and surroundings are beautifully decorated for the season, especially at night with twinkling lights silhouetting deer, santas, snowmen, trees and houses. I wish I were a good enough photographer to capture them.
We are counting the days to spending Christmas with our family, daughters and grandchildren. We wish everyone the best for the holiday season and for the New Year. May you all enjoy health and happiness.

And so it goes..

Gosh! It's been nearly 2 months since I last posted.
Stuff has been happening, but there is not a whole lot to show for it. It's mainly preparation towards a grand finale.[watch this space]

Last post we had bought a sheet of 3/8" acrylic and Chris was cutting out window shapes with it. He did a great job cutting and chamfering, and the finished pieces fit the existing screw holes absolutely perfectly. AFTER he did all this we had a rethink and decided we would like the front windows of thicker acrylic. So we went back and bought 1/2". Then Chris cut and fitted again.

Chris chamfering the windows. He's in his own little snow storm.

Windows in position for final fitting

We have also gone for new chainplates and got a local metalworker to cut some thicker ones using the originals as patterns. When we picked them up they were still in their rough, rolled stainless state. We polished them mercilessly by sander and by hand, giving a final touch up with jeweller's rouge. The photos don't do them justice - they came out beautifully.

Chainplate before and after

We also admitted that though the rub rail was beautiful, to be really effective it did need the addition of stainless trim on it's outer edge. It was hard to cover up all the shiny black, but it still looks good. We're trying to decide whether we should put it on the bow or not.

Stainless rubrail and chainplate

The interior window frames were in pretty rough shape, coming unglued at the corners with peeling varnish due to water damage and age. We have taken them apart and sanded them and the wood below is really lovely. Those in the know say it is teak. We are going to reglue and revarnish, then round the corners so that they match the outside acrylic panes.

Sanded window frames

Although the windows and chainplates are ready to be fitted we are waiting with most of it until our latest coat of paint has cured. We needed another coat of white on the back deck where we had run out of paint the first time. We also needed to cover the repairs to the hull and touch up several areas of white in the cockpit where the taping for the non-skid had lifted the new paint. The consensus here is that we didn't change our sandpaper often enough and burnished instead of sanding, leaving a finish too smooth to hold the new paint. We've also redone the grey non-skid as the beautiful finish had not dried the way it should have and left large areas with the appearance of the burst bubbles of an Aero bar. This seems to have been due to the high humidity when it was applied.

Paint repair in progress. Covering up the hole from the
generator exhaust.

Once the paint has cured for two weeks the windows and fittings will be replaced using a combination of butyl rubber and Sikaflex. We have tested this with the bowroller and a couple of chainplates, and it looks good.

September brought a real treat when we were able to visit with George and Doris of sister ship Grace. We enjoyed a fabulous homecooked meal aboard their boat and were very impressed by the clever and innovative ideas implemented inside and out.
It has reinspired us to return to our land based vessel and hurry up so that we can get on the water too.


We also visited Colonial Williamsburg a couple of times before our annual (!) pass ran out. A pass is definitely the way to go if you have the time, as we found there was SO more to see and hear than we supposed with just our first visit. We had conversations with Martha Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette,as well as George Washington. These were done in the form of a monologue on stage by the famous person, then it was opened to questions from the audience.
The format worked extremely well, and the personages were so informed and immersed in their character that we were both enlightened and entertained.
On our last visit Chris felt we had probably visited enough, as he was beginning to recognize some of these people on sight!

I do believe it's the Marquis de Lafayette

Having gone full cycle with the seasons we are once again enjoying the multi-coloured morning glory covering the road sides and leaves acquiring fall hues. Persimmons grow wild; some small trees with cherry sized fruit, and some low bushes with apricot sized ones. All year we have seen wild deer - on average once a week - grazing in fields and gardens nearby. Tonight we even had a two point buck come right into the boat yard There was a fair bit of excitement around the beginning of September when there were sightings of black bears in the neighbourhood. One was lucky enough to get his photo on the front page of the local paper.

Small persimmons - not ripe yet

A Milestone and an Anniversary

We have finished painting the boat!! There are some exceptions to that, as we have holes to fill and bits that got missed or need a touch up, but - we're finished. Frankie and Chris did the remainder of the non-skid a couple of days ago, and it looks really nice. We are still keeping off the most recently painted parts, though they feel dry to the touch. As always the preparation is the key and took the most time. Taping all the areas feels like forever. The paint went on fairly easily and they did three coats in total.

Careful taping is what gives great results

No one stepped in a paint tray

Beautiful

Hardware is already finding it's way back onto the boat. Two winches for the sheets, two new hatches in the cockpit and 2 above the back deck, 2 new hatches waiting to be installed in the cabin top. It wasn't part of our thrifty plan to get all of these - just some fittings to stop the leaks - but the boat is so pretty it is hard to put all the worn and scratched hatches back on.

Newly painted non skid with winches and hatch

Yesterday we went to Richmond and bought two 8'x4' sheets of 3/8" acrylic that we will use to replace the cracked/leaking/opaqued windows we arrived with. These were definitely always on the list to be renewed. We are going to change the side windows from one long piece of acrylic that straddles the three windows to 3 separate pieces big enough to cover each window. Hopefully that will help stop leaks due to flexing. And the price of acrylic has dropped since we researched it last year to just under US$300 a sheet so we're pleased.

One of the repairs we did to the hull has started to blister like the small pox. Frank's professional eye declared it to be uncured epoxy. Most of what we have used was West System, but this was some that Chris picked up at Home Depot. He might have mixed it wrongly, or it just doesn't work on a boat, but it has to come out. Good thing we are still here :-)

Uncured epoxy - let's start again

AND - we have just commemmorated the completion of our first full year at the boat yard since being hauled the end of July'08. Everyone gallantly declares it doesn't seem that long though one newcomer was told we had been here for at least 2 years! Hopefully that translates to us feeling like family rather than a pain in the ass.

Bonus!

We are in the process of applying the non-skid. It is being rolled on, and being done piecemeal, partly to make it easier to manoeuver while painting, and partly because we were away for a couple of weeks. We chose a soft grey for the non-skid which will alleviate the monotony of all white as well as reduce glare. The downside of choosing a complementary colour for the non-skid is that all mistakes show, and the paint is hard to control.
The yard has done the first part for us due to our absence, and we are going to attempt the rest - with their help.
Then our painting will be done apart for a few repair jobs and changes we decided on AFTER we started.

Non skid on half the cabin top - looking good

We realized a little late in the day that we could make changes to some features of the boat. For instance, we could move the swim ladder from it's central position in order to fit a propeller guard. Prior to that we had simply assumed we couldn't have the propeller guard. Doh. Things started to gather speed as we realized we could eliminate quite a few other features of the boat and fill in through hulls.
The refrigeration on the boat had never been used by us, and definitely would need ripping out and replacing before we could. So why not rip it out and fill the hole left in the cabin top and try to manage without built in refrigeration all together? Think of all the space we'd gain! If we decide we absolutely have to have it we won't have any more work to do that we would have had to do in the first place.
And then - what about the airconditioning?? Do we really need it? We have working air (which can also be used to heat) which is nice. But when the previous owners fit the airconditioning, they had to install a heavy Entec diesel generator in order to run it. We've used the air in marinas - and given profuse thanks for it - but never run it at anchor because of the noise of the generator. And because we never really needed it at anchor. So let's take those out too! The airconditioner weighed a LOT (newer ones seem much lighter) and the generator was so heavy and awkward (about 300 lbs) it had to come out in several pieces. It's a nice compact little generator with hardly any hours on it but just too heavy for our catamaran. We will probably replace it with a Honda gas generator that weighs less and is portable. We'd been mulling over removing the generator for months but only decided AFTER the painting was done! Now we will have to fill in the through hull and repaint that part of the hull.

A fine time to take this out!

There was a nice bit of serendipity the other day. Bobby the mechanic was talking to a monohull owner who had just bought a second-hand engine. It had come with an attachment the owner didn't need, didn't want and didn't know what it was for. Bobby recognized that this was a Silette Sonic leg, just what we have on our boat. We sure could use a new one! The boat owner was happy to trade his Sonic leg for things he needed. We had lots of stuff he could use, but when he heard we were removing our airconditioning the deal was as good as done! A couple of winches, a bosun's chair, a working airconditioning unit and a few dollars later we had our leg and he had air. Everone was happy.

Our new leg

The Paint Has Hit the Boat

The weather was right, the boat was ready, the paint was ready and the people were ready. On Wednesday, 20 May we started painting the boat. Our experts Frank and Frankie had come by the previous day and Frankie noted areas that needed a bit more sanding or filling. It is amazing how many times we have gone over the boat and still there are areas that we have missed!
Chris and I stayed up until 10 pm that night sanding, dry wiping and alcohol wiping the boat.
Then we drank a toast in celebration to the beginning of the job!

Frankie about to get started

Although Frank and Frankie had both worked on applying the primers, Frankie was doing the topcoat himself. Frankie has many talents, but his special passion is spraypainting. He inherited both the passion and the gift from his father Frank. The hull topsides was going to be painted the first day. Frankie taped and masked off anything that might accidentally get paint on it, and began.

Checking the surface one last time

Painting the hull


Finished! - See the shine?

DAY 2:

The next day, Thursday, Frankie decided to do the deep red cove stripe and boot stripe. In the end this day was longer than painting the entire topsides! Tape had to be laid, the stripes sanded, new tape laid and all the white paint blanked off before painting could begin. Frankie is meticulous and laid and relaid tape until he was satisfied the lines were the best they could be. Chris and I did the sanding and any blanking off we could in order to help.

Frankie taping the cove stripe

Blocked off and ready for paint



A well earned beer and lovely accent stripes on our boat

DAY 3:

Most of the deck and part of the cockpit were earmarked as today's job. Chris got a chance to get in on the act as Frankie needed him to hold the hoses and keep them off the freshly painted surfaces. This was the trickiest day as the men had to keep their feet on the non-skid areas (to be painted at a later date) so as not to mark the new paint. Once again preparation involved long hours of taping and masking off areas already painted and the boat got so wrapped up in plastic she looked like a Christmas present!

Frankie painting the cockpit while Chris holds the hoses



Smiles at the end of a long day

DAY 4:
Was on Tuesday, after the Memorial Day weekend. Our rubrail was going to be painted it's original black colour. Later we are going to add a stainless steel strip along it's length to add to it's effectiveness. A repeat of sanding, wiping, taping and masking led to this:

Wow!

Since then the cockpit well and the flat section at the back of the deck have been painted. We have stayed off the boat a few days for this part so as not to risk any damage to the fresh paint.
The anti-fouling will be painted black and then she is going to look amazing. This stage isn't until a while later though so I am going to have to wait for that bit of eye candy.
The paint we have used is Awlcraft 2000. It is relatively recent and seems to have everything you could want. Unlike Awlgrip you can buff and polish it and still retain the "out of the shop" shine. You don't wax it! Properly treated it can look good for up to 15 years.

Bring it on!

This entry was written at the end of April, but I have been delaying posting as I was trying to capture spring. A temperamental camera and lack of opportunity meant I never did get any new photos, so we'll have to make do with what we got!
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There has been little activity on the blog the last couple of months as any entry would only be a repeat of the previous ones.
We have spent most of this time filling and sanding the boat, preparing her for the top coat of paint. Every time we thought we were finished I went over the boat again and found yet more flaws to be filled and sanded. In the end I was banned from further inspections.
But she's done! And ready to be painted!
The paint has been ordered and arrived. The paint alone for this final pass adds up to over U.S.$2400 - and we got it at an extremely reasonable rate. BOAT = Bring On Another Thousand!

Ready for the final coat

There has been a bonus to this part of the process, namely that we have been privileged to spend spring in Deltaville. What a visual delight it is! From February on there has been a succession of spring blooms and flowering trees that are a feast for the eyes. My head is on a swivel whenever we go out. We started with early daffodils and narcissus. Gloucester was at one time a large center for the production of daffodils and they grow wild everywhere. In the ditches, in the forest, in wheat fields and by the bay. Grape hyacinth cover grassy areas, and carpets of blue forget-me-nots complement whole areas of mauve, violet and white ground cover.The early flowering cherry and magnolias are followed by trees with deep pink blooms, double or triple
petaled. Currently the azaleas are everywhere, jewel-like colours completely covering the bushes, and Wisteria are cascading from 40 foot trees like waterfalls. Many flowering trees I don't recognize bloom both in gardens and wild in the forest.Pure blue batchelor buttons are currentlylining the sides of the road where the morning glorys bloomed in the fall. Best of all
the blooms all last for weeks, giving us lots of time to enjoy them.















Spring weather is as changeable as any other season here, but generally pleasantly cool. We had our one snowfall the first weekend in March, and it was a good one. It was followed by a weekend of 80 degrees. Currently the weather is in the high 50s, but the last 3 days were in the mid 90s, and HOT!

80 Degrees a week later!

The osprey arrived in mid-March and immediately began building their nests of large twigs and sticks. The resident bluebirds and cardinals have been joined by robins and swallows, and the mallards who arrived before all of these have paired up and been living in the huge puddles formed by all the rain. Hummingbirds came a week or so ago, and spend a lot of time inside our covered area. I can't figure out if they are stuck or if they are enjoying the protection. Cardinals and other birds come inside too, but they are after the insects that emerge whenever it is warm enough and then migrate to the top of our covered hanger.

Setting up house

Watching Paint Dry

We are only watching paint dry, but it is getting to be pretty exciting!

The non-skid is getting done. These are the non-slip areas on the deck. They are textured (and often a complimentary colour) so that sailors' feet can get a better grip on a moving, sometimes wet, deck.

The order in which our progress is made is dependant on weather(temperature, humidity), manpower availablitiy, and exchange rates.

In order to do the non-skid we need to tape off the areas to be covered. This is made easier as we only have to follow the raised edges of the previous non-skid. Nonetheless it is a time consuming and painstaking job. Frankie did the first pass for us. Then Chris and Frankie put a thick primer coat on with a roller, letting it texture the surface. Only every other non-skid patch was painted first, so that the boys had somewhere to stand while painting. Then the tape was taken off those parts, and the remaining areas were taped. And painted.

Half the areas taped and primed

Taping the side deck

Because he acted before the first coat was completely cured, Chris was able to paint over the last set of patches with a dark grey primer without removing the tape first. Once that was on, we took the tape off that and got ready to retape the first areas which had dried too much to have this done. They would need to be sanded first, then primed with the dark grey.
Then the tape will be removed and everything retaped again for the final pale grey coat.

But we are finally seeing something close to the finished results - it's exciting!

The dark grey primer on half