JBCMusic Weblog

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Blackwatch Progress (#6)

Bowsprit, rigging, bottom job

Over the Christmas holidays, I got about half of what I’d hoped to get done on Blackwatch #38.  I bolted on the bowsprit temporarily without caulk, later got “the boys” (son and son-in-law) to help me raise the mast.  Dave Autry’s mast-raising system mostly worked; I can see it getting easier the 2nd or 3rd time when I’ve got all the lengths of things figured out.  Quickly determined there’s a six-to-eight-inch “something” missing from the forestay built into the roller furling jib, but it appears that when I add that (probably a turnbuckle), the other wire lengths I have will turn out OK.  I still have to order some new shrouds and stays because of kinks and no backstay (used a temporary wire halyard when we raised the mast). 

Meanwhile, I’ve started sanding the bottom to remove the old anti-fouling paint, was making good progress but have blown out 2 sanders - one ancient Sears one that’s survived two previous bottom jobs finally blew its bearings, and a fairly recent Black and Decker, still works, but the pad just disintegrated.  Still, though, I got about 2/3 of the bottom sanded before getting sick Sunday - either breathed a bit too much copper dust from the paint or just had a mild flu.  A few small dings and blisters to repair on the bottom, but that should go pretty quickly, then it will be 4 coats of epoxy and 3 to 4 of bottom paint.  Still have the interior wood in the garage, partially sanded, and still have to tear out rotted wood around the companionway step/icebox.  Also took parts of the old bent mast and made two crutches to hold the mast for travel.

We took the bowsprit and mast back off when we returned the boat to storage, though.  Just didn’t like them sticking out that far in a pretty tight storage yard - that’s how the previous owner got the original mast bent, the wires kinked, and the bowsprit gone.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Blackwatch progress (#5)

Creating a Ruckus, slowly

We’ve decided on a name for the Blackwatch! - “Ruckus.”  Our daughter Laurel’s got the equipment to produce the vinyl lettering, so we’re excited to see what she’ll come up with.

After nearly a month without bringing the boat home from storage, working on the woodwork in the garage and the mast in the back yard instead, got it backed in the driveway last Saturday, got the wood re-installed around the companionway, then had rain all day Sunday - not complaining, we needed it!  So we just left it in the drive for a week, which means we’ll probably be getting a letter from the homeowners shortly, but I did get some things done this weekend - plugged all the screw-holes in what I’d installed the week before, which nearly drove me crazy - they kept breaking off below the surface when I tried to chisel them off, put some in 4-5 times - but I finally got them all done and got a couple of coats of varnish over the top of them.  I installed a traveller across the stern above the tiller notch in the cockpit, didn’t turn out as neat as I’d hoped - should have bent the track to shape first instead of depending on bending it into place.  Then I got the seat drains in the cockpit working - the bronze elbows below deck had corroded away, and someone had put a rubber tape with a butyl rubber adhesive over the holes on deck.  That took an hour scrubbing with Interlux 216 solvent to get that stuff off.  I put in bigger plastic scuppers but still had to neck them down to the 1” existing pipe, replaced all the plastic tubing clamps below deck with 1 stainless steel and one plastic at each connection.  All-in-all, the scuppers turned into quite a job, so I didn’t get to other things I’d hoped to, like starting on the electrical system.

The weeks before that, I’ve painted the mast and got most of the hardware on it, except the masthead is different and I still have to figure out how to attach the forestay and backstay - the existing tangs don’t fit.  I considered installing the original Blackwatch masthead by cutting a sleeve from the old mast to fit inside the new, slightly bigger mast, but it really looked jury-rigged.  Besides, the new masthead is set up for internal halyards, and I’ve already set the exit sheaves into the bottom of the mast.

In the meantime, Deb’s got the interior cushions finished and started polishing the hull.  A real disappointment with the gelcoat I sprayed over the repairs, though - I had the color matched perfectly, but after sitting in the sun a couple of weeks, the yellow faded out and the repairs took on a pinkish hue against the ivory hull - roughly back to where I was before I did the last color-matching.  I told Deb to just go ahead and polish over them anyway - who knows what color they’ll be in another month!  Maybe we’ll sail the boat a couple of years, then re-gelcoat the whole topsides if it’s looking bad - not that much to it.  Right now, we just-want-to-get-sailing!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Blackwatch progress (#4)

Varnish, maybe some RAIN!

Progress - slow, just too darned hot to work much.  But still, I’ve managed to get 5-6 coats of varnish on the first batch of wood I took off.  I’m using Sikkens Cetol, which everyone claims is the best for longevity, but I really hate working with it - it’s like trying to paint with honey.  I just simply can’t get it on smooth, have just been concentrating on getting it on thick instead, so it’ll take some wet-sanding before the final 1 or 2 coats.  I’ve removed the second batch of exterior wood, al the pieces around the companionway, replaced them with pine and cedar I had laying around the garage so I can still close the boat up.  I have all that and the hatch boards sanded down, on the 3rd or 4th coat of varnish.  I have all the interior wood out (except for the mast post, which I’ll have to finish in place), haven’t bothered sanding it down because I figure I can finish that after the boat’s sailing.

I got the gel-coat matched very well finally, and re-sprayed all the repaired spots. The spray I got from my airbrush is a bit rough, because I hated to thin the stuff too much, but finally did thin it out a lot anyway so the last 2-3 spots I sprayed came out a lot smoother.  Most of the rest needed some sanding; got some of them wet-sanded, polished out and blended in pretty well, still have some left to go.

I was hoping to start on the mast this afternoon, have to cut it to length, drill holes, and plan on painting it white.  But as I was starting to set up, it started thundering!  Yay!  First time I’ve heard that in months! Lord, we need the rain! - but I don’t need to be working with an aluminum mast with potential lightning around.  Maybe next week.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Blackwatch Progress (#3)

Worst cold ever, but some progress

Most of July, so far, I’ve been hit with the absolute worst cold I’ve ever had in my life - knocked me out of a week’s work and a couple of weekends working on the boat restoration.  In spite of that, I’ve managed to get the toerails screwed on, plugged the screwholes, and got the first coat of varnish on them.  I’m also making slow progress with the 5th or 6th coat of varnish on the bowsprit and various other pieces of wood in the garage, and just started sanding a second batch of wood removed from the interior.  I’ve still got the pieces around the companionway to remove for sanding, will replace them temporarily with pine or something so I can still close the boat up in storage.

I’ve got the relatively small amount of exterior fiberglass work done; thought we had done a good job of matching the gelcoat, but then Deb started wet-sanding the spots I’d sprayed and polishing out the hull around them.  When it’s polished up, the hull is a lot darker ivory than we thought, which makes my repairs look almost white in comparison.  So I’ll be re-spraying all those spots, hopefully can do a better job of matching the true hull color next time.

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered a new electrical panel, cabin light, and lots of wire.  I had already bought new bow lights off eBay, stainless steel ones that won’t be anywhere near as pretty as the bronze ones that disappeared when the previous owner had the boat in storage.  The original bronze stern light is intact, though, and I’ll try to use an anchor light and masthead light I already have.  Most of the electrical system probably could have been cleaned up to work, but it’s just one thing I’m paranoid about, and there’s not that much to re-wire - nav lights, mast lights, cabin light, bilge pump, maybe an auxiliary 12-volt plug.

Yes, I have a few pictures in the camera, will try to post them “real soon now.”

Friday, May 13, 2011

Blackwatch progress (#2)

The bowsprit’s built!

I put the pieces of the bowsprit together last weekend - Gorilla glue, screws, and 4 stainless rods - finished sanding it evenings during the week, maybe one final sanding and it’s ready for varnish.  Meanwhile I’m soaking the new toerails in water so I can bend them to the shape of the old ones, and slowly getting the other wood pieces sanded for re-finishing.  Jeff and Deb spent a day cleaning up and re-organizing my garage, which I greatly appreciate!  It was getting hard to move around in, and the saw-and-sanding dust had gotten ridiculous. Thanks!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Blackwatch #38

We’ve purchased Blackwatch #38 and started the restoration

A couple of months ago, the owner of Blackwatch #38, Joe Schlichte, emailed me to ask for help selling it.  My reply was - SOLD! to ME!  Only problem was, it was in Michigan, we’re in the Houston suburbs 1300 miles away, and at that time, the boat was covered under 2-3 feet of snow.  We had just started looking for someone to haul it, trying to avoid a trip north to fetch it in the spring, when we were contacted again by a trucker friend of Joe’s, Ron Thomas, who had some time between jobs.  So the boat arrived here at home March 14th.

The hull, deck, and interior fiberglass are in great shape for a 31-year old boat; a few dings to repair; the exterior and interior woodworking, not so much.  The bowsprit was missing, so I have to build that from scratch, the forward and midship toerails need replacing, and the interior wood has a couple of rotted spots and all needs refinishing.  The mast also got bent somehow in storage when Joe owned it, so I’m looking at replacing that.  So she’s a project, but overall, nowhere near the project that our San Juan 24was. 

So far, I’ve gotten started with a thorough cleanup, getting the cockpit drains working, and today I cut up $166 worth of Honduras Mahogany for the bowsprit and toerail pieces.  Looking forward to getting her sailing.

Here’s a picture of the boat as it arrived.  More info on the Blackwatch and Bluewater Boatworks is on my Bluewater page.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Put y’self in a boat!

Yo, Ho, put y’self in a boat, and you’ll have a story by-n-by.

I wrote a line in a song awhile back (Jan. 07) - “Yo, Ho, put y’self in a boat, and you’ll have a story by-n-by.”  We did some motor swapping back in the fall, got a working 15-HP Yamaha on the fishing boat, then finally got the boat to the lake in April.  We got launched at our marina, and I got the motor started and motioned to Deb to step in. She looked down from the dock and replied, “Uh-uh.  I’m not getting in with all that water coming in the back!”  WHAT?  YES, I had put the plug in!  But then it seems that while starting the motor, I had stepped on the live-well pump, and the nipple for the hose connection was old, brittle plastic, and had snapped right off.  So we got the boat back on the trailer with some effort, and I was able to replace the pump that evening, but the wind was howling and the lake white-capping the next day, so no boating that weekend.

Due to some travel, the registration expiring, and some delay getting the boat and motor re-registered in Deb’s name from her brother’s, it was Father’s day before we could attempt to take the fishing boat out again.  Jeff and I decided to try the north end of Lake Conroe instead of Lake Livingston this time, so we launched at the National Forest Service ramp off Farm Road 1097.  It’s a difficult ramp to launch on - there are no-wake buoys about fifty yards out from the ramp; at 52 yards from the ramp, boats are going by full speed, still causing waves at the ramp, with no dock to tie up to, just high wooden bulkheads.  At any rate, we got launched, tied to the bulkhead, to find - YES, I HAD forgotten to put the plug in!  But we finally did get started around 4:30 that afternoon, with a fair amount of water sloshing around beneath the floorboards.  I’ve got to install a bilge pump in that boat.  Or a brain in my head.

After boating in a small boat one afternoon on Lake Conroe, I’ve got to tell you - I LOVE LAKE LIVINGSTON!  Conroe seems to be full of those very wide, very deep, 20-25’ ski boats created mainly to make huge wakes, full of bronzed beauties (those are the guys - and some girls in bikinis, too),  blasting very loud music I don’t listen to (Jeff thought it was Lady Gaga).  But there’s a pretty narrow channel they have to stick to in that area due to stumps - after crossing a couple of wakes, we picked our way across the stump-filled middle part and got to the other shore.  We tried fishing a couple of coves and were going along shore to the next one with Jeff watching the fish finder when he noticed what seemed to be a ridge with fish around it, so I decided it would be good to drift back over the ridge.  I was planning on the wind to carry us parallel to shore over the ridge, but instead it pushed us into the shore a lot quicker than I had hoped for.  As I was getting the motor re-started, Jeff was watching the depths again, saying it was getting shallow pretty fast, in fact, he could see a big rock right - a small wave lifted the boat, there was a soft thump, and we stuck.  Backing up didn’t help; backing down with Jeff moved to the back of the boat didn’t help.  Finally, I turned the motor all the way to starboard and gunned it in reverse, then the same to port, hoping that the prop wouldn’t hit another rock if we did pop free.  After pivoting around a bit, we did finally slide off the rock and I steered away to deeper water, luckily with no bashing of the prop against the bottom.  Whew!  The fish didn’t seem to be biting anyway, so we headed back to the ramp, and got the boat back on the trailer before sundown.  Looking at the bottom of the aluminum boat, there’s one slightly flattened shiny spot, wouldn’t really call it a dent, no real damage.  But it’s inevitable - put y’self in a boat, and you’ll have a story by-n-by.

Monday, May 10, 2010

San Juan 24 sailboat FOR SALE

San Juan 24 sailboat completely refurbished for sale

Well, after getting the San Juan 24 “Freedom Song,” Hull #849 completely refurbished and launched in September and sailing it a few times, we’ve decided it’s just not the boat for us.  The little Starwind 19 we sailed previously and still have sitting on a trailer, as slow and frustrating as it can be in light winds, spoiled us in a lot of ways.  Mainly, as I’ve said many times, the Starwind’s cockpit is one of the most comfortable I’ve ever sailed in.  The San Juan cockpit, with it’s straight-up walls and pinched IOR stern - isn’t.  The Starwind’s cockpit is actually larger and more workable. 

The Starwind’s also very forgiving and we’ve always felt totally in control in it, and we’ve had it in some pretty rough weather for a 19’ boat.  The San Juan moves incredibly well in light wind but gets to be a wild ride in around 18-20 mph wind - would have been a FUN boat in our 20’s and 30’s, but we’re a little past that now.  Just a little too physically demanding to enjoy it at our age.  So the San Juan 24 is FOR SALE.  I’ve replaced my San Juan page with an ad and posted ads at SailingTexas.com and Craigslist Houston.  Surprisingly, I’ve already gotten a couple of inquiries in only one day.

So we’ll clean up and fix the hurricane damage to the Starwind, maybe get new sails and enjoy sailing it while taking our time looking for another bigger boat.  One I’m really interested in is the Santana 525 - although it’s a racy “sport boat” like the San Juan, the cockpit is larger and it looks like it has some of the characteristics that make the Starwind comfortable, just bigger.  In fact one comment I’ve read online is that the cockpit is, yes, comfortable.  I think I’ve also come to the conclusion I like a fractional headsail, which the Santana has, better than the SJ’s masthead rig.  The masthead genoa is just that much too big and powerful, for us, anyway.  Like I said, great if you’re younger.  I’ve found exactly one Santana 525 for sale right now.  Won’t tell you where in case the San Juan sells quickly, so we can snag it.

Things we’ll miss about the San Juan?  One, the cabin interior came out very nice with fresh paint, the woodwork refreshed, all new lighting and cushions, and the table and standing headroom (for Deb, almost for me) are nice.  Two, it really does MOVE in almost no wind, which tends to be most of the summer on Lake Livingston.  But all in all, we’re frankly not enjoying sailing it in much of a blow, and this spring’s weather has been anything but light.  That doesn’t mean that you won’t love it, especially if you’re younger and more sprightly than us.  Buy our boat! (Please).

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Cape Royale Boating Association Calendar

http://www.crba-livingston.com/calendar.htm

I’ve gone from secretary to webmaster of the Cape Royale Boating Association (CRBA) on Lake Livingston.  Among the other updates I’ve done, I finally got the 2010 CRBA calendar posted.  The link is www.crba-livingston.com/calendar.htm.  Friends, kinfolks, fellow sailors wanting to join us on our San Juan 24for any of the races or events give me a shout by email (brent(a)jbcmusic.com, checked daily) or on Facebook (checked occasionally).