We crossed into Florida today! In eager anticipation of the Florida HEAT, we started installing our 12V fans.
I’m actually kind of blown away (har har) by how much of a breeze they put out…they don’t use too much power either.
We have a long list of projects to do before we go to the Bahamas in the new year, and we are happy to start crossing the easy ones off the list.
Happy Holiday party Friday tout le monde!
A few posts ago I alluded to an issue with our roller furling headstay in the mast re-step day post, but didn’t go into much detail because I’d jury rigged a solution that I thought would work. My solution was pretty crude and frankly it wasn’t sitting well with us, so we decided to get an expert opinion…
The expert opinion we got wasn’t positive…basically the top section of the roller furling extrusion (where the forestay from the front of the boat meets the top of the mast) had sheared off. This we knew. What we didn’t know, was that the forestay itself had been damaged in the process, which could put the entire rigging system (AKA what holds the mast up) at risk. Basically we were looking at a new forestay and replacing the top extrusion of the furler. Further complicating the process, this would require disassembling the entire system and then reassembling it with our new part, something that came in quoted at up to 20 hours of labour.
-yes I know these all sound like technical terms for the uninitiated…if I lost ya, just scroll through the photos 
–
We got a quote to do the work in the neighborhood of $3200 (WHICH SEEMED CRAZY!), so we asked the guy to let us do some of our own labour to get the hours down. He obliged, and we got right to disassembly with a blowtorch, awl, hammer, and vice grips as soon as the furler was down.
It all went really well except for ONE roll pin which took over 50% of total time spent to get it out.
Once disassembled, we sent the connection pieces off (to the guy assembling the new forestay) and are waiting anxiously to hear some good news about reassembly early this week. HOWEVER, since no one was working on the weekend…BACK TO NEW YORK CITY!!!
This time, however, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our good friends Tom and Mel!!
We covered a lot of ground in less than 36 hours in the city!!! Chelsea, East Village, Greenwich Village, Midtown, Brooklyn, and Wall St….our feet were sore and we were happy. We took a coupla photos where we got engaged last week in Central Park and scoped out the NY waterfront by the financial district…it looked like a rough day out there, so we’ll be targeting calmer conditions for our passage!
It’s been an amazing weekend and we’re ready to get back at ‘er tomorrow.
After riding a high of a New York weekend and engagement, we are back on the boat in Haverstraw, struggling through delays for parts, bad weather, and crummy docking experiences. During rainy nights like these we are drawn to re-reread a journal entry Mark made at the beginning of our trip.
We often say that “sailing has everything”.
Massive highs, massive lows and the swings in between. Boredom, excitement, terror, enthusiasm. It offers a chance to practice tenacity, relaxation, thoughtfulness, conscientiousness. A place to fix things, break things, solve problems and make them. It challenges your mind and body, while satisfying a sense of adventure.
Sailing teaches you to appreciate the simplest things: Food, water, shelter, weather, power, and (not to mention) a hot shower. Sailing gives you the time and the opportunity to stare out over the horizon for hours, to see sunrises and sunsets in the same day, to go wherever your heart desires and to respect nature because ultimately it has the final say.
We often say you can’t have a schedule, more of a plan with a backup plan…and a backup to the backup plan…and plans change.
You learn to appreciate the sunny days until there are too many in a row, then you appreciate the clouds. You learn to crave wind in the doldrums and calm in a storm.
There’s always something to do if you want to do it, but you don’t always have to do it right away. Sailing gives you a chance to do what you want to do, be who you want to be, and figure out just how the hell you’re gonna get there.
Sailing has everything.
WHEW! What a day. Stepping the mast was, frankly, pretty easy with the help of Sean and the guys at Hop-O-Nose marina…the hard part was rigging everything afterwards! Good news is, she’s finally up and ready to rumble.
There was a little drama again with the roller furler (more on that later), but otherwise it went up without a hitch. WOOT
We’re going to stay here one more night before continuing our trek south down the Hudson River.
Today we had to take down the mast…I woke up with mixed emotions – the disappointment that comes with knowing you won’t be sailing for a while, coupled with the urgency to get to work! Damn there was a lot to do…especially since we had an issue with the roller furling mechanism the day before and we couldn’t drop the headsail.
Mark’s first time up the mast in a bosuns chair
ALL IN ALL, the day was a huge success! Bill and the gang at Rich Marine were super pro and really went the extra mile to help us with the task. I think we said “thank you” about 40 times…
We were SO eager, we decided to split and make our way towards the canal. Only one problem…we were running pretty low on diesel…
Painting starts with a power wash! That was the easy part…
Once the boat was out of the water, it was time for sanding (don’t worry, I -Caitie- health and safety-officer’d us into wearing appropriate respirators and safety gear), and a brief wipe down with thinner to prep for painting. Finally, taping the water line, wrapping the prop and all of the other necessary precautions.
Traditional anti-fouling paints are pretty toxic (that’s the whole idea…to prevent life from growing on the boat), and since we were going to do this ourselves, we chose a slightly more environmentally friendly version called Pettit Hydrocoat Eco, a “water-based, copper-free, self-polishing ablative antifouling paint“. This is their top-of-the line new paint which will hopefully keep us growth-free for at least a year or two in the tropics.
We estimated that we would need about two gallons (~7.6L) to do our two coats, and at almost $250 per gallon, this paint quickly became known as Black Gold (to us). Unfortunately it is also extremely viscous (Yes, we thinned it as per the instructions. Still.) and has thus generously provided a neck/shoulder/arm/back/full body workout neither of us knew we were missing out on, through a strenuous two-day painting process.
<Note: There are no pictures of the actual painting, because we were BUSY! Dayummmmm>
Let me just say, for the record, that this was the least fun boat project we’ve done to date, if only because it was more physically taxing than anything else we’ve tackled. But hey, could be worse – we could be at real jobs, right? (EDIT – I’m sure there will be worse boat projects. This wasn’t actually that bad.)
Two coats over two days, and we’re tired!! Frankly, we’re a little tipsy too…Celebration beers! haha
We wanted to do one last check of our hull, rudder, through-hulls etc. and apply a fresh couple of coats of anti-fouling paint before we headed towards the Atlantic. Our current coat, while still relatively new, is meant for cold/fresh water and we are headed to warm/salty, where more marine life is likely to try to grow on our boat.
The Harbormaster at the MHYC operated the crane which lifted our boat (all 7600 lbs of ballast) up on two straps and onto “the hard” for us, where it will remain for a few days of maintenance and painting. This was, despite Mark’s cool appearance, still a humbling experience.
The next couple of days will be filled with two coats of fresh paint, so get ready for painters jumpsuits, respirators and safety goggles – DIY/Breaking Bad style.
This morning we had a bit of a wake up call…
We arose to heavy winds gusting to 25-30 knots and pouring rain. There were 5-6 foot waves out on the lake – we sure wouldn’t want to be out there. The waves were surging through the small channel into the marina and all of the boats were swaying back and fourth…creaking and groaning.
We were reminded that it is mid-September…soon to be October.
Caitie and I are starting to get antsy. We’re hauling the boat on Monday to put on new antifouling paint (on the bottom of the hull to prevent marine growth), and we’re going to have a friend from the club help install our new alternator. Hopefully I can finish up the mast cradle this weekend.
We’ve got to get moving.
