Spring 2007 Maintenance and Preparations

The newest updates are at the top of the page; please click here to go the bottom of the page to begin at the--well--beginning.

Please click here to read all about the launching.

Then, on Saturday I rigged up the mast with its halyards and stays, a process that took several hours including securing the mast to the pulpits for transport on Monday.  I also washed the decks one more time to rid them of grime from the past month.

With that, the boat was ready for launch.  All I had to do was put the boom on deck.

The boat is basically ready to go in now, though I still have a short list of projects that I hope--and expect--to get done over the next few weeks.  The late launch date is truly relaxing and luxurious, in a way.  And, frankly, sailing season doesn't get going up here till June anyway, as much as it'd be nice to extend it.  But early launches tend to lead to disappointment, non-use, and, all too often, nasty spring storms to worry about.  So while I am still bothered by the (gasp!) June launching date on some level, it is actually working out extremely nicely for me this year, particularly with so much going on at work and with the house, and with the whole new boat relocation thing happening.

Sunday, I decided to paint the bottom and get that out of the way.  In a few days, I'll move the stands and paint the areas that I couldn't get during the first round.

Sunday, I carted load after load of gear down from the attic so that it would be readily accessible for loading and inspection.  I also reorganized my fastener box, as I had picked up a new storage system to replace the heavy, unwieldy, and inefficient large tackle box that I had used before.  The old box, still containing larger fasteners and other random spare parts, would need to remain on board, but now the basic screws and bolts that I'd typically need for maintenance or repairs would be better organized for easier use.

Tuesday, I sanded down the coamings, lazarette hatch, and tiller, and applied a coat of varnish to all (one side of the coamings only at this time, of course).  All were in good condition and required only maintenance coats.  After I have a chance to apply a coat of new varnish to the other side of the coamings in a few days, I'll reinstall these pieces on the boat where they belong.

There's still varnish work required on deck, in areas that I can reach without staging.  And there's a host of engine maintenance tasks ahead, including fuel and oil filters and a careful inspection, since the engine hasn't run since September '05.

Launching date is May 29, the day after Memorial Day.  We'll see how that all goes, with an untested hauler and a new boatyard for mast stepping. 

Among my errands was a trip to Ed's Batteries to replace my aged trio of boat batteries.  The two Trojan T-105s and single Trojan starting battery had served me well since 2001, but I had noticed some decrease in performance during our last sailing season in 2005, and last year, 2006, was the kiss of death for the batteries; I had hooked them up and left them aboard during the summer to allow the bilge pump to drain any rainwater, but never paid them much attention, and they wouldn't take a charge now.

I replaced them in kind with a new pair of T105s and a new Trojan 24SM850 starting battery.  The price on the T105s had increased substantially since I bought the first pair.

When I got back to the boat late in the morning, I installed the new batteries--always a fun chore on this boat, given the limited access.  Then, I sanded the toerails and sea hood top again (the sea hood sides were in good condition and needed only maintenance coats, which I'll apply once I build up several base coats on the top) and applied more varnish.  It was extremely warm today--in the 80s, which set records across the state.  Too hot for varnish, really, but since they were base coats I didn't worry too much about it.

I took these photos early the next morning after a brief rain shower.

Next came my favorite part--and by far the most annoying and time-consuming:  applying masking paper around all the ports so that the spray lacquer wouldn't coat the adjacent surfaces.  This took forever...plus, I don't get the newspaper anymore, and therefore had little in the way of material to use for the purpose.  I began using paper that had been used as packing material in some boxes I had recently received, but the paper was in poor shape and tore easily--very frustrating. Then, I happened upon a large roll of red rosin paper left over from the house construction, and this worked well for the remaining ports--although it was far heavier than required for the job.

With all the ports finally masked off--I rushed to try and beat the wind--I applied several coats of exterior spray lacquer to all the ports.  At this time, I only did the eight ports I could reach from the staging; the two forward-facing ports in the saloon could wait till later.  But I had a limited amount of time before I'd need the staging back in the shop for my next  work project, so I concentrated for now only on those areas for which I truly needed the staging.

I ended up with a few thin spots in the veneer, but there wasn't much I could do about that.  I hoped the overall effect would be minimal in the end, but I was already mulling over ideas for redoing the top of the sea hood without needing to rebuild the whole thing.  That would come later, though.

It was warm in the sun, and the first coat of thin varnish I applied to the sea hood dried quickly, so I applied a second coat later in the day.  Then, I applied the second coat to the toerails.

Using a carbide scraper, I scraped off the varnish from the top of the toerails and from the inside portions as well, which were also suffering from neglect and showed many areas where water had gotten behind the varnish, lifting it in sheets.  The exterior portion of the rails, however, were still in sound condition, and I didn't bother stripping them to bare wood, choosing instead to simply sand them thoroughly.

Once I had stripped off the varnish with the scraper--which went quite easily for the most part--I sanded the toerails with 80, 120, and 220 grits, using a sanding block where possible and finishing with hand sandpaper for the rounded edges and tight spots.  I was pleased to find that the rails cleaned up nicely, with no staining.

Because of travel plans, we pulled the boat early at the end of the 2005 season--September 9, in fact.  So it had been a long time since she was in the water--by the time we reach our scheduled launch date of May 29 this year, it will be 627 days.

April didn't work out well at all for boats, since we had two late-season snowstorms (14" and 6") during the first two weeks of the month, followed a week later by the so-called "Patriot's Day" or "Tax Day" northeaster, which brought high winds and heavy rain.

So, much later than usual, I finally managed to uncover the boat today.  It was pleasantly warm, and I pulled the cover off early in the morning before the wind had time to pick up.  Later in the day, I removed the framework and chafe gear, as well as the cockpit coamings so that I could refinish them inside.  Fortunately, the coamings were still in good condition and required only maintenance coats of varnish.

With that done, I set up some staging around the boat so that I could get to work on the most important job for the spring:  refinishing the toerails (and other brightwork.