Trip 150 - Thursday - Oct 7th

 

One hundred and fifty trips for maintenance. Or something. But the Sailing trips are separate. My, where have they all gone?

The past week in this household, was fraught with yours truly being very ill. A viral infection that lasted about five days. I have not been that sick for some time.

Laying there waiting to die, gives one pause for some of life's more important measures. Work, is not one. Not at all. All it provides is a method to keep the bills in line.

One's health, comes first. So, I again renewed my commitment to lose my girth. I will start things out with a physical and again, instead of two - one, instead of one - one half, etc. If at an advanced age, my mother could lose about fifty pounds and could fit into her wedding dress again after fifty years, so can I. But I will not fit in her dress however ... Btw, she did all that setting in a chair.

Some have asked what happened to the construction etc over the spring and summer.

Well, I lost some of that due to helping Marcia come back home from Hagerstown. A month was spent getting my main computer's data restored and backed up properly. I almost lost twelve years of effort. And that includes about 35,000 images as well.

Summer came and other things (summer) distracted. Then three weeks of 95 degrees and not a breath of air. An outpatient surgery Marcia had, which I care for her, wiped out a few weekends. Then, the last weekend we had to sail, I laid flat out in bed wracked with The Uckies.

So, here we are.

But we are both glad for our health and the sail we had with Gennaker will be remembered for a long time to come.

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150 Trips

I thought I may reflect a bit on what I learned this summer of sailing proper.

New sails are good. New sails are fun. New sails are nice. New sails look better. New sails go much faster.

We know a couple down the way and one day they met up with us and we kinda "Raced" to Pepin. On each tack, we always edged ahead. Marcia could not help it she gybed, got caught up in irons and gybed again on a couple come-abouts. But our friends never caught us, we always led the way.

They have the better boat and three feet longer too. Which meant they had 1/2 - 1 full knot more speed than we do.

Back at the dock he asked what happened.

I said "A folding prop". These are good, fun, nice, better and go much faster too.

The big lesson learned this year was hard earned.

Working the deck or setting sail manually is not a bad thing in itself. But when you have to fight the core equipment, and always struggle to do some of the simplest of things, that gets very old, very fast.

I am not saying you have to lead all the lines back to the cockpit etc, but throwing in a reef at the dock should not be as aggravating as it -is-. Taking that out in the water should not be -either-.

Sailing should be, and is, fun. Working the boat should be as well.

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Howzthis?

A new Catalina 270 with most of the options will cost close to $100,000. Plus delivery and taxes.

So far I have the cost of the boat itself, new sails, furler, rigging both standing and running, engine rebuild, prop, batteries, tanks, and other various and sundry items.

To that, even were I to add in a brand new Selden mast, boom and all rigging for $8000. I would have a vessel with a nicer interior than factory, better wiring, lotsa new stuff, and a completely serviceable hull and deck for less than . . . $35,000.

Not bad, really not bad.

Btw, that new mast will furl the main inside it and would resolve all the on deck issue I discussed earlier.

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Let's take Empty Pockets out of the water.

 

A couple of clean images of Empty Pockets. It is a design that has held very well indeed over all these years.

 

On the way down, I got the bright idea to see if Tom wanted to join the festivities. He sure is helpful. Always careful, always concerned. He is a strong kid and I hope I can that knot open when he is done.

 

When we get busy pulling sails down or just fussing of this or that, there is no time to write a "How To" journal. Which this disaster of a mess of a blog was never intended to be.

Anyways, the jib comes down just like it ran up. On a small slot in the track of the forestay. For some reason, the halyard kinda got jammed after a couple feet, but, but gently wriggling the line, down all comes.

Btw, I am now sold on furlers. And I am sold on Selden Furlex as the means to do it.

 

A fellow up the way has a cat with him on their boat. The cat wanders off now and then, but, comes right back home. The critter has a platform on the bow it sets on as folks walk by.

 

The albino is still here.

 

Well, there were some storms and Tom went down and got things dried out a little. The red dots were where the water was.

I vowed next season, all the exterior teak will be done, and it will be shiny bright. This time using a fifferent varnish and this time, -----always----- covering the cockpit and deck areas when we leave to keep sun and rain off.

 

All stripped, time to head to the Marina.

 

Tom, putting the tiller on.

 

Here is the way alot of folk curl their lines.

 

That water is mighty high. The highest I have seen in recent times.

 

A bigger fella from Pepin. This vessel is painted with a very hard paint called Awlgrip. Looks great! But here is the problem. Even the slings that hold it up, as they tighten when lifting, can drag along the sides just a bit and make vertical scratches. Putting the blankets on the sides helps, but once scratched, it is very hard to restore.

 

In line ... WHat apristine fall view.

 

Not one of them pesty little Zebra Mussels. Not one on a bare prop.

 

Tucked away for now. Jeff will pick it up and move it into The Pack in a week or two.

All the folks at this Marina are absolutely the greatest to work with and ask favors for.

Ahem, liquid contributions to the "Lake City East End Orphanage and Adoption Memorial Clinic" always helps though.

 

It was so shiny ...

A Marine Grade of bronze is unique. First off, were this prop to sink, in a thousand years it would look about like this. Especially in fresh water. And, critters just do not like to grow on it.

 

Waiting ...

What's up next?

Come back and clean out some stuff and bring it back home. Cover the companionway with a tarp for now to keep the insides dry.

Then, clean a few compartments and spread on some new gelcoat inside them.

And, remove them rusty nuts on the keel, place a new layer of glas and epoxy on it, and spin on the new nuts.

Take a deep breath and then, I plan on making a cover for the entire boat. I have a somewhat unique design so, stay tuned.

 

Later ...