Averisera: April 2020 Archives

Reno 2020-forepeak

By Norman H. Martin on April 23, 2020 12:17 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The forepeak is a tight place to work. Normally, a holding tank, selector switch, and pump are all crammed in here. I got them out, cleaned the surfaces and am prepared to sand and make ready for painting. Considering painting the presently varnished panels. I joked about wall papering but that's not going to happen! A couple of the pictures that follow are from intermediate stages. The bottom picture makes an ugly scene look pretty!

reno forepeak

Reno 2020-Plan A

By Norman H. Martin on April 12, 2020 2:07 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

An article by sailing writer and blogger, Melody DiCroce, got me focused. Thanks, Melody.

https://savingtosail.com/

She wrote about the "Imagine your boat upside down" part of boat prep. In other words, if the boat rolled over would enough stuff stay put? There are some real horror stories about damages following a knockdown as gear below flew around the interior.

One of my goals with Averisera has been to make her safe upside down. In fact, it would be remarkable hard to roll the boat over as she has a deep draft and a narrow beam. A breaking wave would do it. Where am I going to find those, Cape Horn? Not going! More likely is that a series of rough days can toss us around and too much key equipment shifts to cause a huge mess. Likely, so I am looking into that.

Very simple layout and not much stowage so not much to get loose. A few tweaks are called for. First, the mold! Then, get ready to sail.

Some things on the list:

Fuel and water tanks are not securely mounted and are held in place mostly by plumbing passing through a bulkhead

Secure lazarette hatch

Holding tank and head, secured but reroute and secure some plumbing

Neither anchor is properly secured in place

Tool boxes are loose

Latches for galley sliding cabinet doors

Floorboards need some form of securement

Too much loose gear stowed in quarterberths

So, not going anywhere for a while, might as well enjoy the boat as a project.

Batteries not secured

Secure all berth boards so gear stowed underneath is kept in place

Some other things on the list:

Fuel vent line, relocate

Install automatic bilge pump

Install manual bilge pump (presently I have a handheld ThirstyMate)

Make offshore hatch boards and install secure lashing lines.

Back to the Boat

By Norman H. Martin on April 4, 2020 1:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

As work continues at the house, painting rooms and sprucing up outside, it is time to start the boat. Today, April 4, is chilly, about 40F/5C but not raining. First, a couple of views, one from the forward hatch out under the shrink wrap. I am not certain why the blue tarp is still in place. The other from near the stern.

Plan A: spend a lot of time until late August or early September to ready the boat. About then, some summer moorings free up on the Cape and that's good. The virus has thrown all plans into a cocked hat, as they say in nautical terms, so we'll see.

Plan B: finish earlier and find a mooring somewhere off Cape. Our mooring, Stage Harbor, Chatham, MA, USA is shoaling over at the entrance. Last year we had a hard time sailing since the harbor bar was so limiting.

Pictures from now:

Doesn't she have a beautiful under body? Not shown, her sweet long overhangs forward. So sleek. Narrow with long legs makes for great sea keeping. A few years ago, we sailed from Chatham to Hyannis in gale, down wind, two reefs and no jib, averaged 8 knots and never a worry on the helm. I stood in the cockpit with the tiller between my knees with a cuppa served up from below by the navigator/owner.

Mold and more mold. I am going to use a couple of different products and report back on their efficacy. In late fall or early winter, I wiped down with alcohol which did a good job. I have products from Armorall and Concrobium to try next.

Other tasks are to remove the holding tank and head with associated plumbing. I am going to sand and paint out all the surfaces under the bunk boards in the forward cabin. The tank is empty (I think) so it won't be too rough a job.

Yesterday it blew a gale so we drove over to the Chatham Light and had a look at the Atlantic Ocean. It was churned up. The offshore surf went out as far as one could see.

A couple of the products I have used to try and manage/eliminate mold:

The underlying operating system is, of course, this guy. Who... by the way... went over the next day to check out the wait and see results. All good. The solution makes it much easier to wipe off the residue mold. I then used some 60% alcohol to wipe the surfaces further with good results.

Someday, I will figure out how to get the portrait orientation pictures to be that.

Meanwhile, a friend, Spencer Kinnard, is a photographer who traces the changes in the inlet topography by air. The following two images are from February 2020. The very upper beach and water is the Outside Beach at Chatham Light and the Atlantic pictured in a image seen above, taken a month later during a gale.

Anyway, below, the top image shows Stage Harbor entrance. Typically, the shoals move back and forth between the two little peninsulas. Depth can be 8 ft or 4 ft... depending on? The channel has just been dredged in this image. Wonder how long it will be until the sand from the right side shoals drifts into the channel.

The lower image is of Chatham Inlet, or what's left of it. Stage Harbor is off to the left. Everything has changed since I was a kid in the 50s. Hardly a surprise! The barrier beach moves all the time. I learned to sail on the waters barely visible at the top. We would sail to a cabin on the Outside Beach (OSB, as we called it) and camp out sometimes during the summer. It was a huge treat for us pre-teens and teens.

Spring Cleanup

By Norman H. Martin on April 2, 2020 3:11 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The guys from Pine Tree Nursery and Landscaping came by the other day to plant some shrubs and clean up the grounds. Young guys with power tools are way, way faster than me! Next up are a few small trees to be installed. Maybe soon. The weather matters and right now, the day after April Fool's Day, it is blowing a gale and raining.