From Dungarees to Mainsails

Figure 78 - It will be a great harvest

The spring rain is falling softly this evening. Most of the vegetable garden is planted. I examined the mainsail more closely and found that I had half a dozen areas along the leech side that required at least six inches each sewing repairs. I learned to sew as a young teenager in the sixties. We were leading up to Woodstock but it was around 1966 when I decided to patch my first set of jeans. At school it became cool to patch your torn jeans. So that is how it started. Never did migrate to a sewing machine. Adhering to my old school methods in the resurrection of the Constance Marie, I spent the next four nights mending the original Hunter 27 mainsail.  I think I did a good job and believe that I might have extended the life of it by 2-3 years.

Rain Rain Go Away, Actually It's Been Wetter in My Bilge

April is turning our to be ok. Getting lots of stuff done.  Finished the portals (previous blog), sanded the teak floors, primed and painted the interior, AGAIN!  Painted the top-side non-skid areas,  put on a custom-built 6 foot artic white bimini, arranged for a custom helm cover to match, sanded the exterior teak, and painted the hull.  I still work full time but my schedule allows me to pass the boatyard each day so I can get 2-3 hours in (when the wife says its ok, of course).  Before I get into the details of the aforementioned, I guess it a good idea to list what still needs to be done before I take the Constance Marie off the "hard".

• Repair a six inch stitch in my mainsail
• Figure out why my in-hull tranducer stopped working at end of season last year
• Figure out why my anchor light stopped working during the Down The Bay cruise last year
• Commission the engine
• Replace the head faucet as it is the original and it no longer capable of shutting off water supply
• Replace the links that anchor the fiddle blocks to a stainless steel plate near the hatch
• BUY a half-life Genoa (%$#&^%#!!!!) as head tore near the luff and can not be repaired
• Replace teak moulding in galley
• Compound polish the gelcoat then buff it up good.
• Put the decal for my home port on the stern
• Figure out why the dink is losing air
• Commission my Yammy 4 stroke 2.5
• Put the Magma propane stove back on the rear stanchion
• ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH, I JUST WANT TO GO SAILING!!!!!!

April Showers Are Good, I Guess?

April is the month in our region when things at our Yacht Club's boatyard start hopping. Since January Mooring crews have been busy welding chains and replacing schackles.  Now they have near 100 to put back in the water.  Docks and Waterfront have repaired the floating docks and have positioned them at the loading and mooring docks.  The Burning of the Socks is this Saturday.  We usually turn out about 100 folks, with a Piper, and the ceremony starts at 1600 with the Blessing of the Fleet, then over to the shoreline for the Crossing of the Bar with Eight Bells to remember lost ones, next the flag raising by our Commodore and Vice-Commodore supported by a cannon salute and finally the reading of the Club's version of the Burning of the Socks followed by guess what....the burning of those stinking old socks....

"FOR IF THE WINDS ARE BELOW TWENTY AND THE TEMPERATURE IS ABOVE THIRTY, WE WILL DOFF OUR SHOES AND PEEL OUR SOCKS OH SO DIRTY".

It's been a busy three weeks since my last blog entry.  I finished putting in the final portals, painted the non-skid areas topside and sanded the teak floors in the galley and head.  I heard back from my sail master that the torn Genoa is not-repairable.  Well that means I have to confirm the I and J and go find me a 50%er.  No new sails here on a 35 year boat.  I will buy one that has 50% useful life left.

Figure 77
Out with the Old

Regarding the portals, after removing the inside screws, I went topside and removed the exterior screws.  I then took a hammer and two inch wide metal shim bar and worked my way around the portals outer frame until it pried loosed.  This exposed the caulking used to waterproof the spigot.  I used the knife on my Blacktip multi-tool to cut into the caulking to loosen the hold.   This may take about 10 minutes.  Once sufficiently loosened, I pushed the portal from inside and it fell onto the deck.  Using a very sharp 1" wood chisel, I removed all the caulking and silicone that remained on both the interior and exterior flat surfaces.  I then used my knife to run it along the opening's edge to remove any remaining caulking.  I then sanded it with 80 grit sandpaper and ensured that the spigot would be be able to retain new adhesive.  I cleaned all with acetone.

Figure 78
In with the New

You can see above that the way Mr. Cherubini designed the drain holes made it very easy with the replacement.  I did some research and being this is an old boat that flexes pretty good, I wanted to have the same dynamic with the portal.  Given my research on Hunterowners.com, I decided to use GE Silicone II and generously filled the spigots and lined the interior framework. I then replaced the screws and watched the ooze come forth as I seated the new portal.  I went topside and filled in the spigot from that side.  Generously applied silicone to the back of the exterior frame and adhered it to the portals face.  No screws necessary on this side.  Cleaned up all the ooze with a razor blade and paper towels.  Let dry and used the wood chisel to clean up the remaining silicon that had dried on the fiberglass and finished that off with some acetone.

Parties Are Over - Back to Work

Man, the winter of 2015 in the Northern Chesapeake was brutal this year.  Snow on the ground from December through March.  Well, we made it through another Steamers Night, Pig Roast, Commodore's Ball, Thanksgiving Dinner and the Holiday Fund Raiser.  I also serve as the Entertainment Chairperson for the Club and I was glad to stand down for awhile.

Figure 72
Thru-hulls for raw water and
galley sink drain

Well, its now early March and I am beginning to plan out the maintenance and repairs for the new season along with getting the Constance Marie ready for Her shakedown cruise come mid-May.  I did some work on the inside of the boat over the winter.  Let's take a look at how this 35 year old Lady is looking:

Figure 73
View forward

Figure 74
New paint job starboard side

Figure 75
New paint job port side

Figure 76
New paint job quarter berth right next to the Beast

She is shaping up nicely.  Still have a lot of work  to do with the interior teak but we will get there.

Waiting for the warmer weather in April to paint the hull and polish her exterior and put the remaining six new portals in.  Have a bit of repair to do on the Genoa as she tore last season about six inches.

I Have Returned!

THE REMOVAL

Figure 71
When our 35 gallon fresh water tank
 below the front berth ran out of water, 
we just collected rain water through the
starboard galley portal.  Wing nuts 
had replaced dog ears

It's Saturday and it's warm and sunny. Low 60's. I felt like General Douglas McArthur returning to the Philippine Islands. I was armed to the teethe with Gray Enterprises portals (see below), I wanted to see how long it was going to take to change one out, having never done one before. I started with smaller one on the port side of the front berth. The first task was to remove the 15 interior screws. As these were the original portals, there were also the same number of exterior screws to remove. I went back inside and then carefully used an 8" mini-crowbar, the kind with the 90 degree honed edge, and proceeded to loosen the grip of the silicone that held the plastic portal frame to the interior wall. I was sweating the fact that I may have to make adjustments in the interior wall to accommodate the drain holes at the bottom of the new portal. With some wiggling the portal frame pulled out cleanly. To my joy, Mr. Cherubini and his design team has engineered a two inch slot for just such an event. I returned outside to remove the exterior frame. Remaining outside I sanded the rough edges of the opening and took a razor blade to removing any remaining silicone. I then cleaned the area with acetone. Did the same for the interior.

Figure 72
Gray Enterprises Portal Small

THE REPLACEMENT


I turned to Hunterowners.com to find out if there was any information relevant to Gray portals and I was pleasantly surprised to find the exact, but enhanced, portals were available in the small Model 512 and large Model 715 sizes.  I bought all eight (4 small / 4 large).  I chose the following specifications:  white frame, clear lens, angled drain, black screen, white outer ring (new enhancement), white knobs with pin, gasket seal.  For sealant I went to Lowes and bought some GE Silicone II mold resistant slicone caulking for adhesive.  I love the Cherubini 27.  Sure the 30 footer has an entirely different interior with shower and I can stand up in it without bending over, but to me, the 27 is like getting into the equivalent of a Willy's jeep.  Not a lot of horsepower, and it may not be the prettiest boat with all the fiberglass, but everything on this boat works and works well.  It is reliable, responsive, turns on a dime, not that costly to maintain and the hull on this boat looks so good, that you think we had rubbed botox into it. Each portal took about 15-20 minutes to install.  Even I was amazed and to realize that all THESE PORTALS OPEN UP to let those cool breezes flow through the galley while gunk-holing.  Having heeled 35 degrees last year, I realized you don't sail with the portals open, unless of course you want to wash the galley floor with a fresh supply of water.

Third Time Is A Charm

Figure 69 - The future Club President
is driving the tractor while CM is nestled
in Her hammock for a short nap

That time of the year again when the winds begin to exceed 20 knots and the temperature is inching toward below 30 degrees.  For those of you who know the traditions of the Chesapeake Bay, in April we conduct the Burning Of the Socks to mark the opening of our sailing season.  Now it is time to begin to think about buying some new socks as the colder weather is coming.  Well, the Constance Marie is now an experienced member of our family.  She will be 35 years old in 2015. Hmmm, that means that we have owned her 11.67% of her existing life! I power washed her and set about to finalize the plan and schedule next a weekend that I will put in some new portals. This is her third time being pulled.  Everything went well to include putting the landscaping material underneath the boat stands. Big improvement over the past year, especially when the rain and snow manufacture muddy waters.



Figure 70 - Man those boat stands look
good all freshly painted!

Pulling and storing only took about 20 minutes and the engine oil was still hot so I changed the oil as soon as I could get aboard.  As I add more details and pictures later to this Journey, I will show you how I did that.

If you click on the picture to the left, you will notice the wooden footings for the boat stands.  They were made of regular 3/4 inch plywood and pretty much shot.  A few days later, I bought some 4 x 4 sheets of 3/4 inch marine plywood and cut them into one square foot sections.  I hammered two sections together creating 1-1/2 inch footing.  Did this for 15 footings. Took a Saturday afternoon to accomplish.  I then loosened the support panels at the top of each boat stand (ONE AT A TIME) enough to slip three new footings under each boat stand.

Now I am excited because the next project next weekend is to put a couple of new portals replacing the 34 year old originals.

Constance Marie Becomes The Constantly Missing

Figure 58
Cruisin' the Patapsco River where the
Constance Marie was born 35 years
ago

Figure 57
A good wind that day

Frankly, I am tired of doing projects on the Constance Marie.  September is the month our club takes a "DOWN THE BAY CRUISE".  The Constance Marie one of 12 boats to make it this year.  10 days on the water.  Honestly, we used the iron sail most of the time because the winds were not favorable.  We gunk-holed at Worton's Creek, nestled in behind Rock Hall at Swan Creek, all but the Constance Marie went over to Annapolis. With the Beast being only powered by a 10-2, we could not keep up with the 18-30hp monsters. I had two other Vets on board with me.  We discussed our options.  We then realized that the 200th Anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner was being conducted today, Sunday, in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  As a result there were numerous "tall ships" at port within.  The Sailabration agenda called for the tall ships to depart on Tuesday.  Decision made!  The Constance Marie would gunk-hole in Baltimore's Inner Harbor with the tall ships and sail out with them on Tuesday morning.  May the pictures below tell the rest of the story.

Figure 59
Sunset at Rock Hall

Figure 60
Passing under the Francis Scott Key Bridge

Figure 62
USS Torsk Submarine 

Figure 61
The Gazela and Sultana

Figure 63
Bae Guayas

"BALTIMORE HARBOR

MASTER, THIS IS THE 27 FOOT SLOOP THE CONSTANCE MARIE WITH THREE VETERANS ON BOARD REQUESTING ANCHORAGE IN BALTIMORE INNER HARBOR"

BOOYAH!

Figure 64
Whatever Her name is, She is
a beauty

Figure 65
The famous Chesapeake Light Ship

  

Figure 66
USCG Eagle

So, the Constance Marie disappeared from the fleet for a couple of days while we provisioned the boat in Baltimore for the rest of the trip.  We joined the fleet at St. Michaels after traversing the Kent Narrows straights and its wicked currents.

Figure 67
Kent Narrows starboard side

If you veer off 10 yards you are asking for trouble. So now you know the story of how the Constance Marie became the Constantly Missing.

Figure 68
Kent Narrows port side