Winter Cover 3 of 3

 

Today I finished off my winter cover by extending the reinforced plastic back to the stern of the boat. One of the problems that shrink wrapped boats have is with mold so I left a gap in the cockpit and the stem of the boat so that there would be good airflow through the boat. Fresh on my mind was having to clean my new bimini from the trash left by a dove's nest so I filled these gaps with bird netting.

Hopefully the gales of November will treat her kindly.

Winter cover 2 of 3

 I'm still working on my winter cover and today I managed to get the reinforced plastic over the front half of the boat.

Again lots of details here including going around the mast.

If you look closely at the lhs of the next photo, you will see the forward lower stay poking through the plastic. I reinforced the plastic with tape before cutting a hole in it and undoing the stay to send it through the hole. It's sounds complicated but it's easy to do in practice.

Next I plan on running the plastic from the stern of the boat all the way forward to the bow. When I get to the mast I will split the plastic so I will have 2 layers of plastic sheeting forward of the mast.

Winter Cover 1 of 3

Up to this year, I have balked at spending several thousand dollars on inside storage or for shrink wrap instead choosing tarpaulins to keep the snow off the boat.  This year however, I am trying a new tack, using reinforced plastic that is used in the construction industry to protect workers on scaffolding.

I got 20x50 feet for $60. 

So I had to build a frame. I used 30 PVC conduit pipes (schedule 40) that comes in 10 foot lengths for $5 each. I then attached them to a wooden strip along the bulwarks. 

BTW, the photo shows the red bottom paint that I applied last week.

You can see the attachment in better detail here.

Also I haven't shown a photo with the new topside paint, so here it is.

I am slowly getting around to making her shipshape again. I did try to start the engine today without any joy. The batteries are not cooperating. I did do a little bit of trouble shooting and found that the batteries are okay so it appears that a have a connection problem on the starboard side. My diesel looks black inside my racor filter too so that is another issue to deal with. Never a full moment when it comes to boats.

Eating out

 Yes, yes, I know, the coronavirus, but there are a couple of places here that are worth a visit just to sample the local fare.

Pasties are very popular in the UP and here they even have one with a drive through.

I must say that the vegetarian one was very tasty.

They also have a hamburger joint here called Micky Lu that is so famous that the vice president stopped by here last year for a bite to eat.

They have an open fire pit and the wait staff like to chat while you are waiting for your order.

They have a couple of old time jukeboxes that I remember as a kid.

Painting

 The conditions up here in the Upper Peninsula are ideal for painting so I have been taking advantage of it. 

The last bottom job I did was a few years ago so I got my monies worth from the micron 66 that I used. This time however I used VC17 which is popular with the locals and has less copper in it to keep away a mild slime that can develop up here in the fresh water.

I am also painting my topsides and after I applied the first coat I didn't like the color so I am redoing it.

12 Volt Water Pump

 It's raining here today so I am fixing my water pump. 

Firstly, some explanation is needed. You have heard of project creep no doubt. Both landlubbers and sailors are very familiar with the term. So I am on my boat, trying to get ready to splash her and one of the first problems I run into after filling up the water tanks, is that the foot pump in the galley is not pumping water. So that means that I cannot empty the tanks to get rid of the antifreeze that I put in them to winterize them from back in the fall. So I ordered a new tiptoe whale foot pump from Defender but it is not due here for a few days. Meanwhile I decided to try and empty the water tanks with my 12 volt water pump. Well it did not work. Story of my life. I tried messing with the electrical connectors but they were all rusted and no matter how much I tried to coax the pump into life, it wouldn't budge. So I stopped by AutoZone and bought a cigarette lighter plug and then onto Harbor freight for the pump. Stay tuned.

Okay so here is the finished product. Nothing ever works out the way you plan it. The new 12 volt plug had a blown fuse so I ended up cannibalizing the old one.

Sailboat Graveyard

Pssst....do you want to know a secret? Let's say you have one too many of your favorite beverage, and you have a slight accident on your boat. Your insurance company decides to write the boat off and make you an offer you can't refuse. You decide to take the money and run and your boat lands up here.

The wrecked boat is sold to a scrap dealer for the price of the lead or iron ore pellets in the keel, who then uses a reciprocating saw to cut the boat apart for $500 or so.

None of these boats have keels or expensive items like self tailing winches on them. Some of the parts are not worth shipping like spinnaker poles so saw lots of these.

And ditto for roller furling parts like this one.

But it was such a crying shame to see so many beautiful boats just trashed like this Erickson 27.

All of them were full of personal stuff like cutlery, plates, cleaning supplies, fire extinguishers, sails, lines, cushions, pots and pans. And batteries. Talk about a waste of good lead. What a crying shame. Hundreds of dreams just languishing. 

It's a sobering thought that one day, through perhaps no fault of your own, your life may be upended and your boat land up here in this graveyard. There but for the grace of God I go.

Back to Onapua

 

Well after too long, I am back on the boat. She is in pretty good nick, with not too much water in the bilge. No bird's nest this time but lots of wasps. Found the first hive in the cockpit after dodging them for a day and found 2 more a day later. Lots of spiders too but they pale in comparison to those Huntsman spiders I had to deal with down in Florida. And this guy set up home under the keel.

In retrospect, I am glad I used those bullet proof yellow tarps from Tractor Supply although they left a yellow oily residue on anything they came in contact with. This year though I am thinking of building a PVC frame around the boat and using reinforced plastic sheeting you can get from Menards. Anyway, once I took the tarps off and used a pressure washer, she started to look halfway decent again.