Boat Sitting

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yugogypsy
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Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Hi Gang,

My pal Roland has a 24 ft Riviera Star, named "Anastar" for his Mum, Anna. It was her boat (she passed away Sept 2011) and as Roly is up in the Kootenays I have been boat sitting, which at this time of year means scrub off all the winter grime and check all the ropes etc for weathering.

I've found 2 ropes and 1 pulley that will need replacing. Roly is coming down in 9 days so I'll get him to look at it and together we'll fix things.

I am stiff as a board from all the scrubbing but will survive. Yesterday I just sat on the boat and soaked up some sun as it's been gorgeous here weather-wise.

My Grandpa came to Canada on a whaling ship so I'm going to get Roly to teach me to sail, as soon as Anastar has had her bottom cleaned and new zincs put on! :)

He neglected her all winter, so I've had a lot of scrubbing to do, think gold and white boat with an overlay of green algae YUCK! :roll:

So now Lois is playing boat as well as everything else--have to find a new frame for my vardo so that's on hold and I've got to get the transmission in my van serviced so that conversion is on hold too.

Pit Stop and Mercy both need baths and I can't find my long handled scrub brush!

The garden is coming along well but that belongs in the homesteading forum

Hugs to all of you
Cheers, Lois
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rlaggren
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by rlaggren »

Sounds like a big change of pace, Lois. The topsides of a boat that doesn't move really do accumulate green stuff - and it can be pretty hard to get off. If mine get too bad I scare up a power washer unless I've got a week and I want to do penance for something... <g>

Rufus
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

I've been doing penance, my knees are killing me! I don't know anyone with a pressure washer so I've been saying my prayers while washing the boat. :lol:

The guys at the marina helped me get her turned around today so I could wash the far side without taking a header into the bay.

So I got wet and slightly cold again, which gave me an excuse to go to the Rock Cod Cafe' for a late lunch (Look them up on You Tube)

Halibut sandwich and fries and a glass of iced tea, sure was good after kneeling in water.

Now I just have to talk my friend into keeping the boat so he can teach me to sail!

Cheers
Lois
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Well the 9 days have passed and no Roly :banghead: I'm peeved and I've got a bus ticket TO the Kootenays and if I don't hear from him by Thursday night I'll be catching a bus Friday morning.

But I'll make sure some more of the back moorage on Anastar is paid before I go and that her bottom gets cleaned and the zincs get done.

It rained today, which means the container under the leak in her hatch will be getting fuller and I don't have keys to get in and empty it.

Also with my luck, he'll come down when I go up.

Oh well, such is life, I really don't feel like travelling, let alone staying away for a month, I'll be trying to talk my pal Joanne into coming back down here sooner.

Also, it gets really hot up there and I can't handle the heat and I'm a coastal flower, I wilt in the inland heat and droop from the lack of salt in the air :)
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Wahoo, we went sailing. Anastar performed flawlessly now that her bottom is as clean as her top.

Suprising thing is-I DIDN'T get seasick, normally in a boat that small I do

It also changed Roly's mind about selling the boat! :D Yippee.

I even have my own cabin key now so I can go hide on the boat and read or knit.

Right now I'm sewing the zipper back into the sail cover. I washed the cover and the thread was so old the zipper partially parted company with the cover. I have to darn the flag too.

But hot damn we had fun!

Lois :)
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rlaggren
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by rlaggren »

Hah! Way to go. <g> Sailing can be a real blast. And it sounds like you did some good educating there so maybe there's more sailing in your future.

Rufus
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

If my sailing teacher don't flip the boat! :shock:

We caught a gust of wind coming in yesterday and leaned AWAY over--luckily Anastar is designed NOT to flip, but I was in the cabin and got showered with a few things that came adrift from their shelves.

I now have my own cabin key and I mended the sailcover, AND I have allies, two of Roly's brothers don't want him to sell the boat either and after yesterday, despite our little wind incident, he still doesn't want to sell her and told me to get her all cleaned out for when he comes down again! :)

So I am very happy. :) :)

So, later this summer we'll be putting her on the blocks at the maritime center and cleaning her bottom again, sealing the rust up and slapping on the anti-fouling paint.

Then she will fly, even though she's doing darn good at that now!

Roly's Mum, Anna, used to treat that boat like a Swiftsure racer--its in the blood, her Dad was a Russian sailor/boatbuilder and Anna used to really make that little boat fly.

What is Swiftsure? Annual race for sailboats up here http://www.swiftsure.org/ look it up.

Your boat would be a good size for it.

We got becalmed yesterday outside Sansum Narrows (look at a map) so we took advantage of no wind to eat our lunch.

Wish I could post pics, I still haven't got the hang of it. But I can tell you we had fun and didn't sink! Look for a PM from me in a few minutes

Cheers
Lois
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

No sailing for me this month :cry: . I was busy and instead of calling to see if I'd drop my errands and go sailing, Roly went without me.

Just as well, we have been fighting most of the time he's been here, he probably would have shoved me overboard.

He's leaving tomorrow so I'll have Anastar to myself again, peace and quiet to read a book and not go anywhere.

Time to give her a proper bath too, Roly just ran the hose on her before they went out to dump his Mum's ashes (for which he could get shit--you aren't allowed to dump human ashes in inside waters!)

I'm angry enough to report him, but I won't.

Take Care all and I'll quit sniveling now :cry:

Lois
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Oh boy is it nice to have Anastar to myself again. :D

Rotten Roly broke a pulley I had warned him was in trouble, luckily it was only the one that raises the hatch cover. He also broke the rope that turns said pulley! :evil:

So my pal Steve from the boat shop and I fixed it, I bought the supplies and Steve helped me put them on.

We've known since Spring that her keel has some rust issues :( and I've written to Roly BEGGING him to let me get her hauled out for repairs.

Stuart and Rufus--any advice either of you can give me regarding dealing with a rusty keel will be welcome, also any information in general regarding fixing up a 30+ year old fibreglas sailboat will be appreciated. I know what the books say, I hear what other people tell me, but if either of you have experienced this keel issue, please PM me.

Stuart, I've got the book on the life of Allen and Sharie Farrell, builders of "China Cloud" on my kitchen table, planning to give it another read tonight. China Cloud was spotted in Chemainus recently so she's doing well.

Thanks
Lois
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rlaggren
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by rlaggren »

Hi Lois

As I mentioned in another post, keel work can be pretty daunting. I haven't had to do any myself (thank you, thank you) because my ballast is encapsulated _inside_ my hull which makes it pretty much trouble-free. It sounds like you have a Cast Iron ballast keel bolted onto the bottom of your hull. In general these were held on with 4-8 bolts 1" or so in diameter and about 1-1/2' -3' long; some bolts were cast steel, some were stainless steel, some were bronze. The steel bolts will corrode and usually start to fail after 20-30 years; some last twice that. The surface where the keel meets the bottom of the boat is covered with "bedding" when the keel is bolted on and this is supposed to keep water from getting into that seam - and it does for a while but eventually the water gets in and the bolts start to corrode. Water also gets in from the top of the bolt where you can see it in the bilge under the floor boards; the bolt head is sealed when it's installed but again, eventually, most leak and water from the bilge runs down the bolt fuels corrosion. The keel bolts corrode mostly right at the spot where the keel and the hull meet; they end up with an hour glass shape where the middle, right at that joint, gets skinnier and skinnier and eventually just breaks. As you might imagine this can make getting them out way more "interesting" then anybody would want. 10# sledge hammers, 20 ton bottle jacks, fork lifts, travel lifts, wedges, welding torches, you name it and it's been used on keel bolts - unsuccessfully.

So. I don't think you personally want to have _anything_ to do with that type of job. If you want to make the proper gestures of respect and decency, by all means haul it out clean it up, repair any GRP problems (ie. fiberglass), caulk the keel/hull seam with the best (about $10+/cartridge) polysulphide sealant (something that sticks to teflon, stretches a lot and never gets hard), paint it and put her back in.

Unless you know really experienced boat people that will take on the job for you. And believe me, if they make you any promises about time and money and success, you better turn on you heel and walk because nobody can make any honest promises about that kind of job. The keel weighs between 2000 and 5000 pounds. It needs to have all the bolts removed and get dropped down and moved away from the boat so that the pieces of the bolts remaining in the keel can be removed. Then it needs to be cleaned completely, painted and new bolts (could cost $50 or more each easily) installed. Then that hunk of metal needs to be moved back under the boat, slathered with bedding compound and jacked up so the new bolts go through their holes in the bottom of the hull. Etc. Etc.

So maybe it only needs to be painted? Maybe?

Rufus
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

As per previous post in Fleury thread, I am hoping we can get away with the epoxy, undercoat and antifouling paint. We've got to replace the rudder pin bushing because the old bushing wore out, and do some cosmetic repairs to the corners of the stern where she bumped something, and tune up the Evinrude 9.9.

Other than that a tie broke on the sail cover and I have to get the nylon webbing at the fabric store.

One mooring line to replace and she'll be back in shape--I hope

(Pray the epoxy does the trick!)

Lois
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Well folks, after I wrap Anastar in her winter tarp and wash the dinghy. I QUIT!

I am cursing stupid boat owners who reject the responsibility for their floating toys and let the moorage lapse and then don't understand when the person who has been paying the moorage wishes to be re-imbursed and knowing that the boat is part of an estate, applies to the lawyer for said estate for re-imbursement. :banghead:

Anastar is a beautiful boat and deserves an owner who will look after her. My "friend" obviously won't and I can't afford to buy her or fix her so it's time to say good-bye and hope a good person buys her when she goes into the seizure sale. :cry:

:( Lois
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

Roly sure is contrary minded, tonight he called me, all sweet, we're going to pay up the moorage, pull Anastar out and work on her here. :D

It's getting cold in the Kootenays and he has a camper here to live in, so he can work on his boat, have a warm place to sleep, and someone to feed him. :roll:

I suggested pulling Anastar when we found out about her keel in May. He's agreed so he doesn't have to sleep in his car this winter (if all else fails he can sleep in the boat when she gets here) :lol:

I'm not going to have much yard room with her and the Fleury both being here but at least I get sailing lessons on Anastar and full use of the Fleury for guests.

Take Care All, Happy Boating
Lois :)
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yugogypsy
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by yugogypsy »

I put Anastar's "winter coat" (tarp) on today, so she'll shed water instead of leak it. She has a rectangular portlight in front and that leaks (needs a seal) so we covered it with a doubled plastic bag to keep the water from getting in, it's got a slight tilt to it and all the water pools at the bottom and leaks in, with the bag over it and fastened with elastics, the water should just run off.

Finding the tarp was fun (not) Roly said "It's in the gear locker" nope--under deck storage, nope, it was in the last place I looked, under the port side berth.

A few things in the gear locker were damp, so they're drying out in my basement.

What a jumble of stuff in the gear locker--that will need a "Spring Clean" IF Roly ever gets his butt down here and we get her out of the water.

Plus cleaning and packing the cabin before she's moved, anything on shelves has to be boxed up and put on the floor.

Rob's motor home reno gave me material to have new curtains made for Anastar too.

If I can work magic on a 37 year old motor home, maybe I have a little left to work on the boat.

Anybody got a dieffenbachia plant? (also known as "dumb cane) If I fed it to Roly in a salad it would render him mute--no more screaming! :D

I know, not nice, but I can't wear ear plugs if we're sailing. Hope we do some fixing first. Even if I have to go to the Kootenays and kick Roly's butt back to the coast!

Cheers
Lois
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rlaggren
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Re: Boat Sitting

Post by rlaggren »

Shucks, Lois.

Screaming skippers are an integral part of any real sailing experience! <g> And sometimes screaming crew, too... Just depends on if it's _friendly_ screaming.
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