Whatta deal

We launched our Catalina 30 for the season on Atwood lake. The new cushions are installed and look great

Sail track reinstall complete

Kat and I flew back to Virginia for the weekend and, after three long days of sanding filling and drilling, the sail tracks are installed and we appear to be dry. I ended up using butyl tape to seal. It went down easy. We will see how well it holds up. Next on the list is to make new trim pieces to replace the cracked ones that seems to be part of the problem.

Our last order of business before flying back out was to transfer Zoe to Deltaville Marine to have the keel inspected and the paint damage on the bow repaired. The damage was from a poorly secured anchor that came loose in some heavy seas on our way down from Annapolis. Of course, we got up to a driving rain and, not having a choice, we turned Zoe loose and I headed out while Kat headed to the car to meet me at the marina. Visability was poor and the path back to Deltaville marine is shallow. Even though we waited until close to high tide, I still had less than a foot of water under my keel on several occasions. As I coasted up to the marina, the dock I was supposed to tie up to was not immediately visible so I nosed up to an open space and tied off the bow until I could get my bearings. Kat pointed out the dock I was searching for from shore so I turned loose the bow and backed off the dock. With no room to maneuver, and nobody on board to fend off, I was a little nervous as to how I was going to swing a 40 foot boat with a full keel end for end. At this point Zoe and a breath from God took over. The bow spun on a dime , I bumped the engine and Zoe floated past the corner of the dock. I stepped off, tied off the stern line and Zoe came to rest like she knew where she was headed. I, of course, acted like this was an every day occurrence. Zoe is on the hard now waiting on repair contractors. We hope to get her back in top form and in the water in a couple weeks.

Capt. Mike

Chasing leaks.

I headed down to Virginia last weekend. We have been chasing a couple leaks in our salon for some time and I decided to rebed the sail tracks and see if that might dry things up. Of course the head liners had to be removed in order to reach the back of the bolts. I found evidence that I might be on the right track(no pun intended). I used a probe to inspect the bolt holes after removing the bolts and found evidence of voids in the balsa core in a couple different places. I am guessing these were caused by water. I couldn't detect any softness in the fiberglass so I filled the voids with some epoxy wood filler from West Marine.

A bigger issue developed as I removed the tracks from the roof. The gel coat underneath was in poor shape. There was also evidence that the tracks had been taken up prior and the "bad spots" underneath were filled in with something like 4200 caulking. I have to say it almost worked because they only leaked a little bit.

So, my rebedding project morphed into a fiberglass project. I have never really worked in fiberglass so I called my friend Chuck in Florida and he filled me in.(again, no pun intended) I really like the West Marine system. Chuck told me to get a gallon of 105 and a pint of 205 and buy the pumps that go with them. One pump of each and mix in some thickener and spread it on like butter on bread. It worked great. First, of course, I had to grind out all of the bad gel coat and all of the hair line cracks down to good glass. In retrospect, I ground out the bad spots and patched the holes but probably should have taken all the gel coat under the tracks off and put in a complete new bed. I got the epoxy down and called it a weekend as the roof should be sealed.

I will head back down to reinstall the tracks next weekend. The next big question is what to use to seal. West Marine suggested 5200 but I may need to do this again so I have decided to use either 4200 or butyl tape. The latter was suggested by the local repair yard at Stingray Point. As Chuck said. "you can't really mess this up because you can always grind it back out and try again" I figure I will give it a try and if it doesn't work I can always have someone who really knows how to do it clean up my mess. So far, I am pleased with the job and what I have learned. If it seals, I will consider it a success.
Capt. Mike

Back in Ohio

We had a great long Easter weekend with Justin and Sean. Unfortunately, we had to come back to Ohio and reality for now. Here is a pictorial recap for posterity.

Justin at the helm

Tarentella Pulling away

Family photo

Approaching the bridge on the way back from Urbanna

Sean cam

Crew Zoe

Zoe at Stingray Point Marina

Again

my favorite Pic, thanks Bianca!

Happy Easter

Got up to a cold and rainy Easter in Urbanna. We chose to finish up a couple boat projects and motor back to Stingray Point.

We have been fighting clogged drains and I have been putting off taking them apart. I took apart the kitchen sink and found the sink and hose clogged with goo. I suspect that when Zoe was prepped for sale the varnish brushes were cleaned in the sinks. Unfortunately, the bathroom sink is not draining either and I suspect I know what the problem is. Oh well, a project for another day. We, also, got the trim back on the rub rail and figured out the propane system for the stove and heater. We are headed back to Ohio tomorrow. I sure wish we could stay here.

Capt. Mike

Headed for Urbanna with new friends

Got up this morning setting in the mud at our dock so we went to town for breakfast. After noon we headed out for Urbanna with new friends Jim and Jody on Tarantella and Tom and Bianca on Die Valkrye. We had a very nice downwind run up the river. Justin and Sean handled the sailing and ,although they were outrun by two larger boats, put on a respectable showing. Actually I think, if we had a proper hadicap, they might have been very close. Definately two sailors in the making.

We were invited over to Tarantella for dinner and good conversation. Jody made a very nice dinner with contributions from Bianca and Kat. Overall, with the exception of finding mud at the beginning of the channel into Urbana, it was a pretty perfect day.

Zoe flying up the river at 4 kts

Capt. Mike

Friday at Stingray Point

What a good day. We slept until we wanted to get up. We took Zoe for a daysail.

Unfortunately, we ran out of wind so we headed back in and worked on a couple projects

Seems like there is always something to keep you busy on a sailboat.

Capt. Mike