Heading North

Thursday Aug 15th, we got up early to take on water and head out for a long day to the Solomon's. We attempted to time our arrival at the Potomac River on the flood tide as the wind was to be from the northeast. Getting away from the dock proved to be a challenge as the area is a little tight and Zoe will not respond in reverse and immediately tries to turn down wind upon stopping. We had to maneuver back to a docking piling and hold the bow while the stern floated around in order to get headed in the right direction.
After taking on water, we headed out without incident and turned north. Wind was tight on the nose so we decided to motorsail. About 6 hours into a beautiful day,

We developed a new noise. My first thought was something vibrating in the storage area below as we were in 50 feet of water with no obstructions in sight. After about an hour the noise disappeared and the engine smoothed out as if I had shifted into neutral. After shifting back and forth and not finding any drive in either direction we decided we had a serious problem. I dug out the lazarette and determined that the shaft was still in place and we were not taking on water. To shorten the story we were in virtually no wind were not forecasted to get any more for at least a day so we made the call to be towed in for repair. About 6 hours later after a lovely dinner and a very pleasant cruise up the Potomac thanks to Tow Boat US, we ended the day at Point Lookout Marina.

Capt. Mike

Ready to splash

Wednesday Aug 14 was splash day for Zoe. After a long summer of waiting for repair we left Deltaville Yachting Center (thanks to Lew and the crew there). We headed back to Stingray point for the afternoon to prepare for a trip back to Annapolis on Thursday. After taking on fuel we headed for the pump out at Stingray but were unable to dock as there was a transient tied off for the night. We decided to take on water on the way out in the morning. We spent the evening preparing the dingy and motor for use on the trip and loading the new Honda generator.

After a nice dinner at Cocomos we called it a day.

Return to Virginia

Kat and I made the trip back to Virginia this past weekend. Zoe has been on the hard at Deltaville Yacht Center since the beginning of May. We had the keel inspected to make sure we had not sustained any damage during our grounding last spring. We have been waiting for the paint repair to the bow where the anchor came loose and stainless repair to the pulpit that was also damaged during our trip down from Annapolis. The work was finished and done very well. Unfortunately, the paint that was sent did not match and must be redone. I took the opportunity while the bow sprit was broken down to refinish the areas that are difficult to reach. The repair is being done with Algrip 2000 as the Emron paint was not readily available. Kat worked on the teak trim around the house. Hopefully we will be back in the water soon.

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!