Maintenance Mayhem

This weekend began the discovery process of work to refresh Mischief for her trip back to Florida.  Initially, I had figured the most extensive job would have been cleaning and repainting the bottom.  According to the marina, and my own observations before hauling out, the Potomac had been kind enough to deposit a thick and nasty layer of slime that ushered the removal of most of the ablative paint.  The tie coat looks to still be in good shape with the only other paint problems being in the area of the port boot stripe where there is some bubbling from sitting too low in the water (probably from the added weight of a dirty bottom).  Worry not, these aren't blisters!

Freeboard: Another haul out project is supposed to be the touching up and buffing of the hull.  Luckily, since the hull is painted with AwlCraft, touching up small scratches and nicks is fairly simple.  After this will be the application of a product called NanoWax which is tough stuff and provides a good protective barrier that lasts for months.

Deck:  There have been some issues with a leaking stanchion mount. Mainly the midship stanchion, the one between the starboard aft lower and upper shrouds, showed signs of leaking. In addition to re-bedding the stanchions, there were some spider cracks requiring attention.  Some sanding out of the spider cracks, application of epoxy and touch up paint ought to do the trick.

Like many things boat, once you begin investigating the cause and effect of problems you, more often than not, find the issue to be a little more extensive than originally anticipated. This was just the case when investigating the leaking stanchion. Unfortunately, when upgrading the the various systems we overlooked raising the deck in the area of the chain plates.  This led to problems with leakage into the "knee" (the block of wood that is typically situated between the chain plates and hull and encased in fiberglass).  The knees appear to be original to the boat (or at least of significant age).  I am certain that we did not replace them after taking possession of the boat which probably wasn't wise.  To be honest, until I discovered the problem I didn't know what the knee was, I had just assumed my chain plates to be bolted directly to the hull.  So this poses a problem for me, while the support system is still rigid enough to support a cruise back to Florida, the rig will only become more compromised over the next few years or so.  After all, when I drill a few exploratory holes into the bottom potions of the knee, I must have gotten nearly half or 3/4 of a cup of water.

I have spoken to the man responsible for the structural restoration and rigging, the way he described how the chain plates were re-bedded provides some security.  While whatever wood that is comprising the knee has become saturated, the chain plates themselves are mounted and through bolted so as to the only function as a spacer to the hull. The chain plates are encased in what amounts to a fiberglass envelope extending well onto the fiberglass hull.

There are two roads I can follow.  Either "A," I can attempt to repair these in the little time I have before I have to be back in Florida; "B," I can repair these in the water one at a time once back in Florida; Or "C," I can haul out and have the boat transported to family or friends property to replace both knees. My feeling is that "C" would allow me to complete some other work that needs to be done on the boat including repainting the entire deck (which still looks good, but is 8 years old, fading and beginning to crack and chip). Of course this option would require a family member or friend to be kind enough to allow me to block the boat up for a year or two. Why so long?  I'm returning to school in the fall and the added time and expense necessary to care and berth Mischief would provide much distraction.  Additionally, with the boa out of the water, I am more motivated to actually complete the work necessary.

Hang in there!  My posts, while not always timely are becoming more frequent.

Cheers! 

Shaking Off Old Man Winter

When early March rolled around a few weeks ago (now just over a month ago, failed to post this then), many thought it was nearer May or June.  In. D.C. people pulled their shorts and flip flops out of storage.  We can all agree this has been a mild winter for us here in the mid-Atlantic region.  For me this was a time to dust off the boat and get her ready for the season.  Rigging the sails, flushing out the freshwater antifreeze and giving the boat a good scrub was most of what was needed.  At this same time I received notice that my slip was up for renewal at the marina I was berthed at in Ft. Washington, MD.  This proved timely for me; 1 as I consider moving back to Florida and 2 I want to get some good Chesapeake sailing under my belt.

So April fools weekend, myself and my crew set out at midnight Friday on the long motor down the Potomac (we were unable to beat the receding tide after work and thus had to wait for it to rise again).  The Potomac is fun if you are entertaining people in the DC area, however, if you're looking to sail, its not the place for you (or me).  Much to our delight (snicker) Father Winter decided to accompany us down to the Chesapeake with temperatures down into the lower 40's and upper 30's.

Once we reached the Bay, we made the choice to head to Smith Island... the little community responsible for those wonderful little Smith Island cakes.  By the point we approached the Bay the breeze had freshened up quite a bit and we were making good time under sail.  Unfortunately, the seas in the bay had had some time to build and we were close hauled into the wind (which now increased to a steady 20kts) with seas abeam. 

After getting tossed about for 4 hours we reached the Island... desolate as they were still out of season (predictable).  We tied up at the Smith Island Marina (6slips, very friendly people errr person) and ventured about town.

The next morning (Sunday) we awoke to another chilly day.  During breakfast the church bell rang signalling those on the island that mass was about to begin.  Interestingly enough there are 3 or 4 churches in this small community.  After stowing all the bedding and getting the Mischief ship shape, we shoved off to cross the Chesapeake to the Patuxent River (referred to locally as the Pax) and Solomons Island.

On the bumpy crossing over we had noticed a ship that appeared on the radar, and through the mist, that didn't appear to be underway.  Needless to say we gave it a wide berth.  Now that the Bay was calm and the weather sunny, we plotted a course that brought us much closer.  We had come across the USNS American Mariner, a Liberty Ship of the 40's that was re-tasked as a missile and rocket tracking ship during the 50's and 60's before being scuttled in about 20' of water for naval target practice.

(USNS American Mariner is on right, with a much larger container ship passing about another mile further away)

We were a bit disappointed that there wasn't much wind to be had so most of the trip back across the bay was done under power and autopilot, keeping a watchful eye out for crab pots lest we pick up 200 pounds of gear with the prop.  Once the mouth of the Pax river was reached were able to raise sail and join the other sailboats that had come out for the afternoon.

On arrival to Spring Cove Marina, I wished I had discovered it a year prior.  Friendly people, decent slips, wonderful amenities and very clean.  Really, it appears that all of the marinas in this area have these characteristics, but I was happy with my choice.

Stay tuned... spring maintenance haul out will commence soon! (I promise to be a little more timely with my posts here on out).

Happy sailing!