Sailing with Retta, and more lessons learned

Retta and I took the 'Duck out for a sail today. We left late morning and played around out in the estuary off the marina. The wind was clipping along at 15 kts, from the West Northwest, so we reached down the channel at between 5 and 7.2 knots.

When we reached Sandy Point, though, Retta noticed all the other sailboats were a) heading in, and b) under strongly reefed jib or reefed mains'l alone. There was a reason for this. We decided to head back to the Marina, because we had things to do (ha). We had no trouble jibing our way out, but when we came about and headed to weather, we were heeling over more than I wanted, and we were having trouble controlling the boat. We were flying a #3 genoa and a main that doesn't have any reef points. We realized we were seriously overcanvassed.

I went forward (lesson here - should have put on a life jacket since I was working the foredeck with an inexperienced helmsman) and dropped the genoa, with some difficulty. I bungeed it down on the foredeck in case we needed it again, rather than just stuffing it back in the bag.

We were then in the channel, between the Aberdeen Proving Ground and Turkey Point, under main alone. A Catalina 340 and a Bene (looked like about a 36 footer) were both having difficulties. The Bene furled her sails and started to motor. The Catalina, under a deeply reefed fores'l and a reefed main, attempted to come about but failed. Attempted again and failed. a third time and made it. We tried to come about as well, but there was too little power for the windage. We fell off, built up speed again, and tried again. No dice. By this time, we were out of the channel and approaching shallow water.

I decided to use the engine to help us come about. On the third pull, my elbow hit the organizer I had hung on the rail, and knocked the handheld VHF into the drink. I hope King Neptune is having fun with my radio. Loretta is joking that I should find one with a float.

After we got the engine running, we realized we were still overcanvassed, so we dropped the main. We were able to make over 3 knots under power, even into the wind, so Retta found a jacket and a blanket, took a nap in the cockpit, and I took us back up the channel to the marina.


All in all, it was a great day! Yes, out of inexperience we stressed the rig and carried too much sail, but we got them down ok and powered back. Yes, we lost a VHF, but a) it wasn't my cell phone, and b) Retta and I had a FANTASTIC time sailing off the wind.

When we got back to Tidewater, we did a passable job of tying up. Then we ran up to the store to get cap leashes (we both felt like our caps were going to blow off). Then we squared away the boat and went to Price's for a plate full of crabs. Yes, all in all, it was a beautiful day of sailing. Now off to Defender to find another VHF. Oh, we also noticed the foreward hatch has finally cracked all the way. I'm not sure if I should replace it with a production hatch (about 500 bucks) or just get a new sheet of Lexan to replace the broken plexi (about 200 bucks). I'm leaning towards the size 60 Lewmar low profile. But that's for later....

Some further thoughts on the Epic

1. I can't hear the VHF effectively over the engine. I can't think of anything to do to fix that.
2. It gets bloody cold out there. I had a windproof pile jacket, and I was still shivering when we came in. I had heavy pile pants in the cabin, along with socks, but I didn't take the time to change up when the sun started setting. That was a mistake. I should have changed clothes and started the heater as soon as it started getting cold. We should have also made sure that there was adequate cold weather gear for everyone on the boat.
   
3. Food. We had snacks (cheese and crackers, ramen cups, coffee, and so forth), but no real food. Loretta had the foresight to stop us long enough in the morning to make a box full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Thank the Lord! She was a lot smarter than the rest ofus. Those sandwiches came in handy. I need to figure out some boat food that will store, but be easy to fix and eat, even if it means taking a thermos full of very hot water to make instant stuff. I'll have to think on that for a bit.
4. The traveler gets hung up when we jibe the boat. When the boom is in tight the traveler just won't slide, but as soon as we loosen the sheet, it pops right over. Maybe it needs a little lube. I'd love to replace it with a Harken adjustable traveler and a new 4:1 end-boom mainsheet system, but that'll have to wait until at least fall haul-out.
5. The heater works great! Warms the cabin right up, particularly when we close the companionway cover and hang a towel where the dropboards usually go.
6. I need a red light for checking charts at night. I don't really want to go below and use the red light at the nav station, because I'm not comfortable being away from the helm, particularly in a narrow channel.
7. We did a horrendous job of docking her in the slip. We have four 25' dock lines. We put the loop end over the cleats, and tied off the other end on the piling. I think this is backwards. I think we should have pulled the free end through the loop, and used a boathook to drop that over the pilings. Then we could cleat off the free end on the boat.
8. We did a horrendous job of docking her in the slip. :-) I think I need two 40' or 50' dock lines to use as amidships spring lines. We can use the spring line to control our position while using the engine to hold us in. When we come down the fairway to the slip, we have a dock dead ahead, and the slip is on the starboard side. We should prepare the two bow lines and two stern lines. Then we should prepare the fenders and two spring lines. We should run the port spring line outside the stanchions and around the stern to the starboard quarter. Then we should drift down the fairway close to the pilings on the starboard side, and turn to port as we approach the dock. This should kick the stern in towards the slip, and I can drop the port side spring line over the outside piling. (I'm assuming here I have room to do this before hitting the dock - I might have to rethink.) The boat's momentum will carry the stern towards the dock. Then go to astern gear and use the spring line to hold us on the port side of the slip. Then drop the port stern line over the piling and idle the engine. At this point, she'll be secured. I, or a crewperson, can jump off, secure the starboard stern line, and then the starboard bow line. We can use fenders and the starboard spring line to tie off on the dock.
9. Docking is the most stressful part of sailing. Believe it.
10. VHF 16 is NOT the same as CB 19. Some of those people were quite annoying. Sigh
11. Those ratty speaker mounts are going to let all this rain into the boat. Possibly onto the charts and log books. I should make it more a priority to rip those out, fill the gap with epoxy, and fit Beckson deck plates in the holes.
12. Even with the cunningham and vang released, the main doesn't go all the way to the top of the mast. That bugs me. I think I need a bigger mains'l. ;-)
13. I don't know what to do when being overtaken by a larger vessel in a shipping channel. I'm quite sure they have the right of way, but I'm not sure of the proper behavior. I'll have to look that up.
14. I really love sailing.
    

It was an Epic

Yes, well, this part looks nice. Notice there are very few wind ripples on this water. Yesterday, Mouse, Kelly, and I sailed Puddleduck from Middle River to Havre de Grace. If we had the wind right, it should have taken between 6 and 10 hours. Well, the wind wasn't right. It took over 15 hours to make the trip, and we ended up motoring in to the marina at 1:30 in the morning.

We learned a lot of things on this trip. The 'Duck doesn't sail too well in very light airs. How light? Here you go:
Does the phrase "glassy calm" mean anything to you? I think at this point we were making 1.2 knots. Might've been tidal drift.

Another thing we learned was about contingency planning. Fortunately, we had elected to put another three gallons of gas in the tank. It was sucking air when we pulled in. We absolutely should have started out with a full tank, and probably a spare.

We also should have picked out a marina part way along, where we could pull in and grab a transient slip for the night. We were pressed for time, though.

That was another lesson. Don't start a long trip if you absolutely must be somewhere else the next day. Things happen.

I was also amazed at the number of Coast Guard "Pan Pan" calls. And at the number of boaters who think VHF channel 16 is equivalent to CB 19.

One other thing I'd like to point out is that we wouldn't have been able to motor up the channel without pre-plotting the course on the GPS. I am planning to buy a GPS chartplotter for the boat in short order! It would have been so handy to be able to see our position relative to the channel, without shooting bearings and plotting position on the chart. That was a major pain.

Oh, and sunblock is a good idea....

Finally, some good weather!

This afternoon I cleaned the contacts on the stern light, which got it working again, ran the bilge pump, attached the flag clips to the halyard (and ran up the Jolly Roger), scrubbed the deck, cockpit, and topsides, removed the gas tanks, put the sails back aboard, replaced all the cabin lights, put two more life jackets on board, tried to secure the float switch (which didn't work out), organized the cleaning and maintenance supplies aboard, and stowed all the provisions.

Then I enjoyed the sunny weather and did some photography!

Instaled battery, charger, and bilge pump

The Columbia 26K doesn't come standard with an electric bilge pump. The previous owner had installed a Rule 1100 gph automatic pump by setting it on top of the keel housing and holding it down with the cockpit panel. I wanted something that would keep the bilge drier, and be a bit more convenient.

Based on some photos from the Columbia 26 Mk-II Yahoo group, I bought a Beckson 8" clear centered deck plate, a Rule 25D 500 gph non-automatic pump, a through-hull, and float switch. Then I proceeded to cut two holes in my boat (!). Here's the hole for the deck plate, centered 9 1/2 inches from the front of the settee.

Once I had the hole in place, I mounted the deck plate in it. Then I drilled out a 1 1/8" hole in the stern for the discharge, installed a through-hull with 3m 5200, and attached the hose with hose clamps. Once it was attached at the outside, I shoved the open end up under the deck to the new deck plate. I put the float switch and fuse in the positive side line. Then I attached the pump to the hose, wired it up to the battery (as Don Casey recommends), and put the whole lot down in the hole.

This arrangement keeps bilge down to about 1/2 inch of water. I'd like it dry, but I'm not sure how to acheive that. Also, I haven't figured out how to get the float switch mounted to the bottom of the bilge. I don't want to drill into the outside of my hull. I'll figure something out soon, I hope.

My list for winter haul-out

Yes, yes, planning already. In order:

• Drop the stick, inspect all rigging and fittings, replace as needed.
• Cut away outer skin over foredeck soft spots. Recore deck. Reinstall skin.
• Replace deck nonskid with 3m Treadmaster (maybe).
  
• Repaint the deck (white)
  
• Rebed all deck fittings.
  
• Replace foredeck hatch.
• Replace deck plate over head compartment with lexan ventilation hatch.
• Drop the keel, inspect keel bolts and replace as needed.
• Paint topsides flag blue.
• Replace rub-rail cap (maybe).
• Put her name on the stern.
• Get one of the Hesses to paint a duck on the stern under the name.
• Holding tank for the head, if it's not done already.
  

My list for a haul-out in June

Replace the through-hulls and gate valves.
Clean the bottom.
Check the rudder stock bushings.
Inspect the keel and keel/hull joint.
Look for any other below-waterline issues.
Clean the topsides (harder to do in the water).

I'm hopeful that four days will do it.

April shopping list

*sigh*

Already on order from Defender:

• Rule 25D non-automatic bilge pump (19.95)
  
• Beckson 6" clear-center deck plate (14.99)
  
• Rule float switch, with fuse (24.95)
• Guest 20A/2 bank three-phase battery charger (152.99)

The next order will be:

• Tiller, 43"
  
• Soft dock line, navy blue (4)
• Fenders (4)
• 2.25" Harken genoa sheet blocks
• Marelon above-waterline through-hull with 1/2" tailpipe
• Vertical-mount manual bilge pump
  

From the chandlery:

• 8 feet of 14 gauge bilge pump wiring
• 79AH Group 24 deep cycle gell-cell battery (if Retta can't get it for me)
  

From Home Depot:

• Fire extinguishers (2)
• 3/4" heavy duty clear plastic tubing
• 1/2" heavy duty clear plastic tubing
• Dual-barbed 3/4" to 1/2" connector
• Wire stripper/cutter/crimper
  

Cleaning out the lazarettes....

Kelly and I took everything out of the lazarettes (the storage areas under the cockpit seats) and crawled in, one at a time, to inspect. Kelly apparently found my camera while I was in there....

I inspected the rudder tube, outboard engine backing plate, manual bilge pump discharge through-hull, manual bilge pump (what's left of it), and the electrical system and plumbing under the companionway.

The other picture is the manual bilge pump. I'll have to replace that asap.

Must... have.... more.... power!!!!

(Apologies to William Shatner)

Puddleduck's electrical system is in need of help. There were three batteries aboard when I bought her. The one on the far left is a West Marine 75AH deep cycle gell-cell. The one in the middle is 115AH deep cycle wet cell (i.e., sulfuric acid, lead plates, and distilled water). The one that you can only partly see on the right is a StowAway starting battery - I don't remember the rating.

According to "The 12V Bible for Boats," a fully charged 12v battery will show 12.6 volts on a meter. If it gets down to 11v, it's "flat dead." From left to right, these batteries read 4.06v, 7.54v, and 0.96v (!). The first two were after the MinKota charger said "charge complete."

These batteries probably can't be resurrected. Retta will be checking to see if she can get me a Group 24 deep cycle gell cell battery through work at a good price. Otherwise, it's off to the chandlery to drop about 200 bucks on a new battery. Ugh!

Gate Valves

Well, there are some things to fix on Pduck....

The gate valves scare the hell out of me, particularly since they're corroding. The experts on SailNet think she won't spontaneously sink before June, so after Mouse heads for Parris Island I'll have her hauled out so I can replace them (and work on the rudder stock).

The picture above is the head fittings. They're both gate valves on the through-hulls, and these tend to jam or break very easily. These are the original valves that were put on the boat at the factory.

The other problem with the boat, which I just now realized, is that there's no holding tank on this head! The waste discharges directly overboard. I'll have to change the fittings, and then padlock them in the closed position. The fine for getting caught with this head, operational, on the Chesapeake Bay is probably horrendous. I need to look into adding a holding tank in the V-berth. Ooooh! I also just realized that if I put in a holding tank, I can completely glass over the larger through-hull!


This one is under the deck. In theory, this valve should never be closed, since the black hoses are the cockpit drains. You never want to close your cockpit drains. What you can't see in this picture, though, is the T-fitting that also drains the kitchen sink. We may, at some point, want to close that drain. I'll have to add an in-line fitting. Something for this fall....

Some Pictures of Puddleduck

Kelly and I spent five hours working on Puddleduck today. We removed two bags of trash, measured a bunch of fittings such as the foreward hatch and the tiller, carried off the fores'ls and the tender, and removed the dead batteries (RIP). We also swept the deck (still needs swabbed), pumped the bilge (that was funny - water everywhere), and measured the overboard discharge run for the new bilge pumps.

The picture is Kelly carrying supplies below. You can see one of the industrial-sized damp-rid canisters in the cockpit. You can also see the dirt and grunge on the deck. We'll need to fix that up a bit....

It's official - Puddleduck is mine

Title signed and transferred. Boat is paid for. Slip is paid for. I'll be moving her to Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace later this month. Now the real work starts....

A couple of things worry me....

Bilge pumps. Puddleduck has a pretty wet bilge. The previous owner has a bilge pump set on top of the keel, and rigged to pump overboard. This is not the way to set up a bilge pump. I need to get in there on Saturday, even though the weather is going to be unpleasantly cold, and look at her pump and discharge configuration. There's an excellent description of a bilge arrangement on the Yahoo Columbia26 MkII site. I'm planning to do at least the under-sole pump. Fortunately, the only pump that'll fit in the 26K's bilge is a Rule 500 non-automatic, with a float switch. I can probably get the deck plate, pump, switch, wire, and hose for less than 50 bucks.

I might also do a high-volume non-automatic bilge pump, for emergencies, like Don Casey describes in his book, "Good Old Boat." This is a pump that would mount in a lazarette or locker, with an intake hose in the bilge, that will kick on if water rises over the cabin floor. That one would require some fiberglass work, and cost more, too. It might be worth the peace of mind, though.

Second, the through-hulls. The boat is 30 years old, and it still has the orignal gate valves on her. A proper seacock is a handle that turns 90 degrees to the valve body in order to stop the flow of water. A gate valve is basically a garden hose faucet stuck on the inside of the hull. Gate valves can sink your boat in a heartbeat. I'll decide for sure over the weekend while I'm working on her, but I might be hauling the 'Duck out of the water after memorial day (or even sooner) and replacing those through-hulls and gate valves. That's going to be a mildly expensive proposition, but again, keeping the water out of the boat, and the deck above sea level, is a high priority.

Name choosen, and a new home

The boat's name will be Puddleduck. It will be official as soon as she's all mine, and properly registered. I already have insurance for her.

She'll be making berth at Tidewater Marina, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. This is also the home of the Havre de Grace Yacht Club, where I've raced on OPB (other people's boats). I'm not sure if I'll race Puddleduck or not. Maybe after I get some cleaning and maintenance tasks accomplished. She'll be in a slip, where I can keep her bilge pumps running off the electric hookup!

Stocking up to head to the boat

We just got back from stocking up to head down to the boat.

Walmart - cleaning supplies, toilet paper, buckets, rags, wax/polish applicators, etc.  - $261.

Sears Hardware - Toluene brush cleaner - $6.25

Eastern Marine - 3M rubbing compound, Finesse-It, and Wax - $56.60

Ugh.

At least the back of the truck is full of stuff we can use to spruce her up!  The list of things still to load includes:

• Don Casey's "Good Old Boat"
• Toolkit with lights, voltmeter, tape measure, and various screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.
• Cameras!  I need to photographically document her condition as-is.
• Evaluation checklist, to make sure I haven't missed anything on my todo list.

I'm really looking forward to spending time on her.