The Adventures of Cee Jem

Vessel Name: Cee Jem
Vessel Make/Model: Northern Ketch
Hailing Port: Port Credit
15 May 2011 | Port Credit
23 April 2011 | Port Credit
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15 May 2011 | Port Credit

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23 April 2011 | Port Credit

First of Spring - First of Problems

No one said that this trip was going to be easy.

First of Spring - First of Problems

23 April 2011 | Port Credit
No one said that this trip was going to be easy.
I just expected that the problems would begin when the boat was in the water.
Not so.
Cee Jem sits high and dry in the Port Credit Harbour Marina yard.
Her coat of antifouling paint peeling from her bottom.
Anti-fouling paint is a mixture of toxic chemicals that all boaters slap on the bottom of their hulls to keep critters and algae from growing, slowing the boat down, and ultimately ruining the hull.
When we bought Cee Jem she had a new coat of paint on her, which, in Lake Ontario, should have worked for several years.
Now, as she sits on land, a majestically beached whale awaiting saving, it is clear that this new coat of paint is useless and is coming off. It has not stuck to the hull and flakes off to the probing fingernail.
The questions is why.
Why didn't this paint stick? There may be a simple solution. The former owner, pressed for time at launch, may have painted and put to boat in the water wet. The paint, not cured, would have failed to set like glue. That could be the cause. We hope.
The alternative is a scarier.
This boat has been to Europe. It wandered about the Mediterranean for nine years. The toxicity of European anti-fouling paints is reported to be much higher than those available in Canada. Apparently they can still use metals like tin and lead in their paint.

The paint under the flakes is bright red. Ordinarily, anti-fouling paint in North America does not come in bright colours. The copper compounds used to kill marine life usually dull the paints to mud toned hues only remotely reminiscent of blues or reds.
Bright colours come from lead and tin.
Canadian antifouling paints don't stick to lead and tin.
If we have to scrape lead and tin we have a problem. Environmentally we've got to take care to collect absolutely all the scrapings. Health wise the problem is worse. The scraper will be exposed to airborne particles of heavy metals searching to stick in lungs and cause harm. Heavy respirators and tivac suits will be needed. Goggles and gloves too.
Not today. Wait for the weather to get warmer before we tackle that task. Check the bilge.

Water in the bilge.
Must have a leak.
We're on land.
Must have a leak in a hatch that's letting in rain water.
Water in the bilge is pink.
Pink.
Pink means it's antifreeze. Antifreeze I put into the engine to keep it from freezing and cracking during the cold of the winter.
The engine has leaked and poured it's fluid into a greasy, oily puddle in the bottom of the boat.
What's cracked? Maybe its just a hose. Maybe its a heat exchanger.
Could it be the block? Could the engine have fractured? Split and drained its protecting liquid?
We don't have $10,000 for a new engine. That would sink our trip.
We should check it. Pour water through and find out where it pours out. Find the source of the leak before it wears on the mind and threatens the trip. Leaks can do that. Leaks on a boat are a weak spot. They can wear down the skipper and crew and threaten a trip.
This trip hasn't started. We have time. We can fix it. We hope.
Not today. Too cold. Wait until it's warmer.
No one said this trip would be easy.
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