Karma
| Vessel Name: | Karma1 |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Columbia 45 |
| Hailing Port: | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Crew: | James and Dody |
| About: | James has been sailing for most of his life, starting with dinghy sailing around 8 years old. Dody is a loving 1st mate who hopes that James knows what he is doing. |
| Extra: | "Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made" - Robert N.Rose |
21 October 2014 | Alberta, Canada
Salty dreams...
I've got a case of salty dreams and wanderlust. I can hardly wait til we cut the dock lines and chase adventure on the sea! @ back to Karma soon !:)
10 October 2014 | Alberta, Canada
Autumn Update
It is Indian Summer, and we are in the process of closing up our home in the beautiful mountainous and plan for our annual migratory trek to be on S/V Karma. It's been an adventurous Summer vagabonding around, tending to the Orchard, visiting family and friends out East and enjoying the east coast. You can catch a ray of our journey as we prepare to travel down the Cali Seaboard to be back in Guatemala! let the journey begin! ~~
11 February 2014 | Rio dulce, Guatemala
Strange tropical fruit make me happy!
There is no end to exotic fruit in tropical Guatemala. From one day to the next the selection changes. The nice thing about Guatemala is that Each time I go to town I'm surprised by something new! The other nice thing is that it's so cheap! Although they have fruit you'll recognize such as mango, pineapple, [...]
Karma visits the Dentist..
The process of fibreglass osmosis and blistering is kind of equivalent to going to the dentist and cavities. When we first pulled Karma out, I was hopeful that we wouldn't have any at all, which is kind of like not brushing or flossing for 10 years, and drinking Cokes daily, and then expecting no cavities.
Somewhat like a cavity, water will slowly seep into through the fibreglass at a microscopic level, but then begin to break down the chemical composition of the polyesters in the fibreglass. Eventually, it creates pressure inside the layers of lamination that force them apart and cause the blisters and bulging. Left long enough, it will create damage that will result in a leaky boat, and then a sinky boat.
Karma sat in fresh water for 10 years without a break, and that kind of use isn't good for a fibreglass boat. So, when they were done with pressure washing the hull, and I could see some obvious bulges on the starboard side, and on the rudder, I kind of knew we were in for some root canal work.
So, the plan is for the boatyard to finish the sandblasting in the next day or two, then start cutting into the layers of fibreglass and getting the water affected sections out. Then I will be spending part of every day for about a week rinsing and washing those sections to remove any remaining acid and chemicals left over. Then after the hull is dried for several weeks, the yard will start patching the sections, lay another layer of fibreglass across the whole area, paint two layers of epoxy barrier on top of that, and then three layers of primer, and two coats of anti-fouling paint.
That should last us for about 4-5 years before we need to leave the boat out for a season, but we may want to pull it out every second year just to be safe.
This kind of thing didn't happen on Minoosh because we always pulled her out every year.
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