06/10/2006, Pt. Richmond, CA
We have been working hard and there has been a lot of progress. But, as with everything else we have done on the boat, it is taking longer than expected. Right now we are hoping to be finished with the yard services by sometime next week and back in our slip at Marina Bay. Course I wouldn't bet any money on that :=)
So, after the mast was removed it was time to bring Whisper's out of the water. The procedure can be a little frightening - watching your home being lifted out of the water and carried around like a toy, but I must say here that KKMI has probably one of the best crane operators ever. I have been watching him move boats around since we arrived and am in awe of how easy he makes this task look, and there are some REALLY HUGE boats at this boat yard.
Once the boat was out of the water we had some good news as it turns out we will not have to replace any of the thru hulls or the cutlass bearing. So besides the fairly routine bottom sanding and new antifouling paint the biggest job was the installation of the new instrument sensors.
Of course we could not use the hole where the old sensors were - so the project was two fold 1) remove the old sensors and plug the holes 2) cut new hole and install the new sensors. Installation required pulling the floor up in our forward hanging locker and after the new sensor was in Rick and I took over and had to cut another hole to run the cable thru the center of the boat under the floor.
Rick spent his time getting the prop cleaned up and that was quite a job as he did pretty much all by hand with scraper and razor blade... after he had finished the job we saw one of the yard workers cleaning a really huge motor yachts prop and using some kind of acid he just spread on and wiped off...oh well next time!
After a more than a week on the hard, she was ready to go back in the water. I made a video of getting her back in the water and will post that soon I hope to our .Mac site.
Once back in the water we spent another week before getting the mast back up on the boat just this past Tuesday. Unfortunately, I really messed up and not only did I not have an empty tape for the video camera, I had left my still camera in the car and it was too far away to get. Stepping the mast happened very quickly and no one, especially me wanted to pay for any delays in getting that job done.
We are currently tied up next to the engine shop and Thursday we began the work on the engine. What a fun job that has been for Rick. No really .. He is enjoying learning all about our engine and has been working with the mechanic Andy for two days now. And me you say . what have you been doing all this time while Rick has been slaving on the boat? Well . I will save that for my next entry, but I have been very busy as well I can tell you that!
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05/10/2006, Pt. Richmond, CA
This morning we finished up getting the rigging ready for bringing down the mast. We didn't have too much, disconnect the wires under the base of the mast in the salon (what a jumbled mess they are and nothing labeled - we will fix that) We also spent time (Rick mostly) in the stern cockpit locker. Took pretty much everything out and found some things we thought came with the boat but had not located like the folding ladder for the side of the boat. That turned out to be a really nice find as it is in great shape and with a little elbow grease will look brand new.
Just after lunch they were ready for us. It was pretty cool how they hooked the mast up to the crane and then removed all the standing rigging carefully bring it all to the mast and securing it before removing the bolts holding the mast to the deck. I should have been really nervous as I stayed out of everyone's way taking pictures, but this is a great yard with really experienced workers and I wasn't in the least bit concerned (I know a first for me who worries about everything).
Once the mast was off and on the hard, Mike and Rick did an inspection and discussed the work needing to be done. Mast is in great shape, but the rigging was definitely ready for replacing.
Tomorrow we will continue doing our projects in and around the work the yard will be doing for us. Should have a better time line in the next day or so.
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05/09/2006, Pt. Richmond, CA
I didn't sleep all that well last night as I kept going over and over in my mind just how we were going to be moving the boat over to KKMI in the morning. Never having had our boat towed, or even seeing one done made the prospect a little scary to say the least.
We drove over to KKMI at the appointed hour to meet Mike who was going to take us back to our marina in the boat (ridged bottom inflatable with 150 hp motor) we would use to tow Whisper's Echo back. Since it was just the three of us for this operation, Mike, Rick and me there are no pictures to document this event. But, and I thank God, there wasn't much to see after Mike successfully pulled Whisper's out of her slip and Rick managed to climb aboard just in the nick of time by grabbing a hold of the bow pulpit rail and pulling himself up and over. (That really was the only worthwhile photo op but I needed to be in the stern and had my hands full with steering).
Once Mike had towed us into the open estuary, we moved the tow line from the stern of the boat to the bow. After that it was a very slow tow back around the corner from Marina Bay to the Richmond Marina where KKMI is located. Once there we again changed the tow ropes to bring Mikes boat just along the port side of the bow and he just powered her back and we came neatly along side the dock.
Rick and I spent the rest of the day getting all the lines ready for pulling the mast which we think should happen sometime tomorrow. We labeled all the running rigging, disconnecting and bringing all the lines to the mast. We removed the whisker poll, the main boom and the staysail boom carefully securing them to the deck. Rick also began the job of loosening the standing rigging, just enough to be sure all the bolts would turn. We were lucky none of them were frozen and required soaking to break free. Day One Done.
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