November 24, 2008, 10:11 am, Colorado Springs
Yesterday, it was sunny, warm and breezy, for a November day in Colorado. The temperate was in the high 50s and low 60s most of the day.
JoAnne decided to run to the store to pick up some items for the Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house on Thursday.
I, on the other hand, begged off of shopping and stood up the six foot ladder, and climbed aboard "Winds of Change" for some rope work. Ok, well, Mast Work.
Over the course of the last week I manufactured a gin pole, found some good rope and prepped that, found some double pulley blocks, brackets and assorted hardware and have been assembling, drilling, and generally laying things out.
Yesterday, once aboard the boat, I turned on the radio to some country music (we don't have a "Sailing Music All the time" FM station in Colorado Springs for some reason, and I just didn't feel like dragging out the iPod and Jimmy Buffet right then...) and started putting things together.
After awhile, I was ready. JoAnne was due back shortly, so I called my buddy Steve, whom I've known for about 25 years. We worked together in Washington, DC many years ago during the Reagan and Bush years at the White House Communications Agency. Steve lives a couple blocks away from me these days.
So, with the Admiral arriving with groceries, and me as the Skipper - and very shortly, the "First Mate" arrived and I gave Steve the most difficult job... sort of.
I asked him to pin the front stay when the mast was raised. He seemed disappointed when I told him JoAnne would be raising the mast, and I'd be ensuring nothing hung up, and the mast went straight into place.
So he positioned himself at the bow, I positioned myself under the mast to hold it in cast something "let go", and JoAnne stood on the port side of the cockpit with line in-hand. Once I double checked (for the fourth or fifth double-check of the day) all the shrouds, stays, connections, bolts.... I told her "Hoist away!"
She say "Aye!" and began to pull on the rope. It moved easily, and rather quickly. The mast raised into place and settled into position.
Steve had problems. The forestay bracket was almost exactly one half and inch too short to make it to the front bracket. He suggested laying the mast back down. I told him to stand by a minute.
JoAnne tied off the line for the block and tackle and Steve remained there to hold the forestay to keep the mast in place. I climbed down, surveyed the problem and realized that we were pulling on the mainsail halyard (used it to haul up the mast actually from the end of the gin pole). I saw that the jib halyard pulley is about 3 inches above where the forestay connects to the mast. So, I told Steve to prepare to pin the bracket.
I climbed aboard, had JoAnne give us a tug on the block and tackle, I tied off one end of the jib halyard, grabbed the free end and pulled. The mast bowed slightly in the middle, gave Steve the half inch and a bit more he needed, he bolted the pin into place and viola! We had mastage!
Ok, well, we're all happy, it is the first time we've actually raised a mast on a boat and it demonstrates that any of the three of us could have accomplished this alone... something I needed to make sure I could do, or JoAnne could so.
The mast will remain in place for a couple of weeks in the yard while I check sails, pulleys (have checked them on the ground, but need to make sure it all works as it should).
I know there is at least one issue with my jib - and might have to replace it, we'll see though. Perhaps it will be usable.
Anyway - we raised a cup of coffee since we didn't have any wine handy at the time. But, I'm very happy we were able to bring the mast up so easily.
I'll add some pictures later today when I get home.
Rick
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November 22, 2008, 11:40 am, Colorado Springs, CO
Over the past couple of weeks I've not really had time to write here however I did work on the boat.
Finished up the deck, where the Mast Step is located, after removing all the hardware I re-glasses, sanded and painted the surface. I added a new overheard brace between the beam and the overhead, redrilled all the holes for the brackets on the mast step and then checked all the hardware on the shrouds, stays and so forth.
I have mounted a swivel bracket to the base of the mast, modified a long pole to become my gin pole and did a couple of tests.
I need a couple of good, solid, double-pulleys and about 150 feet of new rope for the block and tackle, then we can step the mast for the first time. Going to pick up the rope today and get some pictures of me raising the mast for the first time.
If I get this right, JoAnne will be able to easily raise the mast as well herself without any help from me.
I still need to build some kind of a roller assembly at the stern of the boat over which we can raise the mast to make it sit properly and at the right angle to put the step pin through.
Also, I need to build a good, solid bridle or harness to hold the gin pole as everything is coming up and into place. Should, with luck and if the weather holds out, have that all working this weekend.
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November 11, 2008, 1:52 pm, Colorado Springs
Been pretty busy and haven't had time to add anything here, so just some quick updates.
We pulled all the old cushions out and checked them, washed the covers and will put them back together sometime soon.
Picked up a small, leather-bound note book to keep records and notes for myself. Called it "Captain's Log" however presumptive that might be.
I have repaired the deck where the mounting for the mast goes. Had to remove the hardware and then sanded it down to remove the surface paint, then reglassed the upper part under the mast housing.
The problem there was leaking from one of the bolts, which had rotted the inside overhead, the wood on the overhead and carpet. The bracing beam was fine so I added a heavy piece of ply wood, pounded the beam back in place and remounted all the hardware.
We tried to step the mast this weekend but could not due to the boat being too far back in the back and the mast being long enough to prevent raising it. The other problem was we couldn't get the bottom of the mast raised enough and at the right angle to push the pin bolt through, so gave up for now.
All of the hardware on the rigging is in good shape.
Things I really need to do soon are:
1) Remove the motor and check it out and make sure it is prepared for winter.
2) Remove the flotation material and crawl back into the stern, remove the bolts and the wooden brace from the rudder area, measure and make a new wooden brace.
3) I need to look at replacing the overhead wood - but that's not a big rush - if I don't, I need to fill the bolt holes temporarily though.
4) Build a gin pole
5) and the list goes on.
I want to have the boat prepared by the end of March to put her in the water. We're going to probably have a sign shop make a name for her - but we're also considering whether to register her with the Coast Guard because we want to sail her in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers sometime in the next two years.
I think that is all for the time being. I'll post more when I have more time.
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October 28, 2008, 7:36 pm, Monarch Pass Colorado
Here's a picture of us in front of the boat.
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October 26, 2008, 7:06 pm, Colorado Springs
I was exhausted when I went to bed last night. We got home, parked the boat, turned the keys to my son's Dodge back over to him and we left for our favorite place to eat, Rock Bottom, armed with our camera.
We're pretty well known there. Most of the bar tenders and 80% of the waiters and waitresses know us, and a few have even come to visit us at our house and try OUR beer. (Rock Bottom owns Old Chicago's, and the make several types of microbrews. I like stouts so they always have one ready for me when I walk in the door.)
We showed pictures of the boat to our friends there and had dinner then came home and crashed. We crashed pretty hard. We slept in until 10AM this morning. Wow....
The "Admiral" decided she was going to go shopping for a new winter coat with my oldest daughter and our granddaughter Cassie. So, they headed out shopping. I opened the boat, pulled in a power cable, set up my iPod and speakers and proceed to empty the boat of anything and everything that wasn't nailed, screwed or glued down.
My aim was to strip her of her old "ownership" and create my own "living space" aboard her.
I spent nearly all day today removing the 20-something year old wooden internal roofing that was covered with this carpet. Gosh, I don't like that color... and it was rotten near some bolts - which I noticed when I was looking over the boat initially. I knew there was some work to do - something I think I will sincerely enjoy (since I sincerely HATE normal chores...) and knew that once I started ripping things apart, I'd find various things that needed done.
As it turns out, the boat is as good of shape as I thought she was in. The core, the fiberglass is very solid, there are no delaminations anywhere I can find. The rudder was broken once, as I knew when I looked it over initially but appears functional. Obviously, I'm going to be doing some wood work this winter building a replacement (something I can do...).
There are about six or seven spots I found some previous leaks that appear to be pretty old. One spot I'll have to fix is around the rudder brackets where the original wooden panel sits on the inside of the transom with holding bolts to the outside holding on the rudder brackets. That's rotting. Needs replacing.
Another kind of interesting thing- and perhaps bad spot is the mast mounting bracket. it needs some work, but it won't be anything bad, or difficult.
Whomever it was that initially put in the carpet covered ceiling covers bolted those directly to the outside of the vessel and while they used plenty of caulking material they didn't do a very good job directly beneath the bracket. Water has leaked in there over the years necessitating the removal of the carpet-covered-wood (phew, I thought I was gonna have to leave it there - thank goodness for leaks!)
I successfully remove the rotting wood, and the carpet, pulling the panels with some difficulty (as I was alone, remember, she was SHOPPING and I was WORKING.... as all good military officers know, the NCOs do the work while the officers are... ummm in their offices or drinking or shopping)... anyway :) I managed to vacuum out the interior and the flooring carpet, which we will likely keep.
I poked into every nook and cranny, crevasse and into every stowage compartment and a few places I couldn't stick my head and flashlight, I stuck my cameras and flashes.... I see that the very bottom of the boat appears to have never had water in it. There's no bilge pump on this boat. Phil told me he was surprised and shocked, coming from the Gulf Coast he'd never see a boat minus a bilge pump. Apparently in his checking, he found that this boat never had one.
And it appears it's never needed one.
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October 25, 2008, 6:31 pm, Somewhere in Colorado
We decided, as I mentioned on a previous post on a Venture 25 built my Roger MacGregor in 1979. The boat is 29 years old, one year younger than my eldest son who turned thirty years old last August.
Phil Ward, the owner and myself had been emailing all week and conversing in the evenings to decide the best way to transfer the boat. He of course was making sure he got his money and me making sure I got a decent boat.
I was less interested in making a "deal" than I was getting a boat that floats, and can use used for learning. According to some of the friends I've made on a couple of sailing forums, this boat is considerably better - by some standards than the later MacGregor boats -- especially the water ballast boats.
This one has a 625 drop down keel - which is good with me. I can trailer it to the reservoir. I am not on the coast, as most of you have figured out, and am land locked in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We're right on the base of the Rocky Mountains.... about 8 miles perhaps as the crow flies from the top of Pikes Peak.
Phil lives in the small college town of Gunnison, Colorado. That's 185 miles as the Jeep drives over several highways to get there, or to me.
To get to Gunnison, you travel from Colorado Springs, down the main drag, Academy Blvd - the same one that makes its way to the Air Force Academy, about 19 miles north of me - and where my wife works.
Once you get to highway 115, you take that southwest, and then hit highway 50. 50 takes you though Canon City (pronounced Canyon) where several large Prisons live - including "Big Max".
Eventually, you pass through Salida, and Poncha Springs - then begin the long, somewhat scary climb up to the top of the Great Divide.
Once on top, it's about another 60 miles or so to Gunnison. So, Phil and I worked out a deal where he would bring the boat with his vehicle up to the top of the pass. I'd meet him there - with my son's Dodge Ram since I don't think my Jeep Cherokee can pull the boat.
At approximate 11:30 AM myself, my wife JoAnne and my son Patrick made it to the top of the pass and there was the boat and Phil sitting there waiting on us. It was cold, so he'd managed to find the coffee shop at the top of the pass.
We went over a few more things, rechecked the boat with clear heads and asked a bunch of questions. Phil walked me through the rigging, sheets, the sails, and a few other things. I asked him a few questions and we retired to the warmth of the coffee shop, had some coffee, discussed the registrations of the boat, the trailer and Colorado laws. Phil is a native of Louisiana so I explained the trailer plates are his and I have to ship them back to him. Technically, I'm supposed to get a temporary tag, but without the title, the DMV in Colorado will no longer issue you a temp tag. /sigh
So, we used Phil's plates to get us home.
The registration for the boat in this state is December 31 - through December 31. No prorating, no nuttin' - meaning I get to register it in December and not as soon as I have the boat. Why? Because I pay the registration fee now, in October and the thing expires ANYWAY in December.
Phil wants the original copy of his registration back, for his personal records - for which I do not blame him, obviously. He's a boat guy. He's had boats before, and he keeps his paperwork going back a long way it appears. That's good with me. I want to know about the boat, her history and what she's done in the past. We can only go back to 1991 at the moment, and I suspect she came from California on her trailer - but, that's suspicion only at this point. Someday, I'll trace her genealogy just as I have traced my own.
The picture above is the boat on the back of the vehicle which will likely pull her to the first place we put her in the water - Pueblo Reservoir around March time frame in 2009.
So - we completed the paperwork, signed the trailer title, the Admiral signed the check, we passed papers back and forth for hours (ok minutes) and then we waved good bye to Phil... who lingered and looked back at the boat a couple of times. He actually stopped twice before he hit the highway to roll out. I think he will miss the boat. I hope he misses her - she looks and appears to want to go back to the water soon - and soon she will.
My wife walked over to me - and in the most amazing thing of the day, put her arms around my neck and said, "Here's your first Kiss as Captain." She kissed me in front of the boat, mountains and my son - whom I think perhaps, blushed a little. (What can I say, he's Army....)
The next four hours was spent in sheer terror. I haven't pulled a load that heavy in nearly 20 years. When I was in the military, the active duty, I've pulled many towed loads of many thousands of pounds, in big trucks. I've pulled trailers on cars. I've pulled forty foot trailers on tractor rigs.
Oh MY GOD... I've never pulled a 2500 lb load DOWN an 11515 foot mountain pass before. My son, who was uncomfortable enough riding in his own truck was holding on for dear life, telling me to "let up on the clutch" more than once, and "gear down Dad, for God's sake!" at least a few times. My wife giggled all the way down the mountain... I think she found my son's rum stash in the back seat, but I was never sure about that.
I was white-knuckle gripping that wheel and over driving the engine and the tachometer more than once.
After about 50 miles... I chilled out and it came back to me, though we were starting to level out and get towards the bottom. Either way, I stopped sweating, started drinking my now-cold-coffee and making chitter chat with everyone.... of course, my son never let of the "Oh Shit handles" on the passenger side of the truck.
At last, we made it home and I managed to push the vehicle up into the side of the house.
Wow.
We have a "Yacht"!
I'm amazed.
My wife completed the day by looking at me and calling me "Captain D".
For the record, I hate Captain D's (the fish food place)... /sigh but I think it was a compliment because my students used to called me "Mr. D"... so I shall take it as a complement.
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