Kaimusailing

Unsnagging Kaimu’s anchors could only be attempted at low tide and the natural precession of tides left us with low tide at sunset and daybreak. Progress was made, however, and now the snag looks more likely to be successfully undone. No longer impossible.
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I removed the rotted wood from the Sumner dinghy and then cleaned up the remaining rough spots with the angle grinder with flap disk. The boatyard experts were telling me to laminate thin strips of wood on the gunwales. I would have to rip my precious cedar planks into thin strips, creating more sawdust than usable wood. I had a better idea. I picked up 4 pieces of split wire loom, 1“ diameter, and a 28 oz. tube of Liquid Nails. The loom was laid flat and a thick bead of the adhesive was caulked into it. The loom was jammed onto the gunwales of the dinghy and positioned as fair as possible and held in place with masking tape.
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I then ran off for an octopus dinner including leek soup and copious amounts of red wine. I was invited to dinner by the British Colombian Polish couple, Henrik and Mariola aboard their Tayana 42. This boat was in sad hurricane damaged condition when Henrik purchased it although the interior was beautiful with tons of varnished wood. Now he has repaired the hull and painted it with the result that it looks like a brand new boat.
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The conversion of the former inflatable RIB8.6 into a hard dinghy also received attention. I glassed the exterior corners of the transom.
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When low tide was forecast for about 10 AM I began working on the anchors after breakfast. Things went rather quickly. My earlier attempts to unsnag managed to loosen the ball of chain, rope, hawser, anchors, buoys, and buoy lines so that now I could separate the main anchor from the mess and unshackled the Danforth and hoisted it clear. This was great progress. There is only the stern anchor left and I may have been able to raise it too, but the tide began coming in and the current put a stop to the project.
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I returned to working on the Sumner dinghy. The split wire loom gunwales were glassed with two layers of 6“ wide cloth. The cloth was triaxial and probably 19 oz. cloth. The next day I made plywood seats out of 3/4“ plywood with 1/2“ plywood stiffeners underneath. A couple of old wedges left over from scarfing 2X6 lumber provided material for block to mount the oarlocks. A transom was made up of 3/4 ply with doubled 1/2“ ply to fill in between the 3/4 and the glass transom. The boat’s glass is very thin and would probably conform to the flat ply, but where the seats meet the glass transom the curvature cannot be overcome, so we have a strange transom with a horizontal piece and a vertical piece.
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The oarlock blocks were glued into place with liquid nails as well as the seat parts. Things were moving along quite quickly. Because the plywood D4 dinghy is rapidly deteriorating, this Sumner dinghy will be pressed into service right away. I will do the details and finishing after we haul out, which is imminent. The main anchors have been retrieved from the mooring snag and all that remains there will be tied to a buoy and allowed to drop to the bottom of the North River Marsh. The yard has rescheduled Kaimu’s haulout for later this week.
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The photo is of the Sumner dinghy, work in progress.