BOATYARD ESCAPE

Cat Tales was launched last Tuesday.  We were ecstatic to be out where there was some wind, and, as far as we knew, all was well.

The flights to Grenada from New Brunswick were at least successful.  We came via Montreal, leaving a layer of snow on the ground in New Brunswick.  In Montreal, we watched the screens, as a snowstorm was crippling Toronto and flights were delayed all morning and afternoon.  Our flight changed from a small commuter flight at 17:00 h to a fully loaded, giant Boeing 777 at 18:00 h.  We sat in row 55, with ten seats per row.  It took off an hour later, after lineups and de-icing, as the worst of the Toronto storm was closing in on Montreal.  The Toronto landing was as normal as a snowstorm landing can be, but it was a half-hour delay while the snow was mucked out from our gate and gate access.  The next morning, we were in the air by 10:30 h, as Toronto was still recovering, and there was again a de-icing lineup.

As the weather predicted, there was not a breath of wind in the boatyard for our work-week, and it was tough.  It was the usual work, with the common unexpected requirements as well.  At night, we buddied up with new friends in the boatyard for meals at the “container park” near the college campus a few nights, but mostly Dawn cooked for just the two of us ate in the Cool Running apartment.

We had one mix-up in the boatyard that required us to stop our work while Cat Tales was moved to allow the launch of a boat behind us.  Just a little annoyance and some time lost...

Once out in Prickly Bay, we had an easy second-half to the launch-day, and just limed - okay, one beer led to several, as the stress-relief was significant.  I didn’t even want to try the dinghy engine, and why bother - it had started on the third pull in the boatyard.  Wednesday morning, Dawn insisted I get it going to ensure we could maintain our evening social plans.  Not only could I not get the damned thing going, but the dinghy was leaking water.  A long story short - we got towed into the chandlery and bought replacements for both.

Since on the water, we have slowly sorted the tools, and the smaller jobs, and are finding patches of floor and other things that had been buried in parts and tools.  Yesterday, Saturday, we took almost the whole day off (after switching alternators on one of the engines) and walked 1.5 hours to Port Louis Marina to have a lunch and some pool time with Steve and Maria (s/v Aspen) and Fred (s/v Dakota Dream).  It was great, and we slept well once we got back.

Not much else to tell, but for some interesting stories.  Here is a picture of a large ketch that had been hauled while we were being launched around the first of February.  We met the couple, and conversed a lot, with some things in common.  We gave them our vinyl-covered “C” cushions from the cockpit, as they had none, and Dawn had “a new plan”.  They had just a couple of jobs to do, and intended to be back in the water in a day or two.  Here the boat sits, 10 months later.  We wonder wether it was a technical issue, or a health issue, or both.  She was a survivor of colon cancer, like me (Laurie); explaining that chemo had been recommended, but she opted for a marijuana-based treatment instead.    She explained that the treatment had kept her cancer-free, until a scope found a new tumour.  I did not  mention the contradiction, and she carried on by saying she was back on the marijuana treatment after the second tumour.

This second picture is of a boat, sunk barely 2000 feet from the boatyard lift.  We had watched for a couple of seasons, as first the dinghy slowly lost air and started to be destroyed at its stern, and then we return to see this.  The story appears to be that a man bought it, but he passed away quite soon after; and his wife just said she could not deal with the boat.  Well, she has turned this asset into a liability; and she now has to deal with a worse problem.  The boat, although older and comparably small, was pretty and in good shape.  It is a reminder to make sure your will is kept up and straight forward - such that anyone could manage it.

TECHNICAL

After spending hours doing maintenance on the batteries, I gave up totally and condemned all five house and the starting battery.   I had done all I could to make them last long:  oversized the bank to decrease the depth of use, increased the solar power available, maintained the water levels, and equalized them regularly.  Still, like all before them, they died at 4 years.   Budget, interestingly, was almost sold out of deep cycles, but we were able to acquire 3 Delco deep cycle and a Delco cranking amp battery.  Our new house bank is less than half of our old bank, at 2526 amp hours, but seems to work the same.  AND they have a 4-year warranty.  Let’s see...

We have yet to test the new boat speed sensor.  We are hopeful that it will allow us to measure the currents with and against the boat as we compare to GPS speeds.  The sensor also provides water temperature, which we expect to be warm ;-).

Dawn worked hard on both domestic issues and the hard work of washing, waxing and polishing, while I sanded down last-year’s gelcoat repairs, re-bedded a through-hull fitting, and recommissioned the engines.

Figuring out what to do with the dinghy and engine was only a little complicated.  Both are 13 years old.  The engine has a scary lower casting crack, and the dinghy was leaking through a seam between the rubber (hypalon) and the aluminum bottom.  Investigations suggested a minimum $1200 repair, with no guarantee, while we had no real idea about the longevity of the rest of the boat.  We purchased a Chinese-manufactured Carib Marine dinghy with a light fibreglass bottom that is not expected to fail in the same manner as an aluminum connection.

Speed and water temperature transducer, newly installed and NOT leaking!!

Cat Tales waiting to be launched from the Spice Island Boat Yard in Grenada

Notice that our new dinghy has no seat, which is apparently difficult for me (Dawn) to remember.  When I unlock the dinghy from the dock and swing around and sit where I always used to sit, it has a new feeling landing on the floor of the dinghy next to the fuel tank!

We are waiting to see how we will fare after last year’s cleaning out of the starboard engine with mineral spirits.

A Woods designed West System 32 foot catamaran that was lengthened to 38 feet, 3 feet each corner.  The new owner, John, is still figuring it all out.

Dawn, taking a break on the shady side of the boat waiting for the lift to arrive to carry Cat Tales to the water.

Steve (s/v Aspen), Fred (s/v Dakota Dream) and Laurie of course from s/v Cat Tales, at the Port Louis Marina after lunch.

Where’s the Weblog?

Past due for sure.  We’re surprised to find that we do not even have an “end of season” blog here.  Well, let’s fill in the blanks.  We had a wonderful end of season, finally making it back to Prickley Bay for haulout, with time to spare to haul everyone we could find to the local brew-pub to dive into the flavours, and then just the two of us having a lovely meal at the beach restaurant “Umbrellas”.  We carried out our usual floating end-of-season work, and got hauled out on April 13^th.  The week on the hard was made easy with, as usual, a stay in the air-conditioned comfort of “Cool Running”, across the street from the boatyard.  Even the technical work was easy, with us not really taking on many serious chores beyond decommissioning.

The trip home was also normal.  Once we arrived, we were once again on flood-watch, as the St. John River system was on the rise.  Ultimately, our lake community suffered a flood of only 8 inches lower than the flood of record, which was just the year before.  Our part in saving homes and property was much smaller this year.  Our friends Hugh and Liz had made major flood-proofing changes to their basement, and abandoned the idea of sandbagging.  We did give our friend Debbi one long-hard day; involving the rotation of all the furniture while we removed the engineered flooring, and re-piling the furniture. 

This is in front of our cottage.  The water continued to rise after this shot.

We also caught a break in our cove when high winds, at the peak elevation of the water, entered the cove with the longest fetch possible.  The break was the last of the lake ice, which, although scarring a few trees, kept the water calm.  The next morning, just after the wind subsided, the ice vanished.  Other properties on the lake, without the ice on the upwind side, were damaged, knocked over, and in some cases blown to smithereens.  Since the water receded, at least 5 different contractors have had a busy summer, raising cottages and summer-homes along the lakeshore.

Debbi's place goes up...high and dry!

Our own property, although the house was high and dry, suffered with issues in the basement, and major damage to the percolation piping of our hybrid wastewater treatment system.  The latter kept me busy for approximately 100 man-hours, distributed through the season, as I did the manual labour pretty much single-handed.  Other work: wood splitting, applying exterior coatings, and carrying out normal maintenance, also kept me busy. 

  Richard Brogan's Independent 20 was launched and hauled by the boys of the community. 

Still, lots of fun here, as we got together at least weekly for barbecues with the gang, a trip to Storeytown for great food and river activity with the same gang, sailing the Hobie 21, family gatherings, etc.  Dawn again enjoyed a night each week with her mother and sisters, a week-long sister get-together in Ontario, and a weekend stay with her good friend upriver. 

With a stick and no hook, the fishing is just as productive.  Laurie enjoying the Miramichi.

We’re now consolidating our notes, packing our clothes, and decommissioning the house for our return trip, with a flight date of November 11^th, 7 days hence.

About 2 weeks ago, we were hit with a raging wind and rain storm.  Our neighbour lost 8 trees.  These ones totally wiped out their grandchildren's playhouse, but not much else.  The work David had to do over the last two weeks just removing trees and stumps was no small thing.

From the left - Paul, Laurie, Ken and Mike: the Corbett boys!  Nice looking bunch of cotton tops!

TECHNICAL

As mentioned, the haul out was pretty normal, but for a trip to the top of the mast for some electrical work, and the renovation of the starboard escape hatch.  Actually, the escape hatch did cause some extra stress.  We removed and dismantled the hatch, but while cleaning it, noticed that the glass was bulging out of the hatch-cover.  Aluminum oxides, the result of saltwater corrosion, was growing under the glass and edge-seal, pushing the assembly apart.  Rather than fix it myself, I had it sent to another boatyard, where a company called “Driftwood” dismantled, cleaned, and recaulked it with an appropriate product.  We managed the rest of the surfaces by cleaning, spraying with zinc chromate, and finishing with the brushing on of a one-part silver primer.  This last bit of treatment had been done the previous season to the port escape hatch, and seemed to do a good job.  Both of these windows, originally manufactured by Goiot, were receiving the treatment after the oxides of corrosion had compromised the seal between the flanges and the boat hulls.

Cat Tales sitting in the Spice Island boatyard waiting just one more week for activity to begin again for another season in the sun!