Winter Projects

The big one this winter is the new Flex-o-Fold prop which i will have to shoot some pictures of as it is a piece of artwork

The old prop and shaft are out and after i lap the new prop on the new shaft there really wont any old stuff on board except the refurbished motor



I am plugging up all the old worn out instrument holes but it got a bit to cold for the glass work so it will get finished the next 50 degree weather streak

I refinished the old cabin top teak sliders for the hatch and they look really nice and will take a shot after there back in

The boat is all ready for winter the interior is removed and the fiberglass repiars from the boat hitting me over the summer are about 1/2 done



It would not be fall without a giant pile of leaves

winters work begins

During todays snow storm i warmed up the motor changed the oil and winterized the motor and water system



The custom hole on the transmission cover allows about 95% of the old oil to be removed

A good way to end the season

As the sun sets on the 2011 season




The old folks club took home another first in the Main and Jib division on the second weekend of manhasset bay fall series 2011

a short weekend trip

Well summer is gone and I wanted to make at least one overnight trip on the boat this season so to oyster bay I went

It was a MUCH better day than the forecast plenty of wind and NO rain on what was supposed to be a washout so sometimes it pays to take a chance



On Saturday night there was a huge fireworks display for some unknown reason as i did not thing October 1 was a special day ?



The most impressive thing was how clean the water along the shore was

It's getting a bit cold

As fast as it got hot the highs this weekend on the water were about 68 with 15 to 20 knots of wind on Sunday so it's dodger time

My best sunset of 2011

Cal 29 so easy a nine year old can do it

My nine year old niece Grace took to the helm nicely

Fair Winds Uncle Joe

My good friend and Seafevers owner for 30 years before his illness and the inevitable slowing down of getting old prevented him for taking care of the boat

Uncle Joe stayed busy right up till the end and did a full season of competitive sailing with us on Zzzoom in the 2010 season at 92 years old as a active crew member and passed away at home at the ripe old age of 93 in August 2011

Another perfect day of sailing

The wife and myself Took a well deserved four day weekend and started it with a great sail today out to mid sound off Stanford and had the treat of seeing the start of the 2011 Vineyard race a 200 + mile distance race

There were some really BIG boats and when I got home and looked it up Whiethawk was 105 feet

We had to be really careful as the sound is full of broken trees from Irean and we were dodging stuff all day

New Leece-Neville alternator

Well at 41 years old the OEM alternator was still putting out a bit but it was just barely enough so i am back with 51 amps of new power at a nice steady 14.2 volts

The Leece-Neville took over Prestolite at some point in the pats so there a perfect as the case is exactly the same and there USA made

On a more happy note

On a more happy note we continue are quest to find out how fast a Cal 29 will go and with yesterdays gusts into the 20s we did a bunch of 7.5s with a 7.7 peak i can smell and 8.0 as we learn more about what makes the boat go fast

Seafevers first new hole

My !^%^*^#^*##($($&&^*(_+()&)__ mooring neighbor had a motor problem and instead of getting a tow thought he would try his had a sailing into and TIGHT mooring field

Well it could have been worse BUT his bow pulpit punched a fist size hole right between the two main Portlights



Everybody at the yard thought somebody called me and we went out to go sailing and opened up the cabin to a nice pile of paint and glass shards


He is being good about it so far and we will see what the glass guy says this week :rolleyes:



Unfortunately cracked and delaminated into the unobtainium window frame which will have to be disturbed to do a repair as there is a good bit of bad glass under the interior gelcoat

Gotta love roller furling

After a lifetime of flaking sails changing sails you just have to love spending 11 seconds to have a now small and balanced jib and main and he helming with two fingers in 20 knots true wind

The new constant diameter endless splice for the furling boom

Knothead from sailnet has done a few you tube videos on endless splicing and other rope work and after a bunch of practice runs in the basement it was time to do it on the boat to the exact correct length on my Stoboom



The line was about 24' long and had to be done in place because of all the blocks and the difficulty of trying to take apart the boom :)



A nice tight crossover with some well hidden lock stitching to keep it toghter

Seafevers first race

Well we did the LHYC Edward S. Dole Memorial" Stratford Shoal Race which is my third time doing this 34 mile event

BUT the wind was a bit light :) so we relaxed and focused on breaking 8 hours and fun was had by all

a bit more odds and ends work and a whole lot of fun

The Cal is exceeding all of are expectations from taking out my 7 and 10 year old niece and nephew and feeling safe about it to being able to run a full main and 100% jib in 20 knot gusts and crack 7.2 knots and stay DRY

Out Sailing Thursday night

On Monday nights voyage the jib and main sheets were breaking which
was no fun they looked kind of faded BUT were in even worse shape

So it has a double main sheet with two 65' sheets and two 40' jib
sheets what's another few hundred at this point :)

We put them on Thursday night and sailed from Northport harbor out to
R8 by target rock and back in light wind and a foul current going out
BUT it pushed us nicely on the return

Now i just have to replace the reefing lines on the main and jib
furling units to be on the safe side

Seafevers big day

well

that was the most worthwhile 1.5 years i have ever spent

a nice green bottom of course

Well

Got some good weather so we got a huge amount of work done this weekend






In addition to the bottom paint we put all the new standing rigging on the mast and lashed everything down for trucking to the boat yard for launch

And a bunch of general small jobs like the transom swim ladder BUT when your putting stuff back over new Awlgrip nothing is really a small job

A bit more epoxy work on the small part of the keel and the underwater stuff is done

Bottom paint the last BIG project

While a boat is and endless series of projects interspersed with a bit of sailing most of them are relatively small

And then theirs scraping off 20 years of bottom paint :)



On my last effort to get ready for topside paint i stopped at this point because i felt i was not going to get another week of such perfect topside painting weather and it has proven to be true

There has not been another solid week of good weather

Somehow i discovered a new tool a cheep home depot 2.5"in carbide paint scraper

The carbide blade is supposed to last 10 times longer than a standard metal blade and i would say it lasted about 50 times longer and worked about 50 times faster

I used up 7 blades at 4.95 each and it was worth every penny because i got all the paint off and prepped in two brutal days of scraping and sanding





In a final act of mercy Uncle Joe the previous owner and a great friend of mine did and and amazing barrier coat job a while back and there is NOT a single blister/bubble/hickey nothing

So i just have to build up some thing spots near the water line and give it a fresh coat or three of barrier coat and two coats of bottom paint

The hull and keel are amazing fair and i believe a good bit better than my J24 was even when it was brand new

A big milestone this week

Well

Its was a great week as i had the insurance survey done on Tuesday and the boat went through with flying colors

General Summary/Risk Assessment/Values: This boat was found to be well constructed originally, and it has not suffered any major damage or repairs. The basic structure of the boat – the hull, deck, and interior, is sound. The foredeck has been largely rebuilt to correct a delamination condition. The work has been well done. The standing rigging is all new., and the mast and sails are in good condition. The engine, fuel and exhaust systems have all been rebuilt or replaced. The hull has been repainted. There are still some cosmetic upgrades to be made to the interior. In general, the boat has benefited from a knowledgeable and conscientious owner. If the recommendation is followed I would consider it to be an acceptable risk. I would place its current market value, as surveyed, based on book values as well as selling prices of similar boats

cant tell you everything BUT i was happy with the figure and was able to insure it at that level with no problem

out in the sun again

That was a LOT of work as the frame is made of 6 sections of 5 pieces of wood and a big bucket o screws

the green stripE

Who would have thopught that would take all day :)

Seafevers paint coming toghter

After about a billion hours of sanding with a big 30 hour push this weekend as i was NOT gonna let this weather window slip

I must have gone through 500 dollars in sandpaper :)



The colors came from a first J24 and we have always like the Tan green combo and is kind of frightening that we bought that boat in the 80s :)

The motor all happy after the first test run

It was a PITA getting 5 gallons of fuel into the new SAFE :) fuel fill and a bit of a bigger PITA priming the fuel system with a brand new tank / filters and lines BUT if its all good now

the new instrument panel in action

new instrument panel

I could just not live with this mess



So i looked around the wonderful internet and found a surplus navpod for 99 dollars



A nice piece of split weather strip to seal it and 8 screws and i am pretty happy with the improvement