Exposed Core

At Reuwer Boat Works, Winsome's damaged fiberglass deck and balsa core are in the process of being removed.  As we expected, the damage is pretty severe.  The photo at left shows that much of the rear deck above the lazarette had rotten core which had to be removed.  At this point, Reuwer has removed damaged areas of the side decks just aft of midship.  Now that Winsome is completely under cover for the winter, we've removed the lazarette hatch, the forward hatch, and the main sliding hatch.  The main hatch was brought home so the old teak plywood inlay can be replaced with new.
















Our machinist friend is busy working on fabricating a new aluminum instrument panel that will accommodate a new VDO tachometer, oil pressure, and water temperature gauges based on my layout at right.  The proposed layout includes a vertical cluster of navigation light switches and autopilot harness.  The lower horizontal cluster consists of blower motor, choke, and ignition moving from left to right. 


Once all the fiberglass repairs have been completed (hopefully in February or March), arrangements have been made for Winsome to be hauled to Sailing Associates in Fredericktown, MD where she'll be refit and recommissioned.  Sailing Associates was chosen because that location is quite a bit closer to home and there's a marine hardware store within walking distance.  Once Winsome is back in the water and re-rigged the plan is to sail her to Raritan Bay via the C&D canal, Delaware Bay, Cape May, and then up the coast of New Jersey.  We chose this location because it's very close to our home and puts us within easy sailing distance of Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod.   




 

   





 

Fiberglass Repairs

"Maintaining Winsome" should now read "Restoring Winsome".  After last year's frenetic repair schedule which allowed us to get some great projects accomplished, Deb and I (read Deb) decided to dig a little deeper and take care of the deck fiberglass. This will be the first time Winsome has moved from her jackstands in the Green Point Landing boneyard since 2012 when she was hauled out after Hurricane Sandy!  A year after our last blog post she's on the slings and heading back to Reuwer Boat Works.  Leading up to this post, Debbie and I have been busy removing the mast and deck hardware so she's ready to go in the shop.  Deck hardware removal is definitely a two-person job; one person is on deck with a slotted screwdriver and another needs to be down below with an assortment of wrenches.  A contortionist is required below decks to get at the various nuts and washers, and someone with the patience of a saint should be posted on deck since they'll be sitting for an eternity holding a screwdriver waiting for Harry Houdini to finish up!  I told Debbie that removal is the easy part...

All hardware was bagged and tagged, and open holes were covered with aluminum tape for the short time that Winsome would be exposed to the weather.  Not surprisingly, the aluminum tape covering the bolt holes has been keeping rain out better than the actual hardware.

We decided to keep the forward hatch, the lazarette hatch, and the main hatch on the boat until Winsome is rolled into the shop, but we did begin removing the portlights.  These openings were also covered with aluminum tape.  Our intention is to refurbish the portlights serving the head, locker, and forward cabin and to replace the existing deadlights in the main cabin with a tinted, resilient material, possibly acrylic or polycarbonate.

Here's Debbie working to remove debris from around the grab rail holes.  As you can see from the photo, it was a beautiful cool, sunny, and breezy day in Rock Hall.  It made the work much easier going, as we dreamed of launching Winsome in spring with a new lease on life.

Teak Cockpit Seats, New Tiller, and Seacock

About five years ago, and while Winsome was still being actively sailed, I had milled up some gorgeous Burmese teak to be used in the cockpit seats which Mark Reuwer  of Reuwer Boat Works in Rock Hall had so beautifully repaired.  The teak panels sat in storage while we moved to our new house, and have been waiting patiently in the garage.  Five years later, the teak has finally been put to use.  Mark Reuwer had provided me with a 1/2" recess in the seat top into which I could glue the new teak.  After milling the pieces to fit, they were glued down in this recess with 3M 5200 and secured from below using 1" SS pan head crews.  I'd finished the first of the two seats using a satin varnish, but afterward had a change of heart.  I liked the gloss look far better, so on the second seat I switched to McCloskey's Man-O-War gloss spar varnish.  The second seat turned out much nicer.  The repaired ash and mahogany tiller was also varnished with McCloskey's and installed.  

Although not shown in the photograph, the lazarette hatch has been removed for restoration as well, and since it requires fiberglass repairs, it will serve as a template for future deck work.  Deck work will begin this winter starting with the most troublesome areas, and after Winsome is moved to a marina within reasonable travel distance from home.     

As can be seen in the photo at right, a much needed zinc anode was installed during this last visit.  The assembly includes a bronze castellated nut secured to the propeller shaft with bronze wire.  The sacrificial zinc is secured to the shaft end with a locking allen-key type bolt.  This particular zinc was chosen from some suggestions found on the Alberg 30 website, which take into account the limited space between the propeller and rudder. 

A system to maintain our two battery bank over winter has been established in the garage.  Both 75 Ah deep cycle batteries have been wired in parallel and connected to a Schumacher Ship-n-Shore charger/maintainer unit which automatically senses battery need and provides current to keep them at 100% charge.  This cozy winter charging nursery will give our batteries something to look forward to after a brutalizing season of deep discharges and poor charging by the engine's alternator!  

New Plan...

Okay, we're not going sailing yet.  This Alberg photo illustrates what we WANT to be doing, but Deb and I have decided that since Winsome has been on the hard for this long, and because we're planning on cruising in larger water, now is the best time to take care of some much neglected boat business.  Much to our disappointment, we are NOT launching this year.  That said, we are very excited that some of these neglected projects will be completed before launch in Spring 2018.  Winsome will be getting some topside deck repairs, a new marine head, a refurbished fresh water tank and new hosing, and some updated engine accessories.

Today, the old Atomic 4 turned over for the first time in five years.  Despite needing a little tune-up, she's raring to go.  We hope that with a little TLC, we can get another 5-10 years out of her.  We have committed to upgrading some electrical components, including the engine instruments and alternator.  The Alberg 30 has a fairly simple 12 volt DC system, so maintenance isn't a highly technical affair.  Since we'll be adding new components, we'll likely need to expand the bus bar and fuse panel.  More on that project on future posts...           







The photo on the right shows the new 1" bronze seacock that was installed aft of the engine on the port side.  New hosing drains one of the cockpit drains, as well as the port side scupper.  We're fairly thrilled about this being completed, as the old valve had been broken since the day we bought Winsome.




Unfortunately, "Sailing Winsome" will be "Maintaining Winsome" for the next few months.  We are looking forward to posting sailing photos next year, but everyone will have to be patient (including me) until then.







  

Independence Work Weekend

All the jobs left undone while we were short on time and greenbacks are being completed during our many work weekend visits to Green Point Landing. This weekend was hot, so the awning was rigged to make it more comfortable for Deb to scrub the cockpit.  With very little breeze and temperatures just above 90, the awning was a necessity.  Winsome's colors are flying in honor of our nation's independence, and we were treated with a fireworks show in the evening and a parade of boats returning from the festivities.  Debbie and I sat on the dock and watched boats return like we were watching a movie at home.

Three through-hulls have been targeted for replacement, along with all associated seacocks/valves and hosing.  The process to replace the through-hull serving the marine head raw water intake was described in our June 25 blog post, and the photo at right is the completed installation.  Debbie was amazed that the new valve is so easy to turn, probably because we had become accustomed to the poor access and the age of the old gate valves.   

We began to get the old Atomic 4 back up to snuff.  The fuel tank was drained, the water separator and sediment trap were emptied and cleaned, and new fuel was added to the system.  On our last visit, the oil was changed and some Mystery oil was used to lubricate the engine head.  We also replaced the water pump impeller, which hadn't been changed since before we bought Winsome in 2011.  I had always meant to do it, but I'm not fond of working on engines.  I'm glad I did, because the old impeller was just beginning to show signs of cracking on one of the vanes.     

Now that the boat is federally documented with the United States Coast Guard, Winsome only needs a Maryland boat decal which we'll mount on a placard hanging from the bow pulpit.  Debbie spent hours removing the old registration numbers using a heat gun, acetone and good old-fashioned elbow grease.  Next visit...more cleaning and engine maintenance.

Through-hulls Continued

Before Winsome goes back in the water after a long spell on the hard, it made sense for us to really investigate the integrity of all her equipment below the waterline.  When we first bought Winsome in 2011, we really didn't have the time or money to dig into these projects and we were still really learning the boat.  Sailing was the biggest priority.  Personally, I'd rather be sailing than maintaining, but if we plan to head out on longer cruises these projects make all the sense in the world.  Also, Wise Debbie told me to do them. 

My biggest concerns were the valves and hosing, which were in many cases original to the boat.  All the original seacocks on Winsome are the gate-valve type, and as many boat owners know, the gates on these valves have a tendency to seize up when not maintained.  The seacock that drains our port side deck scupper and cockpit drain was broken when we bought the boat.  Eventually, this valve collected enough debris to completely obstruct flow. 

After removing these old valves, it made sense to also replace the through-hulls.   Through-hulls, valves and hosing were replaced on both the engine raw water intake and head raw water intake using the equipment noted in a previous blog post, and as shown in the following photos. 




3M 5200 flows well in warm weather, so blue tape was applied to the hull to protect it from excess dripping  material.  The circumference of the new Apollo 1/2" through-hull was traced on the blue tape with a razor knife.  The circular piece of tape was removed to expose the area where the 3M material will adhere to the hull. 

With a liberal amount of adhesive applied, the through-hull was pushed home and temporarily held in place with a piece of tape while the bronze nut was threaded from the inside of the boat.  Using a trick taken from Don Casey, the through-hull was not over-tightened, but tightened just shy of snug to allow the sealant to create a gasket between the hull and the fitting.  Once cured, the nut can be tightened to create a watertight connection on the outside of the boat.     

This through-hull and in-line ball valve serves the raw water intake for our marine head, and so it only needs a 90 degree barbed fitting for a new 3/4" hose.  The engine raw water intake assembly was installed similarly, with the only exception being a straight 5/8" barbed hose fitting.

The only other through-hull and seacock assembly that remains to be replaced this year is the one shown in the first photo which serves the port side scupper and cockpit drains. 

A Tale of Two Blocks

We've been using 1/2" genoa sheets since we bought Winsome in March of 2011, and have used that line in what we understood to be original equipment genoa lead blocks.  Note the obliterated sheave and the vastly larger size of the block on the left.  The new block (left) is the replacement, and is advertised to accommodate a maximum line diameter of 1/2".  Hmm...     

Through-Hulls and Seacocks Replaced

These seacocks are looking like they're ready to sink our ship!  Note the corroded gate valve handles, probably purchased from a hardware store, and the copper plumbing fixtures used to connect hosing for the engine raw water intake.  Without an in-depth probe of existing systems, these rotten, corroded and dangerous fittings will fail at the worst possible time.  



Now this bronze through-hull and in-line ball valve is something you can really be proud of!  The in-line ball valve is connected to an elbow with 1/2" NPT and 3/4" barbed hose ends, which will supply our raw water uptake to the marine head.  Isabel is proud of it, and so are we!





Here's a new through-hull installed using 3M's 5200 sealant/adhesive.  Once fully cured, we can be certain of the watertight integrity of this new fitting.     

Stuffing Boxes is No Holiday

Working on our rudder stuffing box is challenging, to say the least.  In order to complete this incredibly gratifying task, one must lay upside down in the lazarette with their head up against the hull, all the while manipulating two large pipe wrenches inside a space the size of a shoebox.  Which way is clockwise when you're upside down? 

Bottom Job

Now, I've used a paint scraper before, having scraped countless layers of paint and debris off old windows and trim, but this was before I got an office job.  In Don Casey's book, 'This Old Boat', he says to get a good scraper when doing a bottom job.  I bought two new scrapers, and a new file to sharpen them.  With my flaccid arms and out of shape back muscles, the new scrapers made the job of removing five layers of old bottom paint at least manageable.  Two weekends later, Winsome looks better than ever.  Too bad it's all below the waterline...