Saturday I went to the boat yard to continue the
winterization process. I had to drive
around the yard slowly to find where they park the boat.Since I told them I planned to put it back in
the water in early April, they put me on the outside of the row.Makes for easy access.
When they hauled the boat out of the water they power spray
the bottom.It looks pretty good.No need for painting next season.J
Found Thanks Dad next to a 50-55 footer on Saturday
I removed most items from the boat including the sails, lines,
electronics, bilge pump and many other miscellaneous items.I also “winterized” the head by flushing anti
freeze through the system.
On Sunday I fabricated a frame for a winter cover.I used 1” Schedule 40 PVC pipe.I designed it so that I will be able to
remove the bow and stern pulpit, stanchions and life lines.I plan to have the bow and stern pulpits
straightened over the winter.I also plan
to straighten and sand blast the stanchions.The frame design should be good for this year without the pulpits and
stanchions and it will also work for subsequent years when they are left in
place.
The frame has a “T” fitting at the base of each leg which is
36” high.Then it goes to a “45” degree
fitting, another straight piece and then to a “T” at the peak.The height above the deck is high enough to
easily get around the entire boat.
"T" fitting tied to the base of each stanchion
"45" degree fitting at the top of the "36" leg
Peak
Working around the mast (aft side)
Working around the Mast
I sprayed each fitting with silicon spray so that it will hopefully
come apart easily next spring.I plan to
drill a pilot hole and then use a stainless steel screw at each fitting to make
sure everything holds together.
Saturday and Sunday both had lots of rain and even some
thunder.
Sunday afternoon my brother and I brought the boat from the
marina over to the boat yard in the rain.There were tornado warnings in the county just south of the marina.We didn’t experience anything other than rain
for most of the trip and the rain stopped as we got close to the boat yard.
When we arrived at the yard, we kept the engine running to
keep it hot.
We closed the seacock for the engine cooling water and
poured antifreeze into the water filter for the engine to get that step of the winterization
process complete.
We were also able to take the mainsail off the mast and stow
it before the rain started back up.
The boat is scheduled to be hauled early this coming week.
I didn’t get the chance to go sailing on Saturday because
the refrigerator at home decided to die Saturday morning just as I was getting
ready to leave the house to go sailing.
On Sunday I went sailing with my brother.
With only 1 week end left before we have the boat hauled out
of the water, we had the holding tank for the head pumped out and filled up the
fuel tank before heading out for the day’s sail.
The temperatures were on the “brisk” side with a high of 49
degrees while we were out sailing.We
both wore long johns, but for most of the day we only had to wear a
sweatshirt.With the sun out it was
ok.Towards the end of the day more
clouds were overhead and with the sun behind the clouds it motivated us to put
our jackets on, but it was still pretty comfortable.
The winds were all over the place in both speed and
direction.The wind speed ranged from 6
to 20 knots, picking up and slowing down and picking up and slowing down again
many times. The direction of the wind was changing from coming out of the west
to the north and then back again several times.
All in all it was a good day for a sail.
Last week I bought a new kite for my Kite Cam.The wingspan was 50” compared to the 41” wingspan
of my first kite.I figured that would
be enough to get the camcorder up.I did
not open the kite’s package though and once I did it was a big disappointment.Yes the wingspan was bigger, but overall it
was a tiny kite.I pretty much knew it
wasn’t going to work, but gave it a try anyway…it didn’t work.
