Deferred Maintenance

It’s been another busy couple of weeks for Julianne. She’s needed a lot of deferred maintenance and is just about ready to go! Steve from Gold Coast Marine came back and did a full maintenance on the Yanmar 1GM diesel auxiliary motor. He replaced the fuel and oil filters, new water pump impeller, oil change, replaced & fixed some broken bits, etc. He also prepared a nice cruise kit complete with spares for all of the consumable parts including zincs, engine paint, filters, impellers, etc.

We installed two new group 27 deep-cycle dual purpose marine batteries and secured them in their plastic cases. These are the same type and size as the original and should be sufficient for our needs. I plan to add a small solar panel to keep the batteries fully charged while the boat is docked.

Last weekend I installed a new Schaefer 5 series deck mounted double block for the main halyard and boom lift. The old double block seemed to be custom made and consisted of a 5 series block for the main sheet with a smaller block mated to it for the boom lift. The main block was seized and had to be replaced. I used the 5 series double block since it should be more

robust and matches the other blocks on the deck. Dean and I then replaced the main halyard with a 3/8” Stay-Set X all rope halyard (90’) with shackle. The new halyard should be easier to handle with less stretch than the original. It should also be easier to hoist with a working deck control block!

I also added a few clamp-on stanchion blocks for the roller furling. These blocks will keep the furling line off the deck for improved safety and help keep the line cleaner. I think this will also better route the furling line to prevent it from jumping off the drum!

The Wilcox Crittenden Headmate toilet was leaking some seawater from the top of the pump so I re-built it with a maintenance kit. This rebuild included a new piston, inlet, discharge & joker valves, gaskets, packing, and cleaning and lubricating all of the parts in the pump. This was a very unpleasant job and took me all day. In retrospect, I should have just replace the toilet with a new one. The pump is now water tight and seems to be working well. Once I rebuilt the toilet I realized that the Y-valve was clogged and had a broken handle. I replaced the Y-valve and all 1-1/2" sanitation hoses from the head to the holding tank and through hull discharge. This was a miserable job... but the head seems to be working well now!!!

Dennis has made some good progress on the brightwork. He stripped the exterior teak with his heat gun, scraper, and some chemicals. He plugged some of the holes with new bungs and applied a coat of sealer. Today he applied the first coat of varnish and it looks great. Hopefully the brightwork will be completely re-finished by next weekend.

The Ultimate Sole!

I'm done! I'm done! Well...at least for now. I worked all last weekend doing the prep and got the first coat on. Then I went down every night this week to put on another coat. I ended up with 4 1/2 coats - the 1/2 coat was because I only had enough varnish left in the can to do a fifth coat on the high-traffic areas. I say "for now" because I've decided to do another round of coats. The problem is that the wood is so old and rough that I couldn't sand it smooth without taking off the thin veneer. Consequently, in some areas the rough texture of the wood comes through the varnish. So what I'll do is, once it's cured for a couple of weeks, wet-sand the varnish to get it as smooth as possible, then put a few MORE coats on. This should get it smooth and glassy.

As you'll see in the pics, in some areas the wood is still stained and discolored. I considered bleaching it out prior to varnishing, but was concerned that it would end up looking blotchy. I decided to go forward with the varnishing, stains and all. As it turns out, I actually like the way it looks - I think it has a nice antiquey, distressed kind of look.

So, here's the big reveal!

The bow - before & after:





















The stern - before & after


























Here's a couple shots to illustrate the rough texture I'm hoping to smooth out with future coats. The first shot is at the stern, right next to the hatch so it obviously saw lots of traffic and exposure. You can see the texture of the wood comes through the varnish. The second shot is at the bow under the v-berth - this area saw no actual traffic, so it's pristine and the varnish is glassy on it.
















I'm hoping that sanding these first few coats, and then adding more coats, will end up with smooth glassy finish throughout. But even if I stopped here, I'm truly ecstatic over the end result. What a difference!

Here are a few other interior shots, to show off some of the little decorative touches that I've added. Note that there's a carpet that will be covering a large part of my newly-restored sole - almost a shame, but it covers the floor boards over the bilge, so it's kind of necessary.

De-naming, Naming, and Sole Restoration

This was a big weekend for the Matrix. We received the vinyl decals for the name in the mail, so in preparation to apply them, we did a "de-naming" ceremony. And, I began the process of bringing the floor of the boat (known as the "sole") back to life.

First, the de-naming ceremony. As mentioned in an earlier post, ancient traditions of the sea hold that it is unlucky to change the name of a boat. However, after some research, we found that there is a way to change a boat's name and not incur the wrath of those deities that rule the elements.

According to legend, each and every vessel is recorded by name in the Ledger of the Deep and is known personally to Poseidon, or Neptune, the god of the sea. It is logical therefore, if we wish to change the name of our boat, the first thing we must do is to purge its name from the Ledger of the Deep and from Poseidon’s memory.

Fortunately, the former name of the boat, Avocet, had already been removed from the hull when she was in the boatyard. So all we had to do was the actual ceremony. For this we used an “ingot” (a small metal tag) with AVOCET written on it in water-soluble ink, and a bottle of champagne. We invoked the ruler of the deep as follows:

“Oh mighty and great ruler of the seas and oceans, to whom all ships and we who venture upon your vast domain are required to pay homage, implore you in your graciousness to expunge for all time from your records and recollection the name AVOCET, which has ceased to be an entity in your kingdom. As proof thereof, we submit this ingot bearing her name to be corrupted through your powers and forever be purged from the sea.” (At this point, the prepared metal tag was dropped from the bow of the boat into the sea.)

“In grateful acknowledgment of your munificence and dispensation, we offer these libations to your majesty and your court.” (Now we poured most of the bottle of Champagne into the sea from East to West..and took a few swigs ourselves.)

We were now ready to apply the new name, which was quite a tedious process, since the letters didn't seem to want to separate from the paper. But we got it done, and here is the end result:

And on the other side:

SOLE RESTORATION

Julianne has a beautiful teak-&-holly sole that, unfortunately, was never properly cared for. It appears to never have been sealed, oiled or varnished, and twenty years of hard use left it stained, rough and raw-looking. So I agreed to bring it back to life. Research led me to a product called “Ultimate Sole”, a varnish designed specifically for teak-&-holly soles, that will produce a high-gloss finish, astounding footing (high coefficient of friction), and require minimal maintenance over the years.

The process is quite complex, involving deep-cleaning, de-greasing, stripping, sanding, sealing with two coats of sealant, waterless cleaning, tacking, and finally, applying the varnish. It took me all weekend just to do the prep work (cleaning/stripping/sanding/sealing), and I finally got the first coat on at about 8pm Sunday night. Tonight (Monday) I went down to do the second coat, and I’ll continue to go down there every night for the next few nights to add more coats…I probably have enough varnish for 4 to 5 coats total.

I’ll post before and after pics when I’m done.

Our First Sleepover!

We'd been told that D-dock, the dock we selected for Julianne, was the "best" dock at the marina. It's certainly got the best location - directly in front of the clubhouse. D-dock wins the marina's award for "best decorations" for the annual Channel Islands Harbor Christmas Lights Parade more than any of the other docks (as evidenced by all the award plaques in the marina office). There are always people on their boats, working or hanging out, or just sitting on chairs set up on the dock and socializing. We'd been told that July 4th is a pretty big night on D-dock, with a fireworks show right over the harbor. So we chose July 4th to be our first night sleeping onboard Julianne, at the slip.

What a party!
The entire dock was lined with boat owners and their guests, many of whom had set up canopies and tables covered with lavish spreads of food. Some boats were decorated, there were guitars playing, and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. While there were a few people on other docks, none of them had nearly as many as D-dock, and certainly none had the same party atmosphere.

I wanted to try out my new galley, so we fired up the stove for the first time, and I cooked up a traditional July 4th meal of hot dogs, home-made Boston baked beans, and corn-on-the-cob. Everything worked great! It's a bit tight in there, and the sink is small, but I'm a pretty resourceful cook (years of gourmet camp cooking) so I think I'll be able to produce some fabulous meals when we take her over to the islands.

We met many of our dock neighbors, and had some great conversations as the sun set over the channel. Everyone seemed to have brought their dogs - there must have been a dozen pups running around that dock! We'd brought Max, so he made quite a few new friends. Then at 9pm the fireworks started. It was a great display, and VERY close! (Max didn't like the noise very much, so Charlie kept him in the boat, comforting him during the show.)

We settled in to sleep at about midnight - Charlie and I in the v-berth, and Dean on one of the cabin seats. (Julia was away camping, celebrating her 18th birthday.) The v-berth is surprisingly comfortable! I was stunned how roomy it felt - especially with Charlie being 6'4". But it wasn't a tight fit at all! With our feet at the narrow end and our heads at the wide end, there was more than enough room to stretch out. And the cushions are perfectly comfy, even with my bad back. Dean fit fine on the seat in the cabin.

All in all it was a great first night on our new boat, and now I'm really looking forward to taking her over to the islands for a weekend. The Marina is sponsoring an overnight trip to Prisoner's Cove at Santa Cruz on July 19th, with a pot-luck bbq on the beach, so we're planning on that for our first overnighter. Next weekend we'll take her over to Anacapa for a day sail and practice anchoring in preparation.

She's come so far!

I figured it was about time to offer some of my own observations and perspectives on our new sailboat.

I have to admit, the first time I saw this boat sitting hauled out in the boatyard - filthy, covered with a thick layer of dirt and dust, spintered brightwork, faded deck, smelling of well-ripened sewage down below - I wasn't very confident that she could ever become anything that I would want to spend much time on.

Boy was I wrong!

I must say it was a huge leap of faith to purchase this boat without even starting the motor, or doing a sea trial. While Ross (our surveyor) indicated that she was solidly built and needed only minor repairs (although a LOT of them), there were just so many unknowns that would remain unknowable until we got her in the water. And I had some pretty strong fears that launching her, and the subsequent inspections and discoveries, would reveal huge, money-sucking problems that would ultimately bust the budget, IF they were even worth resolving.

My first fear was that the engine wouldn't start. My heart was pounding as she was carefully placed in the water by the huge boat-launching apparatus. Which was pretty cool to watch - check out the pics:



But to my surprise, she fired up instantly! Our first sea trial was a bit hairy - pretty big swells, strong winds, and two out of the three crewmembers had no idea what to do. (It's been 16 years since we sold our first boat, and Dean had never been sailing at all). We had a few stressful moments when the roller furling line got fouled up and Charlie had to climb up to the wildly-bouncing bow to untangle it. He really needs to get a harness, because if one of those big swells had knocked him overboard, I'm not so sure I would have been able to figure out how to pick him up!

Other than that, everything worked great. But there were other potential disasters still to be sorted out. What was that awful engine alarm that kept beeping every time we were in the harbor? Was the rigging okay, or would we have to dump a pile of money into fixing it? Would the batteries hold a charge, or would they need replacing? Will the bottom-cleaning diver be able to replace the zinc for us when needed? How will the boat sail?

As of today, most of our fears have proven to be groundless. Dean figured out the alarm was actually from the incorrectly-set depth-sounder, NOT the engine (PHEW!); the rigging inspector proclaimed the rigging to be fine; the diver gave us a reasonable quote for periodic replacement of the zinc; the batteries are holding their charge; the roller furling is working fine now. And, best of all, she sails like a dream!

CLEANING FRENZY

Starting almost as soon as we got her in the slip, Dean, Charlie and I have been spending hours cleaning and sprucing her up. The first order of business for me was the teak & holly sole (the floor). While the rest of the interior wood looks bright and shiny, the sole is dingy, faded and dull. So I'm planning on varnishing her myself - I've ordered a varnish designed specifically for teak & holly soles. But first I had to completely de-grease and clean the entire floor, which took most of the day and lots of sweat and elbow grease. Now I'm waiting for the varnish to arrive so I can get started.

My next angle of attack was the galley, which was filthy, covered in caked-on grease, with its stainless fixtures pockmarked with corrosion. I scrubbed it all until it shone, and even got most of the corrosion off the fixtures. A trip to Walmart helped me to completely furnish my galley with all the cookware, utensils and dinnerware we might ever need.

And here's the finished galley:















Then the three of us got to work waxing/polishing all the fiberglass surfaces. This made a HUGE difference, especially in the cockpit which previously was filthy, scuffed, and covered with black streaks. Well, after an afternoon spent doing wax-on-wax-off, it is now brilliant white.

Finally, I decided to see if I could do something about the awful whitish fading on the edges of all the treadmaster panels on the deck. Turns out that it wasn't fading after all - it was residue from previous careless wax jobs. I attacked it with boat soap and a scrub brush, and sure 'nuff it came out! Now the entire boat looks bright and shiny. The last cosmetic task is the brightwork, which still is all faded and splintered, but Doug, the wood guy, is going to come by soon to get that done so the entire boat will look almost new!

NAMING OUR BOAT

We went through a number of different ideas and suggestions, but ultimately it was Charlie's choice, as this is really his baby. He chose to name her after the two women in life: Julianne, which is an amalgamation of our daughter (Julia) and me (LeeAnne). I left it up to Julia to select the font for the name, and she chose a lovely one; I added in a graphic of a manta ray. I ordered vinyl stick-on letters online, which should be here in a few days. Here's how it turned out:



There are a couple reasons for the manta ray. First of all, I've seen several manta rays close-up when diving (in Bali and the Marquesas Islands), and to me they represent the best of the sea: they are huge, strong, graceful and peaceful, gliding through the ocean like massive angels. Also, the winged keel on the boat is reminiscent of the shape of a manta ray. Finally I just thought the graphic of the manta ray looks lovely next to the name!

Before we can apply the new name, however, we have to hold an important ceremony. Renaming a boat is not something to be done lightly. Since the beginning of time, sailors have sworn that doing so can cause the ship to become unlucky, as they have defied the gods of the sea by changing the name. We would prefer to avoid any potential unlucky-ness (is that a word?), so we found a suitable boat de-naming and re-naming ceremoney that involves invocations to the sea gods, and pouring a couple bottles of champagne over the deck. Seems a shame to waste good libations, but hey, we'll do what needs to be done!

Rigging Inspected, Bottom Activated, Great Sail

Today was a beautiful and productive day for us! Kim W. from the Anacapa Boat Yard came by our slip this morning to inspect the rigging. He thoroughly inspected the standing and running rigging. It was a treat to watch him hoist himself aloft. Overall the rigging was found to be very solid. He suggested we regularly lubricate the turnbuckles and other moving parts with a product called Aero Kroil to prevent seizing. He tested the roller furling and demonstrated that the furling line pretty much fills the drum when the sail is unfurled. Reducing the furling line diameter with a new smaller line or removing a couple of strands from the existing line should make it work better. The masthead tri-color and steaming lights worked OK, but the deck light was missing a bulb. Other than that, the rigging and equipment aloft got a clean bill of health.

At the same time, Basey Shane from Basey's Bottoms came by to give us a quote on his bottom cleaning service and "re-activate" the anti-fouling bottom paint. Since the boat was sitting out of the water in the boatyard for several months after the bottom was re-painted, the bottom paint needed to be lightly scrubbed to re-activate its anti-fouling properties. We should now be ready for a regular bottom cleaning service. We will have Basey remove, clean, and re-lube the new aluminum prop every 3-6 months to ensure that it does not seize to the SS shaft. He liked the new easier to replace split zinc anodes that Steve installed last week.

We then ate lunch and took her out for a wonderful sail! We had 15-20 knot winds with 3-6 foot swells. We set the reefed main in the harbor and pulled out the Genoa as we passed the jetty. We sailed out to the oil drilling platform Gina and back. We were sailing at 3.5 to 5 knots out while close hauled heading into the swells and 5.5-6.5 knots on the return at a broad/beam reach running with the swells on our port quarter. The Matrix 27 sailed wonderfully. She was very stable, had a neutral helm, and rolled with the swells very naturally. We only took a few splashes of water when some of the largest swells caught us off guard. We got to experiment with our new hand held Garmin GPS and used it to verify the accuracy of our knot meter.

On the way back to our slip we stopped off at Coast Chandlery to get a replacement tank for our LPG (Safegas) stove. Now we just need to figure out how to use the stove! Back at the slip we realized that the diesel motor dripped some oil on our freshly cleaned teak & holly cabin floor. I didn't see any obvious leaks... so we'll have to keep an eye on this. The boat washed down nicely and is ready to be sailed again later this week.

More Cleaning and New Covers

We've been busy the last few days cleaning the boat up and and sorting her out. LeeAnne and I gave the Treadmaster non-skid deck surface a well needed scrubbing. It took a lot of elbow grease but looks much better now! We also cleaned and furnished the cabin which is looking much more comfy. The boat smells fresh now that the holding tank was pumped and bilge was cleaned. We changed the engine oil and figured out that the one intermittent alarm we were worried about was just the depth sounder alarm (Dean figured that one out)!

Here are a few pics of the cleaned up decks and new covers:
Gilberto did a great job on the cockpit cushions and covers for the cabin, handrails, tiller, and bow hatch. We expect to get the brightwork re-finished within the next week or so. The new covers should keep the brightwork looking nice and minimize the maintenance.

We took her out for a brief sail Sunday afternoon. It was a "fresh breeze" with about 17-20 knot winds and 3-6 foot swells. We were sailing at 3-5 knots with only a reefed main. The main sail was easy to reef and it powered the boat nicely. We didn't want to raise too much sail until we get the rigging inspected.