During three intense weeks we tried to make some progress on multiple projects while trying to “move-in” our small sailboat. We were growing more anxious each time we unloaded stuff from our pickup truck on the boat and were seeing the boat sinking more and more… Well, we are not fully loaded yet, but now we start to be accustomed to see the new super high waterline;-) This was a difficult period since mixing several projects with organizing our new live aboard was not easy. Alas, we completed some items of our list.
- Installed a flat rope roller on the stern pulpit
- Had some welding done to mount the liferaft on the stern pulpit
- Had a stainless steel ”faux” boom gallow made to attach a navigation awning [need picture]
- Lot of sawing for various projects [more later]
- Added a spinnaker and a pole to our sail-robe [not flown yet]
- Re-redo the stuffing box (back to the basic, no more drip free packing)
- Lowered the exhaust waterlift
- Replaced the two 105Ah flooded batteries with 2×80 Ah AGM house batteries (GPL-24T) + 1×870CCA AGM starting battery (GPL-2400T) [switching for flooded batteries to AGM implied a series of other changes, but I knew that I did not want go cruising with moving acid in my boat]
- Replaced the stock alternator with one high output externally regulated alternator (Balmar 60 Series)
- Installed a new smart regulator (ARS-5)
- Replaced the old battery combiner with a combiner with real charge profile (Duo-Charge)
- Replaced the old 15A battery charger with a 20A - 3 stages battery charger (Protech 1220i)
- Installed a 50W solar panel (Kyocera KC 50) on the stern pulpit [and moved the stern running light on the panel]
- Installed a solar panel regulator (ProStar PS-15M)
Well, almost two years since our last line… Not that we stopped working on Plume or did not sail. Just that web presence went down on our priority list.
But now that we are going for more than a few day-sails, we ought to write something!
So let’s back up: A few months ago we made the decision to stop working for one year and go sailing. Since then, it has been dense days to advance some projects on Plume while remaining committed to our professional life. The plan is to go slowly to Mexico and farther if possible. We will start with some very gentle hops down the California coast to see how we can manage our 4 year old with our sailing…
- August 1st 2008: First day of our 1 year “sabbatical”. Yeah! Now we have to rush to take advantage of this coming year: try not to stay stuck with our infinite list of projects and go sailing asap.
- August 4th: We haul out Plume for bottom paint and some other work requiring to be out of the water (longer stuffing box hose, new raw water intake valve, new transducer, and we discovered new cutless bearing).
- August 12th: Splashed with 3 new coats of Micron 66, and lighter bank account! Now we have to get going to avoid growth on our bottom!
This spring/summer we performed two major jobs (mostly cosmetic but practical as well) on Plume.
First, we finally varnished the cap rail and rub rail. We already had done the rub-rail one time before, but it had been a failure due to a bad varnish. So the teak wood had been left bare for most of Plume’s life. In fact we (specially Lorenzo!) like the appearance and touch of the grey teak, but we thought that the wood would resist longer with a proper protection. After many other experiments we finally found a system that works well for us and seems to last long without re-varnishing every six months. It is a dual process with 1 impregnation + 3 coats of epoxy (West System) followed by 3-5 + 1 final coats of a two part urethane (Bristol Finish). This is a considerable job but the benefit is less maintenance afterwards.
Secondly, we had the Plume’s topsides repainted by a boat yard. The original gelcoat was showing serious sign of oxidation. This is probably due to the fact the Plume’s hull is older than the rest of the boat, and certainly to a lack of maintenance from our part (our experience with a varnished plywood/epoxy hull made us thought
that fiberglass was maintenance free!). Anyway, it was time for a refresh and since we could choose any color we wanted, we decided to reverse Plume’s original colors. This was a tough decision because we loved our Blue Boat. However, we are hoping that a light color will last longer and generate less heat inside the boat if we go farther south. The boat yard did an excellent job and Plume has now beautiful “cream”? topsides with a “navy”? stripe. They used a linear polyurethane (AWLGRIP) that is supposed to last much longer than gelcoat and require less maintenance as well.
We are delighted with our fresh Plume, and even start to be accustomed to see her in her new dress!