Acquisitions and Installations

June brought little sailing for my crew. There was the first weekend outing that ended in sea sickness and the "Father's Day" voyage that only involved a brief engine run to Bowen. But it was nice to finally meet the Skipper's kids even though it was only for an afternoon.- Corleto

The month of June had been a bit disappointing as far as sailing the boat was concerned. There was poor weather, lack of crew and of course the always present "list of things to do". But I did manage to get out briefly on Father's Day with the kids. Their first time aboard- I really enjoyed that.

Happy Father's Day - my daughter Sarah and son Ben

Of course the replacement of Old Otto was a big one to scratch off the "list". Now when at sea a steady course could be maintained while attending to matters away from the helm. That was a big one. Trying to douse sails  into the wind with someone not confident with the tiller could be an adventure. Otto steers steady and eliminates the angst of going forward.

Then there was the matter of the Windex, not the glass cleaner, but the wind vane that sits atop of the mast. Corleto's had been broken, but at the time of sale her former skipper made sure a new one was included. It just had to be installed. That would require a climb up the mast for the installation. 

Now anyone who knows me, can imagine my 240 plus frame being winched high above the deck to effect the installation. What could possibly go wrong. Lots. 

Lucky for me I had been introduced some weeks ago to a fellow who not only has forgotten more than I will ever know about boating, but he was once a Lineman and had spent his professional life climbing utility poles. He had offered to scale my mast and install this vital piece of equipment. Meet Richard and his first mate Pat -owners and crew of the pleasure sailboat Habu.  These folks always have suggestions to the many conundrums that come with owning a sailboat. They have cruised all over this wonderful coast and are making ready for a 3 month voyage up north. 

He came over one afternoon, taking a break from painting his decks, knocking on Corleto's hull. I was deep into the bowels of the boat, searching for a weeping leak of all things,,, the holding tank system- not pleasant. I was more than happy to postpone my task with the nasty plumbing to take Richard up on his offer. 

Before long Richard attached the halyard to his bosans chair, Pat and I began winching him skyward. Once aloft he quickly installed the Windex and checked on all things at the top of the mast. On his decent, which speaking from my perspective on the winch, was a whole lot easier than the trip up, he inspected standing rigging, lights and spreaders. It was a relief when he landed back on the deck to report that all was good aloft. 

Richard aloft installing Corleto's new Windex

It was great to have that task off the "to do list".

In one of the many conversations we have had with Richard and Pat as well with our slip neighbour  Aaron, it was suggested that a boat tender or dingy might be something to look into. I hadn't really thought too much of it except to add that to the "I wants" list for maybe next season. But the more people spoke of just how handy a tender is when at anchor, I decided to begin to look. It wasn't long before I found one. But was it too big for my 27 Catalina? I went to check it out. It sure looked big. I took my measuring tape and jotted numbers down, returned to the boat and began to fill in those numbers with actual fore deck size. It would be a tight squeeze. I pulled the trigger and now have acquired a dingy tender a full year ahead of plan. Oh boy, the dollars just keep flying out of my pocket.
But the upside is we have one now and are able to explore a bit when at anchor. We just need to get out there.

The dingy- and not the guy waving to the camera

Now the final issue- the holding tank. I found the weep. It was from the old santi pipes, they have developed a couple of cracks. So full replacement of the piping from the tank to the thru hull and to the deck pump out is required. Thats a job for the first Saturday in July.

Pray for me.