Victory

"With each weekend, each chore, my skipper is gaining confidence. I am growing fond of his crew mate, she makes great suggestions and keeps my new skipper in line. I think we could be sisters"- Corleto

With the summer cruising season upon us, I am anxious to get out on an extended cruise. But there is still so much to do. That "List" never seems to get shorter. But the last few weeks it feels like progress has been made with the completion of the "holding tank" problem and the addition of the Magma BBQ. Each of the last several weekends, the trip to the Marina involved work and no play.

The second weekend in July promised to be no different, until my newly promoted Chief Engineer suggested as we got to the dock- "Why don't we just sail today."

Music to my ears!

Corleto and her crew as she heads out into Howe Sound 

We cast off and set sail for waters nearby. This would act as an occasion to exercise the crew. We practiced our tacks and gybes. Otto worked flawlessly as we tested him with both motor and sail. We worked on our communication and did not play ourselves out. Both days were glorious and good for the soul. This is what I had visions of when I bought Corleto back in February.

Things that were so difficult on those early cruises, like sail trimming, keeping a steady helm, hoisting and dousing sails were becoming more relaxed and efficient.

Charlene on the helm in English Bay

Charlene was gaining confidence up on the bow. It was becoming her preferred position on the deck.
On that Sunday, in a stiff wind and bumpy chop, she scurried up to the bow and had that working jib down and secured so fast, you would have thought she had crewed an America's Cup boat. You could not wipe the look of pride off of my face after seeing that.
Coming into the dock, again her skill impresses me. She keeps those eyes sharp and anticipates the boat well. Stepping off the "fat" part of the boat and onto the dock she has that break line cleated in seconds. As couples go, we are not the "show".

After the engine is shut off and my stern line secured, we engage in a congratulatory embrace. The exchange celebrating how far we have come, in today's outing, and on our greater cruising journey. There is still much for us to learn together and we know it will be all in good time. For now we accept our boating victory- a good daysail, time on the water, together. This is our end of voyage ritual, one we borrowed from a more experienced couple we observed weeks ago. It is one we will carry into our voyages of the future, no matter how long or how short.

With Corleto snug in her berth, we treated ourselves to a nice hot meal prepared on our new marine grill. We sat back, enjoyed the view and enjoyed the trappings of boat ownership. With our first trans Straight of Georgia passage on the horizon, it was good to have crew moral at a high.

Victory!

Pumps and Prayers

I am going to forgo photos for this post as I believe the Theatre of the Mind is really all you need.

The weekend that I had been dreading was now upon me. I had asked for prayers, sought any information I could glean from any source. My man Richard (the mast climber) had given me some pointers and suggestions, but now it was up to me to cure Corleto of her bowel trouble. Yes I was about to tackle the nastiest of boat chores, the fixing of the holding tank system.

I had discovered that Corleto had a bit of leakage around a discharge pump every time we used the head. It would not manifest itself for several hours, but the tell tale sign of moisture and that distinctive odour suggested that all was not right with Coleleto's digestive system. Surgery would be required. But would it be a simple fix? Or a complete reconstruction of the system, only way to tell was to get in there and get'er done.
My first task was to steam off all of the build up around the pump. I used a hand steamer to do this. That is when I discovered cracks on the santi pipe around the pump. If I was lucky all it would be is a simple replacement of the cracked pipes and we would be done. I began with removal of the pipe from the thru hull to the pump, working backwards toward the holding tank itself.
That first section of hose came off with a bit of coaxing and only made a minor mess in the little compartment.
I could now inspect inside of the pump. This was not good as it was totally blocked by the crystals that had formed over the years. The pump would have to be removed and replaced. It too came off with a bit of coaxing and a couple of F-bombs. Now I had a bit of spillage of a darker, nastier nature. More F-Bombs. I had to cut a section of pipe to remove the cracks. I cut it just a bit short.  More spillage, even more F-Bombs. I quickly plugged the open pipe with a bung.

It was indeed fortunate that the spillage was contained within the small compartment and did not escape into the rest of the boat. I made a quick clean up and disinfected the area right away. Once everything was dry and clean I could perform the next test.
I needed to make sure that this pipe/pump was in fact, the problem. So I pumped some seawater into the system via the marine head. Provided nothing came out of the holding tank at the bottom and all other junctions and pipe joints did not weep, we could simply replace what had been removed. Simple. It only dripped by the bung. EURIKA! We have found the problem.

I decided that for this season, I would not replace the thru hull which was locked shut and was pretty much useless in this system. It would wait until next years haul out. I figured the pump would be replaced at that point as well so I decided that all I would have to do is join the old pipe with a section of new pipe which would connect to the closed thru hull and DING DING DING, I would have a closed system.

I discussed my solution with my crew. She suggested running it by more experienced owners nearby. It seemed like a good plan and a good fix.
Off to the Marine Supply store to pick up a section of santi pipe. I was kinda proud of myself. This difficult dreaded job seemed to be over.

Returning to the dock with a spring in my step and new santi hose in hand, I figured another 15 minutes and it would be done. Now all I had to do was attach the new pipe to both the old one and bridge the gap to the thru haul. Easy, peezy.

When I removed the bung,,,,, Remember, I had asked for prayers,,,,,,,, those prayers were not enough.

A fountain of the foulest, nastiest stuff you could possibly imagine came flying out of the old pipe. I dropped the bung and grabbed another to stem the torrent. I was now looking at an environmental disaster. Surely the Feds would need to send an emergency response team to save the wee turtles.

You see I did not expect, that is, I mistakenly thought, the holding tank was empty. I figured that the earlier spillage was just residual matter. I had been sold a boat full of someone else's ,,,,,,,, stuff.

I gave up for the day.  An early morning voyage to Snug Cove to a pump out station was now a priority.
The staff there were very helpful. Pump out was the first thing I should have done but overlooked before the project had even begun. It was fast and easy, And the killer, the pump out was only 10 bucks.

Meanwhile back at our dock I still had a hose to attach. Even that little task would fight me. Remember that short pipe? Well a big mans hands cannot get a decent grip and the heating method (my hand steamer) is not doing the job. I was frustrated to no end and was beginning to think that my boat hated me.

And that is when those prayers were answered- my crew- Charlene suggested that she help and suggested that I use boiling water to soften the pipe. She of course was right. And she has been promptly promoted to Chief Engineer.

What should have been a 3 hour project had turned into a 2 day boat enema.

Yippy Ky Yay- It's done!

Now Lets go Cruising!

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.

Bastard Son of Otto

It is with some regret that I must announce the passing of Crew member "Otto" the Autohelm.
Otto was an original member of Corletto's crew and accepted the new Skipper with the respect and enthusiasm of any professional mariner. He was an old salt and helped guide Corleto on many adventures. His final voyage he kept a steady course as he helped guide Corleto's new crew north to Point Roberts and beyond.
But as many old salts, time has a way to creep up on him, and ol' Otto collapsed at his post, his grip firmly on the tiller, heading north to Vancouver on a rainy and cold February day. The skipper tried to revive him but all efforts failed and now ol' Otto will be buried at sea.

Otto the Autohelm laying in state aboard Corleto

And while I am sad about Otto's passing, we are celebrating the addition to the crew of New Digital Otto. I had hoped that Otto Jr would simply plug into his dad's two pronged socket, but no, that would be too easy. It seemed that when ol' Otto was at sea, Mrs. Otto was gettin' her digital freak on with some Engineer at Raymarine. Junior has a socket with six input leads. No matter, I need to put those new marine wiring skills to use sooner or later and install the Bastard Son of Otto onto Corleto.

The new socket receptacle for Junior

The install operation went very well, except for the fact I could not find my precision screw driver set that I always keep in my car. Thank god for dollar stores, as I found a set for 2 bucks. Perhaps the most inexpensive tools in the Corleto tool box.

With what, I felt was, the skill of a surgeon, I drilled and connected wires of the new socket mount. Carefully installing it to the engine panel. I was pretty pleased- until I discovered that I had overlooked a rather important detail- that of a rubber gasket to keep the water out of the electrical panel.

After the appropriate F-Bomb, I got to work to reopen the wound and do some corrective surgery.

"Ratchet Screw Driver,,"
"Check"
Mumble, mumble,,,
"Precision standard,,,,"
"Check"
"Gasket,,,"
"Sponge,,,,"
Mumble, mumble,,,
"Ok close the patient,,,,,,"
"Diet Pepsi,,,,,"

Now the moment of truth, would Otto respond?

Turn power on,,,,,
"beep, beep, beep"

We have a heart beat. We have brought to life the newest member of Corleto's crew, Otto Jr. the new Autohelm. He would be a welcome addition and I am sure make his namesake proud.

Otto Jr- on sea trials- performing like a pro.

Weekend on the Water

The May long weekend. I have no words, but I do have VIDEO. Please enjoy.

Words I Wanted to Hear

I know it has been a bit since pounding out thoughts to words on this Blog. Perhaps it has taken me that long to recover from my last adventure on the "high seas". Let's set the "way back" machine to two  Sunday's ago and the scene, a perfect sunny Howe Sound day.

I had been feeling very good about Corleto's recent marine survey and my tires had been pumped by many about my docking prowess. This sailboat skipper thing was really beginning to grow on me. We had met a fine fellow that has a berth next to ours at the marina. He sails his boat single handed and is always looking to have others join him on the water. 

After a day of cleaning, our neighbour Aaron, invited us to join him with Corleto out on Howe Sound/ English Bay for an afternoon of having some fun in the wind. It sounded great. The weather forecast was for light winds, a perfect day on the water with sails full and land based troubles far far away. 

Charlene and I cast off just before 11 am and motored our way out into the Sound. Aaron with his 29 foot sailboat Serenity Now was not far behind. The sun was out and the winds were very light about 4 kts. 

I hoisted the main, and the jib and both filled with the breeze and just like that Corleto came to life as I set a course toward Bowen Island. 

Amazing how the sounds of the rigging and the sails take you to that happy place that defines nirvana.

A look behind us, and Aaron on Serenity Now, putting out his laundry and filling his sails. A scan ahead off our port bow, a club outing from Bowen Island. The fleet all heading toward the entrance to English Bay. We adjusted our course to parallel the Bowen Fleet, keeping a sharp eye out for ferries in and out of Horseshoe Bay as we made way. All was right with the world. The name Serenity Now seemed very appropriate, for that is what were were feeling serenity, now.

Aaron, Skipper of Serenity Now in Howe Sound

Howe Sound is shaped much like a funnel and is flanked by mountains on each side. It a beautiful fjord  with winds that can race down from the glaciers of the Tantalus Mountains,  Mount Garibaldi and the backside of the mountains of Cypress Provincial Park. 

Just after noon, I noticed that Aaron, had changed course and was heading back toward Horseshoe Bay. He had been having some difficulty, or so I had thought. What he saw and what I missed was the katabatic wind that was about to make our day a whole lot more,,,,, interesting. 

Charlene first felt a cold kiss of air on her cheek and mentioned it to me. The winds began to pick up and all of a sudden, Corleto was accelerating to 6 kts. 

OK i thought this would be fun clipping along toward English Bay with some speed. We had this brisk winds coming from our port quarter and we were on a run towards Point Atkinson. The boat was surprisingly calm with this sudden wind burst. But the winds just kept picking up. I figured the wind speed went from 5 to 30 + kts in about 4 minutes. I had Charlene prepare for a Gybe as I wanted to put the wind to my Starboard quarter. I hardened the main sheet to bring the boom as close to center as possible, and Gybed. It seemed to go quite well, that is until both of my Jib sheets went flying through the blocks and began whipping around the front of the bow.

Shit, a rookie mistake, no stopper knots on the jib sheets. Now the jib was making an ungodly sound with sheets in and out of the water. 

I had Charlene take the tiller while I would scurry up front to get control of the wayward Jib. 

She could not seem to hold the course and the sudden weather helm forced her to turn the boat onto a beam reach. With a full main the boat healed over so far I thought she would put the rails into the water. Just at that moment I had grabbed the Jib. The sudden force of the now fully powered sail damn near threw me overboard. I simply let go of the sail and scurried back to the helm. All the while poor Charlene was fighting the helm. Corleto was doing circles at a rather fast speed. Fortunately there were no other boats close by.

Serenity now?,,,, more like Apocalypse Now!

I managed to get back to the helm.
By this time I could see that Charlene was completely spooked and shaken. I had to get this sail under control and get this Jib down. My mind was racing at light speed. I am sure my heart rate was doing the same. 

I maneuvered the boat in such a way as to have the way word jib sheets flip to the cockpit I managed to grab one. The boat gybed- I didn't plan that one- If that happened again I figured I would rip the boom  right off the mast. I managed to have Charlene take the helm one last time. My mission this time was to just get the jib down and secured to the pulpit. This time Charlene managed to keep her course, sort of, for the 2 minutes it took me to get the hanked sail down and a sheet tied to act as a tie down for the headsail.

I got back to the helm. 

Now as the winds and waves are increasing yet again, I had to come up with a plan to get what was an over powered Main down. I put the boat into a run and began to head to the mouth of the Sound with the plan to duck into the lee of Point Atkinson using the point as a wind break or to head to the lee side of one of those massive ships at anchor in English Bay. 

Of course what I should have done was just turn the boat into the wind and drop the sail, but again with the speed of thoughts flying through my brain, the thought scanners missed the most obvious course of action.

The other problem with my boat is, there is no topping lift rigged from the top of the mast. All Corleto has is a lift that hooks the boom on the center of the back stay. Completely useless to me in this situation. 

No matter. 

I had an over powered main, in a run, with a crew member that was shaken and worried about potentially loosing me overboard, and wanting to avoid crashing the boom onto the deck. 

I eased the main out. The boat was now a bit "happy-er". 

Then I worked on comforting and reassuring my crew. I told her of how proud I was of her for keeping her course while I got the headsail down. She became quiet. That worried me. But I spoke softly and reassured her that we were OK and that the boat was OK. 

I then hardened the main sheet and began to bring down the main. I placed the boom on the dodger. The main was finally down, the squall seemed to be over. but the seas were now very choppy. With the engine running and my crew calm, I turned the boat towards home and began the long slosh home to Horseshoe Bay. 

We both were silent as we headed home. I was just trying to get my heart rate back to non lethal levels. Charlene was now battling sea sickness.  Could this get any worse? 

We finally pulled into Horseshoe Bay. I slowed the engine. I tried to get fenders ready and at least one dock line ready. The boat was still being smacked by rough waves. 

I asked Charlene if she was able to get up on the bow with a dock line. She did. 

As I turned the corner into our Marina, I noticed a figure waiting at our berth. It was Aaron. He helped us tie up and had tea on his boat, something to help calm us all. It was an amazing gesture. One that I will not forget. 

Charlene got off the boat and collapsed into my arms and let it all out. I figured the next words out of her mouth were going to be "I'm never getting on this boat ever again". And just like that my sailing days would be over.

But she said- " Murray, I think I should take some sailing lessons"

I had her enrolled the next day.

Charlene- during her Crew Course at Cooper's 

The Haul Out Butterflies

It had been over a month since I became the owner of my first sailboat "Corleto" an 82 Catalina 27. It was bought sight on scene without the customary presale survey. It had been a gamble, but would it prove to be a costly mistake? This question would be answered whether I like it or not during the haul out and insurance survey that I had arranged to take place last week.

As the day approached, my mood and nerves were short. My stomach in knots, imagining all sorts of bad news coming from such an exercise. I read as much as I could about bottom painting, replacing anodes and the like. The best info I had was she hadn't been hauled for two seasons. What would be in store? Could I get finished what needed to be done in the 3 day window of the haul out? My head was spinning at an alarming rate. Perhaps I should wire up a tachometer to my head to see if I am red lining.

The weekend before the scheduled haul, I had booked myself into a marine diesel engine course at Cooper's Boating. Why not put more new information into an already melting down brain.
Turns out the course was perhaps the best investment to date as it pertains to looking after my new beauty. The parts that looked so intimidating to me when I bought her, now seemed to make sense. At least I could identify the parts and components. Being around other boat owners was good for me as well. We traded war stories of boat ownership. It was encouraging that I seemed to be doing OK compared to some. I took a bit of comfort in that.

It had been many years since I had been into the small harbour that is Thunderbird Marina, home of the travel lift and the yard that would serve as dry dock for Corleto. It was recommended I arrive around 13:30 as the tide would be rising and that would insure sufficient water under keel coming to the lift.

My friend Kinc had offered his services to come and help with the haul out and bottom work. He also drove my vehicle from our home Marina to Thunderbird while Charlene and I motored Corleto to the yard. It was a pleasant trip. But as we approached the entrance to the harbour, my stomach began to do back flips.

Butterflies.
More like bats flying around inside.

I looked at my watch, we were early.
Was there enough water to have us motor on in? I decided to do several slow circles in the widest part of the harbour killing some time. At about 13:30 with Charlene up on the bow with dock line at the ready, I committed to the narrow channel into the travel lift.
Dead slow, there was no turning back.
My depth meter read 11 feet, 10 feet ,,, 8 feet.
This was the most tension I had ever felt when on a helm. Charlene kept a sharp eye on the water ahead, silently pointing potential rock hazards. She was fast becoming a good bowman, keeping the helmsman aware of what was ahead. Time seemed to stand still as we progressed. It seemed longer than I remembered with Kinc's boat all those years ago.
We came to the end of the channel where we had to make a sharp turn to port. As Corleto's bow came around there was Kinc on the dock. We had done it. We hadn't scraped the bottom or smacked ourself into another vessel.
A voice from the travel lift guided us the rest of the way. Steering the boat toward the cradle straps, Bob ( the Yard Boss) told me to cut the engine. And just like that Corleto was in the grips of the lift crew.

As we disembarked, it began to rain. The motors of the travel lift began to whine. Corleto whether she liked it or not was about to show us her nether regions. The crew went to work to spray her bottom and remove any growth, before settling her into her blocks.

Corleto showing off her bottom

I was astonished at what I saw. The bottom looked in great shape.  It was determined that I would not need to paint the hull this season. A look at the prop and shaft, and it too was is great condition. The zincs would need changing, no big deal.

The Marine Surveyor was quick to hop aboard and begin his work. When it was done, he found a couple of minor things that could be looked at, but all in all he said to me that she was a great boat for her age and that I got a great deal. He shook my hand, gave me a valuation and you could not wipe the smile off my face. It appears the gamble had paid off in spades. I had a good boat and she will serve us well as a coastal cruiser.

Sitting proudly on her blocks

Keeping in mind this was my first experience as an owner with a boat on the hard. The Yard crew made us feel very welcome and told us that no question was too stupid. They were simply amazing. One fellow providing tips on the use of Muriatic Acid. Another stopping by from time to time to inspect my work. He would tell Charlene what he thought of our work and make the odd suggestion if we were headed in the wrong direction. They made us feel right at home. And their thoughts and expertise were truly appreciated.

New Zincs on the prop shaft

When it was time to relaunch, the Boss took one more walk around to inspect the prop, and hull. He reinforced the sentiments of the Marine Surveyor with "You got yourself a good little boat, it should give you allot of fun this summer."

One more walk around before relaunch

We hopped aboard after they set Corleto gently into the water. I started the engine, engaged the transmission and with a salute from Bob (the Yard Boss) "You look like a Skipper Murray. Have fun, sail safe."

We headed back to Horseshoe Bay. This time the butterflies were gone.