Small projects

Yesterday the boatyard called to see if we were ready for launch. As appealing as that notion sounds, we are not ready. We are not ready because the hull needs to be waxed first. That happens this Sunday. We are not ready because it’s cold and rainy – spring weather has not arrived. That happens this weekend as well, but we don’t know if it will stick around very long. We are not ready because the stairs to the beach have not been installed yet. No idea when that happens.

In the meantime, I got out to the boat today to take care of a few projects and take a look at the leaking pilot house hatch. Ellen and I rebed that hatch last summer, but it has started leaking. So that’s another task on the to-do list.

I ran the anchor and all the chain out onto the ground so I could get to the bitter end of the chain. Then I spliced 90’ of line to the end of our 200’ of anchor chain. Now the primary ground tackle is finished. The anchor windlass worked flawlessly, I got to enjoy the bright rode markers Ellen and I sewed on last fall. Each pink tab indicates 25’ of chain.

I’m kind of proud of the rope-to-chain splice I made. With luck, I won’t see it very much because I don’t know when I will need to have that much chain and line deployed. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Ballast update

The latest step in the ballast project was for me to build a box to hold the lead in its place on the port side of the bilge. Ellen and I templated the available space, I built a box, and then chopped and puzzled the lead to fit. All 326 pounds can snuggle in nicely.

Next I’ve got to take the painted, finished box to the boat, bolt it down, and load the lead. I do not like wrangling lead. That stuff is so very heavy, and I need to take the pieces from the shop to the truck, then muscle them up the ladder to Cyclops one by one, carry it all through the cabin and then down into the bilge where I’ll arrange it all back in the box. Today it feels like everything to do with a boat is at least twice as challenging as the same task ashore.

So the loading of the lead this morning was a sweaty process but went faster and with less trauma to my back than anticipated. This job is (mostly) done! (I’ll screw down the top to the box in a day or so after I smear some Liquid Nails on all the lead to keep it from shifting if the seas get rowdy.)

Pendant project

One of the nicer aspects of my impending retirement is the shift in mindset I get to experience. In the past I've probably been more likely to deal with pedants than pendants. Today was all about making sure the mooring pendant for Cupcake is well cared for.

In past years the mooring guys would set up both Cupcake’s mooring and Cyclops’s mooring whenever they got around to it, usually in April. That meant the mooring lines would sit in the water growing all sorts of nasty marine creatures for several months before being used to actually moor the boats.

So last year, knowing Cupcake wouldn’t be on her mooring until August, I made a contraption to keep her lines clean.

The lid got blown away last fall, so I made a new one today. Funny thing, the mooring guys only rigged the mooring for Cyclops. The one for Cupcake is not ready yet, so my work was in vain. (Cyclops’s lines are much too big to fit in the bucket on my float.)

Ellen and I also unwrapped Cyclops for the last time. No more snow and ice for us, but look at that sky…April in Maine is still plenty blustery!)

I installed the new (and now matching) blinds in the salon.

I did go into all the bilges to have a look. Everything looks pretty good but the engine room gave me a bit of a panic when I realized how much maintenance I need to complete before launch. None of that can really start until the boatyard reinstalls and connects the big batteries.

Smelting

So when we had new batteries installed in Cyclops a year ago, the extra weight causes her to list to starboard. It’s a real problem: the shower doesn’t really drain completely, then when we put the litter box back in the shower (that’s where it lives when we are not showering…easy to clean) it sits in a little puddle.

Yuck.

Anyway I got a 350 pound chunk of lead from a 35’ Pearson sailboat’s swing keel. The sailboat was broken up and recycled. I brought the lead home on Friday and chopped it into bite-sized pieces. Let me tell you, wrangling lead is no joke. First: it’s toxic. Second: it’s so heavy! After about two hours with a circular saw, a sawzall, a pry bar (which I ended up bending), and a hammer I got it into pieces.

Yesterday Ellen and I melted down the scraps and sawdust from the disassembly of the big chunk. It ended up as a slightly lumpy 12 pound lead Toblerone.


Slowly getting to spring

I was stomping around the yard with Ellen this afternoon and we saw these lovely early signs of spring. For the past two years I’ve been nurturing an apple tree volunteer in the hopes I can get a graft to take. Last year’s failed but I gave it another shot today. We will see if the Golden Crisp scion will survive. (I’m so dedicated to you, dear Reader, that I went out into the cold and dark to take a picture of the wee apple sapling.)

In other news, I was at WalMart and picked up a five gallon pail of oil for the engine and generator. That’s the largest quantity of oil I’ve ever purchased in one go. And I’m thinking a second bucket wouldn't be a bad idea. We need to trim the boat with more weight on the port side, and oil is great for the role of ballast since it doesn’t rust or clank around.

Also got the backup propane cylinder filled. It got used up boiling maple sap this year.

Look at these three fuel sources: propane, electricity, and gasoline. Curiously, none of these containers will be taken aboard Cyclops.

Ship of Theseus

When we purchased Cyclops, she came with an RIB dinghy we named Giggle Monster after an elementary school classmate of Ellen’s. The kid’s first name was Cindy, and her teacher called her Giggle Monster. (Ellen can’t remember her last name, so if you know…)

Anyway, that’s what we named the dinghy. At that point, she had a 2005 AB fiberglass hull RIB with a 2005 Mercury 15 hp outboard. We swapped the Mercury for the Yamaha and ran her like that for the past three years.

I patched the holes in her transom, painted the transom, repaired the oar-holders, and used 5200 to adhere tie down brackets for the fuel tank. In this configuration she was reliable and sturdy, but heavy.

This is me in Giggle Monster in NY just after Matt and I resolved the water-in-the-fuel problem and I went for a test drive.

This winter we replaced the AB hull with a 2021 aluminum hull Highfield and I’ve been getting her just right. New fuel filter/water separator installed. And the Highfield comes with really smart velcro to hold the fuel line off the floor and out of the way. There’s also a nice gas tank platform in the bow where we can strap the tank. This configuration is probably around 20 lbs lighter than before.

I hoisted the full rig (loaded with lead shot in the bow to simulate a full tank of gas and the dinghy anchor/rode) to make sure our hoisting harness lifted her evenly. She’s perfectly level…ready for the start of the season. (The season, incidentally, feels very far off today because even though it is late March, in Maine March is just another month of February.)

It’s a little tough to see the harness in these pictures, but Iast year I spliced up a Dyneema harness and used a beefy clew ring from a big-boat genoa as the lifting ring. The block and tackle I used to raise Giggle Monster in the air is the old preventer from Cupcake.

Maintenance update

Turns out, today I’m inspired to get caught up. Plus I figured out how to do the slideshow trick with photos and that is fun for me. So here are some somewhat maintenance-oriented photos. In preparation for new radar, GPS, and other electronica, I removed the radar mast, modified it so I can fly flags from it, and had it powdercoated. Looks super back on the boat. I also templated a new dashboard for the new chart plotter. Practiced on cheap plywood before cutting into the expensive teak I bought. Turned out great. I installed some fresh-water flush valves for the generator and the AC (yes, the boat has AC, and heat. Three zones!) I still need to plumb a freshwater flush valve for the main engine. I sanded and varnished the wheel. Oooh! I’ve got the chain and rode for the backup anchor all squared away. (We also got a new primary anchor…a 55 lb. Vulcan with 200’ of chain and another 90’ of line…yowza! And there’s Cyclops, hibernating for another month. Then the wrapping comes off and the season begins!

Catching up

Well, where to begin…Lots has happened around here since I last posted in 2022. But what you’re here to see is boat content, so let’s get to it.

Our girl Cupcake was sold back in 2021, as far as we know she is adventuring with her new owner in Virginia. We sold the Mako in 2023 and got ourselves the next cruising boat, a 2005 Nordic Tug 37.

That boat was purchased in the winter of 2022, sat at her marina in Virginia until April 2023 when Ellen, Moss, and I moved her up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore during April vacation. Then in late May a rotating crew of stalwart sailors helped me move her up to Maine. We’ve named the boat Cyclops for her prominent single porthole facing forward.

The past several summers have been great fun as we’ve gotten to know the boat, gotten used to trawler life, and prepared for retirement. Retirement happens this year: Moss graduates in June, Ellen is done teaching in June, and I’ve been winding down my law practice with an expectation that all my cases will be resolved by December. By June most major cases will be done and I’ll just have to wrap things up over the coming months. Starting in September, we will be living aboard full time. So I will deal with court by Zoom.

We plan on selling our house at the end of August, after Moss goes off to college. Then Ellen, Friday, and I move aboard and start our life of adventure.

That’s enough catching up. How about some pictures?

There she is: Cyclops.

Friday, a well-ballasted cat, watches the world go by.

Here we go: Maine is beautiful, we have stained glass on our pantry cabinet doors, schooners are beautiful, backgammon and raspberries on a boat is heaven, the Ford and I are the same age, we eat well on board, visitors are fun, Maine has beautiful beaches, Maine has yurts, Friday enjoys boat life, we now have decent kayaks and love then, Brooklin Maine is one of the loveliest spots on the coast, we finally got to the Penobscot Bay Narrows Bridge. You’re caught up. The next batch of posts are likely to be about maintenance. Stay tuned!

Isn't she lovely?

Our neighbor got a new digital camera and took some great pictures of Cupcake playing in the bay last week. Here’s another one.

There’s been lots of discussion lately about retirement and the next cruising vessel. Our buddies from Piper were camping at Wolfes Neck Farm Campground last weekend so we got a big dose of cruiser time with them. Went out on the Mako for picnic and swimming. Met up with Jim, Sherry, and Eliot at Little French Island.

The talk has revolved around finding a TRAWLER for live aboard/snowbird action. ICW=>Florida Keys=>Cuba=>Turks&Caicos=>Bahamas=>New England. Doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend the winter, does it?