Indian Summer Boat Blog

Last weekend was another weekend where sailing didn’t happen but boatwork did.

On Saturday, I was at the Indian Summer working some more on the battery compartment, and realized I need to revarnish some of the brightwork.  So, removed a few pieces (including the external hand hold which the varnish had worn off of and an interior locker cover which had water damage from the poorly installed compass) to refinish back at the OK Corral.

While at the boat I also check on the boat across the way at dock 5 as the previous weekend it appeared to be sinking.  The cutie Harbor Patrol guy (Nick) appeared to think so too as he brought the head (non-cute) Harbor Patrol guy out to point out the sinking aft port corner.  They must have gotten aboard and pumped it out as this week it’s floating higher in the water, but give it time.  It’s a disaster in progress and I’ll document as long as I can.

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Sunday was sunny and I was supposed to sail on the Nova Gina, but we didn’t go due to crew issues, so I started with the refinishing.  Varnish fumes mix really nicely with sun and cheap Chez Target brand chardonnay.  A fine time was had by all, i.e. me.

I sanded down all the wood pieces, then scrubbed with AJAX and water to bleach out the mold and mildew, let dry in direct sunlight.  Brush down then clean with a water/varnish soaked rag that has a special name I forgot (the fumes get to you after a while).  The book on boat maintenance which my brother and Shelley gave me for Christmas is incredibly helpful because it has tips on things like how to keep bubbles out of the varnish and what to use if AJAX doesn’t work.

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It’s a really satisfying process, because the wood goes from looking like crap to looking like honey, the grain appears looking like molten bits of flower petals.  Extremely beautiful.  That is why people go gaga over wooden boats – they’re gorgeous when they are in good condition.  However, I now know there is no way I could ever handle that sort of required maintenance.

yay! it’s gone!

$75

Craigslist rocks!

I finally broke down and posted the old Merc 7.5 on craigslist.  This is the first time I’ve ever tried to sell anything on craigslist.  Its amazing.  I got 20 or so responses within 10 minutes.  Have spoken with someone who asked the right questions and therefore sounds reliable and wants to pick it up tomorrow.

We’ll see how it goes.  Come on big money!!!!

Lessons for today:

1.  Sunny weather is your friend

2.  Always have a plan B

We finally got a break in the rain that coincided with a weekend

  2 sunny days in a row = prime fiberglassing weather

I would like to point out that as I grow older, I start to learn from my mistakes.  On Saturday, I put on disposable nitrile gloves BEFORE mixing up the fiberglass.

I was working on a long delayed project to improve and bring the battery area up to code.  Here’s what it has looked like until now.   Those of you who have been on my boat are probably now thinking "HOLY SHIT!  I had no idea we were in such danger the entire time we were sailing."

I say to you - Relax.  How often do I even remember to turn the radio on while sailing?

We’re in much more danger at the dock when I’ve got the lights on….

The first step is to make a stable flat platform in the aft seat well.  Easier said than done.  My first plan was to model it on a single battery holder that was previously there but rotted out.  I ripped it out and apart, planning to use it as a guide to have new pieces of wood cut to match.  Unfortunately, the only place I knew to go for wood was Home Depot.

I have to state first off that I hate Home Depot.  I hate its dim lighting, I hate its overfilled shelves with empty spaces only for what I need, and most of all, I hate its employees.  I consider the trip a success only because I did make it out of the store without killing anyone.  I did bond with some other customers who also needed to get some wood cut - we had plenty of time to chat while we waited 35 minutes for someone who could run the saw.  After waiting 35 minutes for the saw guy to show up (I believe the problem was due to his gang affiliation - between the presumably fake limp and the crotch of his jeans hanging below his knees, the poor fellow could barely walk), I learned that Home Depot saws, unlike saws in other parts of the universe, cannot cut on a diagonal.

This is when I moved on to the ever essential Plan B.  Rather than having it set up with diagonally cut supports underneath, the shelf could be supported on three sides by lips attached to the hull and the inner lining.  So, appropriate pieces of wood were bought, sanded, varnished and allowed to dry for 4 weeks.  4 weeks because it kept raining.  I didn’t think it was a good idea to fiberglass any of them in while it was raining so I had to wait for it to stop.  Saturday, fiberglassed the holder in and put the shelf in to mold it all in place, in a plastic bag so the shelf won’t be permanently attached (I’m really proud of myself for thinking of that).  It doesn’t look very impressive right now.

But it will.  Its all part of the master plan.

Having firmly started down the battery road, I turned to another long overdue and very minor repair: the rip in the sail cover.

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Note the lovely shadow my left bosom makes on the boom in the after photo as I shoot it.  Intriguing, no?

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Before                     After

Finally made it to a day trip destination:  The Ramp  http://www.ramprestaurant.com/

I felt like Leaf Erikson arriving in Nova Scotia, the Pilgrims stepping off onto Plymouth Rock, Columbus discovering India.  I found … the Ramp.  Along with my trusty crew of Carlos (aka, the Sandinista) and Anna (aka, Mal-de-Movement), we sailed North towards beer.  The coast was blanketed in buildings so we had to manoeuver with difficulty, attempting to visualize where the destination actually was.  We knew it was on 3rd around 16th, but that doesn’t help much from the water.  So we edged carefully along, sometimes by motor, sometimes by sail, looking out for the pirates that we’ve heard roam the area (according to my dock neighbor Cheech).

We weren’t turning back until we found the Ramp, so its a good thing it showed up before Alaska.  Luckily, the Sandinista had provided plenty of supplies so we didn’t starve prior to finding it and had no need to sacrifice any of the crew.  We docked in a blaze of glory at the Ramp (that’s what giving the captain wine does for you) and went ashore for drinks.  I don’t know about my crew, but I felt like the coolest person on the planet.  Showing up at a bar by boat beats every other way I’ve ever arrived.  We had a quick drink (I had to get back in time for Pilates) and headed out.  My boat looked very small at the docks among all the other boats - they were all at least 34 footers.   

We sailed home on a nice broad reach making great time, the wind that I had promised all day finally picking up.  Anna didn’t get seasick at all! 

We go back to dock, with Carlos providing his expert services at jumping off and holding the boat (a vital boating skill).

Then I put the Indian Summer away for the week or so (bad weather and business trips ever since).

While I was in RI over the holidays, I searched out these amazing photos in my great-grandmother’s photo album.  My mother didn’t realize they existed and has no idea who these people are.  I assume they are my great-grandmother’s friends and are sailing off of RI.  Everyone who might know is now deceased.

I think the photos are of sailing out of Narragansett, RI because there is a place which still looks very much like the harbor shot, only its no longer a harbor.  Back in this time it was a big destination with a number of hotels and casinos and I’ve seen photos of a hotel there that looks like the building in the photo. 

Edwardian era people out a-gallivanting in boats.  I especially like the photos of the captain, I look at the picture and imagine him going, "yup, its mah boa-aht, ayah."  Presumably my great-grandmother (Bear) is among the women in the group shot.  The last photo is of 2 little girls by the fire place.  I include this because I think its one of the most stunning photos I’ve ever seen and the dark haired one grew up to be my grandmother, who taught me to travel, drink and swim and ultimately paid for the Indian Summer.  (The fair haired one is her sister Eunice who became schizophrenic but was a moderately famous equestrian, back in the day).

The boat is what in New England is called a cat boat, or just a cat.  Out here, if you say cat, it means a catamaran.  They’re very easy boats to sail, but apparently can’t sail close to the wind at all because the mast is so forward.

Its been a while since the Indian Summer has left the dock, due to the rain, my time consuming new job, and having to check out one friend’s new baby and another friend’s new baby.  One of the new babies is about 7 1/2 pounds, 19.5 inches and named Skye, while the other one is about 10,200 pounds, 360 inches and named Sirena.  Both of them float and have multiple PFDs, however, only one of them (Sirena) is a boat.  Since this is a boat blog, she is the baby we will discuss.  Skye has her own site under www.theguyots.com

Sirena is a 30 foot Catalina built in 1984 and apparently delivered by Santa to Chris V.  He has referred to her a few times as a "floating RV."  She’s in great condition with all the bells and more than a few extra whistles - I think the only thing lacking is a disco ball.  He purchased her the day before Christmas and got to experience all that lovely "Holy shit what have I done?!?!" that I went through last June.

Last Sunday, I went along as crew on the maiden voyage of Chris, Ken and their boat.  They had hired a lovely boy to guide them through things such as, I don’t know, DOCKING!!!   Chris - practice makes perfect (or at least, that’s what I’ve been told).

The day was beautiful and we spent a lot of time with the new papa getting used to his boat under motor and practicing docking at Ayala Cove - my favorite spot for practicing such things.

I was planning to sail my own baby this weekend, but the weather report is lousy so I’m waiting and seeing.  In the meantime, there’s tons of work to be done on her.

I recently returned from a vacation in China in which I avoided contracting the avian flu and hung out with pimps and ho’s.  I took a variety of transportation methods in China, including planes, subway trains, automobiles, rickshaws and an odd combo of motocycle with rickshaw.  The last was my favorite.  I did not, however, get to take any boat rides on this trip.

China does have some interesting boats.

Case in point:   This is the Dowager Empress Cixi’s Marble Boat.  She took all the funds that were supposed to be spent on the Chinese navy and had this marble boat built instead in Kunming Lake in Beijing.  She was even worse at docking than I am and ran aground her first time out.

Critics have been excoricating her ever since for wasting the country’s military funds on such a frivolous folly. 

I would like to present an opposing view.  Take a look at the details of this boat: the carved marble, the stained glass windows, the millions of tourists visiting yearly.  Built in 1888, still standing today, having successfully survived the British, the Japanese, the Kuomintang, the Communists, the Cultural revolution and the Chinese in general.

Now lets think about the Chinese navy.  Umm.   Do they have one?

Here’s where they practiced in Cixi’s day.   So, somehow, they felt that a navy could practice on a lake (or, as we’d call it where I’m from, a pond), but as long as they had the money it took to build a marble boat in a land where labor is extraordinarily cheap they could have bought the equipment to beat, say, the British?  Or maybe the Japanese?   Please, just put down the opium pipe and back away from the history book.

Here’s a nice quote that I think puts it in perspective:"Most people hate the Old Buddha (Cixi) for diverting the naval funds. How unjust! Any navy we built in those days would have been destroyed in the first battle. Which of our enemies would have helped us build a fleet capable of destroying a single ship of theirs? They would have sent our fleet to the bottom of the sea and then charged us with the costs of the action, as they always did! As it is, the Old Buddha’s palace still stands — they say there is nothing equal to it in the world! Could anyone, Chinese or foreign, of our generation duplicate it?"   Professor Ch’eng, quoted in Blofeld’s City of Lingering Splendour, 1961

Also at the Summer Palace were these boats, waiting for spring to come when they can carry tourists up the canals to Souzhou Street, a venicelike shopping area which would have American liability lawyers salivating like Saint Bernards.

First off, I have to disagree with this: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32819

First law, when doing repairs on a boat, one thing always leads to another.

Second law, Saturday Night Live is not the best source of how-to training.

Yesterday, I went over to my beloved boat to do some maintenance before taking off for China (not in the boat, she’s staying here).  The plan was to fill in some chips on the bow where I’ve hit the dock and to tighten up a bunch of screws holding various pieces of molding in place in the cabin.  Plans change.  I started off working on the bow.  That part went well, I sanded it down, cleaned it and puttied it up, then smoothed it out.

Leaving it to dry, I took off my latex gloves (FORESHADOWING ALERT a move I would soon come to regret) and went in to the cabin to tighten up the screws.  While so doing, I realized that a starboard side panel couldn’t be tightened well because the wood was broken, so I removed it to epoxy it back together.  As I removed it, I realized that it was a little damp behind it and decided to remove the lovely wine-label panel below it.  Upon doing so, I discovered a waterfall had developed between the port and the electrical wiring.  Generally I’m a fan of waterfalls, but not in my boat.

I conferred with my neighbor (who is opening a Brasserie in San Mateo for anyone in the area) who said I should remove the old caulking and replace it.  Will do!  As I said, plans change.

Off to West Marine I go, buy caulking and acetone and hurry back.  I began to dig out the old caulking with my trusty Swiss army knife  (Oh yeah, never clean a plastic sided Swiss army knife with acetone) noticing that my arm was really bothering me, lots of little electric shocks travelling up it.  Now, this is pretty normal for me since I’ve got a bad nerve in my neck, but when I touched the metal window frame with my left hand and got a matching shock, I knew something was wrong.  My boat was trying to electrecute me.  The water had seeped from the window frame down the side into the wiring providing a clear path.  I unplugged the boat before continuing.

Little known fact:  I was indirectly struck by lightning once.

So, once the Indian Summer was no longer trying to kill me (repeat, she only does this because she loves me), I was able to finish the cleaning and get to the caulking portion.  Here’s where the SNL thing comes into play: I don’t know how to caulk, but in an odd coincidence, I had turned on the tv upon returning home the previous night and caught a truly icky SNL skit starring Jason Lee all about caulking.  SNL thus became my caulking guide.  It wasn’t pretty.  Here’s where I realized I should have saved my gloves.  Theoretically, caulk goes on in a pretty little line called a bead, exactly where it is supposed to go.  In my hands, its goes on it spurts and starts and globs and I have to mush it in with my fingers and wipe off the spills with my palm.  And that’s before the tube bursts.  I really hope the stuff isn’t carcinogenic.

The good news is, I don’t think the windows will leak for a while.  The bad news is, as windows go, they aren’t so functional anymore.

I mentioned this to my mother and apparently the inability to caulk is another trait on the Henschel gene.  Up there with hitting things with a hammer and "Why should I pay someone else to do this?  I’ve got a brain, I’ll damn well do it myself."