Fall refit plans

Two weeks ago I was out for a sundown cruise with a local judge. I handed him the tiller while I stowed the mooring lines, and we immediately went aground, in the channel, on a little sand bar built up by Hurricane Irene. He was slightly embarrassed, but I was really lucky to have dodged the bullet. After all, it's my home river, and I'm supposed to know it well, but I would have probably gone aground just as he did. We were well aground; it took a tow from an amused but charitably inclined powerboat to pull us off.

This fall I had planned on early haulout, but I shall keep it in for my son to use on Columbus Day. In the off seasons, I plan to:

• Check the keel for damage from the grounding
• Replace the analog instruments: fathometer, knotmeter, and apparent wind gauge.
• Install a remote control whistle
• Strip and repaint the topsides

The instruments are in sad shape. The depth sounder display is crooked in its case and can't be adjusted; the depth sounder measurement is completely unreliable and chaotic; the wind direction is in error and can't be re-calibrated; the knot meter paddle wheel sensor seems to be jammed. Last night the radar display went completely nuts; its screen was covered by vertical and horizontal stripes.

First the radar/chartplotter: Raymarine says the problem is probably a loose or corroded internal wire--rap the plotter case sharply to see if it will fix itself for the rest of the season, then send it to the Manchester repair center when I haul the boat.

I spoke to Moor electronics (800-876-4971) who manufacture an old-fashioned set of round instruments. Their acoustic transducer is 200 KHz, and uses an RCA plug for its connection. It may be compatible with the Datamarine fathometer, but it would need checking. Their wind instrument uses only 4 wires vice the 9 wires used by the Datamarine I have now. Their paddle wheel sensor fits into the same size hole, but it's not clear whether I can still use the same through-hull.

The downside to the Moor instruments is that they have no connection to an NMEA bus, so they are completely standalone.

Other options:

Euro Marine Trading
(Newport, RI USA)
NKE "Ultrasonic Speedo", "Topline"
www.euromarinetrading.com

All instruments, even analog, have a similar, square bezel.

Nexus Marine/Ocean Equipment
(Irvine, CA)
"Nexus" digital, analog repeaters
www.oceanequipment.com

All instruments have a similar, square bezel.

Ockam Instruments
(Milford, CT USA)
Digital system modules
www.ockam.com

Square bezel again

Raymarine
(Merrimack, NH USA)
"ST" Series
www.raymarine.com

SignetMarine
(Redondo Beach, CA USA)
"SL11 self-powered analog knotmeter" & "SL" & "SmartPak"
www.signetmarine.com

This one looks like a WINNER! I shall check it out.

Simrad (Navico)
(Tulsa, OK USA)
"IS20" digital
www.simradyachtingusa.com

Square bezel, shallow surface mountable.

Tecnautic (Electronics)
(West Hills, CA USA)
"Log-6" digital with paddlewheel sensors
www.tecnautic.com

Interesting system: hexagonal bezels; single wire interconnect bus; configurable displays.

Velocitek
(Paia, HI)
Portable GPS speed, heading & VMG unit
www.velocitek.com

Wireless display for GPS-based data; not what I need.

This summer, I had a near-collision with an oblivious powerboat in which I found myself needing immediate access to a sound signal. I have found a wireless remote-control relay, the control for which I intend to install into the tiller, to activate the ship's whistle from the steering station. I shall have to check the range of the remote control; the relay may have to be mounted near the cockpit to ensure a reliable connection. I shall install the whistle itself on the ship's bell socket, mounted on the front of the main mast, so it can be easily removed. I shall install a new control wire for the whistle into the mast, coming from below.

For the topsides work, Snediker has asked me to move the boat to Mystic Shipyard, so he can use their climate-controlled shed for the two-part epoxy base coat. We shall see.

Is it Spring Yet?

This year we launched Rune early, but I still haven't sailed her, because each day for the last three weeks has threatened, promised or begun with rain. I sympathize with a pallid reflection of the pain and loss of the flooded Hoosiers and the Cajuns holding their breaths for the spring crest to arrive.

I am planning for a day sail on Monday, though. We have a stunning soprano opera singer as guest for the weekend, and I invited her to stay an extra day, hoping the clouds will clear.

I still don't see any big projects for the year. I spliced a new topping lift; I have spent the dank evenings varnishing things I could bring to the basement; I invented and built a folding storage bracket for the smokestack we remove when it's not being used.

Other than that, I just have been mourning the passing of the season, hoping for a sunny day.

Spring commissioning

As is clear from the dates of the previous entries I lost my enthusiasm for contemporaneous narration. The frames and planking were completed, and the boat was launched late in August 2009. Its launching was marred by one seam from which the caulking fell out before the hull swelled. The leak was pretty dramatic, but she made it safely back to the Frank Hall Boat Yard, to be hauled, recaulked and relaunched.

The boat was tight and dry that fall when at the dock, but as soon as it got underway, there was a substantial leak near the stem. In December 2009, I brought the boat to Dodson's Boatyard, because it was the only yard still operating, to be hauled and transported back to Taylor and Snediker's shop. They found a joint between the stem and gripe in which the stopwater had not been correctly placed, when she was built. It just so happened that the joint was above the actual waterline when she was moored, but below it when she sailed. At first, the mating parts shut out the sea, but over the years, the two butting planks slowly developed enough checks so the stopwater was needed, and it proved insufficient to the task. The joint was reworked by Scott Gifford, and the boat saw a reasonably full season in 2010.

Overall, this year's commissioning has been really easy. Rune was launched on 4/10/11, and the hull swelled quickly to eliminate the minor leaking. Her masts were stepped on 4/19, and she has moved to her summer dock. I am finishing the Spring Checklist, and the varnish team from T&S is waiting for enough sequential sunshine to finish the topsides and brightwork.