Sail Far Live Free

(Note: This blog post appeared in Latitudes & Attitudes - The Seafaring Lifestyle magazine on page 46 of the April 2008 edition) A clean, well-kept bilge says a lot about a boat's overall condition in my book. Clean bilges let you know that the ship's captain doesn't live by the philosophy of "Out of sight, out of mind". Sure, bilges inherently get dirty and wet quickly and easily. But if you start with a good foundation, they are easier to keep clean and much more hospitable during those claustrophobic moments when you have to cram yourself deep into the bowels of the vessel for maintenance and repair. I began restoring our boat's bilge by first removing any debris and lost hardware that had fallen in over the years. Then I scrubbed mightily with a solution of Comet, bleach and warm water. Next, I used my shop-vac to suck up smaller particles and make certain the entire bilge was dry. Luckily, about 99% of the bilge is fairly accessible on a Helms 25...

Today I started filling in the chipped areas of the gelcoat on the boat's hull. Most of the chips appear to be purely cosmetic, but there are a couple that are deep enough to expose the fiberglass matte underneath. I used two-part expoxy paste to fill in the chips. The paste goes on fairly easily with a disposable putty knife. Later, I'll sand the hardened epoxy smooth so that the hull is ready for a couple layers of new urethene paint in the spring.

Here's this week's quote: "You can't run from the wind. You trim your sails, face the music and keep going." - Captain Christopher Shelton, S/V Albatross (from the movie White Squall) White Squall is one of my all-time favorite movies. Yes, I love the fact that it takes place on a sailboat in the Caribbean. But I also love the story of boys becoming men and people coming together as a tight-knit team to overcome extraordinary circumstances. Captain Christopher Shelton (brilliantly played by Jeff Bridges) has a very stern sense of wisdom. Almost all of his lines in the movie make for memorable quotes. I particularly like the life applications of the quote shown above. Life isn't about what happens to you, but rather how you react to what happens in your life.

Today I began sanding some of the spots on the hull and deck that I earlier had patched with epoxy paste and putty. Frankly, I'm amazed with the ease of use and durability of these two epoxy products. Both go on easily, set in 2 hours and cure fully in 24 hours. They can even be applied, set and cured underwater. Amazing stuff! I first sanded the epoxy patches with 100 grit sandpaper on a sanding block and then smoothed things out with a finer grit sanding sponge. The picture above shows the deck looking much happier. Since patching, the deck seems sturdier and the cabin is dry. So far so good!

I've decided to add a new feature to my blog...the "Quote of the Week"! (Note: I seriously doubt I'll be disciplined enough to make this a weekly feature, but nonetheless...) This will allow (force?) me to post at least once a week, even in the doldrums of the Michigan winter when progress on the boat will surely be slowed. So without further adieu, here's this week's quote: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover" - Mark Twain Obviously Twain's wisdom in the above quote extends far beyond mere sailing. The words above are also a metaphor for living life. If you love the water and adventure as I do, then you'll agree that Twain drove home his point perfectly with that quotation.

This blog post is a general update regarding the condition of the deck. I'm slowly starting to make some progress on repairing, sealing and re-equipping the deck and its' associated hardware. As I've written about in previous posts, several of the stanchions and chainplates have already been re-bedded. I've also painted and added new weatherstripping to the hatches. Last night I removed the rotted and/or broken teak handrails. After removal, I placed a piece of tape over the hole in the interior cabin ceiling. Then I filled the holes on the exterior with epoxy putty. The tape kept the putty from pushing out through the bottom of the holes. When the putty cures completely, I'll then fill the holes from inside the cabin to seal them for winter. Hopefully I'll get my hands on some new 7-loop handrails to install next spring. Other remaining deck tasks: a) replace the mast step plate b) re-bed and/or remove cleats c) replace rotted companionway hatch slides...

After a slight blog hiatus due to vacation, weather and work, I'm finally back to making repairs/updates to our Helms 25.  This week I'm focusing on rebedding most of the deck hardware to fix water leaks in the cabin, improve safety (lifeline stanchions, chainplates, etc.) and prevent any further water leaks into the balsa deck core. Speaking of deck core, ours is spongy and wet in many places on the coach roof and some of the sidedecks.  However, we will likely not be ripping up the top layer of fiberglass, removing the old wet core and then relaying new fiberglass, gelcoat and paint.  We realize this could be a mistake if the deck rot is worse than we think and it (God forbid!) leads to a de-masting or cleats/chainplates/toerails/blocks/winches/etc. breaking loose. The truth is, we just can't afford to re-core the deck and probably don't have the tools/experience to do it for this boat. Back to rebedding the deck hardware... I started with a couple of pieces of ...

I began work on the deck hatches. Cosmetically, they are in very poor condition. The paint is chipped and flat, the edges are chipped and the weather stripping is rotten and/or missing. I began by removing both hatches. The Helms 25 has a small forward hatch above the v-berth and a second larger hatch just forward of the mast. I then removed the old weather stripping and gave both hatches two coats of "Kilz" oil-based primer. Each hatch will eventually also get new non-skid on the tops and a coat or two of the latex paint I'm using on the rest of the cabin for the underside of the hatches. Next, I purchased new water-proof weather stripping with self-adhesive backing. It fit perfectly into the groove where the old weather stripping had been. Both hatches look much better (even with just the two coats of primer) and seal much tighter. My main priority was to get a good seal before fall and winter arrive. I'll address other leaky areas that need resealing in futur...

This past week I had the very fortunate opportunity to be staying in Horton Bay on Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan. For those that don't know, northern Michigan is a boater's paradise with hundreds of beautiful inland lakes, plenty of wilderness, several quaint and/or touristy towns, and of course access to the Great Lakes. I consider Lake Charlevoix (say "Sharla-voy") to be the prized jewel of all northern Michigan inland lakes. The lake has a surface area of 17,200 acres and 56 miles of gorgeous shorline. The outflow of Lake Charlevoix is the small but very picturesque Round Lake, which then flows into Lake Michigan. The water is always turqouise green and crystal clear. The winds are fair and the sailing is delightful. While staying at my in-laws cottage in Horton Bay (Ernest Hemmingway's stomping ground in his early years!), I was able to sail Lake Charlevoix on a Laser. If you haven't sailed a Laser, you owe it to yourself to try one out. The rai...

Today I began the process of restoring some of the old teak on our boat. The exterior teak consists of two 7-rung handrails, companionway doorslides, companionway trim, companionway door, and two recessed cockpit bins. The interior teak consists of two bulkheads, a mast support spindle, shelf rails, and miscellaneous trim. I began by applying a mixture of 75% detergent and 25% bleach, boosted with a few splashes of TSP to the teak. This mixture should do a good job of cleaning and lightening the teak. Next, I plan to brush on three coats of tung oil to restore the beautiful grain patterns and protect the wood. Supposedly tung oil will not darken the teak the way linseed oil will. However, both oils will need to be reapplied periodically to maintain the look and protection. Varnish would be better suited to exterior teak applications, but the cost and application process is not to my liking for this particular boat. We'll continue the use of tung oil and re-evaluate in a year ...