damage update
Here are a few pics of the damage and repair process.
The first pic shows the damage as it looks from the boat that hit me. You can see I’ve had to remove the broken window and cover it with plastic until I can get new glass and repair the damage. The side was pushed in about 3 inches and the overall cracks in the fiberglass were about a foot long. Inside, a 5 by 2 inch or so piece of the panelling was broken off and there is a bulge against the vinyl panelling.
To repair it, with much trepidation I began sanding the area. Several layers of white top coat came off easily, but below it was a very thin gray layer that wouldn’t come off unless I took off a lot of the fiberglass too. I wound up leaving it, as the fiberglass seemed to stick to it.
Once I had the paint off, we pushed the indentation out by laying a long piece of wood against it and wedging in other pieces until it straightened out. Sent photos to my brother for advice (he’s an expert on fiberglass and repairs in general) on if I’d sanded enough and what to do next. Some more experienced boatniks (Fred and Linda) stopped by and Fred told us how to wedge out another part I didn’t think we could reach. (He also recommended breaking in and stealing the vaccumm cleaner from the other boat, but that piece of advice I didn’t follow).
Paul ran and picked up a clamp so that I could add fiberglass then clamp the edge of the cockpit back together and seal up the long crack along its edge. Then, the fun with chemicals began. Layer after layer of glass with 4 inch wide, 6 ounce fiberglass tape. The following day, I trimmed down some spiky edges and added more fiberglass with filler so it was more of a pasted consistency. Several people had recommended I use Bondo at this point, but according to the guy at West Marine, Bondo won’t adhere to fiberglass. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’d rather not risk it.
By the end of the weekend, she just needs some paint and cleaning.
Since I had the fiberglass out and the lifeline stanchions were already off, I took the opportunity to fill in the holes from them. It seems like there were some pretty large holes where the bolts went through, and they let water in which damaged the wooden cabin lining inside. Paul has attacked the damage and it is looking much better. Ideally, I should replace the wood inside, but that’s a huge project I don’t want to deal with right now. Paul has sanded down the damaged areas and used a penetrating wood epoxy to restore some structural integrity. He’s much better at woodwork than I am – much more patient with it.
Throughout the time we spent on this, many Friends of Indian Summer stopped by to check out the repair process and barbecue lovely food for us (thanks Chris and Ken!). Hopefully, now that the rudder is ready to be put back on and the window is back in and the gash is repaired, we can all get around to sailing once more. One final outcome of all this, my Dad is very proud of me for doing the fiberglassing myself instead of hiring someone!
2009 Sucks
I had such hopes for this year – starting off with a new prez (Yay Obama!) and the economy had already tanked, it had to get better.
But it is not a good year for my poor baby boat.
January began with a grounding. Degrounding (towing) wound up decimating the already slightly shredded rudder. I wasn’t able to find another one till March. The new rudder is off a salvage boat, so while its in good shape it did need to be sanded and painted a bit. Its not on the boat yet. So all this time, the Indian Summer is sitting in her berth. Two weeks ago, I stop by to do some work on her life lines and find the rear port window is shattered. It looked like the boat next to me had hit it with its rub rail, but the marina manager convinced me that something must have blown into it in the recent stormy weather we’d had.
Focusing on the window, I removed it, brought it home and had the glass replaced with plexiglass. Today I went back to replace it and realized/found that there is a big gash along the side behind the window about 2 feet long where the whole side is stove in. I’m not sure how I missed it when removing the window. More likely, it occurred after the window. Both sets of damage are at the exact height of the neighbor’s rub rail, which sticks out a lot (its an old Chris Craft).
I stormed off down the dock to talk to the marina manager, this time pissed off and convinced its the neighbor. I told her what had happened and she asked where my boat is berthed. I pointed it out on the map and she let out this long “Oohh.” Apparently, the owner of the boat, which had been moved in this February, has hit 2 other boats as well, although their damage was minimal. When the marina tried to contact him, they found out his phone numbers had been disconnected. Why did they try to contact him in the first place? Oh yeah, he hasn’t paid yet, his check back in February bounced. I’d like to know why they kept letting him in in March and April if his check bounced in February.
Karen’s visit
A few weeks ago my friend Karen came to visit. We’ve known each other for years, commiserated through our respective grad schools, and spent a great deal of time falling or jumping into water.
Karen has a great sense of the absurd which I find very comforting.
She finally made it out to SF for a weekend, and to go for a sail. This was quite important as Karen and her husband Ben were two of the people instrumental in convincing me to buy a boat to begin with. When I first got it, Karen was thrilled at the idea of coming out here to redo the wiring (that still hasn’t happened, but someday) and it was Ben with whom I had this conversation:
“I don’t know if I can really afford a boat. They take so much money to keep up”
“Don’t worry about that! I buy lots of things I can’t afford!”
Anyway, Karen and Ben were very supportive and it was great to finally get her sailing out here. We used to sail little boats on bodies of water in New Hampshire – you know, the kind of boat that you intentionally tip over. My boat was different for her as you do not tip it over, but I think she approved of the amenities that the little boats don’t have, like the port-a-heather and the galley sink and the bottles of wine.
The Answer
For everyone who comes out with me and asks about the (derelict/semi-derelict) boats moored in Richardson Bay.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/21/BALT13LIRN.DTL&tsp=1
Latest Debate
OK, I just watched the second Obama/McCain debate. I was a little upset that neither one spoke to my special interest group, sailors.
Despite that, I have a request to make to McCain:
“Senator McCain, please stop using the phrase ’steady hand on the tiller’ in reference to yourself.”
If I had a steady hand on the tiller like you and the Republican party have shown over the last 8 years, my boat would have been on the bottom of the bay several years ago.
So from a sailor - McCain, step away from the tiller.
sailing crew
Originally uploaded by carrollelizabeth1
For someone from a landlocked state, Marla has taken to sailing remarkably well.
On Sunday, I was to have a fairly large crew, but what with one thing and another, several couldn’t make it and it wound up being Marla and me. Now, Saturday had been pretty excessive winds, so I double checked with Marla to make sure she was up for it and she was.
ran through a quick run down of how to set up the sails, how to help walk the boat out and we took off. We headed out, reefed (as normal). Marla got the sails up very quickly – good job. Nice sailing out, with some mild winds, then we hit Hurrican Gulch and heeled over. Luckily, it wasn’t quite as windy as the previous day, but we were burying the rail quite a bit.
I noticed that she looked a little concerned, and when I said that I could level the boat out a bit by loosening the sails, she reminded me that it was only her second time sailing!
Oops!
promise
Here and now, this I do solemnly vow. No more will I pay any attention to the weather reports. One says mild 5-10 knot winds, one says moderate 15-20 knot winds, a third says HURRICANE DO NOT LEAVE SHORE OH MY GOD WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! and then there’s the actual weather.
I had gone with the assumption that it would be between 10 and 15 knots (average of the two main sites) but it turned out to be closer to the third option. I think it wound up with gusts to about 40 on Saturday. I was sailing with Miles and Paul (why do I get 40 knot winds whenever Miles is in the boat?) and we had a great time. I have no photos as it was too rough to pull out the camera. We not only buried the rail, we buried the winch. That was definitely a first time for me.
We got splashed a lot and the sun never came out. Luckily I was sailing with two Brits, so I was the only one who got cold. And Miles took the helm for a while so I got to relax a little (and pee!). And Paul didn’t scream like a girl when we kept burying the winches (although he did tell me later that he was a little scared then, but he didn’t want to say anything in front of Miles – hmm, maybe I shouldn’t write about that on here.)
It was an absolutely exhausting, exhilerating sail. I love my boat!
And one wierd thing happened as we were sailing out. Two kayakers were near the channel, but I couldn’t tell whether they were planning to cross or not, so when we got close I called out, asked them whether they wanted to go in front or behind or whatever. They said for me to go in front, but then one asked if I had any twine. I did, and while getting it for them, they said it was for another kayaker having trouble making it to shore. They were planning to tow him. I said I could drop the sails and motor over to help and they said it wasn’t necessary, with the line I gave them, they could get him to shore. I could see a pretty large group, and they weren’t far from the kayak center, so I didn’t push it. However, a few meters on, the sherriff’s boat passed me heading jn to dock (they dock at my marina). I called out to them to say that there was a kayaker that was having trouble getting to shore and pointed at the group. The guy (in uniform) said they would check on him. As we sailed down the channel, I turned to watch, and the sherriff’s boat never went near the kayakers.
Whatever remaining faith I had in the “protect and serve” nature of cops just drowned.
pirate ship in Hurricane Gulch
Originally uploaded by carrollelizabeth1
Celebratory sail on the 14th.
We saw pirate ships, a dolphin while rounding Angel Island, and ate barbequed oysters at the cafe on Angel Island. Hmm, when Amy has been aboard I’ve seen whales, now a dolphin, what’s next?
Not half bad.
In fact, pretty damn awesome.
Paul is finally getting accustomed to the Indian Summer. In fact, this time when we had her heeling over, he enjoyed it rather than squealing like a little girl not a big tough hockey player.
new cover
Almost done. Here we install it on the Indian Summer. The sewing is all complete but I have to figure out how I want to fasten it. Bungee cords and random bits of string are good, but not quick and easy to explain to other people.
The options seem to be: metal toggles, plastic buckles, velcro, or some as yet undiscovered fastener. Metal toggles are traditional but hard to put on (they need a special tool). Plastic buckles would be easiest for me to put on, but I worry that they wouldn’t last. Paul is pushing for velcro, but I find that velcro wears out pretty quickly.
I may wind up with a combination.
Mainsail Covers
Here goes nothing!
A picture of my old mainsail cover next to my new mainsail cover. I’ll post more photos as the new one takes shape!
The giant hole in the middle – yeah, that was originally a seam. It died in the great winds of Jan08. So, I’ve now cut it fully apart into two pieces and will shortly cut out the new one, ready to sew up using a 40 year old or so sewing machine I inherited from my grandmother. I tested heavy cloth and heavy duty thread, seems to work.
Indian Summer
I have a boat. Sometimes, she tries to kill me, but I know its only because she loves me.
My boat is a 1968 Coronado 25, which means she’s older than me and has become a “classic beauty.”
