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It’s hard to believe that Pandora has been out of commission for over two months. Two months when most of the rest of the sailing world was in full gear, heading out on vacations all over the North East.  

All the while, I have been working away, sometimes only for an hour or two a day during the heat spell, to get Pandora back in the water and on her way.

In a way I don’t really feel that I have done much and yet, the magnitude of sanding a 43′ boat down to bare gelcoat is a job and a half, for sure.

Here’s what Pandora looked like when she came out of the water over two months ago.  Pretty nasty…And, after weeks of work and many, many sanding disks in the trash.   After the application of two coats of epoxy primer and two coats of Trinidad bottom paint, a new lease on life for Pandora.  I still have to move the stands that are all around Pandora and sand, prime and bottom paint, today…

Oh yeah, I also got my MaxProp back the other day and re-installed.   It had developed a bit of slop in the gearing.  No propeller should have this many parts.  The prop is really an impressive piece of engineering.    Here it is “engaged” and ready for action. When I don’t need the engine, the prop can be “feathered”  Not a lot of resistance now.  Just a little different. I have to say that this is as much a work of art as a propeller, and it costs about as much to buy, and repair.   However, we won’t get into that.

There’s certainly lots to do today if she is going to splash next week.  So, I ask you, is summer nearly over as I write this in mid August, or is it about to begin?   I say that it’s just beginning.

With our plan to spend some time in Newport, the Chesapeake and on to the Bahamas for three months this winter, it’s indeed about to begin.

Still lots to do before launch.  Time to get cracking…

It’s a rainy Thursday morning and it won’t be a good day to work on Pandora.   I am happy to know that our lawn is getting a drink but it’s unfortunate that I will loose today and likely Friday for working on Pandora.

With a week or so till she splashes (I had hoped to have her in by August 15th) I am still a way off from being done and ready to launch.  The biggest delay is because of the time it will take to get her new rudder bearings ordered, built and delivered.  I was originally going to just order a new lower bearing, there are three of them, lower, middle and upper, that support the rudder structure. However, I decided to pull all three and order new ones.   They are actually pretty simple, being basically very had plastic sleeves that the rudder post slides into from the entrance to the bottom of the hull at the stern through to the deck.

The key issue, that took me a week to resolve, was to remove the old bearings and then to take measurements for the new ones.  Getting them out was tough but the real delay was because of my anxiety about taking “perfect” measurements for the new ones.  These bearings are built to exacting specs and are built to order.  Yes, the prices are NASA worthy, as you can imagine.  As they say, “measure twice, cut once” applies here. In this case, I measured twice several times, not sure exactly how many, actually.

Here’s shots of two of the eight pages I scanned and sent to the manufacturer the other day.  Amazingly, these measurements actually made sense to John at Tides Marine, who is making the bearings.  This one is measurements of the upper bearing.   Huh, you say? Me too…At least this one has something on the page that looks like a rudder.   Somehow these measurements, to the thousands of an inch, will be translated into the new bearings.  A thousandth of an inch is pretty small.  Not surprisingly, it takes a thousand of them to make an inch.  Amazing.   And, being off by one or two thousandths can make the difference between fitting and not…As you can imagine, with all of this being done via e-mail and phone, John will want me to initial, in blood, mine not his, the final drawings that they produce prior to making the bearings.   My drawings will be taken and made into CAD (computer designed drawings) images and I will have to approve them and take responsibility for any mistakes.  My fear of mistakes is why it took me a week to work up the nerve to say that my measurements were “final”.  I’ll have the drawings back from Tides today or Friday, I hope.   After I approve them, I am told that it will take five days to create the bearings in the shop in Florida where Tides Marine is located.

I will be plenty nervous until I get these puppies into place and see that they fit.  If not, it’s my nickel, many nickels actually, to get them fixed.

I am almost ready to put a barrier coat of epoxy on the newly sanded bottom of Pandora followed by a few coats of anti-fouling paint.  Getting everything on correctly is important but equally vital is to be sure that the surface of the bottom is nice and smooth.  On Tuesday and yesterday, I did some fairing of the keel using an epoxy paste.  It seems that my years of doing sheet rock on the walls of our house in NJ served me pretty well.  This is a shot of the second and “finish” coat on various parts of Pandora’s keel.  The material is red and is a two part paste.  It mixes easily and applies like putty.  I enjoyed working with it.  Looking pretty “fair” to me but it will still need a bit of sanding.  Next step, the epoxy barrier coats to ensure that the new paint sticks as well as possible.  It had better as I don’t plan on hauling for another two years.  We’ll see how that goes. Launch in a week or so?  More like, well, who knows.  I just hope that everything fits.  If not…

It’s Saturday morning and the temperature this morning is an almost chilly 68 degrees.  It’s funny how 68 seems chilly in the summer and yet warm in the winter.   How is that…

The cooler temperatures now are making the heat and humidity of a week ago seem like a distant memory.  Pandora’s bottom is all nice and white with ALL the bottom paint now gone.  Yahoo!!!  Given the glacial (to torture the temperature theme just a bit longer) progress of sanding the bottom, it’s hard to believe that it’s done.  In the heat, some days, I was only able to do an hour of sanding before I pooped out.  I felt like the job would never be done.  The one redeeming feature of all that work is that I wasn’t paying someone to do it at $100 an hour.

But now, it’s done and nearly ready to paint.   The Pettit paint rep visited Pandora yesterday to survey my work and advise me on next steps in preparing and ultimately painting the bottom.  For years I have been using Interlux products, and ablative paints in particular.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been particularly happy with the results.  Ablative paints are designed to wear away so that there isn’t a nasty buildup over the years.   In my case, I found that the paint built up on the under body of the boat and wore away on the bow and up near the waterline.  In any event, I have not been happy with the performance of the paint.

Now that the bottom of Pandora, or to put it another way, Pandora’s bottom (Get it, Pandora’s bottom, sort of like Pandora’s box?)…  Anyway, now that Pandora’s bottom is white and paint free, the question is what sort of paint to put on.   After speaking with the rep and telling him about our sailing in tropical as well as temperate waters, that’s Maine to the Bahamas, he really felt that a hard bottom paint, verses an ablative, would be the way to go.

His reasoning is that Trinidad SR, the SR stands for slime resistance, was the way to go.  Being a hard paint, I could also scrub the bottom to my hearts content and not wear it away.  He also felt that the paint would last from 18 months to two years, the time that I want to keep Pandora afloat until her next haul out.    Well, we will see how that goes.  After nearly 30 years of sailing with ablative bottom paints, this will certainly be a change.  As I think about the 30-40 hours, perhaps more, of sanding time that I put in over the last few weeks, let’s hope it’s a good decision.  Fingers crossed.

Who could ever think that a sanded boat bottom could be beautiful.  I guess that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.To me, a beautiful bottom.  Isn’t having a great looking bottom what it’s all about?Actually, I should feel pretty pathetic spending hours sweating in the heat when others were out sailing.  More importantly, I retired from a job where I was well paid so that I could do manual labor every day.  While I was in the midst of the sanding with sweat dripping off of my chin, I had to wonder what the H^$# I was thinking.  Now that it’s “done”, I am happy to be in the “manual” part of my life.   It’s certainly a whole lot less stressful.  Did I mention that on top of everything else, it takes over two hours to cut my lawn?  At least I can have more ice cream. Yes, that makes it all worth while, manual labor and ice cream, the perfect combination.

I also spent hours cutting out the three rudder bearings, the nylon sleeves that the rudder stock turns on as they had gotten a bit sloppy, making the rudder clunk in a seaway, over the years.   Getting them out was really tough and the mere thought of messing with Pandora’s steering gear made me weak in the knees.  There isn’t any system on the boat that is more important than being able to control the boat, that’s for sure.   The white plastic sleeve in this photo is the lower bearing.  It looks simple enough but it took me hours to cut it out.   Now it’s ready for the new bearing.The yard is about finished working on the engine.  With over 3,000 hours on the little Yanmar, I decided to have them go over every aspect of the engine to be sure that everything was in tip top shape.   They did plenty, based on the bills so far, but I am very pleased with their work.   Amazingly, the yard, Brewer’s Marine in Deep River, offered two months of free storage as long as I have them do work on the boat.  It seems that they love me so much that that they threw in a free haul and power wash as well. Clearly, they are not as busy in the summer as in the winter.  Another reason to spend the winters in the Bahamas, free storage and haul out too.   And, all that only three miles from home.

My plan remains to put Pandora back in the water in mid August.  After splashing her, we plan to spend a week or so sailing to Block Island and on to Newport where we will take in some of the tourist sites.  I can’t wait to be back on the water.

Perhaps I’ll close with a few shots of places that we have visited care of Pandora.   In no particular order some special spots.

A little cottage on the shores of Hadley Harbor in Nashon Island near Woods Hole MA.  Friends of ours, Toby and Martha Forbes stayed there one summer and we visited them, so many years ago in our little catboat.   Indeed, several lifetimes ago for us.Visiting gardens has been a special part of our cruising experiences aboard Pandora.  This community vegetable garden, on Fisher’s Island at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, is a special favorite.  Perhaps it will be on our itinerary later this month.
Annapolis, and a visit to the Naval Academy Chapel, will be a part of our fall travels.  We plan on spending a few weeks cruising the Chesapeake before I run Pandora to Florida.
I am particularly looking forward to special dinners aboard.
And the sunsets, the perfect end to an evening aboard…
And the never ending marshes on the ICW.
Perhaps we will walk out to the lighthouse on Block Island.  It’s a beautiful Island. We’ll be there in a few weeks.
I am so looking forward to the magnificent cloud displays of the Bahamas.
And, the turquoise crystal waters and white sandy beaches at every turn. And, who doesn’t like dolphins playing in the bow wave?  I am old enough to remember Flipper.  The theme song still plays in my head.  Better not think about that or it will plague me on a constant loop for the rest of the day.  Forgive me… I just had to include the theme song here so you too can be plagued all day with this song in a constant loop.  Sorry…

Speaking of clear water, it’s hard to believe that this starfish is actually in the water.   I can’t wait to visit 100’+ visibility waters again, and soon.
Well, this reminiscing isn’t getting anything done on Pandora so I’d better sign off for now.  

Quick, how does the Flipper theme song go again?

 

Yes, the most common question that I get from non-boaters when they learn that I have a boat is “how big is it”.  I imagine that if I were to say “well, it’s about 100′ long”, they would not know any different than if I said that she’s 43′.  Perhaps size is a relative question after all.  And, I am beginning to wonder just how big Pandora actually is myself.  

Let me explain.

So, what’s this discussion about how big Pandora is, have to do with anything? Actually, it has to do with how she seems to be growing nearly every day as I sand away on her bottom.  When I get home after a few hours of sanding, in the awful heat, (Have I mentioned that it’s been really hot?  Thought so.) ” Brenda asks “so, how much do you have left to go?”.   For what seems like days, if not weeks now, my answer has been a steady “I am about three quarters done, I think?”.

So, how can I have about 3/4 left to go after days and weeks of sanding? I am not sure.  Not sure at all.  Perhaps it’s because Pandora is growing.  Hmm…

Honestly, it does seem that the more I sand, and I have sanded a lot, I just don’t seem to be getting all that much closer to the end.  I have been at this FOR EVER and there is still more to be sanded.  Sure, I am making progress but a week later I think I am still about 3/4 of the way done.   Having said that, the shady side, starboard, is done, mostly.  Yippee!!!  The sunny side, not so much… Besides, it’s hot on that side.  Yes, a bit more near the waterline up toward the bow, but even the keel is completely done.  However, there is still some left to do on the port aft quarter.

Pandora is getting bigger.  A few weeks ago I took this shot of Pandora with my little BMW next to her.  Pandora looks pretty big next to my BMW but not too big.However, a week later with about a quarter of the bottom remaining to be sanded, look how much bigger she looks next to our SAAB, a much larger car than the BMW.  Hmm…    I think that Pandora really IS getting bigger.What’s happening? The more I sand, the larger Pandora becomes.  Hmm… Pandora IS growing.  I hope that the folks in the yard don’t see this as they will likely get out a tape measure to see what’s going on.  Of course, they will likely charge me more.

Setting aside the “magical expanding yacht, I am still clinging desperately to the belief that I can finish the sanding in a few days.  Let it be so, please let it be so.

Along the way I also decided to pull the rudder and upgrade the bearings.  There is a little play in them, making the rudder clunk in a seaway, so now I will install a new lower bearing with a waterproof seal along with fitting a bit snugger.  The addition of a seal, along with the new bearing, should quiet things down and also keep out the small amount of water that seeps into the boat when she is full loaded, and these days she’s always fully loaded.  

The stern looks odd without a rudder or a prop for that matter. 

And, you can see that pesky 1/4 of the boat that remains to be sanded.  Yes, bigger.

The rudder looks enormous out of the boat.  The stock is 4″ in diameter.  Pretty hefty.  From top to bottom it’s over five feet tall and really heavy.   Good thing it’s solidly built as if it were to fail that would be a very bad thing, yes bad. With all the things that remain to be done, and a few parts on back order, Pandora won’t be ready to head back to the “briny deep” for a few weeks.  I HOPE she will splash by mid August.   I’ll admit that it’s been nice being home for a while but I am getting a bit homesick for being underway.

Homesick?  Essex is home.  No, Pandora’s home.  No wait….  I’ll take both, thank you very much.   Besides, if I keep sanding long enough perhaps Pandora will grow to the size of our home.  Yes, that’s the ticket.  Keep sanding and before you know it…a mega yacht.  “Only in your dreams Bob, snap out of it and get back to work, sanding.” 

Actually, having Pandora in this yard, sanding and all, is a treat, in a sick sort of way, as it’s the most scenic boat yard I have ever seen.  There’s even a steam train that serenaded me as I headed home the other day.  Very nice and the train is way bigger than Pandora.  For now at least and that’s good. I almost forgot, as soon as I finish sanding her I get to enjoy putting on four coats of primer and bottom paint.  Oh boy…

How hot does it feel to be out in 90 degree heat and sanding the bottom of Pandora?  Let me tell you, it’s hot, really hot.

I try to head to work on Pandora most every day and hopefully, before it get hot. If I get there around 7:30 in the morning I can usually get a few hours in before it becomes unbearable.

The plan is for me to sand off all of the paint so I can begin fresh with a new type of paint that hopefully will work better over the next few years.   For now, the goal is to sand off all of the paint back down to the bare hull.  In some cases, like the keel, that means taking off many layers that have accumulated over the years.  Fortunately, much of the hull has only a few layers of paint and some areas have little or none.

Having said that, the going is still very slow.  This shot shows what I accomplished after several hours.  Not too good.Now that I have been at it for several weeks, this is what it looks like.  This side, starboard, is in the shade more of the morning so I have favored working on this side.  I like shade although I still sweat like crazy.  Making progress.   Notice that even the keel is mostly cleaned up too.  

Port, not quite as far along.  Along the way I decided to pull out the rudder so I can put in new bearings.  The current ones were getting a bit sloppy.   We wouldn’t want the rudder to fall off, would we?  Actually, not much risk of that but there was plenty of clunking of the sloppy bearings.

Friday they will pick up Pandora with the crane so I can lower the rudder out of the boat.  I spent several hours today and yesterday removing the various pieces of equipment that steer the boat and attach to the upper rudder post.  After 15 years some of the bolts, no make that all of the bolts, were tough to get off.  I was successful in getting a few off and several broke.  Looks like there will be a bit of work on the bench cleaning things up prior to putting things back together.  Not a simple job. 

I am also having some work done on the engine as it’s not had a through going over since I purchased her.  Good thing as the mechanic has found a few “issues” that need to be resolved.  Glad that I had him on board.  I like to do much of the work on Pandora myself but major engine work is a bit above my grade.

Hopefully, the heat will break in a few days, but for now I’ll just be sure and drink plenty of water in an attempt to stay on my feet.  Sure I could hire the yard to do the grunt work but at $100/hr, that’s a lot of hours.

Besides, when I am done, I will be able to say “I did it myself”.  Yes, that’s Yankee for “I am too cheap to hire someone”.  Besides, the more work I do, the more  I ice cream I can eat as long as I wash it down with a gallon or so of water.

Quick, pass me another bowl of heavenly hash.  Hmm…

I just wish that my arms weren’t so tired from sanding that I didn’t have so much trouble holding the spoon.   Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to adapt.

Yes, yes, a terribly boring post.  But that’s life and sometimes it’s just a grind.

Y