{"id":9748,"date":"2019-04-04T06:53:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T11:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=9748"},"modified":"2019-04-04T06:58:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T11:58:19","slug":"a-race-to-the-finish-line-and-its-deja-vu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=9748","title":{"rendered":"A race to the finish line. And, it’s Deja Vu…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s the beginning of April and I find myself completely focused on something that hasn’t been on my mind for the last seven years.\u00a0 Spring launch.\u00a0\u00a0It’s not news to anyone that follows the blog that Pandora’s been on the hard over this winter, her first since being launched in 2007 and that this winter was the first in Pandora’s decade long life when she was “decommissioned” for any reason, b beyond a few months, much less and entire winter.\u00a0 \u00a0 Not to put too fine a point on it but the last time I did any real sailing was a year ago May when I returned from Antigua.<\/p>\n

So, here I am, recalling so many spring commissioning sprints trying to getting the boat ready for the water in time for the long Memorial Day Weekend.\u00a0 \u00a0Well,\u00a0 not actually, as in my retirement it’s a bit different as I am no longer focused on a single long weekend but the whole year and months aboard.\u00a0 However, with Pandora about to emerge from nearly a year out of the water, I’ll be in the boat yard working hard to get the boat ready in time to enjoy the season.<\/p>\n

After an ill fated attempt to prepare her for a run south last fall resulting from a long delay from some work that I had commissioned last summer, I came to the painful realization that we’d be staying home for the season.\u00a0 \u00a0It turned out to be OK,\u00a0 I guess, as I got a lot done around the house and we also spent more time with our growing troupe of grandchildren.\u00a0 That was good but, and there’s always a “but” I am anxious about being afloat again.<\/p>\n

Being home-bound for the winter did allow me to get many projects done around the house, especially for Brenda, that I am hoping that she will take pity on my and not grouse too much when we head south next winter.<\/p>\n

So, soon enough Pandora will be back in the water where she belongs.\u00a0 The bad news is that shortly after she is launched, she will be hauled yet again\u00a0to address a problem with the waterline resulting from last summers paint job.<\/p>\n

Regarding that bit of news, when Pandora was being painted, I asked to have the aft portion of the waterline raised but somehow the port and starboard lines ended up being a few inches off from each other.\u00a0 I noticed that last fall, shortly after she was relaunched.\u00a0 At first I thought that she had developed a list to port, but when I put a ruler on the waterline I realized that port was two inches lower than the other side.<\/p>\n

So, in order to fix the problem and get a good feel for exactly where the waterline should be, she has to be fully rigged with mast up, sails on and dink in the davits.\u00a0 After launch, measurements will be taken and she will be marked for fore and aft trim.\u00a0 \u00a0The key in all of this is the “after rigging” part as that means that she will then have her mast and all that rigging in place which means she will be tall, a lot taller than the door of the shed where she was painted.\u00a0 \u00a0The good news is that the painter has access to a building in Bridgeport with a door that is tall enough to accommodate her inside, even with her mast up.\u00a0 \u00a0While Pandora’s mast is tall and the door to the shed is taller, something like 75′.<\/p>\n

That’s a really big door and an even bigger shed.\u00a0 Actually, it was the building where the yacht Cake Walk<\/em> was constructed in a few years ago.\u00a0 She was, I am told, the largest displacement yacht ever built in the US at over 250′ long.\u00a0 Longer yachts have been built in the US but none with greater displacement. She’s now named Aquila but she’s still huge.\u00a0 \u00a0If the shed could fit her, Pandora should fit too.\u00a0 Actually, the building can fit many Pandoras.<\/p>\n

Here’s Aquila.\u00a0 Pandora could be her dink.\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"So, here I sit.\u00a0 It’s early April and I have a growing list of what has to happen to get her ready for the water.\u00a0 It’s like the old days before I retired but at least I don’t have to get up on a Monday morning and head to the office.<\/p>\n

Well, I am in my “office” but at least I am writing a blog post and not a business plan .\u00a0 Well, I guess it is a business plan of sorts, a plan to get Pandora back in the water.<\/p>\n

The biggest thing standing between me and the launch of Pandora is the collapsed headliner that was sagging badly in, well in just about every part of the boat, the main cabin, aft and forward compartments.\u00a0 \u00a0 About a year ago the foam backing on the headliner had deteriorated to a point where it separated from the cabin sides and fell down.\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"At first I thought that the problem was limited to a few areas.\u00a0 No such luck.\"\"So, I decided to take nearly all of it down.\u00a0 \u00a0It was a huge job and very messy.\u00a0 I consulted with Chad, the canvas maker that did a great job on my cockpit enclosure, to get advice on what to do.\u00a0 He suggested that I pull the vinyl down and then, with a wire brush on a drill, have at it.\u00a0 \u00a0This is a view of the aft cabin, where I pulled down all of the vinyl.\u00a0 Then the drill…\"\"The main cabin, post wire brush.\u00a0 Looks like a derelict boat.\u00a0 \u00a0Depressing.\u00a0 And such a mess…\"\"Over the weekend, I went to a sale at Defender, a discount marine supply company nearby.\u00a0 They have a once a year warehouse sale and it was mobbed.\u00a0 \u00a0 I purchased most of the lights I needed, along with a new EPIRB, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Say that three times fast.\u00a0 \u00a0As the name suggests, it is a transmitter that I can activate to call for help if I get into trouble while at sea.\u00a0 \u00a0I have two on the boat already but they are both out of date and it makes more sense to get a new one instead of having the older one re-certified.\u00a0 All this, lights and EPIRB, and it wasn’t quite one “boat dollar”.\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"And, speaking of lights, I’ll also be replacing all of the inefficient fluorescent fixtures in the cabin and cockpit, along with all of the halogen bulbs in the overhead with LED bulbs and fixtures.\u00a0 The bad news is that the “footprint” of the old fixtures, and there are 9 of them, is larger than the new ones so that means that I’ll have to replace all the vinyl on other areas of the headliner that are basically fine to eliminate the old screw holes and stained vinyl in the areas around the old headliner.\u00a0 There are a LOT of fixtures to deal with.\u00a0 \u00a0 Fortunately, vinyl comes in many colors of “white” so we should be able to match the new to the old.\u00a0 Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n

Also, in going from halogen to LED in some areas so I have to replace the dimmers, three of them with a type made for LEDs.\u00a0 This is what the old, non compliant, dimmers looked like.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"In spite of my best efforts, I could not locate new dimmers that look anything like these and would fit in the same 2″ hole.\u00a0 So, I decided to just “remodel” and use the same dimmer casing.\u00a0 So, I made up wooden inserts from scrap plywood that matched the interior.\u00a0 \"\"The plan will be to glue the new touch dimmer into the old housing and it will look like this.\u00a0 Pretty neat, right? \"\"I’m pretty pleased with myself, frankly.\u00a0 An elegant solution that will minimize effort in matching the current holes.<\/p>\n

I am doing, have done, all of the demo but I am hiring Chad to put the new headliner in place and it’s a LOT of work so it’s going to be several boat dollars, I expect.\u00a0 \u00a0Brenda will be so pleased.<\/p>\n

Add to this project myriad other issues, like re-bedding deck fittings, general cleanup and a number of other upgrades and there is a LOT to do to get Pandora ready to splash.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, and with all the time I save in making my own dimmers, I’ll be spending plenty of time trying to pull out the bolts that hold in the mast step as the heads of the bolts had become corroded and suspect.\u00a0 So far, not a lot of luck in getting them out.\u00a0 \u00a0Yes, that’s a bolt extractor in the lower left.\u00a0 Wish me luck.\u00a0\"\"Oh yeah, one more thing.\u00a0 Pandora has electric toilets.\u00a0 Can you imagine, electric?\u00a0 And mixing electricity with, well, you know what, is a messy business.\u00a0 The toilet, head, has three electric motors and one failed on the aft head so I had to put in another.\u00a0 If you think that this looks expensive, it is.\u00a0 Fortunately, I was able to get it replaced under warranted.\u00a0 Let’s hope that if it decides to “poop out” it does so before a year.\u00a0 Motors on a head?\u00a0 Who knew?\u00a0 \"\"So, after a winter spent waiting for the weather to get warm enough to work on Pandora and time spent focusing on my “honey do list”, it’s time to get cracking and find a way to get Pandora back in the water and ready to cruise.<\/p>\n

I never imagined that I’d be back in the grind of spring commissioning, but now I am.\u00a0 And, when I get her up and running again in a few weeks, I’ll learn if I missed anything when I was winterizing her systems.<\/p>\n

So, if I can only get her ready by Memorial Day.\u00a0 Wow, a deja vu moment.\u00a0 At least I don’t have to go to work the following Tuesday.\u00a0 No wait, perhaps I’ll wait and not even use the boat as everywhere will be jammed that weekend.\u00a0 \u00a0Ah, the luxury of being of a “certain age”.\u00a0 \u00a0Now don’t go telling me that I am in my “twilight years” and that it’s “all down hill from here”.<\/p>\n

And speaking of “down hill” I guess that it is a race to the finish line.\u00a0 Yes, I guess it is and time’s a-wasting so I’d better get cracking.<\/p>\n

“Brenda, anything you need me to do before I head to Pandora today?”<\/p>\n

This year, the season won’t end in the fall, I hope but I’m still racing to get her in the water.<\/p>\n

Did someone say deja vos, again?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the beginning of April and I find myself completely focused on something that hasn’t been on my mind for the last seven years.\u00a0 Spring launch.\u00a0\u00a0It’s not news to anyone that follows the blog that Pandora’s been on the hard over this winter, her first since being launched in 2007 and that this winter was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9748"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9765,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9748\/revisions\/9765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}