As we have, for the past six years, my friend George and I will be hosting cruisers from all over at the Essex Yacht Club for 2+ days of events, kicking off with a rendezvous in Hamburg Cove, about a mile up the river from the club.<\/p>\n
In past years we have done this event with the Seven Seas Cruising Association<\/a>, a group that I credit with helping me and Brenda gain the experience and nerve to head out on our first long trip down the ICW and on to the Bahamas way back in 2012.\u00a0 Since then we have cruised further afield, to Cuba and for the last few years, the eastern Caribbean.<\/p>\n I mention this as it was because of the wonderful support that we received from members of SSCA that I decided to do an event with the intent of “paying it forward” to help cruisers as others have helped me and Brenda for so many years.<\/p>\n For this years event, George and I decided that we’d also extend an invitation to members of the Ocean Cruising Club<\/a> and Salty Dawg Sailing Association<\/a>.\u00a0 That proved to be a very good decision as the response has been just terrific and we reached capacity six weeks before the event.\u00a0 I have to say that we are very disappointed to be turning people away and while we decided to rent a small tent we still had to start a waiting list.\u00a0 \u00a0One person, who missed signing up, said he’s coming anyway with the hope that there is at least one last minute no-show.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, to expand attendance beyond about 100, it would complicate things a lot and require renting a tent for thousands of dollars as well as getting police and fire departments involved.\u00a0 \u00a0That would be just too much for us to handle given our “committee of two” handling all of the logistics, promotion, speakers.<\/p>\n So, here I am, with only a few weeks until the event begins, working hard, in between gardening, home projects etc, to get Pandora ready to go in the water.<\/p>\n Now that I was finally able to get the mast step out of the boat, I am now in a good position to put it back with new bolts.\u00a0 After so many hours of grinding it doesn’t look like much, just a bare area of fiberglass. There’s one thing for sure, I don’t want to ever have to tackle this project again.\u00a0 \u00a0 You wouldn’t think that something so simple could take so long. I’ll post photos of the step installation as I put it in, probably in my next post.<\/p>\n The big project that continues to hold things up is the installation of the new head liner, and I have been having trouble getting the canvas guy to commit to a date to take care of it.\u00a0 It looks terrible, like some sort of derelict boat.\u00a0 I also decided that “while I’m at it” I’d do some varnishing and removed the salon dining table, which I got from a furniture store like Home Accents II furniture<\/span><\/a>. It was done in a matte finish and I thought it would look better with a high gloss.\u00a0 It’s been tough to get a good finish as it had been sprayed with furniture polish so many times over the years that the varnish kept flattening out and developing “fish eyes” in the finish.\u00a0 I would lay on a perfect coat of varnish and then some spots would would develop and look terrible.\u00a0 I sanded the entire top again and again, three times, before I got it right.\u00a0 This photo doesn’t show the problem all that well but the white smudge to the left of the long white reflection is one of the flat spots.\u00a0 \u00a0The long white streak is a reflection. Speaking of timelines, I hope to launch on or about June 14th and then spend a week getting her ready and the mast back in and stepped.\u00a0 Remember that I had new standing rigging put on her last fall.<\/p>\n Following the launch, I’ll take her to the Essex Yacht Club and our event where she will be on display as one of the “blue water equipped boats” for the event attendees to tour.<\/p>\n Then, \u00a0off to Bridgeport to have her waterline “adjusted” to better reflect the actual trim of Pandora fully loaded with the dink in the davits.\u00a0 I am told that it will take a week for the paint work and then back to Essex for a few days of provisioning and on to Maine for much of the summer.\u00a0 I also will be giving a talk at the Camden Yacht Club<\/a> as part of their summer speakers series, on July 23rd.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8835.jpg\")
On Wednesday I will take the step to to a welder to have the old holes filled.\u00a0 ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8836.jpg\")
After that, I’ll drill new holes adjacent to the old bolts that have been cut flush with the step.\u00a0 Even though the remains of the old bolts are still in place, the rigger says that this is a perfectly fine approach as the bulk of the pressure is downward and only a small amount of shear force.\u00a0 I’ll be sure to install the new bolts with some sort of release agent or caulking like Life Seal, which is what the rigger recommends if I want the step to be removable in the future.\u00a0 Additionally, I’ll spray a thick lubricant\/sealer like Microlube<\/a> on the heads to keep them from becoming corroded.\u00a0 Frankly, I doubt that I will own Pandora when it’s time to deal with corroded bolts again.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8867.jpg\")
I am optimistic that he will be able to do it this coming week when the all important Memorial Day Weekend will be history.\u00a0 For now, Pandora’s salon looks like a construction zone.\u00a0 ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8869.jpg\")
Or should I say storage container? ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8870.jpg\")
I am also renewing the caulk around the large tempered glass windows in the dodger.\u00a0 \u00a0I was able to dig the old caulk out with a tool that I made from an old metal file.\u00a0 I heated up the narrow end with a torch, bent it 90 degrees and ground it to a sharp edge.\u00a0 ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8874.jpg\")
It worked well to remove the old caulking but it still looks messy.\u00a0 ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8872.jpg\")
And, with something like 30′ of caulk to renew, it’s a big project.\u00a0 It took hours for me to clean out all the old caulk.\u00a0 I should have actually taken the windows out completely but I didn’t have the nerve so I’ll just renew the exposed caulk for now and try something more severe when things decay further, down the road. ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8871.jpg\")
As far as what to use to replace the caulk, I spoke to someone who specializes in renewing hatches on boats and he recommended Sika 295 caulking along with a special primer and a cleaner to prepare the surface.\u00a0 The primer was nearly $100 for a one pint can.\u00a0 I hope it works.\u00a0 \u00a0The caulk is made for industrial use, specifically for glazing and sticks much better when it is put on a surface that is well prepared.\u00a0 Or, so I am told…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8880.jpg\")
However, it looks pretty good now and I am going to call it done, even though there are a few dust specs here and there.\u00a0 I\u00a0 used gloss Epifanes, varnish, the best you can buy.\u00a0 Great stuff and quite a shine, if you ask me. ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8878.jpg\")
So, there’s a lot left to do but I am making progress, slowly but surely and am finally feeling like I can make it toward launching on a timeline assuming that the canvas guy finishes the headliner.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/twins.jpg\")
Well, there’s lots to do and that doesn’t even get me to the point of preparing for the run to Antigua in November.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG-8863.jpg\")
I am not sure if everything is clear but at least things are beginning to come into focus.\u00a0 Let’s hope that the canvas guy can fit me in or all this will seem more like wishful thinking than a plan.<\/p>\n