Come and go blues

"Come And Go Blues", a great song by the Allman Brothers, but also a fair summary of our canceled launch date. We had scheduled with the boat yard to drop us in the water on July 10, but life and boat building has again collided, so that date is going to get pushed back.  Shes able to be launched, but a situation with  my 81 year old mother found Shannon, my sister, and myself pulling together to help mom, and less important things had to be shelved.  Anyway, a launch is imminent, but it will be later in July, or early August.

Boat building is still moving forward. With the devil being in the details, Im at the stage where getting things completely finished is high on my list. Im putting to bed quite a bit of work hoping to not have to re-visit these projects again. Im actually to the point where I can start to think about hauling some left over construction material off of the boat.

I had to dig the welder out of the forward cabin and make some brackets for the throttle and transmission shift cables. The correct length cables arrive at the boat early in the week, and I finalized  the installation late in the week. Listening to Terry at Washington Marine was a prudent move on my part and having him order the correct length cables was worth it. The shift motion is firm and easy on the touch, and Im happy with how well the throttle control is.

While I had the welder out, I made a bracket for mounting the air horns that will sit on the bill of the wheel  house, and  mounted the horns. The junk air solenoid valve that came with the horns did not work, so the only way to test the horns was to use the blow gun. The horns work well, and the 170 decibel rating makes your ear sting if youre standing in front of them. A  new solenoid switch is on the way.

While I was welding on top of the wheel house, I welded in three couplings. One coupling for the air horns, one coupling for the VHF cable, and the last coupling for a search light.

All the anodes are bolted to the hull.

I decided to install a scoop strainer for the sea chest intake. I was afraid that without a scoop, there might be a tendency to suck the sea chest  dry when were under way.  Instead of fooling around with welding a bunch of studs to the hull for the scoop, I welded one 1/2" stud, and used a isolator bushing to electrically disconnect the scoop from the hull. I also decided to add a small anode behind the scoop. With only one beefy stud pulling the scoop tight to the hull,  a rubber gasket was also added to help tighten things up and keep the bronze off of the steel.

A big piece of the engine system is ventilation of the engine room. The engine room ventilation is done via a stack that exits up through the center of the boat and out the roof.  The stack is 26" x 26", and is partitioned in the center crating two stacks with one for exhaust, and one for intake. Fans are going to have to be used as I dont think passive ventilation will work.  Once the water tight engine room doors are closed, the room is now air tight with only the stack allowing air in or out. So,  if I pull air in to the now  pressurized engine room via a fan, the air now has no choice but to exit the engine room via the exhaust side of the stack, forcing out the hot engine room air. The key here, in my opinion is not letting the intake air to short circuit. For the short circuiting issue, I decided to create a shroud in the stack on the intake side, and mount the intake fan in a precisely cut hole in the shroud. The shroud was made using scrap aluminum left over from the scrap aluminum I used to sheath the engine room sole. The shroud is bolted in place so its easy to remove or expand, and I mounted the fan using threaded rivets, so that too is easy to replace. I purchased two 9" axial fans from Delta T for ER ventilation. The quality of the fan is about as good as one could find with the fan having been built for specifically this application. So yesterday afternoon, Im down in the 90 degree engine room ( remember summer  has found us), building the shroud and installing the fan. Im looking at this fan, and doubts are filling my mind. " I should have gone with the 11" fan". " Theres now way this fan is going to  do what I want it to do, its to damn small". With the fan installed, I decided to energize it even though I did not have proper wires run from the wheel house. Using the hot wire for the ER lights outside the ER door in the master cabin, I powered up the fan. Man, was I surprised  how much air that thing puts out, and how relatively quiet it is. The fan is supposed to be rated at 750 CFM, and the old head in front of the fan test tells me its pushing out 754.  Because the temporary fan power wires are running from the master cabin through the ER water tight door, I could completely close the doors to the water tight position for fear of cutting the wires, so the door dogs were only about 1/4 engaged. The door was hitting the gasket, but not compressing it, and I could tell this by feeling how much air was short circuiting out the door... not a lot, but I could feel it. That all looks good, so lets go roof top and see whats happening at the stack funnel. Up on the roof, the first thing I noticed is that the fan seems louder up top. The second thing I noticed is how much air is pouring out the exhaust side of the stack. I could sort of feel air being pulled in on the stacks intake side, but its difficult to feel with ones hand. Using a garbage bag, I placed it in front of the intake Louver, and the baggie was immediately sucked into the grill. If I did not get insect screens with the Louver, the baggie for sure would have been sucked down in to the stack and into the fan. The last thing I wanted to check was the amperage draw which I found to be 9 amps. Most times, a few small things together can add up to a large thing as to how things  perform. "The devils in the details" . While the shroud fits good, I decided to use some duct tape to seal up the edge of the shroud where it hits the ceiling. 

As I said before, I bought two of these axial fans for the ER. The other fan Im going to install in the aft corner, pushing air towards the work bench. Because of the amperage draw, I have to decide if I want to use two circuits or one. Im inclined to use two circuits as I might be able to get by using only one fan. The intake fan is for sure going to be running 100% of the time the engine is running along with some time after the engine is stopped to help with cooling the engine room down. The pushing fan might not need run as much, and given that it will see less duty, it should last much longer. If this proves to be the case, the less run pushing fan will also double as a spare fan to be used to replace the intake fan for when it fails. The intake fan for sure  has to run, so putting the fans on separate circuits gives me some redundancy.
 
The next step to finish ventilation project is to pull the wires and land them in the wheel house. While Im pulling wires, I might as well pull wires for the fresh water pump along with the bilge pump switchs. I have six spare DC conduits installed from the wheel house to the ER, so this one wire pull will fill one of the conduits.

I might as well add that theres a solid day of cleaning for two people once we pick a launch date.... shes a dirty mess.

 Cheers 

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Boats that go bump in the night

I get consulting jobs now and then on how to fix fiberglass boats that everybody else says cannot be fixed. I love fiberglass in that any boat or part made from this material can be brought back to life.

Remember that Americas Cup sloop that cracked in half? A month later it was back sailing better than new.

Three years ago, while I was building the trimaran in St. Augustine, I got a call from an old Bahamain friend of mine from Spanish Wells saying that he had just crashed into an unlit sailboat at anchor off of Egg Island . His boat, a 33 Sea Vee, had tee boned a 49 ketch right in the middle with end result of sliding up and into the center cockpit . He and his fishing partner along with 3 Hatian helpers and a load of 20 crawfishing "condo" traps had left Spanish Wells at 4:30 in the morning on their way west to the Berry islands to set these traps, move others and crawfish for the week. Its a 42 mile open water trip. It was flat calm.

I have been on many of these trips. Its always a beautiful early morning ride running along and over the clear Sandy bottom then running through the Egg Island cut and then feeling the hopefully slight swell of the ocean for the crossing over to the Berrys.

On this early morning trip they were nearing the turn to make the cut with five men in the boat looking forward when they slammed into what turned out to be a home built Bruce Roberts ketch that was painted an almost black green. 

They say they never saw a light, that it was anchored in the navigable channel.

What happen was the boat slammed into the side shattering the bow but still sliding up the side with the two Mercury engines running wide open trying to climb over the ketch. The two Spanish Wellsmen were behind the console and were slamed into it breaking the windshield and instruments. Both suffered broken ribs and cuts. The Hatians were aft and forward sitting on top of the 80 lb each condos. One was severely hurt the other two only bruised. 

My friend only remembers the shock at first of what was happening and then kicking into survival mode after having the sea water coming in over the stern hitting his feet bringing him back to his senses. He put the boat in reverse and backed off of the ketch and meanwhile startled and terrified owners of this sailboat had come on deck. The Sea Vee was sinking and his crew was bleeding so he yelled to the sail boaters his name where he lived and that he would be back to help. Going wide open he made it back to town where he slid the bow up on the beach to stop the boat from sinking.

I got his call two days later with the pictures you see here of the damage. The question was, could it be fixed locally by the men I knew, and how long would it take? He had already sent the photos to the builders of this boat. One look and they said no way, a dead boat. It was not insured. He had the last part of the crawfish season to finish and knew that there were a bunch left and he needed this money to cover the repair job. What did I think? 

I had been in his boat a lot so knew the layout but had never seen one of these boats being built.

But I know how they should be logically put together under the deck where you will never see what went on. I am not a fan of Bi Axel cloth in construction as I dont like the way it gets wet out by hand. Too much air in the laminate. Thats why I belive they shatter like you see in the photos. Take one of my Spanish Wells skiffs hand laid up the old fashioned way and it would have slid right over that sailboat doing tons more damage to the ketch and all but not so much to itself. Of course I dont want to prove this point. I belive anything built in glass can be fixed. From the photos I could see from the inside layout on how to cut out the interior liner and deck to get at the insides and how to put it all back together so as to look new. I knew the guys that would be doing the work. They welcomed me to oversee them, and teach them some new tricks. 

I got a flight over the next day. The boat was hauled out and waiting for me. I drew lines across all the deck and liner areas to show where all the cuts were to be made and how to cut these lines straight with an aluminum angle and double sticky tape as a guide. I drew sketches and diagrams of what was to be expected when they would start removing all the deck pieces and how to not break anything.

Most production boats follow a similar build plan. This one sure did. Most rely on goobered putty to bond the liners to stringers and other easy landing spots. This is fast and simple but heavy and not so strong. I drew out a layup plan on how to reglass from the inside first and then to rebuild the outside last. The bow was shattered so I showed them how to screw plywood strips over the bow to hold its shape while they removed most of the dead glass from the inside. These men had grown up watching me build skiffs on the island over the years as young kids and had now filled in my old place as the local repairmen. They knew glass work on a basic level but are quick learners.

I had to get back to finishing my trimaran build so only stayed this one day. With the internet I could be reached at any time to answer all questions as they arose. Three weeks later I came back to show them how to make the new lifting strakes as the old ones had to be removed. The boat was back running in 4 weeks time with a new AlwGriped topside and saved my buddys season.

Since then it has been through hell and back and all looks new. 

Thats why I love the wonders of fiberglass.

Now back to the crash and the unfortunate sailboaters. Its a long drawn out story of both parties blaming each other. I will not get into it here, but will make an observation.

My buddys have done this run thousands of times. It never varies from port to starboard more than a

Hundred feet. Just look at the GPS tracks. They both have eagle eyes from years of looking for signs of fish. BUT they now have a big ass GPS screen on at all times and the glare from this is terrible even on low. When I go along I always sit forward looking in the wind till clear of the shore.

The Sailboaters claimed to have had on an anchor light and were anchored way off in the corner of the bay. I was shown a picture of their boat right after the collision. They had one of those old school Davis anchor lights hanging inside of their dodger. I belive they had just made the crossing and were anchored in what is a very busy traffic zone for boats. There is now way the SWs guys could have been where they claim to have been anchored after the fact. Well never know.

This home built boat being built the old fashioned way suffered a small wedge crease in its sheer , a ruined rub rail, and a cracked cockpit coaming. They were incredibly lucky. 

In the Bahamas there are no designated anchorages. So having an anchor light on is not enough for American style litigation. Both parties went on to repair their boats on their own.

The Sea Vees repair job cost a total of just under $20,000.00

My bill for this was nothing as my buddy was the best man at my wedding on Spanish Wells .

 Anchor defensively at all times!!!!

The skin was shattered through to the inside.

This is what a bad day on the water looks like

The stern seat rocker post shoved  them right into to console pinning them there. Thy had 10 condos stored aft.

This does not show the real damage to the interior. What a mess.

The boat after three years of hard use since the repair.

Like new. In the inside you have to really look to find the seems to see where it all went back together.

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Hogfish Maximus How shallow can you go

Sailing and cruising here in the Lesser Antillies the water depth is deep everywhere except for reefs and submerged rocks. Lots of boats here have drafts of 7 - 9 or more. Navigate properly and all is well. Plenty of boats though are lost every season due to not keeping track of where they are. 

When telling the locals in Antigua we plan on sailing over to the sister island of Barbuda this December with our daughter Lillian they all say " look out for the shallow water!" And then go on to explain how very shallow and treacherous it it can be. " Be very carefull."

We explain that we are from the Bahamas and have spent a lifetime of sailing in difficult reef conditions. All engineless till a few years ago. "Ah but not like over there!"

Trying to explain that Barbuda is about the size of the view in front of our house in the Bahamas and that the Bahamian archipelago is over 500 miles long they suck in their teeth and roll up their eyes.They cannot belive this.

Having a boat that sails well in deep ocean seas like the Hogfish does is great. But going where most men and their vessels have never gone before is so much better.

Bequia looking out for fish. We are motoring over a five mile long shallow bank in a flat calm looking for crayfish ledges and for conch from the mast as we work our way over this shallow bank of 29-30" of water depth. Some little coral heads we had to avoid so as to not damage them. Hogfish Maximus draws 27". What ! 2" is plenty of water under the hull in these conditions. But you must be able to "Read the water" well.

Lots to see going along like this. Lobsters, groupers, snappers and all kinds of edible fish hide out in small holes like these. We just stop, go over the side with a spear and bingo! Lunch.

Its this shallow all the way to the islands in the distance.

Mr. Raymond going along the bank looking for crabs to suck up. Hes about 3 across.

Coral "nob" as we call them. Lots of small pretty tropical fish around these.

This is an Ocean Tally. Its a very tasty type of Trigger Fish. This is an 8 lb. fish. The water is about 30" deep. If fishing using a rod then just cast a piece of conch on a hook about 5 in front of him and away you go. These guys eat anything like crazy. Very firm white meat. The skin is like a leather boot.

To fillet start from the tail and work towards the head. The skin is very soft at the base of the tail. Takes a second to do. This fish would feed four for dinner.

I navigate up on the spreaders as Rachel steers. I can see a long ways up there.

Now we have reached some deeper water. Time to cool off.

This guy wants some grapes for lunch. Poor ole Bequia has to stay aboard as she would love to chase these Bahamian Igunas around the beach.

This clear water is in Sal Island in the Grenadines. I think thats Heckel & Jeckel talking about what kind of trouble they can get into.

Nothing like anchoring in 4 of water. All the other boats are anchored off a ledge that they cannot get over. They are in 19 of water, wind and current. Nothing like being a shallow minded sailor.

Time to go.... Bequia is keeping a look out for the skipper. 

Hogfish Life, as seen through the anchors ring.

Ya Mon... In de Bahamas wes gots lotsa water, its just spread outs very thin.

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