October 10, 2009 - Squall

I went down to the yacht club early again to move Morning View over to the dock and scrub the bottom. The Petit Ultima SR is really holding up well in this area. I was concerned initially with this paint in such a high fouling area, especially when I was finding that I had to scrub every 10 days or so when the water was in the 80's. I haven't scrubbed through to the black tracer coat yet, though.

Crew: Chris, Tauri & Arabella / The Freeman's

1133 - Helm Chris, Wind SE10, Tide Ebb, Course -0-, Speed -0-kts, Beaufort YSC Docks

I started the engine on battery #1 after having been plugged in for about 2 hours. We left the dock under power.

1150 - Helm Chris, Wind SE8, Tide Ebb, Course 176, Speed 3.3kts, Under SC802 Bridge

1200 - Helm Chris, Wind SW10, Tide Ebb, Course 157, Speed 3.1kts, N32.388/W80.674

Unfurled the genoa and began to sail. Turned the engine off and considered raising main.

1206 - Helm Allen, Wind SW10, Tide Ebb, Course 195, Speed 3.9kts, N32.282/W80.674

Allen took the helm and I raised the main. Sailing towards Parris Island under increasing breeze. Once we got around the school, the breeze increased and steadied in direction.

1218 - Helm Allen, Wind SW10, Tide Ebb, Course 163, Speed 3.0kts, N32.372/W80.675

Coming up on eastern shoal and took 2 short tacks to avoid it.

1332 - Helm Allen, Wind SW12, Tide Ebb, Course 300, Speed 2.2kts, N32.338/W80.657

Tacking again down river and taking a few short tacks to avoid north-bound traffic.

1407 - Helm Allen, Wind SW14, Tide Ebb, Course 236, Speed 4.6kts, N32.319/W80.652

Tacking south on port tack towards "G31A"

1414 - Helm Allen, Wind SW14, Tide Ebb, Course 261, Speed 3.7kts, N32.315/W80.649

Final tack to round "G31A" then turn back north to head to yacht club.

1439 - Helm Chris, Wind SW15, Tide Flood, Course 354, Speed 4.5kts, N32.343/W80.660

Sailing downwind back to yachts club. A squall line appears to be forming and moving in from the west.

1445 - Helm Tauri, Wind W12, Tide Flood, Course 330, Speed 4.8kts, N32.349/W80.665

Turned engine on and rolled in genoa. The squall line appears to be forming and moving rapidly to the east. We can tell it's going to be pretty wet, so we drop the main and do a quick flake on the boom to keep it under control if the wind comes up.

1458 - Helm Chris, Wind W35, Tide Flood, Course 343, Speed 4.8kts, N32.364/W80.676

The temperature has dropped 15 degrees and seems to be dropping further. Everyone but Allen and I are down below out of the rain. This seems to be the height of the squall, with the most rain and wind. Morning View is heeled over 20 degrees taking the wind from the beam as we motor north. The engine is performing flawlessly, though!

1508 - Helm Allen, Wind W12, Tide Flood, Course 035, Speed 5.5kts, N32.378/W80.675

The sky has begun to clear and Allen has taken the helm back. We can finally see the SC802 bridge again. There appears to be another line forming to the west, but we should make it back to the yachts club before it hits.

1544 - Wind W15, Tide Flood, BYSC Dock

We arrived at the Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club dock and turned the engine off. Everyone went about cleaning up as fast as possible as it looked like we had time to get out before the next squall line.

I took Morning View back to the mooring solo. Unfortunately, just after I tied up, the lightening started up again and the wind cranked up to 30 knots. I waited out this squall on the mooring to let the lightening pass before rowing back to shore.

A great day, if a little wet...

I need to check oil and fuel before next sail.

Total Distance: 13.1 nm

Average Speed: 3.3 kts SOG

Total Time: 3h 57m

Engine Time: 1h 35m / Battery #1

October 2, 2009 - Martec Folding Propeller For Sale

Morning View came with a Martec Slipstream 2-blade folding propeller. It had one season on it and we used it for one season before moving south to big current. I bought a fixed prop to deal with the current, so the 2-season old folding prop must go:

Martec Slipstream 2 Blade Folding Propeller

Model: S4C3

Serial: S41514C

Size: 15 x 14

Shaft: 1" (includes key)

The bump stop could stand to be replaced, which Martec sells for $25 and is a seasonal replacement. All documentation is with the propeller.

Price $799 ($1175 new)

September 12, 2009 - Great Sail with Friends

I went down to the yacht club early to clean up Morning View before everyone showed up. I scrubbed the bottom, pulled the knotmeter thru-hull and scraped barnacles off of the prop. I also scrubbed the deck and canvas.

The engine wouldn't start on Battery #1, so I started it on Battery #2 to get it warmed up. After letting it run for a few minutes, I shut the engine off, changed to Battery #1 and restarted. The rest of the day was spent on Battery #1. I need to check the battery and connections because it doesn't seem to be holding a charge.

I checked the oil and added 1/2 quart. I also added 2.5 gallons of diesel fuel.

Crew: Chris, Tauri & Arabella / The Zapors

Everyone showed up at about the same time, so after stowing gear and grabbing ice we left the BYSC dock at 1120.

1130 - Helm Chris, Wind E12, Tide Flood, Sky Clear, Position Under SC802 Bridge, Engine/Genoa

Unfurled the genoa, but the wind was too far forward and shifty to sail only.

1143 - Helm Chris, Wind ESE12, Tide Flood, Course 302, Speed ?, Position N32.389/W80.675, Genoa

We're making good headway under just the genoa and the kids are all doing quite well. We're contemplating putting the main up, but will wait until we are a little further off the shoal.

1152 - Helm Tauri, Wind SE10, Tide Flood, Course 171, Speed 1.7kts, Position N32.385/W80.675, Main/Genoa

Tauri took the helm and I raised the main. Began beating south in a steady 10 knot wind.

1221 - Helm Jeff, Wind SE10, Tide Flood, Course 193, Speed 3.6kts, Position N32.369/W80.676, Main/Genoa

Jeff took the helm and sailed us south to the the Parris Island turn.

1254 - Helm Chris, Wind SE12, Tide Flood, Course 032, Speed 3.9kts, Position N32.357/W80.670

Beating east along north end of Parris Island. We ran through a bunch of tacks to get out against the current and passed a couple cruisers heading south.

1319 - Helm Chris, Wind SE12, Tide Flood, Course 160, Speed 4.1kts, Position N32.342/W80.660

Hit a high speed so far of 6.5 kts. The kids are still having fun so we decided to keep sailing. The whole "tell us when you're 1/2 way done" question is brought up. I turned the helm over to Jeni.

1337 - Helm Jeni, Wind SE14, Tide Flood, Course 167, Speed 3.9kts, Position N32.324/W80.654

Made it far enough south to reach the "1/2 way point". Jeni tacked us back to the north, which was a great tack. Jeni & Jeff are naturals. We'll have to get them back out a lot more!

1355 - Helm Jeni, Wind SE12, Tide Flood, Course 325, Speed 5.4kts, Position N32.350/W80.665

Jeni still sailing us back north and hit our high speed for the day of 6.7 kts!

1416 - Helm Jeff, Wind SE12, Tide Flood, Course 018, Speed 5.3kts, Position N32.374/W80.676

Jeff has taken the helm and is sailing back north.

1432 - Helm Chris, Wind SE 10, Tide Flood, Course 359, Speed 4.4kts, Position N32.393/W80.675

Sailed under the SC802 bridge, then turned helm over to Tauri so I could drop the main.

1506 - Helm Chris, Wind SE 10, Tide Flood, Course 048, Position Arriving BYSC Dock

Total Distance: 10.4 nm

Max Speed: 6.7 kts SOG

Engine Time: 30 minutes / Battery #1

August 29, 2009 - New Forward Hatch

Keeping with the plan to eliminate leaks and upgrade Morning View, the forward hatch was next on the list of replacements. The original forward hatch was heavy, leaked, didn't support itself in the open position, and was generally ugly. We bought a new Lewmar Ocean Series hatch that matched the inside cut-out dimensions of the old hatch.

Tauri removed the old hatch to make way for the new Lewmar. Of course, the inside dimensions matched, but the outside dimensions of the new Lewmar was quite smaller than the old hatch. This meant some filling and sealing of the old cut-out and bolt holes.

The new hatch covers them relatively well, but you can still epoxy where I filled the old holes. I'm not really concerned about cosmetics right now, though. I plan to do some core repair on the deck and repaint it in the next year.

New holes were templated and the new Lewmar hatch installed with screws and 3M 4200. A final solvent wipe of the 4200 to create a nice, seamless seal and we were finished.

No more leaks and finally a nice, new hatch that supports itself in a range of open positions. I'm very happy with this purchase!

August 23, 2009 - Completing the Freshwater System & Pump-Out

We went down to the yacht club today to finish up the freshwater system and get the holding tank pumped out.

We motored over to Port Royal Landing Marina, just under a mile away. The engine started right up on battery #1 and was run for a total of 1 hour 10 minutes.

Port Royal Landing Marina is a great place with fuel, pump-out, ships store and restaurant all situated directly on the ICW. The family owned and operated marina is great to work with and were right on hand to help us tie up and pump-out. We flushed the tank as many times as we wanted for $10. A little steep, but I haven't tried downtown Beaufort yet. After the pump-out, Tauri, Bella & I went up to the ships store for ice cream. We would definitely be back to check out the restaurant.

Total Distance: 1.8 nm

Average Speed: 2.4 kts SOG

Total Moving Time: 44 min 56 sec

We then motored back to BYSC and tied up at the dock to finish the freshwater system. Of course, I got frustrated with it again and Tauri took over. She finished the plumbing and new head faucet, we filled the tank and there aren't any leaks, except a small one on the tank fill, which I sealed with 4200. We are back in the freshwater business again!

Next up is the head....

August 22, 2009 - Rebed Ports

The nasty C&C leaking portlight curse has caught Morning View. All 4 ports were leaking, well not just leaking, but were like a magnet to the clouds, pulling all the rainwater in every cloud in Beaufort County to them. The time had come to remove, clean and rebed.

After reading up on all the different methodology on the C&C-list, and my own experience bedding windows at a boatbuilder, I chose to go with 3M 4200 as the sealant. I'm still just not a fan of working with Sika-Flex, and I didn't have access to a Plexus gun.

The windows removed quite easily, since there wasn't any sealant left! They just unscrewed, we ran a razor knife over any remaining sealant, and off popped the window.

The cabin top was given a good scrape and cleaning with acetone, while the windows were cleaned off and wiped down with mineral spirits.

The 4200 was applied to the window and it was screwed back in place. Each window got a solvent wipe to smooth out the 4200 and create a good, seamless seal. We ended up having to put a tarp on quickly, just as we were finishing because yet another SC squall came rolling through.

The windows came out looking great!

EDIT 9/12: 3 of 4 windows have a tiny pinhole leak that needs re-caulked, but not bad.

August 16, 2009

Went down to the yacht club and ran the engine for 15 minutes on battery #1 again. It started right up and didn't have any issues.