So much to share but I'll have to post in installments...
First off, Thank you Bob & Betty Cotton for welling us "Easy Street". We think of this as more of an adoption rather than a sale... hopefully you will see how much we love her in the "Fix Up" photos...
Our intention was to drive down to LA (old home turf), and do our shake down cruise from Marina Del Rey (My old port of call), then drive down to San Carlos and sail the Sea of Cortez... Life is what happens in between making plans... not enough money, then too much work, then a serious hand injury in the shop (I'm back to normal with no permanent damage although still taking Iron tablets... lost a lot of blood), then schedules and we finally decided to take her up to Howard Prairie Lake (about an hour's drive...
When I first posted, I was searching for a C-26 to buy, wishing I could find my first one and buy her back from the owner... all the time noting that there were no other C-26s in the neighborhood... What do I find at the lake? My old C-26 and another on moorings!!! We made friends with both owners and learned that my old boat had changed hands three times and that the new owner was totally happy with my old boat... (So glad I listened to Bob and changed my mind about a flat deck vs the cut off cabin with anchor locker... what a difference!
I started a thread a while back showing how to use and modify cheap LED lighting from harbor Freight... They all worked perfectly! You can see photos of them in the Shake Down Cruise library in Photo Bucket. With solar cells charging nicad batteries, we never had to worry about draining our house batteries and could leave the lights on for as long as we wanted. I needed up modifying a Fresnel lens lantern with LED's and used that for our anchor light...
So much more to share including breaking our keel cable and how we solved the problem at the ramp. THANK YOU BOB for the spare cable you brilliantly stored behind the Teak cover! You saved our trip! Otherwise we would have had to go back home...
Fouling our anchor and pulling up a tree stump along with a new Danforth Anchor someone else must have given up trying to retrieve from the same stump.
I don't know where to start but have a lot to share.... I just finished uploading photos and since many here post and share the existence of photos and others ask and so many seem to forget to post, I'll start with the photos first and then fill in the details later.
Ok... here's the links (I hope this works... let me know if there's a problem accessing the photos... not too brilliant on computers here...
http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/DAYEN ... t=9&page=1
http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/DAYEN ... t=9&page=1
Until next time, fair winds!
Richard and Tresa
Dayenu Shake Down Cruise
Dayenu Shake Down Cruise
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
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EmergencyExit
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CaptainScott
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Log Entry #2
Thanks for noticing all the smiles... Our hearts were certainly full on this trip...
There are so many places I could begin, so I'm just going to let her fly knowing I won't begin to cover what I'd love to share...
How about background?
Tresa and I met 0ver 7 years ago, married in Hawaii 1 1/2 years ago... On our second date, I met her parents/brothers etc... while being grilled with who are you, what do you do, what are your hobbies, ...I brought up sailing (Tresa knew I was a sailor as we met on Match.com and one of my photos was taken on my first C-26... I didn't know about her sailing experiences...) When I mentioned sailing, their reactions was: "So that's your hobby?" I quickly responded... Oh no! It's so much more than that! It's like religion, meditation, becoming one with the universe and nature! I tried to describe to them an example of my passion and tried to explain that there were different "points of sailing"... one in particular included putting the rail under, describing the tightness of the rigging, the pull on the sheets, the feel of the rudder, the heeling over of the boat.... I went on.... Then from out of the corner, I hear: "You forgot to mention the vibrational luff at the top of the jib" You are describing a broad reach, aren't you?" Holey Moley! You sail!?!?!?!!!! How else could someone know not only that detail of the jib shaking but also know the term for the point of sail?!?!?!?! Turns out, in her youth, Tresa had captained and skippered on several charter boats for months at a time! She was really a sailor! Not just the classical female "tag-along passenger"!!! That was all she wrote... on top of our relational attraction we had sailing as the glue! (I grew up in the Florida Keys and learned to sail about before I learned to ride a two wheel bicycle... always sailed since then. My father was a sailor, my grandfather was harbor master for Havana before Castro and there are stories of great grandfathers who left France for the Caribbean who became pirates....
Our dream is to spend our retirement sailing the sea of Cortez, the inter coastal waterway and maybe shipping our boat to the Mediterranean to explore the coast, the Greek Isles and maybe river passage through central Europe...
With the spacious room, the retractable keel and the ability to trailer from sight to sight, the C-26 was the perfect choice... Before meeting Tresa, I left LA for Oregon and thought my sailing days were over... always had a blue water/full keel boat with dreams of sailing away... never had the time to sail them to the destinations let alone explore the coasts.... I bought a San Juan 21 on a trailer, here, fixed her up and took her to the San Juan Islands (one of my dream destinations...)... That's when it hit me... I could buy a trailer boat and driver to where I wanted to sail (Tired of blue water sailing and wanting to "Gunk-hole" from port to port.... the only problem was, You could barely sit up let alone stand, and there was no private head.... The search was on for the largest legally trailer able sailboat (no oversize load permits).. It took me a year to find the C-26.... when I found out I was shocked to discover that it was made by Chrysler! Wait! I wanted a "real boat"... then I discovered the designer and saw the photos on the internet.... I was hooked.... found my first C-26 in South Carolina and drove from Oregon to get her.... Tons of blisters and lots of work, but I fixed her up.... By then, My wanting to buy my first home took over and I sold her (before sailing her) to buy the house...
For years, Tresa and I looked at photos of my first C-26 on the refrigerator along with small charts of where we wanted to go.... I signed up here almost a year ago, beginning the real search... great stories of how we ended up with Bob and Mary's "Easy Street", but it turned out to be the perfect boat for us... so incredibly equipped and (with the exception of the Teak, was in great condition! We towed her from Orville California to our home here in Oregon this past march.... Sitting in the driveway, getting closer to our ultimate dream.... Once it warmed up, we began work fixing her up (the photos in my first post show some of that....) We removed anything that could be traced back to the original name and took off the vinyl lettering... Strictly following the rules of De-naming and re-naming a boat, the protected original gel coat still revealed the original name.... wet sanding with palm sanders down to 800 grit finally got us back down to a dark empty patch where the old name was.... Our dear friend and co-artist, took my drawings and created the new vinyl lettering.... She finally felt like "our boat"...
Dayenu is the name of an old Hebrew song... kind of like thanksgiving where everyone sitting at the table shares what they are grateful for, after each person shares what it is they are grateful for, the Chorus is sung "Dayenu" (Translation: That would have been enough) Well Bob and Mary's C-26 had so much of what we wanted... as we explored the contents of all the compartments, it became a never ending Christmas... Wouldn't it be great if they had... and sure enough, it was there! from autopilot to inflatable PFD's, to even the stove top toaster Tresa had wanted!
So... Home port under the boat name: Willoghby, TZ? So many people thought we had either spelt Texas wrong or Arizona wrong, some thought we were from Tasmania.... Any Twilight Zone fans out there? That's what TZ stands for! (Home port is a state of mind!) LOL Willoghby was an episode where a train commuter traveling from a job and boss that he hates to a wife that he hates... one of the stops on the train was at a place called Willoghby.... It was like stepping into Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer, a slower, gentler pace of life, fishing, playing etc.... I won't get into how he gets there, but he does.... For us, our "new" C-26 represents a lifetime (for both Tresa and I) of dreaming about "checking out" and heading out on a never ending cruise/adventure....
PS: At one point, I set up a custom mountain bike and spent 7 months peddling from LA to Belize, then up the east coast to Canada across to the west coast and then back down to LA.... At the same time, Tresa built a composite (yes she knows how to work Carbon Fiber, Kevlar and GRF!!!!) canoe and then paddled it over 4 months and 3,500 miles from Montana to the East coast!!!! We were truly meant for each other!
We spent three weeks on board Dayenu, learning her quirks (Although both hardened sailors, neither of us ever sailed a C-26....) Yes she's tender to heel, but holds fast just before the rail.... the space on board was fantastic. with a fully enclose Bimini in her future, she's like living in an apartment! Plenty of room for us both, storage was never a problem and enough "space" for us to occasionally do out own thing and not get in each others way.... Could we live aboard for years? You betcha! A weekly slip rental, showers maybe even a motel and we could do this forever!
Some of the additional modifications to come include a rear tower to hold solar cells, wind charger,water heater, antenna, davits for the dingy, winch lift for the dinghy outboard etc.... I also want to install a 12 volt refrigerator/freezer... ICE for boat drinks and storing food for longer periods that an ice chest ever could... a larger galley with microwave, three water pumps (water from wherever we're floating, a generic water source (dock-side) and bottled water. The passage from the cabin to the forward berth is going to change a lot! extend the drawered cabinet rearward to line up with the Port-side bulkhead.... The rear berth will be dedicated to storage with retrieval set up (ind of like a large lazy Suzann) to make accessibility easier...
Like all of us, the dreams of what we want to do with our boats probably never ends.... Fo me, it will be easier than most to attain them as my work is creating motion picture special effects and developing prototypes of all sorts... I have a complete shop for wood, metal, sheet plastic and cast poured liquid plastics.... as time goes along, I'll share all with you and there may be items that I will produce in small quantities that some of you may want... (I'll at least share drawings and photos for those of you who may want to modify my designs and apply them to your own Chrysler....
Ok... coffee cup is empty.... Have no idea how much I've written... I just shoot from the hip.... But I do have some work to do.... I may not come here often as my deadline based work can be pretty demanding.... but I will try...
Next installment.... How to repair a keel cable while in the field! (Don't ask me how I know, but I will share no matter how embarrassing! LOL!
Hope you enjoy sharing our journey....
There are so many places I could begin, so I'm just going to let her fly knowing I won't begin to cover what I'd love to share...
How about background?
Tresa and I met 0ver 7 years ago, married in Hawaii 1 1/2 years ago... On our second date, I met her parents/brothers etc... while being grilled with who are you, what do you do, what are your hobbies, ...I brought up sailing (Tresa knew I was a sailor as we met on Match.com and one of my photos was taken on my first C-26... I didn't know about her sailing experiences...) When I mentioned sailing, their reactions was: "So that's your hobby?" I quickly responded... Oh no! It's so much more than that! It's like religion, meditation, becoming one with the universe and nature! I tried to describe to them an example of my passion and tried to explain that there were different "points of sailing"... one in particular included putting the rail under, describing the tightness of the rigging, the pull on the sheets, the feel of the rudder, the heeling over of the boat.... I went on.... Then from out of the corner, I hear: "You forgot to mention the vibrational luff at the top of the jib" You are describing a broad reach, aren't you?" Holey Moley! You sail!?!?!?!!!! How else could someone know not only that detail of the jib shaking but also know the term for the point of sail?!?!?!?! Turns out, in her youth, Tresa had captained and skippered on several charter boats for months at a time! She was really a sailor! Not just the classical female "tag-along passenger"!!! That was all she wrote... on top of our relational attraction we had sailing as the glue! (I grew up in the Florida Keys and learned to sail about before I learned to ride a two wheel bicycle... always sailed since then. My father was a sailor, my grandfather was harbor master for Havana before Castro and there are stories of great grandfathers who left France for the Caribbean who became pirates....
Our dream is to spend our retirement sailing the sea of Cortez, the inter coastal waterway and maybe shipping our boat to the Mediterranean to explore the coast, the Greek Isles and maybe river passage through central Europe...
With the spacious room, the retractable keel and the ability to trailer from sight to sight, the C-26 was the perfect choice... Before meeting Tresa, I left LA for Oregon and thought my sailing days were over... always had a blue water/full keel boat with dreams of sailing away... never had the time to sail them to the destinations let alone explore the coasts.... I bought a San Juan 21 on a trailer, here, fixed her up and took her to the San Juan Islands (one of my dream destinations...)... That's when it hit me... I could buy a trailer boat and driver to where I wanted to sail (Tired of blue water sailing and wanting to "Gunk-hole" from port to port.... the only problem was, You could barely sit up let alone stand, and there was no private head.... The search was on for the largest legally trailer able sailboat (no oversize load permits).. It took me a year to find the C-26.... when I found out I was shocked to discover that it was made by Chrysler! Wait! I wanted a "real boat"... then I discovered the designer and saw the photos on the internet.... I was hooked.... found my first C-26 in South Carolina and drove from Oregon to get her.... Tons of blisters and lots of work, but I fixed her up.... By then, My wanting to buy my first home took over and I sold her (before sailing her) to buy the house...
For years, Tresa and I looked at photos of my first C-26 on the refrigerator along with small charts of where we wanted to go.... I signed up here almost a year ago, beginning the real search... great stories of how we ended up with Bob and Mary's "Easy Street", but it turned out to be the perfect boat for us... so incredibly equipped and (with the exception of the Teak, was in great condition! We towed her from Orville California to our home here in Oregon this past march.... Sitting in the driveway, getting closer to our ultimate dream.... Once it warmed up, we began work fixing her up (the photos in my first post show some of that....) We removed anything that could be traced back to the original name and took off the vinyl lettering... Strictly following the rules of De-naming and re-naming a boat, the protected original gel coat still revealed the original name.... wet sanding with palm sanders down to 800 grit finally got us back down to a dark empty patch where the old name was.... Our dear friend and co-artist, took my drawings and created the new vinyl lettering.... She finally felt like "our boat"...
Dayenu is the name of an old Hebrew song... kind of like thanksgiving where everyone sitting at the table shares what they are grateful for, after each person shares what it is they are grateful for, the Chorus is sung "Dayenu" (Translation: That would have been enough) Well Bob and Mary's C-26 had so much of what we wanted... as we explored the contents of all the compartments, it became a never ending Christmas... Wouldn't it be great if they had... and sure enough, it was there! from autopilot to inflatable PFD's, to even the stove top toaster Tresa had wanted!
So... Home port under the boat name: Willoghby, TZ? So many people thought we had either spelt Texas wrong or Arizona wrong, some thought we were from Tasmania.... Any Twilight Zone fans out there? That's what TZ stands for! (Home port is a state of mind!) LOL Willoghby was an episode where a train commuter traveling from a job and boss that he hates to a wife that he hates... one of the stops on the train was at a place called Willoghby.... It was like stepping into Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer, a slower, gentler pace of life, fishing, playing etc.... I won't get into how he gets there, but he does.... For us, our "new" C-26 represents a lifetime (for both Tresa and I) of dreaming about "checking out" and heading out on a never ending cruise/adventure....
PS: At one point, I set up a custom mountain bike and spent 7 months peddling from LA to Belize, then up the east coast to Canada across to the west coast and then back down to LA.... At the same time, Tresa built a composite (yes she knows how to work Carbon Fiber, Kevlar and GRF!!!!) canoe and then paddled it over 4 months and 3,500 miles from Montana to the East coast!!!! We were truly meant for each other!
We spent three weeks on board Dayenu, learning her quirks (Although both hardened sailors, neither of us ever sailed a C-26....) Yes she's tender to heel, but holds fast just before the rail.... the space on board was fantastic. with a fully enclose Bimini in her future, she's like living in an apartment! Plenty of room for us both, storage was never a problem and enough "space" for us to occasionally do out own thing and not get in each others way.... Could we live aboard for years? You betcha! A weekly slip rental, showers maybe even a motel and we could do this forever!
Some of the additional modifications to come include a rear tower to hold solar cells, wind charger,water heater, antenna, davits for the dingy, winch lift for the dinghy outboard etc.... I also want to install a 12 volt refrigerator/freezer... ICE for boat drinks and storing food for longer periods that an ice chest ever could... a larger galley with microwave, three water pumps (water from wherever we're floating, a generic water source (dock-side) and bottled water. The passage from the cabin to the forward berth is going to change a lot! extend the drawered cabinet rearward to line up with the Port-side bulkhead.... The rear berth will be dedicated to storage with retrieval set up (ind of like a large lazy Suzann) to make accessibility easier...
Like all of us, the dreams of what we want to do with our boats probably never ends.... Fo me, it will be easier than most to attain them as my work is creating motion picture special effects and developing prototypes of all sorts... I have a complete shop for wood, metal, sheet plastic and cast poured liquid plastics.... as time goes along, I'll share all with you and there may be items that I will produce in small quantities that some of you may want... (I'll at least share drawings and photos for those of you who may want to modify my designs and apply them to your own Chrysler....
Ok... coffee cup is empty.... Have no idea how much I've written... I just shoot from the hip.... But I do have some work to do.... I may not come here often as my deadline based work can be pretty demanding.... but I will try...
Next installment.... How to repair a keel cable while in the field! (Don't ask me how I know, but I will share no matter how embarrassing! LOL!
Hope you enjoy sharing our journey....
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
-
EmergencyExit
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2954
- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2003 5:02 pm
- Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast
keel cable repair
Our first launch ever or our boat... Tresa's in the cabin, I'm outside looking at the keel resting on the trailer keel roller....
More.... more... more.... KAPOW!
I had no idea the keel cable winch was stronger than the cable... I was also expecting to see the keel lift up and off the roller... Visions of the keel dropping onto the concrete ramp during launch...
I had tired loosening the winch before launching and then tightened it up but mistook the sudden resistance as the place to start winching up the keel... not the place where you stop!
We drove her back to the parking lot storage to evaluate... the winch handle just kept turning and turning with no resistance... I knew what had happened... Tresa was in tears thinking she did it while I kept sharing that it was I that kept telling her to keep winching.... both of us were in tears... our original plan to do our shake down cruise in Marina Del Rey in Los Angles (My old sailing grounds for decades) and then take her to San Carlos in the Sea of Cortez had been slowly whittled away to a three week sail up at our local lake... and now... well, now it was all over... We not be sailing this season.
I decided to remove the teak keel trunk cover... maybe I could splice the cable? When I saw how shredded it was, I almost died.... no way to splice... and then I looked in the little crack/space to the side and saw a brand new prepped cable replacement! (Oh thank you Bob and Betty! what a gift!)
Now... how do I get the cable replaced... After trying to imagine how to lower the keel and still gain access to the keel connecting point, I also saw and issue trying to feed the cable up through the hull and the hose and of course the set of specially made gaskets located in the hose that kept water from splashing up into the cabin...
A search through my tool box and replacement parts bin produced a thin stainless steel wire used to tie up shackles... I stretched it out and fed it down through the hose and gaskets until we could see it coming out of the keel trunk below... pulled it down (I think there was at least 15' to 20')... I then spiced that into the end of the new keel cable.
Now... how do I gain access to the connecting point on the keel? I had no snorkel gear or my prescription lens mask (I'm blind without my glasses!), so I came up with a plan... I jury rigged our tie-down straps under the keel and over the top of the boat... with the ratchets, I could lower the keel... I also backed it up with a long piece of line rigged through blocks attached to the toe rail and fed into our two jib sheets....
The plan I came up with was to bring the trailer back to the ramp pull the boat part way off the trailer, tie down the bow and then pull the trailer back up to the top of the ramp where there was a sharp angle where the flat lot drops to the actual ramp... if I could position the keel so that it could be lowered right at the top of the ramp, I might be able to reach the attachment point.... I was exhausted, tired, emotionally stressed out (both of us were)... I decided to see if I could find a couple of 'real sailors"... some people that really have some experience, smart and not just wanting to "guess" at what might go wrong....
I found Chris, Jess and Collin discussing tactics for a race that was going to happen the next day... I eavesdropped on their conversation and figured out these guys weren't just shooting the breeze, so I interrupted, introduced myself and shared the predicament... They thought it was a sound plan with the exception that the trailer ball might be pulled out of the hitch with so much weight aft.... (Hadn't thought about that....! ) So I thought about lashing the two together....
They asked why don't I just put her in the water and dive below? I explained that my special mask was still at home.... Chris (bless his soul), shared that he had a mask and would be willing to dive.... WOW!
I showed him how I had per-rigged the new cable and that once the old lower half was removed, I was ready to pull the new one up from below (I knew there would be problems trying to push it up on its own with the tight fitting gaskets in the hose.... as a last precaution, I used electrical tape to cover the the end of the new cable where the thin wire connected so that it became a sharp, long cone shape with overlapping so that it an edge of tape met a sharp edge of gasket, the tape wouldn't fold over on itself...
We put the boat back into the water, brought it up close to the ramp (shallow) and lowered the keel.... There wasn't enough length for the boat strap, but the line on the two winches worked perfectly... Chris guided us letting us know when the cable attachment point was in view. He dove down with pliers, disconnected the shackle and brought it up for viewing... stainless steel and still shiny! I connected the new cable eye to the shackle and as one more precaution smeared some Vaseline from our first aid kit to help slide the new cable through any obstructions... Chris dove down again... connected the shackle and gave us a thumb's up to pull the wire through (I tied the end of the wire to a screwdriver to form a "T" handle to make sure that the wire didn't get accidentally pulled back down the hose!) I pulled and it was like pulling a wire through butter! The cable end came right up!
We used the winches to pull the keel back up to gain some slack so we could feed the cable into the winch... found the little hole on the side of the winch and the little screw-down clamp and winched away!
This time we stopped when we felt the resistance change...! LOL! Tresa and I both lowered and raised the keel until we really got the feel of when the winch was telling us to stop!
Turned out the boat fits perfectly on the trailer and sometimes the keel will lift off about a half to one inch and others it won't (rubber roller)...
Tresa and I both again offer thanks and gratitude to Chris for helping us out... Just emailed him extending an invitation to dinner (Turns out he lives here in Medford and works for the same school district as Tresa!)
There are more stories like this about what we learned and what we did during our shake down cruise... I guess stories like this are what a shake down cruise is intended for? Much better to do them closer to home!
Oh... I already have plans to make up two more spare cables and place them in the space behind the keel trunk teak panel!
Question: I have a complete shop including crimping tools... The original crimps on the original cable look to be copper... I've only found aluminum crimps at my local hardware store... Any input as to if this will make a difference? We intend to sail in salt water as well as fresh....
Thanks!
Richard
(Wished I had photos of this experience, but when you're in "Crisis-mode" the last thing you think about is photo-documenting the ordeal! LOL!)
More.... more... more.... KAPOW!
I had no idea the keel cable winch was stronger than the cable... I was also expecting to see the keel lift up and off the roller... Visions of the keel dropping onto the concrete ramp during launch...
I had tired loosening the winch before launching and then tightened it up but mistook the sudden resistance as the place to start winching up the keel... not the place where you stop!
We drove her back to the parking lot storage to evaluate... the winch handle just kept turning and turning with no resistance... I knew what had happened... Tresa was in tears thinking she did it while I kept sharing that it was I that kept telling her to keep winching.... both of us were in tears... our original plan to do our shake down cruise in Marina Del Rey in Los Angles (My old sailing grounds for decades) and then take her to San Carlos in the Sea of Cortez had been slowly whittled away to a three week sail up at our local lake... and now... well, now it was all over... We not be sailing this season.
I decided to remove the teak keel trunk cover... maybe I could splice the cable? When I saw how shredded it was, I almost died.... no way to splice... and then I looked in the little crack/space to the side and saw a brand new prepped cable replacement! (Oh thank you Bob and Betty! what a gift!)
Now... how do I get the cable replaced... After trying to imagine how to lower the keel and still gain access to the keel connecting point, I also saw and issue trying to feed the cable up through the hull and the hose and of course the set of specially made gaskets located in the hose that kept water from splashing up into the cabin...
A search through my tool box and replacement parts bin produced a thin stainless steel wire used to tie up shackles... I stretched it out and fed it down through the hose and gaskets until we could see it coming out of the keel trunk below... pulled it down (I think there was at least 15' to 20')... I then spiced that into the end of the new keel cable.
Now... how do I gain access to the connecting point on the keel? I had no snorkel gear or my prescription lens mask (I'm blind without my glasses!), so I came up with a plan... I jury rigged our tie-down straps under the keel and over the top of the boat... with the ratchets, I could lower the keel... I also backed it up with a long piece of line rigged through blocks attached to the toe rail and fed into our two jib sheets....
The plan I came up with was to bring the trailer back to the ramp pull the boat part way off the trailer, tie down the bow and then pull the trailer back up to the top of the ramp where there was a sharp angle where the flat lot drops to the actual ramp... if I could position the keel so that it could be lowered right at the top of the ramp, I might be able to reach the attachment point.... I was exhausted, tired, emotionally stressed out (both of us were)... I decided to see if I could find a couple of 'real sailors"... some people that really have some experience, smart and not just wanting to "guess" at what might go wrong....
I found Chris, Jess and Collin discussing tactics for a race that was going to happen the next day... I eavesdropped on their conversation and figured out these guys weren't just shooting the breeze, so I interrupted, introduced myself and shared the predicament... They thought it was a sound plan with the exception that the trailer ball might be pulled out of the hitch with so much weight aft.... (Hadn't thought about that....! ) So I thought about lashing the two together....
They asked why don't I just put her in the water and dive below? I explained that my special mask was still at home.... Chris (bless his soul), shared that he had a mask and would be willing to dive.... WOW!
I showed him how I had per-rigged the new cable and that once the old lower half was removed, I was ready to pull the new one up from below (I knew there would be problems trying to push it up on its own with the tight fitting gaskets in the hose.... as a last precaution, I used electrical tape to cover the the end of the new cable where the thin wire connected so that it became a sharp, long cone shape with overlapping so that it an edge of tape met a sharp edge of gasket, the tape wouldn't fold over on itself...
We put the boat back into the water, brought it up close to the ramp (shallow) and lowered the keel.... There wasn't enough length for the boat strap, but the line on the two winches worked perfectly... Chris guided us letting us know when the cable attachment point was in view. He dove down with pliers, disconnected the shackle and brought it up for viewing... stainless steel and still shiny! I connected the new cable eye to the shackle and as one more precaution smeared some Vaseline from our first aid kit to help slide the new cable through any obstructions... Chris dove down again... connected the shackle and gave us a thumb's up to pull the wire through (I tied the end of the wire to a screwdriver to form a "T" handle to make sure that the wire didn't get accidentally pulled back down the hose!) I pulled and it was like pulling a wire through butter! The cable end came right up!
We used the winches to pull the keel back up to gain some slack so we could feed the cable into the winch... found the little hole on the side of the winch and the little screw-down clamp and winched away!
This time we stopped when we felt the resistance change...! LOL! Tresa and I both lowered and raised the keel until we really got the feel of when the winch was telling us to stop!
Turned out the boat fits perfectly on the trailer and sometimes the keel will lift off about a half to one inch and others it won't (rubber roller)...
Tresa and I both again offer thanks and gratitude to Chris for helping us out... Just emailed him extending an invitation to dinner (Turns out he lives here in Medford and works for the same school district as Tresa!)
There are more stories like this about what we learned and what we did during our shake down cruise... I guess stories like this are what a shake down cruise is intended for? Much better to do them closer to home!
Oh... I already have plans to make up two more spare cables and place them in the space behind the keel trunk teak panel!
Question: I have a complete shop including crimping tools... The original crimps on the original cable look to be copper... I've only found aluminum crimps at my local hardware store... Any input as to if this will make a difference? We intend to sail in salt water as well as fresh....
Thanks!
Richard
(Wished I had photos of this experience, but when you're in "Crisis-mode" the last thing you think about is photo-documenting the ordeal! LOL!)
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
PS: Another lesson learned!
A new vital piece of "equipment" has found a permanent place in Dayenu...
My snorkel gear!!!! (especially my mask!)
Once thought of as only recreational, I now consider this gear as vital for all sorts of underwater emergencies! Permanent home on Dayenu!
Richard
My snorkel gear!!!! (especially my mask!)
Once thought of as only recreational, I now consider this gear as vital for all sorts of underwater emergencies! Permanent home on Dayenu!
Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
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CaptainScott
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3112
- Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:46 am
- Location: Washington State
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San Juan Islands Trip!
Hi Scott,
As a matter of fact, our next planned trip is to the San Juan Islands!!!
Just completed our "to-do" list for Dayenu (a whole page, single spaced... Mast ginge, leading all lines aft, down hauls for both main and jib, lazy jacks, temporary extention of galley (I have more elaborate plans one I try out the temporary build... move singk add second water pump (one for the built in water tank, one for overboard flow-in), cut out starboard v-berth bulkhead, re-wired masthead electronics/VHF antennae, lights etc, check/seal ports/windows, bow sprit with anchor mounts, divide anchor locker for lines/chains only (two weparate anchors), create new all metal mast raising bridle, buy new jib blocks (we dropped one overboard! but recovered it), install spare sternrail VHF antennae (back up, ready to plug into raido)... the list goes on and on... LOL!
I sailed the San Juans in a San Juan 21 years ago when I first moved up to Oregon, I have ALL the charts, guide books etc.... Adding a blue chart Nav Card to our Garmin GPS... LOVED those Islands and had first hand experience of what can happen if you're in the wrong spot at the wrong time... started noticing the waters starting to "gurgle" and pulled into a little cove... hiked up over the ridge to see what was happening and saw what looked like a giant version of the inside of a washing machine at full power! YIKES! I bought the tidal chart book and will get a current tidal time booklet to use the tidal currents rather than get caught in them!
We would LOVE to meet you up there! Maybe sail cruise around together? That would be so much fun! I'll keep you posted as I continue to post info and photos of all the improvements we apply to Dayenu... as we get closer and closer to departure date (probably early to mid June of next year)...
Best,
Richard
As a matter of fact, our next planned trip is to the San Juan Islands!!!
Just completed our "to-do" list for Dayenu (a whole page, single spaced... Mast ginge, leading all lines aft, down hauls for both main and jib, lazy jacks, temporary extention of galley (I have more elaborate plans one I try out the temporary build... move singk add second water pump (one for the built in water tank, one for overboard flow-in), cut out starboard v-berth bulkhead, re-wired masthead electronics/VHF antennae, lights etc, check/seal ports/windows, bow sprit with anchor mounts, divide anchor locker for lines/chains only (two weparate anchors), create new all metal mast raising bridle, buy new jib blocks (we dropped one overboard! but recovered it), install spare sternrail VHF antennae (back up, ready to plug into raido)... the list goes on and on... LOL!
I sailed the San Juans in a San Juan 21 years ago when I first moved up to Oregon, I have ALL the charts, guide books etc.... Adding a blue chart Nav Card to our Garmin GPS... LOVED those Islands and had first hand experience of what can happen if you're in the wrong spot at the wrong time... started noticing the waters starting to "gurgle" and pulled into a little cove... hiked up over the ridge to see what was happening and saw what looked like a giant version of the inside of a washing machine at full power! YIKES! I bought the tidal chart book and will get a current tidal time booklet to use the tidal currents rather than get caught in them!
We would LOVE to meet you up there! Maybe sail cruise around together? That would be so much fun! I'll keep you posted as I continue to post info and photos of all the improvements we apply to Dayenu... as we get closer and closer to departure date (probably early to mid June of next year)...
Best,
Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
-
CaptainScott
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3112
- Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:46 am
- Location: Washington State
- Contact:
Would be fun! Keep us posted and maybe we can make a thing of it!
Happy to help anywhere I can also. We've been going for years, every year to the San Juans and Gulf Islands. Our current plan is Desolation Sound next year which is quite a bit further North. Of all things, this year we spent zero nights in the San Juans but spent all nights in the Gulf Islands! More remote and very nice also! Don't be afraid to make the short hope to Canada if time permits!
If timing works maybe we can meet with other members too, who knows! LOL!
My guess is you will trailer up and launch closer to the islands? Maybe Bellingham or such . . . .
Scott
Happy to help anywhere I can also. We've been going for years, every year to the San Juans and Gulf Islands. Our current plan is Desolation Sound next year which is quite a bit further North. Of all things, this year we spent zero nights in the San Juans but spent all nights in the Gulf Islands! More remote and very nice also! Don't be afraid to make the short hope to Canada if time permits!
If timing works maybe we can meet with other members too, who knows! LOL!
My guess is you will trailer up and launch closer to the islands? Maybe Bellingham or such . . . .
Scott
That would be FUN! Chrysler owners or not... I used to lead caravans of cars going down to Baja after the road opened up in the early 70's... something about "group adventures" that made evening dinners fun!
I haven't looked over the charts (I really shouldn't be here... I have so much I "should" be doing! LOL) I do remember that I was a little intimidated sailing up to Canada in the little San Juan 21... all my previous sail boats were full keel/blue water boats... docked in Marina Del Rey in Los Angles. Besides Lidos and C-Larks, this is only the second trailer able sailboat I've ever experienced... I LOVE this boat! Tender to the wind but pretty confident once the rail was down.... I would LOVE to sail to Canada!
Looking forward to connecting, hearing stories, learning more along with suggestions of places to stop, explore, dock, anchor etc....
I will probably start another post focusing on planning for the San Juan Islands and the work/upgrades/modifications I perform on Dayenu to make life safer and more enjoyable.... I'm sure others might be interested in viewing patterns, templates and photos of work in progress....
Thanks!
Richard
I haven't looked over the charts (I really shouldn't be here... I have so much I "should" be doing! LOL) I do remember that I was a little intimidated sailing up to Canada in the little San Juan 21... all my previous sail boats were full keel/blue water boats... docked in Marina Del Rey in Los Angles. Besides Lidos and C-Larks, this is only the second trailer able sailboat I've ever experienced... I LOVE this boat! Tender to the wind but pretty confident once the rail was down.... I would LOVE to sail to Canada!
Looking forward to connecting, hearing stories, learning more along with suggestions of places to stop, explore, dock, anchor etc....
I will probably start another post focusing on planning for the San Juan Islands and the work/upgrades/modifications I perform on Dayenu to make life safer and more enjoyable.... I'm sure others might be interested in viewing patterns, templates and photos of work in progress....
Thanks!
Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...
-
CaptainScott
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3112
- Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:46 am
- Location: Washington State
- Contact:
Holy Smokes, this forum is SO addictive! It's already 1PM, it just rained and it feels like it's still morning! LOL!
laughing here as I have my Mexican courtesy flag but totally forgot about adding a Canadian one to my "to do" list! Always liked the Canadian flag!
I just visited your website... with your credentials (WOW!) I doubt that brain of yours is tiny.... might be like mine: Crammed with too much information, so much so that retrieval is slow and only "appears" that we're operating with sails reefed in during a light breeze! LOL
Richard
laughing here as I have my Mexican courtesy flag but totally forgot about adding a Canadian one to my "to do" list! Always liked the Canadian flag!
I just visited your website... with your credentials (WOW!) I doubt that brain of yours is tiny.... might be like mine: Crammed with too much information, so much so that retrieval is slow and only "appears" that we're operating with sails reefed in during a light breeze! LOL
Richard
What we now have, was once, only hoped for...