A Bayfield Day in Bayfield

My one set of parents live just south of Grand Bend, Ontario. Where they run a camp ground. Anyway, we hooked up our travel trailer and headed out to visit them for a few days before the campground closed, and before we winterized the camper. It was cold, and rainy and windy as hell for the whole 5 days. On day two Serena and I took a little drive and ended up in Clinton, home of the Bayfield, and then Goderich, home of the new Gozzard Yachts. It was kind of nice seeing the area where Vita was born. If I had known that we were going to end up there, I would have looked up some addresses. As it was, we didn't even see Gozzard, and although we probably drove right past where the Bayfields were built, I didn't know it.

It was early afternoon, and we were starting to get a bit famished, but wouldn't settle for anything short of a good fish and chip dinner, with a pint of nature's finest ale to knock her down with. We tooled around Goderich, a neat town. But decided to head down Hwy 21 toward Grand Bend, maybe finding a place along the way.

Enter Bayfield. What an absolutely beautiful town. I wish I had taken pictures, but it was blowing about 20 knots, damp, and cold as hell. I stopped into the harbor area, and there was a small chandlery(candy store). Their prices were really good in comparison to what I usually pay, unfortunately I had just finished an order with Pride, and my candy list was currently satisfied. However, I did take the opportunity to ask if there was a good fish and chip place around that served draft, and luckily there was one at the top of the hill overlooking the marina called The Docks. The dinner was great, but the whole area was awesome. Nice beach, nice marina, great facilities. There were at least 4 Bayfields for sale, including a really sharp looking 25, 2-29s, and if I am not mistaken, a 40' Bayfield Ketch. It was under a wrap, but I am pretty sure that's what it was. There were even more Bayfields that weren't for sale, 2-36s, a couple of 25s, at least. It was just a nice place to be.

A word about the title. In our yacht club there are 6 Bayfields, 5-29s and a 32. If fact, I don't think any other manufacturer is as well represented. So there are lots of comments made in general about the Bayfields, all good of course, and the one that always stands out is when the wind pipes up into the 20+ knot range. Down at the club we affectionately call those days, Bayfield days. Because its under those conditions that the Bayfields shine, and the rest of the boats tuck tail and head for home.

So the irony of the fact that we were the proud owners of a Bayfield, having dinner in Bayfield, on a Bayfield day made me chuckle a little. Unfortunately the waitress, obviously not a sailor, didn't quite see the humor in the situation. But hey, us Bayfield sailors tend to be a bit strange anyway.

Fabricating Cockpit Locker Lids

Why do I always seem to pick the most time consuming projects. In hind sight, would it not have been better to leave the cockpit alone, live with the shortcomings, mount my propane tanks on the pushpit, and same myself the time and expense. Of course it would, but I am not smart enough to leave well enough alone. I have to try and fix those little things that bug me.

The helm seat was uncomfortable. The propane bottles hanging off of the stern break down faster, and I have enough stuff back there without trying to fit more. Plus I like the idea of having those tanks in lockers. And that is why I cut out the rear deck of the cockpit, raised the seat 5" or so, and put in dedicated propane lockers.

Of course that meant I had to make lids for the new lockers. I have worked with fiberglass before, and on this boat, but I had never created fiberglass items using a mold. Thanks to all the people on YouTube who showed me how to do it.

 Firstly I measured the cockpit locker top and determined how big I needed the locker lids. Then I built the molds above out of melamine coated MDF. For the curved section of the center hatch I just used a cheap piece of mahogany underlay plywood. Then I used a bondo fillet in the corners to round them out. The can of mold magic, (carnauba wax) said to put 4-5 coats of wax on the mold, the internet said to put 8-10. I put 10, and maybe should have put more, however the molds did come off without too much fuss. Put the wax on, wait 20 mins, polish the dried wax. Do that 10 times, ughhh. And for some reason I didn't take a picture of the gelcoat. I ended up putting 3 coats of gelcoat on with a brush. It took a long time to set up, so it was about 2 days just to get that done. It wasn't too hard to get the colors right. I had my local Home Hardware figure out which colors of dye I needed to use to get the color I wanted, and then I just experimented with the quantities. Is it perfect, no way, but it isn't too bad.

 So then last night after dinner I laid the fiberglass. I had cut all the fabric to fit prior to starting. 2 layers of 8 oz cloth and 2 layers of really heavy woven mat that is sewn together, for every surface. I wasn't sure if it would be enough, but figured I could always add to it later if absolutely necessary. I mixed about 10 batches of polyester resin, using up almost a full gallon before I got it all done. I didn't give the glass any time to setup before I was into the next layer. Also, as you can tell in the picture, I added a piece of 1/4" plywood to the center portion to stiffen the top a little, and create a little groove around the outside where the lip of the locker will sit. Hopefully it will provide a better fit.

And here is one of the lids broken out of the mold. It turned out pretty good. I'll give the whole thing a lite sanding with 600 grit wet dry sand paper, but there are a couple of touch-ups to do on the corners first. I used automotive bondo to fillet the corners. In hind sight I probably should have used modeling clay. The bondo didn't come off as cleanly as I would like, or the wax wasn't as effective in the corners. Not that it matters now though. The blemishes are so small that it makes little difference.

In a rush to find out how it worked out, I broke the lid out of the mold before trimming it. I won't do that with the next two. I'll trim them first, using the mold as a guide. In fact I may put the mold for this one back together for that purpose.

Of course the real test will be when I install them. Cross fingers, knock on wood, pray to God of choice......

New Waterline Part 2

The new waterline is struck, and the first coat of pretty red paint is on the boot stripe. Perfect, no, but good enough for the people I sleep with, I hope!

 So, recap. Four coats of Interlux Interprotect 2000 to keep the water out, and one coat of Micron Extra. I went with the Extra because we are heading south, and the Micron CSC needs a little boost in warm salt water. But here she is, with the new waterline. I only put 1 coat of bottom paint over the epoxy, I'll give the whole hull 2 coats in the spring. It was supposed to be this month, but I just found out yesterday that my seacocks are on back order for a month. Luckily I have enough of them to go ahead and make the plywood backing plates, and get them epoxied into the hull.

And, the first coat of red on the boot stripe. I shrunk the width to 2 3/4" from 3", but I can't tell the difference. However, it kept the red well below the transom. The line isn't as straight as I would like it, but the top ones aren't either, so now they match. Who can tell from this distance?

That's been my life for two days. The next couple I will spend in the shop. I had brought home my temporary cockpit lids to check that the fibreglass molds I built were the right size, and they were perfect, phewwwwww. So I would like to finish waxing them and get them laid up. Maybe get the upper cabinets made.

I took off one of the old staysail winches to check the new Harken 16STs. Perfect, they fit absolutely perfect. So now all I need to do is cut new backing plates, drill new holes, fill 4 of the 5 old holes, refinish the wood and install. Sweet.

Work to do, cheers.

New Winches

Yes I am made of money, I grow it in my back yard.... Ugghhh....

Today we went down to Kingston to my favorite chandlery, Pride Marine, which is no longer Pride, but Marine Outfitters. And if I say it enough I'll get used to the name, but I am going to be a slow convert. It was for good reason they changed their name though.

Anyway, goal, buy seacocks and thru hulls to replace all of the holes below the waterline. Resin, odds and sods. Well, we had to order all of the seacocks and thru hulls, and a few other things. We did however end up coming home with 2 new self-tailing winches. I checked the shopping list, but couldn't find them anywhere.

I had wanted a set of STs for the cockpit, but they are expensive, and the bases seem to be much larger than the Lewmar 7s that came with the boat. In other words they didn't fit. Also, I wanted a set of Lewmar 7s on the mast for halyards. I asked about the 7s, and they don't stock them because they can get them overnight when they order, okay, for future reference. Then I noticed these cute little ST winches on the shelf, they looked about the right size. After some research we found they have twice the power of the Lewmar 7's and the mounting holes are almost identical. And just to make the whole deal sweeter, they are discontinued, these are the last two, and on "clearance", my favorite word.

So, I introduce you to Vita's new staysail sheet winches. Harken Classic 16STs. $429 ea, plus Harper's cut. Not bad considering the same equivalent from Lewmar is $600 clams.

Can't wait to get them installed and play with them.

So, now that I don't get my seacocks until the 25 Oct, I guess I will be doing things in a slightly different order. Tommorrow finish the epoxy and a coat of bottom paint on the old boot stripe. Then onto the new boot stripe. Plus whatever else I find the time to do.

Later

The Sea Cock Debacle

Not much will sink a boat faster then a 1 1/2" hole opening up below the waterline where a shut-off valve used to be!

Vita came with gate valves. In 1983 when she was built, it wasn't just the standard of the time, but it was pretty much the only thing available. Not a good idea, but hind sight being what it is. I have been debating whether or not to replace these for a long time. I know the experts say that there is no place on a boat for a gate valve, and I find it hard to believe that they are all wrong. However, they have been on the boat for 30 years, they still work just as good as the day they were installed, and they look pretty heavy duty. Plus, replacements will work out to be an additional $700 clams, and this refit is already pushing the pocket book.

So today after I put the first coat of epoxy on the old boat stripe, I took a good look at the seacocks. Again, they seem solid, they all work, what am I not understanding. So I went to the books, Dan Spurr, Nigel Calder, and Don Casey. If ever there was a more knowledgeable group. They all said the same thing, get rid of them before you regret it. Ughhh... No support from the experts.

So at it I went. The first 1 1/2" seacock for the galley sink drain. When it turned, the thru hull turned, and turned easier than I was comfortable with. I tried everything, and there was no way that gate valve was coming off the thru hull. Sawzall to the rescue. So either the gate valve has corroded and fused together with the thru hull, or they used bedding compound to seal the two together. Neither is a good thing. 

 You can see by the picture that I cut the thru hull. That means I had access to it, and that is a problem. It causes a week point between the hull and the valve. Proper seacocks are attached to the hull, no weak spot.

 Not much support here, just a plywood washer.

 This is what it looked like before I ripped it out. This is the one in the head, as the before picture only turns out if I take it. What is up with the remembering to take the picture thingy.... Must be a missing gene.

 Below is the intake for the head. This one always made me a bit nervous, because it just didn't seem very strong. The last owner had replaced the broken gate valve with this ball valve. When I removed it I found that there was a 3/4" piece of thru hull being supported by bedding compound wrapped around it. This could have snapped at anytime. A little too much pressure on the handle, and in would come the water. Luckily its only a 1/2" hole. This one I am glad is removed.

 And here is the support for the engine cooling water intake. A round piece of rotted plywood with a thru hull nut working its way through it. Another bad one. And to top it off, the elbow and tube attached to the top were copper. How long in salt water before that would have broken down.

 All I can say is that I am glad that we changing them all. I will sleep better off watch in the middle of the ocean knowing that my valves are not going to explode.

And of course, the purpose of the trip to the boat today, two coats of Interlux 2000. Two more to go, and then bottom paint.

Replace the seacocks.

Two coats of bottom paint over the whole bottom.

Then I can paint the boot stripe back on.

Nothing happens fast on a boat.

New Waterline

The first change that happens after a sailing vessel becomes a cruising vessel, raising the waterline....

Well, Vita is not yet a cruising vessel, but I won't get another chance to move the waterline before I leave, so here goes nothing. I decided to move the waterline up 3" starting at the top of the original boot stripe. I did some quick calculations, and that should give me an additional 1800 lbs carrying capacity before the water gets into the boot stripe. She sat just below her waterline this summer, but the boat was gutted, so we'll call that another 400 lbs. That should be enough. I would rather have bottom paint above the waterline than boot stripe paint below.

 So here she sits. I managed to get her level side to side by knocking out the blocking under the starboard side of the cradle, loosening the bolts that hold the forward cradle sides together, and cranking the port side pads until she was level.

See below my waterline marking tool. Two 3" pieces of wood attached with reversed tape to allow them to slide back and forth. A level and pencil. There is a great Youtube video from Sail magazine, narrated by Walley Moran that shows how its made and used.

 So I taped the top of the existing waterline, in case the old gelcoat waterline got sanded off in the process. Marked and taped the top of the new boot stripe.

 Turns out that gelcoat waterline is pretty thick. I went through it a couple of times though. All I need to do now is retape, since the original stuff got destroyed by the sander, and start with the epoxy.

That's today's job. Plus I am going to make a trip to Pride Marine in Kingston tomorrow, so I need to make sure I am getting everything I need. I am even going to try and pull one of the seacocks. I'd like to find out what kind of shape the thru hulls are in and whether or not I have to replace those as well.

Off to the boat.

Vita on the Hard for Another Season

Lift Out was yesterday, including the commute it was a 13 hour marathon. Only one crane showed up, and most of the boats came out. With low water levels and the usual, (how the hell did that fit last year), we struggled thru. Serena did good, she kept going all day and didn't even stop for lunch, her back was tender last night, and she won't be moving much today, I guarantee it. My knees felt like they were going to explode most of the day, but I tried my best to keep involved as much as I could, and keep a smile.

The bad news is that the boat didn't fit on the cradle how I had hoped. It will work for this year, but it needs more consideration. I think I am going to have to cut and re-weld the front supports. I am not sure if I want to attempt it while the boat is on the cradle, plus I don't think there is enough power available down there to run the welder.

On top of that, we didn't get it centered properly, and the boat is listing to the port side. I need to try and get it straightened out so I can work on it. Monday... I am pretty confident that I can get her all leveled up.

Today I think I'll tinker in the shop, maybe take it easy. Walking is a little more difficult than usual today.

Cheers.