Once A Bum Always A Bum

In 1960 an older John Steinbeck felt disenchanted with and disconnected from the country he loved so much. He'd attained major success at this point and although the vagabond spirit still welled within him he, along with the decade, was approaching the 60's.  He was living in Sag Harbor, NY and although it was home, it was a long way away from Monterey, California where he grew up.  So.. being John, he grew a beard, let his hair grow and decided it was time to travel this land and rediscover America.  He had GMC build him a "state of the art" pick up truck with a slide in camper for the back and in Rocinante (the name Don Quixote gave his horse), he and his standard poodle Charlie (the mind reading dog) headed out in search of... America. 

If you've never read "Travels with Charlie" you owe it to yourself to do so.  It's only about 200 pages and within the first 5 pages, he tells the story of Hurricane Donna hitting their bay and the struggle he had saving his precious 22 foot sailboat "Fayre Eleyne," named after his wife Elaine.  You'll not read anything like it this I promise. Now... let me post my disclaimer:  If you read Cosmo, GQ or romance novels featuring men with names like Dirk and Leo, you should stop reading now.  If you think "Sex in the City" is on par with "War and Peace" and care more about Gucci than you do about Guinness, you should stop reading now.  In fact, if either of those two types are you... you in the wrong, f'ing place altogether! 

Actually, I've probably read this book about 5 times.  I have a copy in my truck, one in my every day computer bag and one in my back pack that I fly with. I give them away regularly and if I'm ever stuck in traffic, waiting for someone or in the airport, I pull it out, open to any page and immerse myself for as long as I have.  It's so poignant and relevant, it could have been written yesterday.

  
     "Having too many THINGS," he says, "[Americans] spend their hours and money on the couch searching for a soul. A strange species we are. We can stand anything God and Nature throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on it's knees, miserable, greedy and sick."

Steinbeck argued that the trashing of America was suicidal; he urged restraint and conservation of natural resources.  He considered the wastefulness he saw everywhere around him and lack of caring for the environment as part of a greater malaise that seemed to have overwhelmed America. 

Now... you must be asking yourself at this point, "what in the hell is he talking about?"  Why all this crap about Steinbeck in a blog about a boat.  Well, if you don't recognize and identify with the passage I've posted above... stop reading now.  You'll never identify with anything I write.  For today, I feel as disenchanted and disconnected as he probably did.  I bump into people on a daily basis staring into the palm of their hands; their "devices" that "make our lives easier." Email, cell phones, texting, twitter... whatever... all these gadgets designed to "help us communicate" are stripping away the essence and creating huge interstates of space between us. 

The "Moose" is my Rocinante and sailing is the reason for all the crap about Steinbeck.  There is no gadget developed yet, that can sail a boat in choppy seas and high wind.  Sure you got auto pilots and wind vanes... don't argue semantics... because if there isn't a human soul on board willing to brave the motion, the sea spray and chill, there is no auto pilot.  And every good sailor knows... auto pilots fail and windvane's break. Then what.  A hand on tiller is all that prevents the broach.

So, do yourself a favor and grab a worn out copy of "Travels with Charlie" and put down your freaking "smart" phone.  Turn off the Bachelor, Jersey shore, Biggest loser (which could quite possibly be you) and READ.  Breathe it all in. You'll do yourself and quite possibly some of us a favor.  If you get offended by my last statement... you should have stopped reading a long time ago.

     "When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age.  In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked... once a bum always a bum. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself"

Fair winds my friends

Come Hell or High Water... And Most Likely, Both!

As spring 2010 arrived we were way behind.  The economy was now full on in the shitter. Stock market down, housing market collapsing and my job in serious jeopardy.  The thought of spending more money on an old boat grew even more daunting.  I mean lets face it... one could pick up a Tartan 27 online in decent shape for around 5k.  I'm well over that with this project and the end is not in sight.  But alas, we soldiered on. The prospect of buying a newer, bigger and more expensive boat was less attractive than finishing what I'd started.

Head thru hulls

So... with all of the thru hulls done, it was time to continue with the decks.  Moose had been under cover since December and now it was time to get these things fared and painted before the dog days of summer hit.  We pressed on day after day and spent every weekend out there in pursuit of a smooth deck with no ripples or bad seems. After many, many hours of sanding and mixing epoxy, we achieved that.  As most of you know who've done this job... it is a bitch.  When you think you're done... you're not.

The photo to the right shows Moose just prior to deck paint. She looks rough but structurally she's in fantastic shape. The hatches, both front and rear were being rebuilt and varnished along with the coamings and grab rails.  I tried to use the original grab rails but many years of sanding reduced them significantly and when I screwed them back in, they split out.  As for the interior, we pulled out all the shelves, cabinet doors, head, holding tank and plumbing. We replaced all the hinges and knobs and I cut backing plates out of half inch Mahogany for all the stantion bases and deck hardware as well as the winch bases.  The Atomic 4 had been replaced by the previous owner with a Yanmar 2GM20F.  She's got about 800 hours on her and she purrs like a kitten.

Here you can see the chain plate template for the head to port just prior to getting her all glassed in with biaxial cloth.  I had the original chain plates checked out for stress cracks or elongation and they seemed to be fine.  So, after a good polish I bolted them on the outside of the knee, as they should have done in the first place!  Now, if we get water in, we'll see it.  After all was said and done, this past March 2011 made it just about 2 1/2 years that we had into her and I couldn't believe how much time and effort went into a boat that was less than 30 feet.  At she stands here, she's got new deck core, new chain plate knees, thru hulls, centerboard pendant, new bottom, new hoses, electrical and electrical panels, fresh paint and a bankrupt owner!  Emotionally and financially...

port chain plate

To the right is the glassed in chain plate as she looked before paint.  Came out pretty nice if you ask me. 6 layers of Biaxial cloth which has a layer of mat covered by 2 layers of cloth stitched together at 45 degree angles to each other.  So in actuality there are 18 layers of glass here.  God help me if I ever need to remove this.  As this summer ends, we've finished painting the whole interior of Moose with an oil based Alkyd house paint.  It was smelly but way cheaper than the interlux stuff and it came highly recommended by those in the know. Don Casey as well as many marine people I spoke to said it will hold up longer if done right and it's tough as nails.  That said, Moose has a fresh white interior, new shelves and cabinetry.  We rebuilt the companionway ladder as well.

new electrical panel

We recently spent the night out on the ball with a bottle of wine and a movie.  It's been almost 3 years worth of blood, sweat and tears.  I usually stay as far away as I can from cliche's but in this case it rings true.  I have scars on my knuckles, knees and skull to prove it.  I've poured buckets of sweat into that bilge and the tears... well, there were many nights that I thought to myself... "what the hell am I doing?  All this money and effort.  20 thousand dollars on a 5 thousand dollar boat."  Oh, there were tears. But now, although we still have work to do, there is a vision making itself visible through the fog of "someday." I still have to suss out some electrical issues but inspiration is rising.  It's time. Moose must make way and by God... come hell or high water and most likely both, we'll sail.