2018 Haulout in Galesville

July 14 thru July 18

--Blogpost written by Bob

Saturday, July 14

We spent the day relaxing with my sister, Barbara, and her husband, Fred.  We drove to Annapolis for lunch at Carrol's Creek Cafe and had ice cream downtown at Storm Brothers.  We didn't do a bit of boat work today.  In fact, one of the most memorable parts of the day was simply sitting at the marina's picnic tables by the West River accompanied by a a glass of wine and a nice cool breeze.

Private piers line the shore of the West
River near Hartge Yacht Harbor.

Our view of the West River anchorage,
across the river from Pirate's Cove.

Sunday, July 15

It was overcast and relatively cool this morning and a 10-knot breeze was blowing from the east.  My sister and her husband left early this morning to beat the weekend homebound beach traffic.

About mid-morning, we went to the boat and scrubbed the area beneath the mast and the bilge.  We also tried to install the new lifeline cushions that Maggie made and we discovered they are slightly too long--so, we brought them back to the cottage and Maggie modified them.  We installed them later in the afternoon.

The starboard lifeline cushion is the khaki-colored
horizontal line in the center of this image.

A view of the port side lifeline cushion
from the bow. (The port side dodger
window was removed in this photo.)

Monday, July 16

My day started early at the boatyard.  While the rigger, Ritchie, was working on the masthead light wiring, I took off with the halyard sheave and went to Annapolis to try to find a new replacement.  I had no luck at Fawcetts and they referred me to Annapolis Rigging.  Annapolis Rigging makes sheaves when needed for older boats but it couldn't be done anytime soon.  However, they thought the the sheave looked good and suggested that it simply be cleaned up, lubed well, and put back in place--so, that's what we did.

The preliminary wiring of the OGM masthead light.
Black-to-black, blue-to-white, and green-
to-brown was the combination.

The new (Glomex-brand) TV antenna was mounted
on the port side of the mast near the top.

This is a view looking up the mast while it was in the
lay down area.  The wires were fed through a
plastic tube in the mast to keep them from
slapping against the mast.  The plastic
tube does not extend to the
bottom of the mast.

Today was really hot outside, reaching near 90 degrees by 11 AM, and there was little to no wind.  I came back to the air-conditioned cottage at 10:30 AM.  I returned to the boatyard after lunch--it was still very hot but I was working on the wiring inside our air-conditioned boat.  (The mast re-wiring was completed by noon.)  I made a lot of progress on the new wiring for the forward running lights--actually I got the middle of the run done but both ends have yet to be completed.

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When I got back to the cottage I purchased a refurbished Multi Function Display (a chart plotter) online exactly like the one we currently have for about 2/3 the cost of a new one.  We have previously discussed the need to have a spare chart plotter and we could use this one below as part of the network OR swap it out with the one at the helm if it fails.  The chart plotter is a vital piece of equipment that we can't afford to be without.  (I could have purchased a cheaper ("A Series") unit but I would not have been able to swap it out with the unit at the helm in the event of a failure.)

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We expect rain tomorrow afternoon.  Depending on the weather and the boat work going on around me, I might be able to complete the re-wiring of the forward running lights tomorrow. 

Tuesday, July 17

I was back at the boat early this morning to meet with Bret, the gel coat guy.  All the little repairs I previously did to save money had to be dug out and redone using polyester resin, otherwise cracking was likely adjacent to the repair.

Our new FORESPAR-brand steaming/flood light
combo was installed this morning.

Ritchie notice that the old yellow line connected to the OGM
masthead light was cracked and one of the wires
broken--he replaced the yellow cable using
one they had in the shop.

Hole pattern in tabs at top of mast
on C&C Landfall 38

While the mast was down, I made measurements of the forward hole pattern in case I ever want to add a shackle at the top of the mast for a spinnaker halyard.  There are two sets of two holes each and the hole diameter is 0.345 inches and they have a center-to-center distance of 1.615 inches.  Someday, these measurements might come in handy.

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Maggie and her son-in-law, Joe went kayaking
on the West River this morning.  This
was the first time Joe ever kayaked.

Two rainbows lazily sail out the West
River late in the morning, wing-on-wing. 

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In the early afternoon I picked up the dinghy's outboard motor at Fairwinds Marina where it was serviced.  By the time I got back to the marina, the mechanic was just finishing up servicing the inboard engine on s/v Rainy Days.  The v-belt used for the water pump was worn pretty badly and had to be replaced.

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It rained in the late afternoon and evening which affected my plans to work on the re-wiring of the forward running lights.  Oh well, there is (almost) always tomorrow.  Today, we were able to extend our stay in the cottage until noon on Sunday.

An artsy flower pot and solar light arrangement
near a slip at Hartge Yacht Harbor.

Wednesday, July 18

I was up early and at the boatyard by 7:30 AM, beginning my very frustrating morning.  With no word yet on the replacement autopilot computer beyond being "back ordered", I took matters into my own hands and ordered one from RayMarine Direct for next day delivery.  A few minutes after I ordered it, I was told that the previously ordered autopilot computer would arrive tomorrow by UPS.  I had to go back and cancel the new order I just placed. 

This close-up view of the connection area of the old 
autopilot's course computer.  The fuse that kept 
blowing was in the center of this image in 
an area labeled "POWER - 40 AMP."

Mike, the mechanic, called in late and Bret was anxious to finish the gel coat repairs--he needed the boat for a whole day and there are not many days left in the haulout.  Alex gave him the "go ahead" to do the job today.  I left the boatyard around 9:15 AM and brought the dodger front window back to the cottage so that we could complete the waterproofing today. By the early afternoon, the entire work schedule had changed but things were moving along.

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Back at the cottage, Maggie hosed down and scrubbed the dirt off the dodger windows and then placed them over chairs and railings on the cottage's front porch to dry.

The dodger windows drying while draped over
chairs and the railings on the front 
porch of the cottage.

Applying waterproofing liquid to the canvas
frames of the dodger side windows
using a foam brush.

Maggie applied waterproofing liquid (303 fabric protectant) to the fabric frames of the dodger windows using a foam brush since we didn't want to get the liquid on the plastic windows. (On large areas with no plastic windows, we usually apply the liquid waterproofing with a roller.)

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In the early evening I went back to the boatyard to finish running the new running light wires into the anchor well and coat the mainsail's track on the mast with TEFLON grease (SuperLube).  Tomorrow the mast gets put back on the boat!


Stay tuned for the hectic completion of this year's haulout...


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