2015 Summer Haul Out: Part 1

--Blogpost written by Bob

Our 2015 summer haul out is underway and it will be our last big haul out before departing in 2016.  Next year's haul out should be a quick one for only bottom painting, at least that's what we think now.

The Haul Out

The guy operating the travel lift has been hauling out my
boat for the 30 years I have owned her.

The zinc on the propeller shaft was held on simply by its corroded c-shape.  When new
it clamps in place around the propeller shaft--it has a closed o-shape.
The purpose of the zinc is to galvanically protect the other metallic
parts in the hull and it apparently did its job well.

Will there be any more surprises along the way?

When hauled out, the bottom contained its share of fuzzes and beneath the fuzzes
were some barnacles, particularly around the rudder.  During the summer
barnacles grow on the propeller during just a few weeks of boat inactivity.

Pressure washing is the first step in preparing the bottom for painting.
This step removes all the marine growth and slime.

Rainy Days will be perched on eight jack stands for the next 10 days
while all the maintenance work is being done.

Remove Old Head Discharge Thru Hull

For the past season, the head discharge seacock would not completely close for some reason.  Since we recently converted to a composting toilet, this seacock was no longer needed--so, the boatyard removed it and glassed in the hole.
  

While I've made plenty of new holes in the boat, this was the first time a hole was removed.
The head discharge through hull used to be located here.

Repair Frozen Seacock at Galley Sink Drain

This seacock was frozen in the open position which could lead to a dangerous situation if the sink drain hose started to leak.  In fact, I noticed an accumulation of water in the area of this seacock as I prepared the boat for haul out.  I have decided to drill a drain hole in this compartment so that any future water accumulation could easily drain into the bilge.  Also, locating the source of this water and correcting it is very important--this task has been added to my future boat projects list.

Soda Blasting the Bottom

Soda blasting is a means of removing old layers of bottom paint--it can be used to restore old cars and it was even used to restore the Statue of Liberty.  It is like sand blasting but uses sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) instead of sand.  This is the first time I have ever had the bottom soda blasted and it will be the first time I have ever actually seen the coal tar epoxy barrier coat on the bottom since it was put on by the original owner and covered up by bottom paint ever since.

This is a close up view of the condition of the bottom paint during the
winter hall out of 2014.  The extremely rough surface of the paint is
the reason we will be soda blasting the bottom.

Incidentally, for those unfamiliar with sailing, the "bottom" is the part of the boat that is normally underwater.  The hull is the entire area below the deck.  Only the bottom gets painted with anti-fouling paint.

The bottom is enclosed in a plastic tent while the soda blasting is being done.

After soda blasting, the seam between the lead keel and
the hull is much more visible.

This is the stern after soda blasting.  There are a lot of black marks on the dark
blue waterline stripe that will have to be removed before bottom painting.

Next up will be painting the bottom, and coating the propeller and shaft with a barnacle barrier--all exterior work requiring good weather...and we have some rain in the forecast for next week.

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