Some Small Movement

SHIP'S LOG:

     Well, there has been some small movement, with the emphasis on "small," not "movement!" The yard finally got all the bits and pieces of "the Tree" off of ABISHAG. This allowed them to get all the bits and pieces of SNAFU, the other boat, off of ABISHAG as well. Actually, there was "movement" as once they had removed all of the detritus, they picked her up and moved her to a new spot in the yard, about as far from trees as they could get her. And now the fighting begins!

     The insurance companies are certainly not in agreement as to who is responsible for the damage done and there certainly was damage done. My friend, Tom Greaves, a marine surveyor who did the original pre-purchase survey back when I bought the boat, went up and did a survey or at least as much of one as he could do without getting on the boat. The yard's insurance company didn't want anyone on the boat until the "responsibility" issue had been worked out less someone traipsing around aboard somehow muddied the matter.

     Tom's survey:

- Remove main mast for rigging and tang inspection aloft.

- Sand, prime and repaint topsides resulting from contact from other vessels.

- Repair stanchions and rails where required.

- Inspect deck under stanchion bases and repair if necessary.

- Repair damaged teal cap rails and refinish.

 - Replace head stay and foil  with new.

 - Inspect all chain plates and interior bulkheads for storm damage

 - Replace bow rail with new.

 - Repair anchor rollers.

 - Interior of vessel to be inspected for damage to bulkheads and floors.

 

     It doesn't sound too bad but conservatively we are looking at $15,000 when the job is done. And that's worth fighting over. SNAFU's insurance company is probably going to claim that the yard is at fault for "badly" blocking up the boat and for the damage done by the falling tree. The yard's insurance company is probably going to claim "act of God" for the damage done by the wind and the falling tree. It will probably be one heck of a battle royal and it will take time, so I am caulking up this sailing season as a total loss. If everything worked out well, perhaps I could get in by the middle of August but that's only a maybe. AH, the joys of boat ownership!

 

 

SHIP HAPPENS!

SHIP'S LOG:

     I was almost all set. I finished up pretty much everything that need to be done yesterday. Thursday was to be "Bottom-Painting" day and ABISHAG was scheduled to be launch into the might Connecticut River on Friday. Bending on the sails would have been done over the weekend and the trip New London and my mooring at TYC would happen Monday. Ah, but such was not to be.

     About 5pm, maybe 45 minutes after I left the boatyard, a terrific thunderstorm, perhaps along with a micro-burst or a tornado hit the Portland area and the fun began. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to lift the boat next to mine right up off its poppits and dump it on the ground between it and ABISHAG. When it fell, the deck-stepped mast became detached and fell of the boat. It really must have torqued badly as some of the shrouds which held it up broke. It also caused the boom to swing crash into the bow pulpit, bend itself around it. Not long after, the weather phenomenon uprooted a nastily large tree which crash down on the other boat, hitting the hull just where it begins to curve into a point. As it fell and slide forward, it connected with the boom and landed on my bow pulpit, torquing ABISHAG so she started to rotate on the forward block under her keel. Luckily, the force was spent on the bow pulpit. Had ABISHAG rotated an inch more, and I mean one inch more, she would have come off the rear keel block and she would have toppled onto the ground.

     It is tough to see the damage as the bow is all covered with tree, but the bow pulpit is toast. It took a real pounding from the boom and the tree and is all bent out of shape. It actually pulled two of the stanchions out of the deck. That will definitely have to be replaced as will the holes in the deck. The life lines from the boarding gates to the bow were also put under sufficient strain to bend their stanchions. They are fixable through the stanchion based will have to be popped and re-bedded. I can't be sure about the furling gear for the jib nor the chain-plate for the forward shroud. The way the track for the furler is twisted, it much have taken a heck of a blow. That is really all I can see, though I am going to have to get a mariner surveyor to check her out for any stress and impact damage to the hull. Though since she is built like a tank, over built in fact, I don't think that there is much to worry about in that regard.

     As soon as the insurance companies do their thing, they will lift and reset ABISHAG and then the fun will begin. AH, the joys of boat ownership.

Latest Update - Only a month late!

SHIP'S LOG:

     Well, let's see what has been going on. At this writing, I am about less than a week before I get my hands on a "new" set of  wheels. it is not quite the P.O.S 1989 Ford Tempo, it is a whole decade+1 younger, a 2000 Subaru Outback. Unfortunately, loosing the P.O.S. put me weeks behind in getting ABISHAG ready for the water, but with Fred's loaner, I have been able to get up and do    a lot of work.

Together with Fred, we were able to rip-out and replace the hatch in forward head. It took three days to dig out all the deck wood rot, fill the holes with micro-balloons and epoxy, sand it and make the fit tight, lay down the butyl rubber mastic and fix it back in place.

That was followed by  removing the port in the stern cabin and do the same thing to it that was done in the head. That should eliminate all the leaks in both places.

That was followed by sanding and varnishing the teak toe rail. It sounds a simple task but it does require a certain amount of gymnastic maneuvering for the sanding and even more for the varnishing. The most important thing in varnishing is that there be no drips. You want it to be as smooth as glass. It takes a minimum of three coats to approach that level of sheen, but the "OO's" and "AH's" supposedly makes it worth all the work. Somehow, I doubt it, but after even just two coats, I have to admit that it looks might fine.

That was followed by painting the gashes, scrapes and dings that pit the hull. The bad thing about ABISHAG's dark "FLAG BLUE" paint is that it shows up every mar and imperfection. True, some of them would show up on any color of hull, but the dark blue really makes them stand out. Since I have a little enforced time, I will take a stab at painting the really egregious dings and scrapes, wash and compound and polish the hull. It won't make her go any faster but she will look nice.

That was followed by the varnishing that needed doing inside. Doing repair work over the years lead to scrapes and scratches, along with screw holes that have been filled, all of which needed to be sanded and varnished. Varnishing inside is inherently dangerous as there is not a lot of room and one has to be very, very careful not to place any body part on any newly varnished surface. Maybe it is the fumes from the varnish but one's short term memory goes right out he window and one often backs away from a newly varnished spot right into another newly varnished spot. The toughest items are the teak deck plates that are carefully placed to allow access to the bilge while at the same time making it utterly impossible to get from here to there without stepping on wet varnish.

AH! THE JOYS OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!!

 

Nope, Not Yet!

SHIP'S LOG:

     Unfortunately, at this writing I am still "sans" a automobile. The one that will probably become the next P.O.S. must really be a P.O.S. as the gentleman who is getting it ready has already delay our "visitation" to observe the vehicle twice and now  it might not be until next Monday. Maybe. My anxiety level is rising by the minute though i am not sure why. I will eventually get to ABISHAG and I will get all the work done, but, I suppose, it is the fact that others are already hard at work and I am not. It is frustrating. One small glimmer of brightness, I will transport the rest of my tools to the boat this week so i will be prepared to do whatever needs doing should I ever get there. Sigh!

First Sail Of The Season!

SHIP'S LOG:

       I got a chance to go sailing with "young" Mr. Avery, who at the ripe old age of 843/4, get his boat into the water on April 1st every year and tries to go sailing every day. His daughter won't let him sail alone so he is always looking for crew. This early in the season it is a little more challenging as it can be a wee cold on the water.  And cold it was. I wish I had brought gloves though I had the sense to bring a heavy sailing jacket and some polar fleece.It was a short sail,  little over 90 minutes or so, but well worth the frostbite.

     No word from the broker yet. No response to the emails. It will come in time. just like my car. There has been another delay in that as well. Now it will be Monday before we can go and look at it. It is a very anxious time and it is tough trusting that everything will workout as God intends.  It is all probably just a little reminder of just who is really in charge.

"There's Good News Tonight!" Gabriel Heater

SHIP'S LOG:

     Well, yes & no. If you subscribe to the concept that "no news is good news," well then like last year at this time there is "good news" because I have gotten "no news."  My broker has not gotten back to me and that could mean a couple of this things.

      1.) Neither of the couples interested in seeing ABISHAG over the weekend showed up, though I would have expected that he would have let me know to keep me "bucked up and excited."

      2.) One or both of the couples showed up and neither liked what they saw and went away without making an offer. That's a real possibility but then i would have expected that the broker would have called with a long list of what needs to be "fixed." But if it were something "major", you would thing that they would just subtract from their offer what they thought it would take to do the fix.

      3.) One or both decided to go home and reflect.

       4.) The broker ran away to Brazil or the Caribbean.

In any event, I haven't heard and I won't contact him. No new is still good news and it doesn't really effect the fact that I still have lots of work to do on ABISHAG and no way to get to Portland to do it. Tom, my car guy, called last night to say that his "car-guy" won't have it ready before Friday. So I have another four days of waiting. It is all putting me seriously behind schedule, but there really isn't much I can do about it. Such is life . . . .  and it keeps on raining!

 

TWO!!

SHIP'S LOG:

      Spent most of yesterday just trying to recover from the previous two days work. When I got up today, pretty much all the aches and pains were gone except for the regular ones that come with aging. That's perhaps because "Arthur" loves the rain and chill  and making my knees and fingers ache.  That's part of why I love hot summer day. It bakes "Art" out, at least for a  few months.

     I received an email from the broker this morning saying that not only are the people coming from Maryland but that potential "sucker," . . .er . . buyer is also showing up . . today. Who knows, just maybe ABISHAG will be heading off to a new home soon. If not, she will be sailing once again out of TYC. IF she does go, I am going to have to find a small, less expensive, smaller boat. And in one sense, that isn't something I look forward to. It can be a real pain, but we shall see.