More maintenance!

Did a couple of necessary repairs and upgrades over the weekend:

1) Replaced the broken exhaust elbow with a new one. The tricky part was to get all the hoses off the old part, and back on the new part. Also the bronze fittings were really snug and I was a bit concerned that I would crack the cast iron elbow by applying too much pressure. In the end it all fit ok, engine is running smooth and no exhaust fume is escaping into the cabin no more!

New Elbow

2) Replaced the old single wire stanchions with double wire stanchions that comply with offshore recommendations. The tricky part was that the sockets were all different so I had to drill many holes and tap threads like a champion. The next step will be to install new lifelines. The old ones are of the vinyl coated variety with lots of rust stains where they pass the stanchions. Yikes! Not something you want to depend your life on.

3) Replaced the mast boot and the partners. The old partners were kind of worn and allowed the mast to pump quite a bit on a beam reach, and the boot had cracked from age in some places. I bought a Spartite kit, which forms a continuous barrier around the mast and should completely stop it from pumping. Spartite is some sort of 2 component epoxy, that is applied while still liquid and then cures in place. The tricky part here was that it needs to be poured in the gap between mast and deck. For the still liquid mixture to stay in place before it cures, there must be no leaks to down below, otherwise the whole goo goes down into the cabin. Now, forming that barrier is quite tricky as there is very little space in some places. The kit comes with some sort of a playdoo clay that settles in corners and crevices. I thought we did a pretty good job, but just to be sure I positioned the best crew of all in the cabin below to watch, equipped with paper towels etc to stop any drops. Then I poured just a tiny bit and watched the level. From downstairs I got the all ok hail and I went to pour some more. And some more. That's when all of a sudden the level started sinking at an alarming rate, followed by a cry of disgust from down below. The stuff must have broken some crucial barrier and was now emptying out of that hole. Argh! I rushed below and helped putting wipes and tape in place to stop the ingress. In the end it wasn't so bad, except the blue sprinkles all over the place, in my hair, face and pretty much everywhere. No picture of that mess, sorry :-)

I should have just waited until the stuff settled a bit, but I was afraid for that to happen too quickly and then I would have ended with a solid piece of plastic in the mixing bucket, and none next to the mast. The instruction said you have 7-15min under normal conditions. And that was a pretty warm day to begin with, so I figured less. So hurry hurry, but in the end I could have waited. It was still pretty easy to pour after 10min or so, more like honey. Oh well, next time.. The mast boot was comparatively easy, just roll the self adhering tape around a couple of times, install the clamps and voila!

4) Installed the hardware on the boom for the 2nd reef. We figured that we really need the 2nd reef installed permanently, quite often we do see winds above 30kn here which absolutely requires 2nd reef. 

5) Cleaned up the mess from the spartite experiment. 

6) Drank some beers!

Memorial Day Cruise!

The long weekend of Memorial Day was a great chance to get out of our usual SF and back routine and visit some places we haven't been to for a while. I checked the tide tables and coincidentally, it was just a perfect fit for a venture out to the North Bay! The morning ebb would take us nicely to SF and the afternoon flood then would flush us up through San Pablo and further up wherever we wanted to go. We decided to visit our old stomping grounds of Benicia, so many beautiful memories! 

To get out early enough (noon slack water at Treasure Island!) we spend Friday night on the boat and set out early in the morning after breakfast. I was expecting to motor at least some part of the distance, so we had brought a spare canister of Diesel, just in case. However, the wind was already setting in early in the morning and we ended up motoring only for a little stretch close to the Bay Bridge. We even ran the spinnaker pretty much all the way to early afternoon, where it started to gust up in the usual afternoon thermals setting in. At Berkeley Circle we made a little detour to say hello the the J24 state championships, where a friend of us was competing. They were struggling with fickle winds and strong currents, but with the help of the iron genny we were quickly out of there and started sailing again.

Under gennaker close to Richmond bridge

Cruising the North Bay, SF skyline in the background

Going through San Pablo Bay was a breeze, wind and current in the same direction usually means flat sea state and a very smooth ride. Beautiful! Seeing the familiar silhouette of the Carquinez bridge reminded us of the time 3 years ago when were sailing this stretch of water countless times. Of course, and just as usual, as soon as we entered the strait the winds sort of died, but we enjoyed sailing slowly along the beautiful scenery, pushed by the current, and finally docked at Benicia harbor. After a walk through beautiful downtown Benicia we settled for dinner at Sailor Jack's, a really nice restaurant offering creative and high quality seafood dishes in a very relaxed atmosphere. They are located on the water front, offering splendid views of the sun setting over Carquinez Strait. 

The way back wasn't going to be that easy, as we now had winds against us and the ebb too early to be useful getting all the way to SF. Already in the morning it was blowing quite hard and we decided to tuck a reef in right away. Just outside the bridge where the Bay opens it got really messy, the strong ebb tide against 25kn of wind created a huge chop. The boat was slamming down pretty hard into the waves, so we decided to get out of the main channel to have a little smoother ride, even though it meant being somewhat slower. We saw some boats deciding to go under bare poles, engine only, slamming up and down the waves. Good stomach training :-) Around Pinole point it probably blew the hardest with gusts in the 30s. But as we neared China Camp the waves got much better as the wind doesn't have enough fetch to create any bigger waves. What a difference going through Richmond bridge, we really had to take that reef out to make any progress after that. After a long day we finally picked up a mooring at Angel Island, our favorite spot to spend the night. Nothing more pretty and tranquil around in the area.

Cuvee Constance for dinner!

The next morning it felt like being anchored at Moorea, as a pair of outrigger canoes came paddling by the lush green scenery that envelopes Angel Islands north flank. The way home was uneventful and we had to motor quite a bit to get home since there was way less wind than the day before. Just when we entered the Coyote Point marina channel I heard some strange noises from down below, as if the propeller shaft was rubbing against something. Otherwise the engine was running fine with full power, but I was glad it didn't happen earlier and was able to investigate right away. Upon further investigation when we were eventually docked, I also noticed a pretty bad Diesel exhaust smell inside the cabin, something I had noted earlier but attributed to the wind blowing exhaust back into the cabin. Happens sometimes when you run under engine down wind. This time however it was clear that it was coming from the exhaust system. After a quick check I noticed that the exhaust elbow was cracked. Good grief! No more motoring until that is fixed I guess..

Broken exhaust elbow, see the crack at the connection to the engine...