When the cat’s away, Bob is sanding! It is wonderful to know that progress is made even when the skipper is at home!
More sanding!
Thank you Bob for working so hard and to Dianna for allowing Bob to flirt with Med Viking so often.
After the inspection, it was time again to work on the boat. This was another very busy weekend. The highlight of the weekend was to frame the emergency rudder to tun a regular rudder into a cassette type system. The rudder will need to slide into the cassette:
The cassette
The rudder can be seen here as the cassette is constructed:
The rudder
A lot of epoxy was used:
A fresh batch of epoxy
The frame is taking shape:
Almost done
A few good stainless screws and we are almost ready to go:
Closing the frame
Ready to test the rudder blade before glassing over the wood:
Does it fit?
Perfect fit!
We did a lot of other things such as:
1) Installing a new holding tank
2) Adding our sail number to the 135% jib:
Our sail number
3) Testing the new AIS Class B transponder
4) Cutting a piece of foam to create a new bunk in the salon
5) Routing the TV antenna coaxial from the mast: while the TV antenna is not a race requirement it must be noted that the admiral (spouse of the skipper/owner for those who don’t sail) is very supportive of the race effort. The TV antenna is a small reward for her support.
7) Changing the main sail halyard
Our inspector Rowena came early from San Diego. It was nice to finally get her on Med Viking since we met almost a year ago. Everything went well: what was not available (such as the spare rudder) could not be inspected. I had forgotten the chart of Kaneohe Bay at home so I obviously did not get a pass on that one.
What was really surprising to me was the fact that I had misinterpreted some of the basic requirements. We had to check the ISAF rules a few times to verify the actual wording.
The verdict is that we will need to be checked again on a few items when we arrive in San Francisco.
The good news is that the inspection is happening this Friday the 16th. The bad news is that we will fail the inspection! We are actually very close to having all the required information and equipment but the delay caused by the leak that almost sunk the boat together with the time it took to get the mast back up has eaten up all the buffer we had.
The main issue is the emergency rudder. The cassette system is installed but the blade is not ready and we were obviously not able to test the emergency rudder without a blade.
Bob and I used last weekend to make progress on the following:
A weather fax
The mast finally went up last Thursday.I had to rush to take the boat from Yacht Haven to the Marina Shipyard in Los Alamitos bay. The rigger and his crew wanted to be in a “clean environment” to take the jib furler apart and change the forestay. Once everything was ready it took 2.5 hours for the crane operator to be ready since they were still moving boats in and out of the water.
In a way the wait was good for something since the rigger realized, 2 hours into the wait, that one section of the furler had been installed backward! You could not make up these stories! Anyway, everything was dismantled on the spot and the section correctly installed.
Finally the crane operator came and the mast was stepped on the boat.
Here comes the mast!
After that I “sailed” (really motored) back to the marina just in time to go to LAX to pick-up the sister-in-law + husband and their 2 children.
The new rigging is really shiny but it still needs to be tuned we should happen this week.
The picture below shows the top of the mast with the new navigation/anchor LED light, the new VHF antenna (with RG213 coaxial all the way to the radio and without any connector), the new socket for the wind instrument and the new rod for the wind indicator (aka windex).
The top of the mast
First I need to formally congratulate Bob and Dianna of Pura Vida. They won their class in the Newport to Ensenada race. The fact that they won is only part of the story. They won in a cruising class, beating some PHRF boats. It was Bob’s first race as a skipper and their boat is also their home.. I am very happy to have them as part of the Pacific Cup on Med Viking.
The winning crew: Mike, Bobby, Bob and Dianna
The weekend was very busy with Bob and I spending a lot of quality time on Med Viking. We did add the Dan’s Buoy to the rail:
Dan’s buoy
We also put the newly chromed chain plates (or whatever they are called) back in place. They may be useful if the mast if ever stepped back on the boat (this is dark French humor):
The round one
The ugly task was to change one of the holding tank that had leaked unnoticed for quite a while.
We also installed a new boom outhaul car. The previous one used Torlon ball bearings. The new one does not have ball bearings. The car slides on 2 sticks of “exotic” material.
Finally we did a lot of wiring by bringing a new coaxial for the emergency VHF antenna (might be used for AIS transmit as well), a new cable for the wind sensor and a few more…
It is really frustrating… The mast has been removed more than 3 weeks ago and I am fighting with the rigger to get the rigging back in place. Despite the frustration the spirit is still high.
The additional delay gave me time to get the mast hardware (not sure what the real name is) re-chromed.The result is beautiful. The pieces are massive cast bronze. The plan is to put them back in place this weekend. I also received the sheaves that were missing so everything high in the mast will be new. That includes a new Windex:
Windex
Hopefully the last consequence of the massive leak has been addressed by replacing the water heater. The water heater was the boat original so it did last longer than a household heater!
Atwood water heater