Shake Down
Yesterday we took a shake down sail around Casco Bay to exercise boat and crew. All systems are now “GO” for blast off to Nova Scotia next week. Preliminary forecasts look good for crossing mid-week. My passage plan is to shove off the dock at South Freeport on Tuesday for a 40 nm day sail to Monhegan Island. We’ll tie up to a mooring there for one night, then cross 200 nm around Cape Sable and make landfall at Shelburn, NS, by the end of the day Thursday. Cross your fingers that the forecast continues to look good.
For those who want to know, below is pasted the day by day spring commissioning punch list we accomplished to get this far.
May 16-18 – drive Honda loaner car (Enterprise Toyota Corolla) from Denver to Falmouth, ME
May 19 – Move gear onto boat (e.g., new carpet – fits great); assess head valve situation (tank isolation valve frozen), cycle through hulls – all OK except head tank isolation valve; topsides cleaned and waxed (by Eric – boatyard worker); check battery water – all OK. Found battery status at 100%. Connected to shore power to charge.
May 20 – Prep bottom for antifouling paint application – light sanding, remove bowthruster props, remove zincs, tape waterline and fittings; engine work with Bob – check exhaust elbow and heat exchanger, remove Webasto for bench check, remove Webasto fuel filter for replacement, replace impeller
May 21 – apply antifouling paint
May 22 – Install bilge plug; apply second coat of antifouling paint to high need areas – bow, front of keel & rudder, water line; varnish flagstaff, washboards, companionway teak
May 23 – Apply second coat of varnish to flagstaff, washboards and companionway teak; patch small part of hull with Formula 27 fiberglass repair, sand and coat with antifouling paint; disassemble head valves and hoses; deliver life raft to Chase-Leavitt in Portland for repacking; ordered new head valves from HR-Parts
May 24 – Apply another coat of varnish to flagstaff, washboards and companionway teak; move stands and prep patches behind them for antifouling paint; retrieved life raft from Chase Leavitt; clean, lube and reassemble bowthruster props; disassemble, clean, lube, and reassemble Flex-o-fold prop; replaced Isotherm, bowthruster, and Flex-o-fold zincs
May 25 – Install new Webasto fuel filter; apply second coat of antifouling paint; clean and install knotmeter; install fall safe kit on windlass; end-for-end anchor chain; weigh anchor; apply another coat of varnish to companionway teak, washboards & flagstaff; made small gelcoat ding repairs; removed rag from air intake port
May 26 – received report from Bob re condition of Webasto unit – looks like new; drained coolant & flushed freshwater system heat exchanger; painted dinghy seat and anchor locker boards (Jackson Williams); remounted life raft; polished Flex-o-fold prop (Jackson Williams); discovered broken cable on SatPhone antenna – appears to have been caused by tightening of winter shrink wrap cover; applied another coat of varnish to companionway teak, washboards, and flagstaff; activated domestic water system – connected hoses, removed hot water heater bypass, installed sediment filter – and discovered leak in expansion tank. Removed expansion tank for replacement.
May 27 – spoke with John Brewer re satphone antenna breakage caused by shrink wrap cover – he seemed to say he would have it taken care of. In the process, he called my wind generator mast “rinky dink.” He also announced that we could either launch Tuesday or get the deck polished Tuesday and launch Wednesday. I said we would launch Tuesday. He then said we would have to do our own deck polishing and he would provide tools and materials; added coolant (60% H2O, 40% Volvo coolant) to engine and topped off engine oil with 15W40; mounted MOB gear on pushpit, including danbuoy, horseshoe buoy, and lifesling – lifesling was in new warrantied replacement case; cleaned shroud deck plates; cleaned & polished nav light mounting brackets, installed nav lights and wired them in place; painted anchor locker boards and dinghy seat with second coat of gray paint; applied final coat of varnish to washboards & flagstaff. Received notice that zip code was entered wrong by HR-Parts on the shipment of head valves, delaying delivery until Tuesday.
May 28 – started treating and buffing deck smooth gelcoat – used Polar Shine per John Brewer recommendation – it did not completely clean the gelcoat; removed watermaker motor to take to bench and replace sprocket; replaced watermaker filters; used heat gun to remove expansion tank fitting; organized V-berth holds; cleaned up head holding tank valve assembly fittings; polished head stay attachment point at bow roller; seized anchor shackle; installed Furuno – loaded Canadian charts; connected propane line
May 29 – applied Polar Shine to smooth gelcoat above decks and polished with buffing wheel and microfiber cloth
May 30 – review ditch bag – restock as needed; test EPIRB and PLB; checked PFDs; retriev outboard engine from Lisa Fink; apply udder cream to propeller; sand and wax small gelcoat repair spots on topsides;
May 31 – wash deck; wax and buff deck gelcoat; launch boat; install domestic water system pressure tank and activate system
June 1 – apply ridlime to raw water heat exchanger circuit, install Webasto heater (Bob of Brewer South Freeport Marine did these two); assemble standing rigging (Eric of Brewer South Freeport Marine did this); assemble running rigging; bend on genoa; inflate dinghy
June 2 – lube traveler and jib car tracks; connect SSB antenna; assemble wind turbine & activate; clean deck gelcoat non-skid; connect mast electrical; mount rod kicker; continue running rigging assembly; check electrical connections; test VHF radio; check fender inflation; install bimini; polish transom gelcoat & deck blue stripe gelcoat (Eric with BSFM did this); repair satphone antenna cable (Steven with BSFM did this on John Brewer’s nickel as cable was damaged by BSFM personnel when installing winter shrink wrap cover); took delivery of 6 Volvo Penta oil filters and 2 Volvo Penta impellers
June 3 – connect manual bilge pump hoses; check dinghy engine; repair V-berth hatch hinge (done by Rick at Brewer South Freeport Marine) – Rick reports hatch has leak and hatch glass needs rebedding; ben on main sail; take shake down cruise – all OK except small tear in mainsail – took to Alan in North Sails Maine loft for repair; finish running rigging installation; fabricated outboard motor mount shim
June 5 – Burped and lubed stuffing box; install jack lines; update MFD8 software; connect deck wash hoses; glue outboard mount shim; treat dodger extension canvas; install repaired water maker motor & belt, check hose cxns; test Ocean Signal PLBs; bend on mainsail; test nav lights & SSB
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