Long Time, No Write

Firstly, we are fine and the boat is fine...for a 63 year old boat.
We suffered a cataclysmic breakdown just as we were exiting the very lock that held us up. Lock 13. Thank God that Jake (and Sarah aboard Prospero) were feeling up to the challenge of towing us 63 miles (in 3 days) to get to Waterford, were we could relax and get to the bottom of things.  The tow went really well, even had the sign of God's promise to never EVER again wipe all of mankind out...by a flood. I'll take it! Jake and Sarah, thanks for bringing good cheer and being such terrific friends.
We stayed in company with Prospero until New York City, had many great dinners and good times with her crew. The transit was going well and we were making good mileage, even while Jim learned all about replacing our fuel injector pump and all its pump-y bits. The weather has been a little tough, cold and windy, but onward we go.
We introduced fair Dolphin to salt water and ocean waves on a NE 15-20 knot wind and hoisted those beautiful sails, not including the one that Jim cut down and re-made into a lapper. She "heeled over and got on the rails" as Chuck B had put it, and we were off and flying into the wind. Yahoo! Never had a boat that could 7 knots into the wind! Then the primary bilge pump came on. Then it came on again. And again. Then it began short cycling, spewing out salt water. Sorry, Dolphin!
The upshot is that we have found the place in her garboard where she opens up a teeny bit when we have the sails up and working hard. The fact that she tightens back up afterwards is comforting. Her interior is very lightweight and gives in to the twisting motion of the hull in a cross sea, too. She's what I would call "chatty".
So no more 20 knot winds on the nose. We have been able to sail her on most days through the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW), and have come all the way to Florida without sinking. The next few days call for 10-15 knots, so we'll consider going out to St. Augustine.
In the meantime, I have found all this transiting has been hard work, full of long running days and long, dark evenings. Jim is in his glory, planning, planning and more planning. Engine maintenance, determining routes and anchorages and keeping the ship moving. We're in bed by 8:30-9 o'clock, and up before sunrise, getting weather reports and slurping coffee. Soon we'll be staged to make the hop over to the northern Bahamas. If we make it to the cruiser's Christmas potluck on Green Turtle Cay, we'll be very happy.

Lock 20, Center of the World

It has everything you need. A vegetable stand. A beer & soda joint that sells beer from all over the world. A barbecue place that does naked ribs (carb-free, so I can eat 'em!). Up the other highway is the town of Whitsboro which has a library, liquor store and bakery (extra-carby so Jim can enjoy a snack, too).
Why am I so thrilled? Well I am not thrilled, but content. You see the New York waterway has been brought to a standstill by a dam that suffered a sudden break. So the good folks at the NY Thruway Canals Dept. are hurrying their efforts to get a temporary repair done in order to get the transiting boats on their way. So far there are close to 70 boats waiting. Most are all parked much closer to the damaged area of lock # 13...how lucky is that? The canal staff will put us all through in three eight hour days. October 4-6. We arrived September 20.
So we wait.
We have all kinds of projects to keep us busy; we started by opening up our mast to find out what in blue blazes was making that infernal clanging racket. Did I mention the mast is a hollow, aluminum sound chamber? The noise invoked the Bells of St. Ives. Anyhow, we found a 20' length of conduit that had come detached sometime during our journey home. We knew we would have this chance to investigate while the mast was down for the canal transit. So we ripped out the rest of all that wire up there, except the feed to the steaming light. What a relief that will be!
I have done more scraping, fairing and painting of the cockpit boards and some hull areas. Jim has been re-doing the board that the battery bank sits on. We have been using our wood burning heater, so there is plenty of ash to flush off with canal water each morning. *sigh*! At least the weather has been fine.
Cooking, cooking, cooking. As some of you know I am on a special diet that promotes healing of the small intestine, its called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Google that puppy to find out ALL the details, but the upshot is...I eat vegetables. No starch. Which is why I am particularly happy about being stuck in the middle of no-where-upper-state-ny with this farm stand. The town of Whitsboro sold out to Walmart, so there is no longer a grocery store in town, but the gas station has eggs and some pretty good New York Cheddar, so we're doing all right.
In order to make up lost time, Jim has been doing some route planning. We are hoping to sail near shore from New York City to Hampton, Virginia, a two day passage that should get us below the chilly autumn temperatures of the northern states. We'll let the crush through, let them deal with each other and all those canal walls, before we slide through on the Saturday, this should allow us  to find room at the self-serve crane at Castleton to re-step the mast and get on our way down the Hudson River. Maybe this delay is sparing us having to dodge a hurricane or two?
As more boats come through, it becomes more apparent that Lock 20 really is a good spot, so more are tying off here. Party at our place tonight!

Preparing to Enter The Oswego Canal

We left Cape Vincent after a rough night of North wind, and under sunny skies we sailed fair Dolphin with the sail Jim had just cut from the old 170%genoa. The lapper, as it is known, set beautifully and pulled us on a 3 knot average beam reach halfway to Oswego. A great wind came and filled in all available canvas, the cooling towers and stacks of the generating facilities quite visible on the New York horizon. After putting the first reef in, we doused the lapper and put up the wee staysail. The wind started to back, as forecast, and we screamed in to Oswego, our speed topping out at 7 knots, the rig in complete control. I think I like this boat!

We tied off at a public wall, and went for another beautiful evening stroll.

Now there is a lot to do to prepare a sailboat to transit the Canal. Knowing that it saves us roughly 1200 nautical miles on the St. Lawrence, we felt it well worth all the cost and effort. Plus we got to meet the Legendary Bernie Bacon, crane-dude at Oswego Marina.

After unclipping rigging, wrapping up all the shrouds, turning the turn buckles, stowing the boom, club and spinnaker-pole, pulling down the sun shade and generally going out of our minds with work, we got our mast unstepped by Mr. Bacon. We had heard how great he was, but the actual experience has left us amazed. he and his crew had that puppy down in about thirty minutes. We were on the crane dock for an hour and a half. Kudos!

Jim had designed the whole load to go under the re-installed sun shade, rather that hold it high aloft, so we could travel confidently in case of other boats putting up a big wake, which happens. So here we are, back in the U.S.A, heading south.

Ah, South! We like to monitor the degrees of latitude w cross by seeing what grows. The holly bushes here are plump with berries 

And here is a very pleasant thing, indeed. Before we left, our friends Curtis & Shannon delivered a CSA box of all kinds of veggies. We just finished that green stripe-y guy this morning. The darker orange one was dense and full of flavor, nice in a bowl of chili. We have yet to enjoy the Buttercup and "Weirdo" at the end is quite a good variety of zucchini. I named this variety myself, clever, huh? I forget where I got the pumpkin.
My posts will be a bit less often, now that we are really on the road, but I'll check in at our next Public Library! Ciao!

Launch Day...Again!



Well, let's hope this is the last time we hafta do this for a long while!

We wanted to lay eyes on one problem spot under the keel before we sailed Dolphin offshore (even if it is just Lake Ontario), so  we spent a week at Collins Bay Marina on the hard. Some jobs are so much easier when a boat is out of the water, so we tried to get as much done as we could.

 

 Her waterline wasn't quite right; the antifouling paint was too low for long distance cruising, so we raised it by five inches.  I gave her topsides two more coats of Tremclad Loving Care and cleaned up her transom with some sandpaper and two coats of Epiphanes varnish.

 

 Jim hauled out a small amount of rot from the deadwood area of the keel, where there are two bolts holding it on. He removed a wiggly one and repaired the area with epoxy, then screwed on some pressure treated planking to make up the new shoe. Layered it all out with some good, old, sticky roof patch compound...mmm...tar. We gunned a couple of seams with SikaFlex and called it a day.

We took advantage of having some scaffolding nearby, so Jim went after two more areas and made  repairs to the deck and rub rail on the port quarter. After some fairing and paint, she'll once again be the Belle of the Ball.  I took advantage of having a new, yet good friend to take me into Kingston and get all the last minute stores for the trip south.

 

Then we were ready to go back in, so on with The Show!

 
As long as he wore a hard hat, the crew let Jim stay on board and play with all the toys!

Here's Paul and Tony, a couple hard working guys. You couldn't hope to find more attentive, knowledgeable crew.  

The leading man Henry, crane-guy extraordinaire. As the song goes, he's got our whole world in his hands!

Down, down into the sea.

The Ringleader, proud yard owner Gerry. Another job well done. We found Collins bay Marina to be one of the tidiest, most organized and  best places to haul, heck just to hang out with The Gang to enjoy the coffee and goodies that Lori puts out for the live-aboards. Thanks again, folks!

 

And special thanks to Susi for all her help with pick ups and deliveries. We met a few years ago at Rosehaven Knitting Group, but only linked up now, as she lives only three km away from CBM. She and her husband Hans had us over for a splendid meal, and spent a couple of evening on board Dolphin sharing friendship and food. That's really what these cruises are all about.

So while Dolphin continues to tighten up after 8 days drying out, her leak rate continues to improve and give us confidence to take her out of Collins Bay. And if we make it out of Kingston, we'll head across to New York. If she still hasn't sunk, it's down the Erie Canal we go for trip #3 to The Bahamas. We'll chat again soon.

 

Home, Sweet Home!

In Prince Edward County, of course.
After nine days and two hours, we arrived at our anchorage. Down Huron, through St Claire River, Lac Ste Claire and the Detroit River, across Erie, transiting the Welland Canal, then across Lake Ontario. Three overnighters on the lakes and most of the wind fair. Only one layover day...not enough wind!

...Huron.

...Coming in to Windsor.

...St Clair River. Windsor suburbs. And yes, the water was that shade of blue. Who'd a 'thunk?

...Windsor

...The international border between Detroit and Windsor.

...The Welland Canal

...Lake Ontario. And completely worn out!

 

Well, the day after we got Dolphin safe at anchor, the winds picked up and off she trotted, dragging her anchor. That means she went stern first onto the gravel beach. The repair that Mike did got scraped off and the leak returned, but she only pumped every 20 minutes. Good thing there is a good facility literally right next door that can lift us out nicely and we can make the proper repair she's been waiting for.

And here's one more for the Lambton family!

...The Lambton Generating station, Lambton County.

So this leg of Dolphin's Great Adventure is over...but wait! We leave again for the Bahamas Sept. 1, lotsa work to do. So we'll see you then!

 

Tobermory

We shook out Dolphin's stay sail and main yesterday and found all to be in good order, left the genoa for another time. We cruised through a small portion of what the area is quite famous for; Fathom Five National park. Apparently the diving and snorkeling are world class, with the colour of the water being a gorgeous green. But a Great lakes kind of green. Anyone needing a summer camping experience must consider this place! You can even learn to dive with a pro for around 75 bucks, Google Diver's Den here in Tobermory and check it out.

She did 2kn to windward in less than 10kn of wind! Wowie! This changes everything!!!

I could not resist this shot. The light at Big Tub is the last structure on the mainland, pointed North towards Manitoulin Island. We anchored just around the corner you see on the left. The geology is fascinating, trees clinging to rocks, overhangs, grottos, columns of rock, castles...

Ya can't stay in a town for long without experiencing a local Do. The event was The Great Cardboard Box Boat race, and these entrants are carrying their hunk of duct-tape enshrouded cardboard to the starting line. Yes, they are wearing wetsuits. The boat you see in the foreground had it's 15 minutes...and sunk. Very entertaining.

As much as we're looking forward to getting home to our own lake, this spot has been great to get this job done. We met some very helpful and resourceful people, Mike, Kelly, all the Jeffs, Toby for letting us use her dock for ship-to-shore dingy rides, Lynn and Mark for letting us use their cottage, Hugh and Maryanne for sharing their table with us (twice!) and making us feel welcome and Jeff 2 for making sure we joined the Tobermory Yacht Club for their weekly potluck. We met a pile of Bahama-bound cruisers we look forward to meeting up with this winter. I will miss this place!

Thanks, Tobermory, it was great! And indeed, thanks for all the fish.

Post-Launch

Here we are at last! At home, at anchor...at ease.
We have taken Dolphin out motoring a couple of times, just a few miles, and all is going well. The area is quite pretty, all studded with pine covered islands. It is a diving hotspot too, with all sorts of wrecks and caves to explore.
 Jim has been working away at upgrading systems for offshore sailing, his plans include  replacing the water pump and thermostat on the engine and, well...all sorts of things!  I have been smartening things up with more paint and making minor repairs with my trusty caulking gun, also re-learning about helming. Apparently we have a left handed propeller, so Dolphin swings to port when in reverse. Makes for interesting docking, so planning for it is essential.
We are now slowly moving the sails and such on board, discovering exactly what we have here. Dolphin is a cutter rig, so there is quite a selection of sails. I am just glad that the boom clears the nice bimini we found second-hand.
She seems to be continuing to tighten up, but we are still concerned with the rate at which the bilge pump comes on; we has a small scare last night when it suddenly started coming on every three minutes. My first thought was that we had blown another seam, but nothing so dramatic happened. Jim rowed ashore next morning and  found Super-Micheal ready for action in his Super-Cape and scuba tank, he was all set to go for a pleasure dive with his sweetie, but like all super heroes...duty called. Once again, we got out the cotton and the irons and he hammered away. Whatever was bothering poor Dolphin was a little harder to find this time, as a three minute leak is not as dramatic as a seam opening right up, but he tapped away for a good hour, then experimented with the roof patch to seal the seams he worked on. The tar worked for a minute or two before the tube got all soggy and burst, but he got all the big spots. Now, with the pump coming on every 12-20 minutes, we decided to find a smaller pump and give the big guy a rest. A smaller pump will remove just as much water, but will allow for a longer time for the small amount to accumulate before it pumps.

Tobermory is an interesting place. It is at the other end of the Niagara Escarpment, so it has some very interesting geology, above and below the water. It is home to Fathom Five National Park and more island-hopping Cruise Boats than anywhere I've seen, all fitted with glass bottoms for easy viewing of all below. There are three wrecks near to where we are anchored , so these boats pass by on their way out to Flower Pot Island, known for two huge sandstone formations that remind me of hoodoos, but much bigger. Lots of divers here, lots of boaters and lots and lots of tourists. The flora and fauna seem to be completely different from Prince Edward County, the closing photo shows some wild orchids called yellow Ladies' Slippers.

 Speaking of wildlife, on mast-raising day, a whole pile of Jefferies showed up, here are two of the greater Jeffs. We could not have done it all without their help, and the help of Graham (sorry Gramy, the pic of your backside wasn't publishable!), Pete and Hugh for all the running around he did for us.

Until I see you next, smooth sailing to you too!

Launch Day

Tah-da-a-ah! Here's our pretty, new girl! Dolphin can smell the water she's been longing for and it is a fine day. Jeff at Tobermory marine makes everything look easy; frist step is getting the boat settled on the trailer and hauling it down to the dock where...

 ...the crane guys put her in the slings and up we go. She gets to hang there (12 tons) for 10 minutes while we scrape and apply antifouling paint to the very bottom of her keel.

 

Just look at that luxurious nine foot cockpit!!! We have not had a boat with such accommodation, plus it makes helming very comfortable.

This story would not be complete without a picture of one very supportive fellow, Chuck Beaton, the owner's (Mark) father. Chuck did a lot to get Dolphin into our hands and all fixed up. He told us of past launches that all involved much leaking at the seams, screaming, swearing and mad dashes to get more pumps. Well, we smugly thought, we'll have no such problems!
Don't ever have smug thoughts. The minutes that followed Chuck's departure were truly mind boggling. All of a sudden we could hear what sounded like someone taking a shower. We quickly pulled the sole up and to our absolute horror we saw the Georgian Bay pushing the cotton  caulking through the a seam. Then some tar. Then another length of the same seam, the all hell broke loose as we realized that there were not just wee weeps hidden under the fuel tank, but great big ones making that shower-y sound as the incoming lake was hitting the now pooling water in Dolphin's bilges.
Jim made some very fast manoeuvers in order to stem the leaks, first we had to pull out some timbers that held the sole up, then pull out the water tank. But what could we do with the full fuel tank that was keeping us from reaching the bigger leaks down under? Jim took out the thin plywood liner for the water tank compartment and sawed it to size to cover 4 areas, then wedged in some other bits of wood we were saving for our fireplace on board. It mostly worked, but wouldn't hold for long...we needed a solution...fast! The water started to gain on us, we simply didn't have enough bilge pumps. So the screaming, swearing and mad dash to get another pump began, thanks for heads-up, Chuck!!!
I had to bail by hand while Jim drove to Tobermory Marine to borrow a pump, I was barely keeping up. A fellow launchee noticed out predicament and inquired if he could help, I simply didn't know what to say. I was to discover that he inquired of a friend  in town about leaky wooden boats and the friend recommended to get a diver to go down and do something to the outside planks. It took Jim a split second to race over to the local dive shop and find a willing diver to make an emergency call. With the third pump, we started gaining on the leaks.
A lovely, efficient angel-in-scuba-gear appeared at our sides and we passed him the materials required to drive more caulking into the bad seam.
He went down and it took no time for him to find the problem, and we could hear the hammer and iron ring from below. And the leak came to a full stop. I stared to cry.  The word relief does not describe what Jim and I felt at that moment. Niagara falls went away. The diver later said that as soon as he put the strand of cotton up to the seam, the incoming lake sucked it in with such force that all he had to do was guide it and hammer away. He saved our boat, no doubt. Now, here's where giving credit can be a problem; there has been a recent notice given by The Diving Industry that those not licenced to work for pay couldn't. So we didn't pay him. As a matter of fact, I was so emotionally spent, and exhausted by all that hand bailing, that I couldn't go to meet him after he de-suited, Jim did. Jim delivered a big hug (from me, but Jim was pretty relieved too!) and misplaced an envelope in the hugging. All I can say now, is have a look at www.WetRockStudios.com to see what our angel is making his other living with, you'll see Tobermory and vicinity at it's finest. He does mail order.
And so, after we collected our wits, mopped up and got confident to put everything back, we then installed our brand new marine-composting toilet in the head, but I was too wigged-out to remember to take any more pictures of that day. You shuddah seen the bright green water on the other side of those planks!
The fellow that suggested a diver has invited us to dinner tomorrow night, and Chuck wants us to come dine with him and his family on Sunday, so I guess the cruise portion of this Blog has begun! Night One sees Jim sleeping on board, listening for what he won't hear...someone taking a shower.

With our launch date set back a few days, we decided to have Dolphin moved into a cover-all shed and do some serious painting. The weather has been a bit unstable, this made great sense. I enjoyed being out of the sun and wind and just concentrate on one thing; painting my boat! You can see the top photo has her bottom paint on, we did that with brushes  because rollers pull the primer off, plus we get better coverage with this very pricey product.

The next step was priming the topsides, I did that by rolling and tipping. Then the day I had been waiting for...I painted the topsides in a beautiful buttery yellow.

And by Golly! She's high off the hard!

 

And here's Chippy, chipping away at some plank repairs with some mahogany we'd been saving just for this day (I'm just glad to get it out of my bedroom!) You might think that making these repairs should have come first, but Jim has already done a Herculean amount of work. Today alone he installed bilge pump hoses, eyeballed the shaft for alignment, installed two batteries, pulled out the water tank so he could tighten the keel bolts, and visited with the Harbour Master to determine where we would tie off and what all the details were. This is after searching for and ordering a whole bunch of other parts for later installment. Oh yes, and make and install two more plank patches.

When people comment that wooden boats are a lot of work, I would have to agree, but they are also a lifestyle choice you must have time for.

Tomorrow we rip out the head and holding tank and install a marine version of a composting toilet in its place...happy day!

Work Week Three

Work week 3 has seen me doing more work than I ever have done before in my life. The big push before launch is on. We have had some great weather and got primer and bottom two coats of bottom paint on. One each of a different colour so I can see where I missed. One wee spot is all a toredo worm will want for a snack!

There is nothing like removing a boat's paint to reveal all her secrets, and Dolphin has her share. Fitting for a 60 year old boat, but so far so good. No whole planks need replacing, just some bits thrown in to make her sound. She'll no longer be a racer, however. Racing puts too much strain on her shrouds and stays, opens up the hull like  basket weave. She'll be a cruiser; a little bit slower and not being asked to work too hard to weather.

 When we discovered rot around the cockpit drain holes, Jim found some solid wood for the new holes and put a nice covering plate over the old ones to seal them up until we can make a more complete repair to the cockpit sole. The old fittings had 60 year old gate valves...we now use the beautiful bronze handles as decorative chart-weights.

And here's all I could see of Jim as he wrestled the old drain hoses out. Yep, he can cram himself into

 

... some pretty impressive places!

Jim has replaced just about every hose, wire and battery. After he changed all the injector hoses the engine started with only minor complaint...then we realized we had to turn the key and push a button heh, heh! We have sealed up some port leaks, companionway leaks and just plain old leaky leaks. I'll have to keep stuffing more leak-stoppy-stuff into the forward deck posts, or I'll never sleep when it rains!

 

So here's Super Jim, happy with the warm spell, glad to be out of that engine area.

And this is me, photo taken Monday, May 6 on the eve of our 7th wedding anniversary. We met because of another old woodie, Chelonidae. God help all poor wooden boat aficionados!

And below is a shot that reminds us of why we are getting up at dawn, getting covered in sanding dust, wearing masks to keep noxious fumes out of our blood streams, balancing on ladders to carry heavy items, swinging hammers, sanding again, painting, getting neck cramps from overhead work, getting sunburned one day and chilled the next, cheering (and I mean Cheering!) when launch day was pushed back by one day, then by three. Watching facebook posts from other friends who are already out there doing it. All this...for one rum punch!

Work Week Two



Well, certain things must be done, no matter how scary. The biggest question about any boat that comes with an engine is whether said engine will restart. Jim has pulled the injectors to see if the cylinders had water in them, and they were dry. Then he squirted in some transmission fluid and manually turned the engine over...hooray! The engine is free, not seized. Then we spun it over with the electric starter...hooray! All seems to be going OK. Onto the fuel system, maybe on a rainy, indoor kinda day.



 This next picture is of the cockpit sole (floor), complete with a real manhole cover. While checking out the launching area in Tobermory, we took a stroll on that waterfront and peeked in some other boats...manholes seem to be a thing here!

 

Driving the caulking is best done in wee chunks. A section one day, another the next. With all the rain and cold weather we've been having, it's good to have a variety of indoor-outdoor jobs. And besides, my arms will seize if I put in a full day of this hard work! So we caulk a few seams with the cotton, then pay them (fill them) with paying compound, and every wooden boat builder has their own secret stuff. We are using roof patch. It's the blackest, stickiest plasticized asphalt you could imagine. Roof patch goes in...water stays out. The topsides will get a different paying compound, more about that when we do it.