Up on the Mast

Was hanging 40 feet up in the air, drilling holes in the mast... a cluster of lines and tools in the bucket bouncing around. All for good cause- installing the mast steps so I can reach the mast head quickly. Some consider them a luxury, I think they are a necessity...

...especially because the halyards (which are used to raise/lower sails) have been jamming at times. So I fumbled with screws and sealant and electric drills while rushing against the sunset, which was both a sweet sight and a cause for concern, due to the impeding darkness. But the task got done in time for our maiden voyage out to the islands

Repair Chaos

Working hard to fix things before this weekend- hoping to leave Oxnard
(where the trimaran currently lives) and head to Santa Barbara (new
homeport). With a little stopover in the channel islands of course...
Always makes for a good "shakedown" opportunity :)

Cockpit is in total disarray with tools and fiberglass scattered about.

hasta luego Black Pearl

Well, it was time to say good-bye to the Cal 30, as the Voyage of Kiri is upgrading to the new trimaran. We sold it to a motivated sailor from the San Luis Obispo area who wants to sail to Hawaii and beyond. I was stoked on his story and felt great about selling him the Black Pearl.

Many fond memories aboard the Cal 30, anchored at UCSB campus point while doing graduate school, rowing in to class, walking out to the beach at 11pm so many nights (sometimes during high tide!)... sailing to the islands and camping...  dodging storms during winter time in East Beach...  staying with friends when the going go rough (thanks scotty!)... too many blissful mornings to count with dolpins and sea lions cruising about.  I loved being able to see the boat from both my office, the bathroom, and the stairwell as we went to class!

Some stories from the Black Pearl's days at campus point can be found here.

Many thanks to everyone.  Hasta luego Black Pearl...

 

6 First Steps to Digging Holes in the Boat

And here starts the work to bring the Trimaran to decent shape...  one can't purchase any boat, much less one that was discounted at 1/4 its original value (!), and not expect to labor tirelessly. Particularly on a 43 foot boat that is 23 feet wide.  Gulp--  I have to wonder if this is a bigger bite than I can chew.  But try not to think too much! Just march onwards.

Step One - stock up on tools!
Blessed Home Depot had a special discount on electric tools - jigsaw, grinder, circular saw, new drill. At least makes me feel like I'm making progress... even if all I'm doing is spending money (so far).

Step Two - search and destroy

Check out the rot on the edge by the white wall, darker circle area. It is soft and rotting because the fiberglass on the deck cracked and let water in. The boat is made of marine plywood with fiberglass. As long as the fiberglass is sound, the plywood should be fine. But when it's not, it's time for surgery.

Step Three - Let 'er rip
It helps to have friends that know carpentry - thanks Kitts!! - or else I'd feel pretty insecure about digging holes in the boat. Keep digging until you can't find more rotten wood. To an extent of course..

Step Four - Clean up the wound
Nice square smooth wound allows us to cut a piece of wood to fit in the hole and then fiberglass over that. Still, it's never exactly level and smooth, so I'm still a bit confused how to keep the piece in place..? Ahh!

Step Five - Sand it more! and more!
This is another spot from a collision when hitting the dock. Tarp is to keep the fiberglass from going in the water. Quite uncomfortable position to work from. But dug it out and discovered there was only styrofoam below the fiberglass, no wood! But trimaran advisor said, go back and sand more. Dang it.

Step Six - Obsess about boat wakes going by

This was damage from some other boat hitting the corner of the trimaran, which is out on an end tie dock. Boats going by fast set off a wake and get it wet. Finally I set up the tarp here too but it is impossible when the crack is just 3 inches above the waterline..!




Conclusion
Ran out of time. Of course takes longer than planned. So there's plastic over the wounds and will fix next Monday.  But:

• Gives me renewed confidence in the boat's wood condition - these were the funkiest spots and they were just superficial a few inches. 
• And... my sinuses are not stoked with inhaling lots of fiberglass dust even with the face mask. Got to get a better one! And ear plugs too, noisy power tools they are!
  

Trimaran for the trip

The Voyage of Kiri just got a major upgrade!!

We are replacing our humble 30 ft Cal with a spacious 43 ft Trimaran. With 3 hulls instead of 1, the trimaran is very stable and fast. It will be great for bringing people on board (including kids in port visits) and carrying gear. The Cal was a good boat, but limited in many regards. We are stoked!

The trimaran is in good shape overall. It does need a lot of cosmetic work and some mechanical work - which is why we were able to afford it in the first place... ;)  Will require lots of "elbow grease"!  It's bigger and more costly, but it will open up a lot of doors for exploration and research for Kiri in the future.

We motored during the sea trial and tri flew at 9 knots under power. Speed under sail is still to be discovered! Currently she's in Oxnard, we hope to get repairs done in the next 2-3 weeks to bring it back to Santa Barbara. Gulp. Time to roll up the sleeves (and bring out the credit card). More on that soon...

Specs:

• 43ft LOA (length overall)
  
• 21ft beam (wide)
  
• 4ft draft (depth)
  
• Spruce mast and boom
• Fiberglass/Wood construction
• 56 HP diesel engine
• 3 double bunks and 2 heads (toilets)
  
• Radar, autopilot, depth sounder.
• Tons of storage space

Hurricane Jimena

Glad not to be sailing in southern Baja right now.  Currently a category 3, "Jimena" should make landfall in the next 12 hours on the Pacific coast of the Baja peninsula.  It may be the largest hurricane on record to hit Baja California Sur (the last big hurricane was in 1976) according to Bloomberg. Hurricane Katrina was also a category 3 when it made landfall in New Orleans. The brunt of the storm is expected to narrowly miss Cabo San Lucas but will probably make landfall further up the peninsula, in areas with vulnerable communities such as Bahia Magdalena, that Voyage of Kiri plans to visit.

5-15 inches of rain should bring mudslides and flooding, and winds are currently around 200 km/hour or 125 miles/hour. The images are from Wunderground, and show the likely track of the hurricane, the sea surface temperatures (red colors) driving the beast, the huge size of the storm on the satellite image, and a historical chart of September hurricanes in Baja.  Only two made landfall, one in southern California; so this is not a common occurrence. Fingers crossed everyone stays safe!