It is too cold at home to really get going on the new season’s boat modifications. Every year I make a list of the things to do before the spring/summer launch. Here in Eastern Canada the cold season, while not as intense, is much longer lasting than in the US. Aside from cold feet and scraping snow off, the big problem is the curing of epoxy. I always get the “fast” hardener, but that simply means at 50F or 60F it takes 4 hours instead of two days to set (as best I can tell, even at temperatures around 40F, it eventually sets, but that slows work down. Using heat lamps or fitting the 26′ long x 15′ wide x 12′ high trimaran into a shelter is difficult and, in any case the extra labor is easily avoided by simply waiting for warmer weather.
So you don’t think I have been ignoring the boat, here is my to do list for 2012 before launch:
- Patch the outer hulls. The new trailer cross-piece was made about 3″ too narrow and the side-retaining pieces crushed the plywood/fiberglass on each side. Since I’m at it, I will add a drain plug to each (safely above the bottom ridge to avoid damage when grounding).
- Install a chart-plotter and a replacement “fish-finder”. I just reworked the instrument panel last year, but shifting from a (glued in handheld) GPS to a chart-plotter was something worthwhile for the $450CAD involved. The $200CAD spent for a new fish-finder (always cheaper than a depth sounder) gets me a knot-meter as well. The original knot-meter paddle-wheel was fine but before I got the boat the water had gotten up the cable and converted it to a mushy rust).
- Paint the topsides. Since I cannot get a tarp to stay in the winds we have, I chose to just repaint and let the weather do its worst. Here we have ‘Fisherman’s Boat and Dory Paint’ which costs about $25CAD per gallon and is an alkyd enamel that holds up very well. Of course it takes about 3 days to dry in cold weather instead of the 2 hours in hot sun, so there is another argument for waiting.
- Paint the undersides with copper-based inhibiting paint–an annual job but made less expensive by the deals on such paint due to the fishermans’ demands.
- Convert the back-stay to two cables. Right now it is a ‘Y’ to give room for the tiller to move, but going with the ‘belt and suspenders’ philosophy, I want to bring two cables all the way down from the masthead so the failure of one would not allow the mast to go over forward. That will complete the backups all abound since the sides have both inner and outer stays and the bow has two stays for raising two jibs without having to hank them on.
- Replace the lifelines on the sides. Despite warnings I used vinyl-covered clothesline and one has failed after about 8 years. At least I can see the rust through the vinyl.
- Finally, when the boat is off the trailer, take it back to my welder to have it modified to fit the width of the outer hulls and add longer side posts so it is easier to guide the boat on when the trailer is submerged.
I have a gnawing feeling that there will be other things, but those are the major ones so far. If you have been paying close attention you have noticed that most of them are best done on a nice warm day when there is the distant drone of lawnmowers and there are puffy clouds scudding across a blue sky!