Author Archives: brian

Discovery Phase

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Since removing the engine I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning. The days are getting shorter and colder so I figured this part of the project should be completed while the temperature is still in the 60s.

I spent a few days trying (unsuccessfully) to remove the propeller. After breaking my gear puller, I cut it off with a sawzall.  10-22-13_001

I never really completely understood how my stern tube was set up. I have repacked the stuffing box but the rest of it was covered in resin and grease. What a mess! The “tube” consists of a bronze aperture on the stern (with cutless bearing). That has a hose attached to it with the stuffing box clamped to the hose. The problem is they just glassed the hose into the boat. AAaaaahhhhhH !!!! This is completely wrong. The hose was in bad shape from having oil and fuel soak into it for 20+ years. This is a good way to sink a boat. I cut it all out.10-22-13_002 10-22-13_003 10-22-13_004

The cleaning is done. So are the leaves on the trees.10-22-13_006

The Engine

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As I alluded to in my earlier post, I’ve been having some issues with our 27 year old Universal engine. Every year I spend a considerable amount of time and boat dollars trying to get it to run properly. I’ve learned a lot about diesel engines in the process. Last year, while replacing the exhaust, I broke the manifold. Unfortunately the manufacturer no longer carries the part. This got me thinking about what other parts will I not be able to obtain in the future?10-3-13_001

We had the broken manifold brazed by a welder in New Bedford. Then re-machined so the exhaust would fit back on. Unfortunately, it was also cracked internally and had antifreeze leaking into the exhaust portion of it. This I repaired with JB Weld and some other exhust goop. It held for the summer but I’ve been told by several mechanics that eventually I’ll have a problem again. We plan on taking Catalpa down the ICW someday so we made the decision to repower. The decision was not made lightly as a new engine is very expensive and our Universal starts every time I turn the key.

We went to the Newport boat show and bought a Beta 14 engine. They are made in England and are manufactured from a Kabota block.

From October 1-3 I spent my time disconecting the old engine and getting it prepared to be pulled out through the hatch with a crane.10-3-13_007

I used the main sheet block and tackle along with the boom vang to haul it out of its hole.

I constructed a wood platform to put the engine on in the cabin saloon.

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A very helpful tool in this process was a basketball. The weight of the engine obviously made it very difficult to move. I deflated the basketball, put it under the engine, and re inflated it. This lifted the engine up enough (off of the beds) to pull it forward.10-3-13_022

It worked great. I was surprised by how smoothly the whole process went. Nothing damaged and only a few bruises.10-3-13_021 10-3-13_023

Update

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I haven’t been updating this log because of all of the lost data I had. I went back into the old posts and restored most of the pictures. The Photo Album pages have been restored. Eventually I’ll get my old catboat site up too.

2013 Recap- We managed to get the boat in a bit late due to a cracked exhaust manifold. Last winter I replaced the exhaust and broke the manifold trying to get it apart. Big Problem! We had it welded and re-machined but still problems. I even glued it. I nursed the engine through the summer. Despite the engine issue we had a great time. I’ve uploaded a bunch of pictures from this year. Mostly Vineyard Haven, Tarpaulin Cove, and Lake Tashmoo. This was our first year for T Cove and Tashmoo. Both were great spots that I intend to frequent in the future.

Catalpa is hauled with big plans for the winter.

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Hacked

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My old sailing site was hacked. The company that hosted it, for the past 5+ years, wouldn’t really help me much so I decided to migrate over to new servers. Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out how to import all of the pictures so this might take a while to complete. I am getting Catalpa ready for the season and have installed some new gear. Launch date is June 10th.

Back at Home Base

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Sailed from Cuttyhunk back to Padanaram Harbor today. Sunny with light winds. We motored about 50% of the day which has seemed to be about the average for the whole trip.

I’ll fill in some of the blanks later. We had no WiFi after Provincetown and I didn’t keep up with my electronic log but we have our log book and lots of photos.

P-Town

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Saturday August 25th

Still hanging around P-Town. Friday night was verry busy. We’ve been going into town mostly in the morning before the crowds pile in.

Very, very dog friendly place. Lots of Dogs playing on the beach. Skip is allowed in all of the stores and is often greeted with a bisket and bowl of water. Went shopping this morning and didn’t bother feeding him as we new there were lots of biskets to be had. Eventually we even made it toi a gourmet dog bisket store and he had some home made treats.

Leaving tommorow morning for Onset (South). May head back through Woods Hole to Martha’s Vinyard again after Onset. We haven’t decided yet.

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Provincetown

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Wednesday August 22

Onset to Provincetown

Left Onset around 8:00 am. Shot through the Cape Cod canal like we were on a freeway. Made around 9 knots with the current. This is almost 2x faster than we are usually traveling!

Big moment. We’ve made it to Cape Cod Bay. So far all of our sailing has been in Buzzards Bay and Vinyard Sound.

Light winds in Cape Cod bay. Spent 2 or 3 hours sailing upwind but made a lot of leeway. It’s about 20 miles. Since we didn’t want to get to P Town too late we fired up the engine. Motored for around 2 hours and got to port. Ran well. Zero wind by the end of the day with a flat sea. Province town seemed like a different continent when it came out of the haze. Had Chicken Korma for dinner.

Staying here for a few days. May begin to travel south again Sunday.

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Onset

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Tuesday August 21

Sailed from Padanaram Harbor to Onset. Big day for us as we’ve never traveled down that side of the bay. Nice sailing. Wind was behind us so we poled out the jib and tied out the main, wing on wing. Made it as far as the entrance to Hog Island channel, which is the entrance to the Cape Cod canal. The harbor patrol came out to inform us that we needed to turn on our motor. He also advised us to drop sail if we were going to stay in the channel. We followed advise. This part of the trip was a bit stressful. We were going into Onset due to the canal current was running against us. Plan being to leave tommorow morning with a fair current. Getting into Onset with an opposing current was tough. Barely made 1.5 knots going in.

Got into Onset tired. Went to Mark Anthoney’s for dinner. I had pizza. Lynne had a lobster roll. Great place. Nice town. Going back.

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Padanaram Harbor (Home)

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My outboard motor is running but my lawn tractor just broke! I gotta get back on the water.

Loaded up Catalpa. If the weather is favorable we are going to sail over to Onset tomorrow. I think we’re going to sleep on the boat tonight if I can tie up a few loose ends around here.

Vinyard Haven – Padanaram Harbor

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The boatyard got a new carburetor for our outboard engine so we decided to sail back home to pick it up.

Motored all the way down Vineyard Sound due to light headwind. As soon as we reached Quick’s Hole the South West breeze picked up. Shut down the motor and raised all sail. Headed due North. Finally some nice sailing! 1 minute after raising the main I decided it needed a reef. Managed to blowout  one of the reefing blocks but had a great sail home.

Going to stay here for a couple of days. Need to do laundry, re-provision, and get more ice. It’s raining so we’ll wait until things clear up. We’ll probably head back out on Monday.

Also- I just added about 100 photos to the 2012 gallery section.