Anne Lovett Designs is official!

Quick shout out to Anne who aquired her business license yesterday!

Her next step is to register a business name with the state of Florida.  Currently her work can be viewed and purchased from her blog - Cestlabead.blogspot.com .  For those unfamiliar with her work, she created both the necklace and the earrings in the image above.  

80 grit, 120 grit, 220 grit... gett'n gritty with it.

60 minutes with a circular and a jig saw was the prelude to a couple of hours of sanding on the gallows going from 80 grit, to 120 grit, to 220 grit per the instructions on the Bristol Finish.  The image below is from my preferred sanding work area the back porch of the lodge (and, yes we are in the process of repairing the riding mower or have we installed a rocket and the Husky is prepped for launch?)

I have previously used Bristol Finish on C'est la Vies bright work and am pleased with the longevity of the finish and the ability to apply multiple coats, wet on wet.  By applying the two part finish wet on wet four coats can be applied in a single day without sanding between coats.

Below is an image of the completed gallows cross piece.

 With the gallows ready for finishing, I turned my attention to the joinery work necessary to complete the air tight box for storing the generator below decks.  Complete the fabrication of the wooded trim and lid will allow me to apply Bristol Finish to the wood on both projects at the same time.

 In the foreground of the image above  the lid is dry clamped together to test the fit.  In the background is the box.  I have applied blue painters tape to the lower section in preparation for  attaching the base trim with epoxy.  I don't want to nail or screw the trim onto my airtight box...

the birth of a new project...

One of the objectives of creating the boom gallows was to provide a secure attachment point for a cockpit bimini.  With the gallows nearing completion, we need to begin ordering materials for the bimini.  No problem... I'll just go out and grab a couple measurements...

five hours later we had created a plywood template that contained two different designs and an outline of the gallows.  We took the sheet of plywood out to boat to test the "fit"...

By days end we did create a parts list and order the hardware, but we continue to experiment with the shape of the aft support arch.  The arch will be a single section of 7/8 OD stainless steel tubing braced via a single, horizontal strut to the gallows.

We need to create is a template to take to Paradise Welding so that they can transform a 12' section of tubing into a series of curves that will 1) fit with the aesthetics of the vessel 2) not impede the mainsheet or other rigging 3)create frame for the bimini that will keep the sun off our bodies and the rain out of the cockpit.

And so begins the bimini project.

testing, 1-2-3, testing

I started off the day by shopping on-line for some ear plugs to use while snorkeling. Snorkeling daily during the summer of 2008 proved problematic for my left ear which became impossible to clear by popping and constantly felt congested. Google lead me to some articles on the DAN site which lead me to Doc's Proplugs.  I will report out on the plugs effectiveness later.

Once the bugs had retreated from the rising sun, I applied a 3rd and final top coat of paint to the generator box.  The next step is to began manufacturing the lid and trim from 1/2" mahogany plywood.

Mid morning found Anne and I installing the wooden crosspiece for the new gallows. The crosspiece is in the rough cut stage and before moving forward on sanding and finishing I wished to test the shape and dimensions while sailing. 

The image above was taken motoring out Indian Key Pass.  The boom is resting solidly on the gallows.  Also of note is our new tiller extension.  Anne has suggested installing a tiller extension for years and after one short day sail with the Spinlock extension and I am wondering why we waited so long.

Due to light winds on our stern we motored out to the Gulf.  The trip out to the Gulf also afforded us the opportunity to test the engine cooling system.  The previous afternoon with the Kubuta seems to have resolved our cooling troubles.

Approximately 1NM offshore of Indian Key and in 11 feet of water, yes it is the west coast of FL, we shut off the motor an let C'est la Vie drift while we scrubbed the hull and took in a lunch.  By early afternoon a fresh east wind was building.  Perfect time to test the gallows by tacking back into shore.

The gallows worked well in all points of sail, but the clearance between the boom and the gallows while sailing close hauled was a scant 1.5 inches.  Manually forcing the aft end of the boom outboard or downward  would bring it into contact with the wooden crosspiece.  I fear that in heavy seas the boom may begin to strike the gallows.  Fortunately we can trim 1 inch off the top of the crosspiece without loosing any structural integrity.  The loss of the material will result in more shallow notches for the boom's resting positions, but I'm willing to give up some depth on the notches to gain an additional inch of clearance between the gallows and the boom.

back to the woodshop...

An afternoon with the kabuta...

After spending the morning creating and posting photo albums.  I did tick one important item off the to do list...
A couple weeks ago when we moved C'est la Vie from Sunset Island the mainland I noticed the engine  temperature elevated quickly. So today I went through the cooling system...
1) Raw water strainer - flushed - I did find the usual sea weed, leaves, etc.
2) Impeller - replaced
3) Heat exchanger - it has been years since I last removed a massive amount of gunk, impeller bits, zinc, etc from these tiny tubes.  This time around it was much cleaner, but I did remove some sizeable chunks of  zinc bits.
4)Coolant - added  approx. 1/2 pint of water to the coolant.

No smoking guns, but I'm willing to bet that the combination of stuff in the raw water strainer, zinc bits in the heat exchanger, and the need to add some water to the coolant will bring the engine temps back to normal.  We plan to  take C'est la Vie out to the Gulf tomorrow to test the coolant system, test the boom gallows cross piece, and clean the hull. 

The evening was pleasant and I utilized the waning light to install our new grill on the stern rail.  Here is an image of C'est la Vie bathed in this evening's setting sun.

Addition of Photo Albums to our blog

Spent too much time this morning creating photo albums.  It all started when I went back to look for images of what types of fuel containers we carried on deck when we traveled to the Bahamas in 2008.  Well I found the image and was inspired to add some of these pictures to our new blog.  Four hours, many albums, and numerous links later there is now access to some of our C'est la Vie photos via the links on the right side of this page.

This process definitely took away from my project time this morning, but it has inspired me to push on through the remaining projects so that we can start our summer travels.

I wonder if owning a boat is as much about the projects as the travels...

Enjoy the images.

progress on many fronts (a.k.a our first day back to FL)

With many miles now in the mirror and our rental car returned to the Hertz stable, we spent our first full day back in FL making progress on many fronts.

 The day started with a third coat of primer on the generator box and concluded with the application of the first coat of topcoat.  I am using Interlux Brightside Matterhorn White for the box.  C'est la Vie's hull is Matterhorn White by Awlgrip.  Using the Brighside for this project provides the opportunity to test the paint's application & qualities as the clock ticks toward the day when we need to repaint C'est la Vie's topsides.

While the morning coat of primer dried Anne and I drove to Marco, yes more driving, to meet with Bronwen, a local sailmaker.  We picked up or jib on which she had replaced the clew - see image below...

 We were pleased with the quality of the work so we dropped off our genny so that she can replace the aging clew on that sail as well.  While at the sail loft, we discussed options for creating a bimini now that the boom gallows project is nearing completion.  One of the purposes for adding the boom gallows was to provide a stable structure to which we can attach a bimini (A bimini is simply a structure, ususally made from canvas, that provides sun and rain protection for people in the boats cockpit area.)

Returning to Sunset Island in the afternoon, Anne went to work mowing the yard while I began shaping the wooded cross piece for the boom gallows.  I completed the rough cutting and began sanding prior to the onset of bug hour - see image below...

The next step will be to mount the gallows on C'est la Vie to ensure the fit and aesthetics of this piece.  We also need to locate the position for the port and starboard notches for the boom.

MV Sunshine - road trip

Anne and I are on the road visiting family.  During our trip, Anne drove north to visit her family in Cleveland while I assisted Bud with hull repairs on MV Sunshine. 

Bud is nearing the conclusion of a 6+ month project to remedy a bad case of omsmotic blistering below the waterline.  All the brown spots in the image above were blisters that were ground out, filled with new resin, and faired in.   During my time at the boat we planned to apply barrier coat to the hull.

We did make some progress, but as expected boat repairs never go according to plan.  On day one we made good progress on the barrier coat, but then weather forced us to turn our attention to other projects. By our final day at the boat we returned our efforts to filling & fairing the hull.  Hopefully with a few more days of work Sunshine will be ready for a new coat of bottom paint.