First Time Anchoring

Yesterday we took Spray over to Frenchy's Cove at Anacapa Island to practice anchoring.  Shari, a childhood friend of LeeAnne's, was visiting from out of town and we figured that this would be a nice way to spend the day catching up. On the way over, about 1/4 mile past oil platform Gina, we spotted a couple of very large Mola Mola fish.  These are very unusual looking fish and it was a real treat to see them sun bathing at the surface.

Since we got a late start, we powered all the way over to Frenchy's Cove.  Although there was only one other boat anchored, there was a lot of activity at Frenchy's since it was being used a a turning mark for a sailboat race.  We dropped our anchor in 21' of water and laid out 100' of chain and 20' of rope.  The anchor set and held nicely.  We watched the racers turn the mark while we ate lunch and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.  So far so good.

Our luck took a turn for the worse when we got ready to leave.  First of all, the engine wouldn't start!  We couldn't get any juice through the ignition switch and starter.  Charlie tried to diagnose the problem but couldn't find the root cause of the short.  There was good wind, so we decided to raise the sail, raise the anchor, and sail back to Channel Islands Harbor.  While using the windlass to raise the anchor, the chain kept binding as it fell into the anchor locker below the gypsy.  Charlie had LeeAnne pull the anchor rode into the anchor locker while he worked the windlass.  It was a real hassle and we need to figure out a better way to organize the rode in the lockers below the windlass!

As Charlie stowed the anchor, LeeAnne turned Spray around under the power of the main sail, and headed home. We unfurled the Genoa and had a great sail back at 6.5-7.5 knots.  As we approached Channel Islands Harbor, we were faced with a few options.  We could request a tow back to our slip from Vessel Assist, attempt to sail back into our slip, or sail back to our marina at an end tie.  It had been over 20 years since Charlie sailed a 36' sailboat into a slip without power, and he was a bit nervous about doing it.  Consequently, we decided to use the end tie on D dock.  We furled the Genoa as we approached the marina.  As we neared the dock, Charlie lowered the Main while LeeAnne steered her to the end tie.  Fortunately, our buddies from D dock were present and lended a hand for a nice smooth landing!  Even better, they had a pot of hot beef stew and refreshing drinks waiting for us.  What a great community!

After relaxing a bit, Charlie and Tom attempted to diagnose the problem with the ignition.  They determined that the switch was not getting power.  They then pulled the floor boards to trace the wires back to the battery and engine.  Charlie found a circuit breaker next to the starter solenoid, pressed the re-set button, and restored power to the ignition switch with ran the alarm and fans.  The engine started right up and we moved Spray back to her slip.  Although we now know how to re-set the circuit breaker, we still need to figure out what caused it to short.

All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful day.  We saw some large Mola Mola, practiced anchoring, watched a local race up close at beautiful Frenchy's Cove, exercised our sailing skills to sail back without axillary power, learned more about the engine electronics, and got to spend some quality time with our friends.

Replaced Portlights

This past Memorial Day weekend we were planning to make our first trip to Santa Cruz Island.  Unfortunately, the weather was bad and LeeAnne was recovering from a nasty cold.  Charlie decided to take the opportunity to complete Spray's portlight replacement project.  The six original plastic opening portlights had opaque lenses, cracked frames, broken screens, mismatched hardware, leaked, and had some frozen knobs.  We decided to replace them with six new stainless steel 4x14" opening port lights from New Found Metals complete with varnished teak trim rings and stainless steel bug screens.  Charlie replace the three on the port side a couple of months ago and finished the starboard side this weekend.  They took a lot more time and effort to install than we imagined (~5 hours each), but were well worth it!  The port lights open and close easily and can be left cracked open for ventilation.  The teak trim rings were varnished and coated with AwlBrite... so they look great and should hold up well.

 Original plastic portlights.








Of course, the hardest part of the job was working on the boat while the rest of D dock was partying.  The musicians were sounding particularly awesome this weekend.  I especially enjoyed the beach beat rendition of Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane" led by the birthday girl Donna..  I was blown away!

We also had Mike from Boatyard Electric replace the underpowered Guest 5/5 amp battery charger with a new Xantrex 40 amp TrueCharge2 charger and separate circuit breakers for overcurrent protection.  Mike did a great job with the installation and the new charger will do a better job of maintaining our house and starter batteries..

30th Annual Hardway Race: 14-16 May 2010

This was a big weekend for us!  It was our first multi-day trip and long distance race aboard Spray.  On Friday morning, we left our Channel Islands slip at 6:00 AM, emptied the holding tank, and headed up the coast to Santa Barbara.  The seas were calm and there was no wind so we powered the entire way at about 290 degrees according to our compass.  Along the way we saw some large schools of dolphins feeding and playing.  We also had a small green finch like bird fly along with Spray for over 30 minutes.  Spray's virtually new diesel auxiliary engine moved us nicely at about 6.2 knots while turning 2,400 RPM.  Charlie spent the entire time at the helm (since Spray's 30 year old Sharp autopilot is broken) while LeeAnne and Dean slept.  We arrived in Santa Barbara harbor at about 11:45.

Once in Santa Barbara, we got our slip assignment from the Harbor master and moved Spay to the big boat berth behind S dock.  We were the first of the Hardway racers to arrive so we had plenty of room.  Our friend Tom arrived shortly after us and we helped him dock his boat on the end tie.  We then met up with Tom's wife Kelly and headed to the marina for lunch at Brophy Bros Seafood restaurant overlooking the harbor and bay.

The next morning we got up early for breakfast at Minnows(?) and then visited the boaters swap meet. Charlie picked up a pair of nice Schaefer twin sheet Genoa blocks and a few stainless steel rub strakes.  After all, you can never have too many spare boat parts!  At 9:30 we attended the skipper's meeting for the Hardway race.  The race committee split the non-spinnaker class into two groups.  The A group had PHRF ratings <151 and the B group had ratings >=151.  With a rating of 180, Spray was in the B group with three other boats, two of which had the same 180 rating!  The wind was picking up and it looked like it would be a great day for sailing.

The race for our class started at 11:22 PM.  Although we were the last boat to cross the starting line, our start was not too bad.  We made two tacks to round the winward mark to part and had a straight course to our next mark, oil drilling platform C.  We actually gained ground on two of the other boats during this leg and were very close to the boat Superstition as we rounded the oil platform to port.  The other three boats flew directly down wind following the rhumbline to Ventura with twin head sails and whisker poles.  With our inexperienced crew and lack of racing grear, we did a series of jibes and broad reaches.  We lost ground on this leg due to the extra distance covered.  We crossed the finish line at 4:43 PM which placed us in last palce.  Overall it was a great race.  We couldn't have asked for better weather, we didn't make any major mistakes, we increased our experience with sail trim, and did a better job of judging when to tack in order to make our marks.

Specifications

BUILDER: Islander Yachts – Irvine, CA

MODEL OF VESSEL: Freeport 36

YEAR BUILT: 1980

NAME OF VESSEL: SPRAY

HAILING PORT: Channel Islands, CA

HULL ID NUMBER: XLY36112D580-F

USCG DOCUMENT #: 940266

USCG GROSS TON/NET TON: 11/10

CONSTRUCTION

HULL CONSTRUCTION: FRP

DECK CONSTRUCTION: FRP/CORE

CABIN CONSTRUCTION: FRP/CORE

RUDDER CONSTRUCTION: FRP/CORE

HULL TYPE: Fin Keel – Skeg Attached Rudder

SPECIFICATIONS

LENGTH OVERALL (LOA): 35' 09"

LENGTH WATERLINE (LWL): 27' 06"

BEAM: 12' 00"

DRAFT: 05' 03"

DISPLACEMENT: 17,000-lbs. +/- Reported

BALLAST WEIGHT: 06,300-lbs. +/- Reported

BALLAST MATERIAL: Steel

KEEL TYPE: Elongated Fin

RUDDER TYPE: Skeg Attached

ENGINE

MANUFACTURER: Westerbeke

MODEL: 44B

FUEL: Diesel

CYLINDERS: 4

YEAR: 2007

HOURS ON METER: 58 +/-

HORSEPOWER: 44 +/-

TRANSMISSION: Hurth

VENTILATION: Active/Forced, Intake & Exhaust

COOLING: Fresh Water with Heat Exchanger

SERIAL #: 122434-E206

RUNNING GEAR

PROPELLER SHAFT: 1-1/4" Stainless Steel Alloy

PROPELLER: 2-Blade Bronze – 18X9 RH

CUTLASS BEARING: Conventional in Shaft Log

PROPELLER SEAL: Flexible Stuffing Box

FUEL TANK

FUEL TYPE: Diesel

NUMBER OF FUEL TANKS: 1

MATERIAL: Aluminum

CAPACITY: 55 Gallons +/-

WATER TANKS

NUMBER OF WATER TANKS: 2

MATERIAL: Steel

CAPACITY: 125 Gallons +/-

HOLDING TANKS

NUMBER OF HOLDING TANKS: 1

MATERIAL: Poly

CAPACITY: 20 Gallons +/-

DISCHARGE: Deck/Direct

HOT WATER SYSTEM

NO. OF WATER HEATER/TANKS: 1

CAPACITY: 6 Gallons

NOTE: SPECIFICATIONS, TANKS, AND CAPACITIES ARE ESTIMATES ONLY.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

AC POWER

VOLTAGE: 120

SERVICE AMPS: 30-Amp

GROUNDED: Shore

OVER CURRENT PROTECTION

MAIN BREAKER: Yes

SUBSIDIARY BREAKER: Yes

BATTERY CHARGER: Xantrex TrueCharge2 40 Amp (May 2010)

DC POWER

BATTERIES

SIZE/TYPE: (1) 8-D House and (1) Group 27 Starter

NUMBER OF BANKS: 2

SECURED: Yes

TERMINAL PROTECTION: Yes

DC VOLTAGE: 12-Volt

GROUNDED: Yes

OVER CURRENT PROTECTION: Breakers

BONDING SYSTEM

ZINC ANODES: Engine/Propeller Shaft/Prop

RIGGING

RIGGED: Sloop

MAST MATERIAL: Painted Aluminum

BOOM MATERIAL: Painted Aluminum

SPREADER MATERIAL: Painted Aluminum

CHAIN PLATES: Stainless Steel Alloy

STANDING RIGGING

TYPE: Stainless Steel Alloy 1X19 Wire

TERMINAL FITTINGS: Swage Type

RUNNING RIGGING: Rope & Rope to Wire Splice

WINCHES

PRIMARY: (2) Barient #27 Self-Tailing

SECONDARY:

HOUSE: (1) Lewmar 40 Self-Tailing

MAST: (1) Barient #22, (1) Barient #21

BOOM: (1) Barient 10

SAILS

MAINSAIL: Full Battened, Two Reef Points (April 2010)

HEADSAILS: 140% Genoa, Tri-Radial (April 2010)

ROLLER FURLING GEAR: Harken MKIV, Unit 2, (April 2010)

Interior Upgrades - March 2010

LeeAnne took charge of the interior upgrades while Charlie focused on the hull, engine bay, rigging, sails, portlights, and other mundane systems. LeeAnne picked out some carpet colors and curtain patterns that pulled together the colors from the teak wood, vinyl headliner, and settee / berth cushions. We had Gilberto, the local marine upholstery guy, make the new curtains and carpets. Spray's interior has a much warmer and homier feel now.

New Portlights - April 2010

This was by far the most challenging and rewarding upgrade so far! Spray had the six original 30 year old brown plastic opening portlights. These portlights had cracked frames that leaked, were missing some of the tightening knobs, mismatched hardware, and the windows were less than clear. After considerable research on upgrade alternatives, we ordered a set of six new 4x14" polished stainless steel portlights and teak wood trim rings from New Found Metals in Washington.

I got some very detailed installation instructions from the FOGgers web site and figured that I could install all six portlights in a weekend. Boy was I wrong about how much time it would take! The first portlight took me an entire weekend. I don't have much experience with power tools and cringe at the thought of cutting and drilling holes in my boat. Consequently, I had a long learning curve dealing with the laminate trimmer with bearing guided flush cut router bit, jig saw, mutli-purpose tool, counter sink bit, etc. And of course, everyone on our very active dock had conflicting advice on the best way to do the installation. I made a few mistakes and learned in the process. Thanks to some help from Michael, the master traditional sailboat guru, I was able to repair some of my mistakes and previous damage from the factory! Also, with Dave's assistance, we were able to complete the second two portlights in one day! The end result was beautiful and well worth the effort. Now I just need to get the courage to tackle the three on the starboard side ;-(

Note that we had the worn down wood "eyebrows" above the windows and portlights removed and replaced with blue stripes. Although we liked the warm look of the teak eyebrows, they were too worn down to refinish and we thought the blue stripes would provide a cleaner look and reduce the brightwork maintenance.

New Sails!!!

Spray's new sails were delivered and installed by Gary from Ullman Sails in April, 2010. We got a new fully battened, 8 oz. Dacron cross-cut main with two reef points and loose foot. We also got a new 140% Tri-Radial Genoa with foam pads in the luff for reefing. Both sails have the requisite tell-tails, draft stripes, US sail numbers and leech lines. The new sails fit like gloves. This is the first time we've ever had a boat with new sails and it was exciting to watch them fill and power Spray! Check out the official US sail number: 56789 That must be a very lucky number!