Livin' in a Boatyard Blues
The Victory on the hard
It's been a while since I last updated you. That's because there hasn't been that much exciting stuff going on. Just disaster.
Wednesday, November 14th 2012 – San Diego
I last updated you a couple of days before we were to leave for Mexico. Ron, Bob and Lilly flew in on the 30th, we provisioned the boat on the 31st and set sail on November 1st.
We didn’t get very far. As we were leaving Chula Vista Marina, we had to work our way through a narrow channel with several dog-legs. We left on a low tide and the water on each side of the channel was only about two feet deep. I was busy paying attention to the conversation in the cockpit and not to what I was doing. I spied the next channel marker and turned to starboard to steer to it.
The sonar suddenly showed the bottom took a steep incline up. I put the automatic pilot on standby and reversed our engine. But not in time. We ran up on the mud. I put the engine in reverse and gave it full power to try to get us off. No luck. Then there was a large clunking sound and the sound of gravel being ground out of big rocks.
We lost our propulsion. The boat would go in neither forward nor reverse. I called Vessel Assist (They’re kinda like AAA for boats.) to tow us off the mud and to a marina where we could assess the damage. While we were waiting for the tow boat, the rising tide floated us off the mud.
Now we had the problem that we were floating free in the channel. If we didn’t do something, the current would carry us back onto the beach. The solution, drop the anchor.
The tow boat got there and put a line on us. He started to tow us up the bay to the Harbor Police dock. Then Dawn noticed a strange noise. She opened the floorboards to see a cascade of sea water coming in through the prop shaft.
I hailed the tow boat and told them that we needed to be pulled out of the water, so he took us to Shelter Island Boat Yard. The boat yard put a big pump on board us to keep the boat from sinking in the night and left us tied to their dock.
In the morning, they hauled the Victory out. Water poured from around her prop shaft.
Our next problem was to remove the holding tank above the prop shaft that obscured the stuffing box so we could see what happened. That was a dirty job. We pumped the sewage out of the tank, but there is always a couple of gallons left in the bottom of the tank.
Wednesday, November 14th 2012 – San Diego
I last updated you a couple of days before we were to leave for Mexico. Ron, Bob and Lilly flew in on the 30th, we provisioned the boat on the 31st and set sail on November 1st.
We didn’t get very far. As we were leaving Chula Vista Marina, we had to work our way through a narrow channel with several dog-legs. We left on a low tide and the water on each side of the channel was only about two feet deep. I was busy paying attention to the conversation in the cockpit and not to what I was doing. I spied the next channel marker and turned to starboard to steer to it.
The sonar suddenly showed the bottom took a steep incline up. I put the automatic pilot on standby and reversed our engine. But not in time. We ran up on the mud. I put the engine in reverse and gave it full power to try to get us off. No luck. Then there was a large clunking sound and the sound of gravel being ground out of big rocks.
We lost our propulsion. The boat would go in neither forward nor reverse. I called Vessel Assist (They’re kinda like AAA for boats.) to tow us off the mud and to a marina where we could assess the damage. While we were waiting for the tow boat, the rising tide floated us off the mud.
Now we had the problem that we were floating free in the channel. If we didn’t do something, the current would carry us back onto the beach. The solution, drop the anchor.
The tow boat got there and put a line on us. He started to tow us up the bay to the Harbor Police dock. Then Dawn noticed a strange noise. She opened the floorboards to see a cascade of sea water coming in through the prop shaft.
I hailed the tow boat and told them that we needed to be pulled out of the water, so he took us to Shelter Island Boat Yard. The boat yard put a big pump on board us to keep the boat from sinking in the night and left us tied to their dock.
In the morning, they hauled the Victory out. Water poured from around her prop shaft.
Our next problem was to remove the holding tank above the prop shaft that obscured the stuffing box so we could see what happened. That was a dirty job. We pumped the sewage out of the tank, but there is always a couple of gallons left in the bottom of the tank.
Painting the boot stripe
After we got the stinky tank out, we could see the damage. The coupling fittings on the prop shaft had failed. The prop shaft spun around unsupported and broke out a big piece of concrete, hence the leak.
It took me most of Friday to find someone knowledgeable in ferro-cement to do the repairs. Omar turned out to be a delightful fellow. He and his son, Gabriel, spend many hours cleaning and fixing the concrete. They had to dry it out 24 hours before they could work on it. Then we had to vacate the boat because the fumes from the resin were so toxic.
We moved over to the Kona Kai motel for the night. We slept in a real bed, took long luxurious showers and took a dip in their pool and hot tub. We had breakfast at the motel and reported to the boat the next morning.
Then the mechanics came to fix the coupling. Now it was time to put the boat in the water. We had been living in the boat yard five days.
As soon as the boat hit the water, she started to leak. We had her hauled again and investigated the problem. The mechanics said it was Omar’s fault. Omar said it was the mechanic’s fault. I said bull shit.
I didn’t care whose fault it was, I just wanted it fixed. The mechanics washed their hands of the problem, saying that they don’t know anything about cement boats. I took over.
I pulled the prop shaft and we could see that the shaft log (the tube through which the propeller shaft goes) was broken up. When the boat was built, they saved a few dollars by using PVC pipe for the job.
The boat builder’s thrift cost me a ton of money. Omar got a piece of fiberglass tube designed for this chore and replaced the shaft log. Then he glassed it in and rebuilt the cement that we had to chip out to get this fixed.
In the meantime, I pulled the couplings that failed. Our friendly neighborhood mechanics were going to bolt them back together. They were obviously shot. I took them to a machine shop to try to get them fixed, but they wouldn’t do it. They said the couplings were too far gone to save.
Sooooo, I had to order new couplings. They would be here Tuesday. That would be twelve days since the accident.
They came in as promised and I tried to install them. Uh-uh. Not going to happen. I had to eat crow and ask the mechanics to come back over. But Ken, the main guy, was out sick. They couldn’t do it ‘til tomorrow.
Today is tomorrow. Ken came and installed the couplings this morning. It helps if you have the correct tools. Now we are waiting for the yard to put the boat back in the water.
In the meantime, we have been painting the boat. She looks beautiful. We puttied all of the scratches and sanded them down. Then we sanded the hull and put a coat of primer on her. Finally, we put on the finish coat. I’ve always wanted to paint a boot stripe on the boat, but haven’t had the time. I took advantage of being out of the water to add a sporty black boot stripe.
We’ve also played tourist. We’ve been to the maritime museum, Balboa Park, Old Town, the Midway and tried several restaurants. The maritime museum is the best I’ve ever been in. They now have the Dear Old Surprise in their fleet. The Surprise is a replica of the 18th century frigate that Captain Jack Aubrey commanded in the Patrick O’Brien books. They converted a replica frigate for the movie Master and Commander, and now she is the Surprise. Since Bob, Ron and I are all big fans, we had the moment of a life time when we climbed up to her decks.
It took me most of Friday to find someone knowledgeable in ferro-cement to do the repairs. Omar turned out to be a delightful fellow. He and his son, Gabriel, spend many hours cleaning and fixing the concrete. They had to dry it out 24 hours before they could work on it. Then we had to vacate the boat because the fumes from the resin were so toxic.
We moved over to the Kona Kai motel for the night. We slept in a real bed, took long luxurious showers and took a dip in their pool and hot tub. We had breakfast at the motel and reported to the boat the next morning.
Then the mechanics came to fix the coupling. Now it was time to put the boat in the water. We had been living in the boat yard five days.
As soon as the boat hit the water, she started to leak. We had her hauled again and investigated the problem. The mechanics said it was Omar’s fault. Omar said it was the mechanic’s fault. I said bull shit.
I didn’t care whose fault it was, I just wanted it fixed. The mechanics washed their hands of the problem, saying that they don’t know anything about cement boats. I took over.
I pulled the prop shaft and we could see that the shaft log (the tube through which the propeller shaft goes) was broken up. When the boat was built, they saved a few dollars by using PVC pipe for the job.
The boat builder’s thrift cost me a ton of money. Omar got a piece of fiberglass tube designed for this chore and replaced the shaft log. Then he glassed it in and rebuilt the cement that we had to chip out to get this fixed.
In the meantime, I pulled the couplings that failed. Our friendly neighborhood mechanics were going to bolt them back together. They were obviously shot. I took them to a machine shop to try to get them fixed, but they wouldn’t do it. They said the couplings were too far gone to save.
Sooooo, I had to order new couplings. They would be here Tuesday. That would be twelve days since the accident.
They came in as promised and I tried to install them. Uh-uh. Not going to happen. I had to eat crow and ask the mechanics to come back over. But Ken, the main guy, was out sick. They couldn’t do it ‘til tomorrow.
Today is tomorrow. Ken came and installed the couplings this morning. It helps if you have the correct tools. Now we are waiting for the yard to put the boat back in the water.
In the meantime, we have been painting the boat. She looks beautiful. We puttied all of the scratches and sanded them down. Then we sanded the hull and put a coat of primer on her. Finally, we put on the finish coat. I’ve always wanted to paint a boot stripe on the boat, but haven’t had the time. I took advantage of being out of the water to add a sporty black boot stripe.
We’ve also played tourist. We’ve been to the maritime museum, Balboa Park, Old Town, the Midway and tried several restaurants. The maritime museum is the best I’ve ever been in. They now have the Dear Old Surprise in their fleet. The Surprise is a replica of the 18th century frigate that Captain Jack Aubrey commanded in the Patrick O’Brien books. They converted a replica frigate for the movie Master and Commander, and now she is the Surprise. Since Bob, Ron and I are all big fans, we had the moment of a life time when we climbed up to her decks.
Launching the Victory
Bob and Lilly spent one day at the San Diego Zoo while we were working on the boat. Then we all went to Balboa Park for the evening.
Let me tell you a little about living in a boat yard. It’s not the Ritz. Bob says this is the nicest boat yard he’s ever lived in and I agree with him. It is immaculately clean. California has some very strict environmental protection laws. There is a guy who does nothing but go around vacuuming the cement all day. There is another guy who walks around with a broom and dust pan all day cleaning up paper and little things that get tossed aside.
Despite the efforts to keep the yard clean, everything is coated with fine gray dust. It comes from sanding the primer on the hulls before they put on the final paint. Our decks are black with it, everything in the cabin is covered. Dawn is fighting a holding action to keep the boat livable until we can get out of here.
There are some really nice bathrooms across the boat yard, but the ones in the building next to us are definitely Mobile gas station, circa 1960. There are no labels on the doors. As a matter of fact, there are no doors.
I used the bathroom closest to the door. It was only after several days, when someone else was using that bathroom that I discovered the men’s room was further up the hallway.
Don’t get me wrong, they were clean. They were just, should I say, rustic.
The shower is clean and modern, but it’s just a nicely tiled stall behind a door between the restrooms in the newer building. You don’t have room to keep your clean clothes dry while you shower.
The biggest downside is that while we’re out of the water we can’t use the heads. If you have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you have to climb down the stairs and walk across the boat yard in your jammies.
My personal recommendation: avoid living in a boat yard if at all possible.
Let me tell you a little about living in a boat yard. It’s not the Ritz. Bob says this is the nicest boat yard he’s ever lived in and I agree with him. It is immaculately clean. California has some very strict environmental protection laws. There is a guy who does nothing but go around vacuuming the cement all day. There is another guy who walks around with a broom and dust pan all day cleaning up paper and little things that get tossed aside.
Despite the efforts to keep the yard clean, everything is coated with fine gray dust. It comes from sanding the primer on the hulls before they put on the final paint. Our decks are black with it, everything in the cabin is covered. Dawn is fighting a holding action to keep the boat livable until we can get out of here.
There are some really nice bathrooms across the boat yard, but the ones in the building next to us are definitely Mobile gas station, circa 1960. There are no labels on the doors. As a matter of fact, there are no doors.
I used the bathroom closest to the door. It was only after several days, when someone else was using that bathroom that I discovered the men’s room was further up the hallway.
Don’t get me wrong, they were clean. They were just, should I say, rustic.
The shower is clean and modern, but it’s just a nicely tiled stall behind a door between the restrooms in the newer building. You don’t have room to keep your clean clothes dry while you shower.
The biggest downside is that while we’re out of the water we can’t use the heads. If you have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you have to climb down the stairs and walk across the boat yard in your jammies.
My personal recommendation: avoid living in a boat yard if at all possible.