Chapter 3

If you have been following for the last few years, you have probably noticed a lot of project posts...a lot. There was a few weeks of sailing mixed in as we brought Skylark down from Washington, NC to Jacksonville, FL, but that chapter was a quick one and ended way too fast for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I have truly enjoyed all of the feedback and had a lot of fun talking to folks out there working on similar projects. I have learned a tremendous amount about the boat and myself along the way, as well as the ups and downs of a full classic sailboat refit. I have a lot of thoughts on the matter now that it's done (you are never really done, just in a spot to start enjoying the fruits of your labor) but I will save that for another time. I am happy though to be turning the page and moving to the next chapter.

Since we have finished Chapter 1, The Refit and Chapter 2, The Short Journey Home, it is now time for Chapter 3, Skylark is Finally Out There. So unless there is something specific that you would like to see or hear about in more detail from a project perspective, I will start gearing my posts to what this Blog was always meant to be, Sailing Adventures on a Cal 34. Let the games and nightmares begin!

I think Chapter 3 will start off with a nice shakedown cruise north to Cumberland Island, GA. It's a wonderful place to anchor out and enjoy for a week or so making sure all of the systems are working as expected. Zachary and I will make the trip at the beginning of July, weather permitting. There is a good chance one of my friends and his sons will be buddy boating with us from the marina. I am very much looking forward to getting away from the dock and getting back out to sea.

It's time.

So Let's Review...

Over the last 4 months, we have gotten more done on Skylark than over the last 3 years. It's been hectic yet extremely rewarding to see the transformation happen. I couldn't be happier with how things came out. Ralph is certainly a master of his trade and did everything exactly as it should be done, period. Again, I couldn't be happier.

Tomorrow, I will be heading back to NC for a little while, then up to visit with the family in New York. Yesterday was Zachary's last day of school, so he too is looking forward to some time up north. In late June, we will be back in FL ready to take a trip up to Cumberland, GA on Skylark for a week or so. Needless to say, I will be looking forward to that.

I have posted quite a few of the projects as we went a long, but I thought a list of the completed jobs would be fun to see. If anyone has questions on anything I did, please let me know, I will be happy to send pics or pass along any tips.

What did we do?

1. Water tank - Built access hatches to the water tank under the V-birth. Removed tank and cleaned. Installed all new fresh water hoses to the faucets in the galley and head. Replaced both faucets.
2. Cold Plates - Converted the icebox to refrigerator with Norcold cold plates. (There is a post on this)
3. Sea Hood - Customized an existing sea hood found at Sailors Exchange to fit over the sliding hatch over the companion way. (There is a post on this)
4. Deck Paint - Painted the decks white on white. (There is a post on this)
5. New Navigation Station - Have not posted the full project yet, but will soon. We custom built a navigation station above the starboard shelf over the aft quarter-birth. Ran all new 12v and 110 wire through out the boat including all wires in the engine harness. Built new panel to cover where the old electric switches were.
6. New House Battery Bank - Replaced existing 2 group 27 batteries with 4 6volt golf cart batteries totaling 430 amp hours. Moved the starting battery into the engine compartment and is charged as a separate bank.
7. Bow Roller Install - Moved the deck mounted navigation lights and installed a heavy duty bow roller and cleat. Added a 22 pound Bruce anchor to the roller and kept the Danforth on the deck.
8. Headliner - Insulated with quarter inch sheets and then stained and polyethylened wood.  (There is a post on this)
9. Propane Locker - Glassed in a 20 pound tank "tub" under the aft seat, installed an access hatch and ran a spill hose out a through-hull below the aft transom. Installed a solanoid control switch in the galley and a solanoid on the propane tank.
10. Wind Generator - Installed 400w AirX wind generator that is controlled through the main panel and can charge either or both banks at the turn of a switch. 
11. Bilge Pump Configuration - Removed the original 500 gallon per hour pump and replaced with a 1500 gallon per hour pump and automatic float switch. Removed the old hose that emptied the bilge water into the cockpit and ran a hose to the aft where a through-hull was installed below the transom. Cleaned the bilge of all dirt, oil and debris.
12. Bow Navigation Lights - Removed bow rail and welded a flat piece of stainless so lights could be mounted. Ran the wires through the bow rail tubes and then below decks.
13. Engine - Finished install of new engine. Took carburetor off for a complete cleaning, replaced all electrical components. Ran all new wires to and from batteries, switches and gauges. Installed new muffler and built new water exhaust elbow. Ran all new tubing for blower.

A few things that will be done before I get back.

1. Solar Panel - Install a 100w solar panel and charge controller.
2. Tiller - Reinforce tiller in the new bracket. Install tiller pilot.

Well, I told you we were busy. :) It has been a lot of work, but Skylark is really looking good!
Have a good June, I hope to see you out on the water soon.

Very Cool Blog, Very Cool People

If you haven't had a chance yet to take a look at the adventures of Windtraveler, now is the time. I have been following for a while and look forward to the next chapter of their journey including a new boat and a new crew member.
Check them out

Tropical Storm in May, Really??!!!

Yup, here we go again. Tropical storm Beryl is heading directly for northern Florida, more specifically Jacksonville. Looking at 40 to 50 mph winds and a ton of rain all week. Oh well, so much for a weekend on the water.

New Orleans Jazz Fest

NO Jazz Fest 2012

Had a wonderful time at the Nawlins' Jazz Fest this weekend. I left Jacksonville on Tuesday night after work and made it to about Pensacola FL before getting a room for the night, about a 5 hour drive. From there, I started the Pascagoula run (you Parrotheads should know what I am talking about) through Alabama, Mississippi and then into Louisiana. It was very neat seeing the sunrise over the Gulf, my first time.

Pascgoula Run

I got to New Orleans early Wednesday and picked up Amy from the airport around 10am and from there, we went over to the hotel to drop off our stuff. A short cab ride later, and we were in the French Quarter walking though the narrow street taking in all of the delicious smells from the restaurants and admiring the architecture. I have never been, and Amy was there once for Martigras, so being the only ones on the streets at times was new for both of us.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde

After lunch, we headed over to Cafe du Monde for the famous Beignets and strong black coffee. Wow, they were delicious to say the least. Of course Jimmy's song, The Wino and I Know kept playing over in my head, where he goes for strong coffee and donuts too hot to touch, but I would expect nothing else. :)

Thursday morning was hot, real hot and humid, so we know the day to follow was going to be interesting. The festival grounds had 2 main stages and about 5 smaller ones where local and big named bands came from all over to play. I was there to see Jimmy Buffett on Thursday and the Zac Brown band on Friday but really enjoyed all the local sounds that was going on.

Good seats

I lucked out with Buffett being there at all. He wasn't supposed to be there this year as he just got off his 2012 tour and was on vacation. Eddie Vedder was the Thursday headliner but was hurt and couldn't play. That's when JB stepped in and saved the day, at least as far as I am concerned. :)  Because it was a last minute thing, he didn't have the band with him, only Mac Mcanally and a couple of local artist and put on an acoustic show. They had a lot of fun with it and it felt like we were in their living room watching an impromptu jam session. It wasn't crowded at all and we were quite close to the stage, my favorite show of his to date.

Zac doing his thing

Amy baking in the sun

On Friday, we waited for the Zac Brown and the boys to close the day and once again, it was an oven. But in the end, it was very worth it. It was my first ZBB concert and it was fantastic. They are such great performers, that even if you are not huge fans of the music, their talent just blows you away. They played their biggies and threw in a few new ones to a very happy crowd. This time though, I mean crowd...it was PACKED. Still got pretty close, but it was standing room only everywhere.

Bridge over the Mississippi

I had such a great time in New Orleans. I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been. There was so much we didn't get to do, but I was able to stand up on the banks of the Mississippi River and watch some tugs push their barges down river. That was very cool indeed. I hope to get back there someday soon.

Off the Grid

Amps coming in

Battery bank filling up nicely

Well, not exactly off the grid yet, but things are looking really good so far. With the storm front coming through, I was able to test the wind generator for the first time. Love to hear all those juicy amps flowing to the new battery bank. It's amazing how well the AirX wind generator (from here on to be known as Jenny) works. We are getting about 15 mph sustained gusting to 25 mph and I am seeing the amp meter show between 5-10, spiking to 14 amps. I turned off the shore power and found "Jenny" keeping the banks up at about 13 volts. I'll take that. More tests and results to come.

"Jenny" doing her thing

Bow Roller Install

Completed the bow roller install today. Had to wait a couple of days for the 1/4 inch stainless wire to come in so we could bend it and have it welded on to serve as a baler. Found the perfect sized bow roller at a mini flea market down at a marina in Green Cove Springs. It's heavy gauge stainless that sticks over the bow perfectly to hold a 22 pound Bruce anchor. We used teak as a base on the deck and a 1/4 inch piece of stainless as a backing plate. That thing is on for good. Of course we used the "drill, fill and drill" technique as not to leave the deck core exposed. Once the epoxy cured, we were good to go and installed the roller in just a few minutes. We used 5200 as a sealer around the bolts and the newly drilled holes.
That's it, one, two, three...

Headliner Installation in Progress

 So the headliner project is underway and we were able to get quite a bit done over the last few nights. Skylark had no headliner, apparently pulled off over the years leaving only the fiberglass "roof." We started by running half by 1 inch strips, 20 inches apart forward to aft. Once the strips were installed, we dry fit half inch insulation sheets cut to size in between and prepared for the planks.
I will post a step by step recount of the project, but wanted to throw up some pics now that the majority is done in the main cabin. So far, so good.

Skylark Has a New Look

After a few days of good weather, I finished painting the deck. Really happy with the results. Went with the West Marine one part Sea Glass Pro and Sea Glass Pro Non-Skid. I can already tell the difference with the temperature in the boat, it's amazing how hot any color on the deck gets in the sun. If you live in the southern climates, I would recommend the white for sure.


So what do you think? Be honest, I can take it. :)

The To-Do List is Shrinking

So the Air X wind gen is up and waiting final connection to the house bank. In the mean-time I have a few other projects underway that I will mention and post full updates as they are complete.

The reason the wind gen is not fully hooked up to the house bank is because we are in the process of changing the group 27 house bank batteries to 4 Trojan T105 golf cart batteries. This will give me about 400 amp hours and as I mentioned before, plenty of power to run what I have on board. As well, we are updating the entire breaker panel and will be building a custom, built in electronics area into the shelf above the starboard quarter birth. Stay tuned for the post on that install, it will be neat.

Pre-paint

We also just finished the installation of a Sea Hood. The basics behind the sea hood is to keep green water from getting under the cockpit hatch in rough seas. I was fortunate to find one from another boat at Sailor's Exchange in St. Augustine for basically nothing. It needed a bit of work to fit the deck correctly, but it now fits perfectly. Once it's painted you wouldn't know it wasn't a factory install. I am really happy with it and is my favorite addition so far. Another excellent job from Ralph. :)

After Paint

Yes, I am also in the process of giving Skylark a new deck paint job. With the heat in Florida and points south, I decided to go white on white...no more blue. You wouldn't believe how hot the blue gets in the 85 to 100 degree days, you burn your feet all the time. So white on white it is. That will also help with the temps in the boat...and when it gets as hot as is did last summer, I will take all the help I can get. Pics to follow.

In addition, the bow roller will be installed as well as a new cleat to tie off the anchor rode. I will have to move the running lights, but it will allow for a straight shot off the bow and hopefully promote a better ride into the wind, not too mention a stellar place to store the new 22 pound Bruce anchor I just picked up.

We are also working on a propane locker that will be built under the aft "seat" behind the tiller or binnacle. If you noticed (I am talking to you Cal 34 owners) there is absolutely nothing under that aft section and will allow a box to be built to hold 2 10 pound propane tanks. The box will be glassed in and a drain hose will run out the transom. We will install a hatch on the "seat" that will fit the dimensions of one tank. The first tank will then be slid to the back of the box allowing the second tank to fit as well. A solenoid will be added and placed over the stove for easy access. Looking forward to that one, it gets annoying always going on deck to connect and disconnect the LPG hose.

Last but not least, we have a very interesting idea for an insulated head liner. Gonna wait to that is done to go into specifics. I want to be sure the results speak for them self.

Air X Wind Generator Install

400w Air X wind generator

Had a really productive day on Skylark. Besides finishing the install on the new sea hood, blog post to follow, Ralph was able to install the Air X wind generator. To do correctly, this is no easy task. To start, we set the 9 foot main pole and 2 supporting poles in place with a couple of screws. After everything was in place, we pulled all the hardware off the deck and did the "Drill, Fill and Drill" technique since we were going through the wood core. It takes a little longer but is a must to protect the wood core from water damage down the line.

Drill, Fill and Drill

The basic principle is to "Drill" out the holes you will need larger than the bolt going through it. You then "Fill" in the hole with epoxy resign by putting tape or a piece of wood underneath so you can fill the hole to the top and let it cure. At that point, you can "Drill" the holes you need through the epoxy and not have to ever worry about water getting into the wood core. It is the right way to do the project, so always look to the Drill, Fill and Drill technique anytime you drill into the wood core.

Ralph in action

Ralph still needs to finish the wiring, but I decided to re-do the main breaker panel, so it will be a few days before all of the switches are in place to control the generator and it's hooked into the house battery bank.
Once everything is hooked up, I will update this post with pics of the finished electrical connections, break panels and the juicy Amp flowing through the meter into the batteries. :)