The Mast is Up and the Engine Purrs Like a Kitten

Hot diggity!  Today was a red-letter day: the mast was stepped and the engine went through its first start-up of the season.  Last things first, only minor snafus with the engine and it was off and running.  Terry has an expert's feel for the system, where a valve might be closed that should be open, seeing right away that an exhaust hose had come off.  He did a great job explaining the whole system to me and had me start the engine rather than he, so I have a good feel for it cold.  "Pull out the choke" made great sense to me; reminded me of my first car, a 1960 Plymouth Valiant.  Transmission worked smoothly, as did the engine at quite a low speed--no misses, and it seemed like last year's gasoline was fine, too.  A good omen.  

The mast was a bugger but we wrestled it to the ground, or rather to the sky.  Man, that thing has more parts than an Indy car, it seems.  About half of the parts were on the boat or in a box I got from the previous owner.  What happened to the rest will remain a mystery, of which I'll be reminded when I get the next Master Card bill.  Not a fan of the big-name chain store, which shall remain nameless (but it's not north or south).  Mike's Marine Hardware on Jefferson in St. Clair Shores has all the goodies and people who know what their merchandise is, to boot. 

Bob was remarkable in getting the details of the mast ready, sending me off for parts.  When ready, we called Gary and his guy to work the hoist and in no time the mast was standing tall.  "Where are the pictures?" you ask.  As well you might.  If I had any, they would show pouring rain with flashes of lightning.  We got it hoisted and the stays locked in so we could leave with the lightning about a half-mile away.  Then it rained buckets.  I stayed in those clothes for another two hours as I loaded yet more stuff on the Shady Lady for our trip.  Starting to get teased by the old salts about "when are you going to take some of that out?" 

Trying to make plans to visit Jim and Kitty in Marine City or St. Clair on Saturday night, but that's like pulling teeth.  We four are willing, but the St. Clair marina has no room at the inn that night (every night before and after is open, of course).  The Marine City marinas either don't call back, numbers are disconnected or a fax number.  Tomorrow I call the MC Chamber of Commerce and ask them, "WTF?!"  Also tomorrow I figure I'd better get the toilet working.  Can't very well leave that to chance once we're underway!  

Assuming all goes well tomorrow, Friday at noon Bob and I will leave on her maiden voyage.  OK, her "dowager voyage," given her age.  Carol will be off consulting somewhere, so I'll have pictures from that outing for her and you.  OK, here's a gratuitous picture of tomorrow's project.  Note the cool porcelain handle on the faucet.  It's corroded shut but I'll figure out a way to open it up next winter. 

Engine Commissioning--or Not

 

Today was a working day with lots of "two steps forward, one step back" action.  At least that's progress.  Our Universal 4-cyl engine (above) is in great shape, overall, but it needs some tune-up action.  Terry Mahoney and his guy, Jason, spent time on her but couldn't start her.  The had to pull the distributor and take it to their shop for some bench time.  Classic old-school tune-up action, the stuff I grew up on: points, condensers, plugs, timing, etc.  Funny engine design, like the old tractor engines, Terry said, i.e.,  no filters!  "Works fine," he says. Next week, when he has things back in order, he will also test the electrical connections of lights and the radio antenna on the mast.  With all that, we'll have the motoring option well in hand. 

Bob is making good progress stripping and re-varnishing the mast.  That looks great! And I figured out how to turn on the radio and the refrigerator.  More progress! I bought a fancy Sears battery charger, it trickle or fast-charges and turns off automatically, so the house batteries don't run down through the use of the bilge pump.  That is an area of good news, though.  The boat continues sealing up very well; the pump is only running about once every 90 minutes these days, excellent news! 

Rained like a sonuvagun this afternoon, so we gave up working on re-installing the deck hardware, the jib and genoa tracks.  We didn't remove those, and the nuts and bolts were not organized in the removal.  We've found pretty much everything, but it took most of the time we had today.  (Not much time, since it's a 140 mile round trip each time.)  We have things more organized and should make great progress the next time we go out, probably Sunday. Sunday, also, we'll lay out the sails and figure out what we have, re-pack them in their sail bags, and take them--with our new (old) dinghy--out to the boat.   

Sailing School

Dateline, Lake St. Clair (June 5-7, 2010).  Carol at the helm of the Windependent, a 30' Catalina, our sailing-school boat.  Our two classmates are in the forground, with Captain Dave (back left) and Captain Tim (back right), both of the Fair Wind Sailing School.  A great experience, three days on the water with at-dock studies and tests.  We passed both courses, Learn to Sail and Basic Coastal Cruising, both courses sponsored by the American Sailing Association.  We learned a lot and the hands-on experience gave the book learning a dose of reality.  
Friday (7/16), I spent some time at the boat making sure we had good dock lines.  She is floating free and barely using the bilge pump.  No mast or rigging yet; that's going a bit slow and worrisome for an on-time get-away for the journey.  Hopefully, we'll get good news starting tomorrow.  Anyway, she is remarkably stable given her low ballast.  Sweet!   I wish I could get a picture of her completely side-on to see her in-water profile, but that will come in time.  
Also Friday I bought navigation charts for Lakes St. Clair and Huron.  We've started planning our trip, which has been exciting! 

In the Slings

Big day Monday as she took the five mile trip overland to Gary Snider's Clinton River shop (more wonderful service, thanks, Gary!).  She went in the slings and in the water and started leaking like a sieve, just like she's supposed to.  By today she is taking on very little water, so the planks are swelling up nicely.  First time I've seen the Shady Lady in the water and it was great!  Gary put in a new bilge pump and it's a monster.  I could pee like that in my 20s; a sight to behold.  Three new batteries were delivered today and should all be installed and the final wiring for the pump finished later today.  Then she's ready to come out of the slings and float free.  

Bought my baby (Carol, not the boat or car) a present today, a new masthead fly.  Should be able to see that thing from two states away.  Carol found that very helpful during our sailing classes.  The varnishing and oiling are going well and the Shady Lady is looking sharp!  Very glad we had the white paint on the deck stripped over the winter.  Bob Hutchinson did a great job on this all winter.  As I walked around on deck I was surprised how workable she is.  The walks next to the cabin look narrow, but I found it easy, not wide, but I had just the right amount of room.  Another well-thought-out part of her design.  

Gary will be sailing in the Pt. Huron-to-Mackinac Race this weekend, so we should wrap things up next week as far as Bob finishing the varnish on the boom and mast, stepping the mast, and bending the sails.   Terry Mahoney should finish commissioning the engine and checking electrical switches and circuits by next week.  Then we're ready for her first sail of the year. 

Some History

Middle of July and we're stilling working on the Shady Lady. This week we hope to get her bottom wet, then a couple of days in the straps while the planks soak and swell (and the bilge pump runs!). Then we can step the mast, find the sails, etc., and motor down the Clinton River to Lake St. Clair for our first sail! There will be pictures...good and "oops!"

Built in 1958 in the Nouway boatyard in Norway, the Shady Lady is a Sparkman & Stephens design (six-meter class, I believe, from what I can see in "All This and Sailing, too," Olin Stephens's 1999 autobiography), with teak ribs and transom and spruce planking. She is 36' overall, with a 10'-6" beam and a 5'-6" draft.  She was intended for the Fastnet Race in which she competed more than once, and was bought by three Detroit firemen (in the 1960s?). They sailed her across the North Atlantic to Detroit, raced the Shady Lady in the Port Huron-to-Mackinac Race several times, ironically had a small galley fire while they owned her (all repaired now).  Future project: document the races the Shady Lady was in. 

The Shady Lady was bought by a new owner in the 1970s who restored her.  She was stripped down to the ribs and planking, with a new cabin and teak-strip decking installed.  Shady Lady was the summer home for he, his wife and two children, in Gore Bay, Ontario for many years.  In 2008, she was sold to a new owner who sold her to Carol and I last November.  Ironically, as we small-talked after the sale, we discovered that we worked with the former owner's wife's uncle--a family transaction of sorts. 

Over the past several months she has undergone another set of renovations, painting and varnishing, mostly.  Hopefully, we'll move the Shady Lady to the water in Lake St. Clair this week.  After getting used to sailing her, we'll sail to the Upper Peninsula in August.