Big Leaps Forward, a Small Step Backward, and Another Leap Forward...Again!

A lot has happened since the last update. The mast, boom, and rigging are in place, and plumbing and mechanical work has restarted. We’ve made an interesting discovery about our boat, and have run into a few small roadblocks. Still, we’re moving ahead.

The old backstay chainplate. The tape was placed on the hull to show the length of the spaces between the bolts.

One of the roadblocks came about because of a thin, small, and very important piece of the rigging system. It’s called the ‘backstay chainplate.’ As I explained in an earlier post, chainplates are pieces of steel which are bolted or otherwise mechanically fastened to the hull structure. The rigging wires, called stays and shrouds, are attached to these chainplates and hold the mast upright and in place. Because of the age of the existing chainplates, we replaced them all with new ones as a part of the refit. When I was ordering the new ones from the builder, Thumper Brooks, (yes, that’s his real name!) the operations manager for Pacific Seacraft advised me that around the time Jo Beth was built, the mounting configuration for the backstay chainplate had changed slightly. I took careful measurements of the existing backstay chainplate and forwarded them to Thumper.

So, you can guess what happened when the time came to install the chainplate – the configuration, with regard to where the bolt holes were cut in the chainplate and in the hull – were slightly off. Thumper had said the chances of getting an exact fit were going to be slim. The fit wasn't too far off, about 1/16 of an inch. The problems were easily addressed; a new backing plate, to match the correct configuration of the bolt mounting holes, has been made and the plate fitted. The mast was stepped and the rigging fitted. The boom has been installed, the halyards (lines which raise and lower sails) and mainsheet, (the line which controls the mainsail), have been run. Rigger Greg Johnson will be installing other small but important accessories on the mast and boom during the next week or two.

Hoisting the new mast to be stepped aboard Jo Beth

Hinckley riggers Greg Johnson and Mark Edwards guiding the new mast on to Jo Beth

Jo Beth with her new mast and boom

The new mainsheet assembly

The final steps to convert the quarter berth to a useable storage locker are underway. Aboard Jo Beth, there is a single large storage locker in the cockpit on the port side of the boat. The starboard side had a storage locker as well, but it was fitted with a shallow pan, perhaps 6 or 8 inches deep, in which we stored spare power cords, line, etc. Beneath the pan is a quarterberth, a supposed sleeping area in the cabin. In reality, a quarterberth is a dead space on the boat, not useful for sleeping or storage. (I described a quarterberth in this post.) We decided to remove the pan in the starboard locker, build a bulkhead in the cabin, and make the quarterberth a useful space. The pan is cut and the conversion well underway.

 The locker pan is cut, opening the quarterberth space into a storage locker

However, with the removal of the locker pan, we’ve discovered another issue. On the inside of the edge of the locker where the pan was attached, the fiberglass structure had only partially bonded to the deck structure. This is something that apparently occurred during the construction of the vessel. It’s not a serious issue by any stretch of the imagination, but it needs to be repaired. And so, repaired it shall be – another unplanned line item to the budget.

 This is the area of non-bonded structure found in the starboard cockpit locker; it can also be seen in the photograph of the water heater, below

The new water heater, fitted in the new cockpit locker

The new lifelines, wire cables strung between stainless steel stanchion posts which provide security for persons on deck, are fitted and small repairs made to the boarding gates and bow railings. We’re also ordering a stainless steel folding boarding ladder which will fit inside one of the boarding gates and allow us to get on the boat from the water or dinghy. The ladder will work on either side of the boat.

Repairs to the portside boarding gate; also, the new chainplates can be seen also

Here's a test fit of the new insert made for one of the two overhead deck hatches aboard Jo Beth; finish work on the hatch inserts and battens remain to be done

The new engine control panel box and cover

Now, we’re at the stage where plumbing and mechanical projects are underway and heading towards completion. The new canvases for the boat exterior and interior cushions are being made. The new engine control panel box and cover, now watertight, is installed. The overhead is nearly completed. The refit is getting to the point where, with some degree of confidence, we can start to anticipate a completion date. Even so, much work will remain, even once Jo Beth is afloat again, but the day when we can once again sail her into the wide waters of the Atlantic are in sight.

Over the Hump

We’re on the downhill slide. Sort of. 

There’s no engraving in a calendar somewhere which designates a declared completion date. It’s nothing like that. Instead, what we have is an agreement of a timeline.  We know that we’d like to have such-and-such job done by such-and-such date, and so on. The establishment of a timeline is a good thing, but the fact remains there’s still much to be done. A single small misstep can still rock the proverbial boat.

We have made significant progress. With so much of the work being done essentially hidden through the myriad of systems which comprise a modern small sailing yacht, it’s exciting that we can see indications of progress. We can actually see now the boat Jo Beth was meant to be. 

 Test fit of headliner panels and battens in the main saloon

The new cabin headliner is nearly finished. Test fitting and fine tuning of the panels, trim pieces, and battens has been underway. There’s a smidgen of electrical work left, and a fair amount of mechanical and rigging work remains; such as the installation of the chainplates, (metal bars which attach the rigging wires to the hull), installation of a deck washdown system, installation of the galley sink and the re installation of the head (toilet), etc. There are also a couple of major parts which need to be ordered for the sailing rig; things which couldn’t be built and installed until things started coming together to make Jo Beth a whole boat again. And, the conversion of the quarterberth to a storage locker has to be completed.

The final steps to get the mast and rigging installed are set to begin this week, provided the weather cooperates. A weak but persistent area of low pressure has moved into the coastal Georgia region and stalled. The forecast calls for the system to slowly drift north and east over the coming days. However, it has brought squally and unsettled weather to the area for much of the past week. I remarked to Lisa how much the skies looked like those we used to see in Miami and the Keys; skies I’d seen many a time in the Bahamas. Much of the work on the decks and bottom will have to wait for clearer weather.

The new engine control panel cover

The weather did provide us some unexpected assistance. The new engine control panel box, designed to be watertight, turned out to be not so watertight. This is an important issue to correct. The engine control panel is located in the cockpit just above the deck, and right at the cabin entrance. The panel houses the ignition switch, the tachometer and temperature gauges, and other critical instrumentation. Exposure to water, whether from rain or a boarding sea, is not good. An early project in the refit was to relocate the panel and instruments to the cabin interior, but the necessary rerouting and extensions of wiring, heavy gauge battery cables, etc. proved to be too costly. So we opted to leave the panel as it was and improve the panel’s protective housing.

Lisa and I also met last week with our canvas maker, Causa’s Cushions, to go over the final details for the new interior cushions, order new pieces for the canvas inventory which we carry aboard, (such as winch covers to protect the shiny bronze winch drums), and refine the details of our new spray dodger. A dodger is a canvas windshield of sorts. It keeps spray and rain off of the crew in the cockpit, protects the main cabin entry companionway from the weather, and so on. Clear vinyl windows allow for visibility. Jo Beth’s original dodger had worn severely and while the system as a whole was functional, it needed a redesign to better suit Lisa and me. 

This is a shot of Jo Beth from a few years ago; the structure which resembles a canvas and clear vinyl windshield is the dodger

For those who don’t know us, Lisa and I are quite short. When we stood on the cockpit deck and looked forward, the rear bar of the dodger frame, called a ‘bow’, fell right across our line of sight. This meant we were always stooping to see under the bow, or standing on tiptoes to see over it. The replacement bow will raise the height of the dodger by 6 or so inches and greatly enhance our ability to see what’s in front of us. The dodger frame also lacked handholds, so we’re adding grab rails on each side and on the back bow. All around, it will make our little future home a safer and more comfortable place.

Here's a before and after shot of our winches. Thirty years of patina removed with a bit of polish and elbow grease. We'll have canvas covers made to keep them nice and shiny.

So what’s that timeline agreement I mentioned at the start of this post? Well, we hope to have the mast and rigging installed in a week or so, have the boat secured and floating at the marina service dock by early October, get the sea trials conducted, and be back in our home slip in November.

Of course, more updates are to follow.