Road Trip And A Short Cruise

We're often asked to give presentations to boaters during their organization's meetings and rendezvous. While we lived in Maryland for two years, I had to travel to Florida often to give these presentations, and now that we have moved back to Florida, of course I was asked to be a speaker at the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, Virginia. Susan and I recently joined the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association) in preparation for our Great Loop adventure, which by the way will begin in just six or seven short months, if all goes as planned. My presentation for the Rendezvous was to be cruising the Delaware Bay, New Jersey Coast and the Hudson River. Everyone seem enthused and very interested, and we received lots of positive comments afterward.

Our unofficial count of the members was over 100 and most would be making this part of the Great Loop trip for the first time. There were a few that had done the trip in the past, and many had some good questions on issues and navigational information to make the passage safely. Much of the presentation was on the challenges and how to overcome them rather than the Chamber of Commerce version of where to stop and what to do. We left them to research that type of information in their favorite cruising guides. We brought a Power Point presentation showing charts, distances, hazards and channels along the route. Susan prepared most of the charts for the presentation and did an excellent job.

Afterward, the presentation lunch was served and it gave the members time to have a great meal, discuss their plans and ask more questions. The Rendezvous was held at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Va. The food was very good and so were the accommodations, if not a bit on the expensive side. We had to pay for parking and internet service separately, something that has always been included at every other hotel in which we have stayed. The location is great and we had a view of the anchorage at Hospital Point in Norfolk from a different perspective.

After the presentation is always a good time to meet members one on one and try to answer any additional questions they might have. This is always my favorite part, especially since we are the newbees in the crowd and many of these folks have been members for many years. It also gives us the chance to meet folks that we will see along the waterways when we begin our own trip. It's also a great feeling when we can come away knowing that we have helped our fellow boaters, even in some small way. It's our pleasure any time we can share our years of experience on the water.

The time flew by and we found ourselves back in South Florida on Beach House and not yet ready to get back to work. Our friends at the marina were planning a trip to Panther Key, one of the many small Keys in the 10,000 Islands area where we currently reside. The trip was planned for the weekend we returned so we made the decision to join them for Saturday and Sunday. We have to leave and come back to the marina at high tide because of several shallow spots in the entrance channel. It worked out well since high tide on Saturday was about Noon and 1 PM on Sunday.

A houseboat, a sailboat and a trawler anchor off a beach... No, this isn't the beginning of a joke, but it was the sight that most boaters saw as they passed by during the weekend. The trip from the marina to Panther Key is a short one, but it winds through and past many beautiful mangrove-lined channels and bays that are all part of the National Wildlife Preserve. We have really enjoyed living in this area and this was our first chance to get out and enjoy the scenery on the boat since we arrived from Fort Myers. Our friends on their houseboat and another acquaintance on their sailboat had come down on Friday and had their anchorage spots picked out. There was still plenty of room for us and the water depths allowed us all to anchor very near the beach.

It was wonderful to get away from the dock and be out on the hook again. We would much prefer to be anchored than tied to a dock anytime. It's difficult to explain the feeling of greater freedom when you are secured by your own anchor with no one sitting on the other side of the finger pier. Given the choice, we would probably almost never put into a slip. But necessity makes it something we have to do for now, and will have to do from time to time while cruising. But when we are cruising, not speeding from one location to another, we usually reserve marina stops for re-provisioning,  laundry, washing the boat and getting out of very bad weather. Even the bad weather is more comfortable for us if we are anchored in a protected location.

One small project we were anxious to try out was the new electric dinghy winch that was installed on the mast. This is a compact but powerful 12-volt winch rated at 2,000 pounds, much more than the 100+ pound dinghy. This is an addition to the small crane we installed to lift the outboard. Because of recurring back problems, we wanted Susan to be able to launch and use the dinghy and outboard without any help from me if necessary. This new addition proved to be the perfect final piece of equipment.

The winch itself is mounted on the back side of the mast just under the boom. It has a handheld control that will reach the lower deck, and a short attachment of line between the dinghy and the winch cable makes this the most logical placement. The proper size wiring had to be run from the winch to the power supply under the flybridge helm station. Since the radar cable was already run to the same area, the winch wiring just followed the radar cable. The winch is through bolted with 3-inch stainless bolts through the mast and the backing mount for the winch.

I really didn't want to run wiring all the way to the main electrical panel because of the logistics and the need for such large wires to avoid major voltage drops. The flybridge has pretty heavy power cables run to provide power to the bridge so all that was needed was a circuit breaker. The winch now has its own independent circuit breaker mounted in a plastic electrical box with a cover plate, cut to fit the breaker and a breaker face plate. The buss bar was installed to attach the winch wiring, but also to clean up the wiring under the flybridge helm station. It always amazes me what previous owners have done to boats.

The switch is mounted just inside the door under the flybridge helm station where it's easy to get to, but not in the way. When we are using the winch, we just reach in and turn it on, and when we are finished, we just reach in and turn it off. The breaker is always off when we aren't using the winch. This solved the problem of a long wiring run, but it still gives the circuit protection. The breaker is sized for the winch. This was actually probably the easiest wiring job I have done so far on the boat. I love it when a plan comes together.

It was time for the first test and the verdict is in. Susan has declared it a total success. As I stood by and watched, she dropped the dinghy in the water from the davits on the swim platform with almost no effort at all. I think her response was, "Way cool." She next raised the outboard off the stern bracket and lowered it onto the dinghy transom. I did help with this and positioned it on the transom of the dinghy as it was being lowered, but the entire process was effortless and either one of us could handle it alone if needed. And that was the plan.

So off we went to hit the beach and do some socializing. Our friends had a day on us and had already found a substantial amount of dead wood for a bonfire on Saturday night. We had a great afternoon catching up and grilled dinner on the foredeck of our friend's houseboat. This is no small houseboat and measures over 70 feet. They bring it down to Panther Key often and put the bow up on the beach. One anchor on the beach and the other astern keeps it sitting almost beached. There was some roll in the anchorage with the afternoon seabreeze blowing off the Gulf of Mexico and the tide and current flowing out. We also had a sudden rainstorm while we were enjoying dinner and everyone had to scramble back to their boats to close all of the hatches and ports. Things didn't get too wet. That night there was a major bonfire and dancing on the beach.

Sunday morning broke beautiful and sunny. The remnants on the beach showed little of the night before. One of the attractions of this Key is the great white sandy beach that stretches along the west side. There is good shelling, and with Gulf water temperatures in the 80s, some good swimming. All of us used the warm water and protected location to do some bottom cleaning on the boats. Our friend John came by with his dive gear and kindly went under the boat and cleaned our prop and rudder. We knew from the vibration and performance of the boat coming down the waterway that it must have been pretty fouled. What a difference it made on the trip back. We don't get in the water at the marina to clean the bottom because there are alligators lurking nearby.

Everyone spent the day Sunday enjoying the weather and hanging out. Our acquaintances on the sailboat were leaving the marina and heading for the Florida Keys. They planned to spend some time in the Dry Tortugas before heading up the U.S. east coast to Maine. We shared some information on the Dry Tortugas since they had never been there before and we had made a couple of trips when we were based out of the Keys. Their puppy thoroughly enjoyed the beach as much as we did. It was a super day, but the tide was near high and that meant it was time to head back to the marina.

There are a few places where the channel depths are only about 3 feet at low tide. Even with our 4-foot draft, we would be running aground at low tide. There are only a couple of spots, but it only takes one to ruin your day. A casual trip back takes us a little over an hour. It helps to have the current running with us and it can reach over 2 knots when running at max ebb or flood. There is also a lot of wildlife to keep us entertained on the ride home and provide good photo ops. A great end to a restful, relaxing weekend. 

Boat Renaming Ceremony

Doing it the right way staves off the possibility of bad luck  (I don't remember where I found this, so sorry if I don't give the original Author Credit)

Superstition still plays a significant role in boaters’ lives. The sea, hardly changed in all the eons since its creation, is still a source of mystery and wonderment. Half of the Earth’s surface is covered by abyssal seas where light never penetrates, but where life nevertheless exists—sometimes in outlandish forms—in conditions of unimaginable pressure and Stygian darkness. Little wonder, then, that frail human beings plying the interface between the unruly atmosphere and the fearsome oceans should seek help by performing certain rituals known to their ancestors, and turning to their ancient gods for protection.One superstition still widely held concerns the renaming of a boat, which, in the United States at least, is held to be unlucky. The answer is to hold a denaming ceremony before you rename your boat. You can make up your own ceremony, or you are welcome to use this one, which has been used with every appearance of success. It is now widely distributed on the Internet, but it is repeated here for your convenience.

Before you hold the denaming ceremony, you must remove all physical traces of the boat’s old name. Take the logbook ashore, along with any other charts, books, or papers that bear the old name. Be ruthless: sand away the old name from the lifebuoys, transom, topsides, dinghy, and oars; painting over is not good enough. We’re dealing with gods here, you understand, not mere mortals. If the old name is carved or etched, try to remove it. At the very minimum, fill it with putty and paint over it. And don’t place the new name anywhere on the boat before the denaming ceremony is completed—that’s just tempting fate.You can read the ceremony with flair on the foredeck before a gathering of distinguished guests or, if you find this whole business embarrassing and go along with it only because you’re scared of what might happen if you don’t, you can skulk down below and mumble it in solitude. But the words must be spoken.

The last part of the ceremony, the libation, should be performed at the bow. Use good champagne and spray all of it on the bow—do not presume to save some for yourself. The gods despise cheapskates; buy another bottle for your own consumption.Here is Vigor’s Famous Inter-denominational Denaming Ceremony:“In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke the ancient gods of the wind and the sea to favor us with their blessings today.“Mighty Neptune, king of all that moves in or on the waves;“And mighty Aeolus, guardian of the winds and all that blows before them:“We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past. We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm, and found safe harbor.“Now, wherefore, we submit this supplication, that the name whereby this vessel has hitherto been known, ‘[———],’ be struck and removed from your records.“Further, we ask that when she is again presented for blessing with a new name, she shall be recognized and accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed.“In return for which, we rededicate this vessel to your domain in the full knowledge that she shall be subject, as always, to the immutable laws of the gods of the wind and the sea.“In consequence whereof, and in good faith, we seal this pact with libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea.”There.

Now you are free to christen your boat with a new name. It doesn’t pay to be too quick, though. Most of us like to wait at least 24 hours to give any lingering demons time to pack their duffel bags and clear out.

Raising A Few Brows

The teak brows were probably the least attractive pieces of wood on the boat and a pain to keep up. All of the screws that secured them to the sides of the cabin have been a source of leaks that we knew we needed to deal with soon. We did some caulking early on to stop the water intrusion, but caulking is just the proverbial band-aid, and more drastic action was necessary to resolve it once and for all. Just as with the flybridge, removal has been my choice since day one and the time has come to tackle the project and check it off the list.

The teak brows wrap around the forward and aft section of the cabin. The brows around the flybridge are a thing of the past as we noted in the previous post. Removing these and saving them was not going to be easy, and since I had no intentions of putting them back, they came off in pieces. Some of them were caulked really well when the boat was built, but many were barely caulked at all, and there in lies the leak problem.

With the brows removed, it was easy to see that water and dirt had been getting behind them for years. And in a 30-year-old boat, that's not a good thing.

The next step was to clean it all up, sand off the heavy residue and open up the screw holes a bit with a drill countersink. The cabin sides had been painted with AwlGrip by the previous owner, but of course not under the teak. This was the original gelcoat, so the surrounding area had several coats of primer and paint, leaving an indentation where the strips came off.

The screw holes were filled with a thickened epoxy mix, West System being my preference. It's important to be sure that the epoxy mixture gets deep within the old screw holes. This needs to sit for at least 24 hours to give the epoxy plenty of time to set up properly.

The epoxy is then sanded smooth, and the indentation left by the removal of the teak is filled by applying about 3 to 4 coats of white 545 primer. Once the primer is completely dry, everything is sanded smooth with my orbital sander and 220 grit sandpaper.

Prior to painting, all the surfaces need to be wiped down with a tack cloth to remove dust and then with AwlGrip Surface Cleaner. I like to wipe it down at least twice and sometime three times before painting using two cloths, one to wipe on the cleaner and one to wipe the cleaner off. This assures that all wax and residue has been removed and also gets off the last of the dust.

Next step is to tape off all of the adjoining edges that I don't want to get paint on. Some places will get a single strip of tape while others will get a double-wide treatment. The paint is going on with a roller so there is not much splatter. The varnished wood and any other surfaces I am concerned with will get 3M delicate removal tape. Around the new non-skid material, I used Frog Tape to keep the paint from crawling under it, a common problem.

With the surface prepped and ready for paint, it's time to mix the topcoat. Just as before, we are using AwlGrip Cloud White. The paint is a three part, topcoat, converter and brushing thinner. And I add a few drops of drying accelerator so the paint will dry before the sun sets and the heavy dew here in south Florida ruins all of my hard work. The paint mixture needs to sit for about 20 minutes and cook before applying. I use small foam rollers to apply the paint which often requires no tipping and the results gives us a finish that looks like it has been applied with a spray gun.

The cabin sides will get only two coats of paint instead of our usual three coats. It has been painted previously so the third coat is not really needed. As soon as the paint is dry to the touch, all of the tape is carefully removed. I don't like to leave it on any longer than necessary since the longer it's on, the harder it is to get off. 

With all of the nice fresh paint on the cabin sides, the boat is looking almost like new. But with the brows gone, it looks a little stark and really does need something to dress it up again.

So we decided that a nice matching teal strip would be just the little something the project needed. The stripe was added in the exact same place that the teak brows had occupied before. It really is a nice touch.

The aft end of the cabin got the same treatment and soon we were getting lots of compliments from our neighbors and folks walking the dock. Our neighbors might just be glad that all of the sanding and painting is finished.

We're really pleased with how all of this turned out and this does cut down on the amount of teak we have to maintain and the extra caulking needed on a regular basis. Not to mention the dozens of holes for water intrusion. Drop us a line in the comments section and let us know what you think.

The Flybridge Makeover That Never Ends

I know that after this post I will get some feedback, but not all positive. I have committed a major sin in the trawler society, but I am not sorry and offer no apologies. The interior of the flybridge is finished, the uppermost of the outside now has a fresh coat of paint and it all looks great. Now it's time to finish up and get the last two steps of this ongoing project finished so I can move on to other more pressing parts of the to-do list. The inside of the flybridge is now fiberglassed to the deck and there will be no removal possible, so it's only logical that the outside gets the same treatment.

 

We have been cursed with an excess of teak on this boat as well as our previous sailboat, Sea Trek. The teak looks beautiful and we got lots of positive comments on the boat's appearance, but keeping it up is not at all fun, and frankly, we would rather be doing other things. So if any of the teak can be eliminated without changing the aesthetics of the boat, we are all for it. Add to the problem that all of the screws holding the teak go through the cabin sides and decks, and you get lots of sources for water leaks. This is exactly what has happened with the teak brows attached to the cabin in various places. One choice is to remove it, re-bed the screws and re-attach it to eliminate the leaks. Removing it is very difficult without damaging the small strips so we chose the next best option. Get rid of it all together, if possible. The teak border around the lower outside of the flybridge was in such bad condition that we opted to not even attempt to varnish it anymore and just painted over it until we could finally reach this point. The one-inch brow was also on the elimination list. It had to be caulked to keep it from leaking, and the caulk always looked dirty. The narrow strip also made it a pain to varnish.

 

With the brow removed, all of the many screw holes were opened up with a countersink bit, filled, covered with small strips of fiberglass cloth and then fairing compound covered the whole area to eliminated uneven spots, voids and other irregularities in the gelcoat. A big surprise, once the brow was removed, was that there was a wide gap in the fiberglass under the strips. This all had to be re-glassed. Everything was sanded smooth with 150-grit sandpaper and our trusty orbital sander. The surface received three coats of AwlGrip 545 primer, each coat sanded with 220. Then three coats of AwlGrip Cloud White would be applied after the handrail sections were removed.

The bungs were removed and the screws extracted. The screws in the handrails were over 3 inches long. Keep in mind that we have already painted the white above this trim. It was important to be careful and not damage that new paint. The teak came off without too much effort, but some time was spent cleaning what was left of the old caulking that has been there since the boat was built.

With the wood removed and the caulking all cleaned off, the underlying fiberglass was sanded, all of the screw holes filled and the sides glassed to the deck just as we did with the interior of the flybridge. Rather than try and do all of this at one time, I did sections. Once the glassing was done and everything faired, three coats of gray 545 primer was applied. This strip was going to get a dark color, so the gray primer was a better choice.

This is a good example of what the surface looked like once the teak was removed. It was not a pretty sight and the gaps could vary from a fraction of an inch to an inch or more that would have to be filled and fiberglassed. The clean-up process alone was messy and time-consuming.

But little by little, things began to look better and the whole process moved forward, albeit at a slow pace sometimes. The reason I decided to do sections at a time, instead of just pulling everything off and tackling the whole thing at once, was my fear that I would have everything pulled apart and we would get one of our South Florida torrential downpours, creating lots of problem. Doing it in sections, I could at least get the section I opened up cleaned and sealed with some fiberglass in one day.

We try to keep the mess down as much as possible when working on paint and fiberglass and also try and keep as much as possible out of the environment. My Porter Cable orbital sander is easily attached to my shop vac and eliminates most of the dust involved with all of this sanding. And my neighbors in adjoining slips appreciate it too. The down side is that the vacuum has to be dragged around while I am sanding, but it's well worth it. The clean up and prep goes faster too.

Once the fiberglass work, priming and all of the other prep work was completed, and the surface was smooth and fair enough for painting, three coats of AwlGrip Teal was applied where the wood trim had been. This is the same teal color that we painted on the Boot Stripe during the spring commissioning. The overhang was painted with three coats of Cloud White. Any hardware that had been removed - antenna mounts, boat hook mounts - were re-bedded and re-installed. Things were really coming together.

The navigation lights, which were too tiny in my opinion, made of very old bronze with faded lenses, were also replaced. The new Aqua Signal lights are much larger and will be considerably more visible at night. We chose the white plastic rather than black to give a better contrast to the Teal stripe.

We also found a very nice set of wicker-type furniture at Lowe's that was a good size for the flybridge. It's an outdoor plastic material so it should hold up well in the marine environment, and the light weight won't put additional poundage up in the flybridge. We just love it when a plan comes together. Next step will be to remove the brows on the lower section of the cabin sides.

30 Year Old Boat Plumbing Replacement

Replacing the 30 year old copper plumbing in our fresh water system was on my Things-to-do-when-there-is nothing-else-and-I-have-lots-of-time list and I expected to get to it some time in the years to come. But as with all things boats, that was not to be. Our hot water began flowing ever so slowly out of all of the taps for no apparent reason. I disconnected some of the lines and attached a hose from the dock in an attempt to blow it out. I also took all of the faucets apart in case the blockage was there, but ALL of them? None of this helped so now the project shoots right to the top of my Need-to-do-it-now list.

The original plumbing had many different connections and was probably put in the boat as it was being built. Our problem was due to a build up of material in the copper pipe that by now had choked off the water flow almost completely. Taking it apart piece by piece to clear the obstructions was an option but not one I would consider. Some of the runs passed through places that would be totally inaccessible without pulling the boat apart. Replacement was now our best choice, and I had to decide what type of material the new pipes and connections would be. A lot of study and research was needed to be sure we chose the right material, did it right and did it right the first time. The last thing we wanted was plumbing failures once we started cruising. I had considered replacing everything with PVC since the copper was not only too expensive but too difficult to get into the needed sections of the boat to connect to the hot and cold water sides, make connections at the galley sink and to the two head sinks, including the shower. The PVC was quickly ruled out because of the concern for failure of the glued joints as a result of vibration. After much thought and feedback, I decided to use the PEX system with the 1/2 inch pipe and plastic push connections. I was concerned with this type of plumbing for a boat, but as a service tech for a large power and sailboat dealer in Texas, I knew many of the new boats were coming from the factory with PEX and we had not had any problems or failures. Additional feedback from other boat owners that also had PEX on board convinced me that this was indeed the way to go.

My first task was to layout the pipes and connections on paper so that I would have an idea of how much pipe I would need and how many of what connections it would take to replace the old system. Since some of the piping had to be routed differently, I couldn't just count what was there now. Adding to the problem was the section where flexible hose had been added by simply sliding it over the copper tubing and hose clamping it to fit in place. We have had these connections come loose and fill the bilge with fresh water.

There are a couple of options with the PEX tubing. You can use the blue for cold water and the red for hot water or opt to use white throughout. For simplicity and to save some on the expense, we decided to use the white throughout, since the plumbing on Beach House is not that complicated. I also decided to purchase the 100-foot roll instead of individual 10-foot pieces. Had we needed mostly straight runs, I probably would have used the 10-foot lengths.

The fittings are fairly expensive, but I did buy several more than I needed. This saved running back and forth if changes were needed as the installation progressed. I also bought a cutting tool for the pipe. It's important to cut the tubing square to insert it into the fitting. Some new faucets were planned for the galley and head sinks.

Each fitting comes with a small insert to stiffen the end of the tubing as it goes into the fitting. These fittings are important to keep all connections together and leak free. The tube is cut square then the fitting inserted before pressing the tubing into the fitting. Be sure and keep track of the inserts since it is easy to forget one. That means taking the fitting apart, something I had to do a couple of times.

The tubing will fit into the connectors at about an inch and a quarter, so when measuring, an additional 2 1/2 inches need to be added. It took a few runs before finally getting the hang of measuring for the length of the tubing plus the connectors, but it quickly becomes easy and the tubing is forgiving if the measurements are not exact.

The handy cutting tool makes all of this a quick project. If you have the luxury of being able to shut down your system and pull out all of the old plumbing, then by all means do it. Since we live aboard most of the time, doing without fresh water even for a day or so is a real inconvenience. The answer is to build the new system right along side the old one. I did the hot water first and when everything was in place, simply disconnected the old plumbing and reconnected the new. Then I could take my time removing the old copper pipe, which was no fun due to the pipe running through bulkheads and into places I have never accessed.

I chose the twist and lock push fitting for a couple of reasons. They were much less expensive than the SharkBite fittings and much easier to install than the crimp fittings, which require some very expensive tools to install. Putting the connections on is very easy to do if you follow directions. The fittings are threaded and have a blue line which tells you that the fitting is unlocked and the pipe can be inserted. If the blue line is not visible, the pipe won't seat, but by loosing the twist cap, the blue line becomes visible. With the insert in the tubing, push the pipe into the connector until it is as far as it will go - about an inch and a quarter. With the tubing fully inserted, the screw cap is tightened until it touches the body of the connector. The blue line will no longer be visible. That's it and the connection is tight and won't leak. The fitting can also be turned to any direction needed without concerns of breaking the seal.

The tubing will make some sweeping radius turns, but for the most part, will need 90 degree elbows, tee fittings and special connections for the sink faucets, hot water heater and fresh water pump. The tubing is rated for hot water according to the pressure on the system. We found it more than adequate for the boats hot water and pressure pump. The hot water in our system almost never exceeds 180 degrees, well within the rating for the PEX. Once all of the hot water side was finished, the change over took less than 30 minutes to switch for the hot water heater, galley sink, both head sinks and the shower in the forward head. The old plumbing was disconnected and the new PEX reconnected at the same time.

With the hot water side done, the old copper plumbing was removed over the next two days. Then the cold water side was started. The hot water heater needed 1/2 inch NPT to twist lock connectors and a few elbows to make the connections from the cold water inlet to the hot water outlet. The cold water side was much more involved than the hot water side. This would take a couple of days, but again, it was built along side the old plumbing so we had no interruption to our fresh water on the boat.

The same type of connectors on the water heater are needed to bring water to the three faucets on the boat. I decided to add valves so the water could be cut off if the faucet needs repair without shutting down the entire system. This is much the same as found in most homes. The valves are then connected to the faucet itself by a flexible hose designed for just this purpose. Two of these are installed in each head and the galley.

The final connection is to the fresh water pump itself. A special swivel fitting connects to the pump itself. We also have a charcoal filter on our water system that has to be connected. It all went much easier than expected and certainly much easier than many other projects. The entire process, installing the new plumbing and removing the old, took a total of about 20 hours. And that was taking my time and included breaks for head scratching. The results have been a major improvement and the water is flowing as expected once again.

While working on the plumbing, there was a few other modifications I wanted to make. The design of the galley sink on this boat has always been a matter of consternation. It's made to have an insert sit over the sink to give more counter space. But we don't use the insert and what it does is make a space where water sits and can't drain off into the sink. It's a poor design and we even considered replacing the sink with one that surface mounts on the counter. But finding one that is deep enough and a size that will fit has been impossible so a modification to the existing sink is in order. The answer is simply to fill in the space with decorative ceramic rope trim. The edges are taped off to keep everything clean and the ceramic is set in a latex grout. The grout also fills the space between the trim pieces.

The galley sink also gets a new single handle faucet. Susan didn't like the old double handle when cooking and washing dishes.

While we were at it, the wood behind the sink has been stained with water and no amount of sanding or varnish is going to make it look better. A row of bullnose ceramic tile to match the trim around the sink was perfect. The bottom edge of the tile was caulked using a silicone caulk to seal it and keep water from getting between the tile and the edge of the counter against the bulkhead. Then the tiles were grouted for a nice finished look. We used a bisque color for both and it goes well with the surrounding teak.

Susan is very happy with the results and that is the important part. It's amazing how much of a difference just a small project like this can make to brighten the galley up and correct what has been a nuisance up until now.

We didn't want to head to feel left out and the old faucet, which was probably original, was looking pretty shabby. So it now has a shiny new one. On to the next project.

The Gentlemans Guide to Passages South, By Bruce Van Sant

Now available.

We received an email from Bruce a week ago to let us know that he has the 10th Edition of his book out and that it would be available soon. Older copies have been offered on Ebay for as much as $800.00, which we find totally ridiculous. If anyone is looking to purchase the new 10th Edition, you can get it here for $29.95. This will be his absolutely last update. Bruce's website can be found here.




The 10th and last Edition of the popular directions for sailing south
to the Bahamas and the Caribbean

For more than twenty years Van Sant repeatedly surveyed nearly 200 anchorages between Florida and South America. He racked up well over 80,000 sea miles doing it, mostly single-handed. Why? You’ll find some interesting answers in his book of stories, Margarita Cat, but essentially, he did it because he liked doing it.

Sailing up and down the chain of islands so much and so often, he got to looking for shorter and easier ways to navigate between each link in the chain, and he kept refining detailed nav plans for every leg.

He has systematically taken the thorns out of the route they used to call the Thorny Path. For example, he exploits the calming effects on wind and sea which result from land cooling on each side of an inter-island passage. Applying his many methods, both sail and power can make safe, comfortable and pleasant progress even against normally impenetrable trade winds and seas.

Passages South offers an illustrated manual of instruction for specific passages and harbors down islands as well as a cruising guide for the Greater Antilles islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. It has sailed aboard tens of thousands of boats passaging between the Americas. It should sail with you too.
About the Author During his 40 years of cruising the world, Van Sant worked as a consultant systems engineer as well as weriting and speaking in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, picking up six languages along the way. He settled into cruising the myriad islands between Florida and South America. Read more about his adventures in his book MARGARITA CAT.

Available at www.ThornlessPath.com and nautical outlets