Bottom paint & last preparations for launching

May 13, 2020 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I keep using Hempel Mile Light, it gave me very little fouling last two seasons so I stick to it this year, too.

Taping, painting and then cleaning afterwards took me 2 hours.

I attended few other small jobs, one of them was adding rubber seals on front hatch - something I kept forgetting since long.

This hatch is made to be resistant to rain water - having channels on sides to remove it - but upon splashes with big amount of water on deck it allows some inside, causing unwanted shower in fo’c’s’le.

With seals in place closed hatch is tight.

Before I decide fate of cockpit hatch - it got a seal, too.

So we are ready for launch!

Paying seams

May 12, 2020 by Lukasz Kumanowski

It’s raining and snowing last two days so it did felt OK to remove plastic cover on Meritaten’s bottom.

Even though she was covered there appeared few hair-gaps between planks. I paid them with Farm 100 tonight, to minimise drama during launch on Friday.

All of them are on port side, back part.
My way of finding them is by putting strong light inside the boat and looking closely from the outside, best done after dark.
I apply Farm only on the surface, not squeezing it into joints. This bitumen-based goo will harden after 1 or 2 years so I don’t want to have it between planks - it would deform wood during swelling, leading to bigger problems with time. The other way of doing it is to apply paper tape. It serves the same purpose: allows more time for timber to swell while limiting water ingress so that bilge pump can cope with it.

Meritaten hardly leaks during launch but anyway it is a stressful moment every year.

Outside my boat hall there is another wooden boat, built with pine or lark. She stands there without cover, exposed to wind and Sun. I looked closely tonight on her bottom and freeboard. Pity for her - such careless handling is causing the hull to crack and open. It will certainly swell back few hours after launching but stress on mechanical fastenings is huge!

Her freeboard also split on few planks - not uncommon on pine boats which were glued and then exposed to too much weather. This usually does not happen to hardwood-built boats like Meritaten. Mahogany withstands such abuse much better. The owner repaired the split with pieces of pine, covered probably in epoxy.

Back to my boat I removed all unnecessary clutter accumulated during the winter and prepared everything for antifouling painting tomorrow. Loaded heavy items aboard - anchors, sails etc. It’s easier now than after launching - my new summer harbour does not have side access to the boat. Loading stuff from front is always more troublesome.

I wanted to change piano-hinge on cockpit locker into heavy-duty hinges from Toplicht but after dry-fit I don’t like the look.

Not only they look too massive but they will also be a problem every time I need to varnish the cockpit. I will probably go back to piano hinge.

Winches, ceiling, engine waking-up

May 11, 2020 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Closing my checklist of jobs needed for launching.

I started with waking up Yanmar-san, after it’s winter sleep. It didn’t like it but after some hesitation it started and kept running until 25 litres of water went through cooling system, removing glycol from secondary cooling circuit.

That reminds me that using engine’s sea-water pump as emergency bilge pump is on my TO-DO list. The only thing needed is a piece of pipe and T-joint with valve. In case one needs to remove the Ocean from inside the boat the valve is switched into second position and engine is sucking water from the bilge, instead of taking it from outside. It took just a few minutes for my small engine to suck-out 25 litres of water!

While being on the engine I replaced sacrificial anode from propeller axle. It costs no money so I do it every year.

Mechanical log’s propeller, after painting with antifouling paint, is installed back on place. Cable greasing did not help much - log rotates with substantial and uneven resistance. I will have to replace the whole cable, including it’s housing.

Examining the hull from bottom revealed few opened seams - dry spring and the result of waiting too long with launching affected the wood. I could see light from inside the boat.

I need to fix that, to avoid drama during launching.

Next came winch mounting. After careful measurements I drilled holes for thick, silicon-bronze screws which shall hold winches on their new shelves.

Taking Börje’s advice I doped screws in linseed oil and secured holes with Ettan.

Treated with Selden’s grease the winches were assembled back and look as if the boat was born with them.

Last job on deck was to seal and secure chimney of POD heater. As much as I don’t like Sika I had to use it here - Ettan will melt instantly once the chimney gets hot.

The last job for tonight was to mount renovated ceiling in fo’c’s’le. That was a real puzzle: to match planks with existing screw holes. It took me a while but finally it is done.

Remaining tasks for the next visit:

antifouling
Farm 100 onto opened seams
… and we are launching!

Catching-up for launching

May 10, 2020 by Lukasz Kumanowski

I’ve finally recovered after two weeks of illness so I rush with preparations for launching of Meritaten.
It will be 2 weeks later than usual - launch is booked for 15 May.

During last week I removed tarp and halogen lights flooding the deck. Mounted life-lines and cleaned the boat inside.
I finally mounted ceiling in pilot berth.

Remaining mahogany stock which I kept above the boat had to be moved to my place. I chose calm evening, with no wind and hardly any traffic to avoid problems with floppy and oversized load.

What is good in this year’s delayed launch is that we are now moving to a house close to the boatyard. I finally have my own workshop and proper wood-racks which can accommodate 6m long planks.
Would we not move I would have to cut these planks to fit them in my old storage - but that would be a pity. As Jim said: their value is in their length. I keep them for future boat building!

Saturday was chilly but sunny and dry - perfect day for varnishing. I did cockpit and front hatch with Epifanes and tried Owatrol on Sampson post.

Today weather has deteriorated so I was glad that all varnishing is done already. Cockpit is still not cured so I had to move cautiously around varnished surfaces and wait with installing hardware.

I screwed back most of deck hardware and applied Farm100 onto keel plank-stern post joint where I suspect leakage. Mechanical log is greased with Selden marine grease. Maybe it will make it work again.

Engine and log propellers treated with first layer of antifouling.

Electrical system is up again and bilge pumps are installed.

She is now ready for final steps before launching:

antifouling
engine re-start after winter sleep
mechanical log - finalise installation
chimney - sealing deck interface
changing sacrificial anode on engine shaft

Otherwise all is ready - with some small details to be done but not critical for launch.

Cockpit & superstructures varnish - preparations

April 26, 2020 by Lukasz Kumanowski

Early morning was I on place, with a plan to varnish cockpit and deck hatch.

I inspected my “masterpiece” varnishing on port side. Now when it hardened it does not look that bad. There are sags in one area, a few more here and there but no “vacations” anywhere. Which means that main purpose of varnishing is reached - protecting wood. That it became not perfect aesthetically - well, I’ll correct it next year anyway.

After some more scratching my head and looking at all angles I finally decided that this will do this year. I disassembled temporary platforms around the boat and decided moving on to remaining jobs before we launch Meritaten.

Started with taping all areas around elements to be varnished. Taping takes always long time but in this case it proved to be good: while doing it I noticed that it started to rain and snow. Well, so much for varnishing today - it’s too humid to risk this job.

At least I’m done with the boring part: taping.

Before leaving I sprinkled water in Meritaten’s plastic tent - to keep her hull from drying - and drove home.

I need to book launching soon.

Jobs remaining for launch:

cockpit and deck hatch varnish (can be done on water but easier on land)
mechanical log greasing and assembly
putting Ettan into keel-stern post gap (this is where I suspect water seeps in during the season)
antifouling
putting back life lines on deck (can be done on water but easier on land)
sealing & mounting deck hardware (can be done on water but easier on land)
cabin vacuuming
mounting ceiling planks on pilot berth & fo’c’s’le (can be done on water)
water-pump impeller check/change and engine test-start (can be done on water)
oil change in gearbox (easier done on water)
new hinges on cockpit hatch (can be done on water)