Chainplates

Chainplates

November 2018

We have known for some time that our chainplates are leaking.  Not gushing or dripping but leaking.  We could see water damage on the wood trim.  PULL AND INSPECT CHAINPLATES has been on our TO DO list for some time.  But it is an intimidating project. 

Chainplates are what hold up the rigging on a boat.  They are attached to the hull by various methods.  On some boats, they are hard to access and inspect.  We can see ours from above and below.  This is a good thing.  Thank you Caliber.  The only part we can’t see is the part that goes through the deck and the part against the bulkhead.  But despite being easy to see and access, it is still a daunting project. 

One out, on the far right is the next one in line

But we HAD to do it.  Tom marked the forward, port side wire stay tension with tape and then undid the forward port chainplate.  Next he loosened all the bolts below, inside the boat.  It didn’t pull right out.  That is probably a good thing.  Tom had to work at it but finally got it out.  It had surface rust and pitting but nothing too bad.  Tom worked at cleaning up the hole and I worked at cleaning up the chainplate itself.  Longtime cruisers Mark and Bruce both took a look at it.  Mark = “I would put that back in my boat, no worries.”  “ Me too” said Bruce.  Mark went further “If this was a race car I would put that back in.”  He used to work on race cars.   Bruce added “If this were my plane, I would put that back in.”  He used to fly.  No worries.  Okay.   

Chainplates

Tom ordered and brought down butyl tape in preparation of tackling this project.  It is like really sticky Play-dough that is smoothed out into tape.  Tom put several wraps around the chainplate and then re-inserted it back into the deck.  The butyl tape smashes down and smooches into all the places it needs to stick.  Tom then screwed down all the deck bolts and ones below as well.  This took some doing with a big bunch of mashed up butyl but that is the idea. 

Butyl tape

Then he did the did the forward starboard chainplate.  Same sequence.  Again, minimal surface rust and a tiny bit of pitting.  Nothing serious and NO cracks.  Cracks are bad, very bad.  Cheers to Caliber as these chainplates are well designed to hold up.  Beefy suckers.  In visiting with other cruising friends with similar age or older boats, nearly all have pulled their chainplates.  Some had to replace one or two.  A few people have re-bed theirs a couple of different times to keep the water out.  At least one Caliber owner and I suspect two (engineers who have to be working on SOMETHING on their boats) decided to replace all when one was a little suspect.  Okay – to each their own.  We were pleased at the condition of ours once we got into it and understood. 

We continued along, pulling chainplates, inspecting, cleaning up and re-bedding.  It usually took one day for each one.  Throw in some rain for added fun and we took nearly a week to complete.

See the grey butyl tape

See the grey butyl tape

On the aft chainplates on each side we did find a itty-bitty bit of wood rot in between the fiberglass.  I thumb nail size amount.  Tom dug it out and then filled it back in with epoxy.  Good as new. 

The white is the epoxy

It was comforting to know we had checked all the chainplates completely and re-bed them when on our first passage of this season we were pounding to windward.  Interestingly, the boat even sounded a tad different below during that sail.  It was probably in my head but it was a good feeling to have this checked off our list.    

Raising the Waterline

Waterline raised

Sailboats are pretty.  Think about it.  They are often used as scenery in movies, pictures, calendars, condo and resort properties and event spaces like weddings…..”Our daughter got married at The Cotillion Ballroom near the marina with all the sailboats in the background.”  When searching for your own sailboat, looks is an important factor.  Is she appealing to the eye?  To that specifically, many naval architects and boat builders put stripes on the side of the boat.  Usually one at the top, just under the toe rail and then a few near the waterline.  On sv Honey Ryder we have that exact configuration:  one 2 inch green stripe under our toe rail and then three at the waterline.  Along the waterline it goes -  bottom paint, 1 inch break of gel coat, 2 inch green stripe, break of 1 inch gel coat and then another 2 inch green stripe which ends up looking like 6 stripes total of green and ivory. 

The striping is eye catching but a pain in the ass.  Well, not all of it, but bottom 1 inch stripe of ivory gel coat.  It ends up dirty / gross because it is exposed to the water through wind, swell, current and such at anchor and while sailing.  The slime happens because it is straight gel coat, no bottom paint. 

During the season we try to keep the bottom clean on a regular basis by scrubbing it lightly with a nylon scour pad or plastic scraper to keep any growth from becoming permanent.  This troublesome 1 inches of gel coat takes extra attention and time.  Consequently, it looks like hell come mid to late season. 

I had finally had it.  “Why don’t we raise the waterline?  Get rid of this 1 inch gel coat stripe all together.  Bingo!  Problem solved." Tom agreed.  When we hauled out this hurricane season to do the bottom, that is exactly what we did, raised the waterline. 

For you non-boaters, raising the waterline simply means you move the edge / line of the bottom paint up.  We painted over the 1 inch gel coat strip and now it is bottom paint.  This is usually only done when a boat is overloaded and thus sits lower in the water, causing the natural waterline to be higher than the intended one.  This is NOT the case on sv Honey Ryder.  While at times it seems like we have too much stuff inside the boat, our waterline was not stressing.  In fact, when she sits in the water in flat, calm conditions, we don’t even come close to the top to the waterline.  However, most anchorages have a little wave action of some sort.  We rock side to side at anchor. 

Moving the waterline up is not hard but not as simple as slapping some paint on there.  The new waterline had to be taped off.  Given it would now come up to the 2 inch green stripe, it had to be tapped off very carefully aka exact.  Anything EXACT is done by Cap10 Tom.  He is Mr Exact.  I am NOT Mrs Exact.  Then the gel coat had to be super clean with acid to remove any and all dirt and such.  Then it was lightly sanded to open up the gel coat surface so it would except the epoxy primer and bottom paint, then finally wiped down to remove the sanding bits. 

When we rolled the bottom, this new area was included.  On the starboard side, it splits two thru hulls exactly in half.  That was a bit odd but we taped those off at exactly the halfway and it looks fine. 

In fact, the whole thing looks great.  We should have done this from the start.  The remaining stripes are still eye catching.  The only difference is there isn’t a dirty, slimy gel coat strip any longer.  Very happy with the results. 

As I look around at other cruising boats, it seems nearly all have the decorative configuration we had and all of their gel coat stripes are filthy like ours used to be.  I have to wonder what the builders were thinking.  Obviously, they never had to keep their boats clean for a whole season in the tropics.  Grrrrr.  And I wonder why more cruisers haven’t raised their waterline to eliminate this?  I have spotted a few boats that have.  They seem to be world cruisers who have made extensive changes to their boats based on thousands and thousands of tried and true sea miles.  Hum?  I wonder what else we can learn from looking closer at these hardy, experienced boats?

Life On The Hard 2017 - Yard Life

Peter and Reinhardt confer 

Dec 2017

We are less than 25 yards away from the water and yet, a world away.  Life on the hard is so totally different.  People in the yard don’t even socialize much with people in the water.  I am not sure why other than being on the hard usually means BIG tasks, chores, projects.  Everyone is focused.  There is socializing but a different type. 

Like other cruising social situations, on the hard, we meet easily and quickly become acquainted and even fast friends.  It is a situational thing.  They are hammering away, scraping, sanding, covered in sweat and so are we.  Misery loves company perhaps. 

Richard and Estelle

But there is also support.  “Do you have a palm sander?”  “Can I borrow your caulking gun?”  “Are you still using the scaffolding?”  “Let me help you carry the scaffolding to your boat.”  Traditional pink and blue roles usually fade away.  Everyone sands, everyone waxes, everyone varnishes….well not me.  I am not detailed enough so Tom does our brightwork but in general, everyone works.  The young French Canadian couple next to us, she was running the electric saw and sander as she was re-building their interior while he sanded and painted the bottom.   Pink and blue be damned.

sv Traquillo getting ready to go in

Now I say everyone, however, some people hire out different chores while on the on the hard.  Labor prices in Trinidad are good so many people hire out the bottom sanding and painting.  Same hire the  compounding and waxing.  Some projects require expertise like painting the boat or welding.  Others hire help but work along side.  We did this with Steve.  He helped us sand, compound and wax the sides since we had the oil spill stains to deal with.  However, later in the week I insisted we put a different coat of finishing wax on so Tom and I did that by ourselves.  All the other work, we did.  At this point we prefer to do the work ourselves so we know what is what.

The Brazilians going in

There is another type of support on the hard.  Moral support.  As I stated, we quickly get to know our fellow yard cats.  We encourage one another disipite language barriers.  “Wow, looking good.”  “You are really making progress.”  “Well at least you got all the blisters sanded, the rest is a piece of cake.”  Sometimes a stroll around the yard helps clear your head, ease your muscles and gives you renewed hope.  Nicknames develop.  Our German friend Peter had been on the hard much longer than us.  He knew everyone in the yard.  He gave us the lowdown on everyone.  He called the young Canadians Fire Flies because they worked into the night using headlamps that gave them the appearance of Fire Flies.  Cute!  His German friend was getting a lot of work done before launching.  The other German had massive blisters and decided to peel and then have it re-gel coated.  Luka the Italian got his boat painted. The Dutch guy was doing a mini re-fit.  The New Zealand boat is for sale and thus painted as well but they will sail it until it sells.  The Brazilian boat was welding up a storm for weeks while a crew member sewed new cushion covers by the pool.  They would be launching soon.  And so on and so forth.  

The Brazilians headed for SPLASH

When someone was launched we all celebrated with them, congratulating them.  When the travel lift fires up, it is loud.  Everyone looks to see who is going in.  “You’re going in?  Terrific.  Cheers to you.”  We all do the same routine.  The travel lift picks you up and slowly makes its way to the water.  The captain and crew walk along behind taking pictures and video of the exciting day.  We all give them a thumbs up and Okay signs as they pass.  Once in the water, the crew will come get their final bits and pieces from where the boat was on the hard and then they are gone.  I don’t mean sailed off gone, although sometimes they do.  I mean, they don’t come back to the yard or rarely.  Instead they keep to the docks and walkways.  It’s just how it is.