BeBop Around The World

BeBop has been sold......

2006-11-19T02:34:00.000-05:00

I know a good many people followed the auction I had on Ebay to sell BeBop. I just accepted a offline offer that I felt was very reasonable. After the 10% down payment was verified, I have ended the auction early. Working under the assumption that he is a honorable man, I will transfer the title to him in the near future after full payment has been made.

In the next week or two, assuming all goes as planned, my part of this story ends and with a bit of luck the new owner.....who wants to take her on a trans-pacific voyage....just might put up more entries and continue posting about BeBop here at this site. He seems to like the idea of continuing the story. I know you guys and gals would love to follow what happens with her even though the part I played in the story is comming to a close. Perhaps if you give him some words of encouragement, we can get him to continue writing about the voyages of BeBop.

Personally, I still feel like I just sold off a vital part of me. I spent a year of my life rebuilding her, but at least it seems at the moment she'll carry on without me, under the care of a new captain that has more sailing experience than I do. I will never forget her and all that has happened.

It might take until the beginning of the new year before more information is forthcoming about the new owner and what he wishes to do with BeBop, so have some patience, and we'll all see what happens next in the story. Another up date will follow.

Until next time...Fair Winds......

The BeBop Finale......

2006-10-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long delay in getting my next post up, all will be explained. Lets start with the planned 3 to 4 day trip that Rich and I took.

Thursday after spending the better part of the morning getting gear ready and moving it onboard BeBop we slipped the lines about 2pm and started the 2 hour trek down the intercoastal waterway to the gulf with the tide. The wind was blowing a nice, 15 knots or so. No big deal and it was decided if the Gulf looked too ruff to go out we would just anchor behind Shell Island hang out with the live aboards there and check things out in the morning. As it turned out the Gulf looked real nice (waves under a foot) so I decided to head out anyway.

It took another hour to clear the last channel marker and we started heading NW about 5pm. Here's a picture of it. If you look close you can see the last channel markers, engine in the up position and Half Note being towed while we are making about 3.8 knots. She was a little close and about 15 minutes after this was taken we let some more tow line out.

Before I forget here is a nifty idea for mounting your depth sounder if you don't want to cut a hole in your bulkhead. It's a mini washboard that I made out of spare lexan. ^_^ If you ever buy more instruments it can be modified to add them easily too. Store when not needed. Ok getting back on track...

As the afternoon turned into evening and the sun began to set, the seas and wind were picking up. The plan was to get 20 or 30 miles offshore then come in the next day pretending that we had to find the pass (Hurricane Pass) out of sight of land but during daylight. Well, as the wind picked up around 20 knots or so and the seas built to 5 feet after dark, I decided to take a more northerly course that would parallel the coast between 8 and 10 miles....far enough that you can see taller buildings but not the beach and should make for a better night as the weather report was 7+ foot seas. Nothing BeBop can't handle but why beat yourself up right? So I reefed down the main while the deck was easy to see just to be safer. Still banged my wrist pretty good though.

About this point Rich is getting very very sea sick. Like here's the bucket and go lie down sea sick. Effectively from this point on in the story assume I'm singlehanding unless I mention otherwise cause he's lying down and throwing up every hour or two. I was fine, even took time out to make some ramen with the autopilot holding course.

Another hour and the winds picked up a little more now to about 25knots and time to reef down the big 150 to working jib size. This is how I ran for the next 6 hours, under reefed main and jib in 5 foot seas. Little Half Note was bouncing around behind us but hanged tuff without issue. Should of put her on deck before we left but I wanted to make the tide. Lesson learned. So with food in me, Rich being sick down below and not much to look at with no other boats being around at night, I myself curled up in the cockpit horizontal to the companionway and cat napped for a couple hours getting up every 15mins or so and taking a look around. I felt totally safe the entire time (I did have my vest on with a line attached to the boat) and very little water was coming into the cockpit over the bow thanks in large part to her design and the dodger. The GPS said we were making great time (for a Nomad) doing about 4 knots on a beam reach.

Around 3am we had made a lot more northerly progress than I had planned on because we didn't go as far offshore as I wanted to. So with Rich still very very seasick, I made the decision to make for Hurricane Pass in the dark. This wasn't done lightly as the pass is not lit at night and is very narrow. Leave the pass, smack a sandbar on one side the beach on the other. The pass runs that close to shore. Easy right? Well I booted up the laptop to use since it had the charts on it, furled the jib, doused the main (banging my wrist some more on a now bucking deck) and headed straight into the wind under engine power making 5 knots for the pass at full throttle. Remember the part in the movie "The Hunt for Red October" where they went though that underwater pass? That's what was going on in my head since you really really don't wanna miss this channel. I got lucky and the charts were accurate and we got in safely. (good thing as I can't see well at night) As we made the pass and boat quit rocking around Rich the zombie turned back into Rich the sailor and was able to help me drop anchor just off the channel in about 4 feet of water. There we went to sleep until about 9am.

After some needed sleep and morning coffee we upped anchor and got underway. With Rich still not doing so great, it was either go through drawbridge after drawbridge down the intercoastal back to port or go back into the Gulf with it being faster. I chose the Gulf but we stayed a lot closer to shore since the seas would be better. Rich still found that too much to take and ended up lying down for the entire trip until we got back into the intercoastal again, poor guy. Going back the wind all but died and I basically motored all the way back to port with not enough wind to move BeBop at more than a knot.

Now, for the not so great stuff.

Lets start with Rich, who had his own plans to buy a boat and go sailing. Well, 3 times out 3 times seasick each time in nothing more than one foot seas and he's calling it quits. Didn't used to be that way but he's got medical problems that seem to be the issue. He used to go offshore with his family and their boat all the time a couple of years back. Crazy guy once took a Hobie 16 into the Gulf during 10 foot seas cause he wanted to go sailing so bad. I know the details of his medical issues and I can't blame him. I'd do the same.

Now for me...

This is for all intents and purposes the end of what's become known to everybody simply as the "BeBop Project."

I've been depressed about it for the past two weeks and not just my normal melancholy with the pointless of life and everything.

It's a devastating realization after having two years of unusual clarity as to the direction I wanted my life to go.

The last two times I took BeBop out, the boat was a lot tuffer than I was. In fact is tuffer than me by a good margin. For my long time readers you will probably recall about every other entry I ended it about being in pain of some sort or another. Neck, Wrist etc. I never gave it much thought cause after working on BeBop I could clean up, walk into the house, pour drink after drink until the pain went away. Not a option when your bouncing around offshore, your stuck with it day after day and perhaps in my excitement to get her finished and floating it never crossed my mind. It did for my friend Brolly (who has seen my xrays) but I wouldn't hear of it and pushed on with the project being excited about it.

It's like this. I have this love affair with motorcycles and I've wrecked 3 of them because of it. The last one nearly killed me and the thought crossed my mind as I left the road and went 300 feet down the cliff that I was a dead man. I woke in the ER with two broken wrists, a shoulder, knee, nose, a concussion, 5 broken teeth that had to be extracted and neck and back trauma even though I had full gear on. I thought I would recover just like I would from the first two accidents but would take a little bit longer. 1 year on disability, pins in my wrists and daily pain told me otherwise. 4 years later it's still something I deal with. What you don't know is for the past 2 years whenever I'm in front of a computer I wear a brace on my right wrist. More recently it's gotten worse and I wear it about half the time now no matter what I do. Doctors say the pins looks great and the pain and loss of motion is just something I have to deal with.

But I have to be honest with myself, it's not something I can push through everyday for the years it takes to sail a small boat around the world. You can't just pull over and stop like you can during a road trip if things get bad.

I waited too long to live the dream and it's passed me up. I should of done it years ago like I wanted, but I was too stupid to realize you didn't need a million bucks with a new boat with the XYZ wonder part complete with kung fu grip. Heh, I try and be funny and to pick up my mood but it falls flat doesn't it? As they say it's "not the years, it's the mileage."

Now, BeBop is complete, best I could make her, with all the heart I have. Best Nomad in all of north america if I say so myself. Ready for the trip around the world. But sadly her Captain isn't.

I can't afford the crazy costs associated with keeping a boat in a slip for a long time. Perhaps if I could afford the $1,000 a month for 10 minute gulf access I would keep her but obviously I can't. So much as it breaks my heart, I'm listing her up for sale, effective immediately for $9,500. Complete with all her gear, the nesting dinghy half note, solar panels etc...all of it ready to take someone on a dream trip.

Perhaps after I lift my chin back up and feel like facing the world again I'll build a little boat to play with, a Birdwatcher II or something that I can put in and out of the water easily on a trailer. But not for now, it would be too painful. If your interested in taking over where I left off, email me at sailboat.bebop@gmail.com She's so ready all you'd have to do is show up with your personal effects, food and leave. Makes me sick to my stomach, but I've had two weeks to think about it.

Now for some thank you's.....

Rich, I couldn't of done it without your help. Sanding on the hull, helping install the ports, figuring out the wiring issues and providing motivation on those days when things weren't going right. You set new standards to what friendship means.

Hawkeye, for all the wisdom you gave me, for being so funny, how to do things on a sailboat, and the gear you gave me to outfit BeBop with. It's staying with her where ever she might roam.

Brolly, for taking time off from work to help put her in the water, putting up the mast and taking her to port the first time

Geert, from Belgium for being a funny guy and another Nomad owner just beginning his refit, I'll be happy to give any advice I can to you..all you need do is ask.

Gator, just fun talking to you back and forth via email this past year and allowing me to bounce ideas off you. I'm sure you'll go far with whatever boat you end up buying. Still like to meet you in person one day.

Everybody else, and there are a lot of you, I would like to say thank you. Thanks to the gentleman who gave a small donation, thanks to the guy from Brazil just for saying hi, the woman in the cubicle for taking time out of her life to read my website. All of you, you know who you are, Thank you and I'm sorry that I find myself unable to continue.

As for the website, I plan on keeping it up for now working on the assumption it doesn't get slammed with negative comments. I feel it would be a nice pool of knowledge to pull from about how to refit a boat on the cheap, Nomad or otherwise. I don't consider any of this a waste of time. I learned so much, from knowing nothing about fiberglass to being a expert with the stuff all the way to my writing skills. I look at the early posts and just sorta cringe.

As for me, well....seems since I'm not going anywhere, I'll be looking to cause chaos in the ranks of the corporate slave masters since I'm a computer guy. Something I'm not happy about. But one does what one has to do. I'd rather get a job doing something beneficial to mankind, save the animals or environment or something, but that doesn't seem to pay the bills even if it makes you feel good about yourself. Just living day by day right now, like you, doing the best I can in this matrix of life.

One last picture to share in closing, with tears in my eyes, a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico from the deck of my tuff little BeBop.

Thank you all, where ever you might be around our small blue world and of course Fair Winds.....

The BeBop Electric Light Company......

2006-10-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

It's been a great week here working on BeBop. All the bits and pieces I needed to install the solar panels and charge controller arrived one box at a time and work began early Friday. By Sunday it was all installed and working fantastic. It's a weird feeling being essentially your own electric company. Yessire, I now have 86 watts of solar powered goodness to recharge my twin deep cycle batteries with a total capacity of 180 amps. In a emergency I have a additional unmounted 5 watt panel and the outboard can recharge a tiny bit too. I just might have the smallest electric company in all the world eh? ^_^

First thing Friday was to fabricate the additional aluminum framework so that I had something to attach the universal stainless steel mounting brackets to. I picked up 2 pieces of square aluminum from Lowe's for this. Looking back at it I should of tried the marine salvage yard first and I might of been able to save some needed money but I knew they had what I needed. Anyway, I used a chopsaw to cut them to the proper length and hand filed the ends clean. A drill press was used to make the holes and the hardware used is stainless. I coated the hardware with anti seize compound to help prevent galvanic corrosion because we are mixing metals here. Here is a picture of the front of one panel and the fabrication work on the back of the 2nd completed. It took about 5 hours to complete both of them. I'm pretty proud of this work, you can't tell it didn't come out of the box this way. You can also see I was trying to charge the panel on the left with the camera flash. I was unsuccessful in getting Rich to hold both the positive and negative terminals on his tongue to see what would happen lol.

This next one is a close up of the box located on the under side of the panel(s). Normally I wouldn't show such a thing but Rich commented on the fact he was unable to locate a picture like this while investigating the mysteries of solar goodness. Therefore I'm putting it up in case anybody wants to see what it looks like. You can see the positive and negative connections, 10 gauge wire was used and zip ties fastened around them so you can't yank them out. 3M 5200 was used to seal the box where the wires come out. Ah reminds me....Lowes...the blood suckers...wanted .40 cents a foot for 10 gauge wire. Rich being quite clever, remembered that the jumper cables that the ghetto marine store....er....I mean Big Lots sells is 10 gauge with heavy insulation and they sell for 5 bucks each. I know it's not marine grade but I figure this is the next best thing and it should last at least a couple of years before I have to rewire it and it's still better than the stuff Lowes was trying to push off at highway robbery prices.

The batteries mounted overtop of the tiny little bilge located under the cockpit wired in parallel using the same 10 gauge jumper cable wire. The autoparts store wanted something crazy like 15 bucks for two feet of the stuff. The battery box tops are off for the photos and I will have them secured in the next day or two too.

The new bus box that everything runs through. It used to be wired directly to the batteries which was such a pain to deal with. I know it still looks like a wild nest of cables but this is a incredible improvement over how it used to work. I'll clean this up with some zip ties soon too.

This is the newly mounted charge controller next to the main switch panel. Yeah I know I need to label all the switches again and make it neater but if you look real close you can read the face on the controller and it's charging the batteries at about 2amps. (the sun was not at a optimal angle around 5pm.....maximum charge rate is about 4.9amps/hr) This baby is great. It will tell you how much power the panels are putting out, how much the battery is taking as a charge, the total amps input into the batteries over their lifetime, the power in amps currently being used onboard, the voltage of the batteries, the % of current charge and it has a built in diode to prevent the panels from discharging the batteries at night. I'm sure I'm forgetting some other things it does but it stops just short of making breakfast so I would say I'm rather impressed with it. Thumbs up from me.

Here is one of the two panels mounted on the stern push pit. I used the nylon line to add support to the single mounting point and it helps stabilize the panels nicely. I want to dig up some extra framing material used to build bimini's at Don's Salvage and add a 2nd support if I can come up with the extra cash. What I've done here works but stainless don't chafe through in heavy weather ya know. You can see how I routed the wired down the push pit. What you can't see is where I drilled a hole going into the cockpit locker and another leading into the bilge, two for each side. They were all sealed up tight using 5200 the next day after everything checked out ok. I will replace the nylon zip ties with riggers tape when I get some more as I ran out the day before, but I needed something to secure the wire with in the meantime while the 5200 sets.

We moved Bebop into a bow in position at the slip so we could keep the panels deployed (I can fold them down or even disconnect them in heavy weather) and the batteries charged. They would of hit the dock otherwise and I rather like it better this way since when your sitting in the cockpit your facing the water not the underside of the dock. You can see the finished lifelines now and the modified boom tent with broomsticks. It ain't that pretty to look at but it's working real nice now and it cost under 10 bucks total! I had a hard time getting a good overall picture of both panels mounted on the stern but you can see them. They look hardcore along with the safety netting and it drew a lot of comments from other people on the dock. I'm proud of how it all came together. I really need to add a big thanks here to Rich for doing the wiring work since it's something he's better at than I am. I must say that I learned a lot though.

I can't really describe just how cool it is to have the panels mounted and working perfectly. Before everytime I turned on a fan or a light all I could think of was how much quicker I was going to have to remove the batteries and charge them at the house again. Now the sun does it for me when I can't even be there. Plus when the batteries are at 100% like today, I can run the VHF (I like to monitor, might just learn something) and the fan directly off what the panels are kicking out without discharging the batteries at all. It's really like having your own electric company without the bill each month....sans the high installation fees. Think I'm going to call it a night now, kinda wrenched my neck drilling the holes in the cockpit lockers so I wanna go rest now.

Next week will be the first overnight offshore (learning) trip....exciting isn't it? ^_^ Until next time Fair Winds......

Still Outfitting BeBop......

2006-09-24T20:18:00.000-04:00

Update Sept 26, 8:54pm......

Like to put in a thank you to Tom for the donation. I used it to purchase a used book titled "Self-Steering for Sailing Craft" by John S. Letcher Jr. I'm hoping it will give me some good instruction on how to get BeBop to steer herself without a expensive wind vane or my power hungry autopilot.

As you can see from the new picture above I'm still working hard on getting BeBop ready to go. Much as I would of liked to get out and get some sailing in, due to circumstances, I haven't yet. :-/ Next week the plan is to get out for a 3 to 6 day sail and actually go somewhere, stay on the boat overnight, cook all meals onboard, use the pram to get back and forth to shore and so on. A full scale test of everything so to speak. Sorry guys, I know your expecting that I got out this weekend but now that I'm in the ranks of the unemployed, I'm on what I call "boat time" and things happen more slowly. ^_^

Moving on, here is the complete list of what's been done in the past two weeks since my last post.....

Spent a whole day hand sewing the main sail cover back together.
Hanked on the main and have the cover on now too. (see picture)
Finished sewing up the port locker netting and installed it.
Fabricated two lower battery mounts in the bilge area out of 2x4's.
Put up a poor man's boom tent
Purchased a small seat with a back support on it, makes a big difference.
Installed netting over the front hatch and companionway to keeps the bugs out.
Installed safety netting on the port side. Very salty looking.
Doing the starboard side this week but need another 2 yards of netting. (ordered)

You can also see in the new picture that I have a make shift boom tent up. The tarp was donated by the Captain of the sailboat next to BeBop, "Brick." It's working a lot better than the other hanging shade I was using. I want to add some wooden dowels or perhaps a couple of broom sticks to the tarp and that would change the pitch on it and give nice shade without coming down so far into the cockpit. The netting is a real pain to put on, but when I'm singlehanding I want as much as possible to grab if I slip. Screw the windage issue.

I got the trailer sold too, (woot!) so with that money I have been able to order up some needed additional gear......

2 matching 43 Watt Solar Panels
2 SS Mounting Brackets
10 amp Solar Charge Controller
Additional 90 amp Deep Cycle Battery
The much desired Handheld GPS!!
A single, fully waterproof chart of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
Courtesy flags for Mexico and Belize.
Still dreaming about that Wind Vane..but then I woke up.

To that I want to add a cruising guide to the Western Caribbean, and a cheap Davis Mark 3 sextant in case the GPS (and serial port backup) fails. I guess the flags gives away which direction I'm going to sail first. It's a logical choice, cold beer is cheaper in Mexico than the Bahamas lol. Really, it's because of the sailing characteristics of BeBop. It will be easier going west around Cuba than east on the thorny path. Should be a good deal cheaper too. I have my laptop with tons and tons of charts of nearly the entire Caribbean but getting the first physical chart and flags really gives the feeling of direction and a first goal. I was just thinking about it earlier today and there exists the possibility of Christmas in Mexico. Belize, is another very interesting country that most people have never heard of, where they speak English as a first language. I think there is a very good possibility for employment there as well, since Central America is about as far as my funds will allow me sail without stopping to work for a bit.

Like to add in here a big Thank You to the master sailor Hawkeye who again let me raid his sail locker and I came away with a couple of old sails including one very serviceable storm jib that fits BeBop perfect, a like new stainless steel camping cook set, 2 fishing rods and a tacklebox full of lures. Very very cool indeed and I thank you again!! For those of you interested in boat building please check out his blog and his boat, "Falcon." I must say I sanded this, painted that, fabricated a couple of things for BeBop and built a dinghy. Think I was being clever? He built a schooner from the hull up on the cheap. Humbling and I told him as much. Gotta respect that.

About those fishing rods, all I need now is somebody to show me how since I haven't done it since I was a kid. Hard to read a book and learn that stuff but sure it will all come together like everything else has.

In the last post comments there was a real nice discussion about another stove for BeBop. After doing some measurements, the hanging pail with a MSR Dragonfly idea still holds the most favor with me. Just have to find the money to buy the Dragonfly as they ain't cheap. I'll check the local used sporting good stores and see if they might have one. Might take a bit to get this project underway due to budget issues but I really need a back up to propane. I expect after I finish installing the solar panels this will be the next project.

Wish I had some more pictures for you guys but a lot of what I'm doing right now doesn't photograph well ya know. It's boring to me too in a way since I'd rather be sailing. My next entry should have the solar panels mounted and really, heh, honest this time, some sailing pictures. With the ability to recharge my batteries without taking them off the boat it gives me the ability to stay onboard overnight easily and get used to that.

Until next time.....Fair Winds.....

Outfitting BeBop......

2006-09-11T12:03:00.000-04:00

It's been about 2 weeks now since I put BeBop back in the water and the process of getting her ready to go cruising is well underway. It's amazing how much stuff you can (and have to) cram onboard. It's moving along slowly as I'm stuck shoreside except for weekend outings until I get the trailer sold to get the solar panel and another battery. None the less, I go down and work on her for a couple of hours 3 or 4 times a week while trying to help Rich get the house ready to be sold so he can buy his own boat. (payback and I have tons of free time now) I've put everything I need onboard for cooking except for the pots and pans cause I don't have any spares, sewed up and installed some netting over the port side lockers, took the wind cover off the stove cause it was just getting in the way, purchased a adjustable seat with a backrest, put a wooden folding table down below for eating, messing with the the laptop etc, got a sleeping bag and pillow too. I'm skipping lots of little things that I've forgotten about I'm sure. All in all I guess from the readers point of view this is all quite boring compared to launching her last week. You guys will have to bear with me for awhile I continue to do the outfitting and test voyaging until I really get underway.

My friends Hawkeye and Donny who are live aboards down in Sarasota dropped by to see BeBop in person for the first time yesterday too. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Eager to get a approval from people who have nearly as much time on the water as I have breathing air. With both of them in agreement that BeBop was ready to go cruising it really felt like it was really time to leave. The exception to this dramatic moment was Hawkeye's smart ass comment about having the smallest mast in the marina. (even if it's true) Everything else was cool. (it's ok man I forgive you lol ^_^) Least he didn't call my boat "cute" like the dockmaster did last week. (no respect, no respect at all I tell you)

Last weekend Rich and I took her out into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. This is the drawbridge that I have to through to get out to the Gulf of back to my slip. This first picture with the bridge open we didn't get there in time to go through and had to wait another 15 mins for a opening. Doesn't sound like much until your 10th circle or so.

BeBop going through the bridge....all those cars stoppin' for little ol' us. ^_^ It's good to be me hehehehe.

Florida appears to be a little weird in how you call the bridge tenders and request a opening. Everything I ever read says you call the bridge by it's name....such as "Pasadena Blvd Drawbridge" or perhaps just "Pasadena Drawbridge." Wrong. They call them structures around here. So in my case this bridge is "Structure C." Stupid imho cause there are more than one "Structure C" within radio distance but only one "Pasadena Drawbridge" right? Anyway, after figuring that out cause it's not listed anywhere, you request a opening on VHF Channel 9 say right after you pass the last channel marker heading towards the bridge. Something like "Structure C, Structure C, this is sailing vessel BeBop approaching from the north requesting a bridge opening, over" Then they call back and let you know when they are going to open the bridge for you. I call back to let them know BeBop is clear and to thank them. Another person in the world you do not want to get on the bad side off...like your cook or barber.

After getting through the bridge and out into the channel heading into the Gulf it was obvious the marine forecast was a bit..uh...."off." Instead of 1 to 2 foot seas we had 3 to 4 foot seas after passing the last channel marker and the wave interval was very very quick like 2 to 4 seconds so we got the crap beat outta us. Once we had the sails up, it was better but I don't think I would of like to try cooking down below while pounding into those seas. Larger seas with a greater wave interval would of made for a better day than short and choppy. Due to the seas and me still learning how she sails we didn't get much further out than about 3 or 4 miles for a couple of hours before we headed back into the channel and calmer waters. I really wanted to do more than that little bit out in the Gulf but it was too rough to have much fun. Also the wind was blowing directly out of the West onto the shore so it made getting out very hard. Going back to my slip this same wind that was so killer in the Gulf was great in the intercoastal waterway because it put us on a broad reach, so we motorsailed with the jib up. Sounds crazy but that was the best part of the whole day. On the positive side at no point did I ever worry about my safety. She's a tuff little boat. (notice I didn't say cute) Here is a picture of us coming back into the channel for the intercoastal, perhaps a mile offshore. Prior to this point it was too rough to get the camera out for photos.

This was calm by comparison to being out just a couple of more miles. Look at the compass to get the boat orientation. Now imagine bouncing from side to side like that and bow to stern for a couple of hours. A couple of hours was enough the first time out. The next day I had muscles aching that I didn't know I had.

That rough trip out into the gulf popped a rivet up on the spreaders that had to be repaired. I can't afford to buy a expensive boswains chair or self climber so I had to come up with a solution to get up the mast cheaply so I could repair the missing pop rivet. I got to thinking about the mast stairs system that you hoist up the mainsail track and how to build one. I ended up buying a 25 foot 4,000 pound test nylon tow strap, 20 feet of additional 4,000 pound test nylon and 10 3/8" sail slugs. The nylon cost about 15 bucks at harbor freight and the slugs $2.50 at masthead enterprises down the road. Rich did the totally tedious job of hand sewing it all together Saturday and Sunday and I swallowed my fear of heights late yesterday and up the mast I went to the spreaders to fix the rivet. I really didn't wanna have to climb the mast for another year or two as I just rigged the whole thing up. Here is the picture.

I was inserting the rivet into the gun during this picture. I was wearing a safety harness designed to keep me in the boat not for climbing but you go with what you got. We attached the spare haylard to it in case I slipped. Not likely since I was using my best death grip on the mast to avoid doing a "Stuka" onto the deck. Everytime Rich moved on the deck I was like "she's gonna roll over!! abandon ship, abandon ship!" lol. Rich still has to finish sewing on the rest of the foot straps for going higher than the spreader but that's not something I even wanna think about doing in the near future. I can see my career as a rigger over before it even started. I don't like heights at all. Strange for a person who loves aircraft, gliders and roller coasters eh?

Couple of more pictures here, nothing fantastic. You can see I have the sunshade up here and the bow piece of Half Note on deck in front of the dodger. It fits!! Getting her in place or deployed and assembled is going to be challenging though. I'm thinking unless I'm anchored out like a mile from land or plan on being somewhere for more than a week, I'll keep Half Note on deck and just use a cheap Walmart inflatable cause it's be much easier to deal with. Still need to build something to attach it to too. The shade is ok. Not the best solution but it does help quite a lot during midday. I still really want to get a full boom tent money permitting. Then I could leave the main companion way open and not worry about rain in all but the worst of downpours.

The last picture I just happened to like. Typical Florida afternoon. The storm building in the background, palm trees swaying. Paradise at the dock right? Truth is I was very tired after climbing the mast and sweating like crazy while doing the final little details before heading to the house for a well deserved Gin and Tonic. Can't wait for it to cool off just a little bit. But the more time you spend outside the better you get acclimated to the heat also. I have first hand experience with that when I was in Haiti and this will be no different. You just have to know for the first month you will be totally hating life. Then it's the new normal and you don't think about it.

Last thing, somebody commented in the last post about gear than I don't have but need so I'll list some of the stuff I'd like to have but don't in case somebody is like...."yeah man I just happen to have a Bristol Channel Cutter out back of the house and it's yours cause you look needy." lol

1. Self Steering Vane. If somebody had a small one that fit BeBop and donated it I would be moved to tears since I can't afford one (ever) and could really really use one.
2. Anything involving shore power, BeBop has nothing atm. I have a 30amp cable that I need to buy some connectors for and rig up a system but I could really use anything.
3. A real marine kerosene stove like a Taylor. Using a propane coleman stove at the moment. Stateside it should work fine but overseas propane is quite rare and the fittings are different for each country....and Kero doesn't explode if your having a bad day.
4. A 6x7 boom tent. The sun just tears you up down here tan or not.
5. A (very) small storm trysail and jib
6. A small sea drouge
7 USB or Handheld GPS. Currently running off a ancient AAA battery powered serial port GPS that takes like 10 minutes to get a fix if your lucky...on a perfectly clear day.
8 Another Catalina 22 mainsail. They fit BeBop great and mine is a bit iffy. I'd like to have a spare.
9 A sextant
10. See number one. If I could only get one item out of all the above it would be that and totally grateful to be sure.

I'm not doing too bad gear wise in all the other departments or I made something that works good. Got great ground tackle, tons and tons of spare line donated by Hawkeye enough bumpers and so on. The rest of the stuff is hard to cut the corners on. You just need the cash to buy it or a sewing machine capable of making it. (and mine doesn't do sailcoth or sumbrella well at all)

Hoping next weekend to get out into the Gulf again, get offshore for a bit and improve upon my basic sailing technique....which is rusty right now. Just need more practice, practice, practice. Until next time.....Fair Winds.

Success! (or BeBop is Born)

2006-08-28T00:07:00.000-04:00

Finally after 9 months of refit on the hard BeBop is floating peacefully at her slip. It's been a insane past 7 days and the next 3 are going to be a nail biter too with Hurricane Ernesto bearing down on Tampa Bay where I live. On Friday when I hauled in the storm was tracked 500 miles to the west of here. Go figure eh? We'll see if I still have a boat (and something to write about for that matter) in another 4 days.

Ok where to start...where to start....

Tuesday I was fired from my job of more than 2 years. I guess the best attendance in the dept and best performance record in the department don't mean squat when you refuse to kiss ass to your manager. It's no big deal and I totally saw it coming months ago. Being the contingency planner that you all know me to be.....I planned ahead hehehe. So for those of you still in the world of cubicle slavery, I'm doing just fine without the stress. I say quit and do what you want...It's very liberating. To my former manager whom will no doubt check my blog....Hey man!! Thanks for setting me free. ^_^ I'll still send you photos from all the cool places I travel to...While year after year you are still sitting in a windowless, colorless office working to make somebody else rich instead of enriching your own life.

After getting fired I spent the rest of the week doing the final preparation to launch BeBop. I tried to get Half Note ready for the trip but just didn't have quite enough time, so I decided to launch anyway without a dinghy available if need be. I'd have to swim to shore. Thursday all day was spent rigging up the mast and with Rich's help moving it onto BeBop into it's storage position for transport. I had the S$^& scared outta me too by a lighting strike that hit only one house away and set a palm tree on fire. It was so close that I felt the electricity pass through me. (wow) Lets do some before and after pictures.

Nine months ago the day I bought her.

This past Friday. Lot's of blood, sweat and tears.

The big launch day. You guys are going to have to forgive me now as I don't have nearly the number of photos that I wanted to due to the weather. Lack of a dinghy means no exterior pictures outside the ones taken from her slip. But it's ok...it will give me some more pictures to post in the future.

Friday early, Brolly a friend of Rich and I and long time follower of my blog volunteered to help launch BeBop. He came over at about 8:45 am and off we went to N.O.A. by the Gandy Bridge where I scheduled the haul in. At 6 bucks a foot it was cheaper by 50% than what I paid at Brunswick Landing Marina in Georgia to get her out. All was going well until they had just lifted BeBop off the trailer and a storm squall hit and left her on the travel lift for 15 minutes until it stopped. Sorry no pictures here..the camera was onboard the boat safe and dry. After hauling in when the rain slowed down to a drizzle we hopped onboard, checked the through hulls and once it was apparent we didn't have any leaks we motored about a mile down the channel and anchored in about 5 feet of water close to shore. There we spend the next 2 hours raising the mast while at anchor, tighting down the standing rigging and setting up the running rigging. Off in the distance we could see the next squall line comming in. We thought that we would have to sit it out inside but it remained calm long enough to get it up.

About noon we upped anchor and got underway via the kicker until we pasted the main channel marker for Tampa Bay and raised the Mainsail. No more than 5 minutes after that the storm squall hit us with 25 knot very gusty winds and lots of rain. The seas were pretty calm for the wind but one accidental jibe later it was apparent that sailing a monohull is way different than the hobie cats I'm used to. Brolly and Rich took turns going down below while I manned the helm. Here is a good picture of Brolly and I in the cockpit during the squall. Notice he's smiling while I'm trying like hell not to have another accidental jibe, run into something, balance the boat, hold a course and adjust the mainsail lol. It was raining very hard and we all got soaking wet. Take a note...foul weather gear is a very important piece of gear to have onboard.

After the squall passed and we could see where we were going again, Rich took the helm for a bit as well as Brolly and we made ok time through Tampa Bay with only one incident of a near accidental grounding. Tampa Bay is pretty big but shallow and even a mile or more from shore it can be less than 2 feet deep so even BeBop can't go into all areas around here. That was a minor scare with misreading the chart and in less than 5 minutes we found deep water again and continued on our way.

Rich at the helm.

Brolly at the bow.

After passing under a secondary span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which had a vertical clearance of 65 feet, we approached the first of two drawbridges that we had to go through on the way to BeBop's slip. On the approach I called on Channel 9 to the bridge tender with no answer twice on the VHF. As I started to do a ring around the rosie maneuver and signal with the horn, I throttled back the outboard to idle speed and it quit running! It was quickly apparent that there was about a 6 knot current dragging us towards the bridge and BeBop's doom. I quickly told Rich to deploy the dansforth on the bow while I tried like hell to get the engine to start again. Rich got the anchor deployed just as we were about to smash into the bridge pilings. As soon as he felt the anchor dig in he started yanking on the anchor rode trying to keep BeBop from hitting. We just caught the outboard which was knocked sideways by the piling. Another inch and the engine and mount would of been gone. Close, too close. It later turned out that my VHF handheld couldn't transmit and the main VHF couldn't receive. The outboard was also later discovered to not idle while in gear. How messed up is all that? Using one radio to transmit and the other to receive we navigated the second drawbridge without incident and arrived at BeBop's new slip about 50 miles, 1 storm, 1 near grounding, 1 near sinking (and heart attack) later. Here is a before and after shot. The first is just before haul out in Georgia 9 months ago.

At her slip Saturday afternoon.

Another shot.

As you can see it's been a rather exicting week here. I'm falling asleep as I'm writing this so I hope it all makes some sense. I'd like to say once again sorry for the lack of pictures like going through a drawbridge etc but me and the crew were just too busy to get to it. No worries there will be plenty of pictures to come in the future.

This about wraps up Phase I of the project. Starting with the next entry I'll be into Phase II which includes getting the trailer sold so I can put something resembling a power grid onboard, learning how to sail a monohull vs a hobie cat and some overnight voyages to get used to her underway and develop some new skills. Stick around. Still plenty to do. Until next time...Fair Winds....

T-Minus 5..4..3..2..1......

2006-08-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe it's only 5 days to go. Seems like yesterday I had just started the blog and bought a beat up old sailboat that needed a lot of attention. I've given BeBop all the money, time and skill that I have in hopes that when the time comes she'll take care of me. I'm rather worried about her sinking or something right at the dock when the travel lift puts her in. I can't afford to buy comprehensive insurance to replace her if something happens so this is probably where my fear is coming from. None the less, until I see she's floating without issue and the bilge water level alarm doesn't go off within say...2 minutes of launch....I will worry.

Ok lets back up a step and let me catch you all up with the current state of Half Note. We left off in the last post right after Rich and I had cut her in half. Since then we glassed the bulkhead seams, drilled the holes for the bolts that will hold her together, fabricated the seat, finished the trim, mounted the oar locks and pins the new oars and did the float test Wensday night. I wish to give Rich credit in getting a lot of that done last week. There is no way I could of completed it this fast without his help.

Here is the picture of the seat after cutting it out and screwing on the support legs.

Here's me last Wensday at the beach during sunset getting ready to bolt her (bow and stern) together for the first test.

Since Rich put in so much time to get her ready so quickly, I let him take her out first.

Me in a rather horrible photograph (I was very tired) rowing by close to the shore. The balance is perfect this time compared to Notes which I felt was bow heavy. She rows like a dream too. Very easy, very quick.

Testing stability by standing up and rocking her back and forth. Rich was egging my on trying to get me to fall in by standing on the seat until he realized I had both cell phones, the house keys, the car keys and a vhf radio with me. Then he really wanted me to sit down lol. ^_^

With luck I'll at the very least have her primed by the time BeBop launches. (and hopefully doesn't sink) She doesn't have much in the way of carrying capacity, so if I need to haul a lot of water, food or gear all in one trip, I'll end up either towing her with a kayak or towing a inflatable with Half Note. Which way depends on how much money I have. She'll get a single person back and forth to shore ok though which is what I wanted in the first place.

Moving on to BeBop, this weekend Rich and I painted her bottom with black anti fouling paint. It was all going great until we took off the painters tape and with it about half the bootstripe!! I was not a happy man. For whatever reason Brightsides does not want to stick to Primocon primer vs the Pre Kote primer I used for the white on the hull. The bootstrip was about half on Pre Kote and half on Primocon so the bottom half on the Primocon peeled off nearly like a banana. The solution was simply to raise the waterline and decrease the thickness of the bootstripe. It's hard to see much of a difference anyway since it was black next to a dark green. I'm pretty happy with how it came out regardless.

I've also started moving everything back on board. Sails, cushions, stove....coffee pot etc.

Looking forward into the V berth, you can see all the sails, the trolling motor, spinnaker pole, cockpit umbrella's and dodger. That big white bag is the spinnaker.

Looking aft at the quarterberth cushions back in and vhf installed...looking sharp.

Since we brought her back home she was sitting next to the house. To minimize tracking dirt into her while I put her gear back onboard, we moved her into the driveway Sunday afternoon. It was a cool moment amongst the stress of trying to get it all done and more than one passing car stopped out front of the house to take a good long look! (or maybe they've never seen a twin keel sailboat upclose. ^_^)

View from astern, you can see curtains up in this picture.

I'm taking most of next week off to finish putting gear back onboard, work on Half Note and I expect it to take the better part of a whole day to get the mast rigged and back up on deck into it's storage position. I've made arrangements to get her hauled in not more than about 5 miles from the house for a good price even if they won't allow me to step the mast in their yard. (they want $75 a hour to do it..NOT!!) I plan on motoring around the corner and with the help of my friends put it up while at anchor. The area is very calm and unless the weather is horrid this shouldn't be a problem.

I want to have another post up late next weekend or Monday night covering the launch and trip to her new slip...of course if she sinks I guess I will have to cover that too. What? Me worry?

I am....it's in my nature.

Until next time....Fair winds....

The Launch Date is Set......

2006-08-06T22:15:00.000-04:00

Today's update will cover the new pram I'm building more than BeBop but I know everybody wants to know when she's launching so I'm going to give the date. Barring something tragic happening, BeBop will be launched around the weekend of the 25th, roughly 3 weeks from now. I still have some stuff to complete before then involving the 12 volt system which is still acting up after fixing it last weekend, paint the bottom, caulk the rails one last time, rig up the mast, put it on deck for transport and I still need to find a slip. I know of 2 places with a travel lift and 3 places where I can get a slip right now, but I am holding off a bit longer so I can see how the money issue will turn out. I believe I'm going to be ok but there will be minimal amenities onboard at first. A proper Bimini, sail cover, barbecue, solar panels, more batteries, more fuel tanks etc etc (list continues forever) will have to wait. None of that is totally necessary right now, nice as it would be. It all bothers me a great deal but I try and remind myself 12 months ago I didn't even have a boat. 9 months ago, I had a very beat up sailboat that needed a lot of TLC. Now I have a pretty cool classic plastic sailboat nearly ready to live on. In 9 more months she should be ready for the world tour. ^_^ (with a empty wallet)

Moving on, I sold Notes this week to a couple of sailors who are taking their Bayliner 28 down to Key Largo. It was *very* sad to see her go since I built her myself from the skeg up, but if she didn't fit on deck then I had to let her go and build something else that I know would work. Enter the new pram that I designed myself using part of the basic line drawings from the Apple Pie class. It will be just 6 1/2 feet LOA with a 3 1/2 foot beam. It's a nesting dory (the worlds smallest that I know of) and I know this one will fit on deck!

Drum roll please.....I'm calling it Half Note! ^_^ ......................(ok, you can stop laughing now) Here she is.

Ok really now, here she is after I lofted the highly modified plans and cut out the pieces using a jigsaw for the mild curves and a circular saw for the rest. Just two pieces of 1/4 plywood and 1 piece of 1/2 inch will be used to make all the main pieces. It took about two hours to loft and another hour to cut. You don't want to rush this as the final product will only be as good as the pieces you start with. This next picture is her stitched together. I drilled small holes every six inches and used zip ties to hold her together.

Once it's been stitched together you need to start bonding the pieces together using fiberglass resin and 404 filler. On the first pass just go in between the zip ties to make the bond. The second pass cut the ties first and do all of the seams and make a third pass if you need to smooth it all out.

Using a cardboard template, Rich and I created the patterns for the bulkhead out of poster board, then cut them out using half inch plywood and bonded them both in. I'll give exact dimensions when I get around to creating the blueprints for her.

Before you can cut her in half to make the nesting design, you should cover the outside seams with fiberglass seam tape and the rest with lightweight cloth. Here is the bottom and stern completed. We did the sides right after this picture was taken.

For the rails we used 3/4 X 3/4 inch pine. It's soft but I'd rather dent the hell outta this than mess up BeBop. Plus it bends easy lol. It will be covered in fiberglass anyway to waterproof it. Ignore that piece in the middle as it was used for the bow and stern. Take a note...you can never have enough clamps. I was scrapping the bottom of my garage here for more.

Here are the rails bonded on. The skeg was put on less than 2 before after this picture was taken.

Now this one will blow your mind. Saturday we cut her into two pieces and this is her nesting bow piece in the stern piece. Tiny eh eh? This baby will fit on the deck of my pocket cruiser. The clamps are there because the bulkhead wanted to separate from the side of the hull. The plan is to fill the seams with 404 then use 4 inch fiberglass tape to cover them, then cover that with fiberglass cloth. (2 layers thick) I believe this should be plenty strong when completed even if it's a pain in the butt.

This is about where she is right now. I'm hoping to have her ready for testing by next Sunday, but it might be the week after. I've already purchased the new oars and oar locks. My personal feelings on Half Note is that's she's not nearly as charismatic as Notes. Nor will she be as strong or have all the floatation built in. On the plus side, She'll weigh about 30 pounds less, fit into half the space, have bigger oars (6 feet), and be completed in just two more weeks with luck. Notes took months to build by comparison.

That's it for now I think. I'm doing other smaller projects at the same time as working on BeBop and Half Note but it's too boring to mention, (like caulking around the hatchway) so I'm gong to go make myself another Gin and Tonic to help out with my sunburn and get some sleep. Until next time, Fair Winds everybody......

Details, details, details......

2006-07-23T21:59:00.000-04:00

I've gotten a couple more things done since the last time I wrote up a entry, but not a lot of it photographs well so I only have 2 pictures for everybody. There will be some good ones in a couple of weeks once we start rigging up the mast and painting the bottom. That could happen in 2 weeks, possibly 3. It will depend if I can find a slip cheap. So far not having any luck on that. I say it's a 50/50 chance if she goes back in August vs September. It's totally a money issue at this point. If I had a extra grand lying around it would be simple.

First off, I'd like to say thanks to my friend Hawkeye who let me raid his sail locker for some extra gear. He gave me a Dansforth anchor with 15' of chain, another bumper, enough dock line for 2 boats, a 30amp 110 volt extension cable, spinnaker pole and a fixed mount VHF radio since he got another one. Very nice indeed. Thanks for helping me out Hawkeye! ^_^

The radio was the gem of what he gave me but it didn't have a mounting bracket so I had to make one. 10 bucks of stainless bits from Ace hardware and a extra piece of 2x4 and it works great. Doing that and running the cable for it from the through hull located in the head back to the quarterberth took most of Saturday. I still need to finish wiring it up to the power grid and put a microphone holder on next weekend. Here's a picture of it.

Speaking of wiring up power, I picked up a new 90amp hour deep cycle battery. Figured we are close enough to putting her in the water I needed check out all power systems onboard since I removed the old battery 9 months ago. It's a good thing we did check it in advance as none of the port side interior lights or fan are operating now vs when I bought her. Starboard side works fine but guess I have a new project next Saturday...figuring out what broke and fixing it. Rich is better with electrics than I am so he will probably end up doing most of that. He also wired the outboard into the power grid again with quick disconnects. (we had to cut the wire months ago to get the outboard off) I tested the autohelm for the 1st time since I bought her and it appears to work ok. In place of a wind vane I plan of taking a couple of them with me when I can't hand steer, use sheet to tiller or simply need to get some sleep while underway.

Finished up the curtain for the companionway last week and I really like how it came out. I used a different fabric for it, a tropical print. With this curtain up and the other ones over the ports I can get the interior quite dark. It makes a really big difference in how hot the interior gets too. With a fan running below, it's certainly warm during the mid day sun but compared to the cockpit without a bimini it's alot cooler. Here it is.

I'm getting close to finishing the rear cockpit locker.....again....2 more coats of paint and I can put the new hinges on and install it. Some of my long term readers remember that I had this project done once but the teak cover just wasn't holding up the way I wanted so I'm doing it over again with paint this time. This will also be completed by next weekend.

I don't think I've told but a few people this, but the dory I built, "Notes" just isn't going to work. I started her construction before I even had a boat thinking it would fit on anything I got but I was wrong. There is no place on deck I can put her and she weights about 30 pounds more that she needs to. I severely overbuilt her. Now I'm not saying I dislike her or I couldn't use her locally but I can't tow a dory behind BeBop all the way around the world. It has to go on deck or below decks. I found the solution by modifying the plans for a Apple Pie class yacht tender. You start by taking out 6 inches to make one that's 6 1/2 feet vs what the design calls for at 7 feet. I'm going to then install two watertight bulkheads right in the middle and cut it half and have a nesting dory. I've already done the measurements and this one will fit on deck nested behind the mast but in front of the dodger. With each piece only being about 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 feet it should be cake to launch too. I hope to document building this one better than my last one so look for some pictures coming soon. I've already lofted the plans onto the wood and cut out the main pieces. Time permitting this week construction will start and I'll have something that looks boat like by next Sunday. I do believe I can build this one a lot quicker. Oh, I'm looking to sell "Notes," so if your close by and in need of a dory with built in flotation drop me a line.

I'd like to end this entry with some advice I received in a email from a friend. I'm leaving the name off to protect the guilty. I thought it was too funny not to post.

"Start sleeping outside on a hammock with a fan blowing on you to keep the bugs off to begin acclimating to the boat, and get a small refrigerator carton and put a 5lb coffee can in it to piss in. Be sure to have Rich rock the hell out of the box while your pissing, or you won't develop no skill. Every once in while at night, jump up and scream, "No wake zone, asshole!" Have Rich tell the neighbors you're experiencing work-related stress problems. Believe me, they like that better than the usual 'drug flashbacks' line. Borrow a small red wagon from a neighborhood kid and have Rich push you down a rocky hill in it while you try to assemble the carburetor off the outboard motor. Never mind why. You'll thank me for this later on. If possible, have him run alongside with a watering can, spraying you with ice water. Get a wetsuit drenched in icewater and try to put it on while sitting on the hood of the car while Rich drives around in and abandoned lot with plenty of rocks and potholes. It hones the cussword skills."

Priceless advice from a true sailor.

Until next time...Fair Winds...

Getting Closer......

2006-07-09T22:38:00.000-04:00

I'm down to about 5 weeks or so until BeBop goes back into the water assuming I can come up with enough money. There are still lots of things that need to be done, unfortunately most of which involve purchasing things. If I cut a corner I can reuse the old bumpers and dock lines and save about a hundred bucks for now. She also isn't wired for any shore power at the moment, so installing that is nearly mandatory to even run a fan onboard while at the dock. I'll pick up a small deep cycle battery so I can at least go out day sailing and use the running lights. A bimini of some sorts is needed too or you'll just burn up in the sun here in Florida. I need to sell my other car, the white Honda that's not running, on eBay and that will help a little bit. I can't rule out putting her in the water in September but man, I'm just not sure I can wait that long. I wanna go sailing!! All in all it's pretty stressful when it should be something to look forward to because of my shoe string budget.

I still don't have the digital camera back yet so I picked up a el cheapo disposable one for 3 bucks and got a couple of really bad pictures for all you guys/gals to see. Let's start with the curtains. I really was racking my brain about how to put some inside. Ideas varied from curtain rods to velcro but I wanted something very simplistic to work with and fix if need be. What I did was buy a couple of wooden drawer pulls or closet pulls if you will, and bonded three of them on each side above the ports. Then I used shock cord to hold the curtain up with a loop at both ends so they can be taken on and off as needed. To create the loop at the ends I simply used black nylon zip ties and cut off the tails. Here are the pics, both port and starboard.

Sorry again for the quality, I know the disposable take bad pictures. Rich had a black cargo net that we used for the cord. If your patient and willing to take all the hog rings off you can get a surprising amount of shock cord for a very low price vs buying it by the foot. The wooden pulls cost about 6 bucks at walmart and the curtain fabric and thread ran about 15 bucks from Jo-Ann Fabrics. (yeah, I got a few strange looks in the store) Only probably was I needed to teach myself how to sew first lol. I have a nice sewing machine that was donated by a family member too. So picture this now.....there I was in the living room with a sewing machine, a manuel and a bunch of fabric with zero training. I open up the manuel and read page one. How to turn it on....HAHA!! Isn't that neat, it even has a little light!! Page two....how to put a needle in....cool!!..how to change a foot..wow, my feet don't come off etc.....until I got to page 21 of the manuel where you get to the sewing part. Rich who took home economics in high school like 25 years ago showed me how to cut the corners on the fabric so they came out nice. After practicing on a few pieces, away I went into the wild sport of sewing stuff for your boat. All in all, I think they came out really well. I completed the entire project in under 30 hours and I didn't know how to sew when I started. Oh nearly forgot, I made them out of two pieces, gray on one side to act as UV protection for the inner piece which has the pretty pattern on it.

Moving on to something I know a lot more about....Lexan!! Yes, after 6 months of dealing with the old beat up, worn out and leaking washboards I fabricated the new ones using a single sheet of bronze tinted .500" 24x48" polycarbonate. There were other options, resin coated plywood, varnished teak boards etc, but I wanted a low maintenance solution that looked nice. Cost wise, it was the middle solution and ran a total of $260 for the polycarbonate sheet, vents, screen, and stainless steel hardware.

I started by measuring the width of my companionway and cutting the sheet to fit with a circular saw. Since I don't own a table saw the t-square acted as a guide with Rich's help. We then hauled the whole thing onboard and test fitted it. A 30 degree angle was cut on the bottom that would become the first washboard. This was about equal to what the bottom of the companionway had. Originally there were 4 boards but I decided to go with 3 bigger ones. The bottom two boards are about equal in size and were cut at a 45 degree angle to keep water out. The top board was slighty smaller and since the top was rounded, I cut the curve (very) carefully using my jigsaw. At $225 for the sheet I really didn't want to screw up so everything was triple measured before being cut. All the practice I had cutting out lexan windows for computer cases paid off big time here.

Once all the pieces were cut out I still had to use a hole saw for the vents and drill the holes for the mounting hardware. It's important to keep in mind you want to use a bit that's one size too large or the lexan which expands and contracts up to 10% could crack. I put screens behind the vents to keep the critters out. The last thing I did was sand the cut sides by hand with some 220 grit sandpaper. Once that was done, off came the protective covering and everything that needed to installed was put on. Here are some pictures of the new ones...I've come to call them the Darth Vader Washboards (D.V.W.B's) or just Vader Boards for short. (V.B;s)

They are very reflective from the outside and it's hard to see in, but it's possible at the right angle. What's cool about them, is while your underway you can see into the cockpit very easily to see what's going on like in this picture. That little hook in the middle between the vents is for a bunge cord. It will keep the boards in place in the event of a knockdown.

From the inside the tint doesn't appear to be nearly as dark and it really makes the inside feel bigger. Lexan may be bulletproof, but it does scratch easily so it's best to handle them with a cotton towel or shirt to prevent them from getting damaged. That's my greatest worry. Other than that, these babies should last a long time. It's been raining everyday recently and have already proven themselves to be very watertight too.

Here's one last wide angle shot that shows all the new stuff that's been done. The engine mounted, rear boarding ladder, dodger on the frame with the new V.B's in place.

I'd like to add a special thanks to my new friend Hawkeye down in Cortez, FL who patched up the small rip in my dodger on Saturday. He's probably forgotten more about boats than I know. ^_^ If anybody needs any canvas work done, drop me a line and I'll contact him to see if he can fix you up at a good price.

Yawn!!! ok, I'm getting' tired here after another fun filled weekend so I'm going to sign off now. I expect next weekend to be a bit slower as all I really have to do is mount the companionway curtain and work on rebuilding the rear cockpit locker. Until next time....Fair Winds...

100 Things About Me......

2006-07-03T21:51:00.000-04:00

NOTICE: Due to somebody possibly messing around with my email account, I've greatly increased my security and changed my email address as well. I got way to lax about my account. If you get any thing else from the.jammer@gmail.com please disregard it. My new email address is sailboat.bebop the @ sign gmail.com Thank you all for your understanding.

This weeks post is going to be a bit different. Normally I have access to a 5mp digital camera to take pictures of what I'm working on. Unfortunately, Rich loaned his camera out to a friend who's currently taking a trip Europe. It's not a big deal and next weekend I'll post pictures when I have the camera again.

Just to give you a heads up, I fabricated the new washboards after talking about it for 6 months and they came out real nice. In addition to pictures of that, I should have my first sewing project completed. (Interior curtains) Until then, here is the near mandatory 100 things about me post that seems to be in vogue recently. I always talk more about BeBop than myself and this might give some insight into me, the guy behind the BeBop project.

001. I'm a Nihilist.
002. I have a INTJ personality type. You can take the test here if you want to know yours.
003. I'm a recovering consumerist.
004. I'm legally blind in both eyes without my glasses on, with them I can see fine.
005. I'm left handed.
006. I refuse to visit any country that wants you to eat with only your right hand.
007. My astrology sign is Taurus and yes I am.
008. My Chinese zodiac sign is the Ox. (Which makes me extra stubborn)
009. I love music, Jazz is my favorite, but when I'm upset or stressed, I listen to Heavy Metal or Industrial.
010. I used to play bass in a Rock & Blues band.
011. I also used to play the trumpet too, but I was a far better bass player.
012. My favorite movie is a toss up between Bladerunner, The Matrix or Fight Club.
013. I think the Matrix is closer to reality than you might suspect. (multiple systems of control)
014. I'm addicted to coffee.
015. I'm a perfectionist.
016. I think Knob Creek is the best Bourbon Whiskey money can buy and I can't afford to drink it.
017. I've been to every state in the country except Montana and Maine when I was a truck driver.
018. I quit smoking 3 1/2 years ago without any help, just will power.
019. I'm single, never been married and I don't have any kids. (nor do I want them)
020. I'm at least 25% American Indian but you can't tell it to look at me.
021. I don't use bar soap preferring shampoo because it doesn't leave soap scum.
022. I shave with a double sided safety razor instead of the newest xyz wonder blade.
023. I would rather read a good book than watch television.
024. I spend a good deal of time studying the "big picture."
025. My favorite trumpet player is Miles Davis.
026. I've always been a serious person, even as a little kid.
027. I was a aero-medical evacuation technician in the Air Force Reserve.
028. My basic training instructor told me I am the only person he ever graduated as an individual.
029. I have titanium pins in both my wrists from a motorcycle accident 4 years ago. They hurt everyday.
030. I hate a structured learning environment, just give me a book or manual and I'll figure it out on my own.
031. I think public education teaches you what to think not how to think.
032. I think people should worry more about getting into car accidents than terrorist attacks.
033. I was born in Virginia but spent most my life in Florida.
034. I love role-playing games. Either the pen and paper kind or on a computer.
035. I'm really into tattoos and have been since I was a little kid. (link not for the faint of heart!)
036. I never felt old(er) until my last motorcycle accident.
037. I want Magneto to win over the X-men in the comic book series.
038. If I could go back in time and meet one famous person it would be Nikola Tesla.
039. I would like to write a book one day about my sailing adventures.
040. What humanity is doing to trash the planet makes me really sad.
041. I've been eating a low carb diet for 2 years and I lost 65 pounds.
042. I still really miss M&M's.
043. I never go to a doctor if I can avoid it.
044. I enjoy watching Japanese Anime.
045. I like to collect skills like other people collect coins or stamps.
046. My favorite beer is Corona with a lime.
047. I believe respect is earned not just handed out because somebody says so.
048. If I could have any one super power, it would be the ability to go forward and backward in time at will.
049. I'm allergic to cold weather.
050. I don't like cooked fish very much. I prefer sushi or sashimi.
051. I don't enjoy cooking, but I'm not that bad at it.
052. My friend Rich is more like a brother to me than my real one.
053. I like to make contingency plans for things that might happen. I sleep better at night.
054. I don't enjoy small talk, I think it's a waste of time.
055. I don't understand what people get out of dancing.
056. I hate living to work instead of working to live.
057. I think civilization is a man made hell on earth.
058. I'm not a very charismatic person compared to most of my friends.
059. My favorite kind of pen is a Pilot G-2.
060. I have a pet rat named Frick, who loves yogurt drops.
061. If I could be any Anime character I'd choose to be Batou from Ghost in the Shell.
062. I think Asian women are the prettiest in the world.
063. I like eccentric sunglasses, my current pair is Prescription Oakley Mars.
064. I dislike lazy, ignorant, and stupid people.
065. I have no life plan other than to go sailing.
066. Most of the time I prefer it that way strange enough.
067. I am pretty cynical and suspicious by nature.
068. Despite my feelings regarding consumerism, I still love computers.
069. I used to own a company that made custom computer cases. The dot com bust and 9/11 changed everything and I went out of business.
070. My favorite author is William Gibson.
071. I get bored with corporation slave jobs very quickly.
072. I like to always have a major project to work on. It keeps me from getting depressed.
073. I don't like dogs
074. I have a huge music collection. It's so large I have CD's I'll probably never listen to.
075. I think Orwell's 1984 is coming true. You can read it for free here.
076. I think Peak Oil is going to cause lots of grief for humanity in the very near future.
077. I really wish I could speak another language besides computer and English.
078. As much as I love sailing and swimming, I don't like fishing or going to the beach.
079. I'm allergic to children but for some reason they see to like me.
080. I wish cute asian women liked me as much as children do.
081. I've never had any kind of transcendent or religious experience. (thank god)
082. I have little sense of nationalism...I'm a earthling like everybody else.
083. My ideal outdoor temperature is about 70 degrees with varying wind depending on what I'm doing.
084. I love tilley hats.
085. I prefer to wear baggy cargo shorts and tank tops most of the time because it's very comfortable.
086. I'm not into cars anymore, but if I could have any one that I wanted, I would choose to have a original Mini Cooper.
087. I'm currently playing Eldar Scrolls IV Oblivion when I have time, it's the best game I've played in about 5 years.
088. I use to dye my hair. It's been blond, green, purple, red and blue. I'm back to my normal brown now.
089. I miss talking to my Uncle Jeff who committed suicide about 5 years ago.
090. I don't remember much about my childhood other than I didn't enjoy it much.
091. If I could have any sailboat in the world it would be a toss up between a Dana 24 and a Nor'Sea 27. Maybe one day, a man can dream.
092. When I was in high school I painted miniatures on commission to make money.
093. I created my blog in a attempt to make friends around the world while I'm sailing.
094. My favorite industrial band is KMFDM.
095. I've never gotten seasick on a small boat.
096. I don't wear jewelry besides a watch and (some would say crazy) ear piercings.
097. I carry a pocket tool kit at all times. You never know right?
098. My favorite jazz pianist is Brad Mehldau.
099. I'm a loner save a few close friends.
100. I take loyalty and trust very seriously.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it was going to be. Here's hoping you all enjoy it and the links I provided. Don't forget next week I'll have up all the pictures of what I finished this weekend. Until next time....Fair Winds....

Jammer.....

This Good Old Boat.....

2006-06-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

Now this is really neat. I just received the current edition of "Good Old Boat" magazine that I subscribe to and in the editorial section on page 84 is a letter to the editor my friend Rich wrote with a link to my site! Hey, it's not the cover but it's a start. Besides, who can say they have been mentioned by name in a nationally distributed magazine? It's a first for me and something I'm really happy about. Here is a picture of this month's cover so you know which magazine to buy. I just know you want to read the little part at the end about BeBop hehehe. ^_^ (I'm famous!!...Ok knot really.)

Something else worth mention is I've been doing some research into the smallest twin keel sailboat to ever go around the world. The record is held by a 18 footer best I can tell but that wasn't singlehanded. That was done...once again best I can tell from my research....by a 26 foot Westerly Centaur. So with this in mind I sent off a email application to the Guinness Book of World Records. It works by putting in a preliminary application where they look it over to see if what you want to attempt has merrit. They accept that then you can officially apply for it and they will do the serious research into the record and let you know if it can indeed be set or broken. So to wrap it up, I could possibly set a world record for sailing solo around the world on the smallest twin keel sailboat. It will take 4 to 6 weeks to get a reply back from them either way and somebody could probably beat me easy if they want to. But just the idea that so few have done such a thing is really cool in my mind.

I'm still working on the pre launch list in hopes I might get BeBop into the water in early August, September at the very latest. T.S. Alberto didn't cause any damage to BeBop nor was there any water leakage in the interior- something I'm very please about. Still need to fabricate the new lexan washboards though. If the wind was from the other direction and pushed water up under the boards it could of been nasty.

I've had a local shop sew in new zippers to my dodger last week and I have mixed feelings about the results. I had full plans to give credit to the shop by name etc (the guy was nice enough) but after I zipped the dodger back onto the frame and started cleaning it, it ripped right around the new stitching of the front zipper. Not cool. I knew the material was quite old but the shop didnÂt think I needed to have a new one made (at a cost of $700) and changed me $100 to have new zippers sewn in and the front skirt reattached. In a way I feel like the shop took advantage of the situation to make a buck because they knew I wouldn't pay $700 for a new one. So I'm stuck with it now, ripped, and I'm probably going to just use canvas tape to patch up the seams I feel are in question until I can figure out how to either make a new one myself or take the entire thing off and do without.

Anyway this is a picture of it before I had the zippers replaced and since then I've cleaned up the vinyl windows. I'm not happy with how this has turned out but I'm stuck with it for now and I'm going to have to make due best I can.

Last weekend I finished up the quarter berth headliner in the hard to reach areas and it really gives it a finished look now. This is the before of the port area, I forgot to grab the starboard side but it looks pretty much the same anyhow.

And this is after I finished, You really can't see under there unless you're sitting or lying down and then it makes a big difference. Doesn't look like much but my neck and back paid a heavy price for working in that tight area.

I've also purchased a rear flag kit and put it on the stern railing. I still need to get the spreader halyard kit for flying quarantine and courtesy flags. I've also picked up the bottom paint. I decided to use Interlux Ultra with Biolux because it seems to have the highest rating year to year with Practical Sailor magazine. Not cheap stuff at $200 a gallon plus tax but it sure beats scrubbing the bottom once a week.

My entry here after reading it may sound mentally tired or stressed if you will, save the first bit about Good Old Boat that I learned about today. Well, I am. It seems the closer the time comes to launch BeBop the more things are happening to keep me in the oppressive system of slave wage labor coupled with continued consumerism and materialism. My manager is up to his old tricks and threatened to fire me without good reason, (my performance ratings is always 100%? how's that?) my car wouldn't start on Sunday and I spent 2 hours jury rigging the starter disable switch on the clutch, and what little relationship I had left with my family has been destroyed (probably for good) over the past 2 weeks. I don't want to go into the details but as you can probably imagine, that would all be quite stressful to anyone.

I didn't cause or ask for anything of this, I really prefer to be left alone to my own devices most of the time, it's just my personality. These sorts of things just happen and are beyond my control. You have to adapt and not be overcome by the problems, stressfull as they may be. Just to make a short rant to the world....I will not quit, with or without money or gear, I will not give in, you cannot stop me and I will take BeBop Around the World.

Until next time Fair Winds.....

Here Comes Tropical Storm Alberto (Updated 6/12)

2006-06-11T12:43:00.000-04:00

06/12/06 11:45am EST

It looks like she is going to pass well north of the Tampa Bay area now and we will just get lots of rain and a little wind perhaps. Unless she turns due east this will be the last update about the storm. I'll be back to a regular update next weekend with pictures of what I've been working on.

Jammer

Well how bout this eh? 9 days into the hurricane season and we have a storm that's forecasted to pass within 50 miles of where I live.

A Tropical Storm of this level should pose no danger to BeBop while on the hard, but I just thought I'd put up a quick post saying as much for the readers who have never experienced such a thing. (Bebop has survived a hurricane while in Georgia before I bought her.) Here is the forecasted track and I put a arrow indicating where I am in Florida. (Saint Petersburg if you want to pull it up on a map.) We are under a flood watch atm according to the NOAA and it's expected to be upgraded to a Tropical Storm Watch this afternoon.

I'm not worried about destruction or anything, but I really would of liked to have the new washboards made to keep water out better. That's the only place it could leak in if the wind is coming from the right direction. Anyway that's it for now, need to get back to work on BeBop. I'll update this post as required and next weekend I'll have more pictures of what I'm working on now. Until next time......Fair Winds (T.S. Alberto Go Away!!) ^_^

Countdown To Launch....

2006-06-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, have a few minutes here to make up a post so here goes.....

From your point of view I suspect this will be a boring entry as most of what's going on is lots of telephone calls about sail quotes, dodger quotes, finishing up the to do lists and so on with less hands on work now required. I do have a couple of pictures of the newly installed rear boarding ladder. I've put my 25 year old 6hp 2 stroke Evinrude (old but runs good) back on as well as the dodger frame and cockpit lifelines.

Here are two pictures of the stern with the engine mounted and the rear boarding latter in the up position. The newly fabricated engine mount works better than the original. Kudos to Rich on that project.

This is with the boarding ladder deployed. The bottom two step will be below the waterline so it should make getting back onboard a snap when I go for a swim.

Here are two pictures of the new cockpit locker covers. They look real simple to make but it took two weeks to finish them up and install the hardware. I made them with a U channel that the bottom sits in and hold them in by friction. The brass hook is just a little extra security so they don't come off. The stainless bits you see in the pictures is for the tiller pilot. They are not waterproof by any means, nor did I design them to be that way. I just wanted a cover there because the holes looked like crap, this keeps the bugs from making nests and in the event I ever take a wave over the stern, I figure this will keep 90 percent of the water from entering the lockers which is a big deal. Ignore the blue cockpit locker cover and the tile flooring, they will be replaced shortly.

Still lots to do before she goes in the water even though I am about 60 days from launching her now. The list includes purchasing a new main sail, have a new dodger built, finish the quarterberth headliner underneath, bottom paint, need a new fiddle block for the boom vang, clovis pins and the list continues with many other smaller tasks that all need my attention.

I know this post is a bit shorter than usual but it's been a very long week for me. Job, car and personal issues have all been crawling on my back like a bad monkey. Sometimes the world just does that to you. I admit though if BeBop was floating with the week I just had, I would be writing this from some exotic beach in Mexico right now. The job, car and personal issues just ain't worth the stress level they cause. Just a few more months and I'll be in the position that I want to be. Until next time...Fair Winds....

Cockpit Lockers, Halyards and Shelves? Check......

2006-05-21T18:52:00.000-04:00

I have some more pictures from the last two weeks that show what I've done to the inside. The interior is nearly complete except for the little stuff, I still need to put up some carpet underneath the quarterberths, finish painting the door for the head, put up some curtain rods etc, but that's no big deal and I'm working on that a little bit at a time during the week after work.

Check out the new shelves on the port side.

The head area is nearly complete now. Like I said, still need to finish the door and put it back in and I need to figure out a way to secure the head to the platform so it won't move around in a critical moment ya know? ^_^

This is the new ground tackle locker completed. (thanks again Derek) That bottom piece is bonded in so it creates a waterproof barrier forward that is higher than the waterline. This might buy me some time if I get a puncture forward to fix it. I'm really gonna try hard to not sail into reefs though. That "abandon ship" stuff just has a way of ruining your whole day.

Over the past six weeks I've been purchasing my new lines and halyards also. You can see in this picture what the old jib sheets looked like vs the new ones. Rich and I just cut to length with a hot knife (spare kitchen knife + propane torch=perfect burnt ends) I've purchased 3 3/8" 95 foot halyards with snap shackles, 1 1/4" 95 foot topping lift and 1 7/16" 150' feet of dacron line. This will replace all the running rigging on BeBop including new line for the boom vang and bumpers. I managed to do it for under 375 bucks too. West Marine would of cost between 550 and 650 for the same stuff. Now that I have mine and you won't be competing with me, I'll share with you all where to get them so cheap. In a word.....Ebay. Oh, yeah.

Here is the new cockpit locker cover(s) that Rich and I have spent the weekend working on. The picture is mediocre but they look real nice over the gapping holes that are there right now. We are just using the scrap 1/4" marine plywood from building "Notes." I started to show a lot of the build pictures but I think I'll wait until they are done to see how they come out to share them. I'm not bad at fabrication but this project is a bit frustrating because of how they need to attach.

This last one is a view of BeBop you haven't seen since I 1st pulled her out of the water. My neighbor took out his stink pot, er, powerboat so I was able to grab this while he's out "boating." Mutter....ya know the old saying about boaters and sailors. Anyway, enjoy the different view, it was a treat for me too.

Next weekend I'm hoping to finish up the cockpit locker covers, get the door to the head installed and perhaps get the curtain rods in for the ports above the quarterberths. We'll see how it goes, I pushed the budget a bit buying the haylards so money is pretty tight until next month.

People have been asking when is she going back in the water. If I had the money, I could put her in now with anti-fouling paint. But by waiting until August I'm saving 3 months slip fee and gaining time to work on the smaller projects too. (a serious time sink) I'd rather be sailing but by having patience I should be able to have a new dodger made, I'm going to make the curtain for the interior, the mainsail cover, tiller cover, rear cockpit locker cover, new washboards fabricated, install a rear boarding ladder, put in reef points on my main sail etc. See? I still have things to do and if she was floating they wouldn't be worked on because I would be out sailing. It's all really becoming a money issue. I can only do one or two things per month that's on the list. I have them prioritized in my head and hopefully by years end everything will be accomplished. Until next time....Fair Winds...

I'm a Hardcore Headliner.....

2006-05-08T22:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up, but I've been very busy between work, answering other peoples emails and working on BeBop so I waited til I reached a milestone before writing up another entry.

For the past two weeks I've really been working hard to get BeBop ready for the new headliner. After sanding off the remains of the old headliner, the interior was totally messed up and covered with fiberglass. It took a whole day to get her cleaned out. I also needed to repair any holes in the bulkheads from old fixtures etc that I didn't want to use. You saw in the last post the enlarged base for the marine head that I had to fabricate. I needed to sand and paint it also before I could go any further with the interior. Finally after a month of looking at the horrible bare fiberglass, she was ready.

A month ago I purchased UV protected indoor/outdoor carpet measuring 15ft X 6ft at Home Depot. It was cheap, only cost $55 for the entire amount. I really investigated how I was going to get it up and there were all kinds of people with all kinds of opinions. I ended up going with what my gut said (and Rich agreed) and that was to use automotive type spray adhesive. We ran a test with it and it worked very well so we stuck with it. (pardon the pun) You can pick it up at any auto parts store for about 8 bucks a can. I ended up using just about 4 cans to put it all up. It's very easy to use, just liberally coat both surfaces with the adhesive, wait about 3 minutes and when you put it up the two pieces bond together nicely. It's amazing stuff really, considering it's holding power but still allows you a limited amount of wiggle room to position the carpet as needed if you have it in the wrong spot. Put another way I had to trim it in a couple of places after it dried and it was strong enough to remove the paint. I have a bit of touch up to do, but it's less than 5 minutes work.

The procedure goes something like this.

1. Make a overall plan as to how your going to cut out the pieces. Also make sure you do not change the orientation of the carpet weave when you cut the pieces or it will look messed up.

2. Tape up newspaper, posterboard etc to create a template to the area you need to cut the headliner out for. We used newspaper, painters tape, a grease pencil to mark the outline of the ports onto the newspaper and a exacto knife to trim it all down to size.

3. Take the template and place it on the backside of the carpet and draw the outline onto it. ***IMPORTANT*** You must reverse the template or you'll cut out the piece exactly backwards. (it's like looking into a mirror) I didn't, but I came close twice. Think before you cut!!

4. Cut it out using a carpet knife.

5. Test fit the piece to make sure it's accurate and you won't have too much to trim off once it's up.

6. Apply the adhesive to both surfaces and wait between 3 to 5 minutes before putting it up.

7. Apply the headliner material to the surface.

8. Admire your handy work. ^_^

I don't have much in the way of pictures of all this because it was a two person job but it's pretty straight forward. Don't let my little 8 step program fool you, it's NOT a easy thing to do. It took Richard and I two days to do ten pieces. I still have two more in and around the closet and head areas to complete next weekend. Total cost for this project comes in at about 100 bucks including all the sanding disks. I don't even wanna know what a headliner shop would of charged me. I still need to add in the curtains, the rods, shelves etc to the interior but this was the last really big interior project until she goes back into the water and the electrical system gets a overhaul. (installing the solar panel etc)

I know you want to see the befores and afters so here they are. I'm very proud of how this turned out, even being a perfectionist.

Before: looking at the quarterberths.

After: Quarterbeths

Before: Looking Aft

After: Looking Aft

Before: Looking Forward

After: Looking Forward

After: Port and Starboard looking Forward

That's about it for this weeks post. This was also the last major interior work that needed to be done. I still have about 1001 smaller projects that will be worked on until we launch her in August. I'm probably going to back off the update posts to every other week until late summer because there won't be as much to share with you all and I'll condense it down into bigger posts so you don't get bored. But you never know, sometimes I get a flurry of ideas and do multiple off topic posts in a week. If any of you have questions about what I did or how I did it, please feel free to comment and leave a public email address and I'll write back to you.

Until next time, Fair Winds....

Another 48 Hours.....

2006-04-24T20:26:00.000-04:00

Multiple projects this weekend have been accomplished here at BeBop Around The World. I had hopes that I would be able to start painting the interior on Sunday but things didn't work out that way. We ARE talking about a boat refit of course. As a rule of thumb from now on, whatever timetable I say it will take to finish a project, just triple it ok? lol.

The shelves are almost done; I've been working on them everyday after work. They just require one more coat of paint and they can be installed after the interior painting is done. Friday afternoon I finished bonding in the front part of the new V-berth locker. With a bit of luck it will be finished by the end of next weekend and I'll have some pictures for everybody. (Please remember to refer to the new time table rule ^_^)

The chemical head was delivered this week so I could test fit where the old marine head used to be. Turns out the stock base installed were too small so I had to fabricate an extension for it. The first thing I had to do was bond in the supports for the platform extension. You can see them in this picture here. Uh, I would like to add that brown stuff is fiberglass mixed in with 404 not poo poo lol. (I know you were thinking it, for shame, for shame) Note that I'm keeping the through hulls in case I change my mind in the future and put a conventional head back in.

This is with the platform now mounted on top of the newly bonded in supports.

And this is with the new chemical head on the new platform. I've yet to decide how I'm going to secure it to the platform but that's easy compared to the fabrication of the platform itself. I'm not going to worry about it. Of course I still need to do some sanding and paint everything over the next couple of weeks.

That little project took a lot of time this weekend believe it or not. While I was busy doing that, Rich completed 3 other projects. The first was creating a bilge water level alarm. My boat, being a bilge keel design doesn't have a traditional bilge. There is a tiny one in the hollow rear keel that water could collect in but should normally be totally dry, as I don't have a stuffing box. I don't plan on installing a automatic pump because if anything manages to actually puncture the hull on BeBop I figure she's going down in a hurry and a tiny 500gph pump ain't gonna cut it...But I do want to be alerted to a problem. Hence the poor man's Bilge detector. Using a regular house smoke alarm you can solder on two wires to the test circuit. Then place the wires about 1/2 cm apart from each other and mount them on a suitable device with a bit of lead weight. Place it in the bilge and if the water level covers the exposed wires it completes the circuit and the alarm goes off. Cost? About $15 bucks vs $50 bucks for the cheapest model at West Marine. Cool factor: 9 out of 10. Here is a picture of the alarm with the wires soldered on and the wire ends with lead weight.

The second project completed is the engine mount that Rich has been working on. The wood on the old mount was totally rotted out and in need of replacement. Rather than buy a piece of 4x4 he laminated up 21 layers of 1/4" marine grade plywood using fiberglass. As you could imagine it took some time lol. He painted it to not only help protect it from the saltwater environment but it matches the boat trim as well. The stainless steel nuts and bolts on the old one were in such bad shape they broke when disassembling the old mount and have been replaced with new ones. Here are the before and afters. Yes the first pic is the old mount on the living room table. (Don’t ask)

The last project was fabricating a new wooden dowel for the main bow cleat. A suitable piece of teak was bought for $2 at Don's Salvage Yard during lunchtime on Friday. Saturday Rich created the new one by using a rasp to whittle the diameter down by about a 1/4" because it was too big. And here are the before and afters. Looks just like brand new for $2 bucks!

This about covers what was done this weekend and I feel a good amount was accomplished. I'm especially impressed with the bilge alarm because electronics is certainly not my area of expertise. I'm hoping to learn more from Rich when it comes time to redo the electrical panel onboard BeBop. Everything currently works but it's quite a mess. Next weekend I'm hoping to get serious about painting the interior. I can't rule out that I might be able to put up the headliner in the head or shelf areas too. We'll see how it goes. It's just 4 months till I launch her and still tons to do. Until next time, Fair Winds...

And the Sanding Never Stops....

2006-04-16T22:01:00.000-04:00

This will be a quick update as there isn't' much in the way of pictures to share with you since I've just been doing tear down and fabrication work.

For the past two weeks I've been doing lots of different projects for BeBop. I've been working on the shelves during the week after work. They have their first coat of primer on them and with luck, will be ready for installation when the interior is ready for them in a couple of weeks

The main project this weekend was to tear out the old headliner and sand anything inside that needs it before I paint and put in the new headliner, hopefully in about two weeks. I'll say this was about the 2nd worse thing I've had to do since I started the refit, only beat by sanding the bottom. The headliner was put up with some sort of superhero adhesive. The foam under the cloth did NOT want to come off easy, so Rich and I ended up taking paint scrapers to get most of it off then sand the rest. Well, here is where the world of hurt comes in because your also sanding fiberglass off too.....over your head in a very enclosed space. Have I mentioned that I am SO sick of sanding recently? ;-) By the end of Saturday I was itching like crazy and it drove Rich off the boat totally to take a shower. It should however be prepped enough to receive the new headliner (indoor/outdoor carpet) I purchased at Home Depot last week. Oh btw, use rubbing alcohol before you get in the shower and then once again afterwards to help with the itching if you ever have to do this sorta work. (thanks Rich) Follow this up with liberal doses of the real stuff and you should be ok lol.

Here are the pictures of the old headliner and with it taken off and partially sanded....****be warned**** it looks totally messed up but give me a couple of weeks and it will be like new again. ^_^

It's hard to see what's wrong with the old headliner in the first picture but you can see a little of brown around the edges and water stains. The camera hides the rest of the flaws...but rest assured it really needed to be replaced. There are also a couple pieces of deck hardware that I'm going to rebed while the headliner is down since water is leaking just a tiny bit in two places. The cam cleat on starboard side hatch is seized up too so while I have easy access to it (the nuts) while the headliner is out, I'm gong to replace it, probably with a jam cleat for the main halyard. I've also used 404 to fill in the screw holes where the old shelves used to be.

While I spent the better part of today cleaning out all the debris from tearing the headliner out and sanding it Rich fabricated the wooden pieces that go inbetween the mast and the mast mount on the deck. Like all things on a sailboat, there is probably a better name for it but eh...wooden pieces works for me. He'll probably have them coated in resin and painted ready for installation by the end of the week.

So as you can see there are lots of projects going on right now and none of them really photograph well. I'm in that inbetween projects stage just like when we worked on the outside. Give me a couple weeks and I can do before and after's of the interior with the new headliner in, paint, head, v-berth etc. I really hate the tear down phase off a project because it looks worse than what you started with. It's the same feeling I had when I stripped the outside of BeBop...sorta like putting a knife in your gut ya know? But I know it's required and in the end it will look better. Just give me some time.

The goals for next weekend are going to be to fabricate the base for the new chemical head I'm putting in because the old one is too small, finish lightly sanding the areas that I filled in with 404, rebed any hardware that needs it before the headliner goes back in and install the V-berth locker.

Well that turned out to be longer that I thought, but still a rather flat blog entry I think. Have to forgive me guys, sometimes the refit is just tedious and boring work, but it all has to be done. Doesn't make writing about it very easy or exciting but I try and keep you all informed about what's going on. Until next time....Fair Winds....

Nothing but the FAQ.....(Part 2)

2006-04-06T22:04:00.000-04:00

Continued from Part 1.....

16. Where do you plan to visit?

Working under the assumption that your referring to outside the United States, I don't have firm plans set yet. I'm still in the refitting BeBop stage. I figure my first stop will either be Mexico or Jamaica as they are both places that I'm interested in going. I might get to see South America if I can't find a way through the Panama Canal that costs less then $2,000. I just can't plan out any further than this right now.

17. How long will you be staying at various destinations?

Hmmmm. That's a tuff question to answer. It will depend upon many factors such as the amount of time I'm permitted to stay, the amount of money I have, the weather, how expensive it is and most importantly, how much fun I'm having.

18. Have you ever done anything like this before?

You mean sell everything I own, swear off materialism, consumerism, any type of financial security and become a wandering nomad of the sea? Heh, that would be a big no.

19. What does your family think of your plans?

My family is very dysfunctional and I don't communication with any of them on a regular basis except my mom. It's hard to speak for her, but I get the impression she's not happy with my plans. She doesn't understand my motivations or my view of how the world works. This is not to say I'm right and she is wrong, it's just that we have different goals in life.

20. What will you do if you get sick?

It's a calculated risk, but I used to be a medic in the Air Force so I know how to take care of myself pretty good. If we are talking about a multiple open compound fracture etc, then I will be forced to seek out medical care the best I can depending upon where I am in the world. Typically speaking, medical care is cheaper in other countries than it is here.

21. Do you get seasick?

Never have been on a small boat, but on large ships the very slow rolling motion has gotten me queasy.

22. Will you be doing this alone?

That's the plan unless Angelina Jolie wants to sign on as the 1st Mate.

23. Don't you think you will get lonely?

No. Besides for my blog and what I share, I'm a private person that doesn't require a lot of people interaction. I'm looking forward to being alone for long periods of time while sailing between destinations.

24. How will you update your Webpage/Blog?

The same way I do right now, through the internet. I don't expect to have any issues finding a connection in most places these days. If I can't get online, I'm making other plans to keep the site up to date with my whereabouts. Just keep in mind after I leave I doubt I'll be able to make weekly updates. It will be more like a major update once a month or two.

25. When are you planning to depart?

I'd like to leave by March 1st, 2007 but I have set a *hard* date of November 1st, 2007. I think it's important to set a firm date or there is a chance you'll never leave because your still saving, or your boat needs something. Eventually something will come up and it will never happen. One way or another by November next year I'm outta here.

26. Won't you get bored?

I highly doubt it. Between sailing to the destination, maintaining the boat, (a suprising amount of time) cooking and exploring new shores, there will be fishing, reading, swiming and diving, listening to music (favorite pastime) writing entries for my blog (maybe a novel?)and I'm hoping to take perhaps a soprano saxophone and learn to play another instrument. Rather have a Bass but they are too big and require power that I don't have. I think I'll have too much to do and not enough time!

27. How will you bathe, wash clothes and use the bathroom?

The bathroom has been briefly covered in another entry but I'm going to use a chemical toliet. It's cheap, smell free and easy to maintain. Underway it's the bucket and chuck it routine. Washing clothes will be with Joy and Saltwater in a bucket, agitate and rinse with freshwater. I'll take a shower using a high pressure pump up weed sprayer. I'm sure you've seen them. Fill it with hot water and presto! Instant 2 gallon pressurized hot water shower. I'll stand in a small plastic container with a shower curtain in the area between the quarterberths or in the cockpit if nobody is around. At the marina of course I'll use their facilites.

28. When is BeBop going back into the water?

Between late July and early September this summer. It costs money to keep her at a dock. I want to put her in the water as soon as I can, but for financial reasons it's better to wait as long as possible. I still need to purchase new running rigging, clovis pins, bottom paint....(list continues) Trust me, nobody wants to see her floating again more than I do. I dream about sailing her quite often. July would be tight, August is probably how it will work out.

29. Why did you name your boat BeBop?

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, it just did. I had a list of names that I really liked and BeBop was *not* on that list lol. She didn't have a official name when I bought her and somewhere between Georgia and Florida on the way back the day I got her, it just popped into my head. I said something like she looks like a bebopper, Rich concurred and it was settled in about 10 seconds flat. I love Jazz and music in general, All my basses, amps etc were sold to provide money to buy her. I really miss my basses dearly. Let's just say the name fits for more than one reason.

30. How long will it take to BeBop Around The World?

As long as it takes mon. (Jamacian accent) Seriously, I'm not sure. 2 or 3 years at a minimum, probably longer because I suspect at some point I'll have to stop and earn money to continue on. I have hopes I will be able to write articles for magazines underway and earn a few bucks. Perhaps write a book once I go all the way around. I'm not sure if either is realistic. I'm sorta new at this writing stuff ya know?

That's it for this Q and A, I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! ^_^ I suspect that I'll write another one at some point in the future to answer more questions or maybe a 50 things about me post. I'm open to ideas, let me know what you want to hear about the project or me and I'll see what I can do hehe. Until next time.....Fair Winds.....

Nothing but the FAQ.....(Part 1)

2006-04-04T21:11:00.000-04:00

1. How can you live in such a small boat?

To borrow a phrase from the Martin family, "size is a mental game." I've lived in giant houses all the way down to driving a 18 wheeler across the country for a year. That really was small. BeBop has enough space to stand up in which I think is the big requirement for comfort. I guess what it comes down to is that small spaces don't bother me too much.

2. How big is your boat?

BeBop is a 1968 Westerly Nomad, Length Overall 22' 3" Waterline Length 18' 4" Beam 7' 5" Draft 2' 3" Mast Height 25' with VHF antenna approx 30' Weight is 3,150 pounds empty. She has a capsize screening ratio of 2.01 which should be good for offshore work.

3.Why are you doing this?

There are many reasons not just one. Some of it is boredom from day to day living. I feel the life slowly being sucked out of me by The Corporate American Slave Machine. It chews human beings up at one end and spits out broken minds, bodies, dreams and spirit at the other. It is slowly driving me insane and I aim to escape from it. A smaller part is my beliefs about resource depletion and how it's going to affect our future.

4. Since you are obviously crazy, is your psychiatrist aware of your plan?

They kicked me out of the mental ward. Said something about me antagonizing the other patients. (for the more literally minded among you....that was a joke.)

5. Aren't you afraid of storms?

Yes. It is a unknown factor and something that cannot be controlled, but the weather patterns are well established. There are plenty of guides written on the best times to sail from point A to point B to minimize the risk of severe storms. I don't want that much excitement in my life!

6. Are you afraid of pirates?

Not really. I'm planning my routes to avoid the worst areas of piracy. The odds of me getting into a automobile accident before I leave are much higher than the odds of having a run in with pirates.

7. Will you have a gun onboard?

No. The risk of running into issues with the different governments of the world is too great. Some countries will confiscate your weapons, toss you in jail *then* maybe if your lucky ask questions later. I will have other, innovative means of self defense in the unlikely event it's required. MacGyver is my hero.

8. How much food/water can you carry?

BeBop can carry 54 gallons of water if fully loaded plus whatever alcoho.....er beverages I wish to carry. ^_^ She should be able to carry from 4 to 6 months of the core staples like rice and pasta. I plan to "eat native" along the way. I mean why travel halfway around the world to eat at Burger King?

9. How long have you been sailing?

My sailing experience is with small craft, I learned to sail in a small open hulled dory as a teenager. A few years later I learned more from sailing hobie cats. I have no real time on any boat bigger than 20 feet, BeBop is the biggest boat I've sailed to date. I plan on doing plenty of overnight "practice" voyages into the Gulf of Mexico before heading south.

10. Do you speak more than one language?

I speak Computer as well as English. I used to know Spanish and about 500 words in broken Japanese, but as they say, "if you don't use it you lose it." I'm thinking of spending a month in Puerto Rico to see if I can't recover some of my Spanish. When I crashed a motorcycle, the concussion managed to literally erase the Japanese stored in my short term memory.

11. How can you afford to do this?

I can't, but for my own sake I can't afford not to. James Baldwin says "It costs as much as you have" and I agree with that. If you leave with $1,000 that's what it will cost. If you have a million, that too is cost.

12. How much was BeBop?

I paid $3,500 for her, about $600 for the trip to Georgia, haul out and back home. The trailer was about $1,400 partially paid for by my friend Rich. It was not a gift, a private agreement was reached for it. All this basically represents my entire net worth considering I sold everything I own of value (sans computers) to buy her.

13. How much do you have budgeted to outfit BeBop?

Heh, there is no budget so to speak. I spend what I have available on her refit as I get paid. I try to use all the tips and tricks I can to lower the cost of the refit, but some items just plain require a lot money like new running rigging and bottom paint. Sweat equity has been the highest cost paid. Less than $1,500 has been spent on the refit so far.

14. How much will you budget for traveling?

Whatever I have before the departure date is what I have. It has been said "the less money you have the greater the adventure." I'll be putting it to the test.

15. How long will you be gone?

Gone? BeBop is my home so it's not like I will be coming "back."wherever I am will be home. If I don't like it there, I'll move (sail) on. If your referring to the idea of coming back to the United States, it depends upon what I find out there in the big world. I might not ever come back.

To be continued in Part 2.....

Interior Work Has Begun.....

2006-04-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Hello once again and welcome back to my blog covering the refit of my sailboat, BeBop. This weekend I've started to do the major woodworking projects to the interior. I also put the 1st coat of Brightsides on the mast with Rich's help. I wanted to get the 2nd coat done today but daylight savings time plus a tad bit too much wind later on prevented me from doing it. But now with light in the afternoon I can work on things I normally would not be able to. Lets start by taking a look overall look at the interior.

Smallish and in ok shape but needs some help. The headliner needs to be replaced and she needs paint. Everything is also removed to make life easier during the refit. I wanted to add in a bit more storage space where the shelves go and somebody I talk to via email gave me a great idea for a new locker. Here is the before of what the hanging shelves looked like.

It worked ok I'm sure but wow, what a lot of wasted space....cubic feet of it that I need to take advantage of. So out they went and I'm building in hard shelves to take their place. I'm keeping the really small hanging ones as I think it will come in handy for smallish random type items. Here is what I've done so far.

The plywood has been measured and cut but still needs to be sanded, painted and installed. I'm also planning on putting a small lip on the shelves edges so items cannot fall out so easy. I know it doesn't look great at the moment but use a bit of imagination and picture it all finished painted white. I could of bought a interior grade of wood (ie prettier) for the shelves but that would be a lot more money (that I don't have) where as a 4x8 piece of exterior grade pressure treated plywood was $26 bucks for the sheet. That's enough to do everything I want to for the interior. It will just require more sanding to get a acceptable finish. Sigh...Sanding...story of my life. >_<

This is the new V berth locker that I'm installing. It will probably be used for the ground tackle since it's easy enough to hoist it through the forward hatch located directly above it. It supports about double my weight so I can stand on it and it makes getting out of the hatch easier too. This picture is very rough. I have just cut the pieces out and am test fitting them. They too will be sanded, painted, etc. I would like to add that this locker was not my brainstorm but of a fellow Nomad owner in the UK, Derek Todd of the S/V "Rolean." I would like to thank you again for the photo, idea and the information you have given me so far. Stay in touch sir.

So it's not as exciting as launching my dory but it's work that needs to be done. This is about it without telling you the size and quantity of the stainless steel bolts that I'm using to secure all the new pieces in with. Detail I doubt many of you wish to read. I am getting lots of questions about what I'm doing and why so I'm putting together a couple of entries that will answer them. I hope to have the first part up by the middle of this week so keep checking back from time to time. Until next time...Fair Winds...

Notes Floats!!...

2006-03-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

As promised Notes is finished and here are the pictures! I burned the midnight oil all week to finish working on all the little details in preparation for today's launch. About wensday I was feeling the pressure to get her done because I promised you all that I would by this weekend.

Without further adieu, I present Notes, the stitch and glue yacht tender that I built from scratch.

As you can see it's a hard chine, very traditional design. The bottom has not been covered with anti-fouling paint yet as it's not really needed until I'm living onboard BeBop and traveling around.

In this picture you can see the oar leathers and buttons. There were easier ways to accomplish the goal of keeping the oars from falling out of the oarlocks but this was the classy way to do it. It took quite some time on Saturday to soak the leather, measure the position out and secure them on with stainless steel brads. I had some left over material and Rich used it to make leather covers for the oar locks too. I must admit I had my doubts but they came out great! (thanks Rich)

Hehehe....very small eh? The pictures above don't do justice to her size. Only 7 feet long but she does have some heft. I haven't weighted her out yet on a scale but I bet she's about 60 pounds.

I'm sure you all know when you commission a boat you have to break a bottle of champaign. Well, I might of went overboard but I decided to use a champaign split to commission Notes lol. Figured a very small boat needs a very small bottle of champaign. The ceremony lasted about 1 minute, Rich and I each had a drink and some was spilled into the water as custom dictated and no..it wasn't broken on the bow....it just made for a cool picture hehehe.

She floating! (and more importantly, didn't turn turtle) I have the waterline painted totally wrong. It's too low by about 3 inches from the stern to the bow. Easy to fix though when I go to put the anti-fouling paint on the bottom.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the (tampa) bay....

Just rowing her around, I went over to that island there then rowed into the marina that's in the picture towards the top entry. I got some very weird looks from a couple of fisherman fueling up their boat as I rowed on by while I was whistling. I yelled out howdy and they just stood there staring at my little boat.

Richard taking her out for a row. Thanks for assisting me these past few weeks in helping me get her done.

I'm pretty pleased with the results of my labor. Some things still need to be adjusted. I mentioned the waterline will have to be corrected as I had no idea were it really was until today and the oar locks need to be narrowed down some as they are about a 1/4" too wide. (the oars can come out) The only thing I'm not real happy with is the bow is just a tad bit low in the water. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps the oar and seating placement is too far forward or I might have too much weight up near the bow when I redesigned the interior from the stock plans. In any event, it's not something I can easily correct and it doesn't seem to make a difference on how she performs. I still need to test my trolling motor and I'm sure the bow will be perfect with it and battery mounted on the stern. Have to cut me some slack, it's the first boat I ever built. ^_^

Well that pretty much wraps up the Notes project. Still some stuff to do and one more water test for the trolling motor is coming but I doubt it will be interesting enough to post about.

I will make mention that yes I've broken down and put up some adverts and a donation button (coming soon) on this site. I know you want to know my reasons why. I really thought long and hard about it before I took the plunge. I spend at least 3 to 5 hours a week, taking pictures of what I do, editing them for publishing then writing up the articles. After that I try and answer any email I get in great detail on what I've done, or to help anybody with any questions about boats, how to's or simply my plans. That's time I could be relaxing or doing more work on the project. I don't mind and I think it's fun, or I wouldn't run this blog, but it still takes time.

I've mentioned plenty enough in the past I'm not a very wealthy man. I make do with what I have and can afford on literally a paycheck to paycheck basis. Sometimes it's enough, other times not much gets done for lack of funds. If you would like to help me out in a passive way, just click a amazon link on my site before you make a purchase from their online store and I'll receive a bit of credit for it. If you really dig what I write about each week, from exciting stuff like today to boring mast painting, I'm going to have the donation link up very soon. It might sound silly but $5 bucks buys 2 clevis and clovis pins. That's about 20mins less per set I have to work to get BeBop Around The World.

Until next time Fair Winds....

Restoring The Mast.....

2006-03-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend I started cleaning up the mast and taking off all the old hardware that wasn't riveted on. This was going to be just a one weekend project but of course I under estimated the work required to finish the job. As it sits right now, the mast and boom are primed and the finishing work have to take place next weekend.

Friday after work Richard took off all the old cleats, sheves, blocks and wind vane from the mast so we could get right down to work on Saturday. Upon inspection of all the old hardware it was obvious that the cleats would have to be replaced but the blocks should be ok to reuse. The sheves will require more work to clean up but I don't think I will be able to find replacements very easy anyway.

First thing we did was run down to West Marine to get some new cleats and clovis/clevis pins. The aluminum cleats were about $30 a pop and I need 4. Ouch. So we replaced them with nylon cleats at $7 bucks a pop and they should work just fine. The hardware is stainless steel and the load is vertical, not horizontal like on a deck cleat where they would break. I ended up not buying the clovis and clevis pins there as I might be able to buy them cheaper online. When we got back home we discovered a problem. The holes on the new cleats were different than the old ones on the mast. Same size screws, different distance apart. So what we ended up doing was using the top hole from the old cleats, filled in the bottom ones with fiberglass mixed with 404 micro fiber, then drilled and tapped new ones that would fit right. We encountered the same problem with the mast deck light and had to do the same thing. You can see in this picture me tapping a freshly drilled hole.

Here is what the hole looks like with the tap in it. You can see the old mounting hole that was filled in with 404. It was later sanded flush and you can't even tell that it was there once I primed it.

We also drilled and tapped the holes for the VHF antenna bracket and wind indicator extention kit. (was interfering with the VHF antenna)

Sunday we sanded down the entire thing, then taped up all the hardware that couldn't be removed. Then we cleaned the surface with denatured alcohol and primed both the mast and boom with krylon metal primer. The initial plan was to paint the entire thing with rattle cans but after doing the primer coat twice, we ran some quick calculations and it turns out for just slightly more money I can use Interlux Brightsides for the final coat. I'm sure that the rattle can job would of worked fine and in some ways could be easier to deal with in the future but Brightsides will last longer. I just mention it in case anybody reads this and is considering redoing their mast.

I know that all sounded like a easy task but I assure you it wasn't. I was lucky that I had a tap and die set that would work. It just paid for itself this weekend. This picture is before we started sanding on it.

This is after two coats of primer, but hasn't been sanded yet for final painting.

I think it looks pretty good so far, better than it did anyway. It won't be completed until next weekend.

Notes, my stitch and glue dory, also received her two final exterior coats of paint. I'm going to do the exterior trim painting after work this week. Next weekend she's going into the water finally! I hope she rows ok, doesn't sink or bury her bow into the waves. I'm really excited after spending 6 months building her to see if I did a good job. It would be heartbreaking if she doesn't work right and I don't really have the time to build another one if I failed. Sink or swim, next week you'll have pictures of it right here.

Alright folks that's it for this weekend. I know priming the mast is boring by comparison to the previous two weeks entries but hey, it all has to be done eventually. Until next weekend....Fair Winds....

And The Cockpit Was Completed.....

2006-03-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

This will be a quick update as I wrote the How to Paint Your Own Graphics guide during the middle of last week.....

I've gotten a good bit of work done this weekend even if I do feel like I slacked off a little bit, but I'm also recovering after 2 very long weekends of working on BeBop but you have all seen how it came together.

This weekend was spend cleaning her up as I was painting the previous weekends. I reinstalled the cockpit locker too. It's amazing how dirty she gets simply sitting on the trailer. All the pollution in the air covers her in about 24 hours flat. I think she'll stay cleaner once she's in the water strange as it may sound. Anyway...I think you'll remember this photo taken about 2 months ago of the cockpit being prepped for paint.

And this is the end result this weekend after putting everything but the tiller back in.

The tiller still needs to be sanded and varnished and won't be ready for some time, but no real rush on that and it makes for a nice after work project during the week.

Notes received both final interior coats of white this weekend and will get the interior green trim after work hopefully...if I can come up with enough spare energy. Next weekend I'm hoping to do the exterior coats and finish the trim during that week and launch her 2 weekends from now. This might get dragged out to 3 weeks depending on how things go. Heh, seems like I'm forever running behind schedule...hey wait a sec...that reminds me of something....like sailing. Sailing=forget the schedule. Things happen when they happen mon. (Jamaican accent) I suspect there will be plenty of photos of the launch...assuming that you know....she actually floats and rows ok without sinking. It will be just horrible if she doesn't row right or something...a very real worry now that the launch is just around the corner.

This coming weekend assuming the parts I ordered arrive from defender, I'll be working on taking everything off the mast and painting it as well as installing a VHF antenna, new cleats and a replacement mast deck light.

That's it, a quickie update for everybody. Hope you all have a nice week and I'll have some cool photos of the mast on the next update. Until then..Fair Winds...

How To Paint Your Own Graphics

2006-03-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

*Disclaimer*

This guide is not meant to be all inclusive or encompassing. If you decide to try this and mess up your boat, I take no responsibility. This is posted only as a general reference to help you get started.

Enough of that kinda stuff, hate to have to put that there but in this day and age....you know how it is.

Ok, so you wanna do your own boat lettering eh? Excellent! It's time consuming and tedious work, but when it's complete, you have saved a lot of money and you'll have a great looking boat. This information could also be applied to simple graphic designs too. I may yet add some to my boat.

Please note not all steps will have pictures. Space is limited on blogger for photos so I'm going to just include the ones I feel are most relevant. I hope my descriptions will be good enough for the rest. This is also my first real how to guide, so ya know, have a heart ok?

Step 01

The first thing you need to do is decide on the font you wish to use. Are you going for old school, ultra modern or cursive? There are literally thousands of fonts you can find for free on the internet. It's enough to give you a headache trying to decide! In my case I used one called Batavia. I thought it was bold, had the right slant that I was looking for and is easy to read. 1001 free fonts would be a excellent place to start a search for one.

Step 02

After you decide on the font, you will need to decide how big you want the lettering to be on your boat. I like a big, bold, easy to see name, so I decided my lettering for BeBop should be about 10 inches for the capital letters and for the bow registration numbers 3 inches was about right. You will want to check with laws in your area concerning the size and placement of the registration numbers too. Using your favorite word processing program, print them out in the correct font size. In my case with 10 inch letters the font size was about 700 with one letter per page. Something to keep in mind is you only need to create one set of letters and numbers to do both sides.

Step 03

After you have them printed out on regular paper you will need to cut them out. I find that a single sided razor blade works better over a pair of sissors. Use whatever you feel more comfortable with.

Step 04

Now you have the letters on regular paper cut out you will need to make your stencil. I find that the .50 cents a sheet poster board you can buy at Big Lots works just fine. I would suggest you draw a base line on the poster board so when you copy the letters onto the posterboard with a pen or pencil the bottom will be even and straight.

Step 05

Now we have the stencil traced out on the poster board but you need to cut out the letters or numbers using a razor blade. Sissors will not work for this step. Substitute a Exacto knife if you like. The better you cut them out the better your lettering will look. Take your time, be patient, this is tedious work.

Step 06

Now you need to decide where you what your graphics to be, it's completely up to you. You need clean the area where the graphics or lettering will be and apply the painters tape to the area. I would recommend the 3M blue tape you can pick up at Home Depot. I couldn't afford the really wide kind but the less overlapping tape you have the better the end result will be because the paint will run behind it just a tiny little bit where the edges meet. Take you time here and make sure the tape has very good contact with the surface your going to paint.

Step 07

Using the stencil you created in steps 04 and 05 tack it up over the area you just taped up and outline the lettering onto the painters tape as careful as possible. Accuracy counts here. I would recommend taking it easy on the morning coffee! I would use some sort of reference point on one side so when you do the other it will match. I ran a plumb line off my winch with my measuring tape tied to it as a weight and used the 2nd "B" in BeBop to line up under the winch on both sides.

Step 08

Using your Exacto knife or single sided razor blade you need to cut the outline of your lettering onto the painters tape. The idea here is to cut just deep enough to go through the tape but not score the hull or paint. Easier said than done..and no...I wasn't completely successful in this area but I did go back over the areas where I went too deep with the blade and touched them up the next day. This is for the money so to speak. The end result will only be as good as your cutting the lettering out of the painters tape.

Step 09

Cover and tape up any area you are afraid of getting paint on where it doesn't belong. The prep work with painting is always 90% of the job. You can see just how much prep we did in this picture....but no paint got anywhere on the sides! If you try and cut corners you'll undoubtedly regret it. With my friend Rich's help, we rolled the areas and then tipped the paint with a 4 inch brush. I won't go into great detail with this guide on painting techniques as I'm sure there are better ones available on the net.

Step 10

Give it about a half hour plus or minus depending on how the weather conditions are in your area before you remove the painters tape. I try to pull it off at about a 45 degree angle to the surface to get a clean edge. If you wait too long and the paint is allowed to totally dry, the edges will look like crap when you remove the tape.

Step 11

Unless you do this for a living your gonna have a few mistake areas. Don't try and fix them the same day, wait until the paint is completely dry. 24 hours should be enough. Take a very small detail brush and do the touch up work. You might have a little or a lot depending on how well you did the prep work. If you make errors like going outside the B in BeBop with the green (I admit it) let it dry and touch it up with the proper color.

Step 12

Bask in the glow of Ohhh's and Ahhh's from you jealous friends.

This really isn't such a difficult thing to do. It just takes time, patience, dedication and you will learn the skills as you go along. the end results when your done will make you one very proud sailor in your marina and think of all the money you saved too.

I'd like to add in a hearty thank you for Rich's assistance on this project. He worked just as hard as I did.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have via email (listed below) or you can leave a comment and I'll be happy to respond that way too.

Fair Winds..

Jammer
S/V BeBop
the.jammer@gmail.com

The Facelift Finale....

2006-03-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

Hello again everybody and thank you for dropping by. I have made tons of progress this weekend and I can't wait to share it with you. This entry will finish up the BeBop Gets A Facelift series that was started about 2 months ago.

Where to start....if you remember from a few posts ago I mentioned I was going to do all the trim and graphics work myself. Why would I want to inflict this kind of torture upon myself instead of just buying the graphics? The cost was outrageous. In order to get the vessel registration numbers, port of call and the name graphics done in vinyl in the sizes that I wanted would of been over $500. As you all well know this is a budget operation so I had to forget that and once again do it myself. What was the cost of doing it myself? I figure including the paint about $75.

Saturday morning after doing some errands early on Rich and I started to tape off the trim lines under the rub rail and around the waterline. The one under the rub rail was easy. I just took a scribe and taped on a Sharpie measured a 3 inch width, then dragged it all the way across on both sides to get a nice straight line then tape it up. The boot stripe by the waterline took much longer because I couldn't use a scribe to make the lines and I just had to eyeball it. After the basics where done, it was time to put the tape on the areas where the graphics would go on the bow, stern and sides. I plan on doing a whole "How to Paint Your Own Graphics" entry a bit later in the week with full pictures but it goes something like this....

01. Pick the font you wanna use
02. Print out letters to the proper size
03. Cut them out with a razorblade
04. Trace them to heavy poster board
05. Cut that out with a razorblade
06. Tape the area you want the graphic to be
07. Copy the outline to the tape
08. Cut that out with a razorblade
09. Paint and Pray you didn't/don't screw up
10. Remove the tape about a 1/2 hour after you paint them
11. Touch up any mistakes by hand the next day

It took me about 2 minutes tops to type that out and about 10 hours of time after work during the week to reach step 07. Step 07 to 11 was the entire weekend plus the trim. Here is a picture of me tracing the "BeBop" poster board cut out onto the painters tape.

And this is right before painting was started. It was applied the same way the sides were done...Rich rolled it on and I tipped it.

Sunday I slept in some after working so hard Saturday and spent the entire day touching up the trim and graphics. Yes it took that long to do it. I taped up the large trim areas that needed attention and was close to the lines and used a once inch brush very carefully. On the letters, a very small brush was used to straighten out any mistakes since you can't really tape that up again. If you get paint somewhere you shouldn't you'll have to wait for it to dry and go over it with the proper color again. The only real problem was where the tape overlapped itself the paint ran a tiny bit outside the lines. If I could of afforded it I would of used the foot wide painters tape and avoided that issue. Speaking of tape, while it's on my mind, Do NOT use the brown kind of painters tape found at Home Depot. I picked up a roll hoping I could save a buck per roll and it left sticky residue on my teak rub rails that required the use of paint thinner to remove. Bad stuff folks, spend the money and use the blue kind.

Ok...big moment here. This is a picture you've all seen before, it's the day I bought her back in November of last year.

This is today, after touching up the trim and graphics.

Wow, it's all I can say.

They turned out really nice and didn't require too much in the way of touch up really. I don't think vinyl graphics would of looked any better. Actually the opposite since the painted letters have a shine that cannot be matched by any piece of vinyl. Harder to do and harder to maintain but cheaper by far. Imho, this is also a lot classier.

There is still so much work to be done so don't think I'm wrapping up the refit yet. The mast and boom need to be finished, all of the interior, the cockpit needs a little more work, fabricate new washboards and of course Notes, my stitch and glue yacht tender just received her last coat of primer today (courtesy of Rich) and will probably be finished in about 3 weeks if I dedicate some time during the week after work. After all that, *then* I get to put Bebop back in the water and move onboard, probably sometime in July thru August. (Yay!) The time passes so quick though, It feels like I just started yesterday and here we are finishing up the major parts of the exterior.

Ok guys, getting tired so I'm signing off for this weekend, have a nice week and I hope to have that How To guide up sometime in the next few days. Until then Fair Winds.....

BeBop's In The News....

2006-02-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

It's been a great weekend here at the BeBop project. I've had a visit from a popular superhero, Richard spotted the rare Sailorus Crusierous and snapped a photo, then BeBop made the news and finally got her bottom primed. This was going to be BeBop Gets A Facelift Part V but with all the stuff that's happened, I changed my mind. I had to go with something cooler.

Alright, getting serious now, I decided to take a 3 day weekend since the weather was supposed to be rainy and windy on Saturday. I was going to sand and prime on Sunday and Monday. Of course the weather report changed on Friday night and Saturday turned out to be the nicer day, so instead of working on Notes, Richard and I started to do the final sanding on the bottom of BeBop. It really was a nasty job. It's so tight to work under the keels and somewhere in the process Rich disappeared, but in return I got a comic book superhero assistant....none other than the Tick appears out of knowhere!!

I grabbed the camera as quickly as possible and grabbed this photo.....

Amazing how the word has spread about the BeBop Around The World project eh? Wow, even superhero's are showing up to help me succeed in my goal of sailing around the world.

After chatting with the Tick for a little while, it was time to repair the blisters that I had popped and sanded. To prep them so they won't come back in the affected areas I used Interlux Interprotect 2000E. It was a two part paint that forms a waterproof barrier over the exposed fiberglass. It was some strange stuff I have to admit. It took about 10 minutes to stir up the main compound really good because it was so thick. When mixed with the catalyst you let it sit for 20 minutes before you start to apply it. It had the consistency of warm honey and applied pretty thick. I put 2 thick coats on in the areas that need it. It dries very quickly and hard, like a thin cement.

You can just see some of the areas that it was apply too in this photo. This was the *good* side actually, the other side was much worse but it all came out good and I got great coverage with the stuff. I think it really will keep the blisters from coming back in the areas that it was applied to but only time will tell.

See I told you BeBop was in the news!! Ha! Haha!

Ah...Ahem, yeah I know....too literal. But it was funny.

It was hard getting back to work on Sunday after the Tick left, but I must carry on in his absence. Richard decided to come outside and help me tape up and prime the bottom today. We couldn't get started until about 11am because it rained overnight and into the early morning, but the weather radar called for it to dry up and just be mild and windy. Since it was just primer and the stuff dries in no time flat, we carried on with the plan right on schedule. The primer I used is Interlux Primocon and I have to say it seems to be good stuff. It has nice coverage and it only took about 3/4th's of a gallon to prime the bottom twice. Richard used the roller and I crawled underneath again with a brush and got all the areas where the roller couldn't.

After the 1st coat was on and drying, Richard spotted a extremely rare species these days...and getting rarer all the time...the Sailorus Crusierous. He grabbed the camera and just caught a photo of it in it's natural habitat and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Wow, just wow....there you have it folks...in the flesh, a real Sailorus Crusierous. They are almost extinct ya know, falling prey to the evil Yachticus Maximus Dollarous that prey on them. ^_^

Such a exciting weekend eh? Anyway I know your getting bored and just want to see the final result after the 2nd primer coat so here it is.

Cool huh? She really doesn't look like the same boat now. Overall I'm pretty pleased with my efforts. Another weekend or two and the green trim will be on with the registration numbers and her name of course. That will wrap up 90% of the major exterior refit of BeBop excluding stuff like adding on the stern ladder and much later the solar panels etc. Oh, I still have to put the cockpit locker back in and paint the cockpit a 2nd time too. But wait, you say the bottom isn't finished. Yeah I know, you can't put the anti-fouling paint on until the last 60 days before she goes in the water so she'll be grey on the bottom until this summer.

Don't worry I still have plenty to do before she goes back into the water....like redo the entire interior in the comming months plus paint the mast and hopefully finish Notes in the next couple of weeks. I'll have plenty to write about for a long time before I even move onboard and start my trip. Stick around and I'll share it all with you.

That's about it my 3.5 readers. (seems we might of picked up a third reader somewhere hehe) In spite of my high spirits I'm pretty beat up this weekend from crawling under BeBop for 2 days. I'm signing off for tonight folks...until next time Fair Winds....

Success at Last!!!

2006-02-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a very nice week here all things considered and lots of progress on many different projects was made. To start with I should let you know that the oars have been finished. Richard painted them after work everyday this week and completed them on Thursday. They look just great and you can't tell the black foam grips are for a bicycle lol. Photo space is limited on the blog so I'll just describe them as having white shafts and the paddles are green. (It matches the boat) The oar leathers still need to be tacked on but that will have to wait until Notes is more finished so I can test fit them. No big deal, but if you think about it, this is the 1st project that is complete since I've started. Needless to say they are leaning up again the living room wall acting as a motivational tool. ^_^

Notes is coming along nicely, While I was taping up the ports on Sunday, Richard helped me out by sanding her down again in preparations for the 2nd coat of primer. We then figured out where the waterline is going to be and taped that off so we could prime it again. This was necessary because I expect her to spend a large amount of time in the water so I'll have to put anti-fouling paint on the bottom which requires that you use a different primer. Anyway, the 2nd coat turned out very nice and the exterior is almost ready for final painting now. I figure she'll be ready for commissioning in under a month and you'll get a full photo spread of the mini party when that happens.

BeBop is turning out very very well, but not quite perfect. I don't think Rich and I could of done any better give the circumstances that we had to work with. Saturday was perfect weather for painting the 2nd coat on the sides. We spend the morning sanding them down and the painting was done by about 1pm. Rich would roll it on in about 4 foot sections and I would come along behind him and "Tip" the paint with a 4 inch brush. In english this translates to when you roll it on the paint has tiny air bubbles in it that needs to be popped and blended across the hull. Sounds easy, hard as hell to do right. At 107 bucks a gallon (plus materials) you really don't wanna screw it up. I had a real nice stress headache going on. It turned out very good though, a couple of runs that only Rich and I could probably point out to you. One was so minor I didn't spot it til the next day, another will be sanded and covered by the green trim etc. I'm pretty happy about it all really.

Sunday was warm, calm but overcast. After checking the weather radar to verify it was not going to rain, I decided to press on and paint the areas around the ports with the 2nd coat of Brightsides. As usual with painting the prep work took the longest as I had to tape the ports off and with Rich's help we sanded around them. Then some denatured alcohol to clean the sanded material off the area and then paint. Same way we did the sides of the hull, Rich rolls on the paint and I tipped it. It looks great compared to the 1st coat, zero runs this time. (yay yay yay!!!) Finally as we are finishing up the large above waterline areas we figure out how this weird paint works. I probably wasted a hour this afternoon just looking at her. This is not the same boat I picked up a few months ago. Just scroll back through the old posts and compare them to the new photo's. Add in 400 hours of manual labor and I think you might begin to understand how I feel.

Check out this reflection!!

Cool eh? It ain't AwlGrip but it's close.

The last thing I did this week is purchase another car outright so I can get rid of my PT Crusier. (no more monthy payments) Ouch. This really hurts, but nothing worth doing comes without sacrifice. I believe so strongly in what I'm doing I'm getting rid of my nice car and bought a old 90' Honda Civic that will serve as basic transportation to and from work. Assuming that it doesn't die (seems to run real tight) and I can fix whatever breaks cheap enough I will save over $5,000 dollars in the next 12 months vs keeping the Cruiser. That's a lot of stuff I can buy for BeBop and when I set sail for Mexico (my 1st scheduled stop outside the US circa 2007) I'll sell the Honda probably for what I paid for it and break even. Another perk is the gas mileage will be better by about 10 miles to the gallon. This will probably be the most painful thing I have to do before I leave. I rather like the Cruiser but I don't have enough money to go around.

I'm a firm believer that if you want something bad enough and long enough you can make it happen if your expectations are realistic. Hard work and apply yourself. I really want to go sailing around the world. A nice car does not and can not do that. A nice sailboat however, can. I'm simply trading one for the other. To the people who think you have to have the newest car and compete with the Jones'..(i.e. the ones who would make fun of me)......you can come check out my blog in the future and see all the cool places I was able to visit because I didn't sell my soul to buy a pretty internal combustion engine with a cupholder. I'm giving up materialism as best I can. The "I want this and that" syndrome just leads to a road of suffering my friends. Find satisfaction in your adventures in life...not what your paycheck can buy.

Enough of Jammer's great wisdom...Next weekend I'm hoping to finish sand the bottom, seal the blistered areas and apply some primer. The weekend after that I really want to get the green trim on and get BeBop's name on BeBop lol. I plan on painting it on and I'm going to check out all the different kinds of fonts out there this week to find the right one. Until next time...Fair Winds...

New Motivation....

2006-02-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

Been a very slow weekend here at BeBop Around The World as the weather once again is just the pits. Saturday was rainy and windy, Sunday was very cold (for Florida) and very windy. Even my coworkers were complaining about the weekend weather recently as they have their own outdoor projects that are not getting completed. So needless to say nothing was accomplished on BeBop. Notes, my heavy weather day project, received a final sanding early on Saturday before the rain started and was moved into the garage. That afternoon I finished priming the inside of her as the wind and rain howled outside. She is coming along nicely and I expect to probably commission her in about a month. The oars that I purchased two weeks ago were lightly sanded and Rich is painting them for me to help out. They will be completed by the end of this week.

After priming Notes it was only about 3 in the afternoon and I was feeling pretty down about how the whole project seems to be running behind schedule. Not to mention how I feel it's not measuring up to my level of perfectionism. So I suggested that Rich and I head down to the St Pete Marina and see if we couldn't find anything that was there that looked worse than BeBop does right now.

Just so you know the Saint Petersburg Marina is THE place to be if you wanna be a liveaboard. It's so highly desired there is a 5 year waiting list for a slip. Prices start at about 900 bucks a month and go up, so I won't ever have a slip there. I'll be further up in Tampa Bay with the poor sailors not the yachties but hey, we both make Gin and Tonic's at sunset the same way. You just have to pass the Deet around at happy hour since they grow the mosquitoes awfully big were I'm looking to live. In the St Pete Marina they spray a lot because we all know the rich yachties can't handle it. ^_^

Getting back to the point, the trip was worth the effort imho. I couldn't believe the level of disrepair that most of the boats there showed. It was downright sad I tell ya. I was simply floored. If you took BeBop and sat her next to any ten sailboats we saw at the dock, she was easily better looking than 9 of them hands down, right now. Of course she was smaller than all of them too lol. Very nice little ego boost to see I'm only 3 months into the refit and she looks sooo much better than the rest. I consider it a point of pride even if she's not going to be perfect.

While I was pumping my ego a bit, the security guard drove up and Richard and I talked to him for probably a good 15 minutes. He was a liveaboard in the Marina for about 8 years now and I was surprised to learn he knew exactly what kind of boat BeBop is. (Westerly Nomad) He completely understood the concept of the twin keels and why they made them like that. He also seemed surprised when I told him I was building my own stitch and glue yacht tender, but he probably believed me since my shirt and pants had paint on them. I mentioned that I was going to move onboard this summer and he sat there and thought for a second and said sorry but you don't have the record lol. He said that goes to a old man with a long beard who a few years ago sailed in with a 19 footer and staying for a few months then sailed off to the Florida panhandle. That's a morale booster too since my boat is 3 1/3 feet longer and I'm sure the beam is easily another foot across. Who says you need a 40 or even a 30 footer to live onboard? Just have to find the right boat with the right design.

Sunday was a complete loss, the high was about 50 degrees with 20 to 30 mph hour winds so I didn't even sand on Notes. I just ran some errands around town since I had the time. Next weekend is supposed to be nice if the long range forecast can be trusted. I'm hoping to do the 2nd coat of pain on her sides from the waterline up to the deck. If I get two nice days it's certainly possible. I have all the paint in the garage just waiting for the right sunny day.

That's it for this update, Perhaps the weather gods will give all the sailors of Tampa Bay a break and we'll have better weather next weekend. Then we can get some real work done. Until then. Fair Winds....

BeBop Gets A Facelift Part IV

2006-02-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

Wow did it rain hard on Friday. We received over 12 inches in about 4 hours time. Why do I mention this? My new ports had problems with leaking when first installed if you remember me describing it. I thought they just needed some settling in time and a touch of silicon where the two rubber end pieces met. Well I was right! When I opened her up on Saturday the ports didn't leak at all. (whew!) The companionway did and it ran down into the port aft locker, but it was very minor and only took a couple paper towels to soak it up. I think when I build the new washboards and put the dodger back on (after I make it) it won't be a issue at all. Beginning to look like I might have a dry home in heavy weather after all eh?

Saturday the weather gods did *not* shine on me. (rainy, cold and windy) I'm getting used to it, so I used the 1st half of the day to run some errands and didn't get back home until about noon. I spent the cold afternoon putting the very last of the fiberglass resin and micro fiber on the inside of Notes. She's getting very close to having the inside primed. Figure another three or four hours of sanding and she'll be ready. It's tuff to stay focused on the bigger picture (BeBop) when I'm so close to having Notes ready for the water....but then I can't exactly take her around the world and in pinch she's completely usable right now. Just not finish painted and no....you don't get any more pictures of Notes until the launching ceremony. (quit laughing...there IS going to be a ceremony. I don't care how small she is.)

Sunday's plan was to sand on Notes and pull the marine head out of BeBop as I'm not going to be using it. The fiberglass resin on Notes wasn't dry yet so Rich and I set her in the sun to dry and commenced to ripping out the head. Now I imagine many of you wonder why in the hell I'm doing this. Well....marine heads are smelly, high maintance, prone to failure and a pain in the butt. Many people feel that a chemical porta pottie is cleaner and easier to deal with and I fall into this camp. BeBop didn't have a holding tank for waste anyway so that would of cost more (by more than double) than the porta pottie...which I still need to purchase. You may think this is very primitive but I will disagree. Think about this for a sec... In port (with luck) you can use the marinas bathrooms and showers, underway 3 miles offshore you bucket and chuck it, so the only time you will be using this is at anchor and then it's just for number two. Anyway, pulling the head out sucked I tell ya. It's so tight in there you can't reach all the nuts and bolts without a few 4 letter words. 2 hours later it was thrown from the cockpit into the yard with a large amount of satisfaction. The thru holes are glassed into the hull so they will stay put, I'm just going to silicon the sea cocks closed in the event I choose to put a head in again at some point in the future.

After that rather nasty job was taken care of, the weather was much better than it was predicted to be (less wind) so I decided to change the plan and ended up painting the cockpit. Rich helped me tape all the hardware off to save some time and off I went with my trusty paint brush.

I was going to save this picture for the last before and after when I have the cockpit locker installed again but screw it, I have to show you what I'm doing right? This is what it looked like about a month and a half ago right after I had finished sanding it down. Before this weekend I had primed it and sanded it again in preparation for finishing paint. You can see were I bonded down the locker cover..er..thing the previous owner cut into the seat. No clue why...you can get the 6 gallon fuel tanks in and out just fine. It will be safer offshore this way.

This is after the first coat of brightsides paint, the tape isn't coming off til tomorrow...I literally just finished when this was taken.

Sweet eh? eh? It came out ok...you can see the brush marks in the paint from a distance of about 3 feet which I'm not real happy about and I missed a couple of runs too. The runs will be sanded out and done over but all in all I'm pretty pleased with it. I don't think it will be a big deal or so easy to see when she's in the water with all the standing rigging, running rigging, dock bumpers, seat covers, cockpit locker, lifeline netting, bimini etc etc etc is all installed. (Reminder to self again, she's a cruiser not a show boat) Also something to keep in mind is outside the water every little thing is amplified and so easy to see. The same effect happened when Rich and I put Notes on the ground today...90% of the areas that still need sanding turned invisible...ground effect..something..I dunno. But when something is below eye level you can't see it as well. When we put her back on the sawhorses, yep...still there. Weird. Anyway...A second coat will probably be applied closer to when she's going back into the water since the cockpit is a very high traffic area.

Well that's about it for this weekend, if the weather is nice I'm hoping to finish sand out the blisters on the bottom and prime it up next weekend. I'm beat, think I'll go grab a drink then crash for the night folks. Until next weekend, Fair Winds...

BeBop Gets A Facelift Part III

2006-01-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Hello world and welcome once again to BeBop Around the World. Lots of little things have happened this week concerning the project so I'll just write up a paragraph about each one.

Two weeks ago I ordered up the 5 1/2 foot oars for Notes and they arrived on wensday. I got them from Jamestown Distributors who have turned out to be a nice company to deal with. They said the oars were out of stock and wouldn't be in for another week but they shipped just 2 days later. They get high marks from me. Right now they are primer gray but I'm going to paint them to match BeBop and Notes. The paddles will be green and the shafts white. While at West Marine to get some tacks for the oar leathers, I spotted the foam rubber grips for the oar handles....for $22. Wait a sec. TWENTY TWO DOLLARS for a set of foam rubber grips? I think not! Rich saw them and laughed, then said the same, but quickly came up with a really cool idea to get a set cheap. Bicycle handlebar grips. Off we went to the bike shop and found a set that will work just perfectly for $5.99. They are actually nicer since they are contoured for your hands. Boat stores are such a rip off. Only shop there to get the items you absolutely need (like paint) and improvise everything else that's possible. I swear they think all boat owners are millionaires. Anyway, it will take a couple of hours over the next few weeks to get them painted and ready for use.

What good are oars without the yacht tender? Notes is coming along nicely too, she received her first coat of primer on the outside Saturday. I spend like 5 hours sanding the outside preparing for this and I suspect I'll have to spend 10 more sanding out the imperfections for the 2nd coat of primer. The 1st coat was really just to fill in the weave on the fiberglass cloth and to show where it needs to be sanded again. Ugh, sanding...the story of my life. Anyway, I could just put the oarlocks on and take her for a row but I'd rather wait until she's completely done. It's still going to be awhile as there is a insane amount of sanding and painting to do on her to get her into Bristol fashion.

Sunday I painted the top deck on BeBop to give the new anti-skid it's 2nd coat and something interesting happened. It took twice as much paint then it did to paint it the 1st time. It was perplexing at first but then I figured it out. It's all about total surface area. When we put the sand on the deck and it really increased the total surface area...hence it took twice as much paint. I didn't consider that but it's ok, I need to get another gallon anyway. The anti skid is just ludicrous in how effective it is. I busted up my knuckles prep sanding around the deck area and it was so strong I had to wear kneepads for the 2nd coat. It's very possible I might have to put a 3rd coat down or build up one helluva set of calases on my feet. This combined with a safety harness, jacklines and lifelines when underway and your not going to be washed overboard very easily. It all looks ok so far, the perfectionist in me sees the flaws and it's bothersome on a certain level. The weather deteriorated later in the day or was going to put the 1st coat of paint in the cockpit too. That's probably going to be next weekends goal along with the 2nd coat for the sides if there is very little wind. There is so much stuff to paint that it feels like it's taking forever, but considering were I started about 3 months ago tons has been accomplished I suppose. 3 months down 8 to go.

I know there are not any pictures on this update but there isn't really anything exciting to share with you. Sure I primed Notes but that will need some sanding and a second coat before it looks decent enough to share. Just the way it goes. The whole BeBop project is so big it seems to take about 3 weekends before something major is completed and I can really show you all before and after pictures.

Off Topic, most of you know I really dig Jazz and it's pretty much all I listen too outside of when I'm driving in my car. There isn't much in the field that's been made since about 1965 that I can dig (even less with vocals in it) but I discovered this new artist by the name of Katie Melua. She's very young, only 21 now but has 2 records out. Some of her songs have a real Jazz feel, others not at all, but her voice is just incredible. You have to check it out here.

That's it, I'm beat. Time for a Gin & Tonic then some shut eye. Assuming your still awake and I haven't bored you to death, tune in next weekend for BeBop Gets a Facelift Part IV if the weather is nice.

BeBop Gets A Facelift Part II

2006-01-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome once again to the wild world of sailboat refitting where yes, you the reader gets to see pictures of me working my butt off. It's not so bad really, sometimes it's even enjoyable. It would be more so if I wasn't under some pressure to get her done by late summer.

This weekend on Saturday I put anti-skid on the decks. Sounds fancy eh? Not really. In researching the cheapest method of doing this, I discovered James Baldwin just painted his decks and sprinkled sand on them. Shear genius I say. It's ultra cheap, easy to apply and heh, trust me you will *not* be slipping on my deck. You might even be able to discard your nail file and just rub whatever body part that needs attention on the deck.

I did some easy prep work by sanding the areas with 220 where anti-skid will be applied and then ran one inch piece of painters tape to mark the borders between where non and anti-skid will be placed. I then painted about a two foot section at a time with Interlux Brightsides White and Richard then sprinkled the sand on using a salt shaker. Move on to the next section, rinse and repeat. Figure we used about five pounds of sand in total. I'm also adding some anti-skid in strategic areas around the cockpit to make getting on and off BeBop a bit safer while at the dock or underway. Later on after all this dries I will paint the entire topsides again. This helps keep the sand on the decks and cuts down on the sharper edges of sand. Depending on how it turns out, I may have to use a 3rd coat of paint if the sand turns out to work too good as a anti-skid agent.

Here is a close up of a area we just painted and put the sand on.

This is after about a hour and a half after completion and I just removed the painters tape. You have to look close but you can see it. After another coat of paint it will look like a factory finish.

Now for some not so great news. For the past two weeks my neck has been hurting more and more each day. I've been doing streching exercises and taking advil for the pain but it's not helping all that much. After working on the deck Saturday it caught up with me that evening and I was ready to visit a hospital to get some decent pain medication. (Or perhaps the vet and get them to put me out of my misery) Then I remembered that doctors don't believe that people really do have severe pain anymore for fear of getting sued. I know some of you will still say go see the doctor, get *something* to help you out. Let's face it...they are a scam. You spend 2 hours in a lobby..after 2 weeks to just get a appointment.....to spend on national average 7 mins with the doctor....who more often than not doesn't give you any of the good medication because you can't feel that bad according to them. Oh, that will be $35 dollars for 7mins work thank you. Well I used to be a medic in the Air Force so I don't need them to tell me how bad I feel and or what I need to do.

How did I end up like this at the age of 32? In a single word, motorcycles. They are the most fun you can have with your pants on right til you wreck one and you end up like me. Messed up knee, pins in both my wrists, back pain and (severe!!!) neck pain. Now I'm not telling you not to ride....I did after I wrecked 3 times...but understand how bad you WILL hurt when you go down assuming your unlucky enough to live. Sooner or later everybody who rides....wrecks. Understand the price for this level of excitement. The titanium pins, I always know they are there, especially in cold weather. I wear a brace on my right wrist at work all the time now to help with the pain. I've learned to mostly live with reduced range of motion with my right wrist. My neck has degenerative arthritis and I've messed up the muscles pretty bad there too. My manager at work thought I was trying to pull a fast one on him until I showed him my X-rays one day. He doesn't make fun of me anymore.

So what do you do? Take it one day at a time and use the time honored remedies to help you get by. Here is what I do since I can't get decent medication. Oh, for the record, Celebrex is really nice stuff but it's not on my drug formulary at work so I can't afford it. Nice huh? Anyway this is what I'm doing right now trying to alleviate the pain.

Chris' Solution for Neck Pain:

Exercise if you can, it streches out tight muscles groups which help to temporarily relieve pain
Rest if I can't or don't feel like exercise, such as lying down to relieve the pressure on my neck
ICE for half a hour then a hour off for inflammation as needed
Tylenol Arthritis 1,200mg's twice a day
Take Kava Kava in large doses to promote sleep/rest
Take Glucosamine, Chondrotin and MSM, some studies indicate it's better than celebrex for ostoarthritis.
(I'm discovering herbal medicine does make a difference and it's not witch doctor stuff)
If it's under 75 degrees drink Jim Beam on the rocks. Over 75, Gin and Tonic in liberal doses for pain.
I'd love to have my favorite comfort food (M&M's) but I eat low carb these days. :-(

In the meantime, if any of you have a shitload of Percocet you don't need, email me and I'll pay for the overnight shipping.

I really wanted to get more done on Sunday but I spent most the day in bed with a ice pack on my neck trying to ease the pain of merely existing. I'm sitting right now with a ice pack on my neck writing this up.

All in all I'm mostly satisfied with the progress that's being made. I think I'm on track to launch BeBop in late August. Next weekend assuming my neck doesn't get any worse I'll be working on BeBop gets a Facelift Part III. If bad weather arrives I'll be doing more finishing work on Notes. Until then...Fair Winds...

A Yacht Tender is Born....

2006-01-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

Cruisers around the world all have one thing in common. They all have a yacht tender, dinghy, dory or rowboat depending on what name you prefer. I tend to stick with yacht tender most of the time. If the boat is your home, I consider the tender to be the family car so to speak. The boat manufacturers know this and like to charge crazy sums of money to purchase one. Doesn't matter if it's inflatable or hard side. Just to drive the point across, they would have you believe that a 12 foot Avon inflatable, 20 horsepower engine with a bimini complete with his and her matching cupholders is required to have a good time. That will be about $5,000 thank you and we DO take visa. As my 2.5 readers know that's more money than I spent on buying BeBop, the trailer and trip to Georgia to get her. Nope can't afford it. I decided before I even had BeBop to build my own.

I'd like you all to meet BeBop's little companion. It's a "Apple Pie" class yacht tender designed by Chuck Merrell. (chuck@boatdesign.com) www.boatdesign.com You can download the plans for free from his website to print out. What he provided was a pretty basic interior so I decided to make some major modifications to include better seats and positive flotation. In keeping with the musical theme for naming my boats I've decided to call her "Notes."

She's nearly ready for her 2nd test floating. Here is the latest picture.

Specs:

7 feet 1 inch loa
3 feet 6 inch beam
50 pounds in weight
3 flotation chambers
150 pounds of positive buoyancy (ie she ain't sinkin')
30 pound thrust electric trolling motor
5 1/2 foot oars (renewable energy) ^_^
Cute as a button

I am extremely proud of this little dory. I basically built her out of 3 sheets of marine grade plywood, 2 gallons of fiberglass resin and fiberglass cloth. I've repaired a lot of stuff in my life, restored etc but I've never taken a bunch of plywood and turned it into a boat before. Every piece of wood on Notes is 100% custom measured and fabricated. Just for the record, fabrication is very difficult but you get a incredible sense of accomplishment from it. Nothing was store bought except for the trolling motor and hardware. I still have about 3 days worth of bonding and sanding to do before she's ready for the final float test and then paint. Figure about 7 days, 40 hours more of labor. Total Cost minus trolling motor and oars is about $350 bucks. Big savings over that cookie cutter Avon and it's one of a kind too.

I want to put together a longer "this is how I did it" guide at some point in the future but for now, I wanted to show everybody what I work on when the weather isn't so great and I can't really do much with BeBop. Now you know about my dory, Notes. I plan on painting them both the same way so they will match, the white with green trim. I figure it will be so cute it will be sick! lol!!

For now to get a idea of scale this is a picture of me in her. (In front of BeBop)

Very tiny eh?!! She has to be to fit on deck. Sometimes the locals will slash up a inflatable boat if they are mean, jealous etc so I decided early on to have a hard dink over a inflatable, but it would need to be *very* small for the boat sizes I was looking at. Now at this point I know you thinking it's too small but James Baldwin of the "Atom" built a similar model that was actually 6 inches shorter!! (Of course you know this from reading my links ^_^) Sorry James, mine is defiantly cooler even if you do get the smaller dory award.

Well it's about bedtime, my neck due to various reasons really hurts right now so I'm signing off til next time. Perhaps if the weather is better next weekend we'll get to BeBop Facelift Part II. Until then....Fair Winds...

Learning from Mistakes....

2006-01-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

I figured out why my painting job wasn't as good as I hoped. This might sound stupid but it wasn't very obvious to me until I was driving home tonight while thinking about it. Ok, without fanfare....here it is.

I treated painting BeBop like you'd treat painting a house. It seemed like the way one would do it. Heh, it doesn't work that way, I understand this now. You have to treat her like your going to paint a fine automobile. You can't just slap some paint on like it's drywall. It doesn't absorb into the fiberglass like latex does on sheetrock. Instead it just sits on the surface in a *very* thin coat and runs extremely easy on vertical surfaces. After doing some more research into this unusual paint I'm getting a grasp on how to work with it better. How do I describe it? Imagine trying to paint with a very thin plastic that sets up in less than 15mins. Very weird properties. You have to see the finish on this stuff to believe it. Very shiny because it has Teflon in it. It actually squeaks when you rub your fingers over it...dry mind you, not wet. Very slipperly. Yeah I'll be putting down some serious anti skid on the decks too.

Rich thinks we did a ok job on but now he understand how this stuff works too and feels we can really do a nice job for the last coat weather permitting this coming weekend. I feel the same. Actually I feel better now that I learned from my mistakes. Not great because I don't like making error's being the perfectionist and all but certainly better than yesterday now that I understand what's happening.

That's about it for tonight. I'm tired after a long day at work and just thought I'd share my discovery with my 2.5 readers. Until next time...fair winds.

Interlude....

2006-01-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

Things didn't go quite the way I wanted them too this weekend.

Saturday was too cold to paint, so I just worked on my yacht tender some more. She has about another seven or eight full days of work before she's ready for primer.

Sunday the weather was perfect for painting. I did put the first coat of paint on the sides after sanding the primer. It came out horrible imo. I've been painting stuff here and there for money going on about 17 years now and this is nearly the worst job I've ever done. Richard, who runs on a totally different set of standards, doesn't think so. Now we are going to sand and paint her once more so this isn't the final coat. But it's my boat, I have to live on her and I think she looks really bad right now. I've come up with a different way to tackle the painting issue for the final coat and hopefully it will turn out better.

I hate being a perfectionist. I think it's perhaps my biggest personality flaw, but I cannot change who I am. I want BeBop to look good enough for the cover of Good Old Boat when I'm finished. Is it possible to do this with a 38 year old boat, no real money, and only the help of one trusted friend? Do I ask to much in too little time? I would really like to know.

I'm really tired and I don't want to share anymore right now. Maybe I'll write something more motivational (and longer) later in the week once the disappointment of this horrible paint job wears off.

BeBop Gets a Facelift Part I

2006-01-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

After 315 hours of tear down on the outside it's finally time to start building her back up.

Last weekend we finished putting in the ports if you didn't read my last couple of entries. BeBop looks so much better with them in. Now, you'll get the 1st side by side picture of the entire boat from when I first started to what she looks like today. But you have to put up with me writing some stuff 1st. Don't cheat and scroll down to the before and after.....I know you want to.

Saturday after the morning dew had burned off I started to prime the exterior. I started off by cutting in all the deck hardware. Now this was not as simple as it sounds lol...it took all day to get the deck finished. Not the area around the ports...just the parts you walk on. In trying to keep as much dirt from getting in the paint as possible I took off my shoes and went barefoot while working on her. It was great!! Being barefoot on the deck I could almost smell the salt air and a cool ocean breeze. The reality is the blisters on the top of my right foot from crawling around for hours. Didn't even feel it until I cleaned up for the night. Ouch. I'm a limping around some today. While I was doing the deck Rich cut in the sides and rolled the primer onto the bare fiberglass above the waterline. The roller left some orange peel in the primer from using a "medium" roller instead of a "smooth" one, but that's no problem, it needs to be sanded anyway before two more coats of finishing paint are going on. It's all a learning experience.

Sunday, 93% humidity with fog early, then a light rain later cut my painting time in half. I just can't seem to catch a break with the weather. I'll go to work on Tuesday and it will be calm with no clouds...just watch. Anyway getting back to the point, I was able to get primer around the ports today. I covered the ports with painters tape first then used a knife to cut away the excess so it would look perfect. Easy, but time consuming labor for sure. Right now the only thing that still needs primer is the starboard side around the ports and the cockpit. They are calling for 10 to 20mph winds tomorrow so I don't know if that will be completed or not...really like to at least complete the primer before I have to go back to work.

Ok, now for the next few weeks...heh...like six or so, I will be painting her weather permitting until her hull is done from the hatchcover down to the keels. I suspect I won't wanna see a paint brush for awhile after that too. ;-) I guess what I'm trying to say is this is pretty much what she'll look like for the next four weeks until I do the bottom paint, put anti skid on the decks, the green trim and of course her name and registration numbers. Then just have to paint the mast, rebuild the interior lockers..put in the new headliner....and on and on and on. Can't forget get the mainsail refurbished, a new dodger built and new running rigging purchased. Sailing is so simple....once you got all the stuff to do it....crazy how much it costs to do such a ancient activity eh? I figure it will take another 900 or so hours of labor to get her ready for coastal sailing. Add another 200 or so in for the necessary offshore gear (like a homemade self steering vane) plus money.

Ok, yes my loyal 2.5 readers, I've tortured you enough with my bad sarcastic writing style. I know your eyes are bleeding......so drum roll please........

I let the pictures speak for themselves. But I will interject, this is hard F'in work. BeBop, Rich and I have accomplished a lot but we are only about 1/4 finished I figure. Perhaps less. That's it for me, BeBop and I are signing off, catch us next weekend for BeBop Get a Facelift Part II.

Midweek Update....

2005-12-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

I have a little update today as I took my last vacation day of 2005 and did some more work. I won't have any more pictures to share until next weekend, as most of what I did was more prep work for painting. I know I keep saying I'm going to paint this weekend then something happens but that's the way it goes....but it seems to be working out better by holding off and not rushing it.

First thing this morning, I did what I was dreading, that's go down to the tax collector's office and legally title BeBop in my name. Dread? Yes. They raped me for $276.56 for tax, tag (vessel id number in this case), and title. They didn't even give me a kiss. But it's out of the way now, something less to think about and lose sleep over. After hitting Home Depot to pick up some caulking and silicon, the day really started.

First, I sanded down the opening cover in the cockpit that I had bonded closed two weekends ago. It's on there now for sure but you can still make out the seam a little bit so I decided to hit it again with some fiberglass and micro fiber. I'll sand it again before I prime the cockpit...heh...next weekend hopefully.

Next I addressed the newly installed ports by injecting some silicon into the areas where the two pieces of locking gasket meet. I used a modified turkey injector filled with clear silicon. Necessity is the mother of invention they say. It looks like it worked real nice, but I'll have to wait until I wash her or it rains again to know for sure. Tracking down leaks is such a pain and it never seems to end. It's funny how human beings can make a house that doesn't leak but it's nigh impossible to do it with a boat.

Once the ports were taken care off, I actually managed to paint something. Repeat...I actually painted something. The front hatch was blue to match what color the hull used to be so I took the opportunity to paint it sea green to match the recently completed companionway hatch. It will need a second coat but it's cool how the little things add up. It's great to seem them both match now. Big difference.

The last project of the day was caulking the top of the rub rails where they come in contact with the deck. The old caulking was removed when I refinished them about 2 months ago and needed to be replaced before painting the topsides. I felt it important to do this before we paint so when it rains the water won't run down behind the rail and straight onto the sides below the rails causing staining. This way water will hit the rail and run off like it's supposed too. Caulking is a (very) messy job so I'll have to hit the rails again with some light sandpaper to get it off in a few spots but this is nothing to worry about at all. I knew that after all the topside work for the past 2 months this was gonna happen and they need a little TLC.

That's about it, I got alot accomplished today even if it doesn't sound like it. All these things where nagging little jobs that needed to be done so I did them. Rather boring for you to read about I imagine but honestly.....I really think I just might get the decks primed and painted next weekend. The weather forecast says mid 70's with a minimal chance of rain. It's also a 3 day weekend for me because of New Years Day. The plan on Saturday will be to finish sand the cockpit , paint coat number 2 on the forward hatch and at the very least cut in all the deck hardware with primer. Sunday will continue on with painting. Even with a 3 day weekend the deck won't get completed because we have to add in anti-skid in some areas for a total of 4 coats instead of 3 for the other areas...so 2 weekends minimum....3 is more realistic, 4 to 5 weeks if you throw in painting below the waterline. I should add in here that my best friend and major helper on the project Rich, keeps making fun of my estimates because it always takes twice as long. He's probably right.

Next time on BeBop Around The World....lets try this again.....BeBop gets a Facelift Part I........we hope. ^_^

A Christmas Eve Port Story....

2005-12-24T17:23:00.000-05:00

Alright, made some more progress on BeBop today, I put in half of the new portholes. Originally I wanted to do the painting first, but the weather just isn't working with me. It's been cloudy, cold and rainy on the weekends with mild temps and sunny while I push a desk during the week. So to keep the project moving I'm doing this 1st and will just put up with the extra hassle of taping them up when I can finally paint.

Ok, here is a picture of what the ports (can see the old rub rail too..yuck!!) looked like when I bought her. The rubber locking gasket was in horrible condition, the chrome lock piece wasn't chrome anymore and the ports had become opaque because the previous owners had used ammonia based cleaners. It really hurt the eyes to look at this every day.

Now, I really wanted to replace them with 8" inch round opening portholes but they cost about $150 a piece. So $1,200 to replace them all. If you've been reading my blog every week you know that kind of money is just not available to me. Don's Marine didn't have anything that would work either. Replacement was the only option on the table really. All the material cost to do this is around $280. This includes 50 feet of locking gasket, the lock strip, the gasket tool and eight pieces of 1/4" 12x24" smoked lexan.

I started by taking out the old ports and lightly sanding around the area, then using the old lexan ports as a template for the new ones. Now the problems started of course. The new gasket was a very close match to the old one but it was slightly thicker so we had to make adjustments to how we cut out the new portholes. I used my jigsaw with a fine tooth blade for this task. It's not that hard to do it accurately if you take it slow. After about 2 hours figuring out the 1st one because of the gasket issue the rest weren't so bad. The hardest part was putting them in. Besides swearing a lot it's definitely a 2 person job..Enter my friend Rich. For each port, I would be in the boat holding the gasket in so Rich could push the new port in. Sounds easy right? Nope...if you've ever tried to replace a bicycle tire think 10 times hard than that..plus you don't have to fabricate new rims. Once you get a feel for it you realize it's not a impossible task, but there is a lot of muscle involved. Here is a close up of one of the newly installed portholes...nice and shiny with a reflection of Richard in it.

Now nothing comes without a price right? This stuff has it's downsides too. For starters it's not as tuff as round stainless steel portholes through bolted to the sides and poses more of risk in heavy seas of getting stoved in by a freak wave. Now they can take a blow, Rich was trying with all he had to push them in after installation and they didn't budge...But I'm planning on carrying a few pieces of emergency replacement lexan anyway and a clever way to cover up to 4 portholes if they get knocked out underway in a gale so I won't sink. Another issue is fit...they are in but not perfect..well yet...I think. It's sorta like when you get a new windshield installed they leave it taped in and say don't drive it in the rain or wash it for a week cause it's settling in. Same thing here....(I think.) When sprayed directly with water the 3 of the 4 damn things leaked a little!. I am flabbergasted. I'm (really) hoping it's the settling in factor...the installation guide says the gasket shrinks a bit so install them with extra material and I did. The absolute worse case senario would be they don't settle and continue to leak. I would then have to buy more lexan and bolt it directly to the outside and seal it with 3M 5200..but it wouldn't look as nice and if I do this after I install the new headliner, I would get to replace half of that again too. Not happy about that....once again I think about that guy from Argentina with the open dugout canoe...he didn't even have a cabin much less a leaking porthole issue. I'm luckier than he is right?

Finally, people who read my blog are asking for a picture to show what she currently looks like so here it is. The new ports leaking or not make her look ALOT better.

I'm taking Christmas off tomorrow. Monday weather permitting the other 4 ports will be installed on the starboard side and with a little luck perhaps I might be able to do some painting on Tuesday if it gets warm enough.

That's it for me today ladies and gentlemen. My wrists hurt (titanium pins) from pushing on the gasket so hard today, I can pick up stuff fine and pull things ok, but a pushing action on my right wrist or twisting action on my left really hurts and I can't do it anymore. I work around the problem. Typing is getting to me now, but I enjoy sharing my experience refitting BeBop with everybody so I put up with it. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas wherever you may be in the world, free from pain or worry...if not...just drink some (spiked) Egg Nog. ^_^ hehe, that should do the trick. Peace to you all.

Rain Delay....

2005-12-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

As I feared last week, I got rained out this weekend. I really wanted to get BeBop primed up but mother nature rarely cooperates with sailors it seems. I did manage to accomplish a little bit this weekend though. I sanded down the rear cockpit locker cover and teaked it so it's ready when the painting is done. It was surprisingly difficult thing to do and it took about 4 hours. Below is the before and after. It took ten 60 grit sanding pads for the project. Yes, teak wood has some very unique properties..chews up sandpaper too.

After completing the cockpit locker, I used some bronze wool to take off the minor surface rust and grime on the dodger frame. It still needs another going over but it should work fine when I put it back on and get another dodger made money permitting. I put the last missing piece onto the back part of the companionway hatch today too. I finished painting it during the week. I also put another piece of weatherstripping onto the front top companionway hatch in hopes of reducing the amount of water leaking in. It's been raining WAY too much recently for the dry season in Florida. While inspecting the interior, I discovered that about 2 inches of water had run down into a small six inch locker amidships. Didn't hurt anything, I sponged it up in about 5 minutes, but considering I'm moving onboard that amount of water leakage is unacceptable in the future. I suspect that with the dodger on it will reduce a lot of this. I know it won't be completely stopped until I move onboard and I can see the slowly leaking areas. Then I can repair them one at a time until it's 100% dry in heavy weather....not 99% like it is right now.

Well, to summarize, I have all the materials gathered and I am ready to do some serious painting. Have about half a day's worth of sanding left to do in the cockpit before I tape everything up and prime her. I have 4 days off from work coming up so confidence is high that this will happen over the Christmas weekend. The lexan sheets for the new ports also arrived on Friday so all the materials for that project is now on hand. Just need some clear skies, no wind (haha!) and a temperature over 55 degrees so the paint will dry. Until next time...Fair Winds...(and dry weather to you.)

The Current State of Affairs.....

2005-12-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

It's been a strange kind of week here with more than one project that's underway so I'm going to try and give you a broad overview in this update. No pictures because it pretty much looks the same as last weekend. Lets start with BeBop's current exterior status:

Decks: Mostly sanded....looks like crap.

Hull down to the waterline: Completely sanded...but looks like crap.

Waterline down to the keels: Blisters popped and sanded....really looks like crap.

Cockpit: Needs another days finish sanding, is stripped bare and just looks plain crappy.

But hey, those rub rails look real sweet....

Ok, BeBop isn't going to look much worse than this...if it could be stripped we've pretty much done it. The only thing we didn't take off was the deck hardware and that's because we haven't detected any interior leaks comming from it. I am getting some water leaking in from around the companionway hatches when it really get rainy and windy but I think I have a plan to tackle that. All in all it's pretty watertight considering it might of gotten 1 or 2 cups of water inside and we've gotten like 2 or 3 inches of rain this week. Made for a nice test of what's working and what needs to be weatherstripped.

Saturday was another killer day sanding on the keels. Rich and I sanded until I thought I was going to become physically ill. No kidding really. Around 2 pm after weeks of sanding it just kinda came up in a rush and I had to stop. Of course it could be heavy metal poisoning from the bottom paint too. Tuff to say...in any event the decision was made that the bottom after 20+ hours of work is as ready as she's gonna be for paint.

Sunday was really a wash out. I didn't get up early cause I felt so bad after sanding yesterday. I really think the compounds in that anti fouling paint have started to build up in my system even wearing a mask. Some things were accomplished though. I've bonded down the only opening seat cover in the cockpit for safety reasons. It doesn't prevent you from reaching anything...no idea why the previous owners made that modification. Before the rain started comming down Rich built another sawhorse and we decided to move the mast from on top of BeBop to the backyard. A couple of different reasons went into this. 1st, I kept hitting my damn head on it whenever I was on deck for any reason. 2nd, when we paint we don't want it in the way. 3rd, it will itself need to be painted and have some other work done to it in the near future. During the process Rich threw his back out. It was messed up though..you'd usually think of doing that while holding a heavy object but I was the one holding the mast by myself (quite heavy I will add) while Rich was moving the sawhorses. Go figure eh? Anyway Rich, I hope you recover quickly sir and thank you again for your continued help.

I've also started to paint the wooden pieces that will go back into the bottom of the cockpit. It's a dull and boring thing to do....so I won't be dull and boring with describing how the paint is drying. But it's important to fix it so it won't rot.

Now that you've read what was accomplished this weekend, let's take a step back.

First off, I'd like to mention that I wrote Lauri G, who is currently out cruising and not sanding....lucky bastard :-) ....a email earlier in the week and he responded back to me. Very cool eh? To think I got a email back from a real cruiser I hold in high regard. If you haven't already done so I'd check out his website and stories. I have the link on my blog.

While I was doing overtime at work on Friday, Rich jacked the entire boat up by 4 inches on the trailer so we can paint the very bottoms of the keels when the time comes. Using my 10 ton floor jack and the innovative use of a couple pieces of 2x4 he raised it by himself and without my permission. Of course if he damaged BeBop I would of had to kill him. But he didn't cause she's a tuff little boat and it makes working on the hull a little easier. Being a conservative type of person I don't think I would attempted this by myself...which is why he probably did it while I was at work. I'd like to interject that I've known him for about 16 years now and it takes about that long to trust somebody enough to jack up your sailboat...no....my entire life right now.....without permission.

I've put in the order for all the new gasketing materials (for the ports) from Austin Hardware and Supply and it has arrived. Nothing but respect for how they do business...very prompt and professional on the phone..shipped out the same day etc. If you ever need to order locking gasket this is about the only place you'll be able to find it on the net. Other shops have it but will only sell to other businesses. I've ordered up eight, 1/4 inch bronze lexan sheets from Modern Plastics that will be used to make the new windows too. They shipped out the same day I put the order in and should arrive later in the week.

So to recap, BeBop currently looks like she got into a fight and lost big time, I've got heavy metal poisoning and Rich threw his back out. Assuming we all survive ok and weather permitting, the coming month should be very exciting and nerve racking for me. BeBop will be getting primed up next weekend and the old ports will be ripped out. Following that, Christmas weekend will be more painting and possibly putting in the new ports. I estimate it will take between 3 and 5 weeks to get it all primed and painted. I have it all pictured in my head perfectly, I just need some time, good weather and a little bit more money to get it out here into the real world. There's still tons to do even after she's looking bristol on the outside so don't think the refit story is close to being over.

Next week on BeBop Around the World...er...weather permitting.....BeBop Gets a Facelift Part I

Sailboats and Spaceships...

2005-12-09T23:37:00.000-05:00

From time to time random thoughts give way to coherent ideas. As I write them down, I will post them inbetween the updates of what I'm currently working on with BeBop. I'll give a update on what was accomplished over the weekend in a couple of days. Until then here's some brain food.

Sailboats and Spaceships have a lot in common. Think about the following two sentences:

Scotty: "She can't take much more Captain! The ion storm is causing fractures in the dilithium chamber!"

First Mate: "She can't take much more Captain! This gale is causing fractures around the mast step!"

Not much difference is there?

Sure I could of used a more terrestrial comparison using say a example from the Apollo 13 mission but I think you get the idea. Both have to endure the worse of conditions and safely deliver their crew to their destinations.

Up until the invention of the steam engine in the 19th century being a sailor on the seven seas was the final frontier. Now with modern technology comes transistors, plastic polymers, computers and rocket propulsion that allows a select (and very lucky) few the chance to leave terra firma for a journey into space.

We have to be little miniature worlds unto ourselves while we travel. To start with, we both have a propulsion system and a means of generating power such as solar panels. We have batteries to store that power. Each must carry enough food and water to last for the entire journey. A navigation system is required as well and a basic way to repair the ship underway should it be necessary. Communications are very important in case of emergency. Entertainment is required to prevent boredom and depression such as good books and music to listen to, but a keen sense of adventure in my opinion is the most valuable thing of all. A willingness to make the journey so to speak.

The similarities don't stop there. Water tanks play a important part. On a spaceship all the water onboard is typically recycled over and over again and on a sailboat they can replentish supplies via a rain cluster or storm but it's pretty much the same if you think about it. Waste disposal work in a similar fashion. Astronaut's just jettison it overboard in much the same manner as sailors. (3 miles or more offshore mind you) If you need to leave your spaceship for a short period of time, you wear a spacesuit with a maneuvering pack vs on a sailboat you take the yacht tender with a engine on it. Both carry GPS as a primary means of navigation with a sextant as a backup. Yes that's correct, even on the space shuttle you can use a sextant to determine your position in space. Bet ya didn't know that. As you can see there isn't much difference afterall besides the fact you don't have to drag oxygen around with you on your boat!

To many people such as myself a sailboat is their last frontier. A final dream to be lived. Not I, nor anybody I know will probably ever be able to take a trip to the moon on a spaceship but right here on our little blue sphere I can take a trip to a far off place in my sailboat. Sure you could get on a jetplane and be anywhere in the world in under 16 hours- a trip that would take a fast sailboat 6 months but sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination. I guess it could be said sailors are the sea based astronauts of earth, traveling from place to place on our miniature spaceships. Just looking to discover something about ourselves and maybe have a grand adventure along the way.

BeBop's Strip Tease Part II

2005-12-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

It's time to mention again how much I love sanding. Actually I'm just kidding. But 4 out of 5 sailors agree they spend more time sanding their boats than sailing with them. This weekend is being spent sanding from the waterline down to the keels. Words cannot do justice to what a messy job this is. Well maybe a pig farmer has me beat. Sanding above your head and in the enclosed areas between the keels is extremely messy and tiring. I look like a blue smurf when I get out to take a break.

I don't plan on taking it down to the fiberglass in all the areas, just sand it clean. Unfortunately while I'm doing this, I'm finding some blisters on the very bottom of the hull. I thought I got lucky when I bought her but none the less she has the typical Westerly osmosis thing going down. It's a minor pain to deal with but rest assured dear readers that no boat that I know of has ever sunk from blisters. So far nothing bigger than about a quarter piece in size has been uncovered which should make repairs relatively easy even though it will push out the schedule by a week or two. Because I'm sanding more than planned, I'll probably end up with a primer/sealer coat after the blister repairs are complete instead of just adding new anti-fouling paint.

Just a quick note...It kills me to see BeBop looking worse and worse not better and better. I know it's all needed prep work and in another month or so it won't look like the same boat...it will look a lot better than when I bought her for very little money spent. But right now...well you get the idea.

A word on Coastal Marine and Fed Ex...

They both suck. I received my paint on Tuesday and discovered FedEx was nice enough to try and paint my porch in white. There was about a quart of paint on the porch from were the driver must of dropped the package. They claim it must of been leaking from the start but I find it highly unlikely that it made it down from Maine and suddenly decided to take a quart leak as it was being delivered. Face it FedEx....your driver dropped the damn thing and it started to leak right then and there. I've been painting various objects for years and have never seen a factory sealed can pop a top. So, to shorten up the story a bit, I've filed a claim with them for the damage to the porch and the destruction of a nice pair of workpants. I'll be faxing them the bill right after I get the required two estimates to repair the damage. The $80 a gallon paint they say is Coastal Marines responsibility. I'm out about half of what I paid for in material cost. It took them 4 days to ship it, didn't mark the package as fragile with a sticker to indicate "this side up", (always recommended with a liquid) and put it in a anchor box surrounded by newspaper. Oh yeah, a real pro operation taking place there. Think I'll stick to West Marine and Defender for my goods from now on and I'd advice you to do the same. (End Rant)

I know this weekend was just incredibly exciting with me pretending to be a blue smurf and all. I tell ya....what I'll do for an audience. Not sure at this point what direction the schedule will take next weekend. Weather permitting the topsides might get primed or repair the blisters on the bottom is a more likely option. Just have to check in next weekend and see how much more damage I can cause. :-) Until then...Fair Winds.....

BeBop's Strip Tease Part I

2005-11-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

Man am I tired after a full weekend of working on BeBop. My hands have a bluish stain to them, my fingerprints are sanded off and they are mostly numb from running the orbital sander for about 12 hours but I'm 90% done with the above waterline areas that need to be painted now. For my 2.5 viewers you know from previous posts what BeBop looked like with the blue hull. I really didn't like that so it had to go. Besides in the tropics that would make the interior like an oven. Investigating the cost of marine strippers I didn't like what I found. They were trying to sell the stuff for about $50 bucks a gallon because it had the name "marine" on the bucket. Ouch. So off to Home Depot I went to see if I could find anything cheaper. I discovered a product called Citristrip. Safe for plastic and no harsh fumes, I picked up 2 gallons for $18 bucks a pop and came out like $60 bucks ahead. I also picked up some cheap plastic sheeting to cover the areas to be stripped so it gets maximum staying power. Here is a picture of what BeBop looked like with the 1st coat of stripper applied and the plastic sheeting on.

Now I thought this was going to be cake. Hahahaha!!! Absolutely wrong! BeBop is a 37 year old boat and I don't think she was ever stripped down to the gelcoat before. It took me 3 coats of Citristrip applied every 30 minutes to get something close to what you see below. I tried keeping it on longer but it didn't seem to make a difference on how well the stuff worked. To make it more interesting it appears that somebody in the past painted above the waterline to the rub rail with anti-fouling paint. Anti-fouling paint totally laughs at stripper and the stuff is sandpaper's worst nightmare so we could only get it to this point before having to used the orbital.

Sweat equity time. I quickly learned that you have to wait for the sides to completely dry or you'd just load up the sandpaper with paint in about 10 seconds. During the time I was initially stripping and waiting for the washed off areas to dry I did some work on the yacht tender to fill the time, but I'm saving that story for a slow weekend so no details for now. After the sides dried out enough to sand, I used the Dewalt orbital with 220 grit on it to take off the final paint covering the gelcoat and I used roughly 50 sanding pads. I'd like to interject here that I'm very surprised my sander hasn't died yet. I've used it to rebuild my old cafe racer motorcycle, 1 homemade sailboat Rich is making, 1 yacht tender, many numerous other smaller jobs and now about 400 square feet of gelcoat covered with some nasty stripper resistant paint. If your going to buy a orbital sander do yourself a favor and get a Dewalt. They should pay me for the free advertising but I stand by a excellent product and smash a bad one.

Here is my last picture with how BeBop looks now with all the blue paint off the sides down to the waterline. Wow, that was hard but she's beginning to look closer to what I had in mind. I'd like to put in a hearty thank you to Rich for helping me put on the stripper and plastic and working on the dock bumpers too. I figure when he gets his boat I'll be spending my time helping him on his refit as payment.

Sanding all this down generated a crazy amount of dust. I think I'll spend the next weekend sanding the waterline down to the keels so that when I paint and prime the topsides I won't get dust all over freshly painted areas. The bottom won't be going down to the gelcoat because it's not necessary imho. There are no blisters and the paint was designed to live in a saltwater environment so I'll just sand it clean for the next coat. Now dear reader I must get some sleep. I have body parts on my body parts that hurt after this weekends work.

Next week on BeBop Around the World: BeBop's Strip Tease Part II

And Behold! The Hatch Story.....

2005-11-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

As promised here are the pictures of the companionway and the story that goes with it. I mostly consider it a success. It certainly looks better than before but more work will have to be done in the future to improve upon it. I'll explain later. To start with here is a picture of it before I had even bought the boat. Repairable certainly but it was rough.

Two weekends ago the hatch came off BeBop for repair work. It was in real bad shape. The trim pieces on both the front and back needed to be replaced and the teak veneer was worn thru in a couple of places. The cost of a new 4x4 piece of veneer would of been about $150 before shipping so it was decided after repairing it to paint it in the matching trim colors. The money saved could then go to other projects and it should still look ok. The trim pieces could not be bought directly and would have to be fabricated and bent into place. In addition to that, the hatch cover where the washboards were supposed to meet had about a 1/3 of inch gap that had to be fixed too. So the one weekend project becomes a 2 week project.

The first weekend was spent sanding it down and creating the new 1/4 inch half round for the front and back trim. I picked up 2 pieces of teak that I thought would work for 9 bucks earlier in the week from Don's Marine, but it was too stiff so we had to create a steamer to facilitate bending the wood to shape. I was skeptical at best that would do the trick but in the end it worked ok. Rich and I had to build a poor man's wood steamer and the invention was creative to say the least. We used a turkey deep fryer with a retort on top and connected that to a hydraulic jack handle. Yes a hydraulic jack handle attached to a turkey deep fryer...you can die in peace now that you've heard it all. Should of grabbed a picture of that setup, told ya this is a low budget operation. The deep fryer was used to heat the water to the boiling point where it entered the retort and was directed into the jack handle where the piece of half round was kept for about 1 1/2 hours per piece to reach a point were it could bent enough to be nailed into place. The 1st piece was destroyed because we didn't steam it enough and we tried too hard to bend it into shape....crack!!...chalk it up to the learning curve but we got the other pieces steamed and put on without too much hassle.

The 1/3" gap where the hatch cover and washboards meet was corrected by laminating 2 pieces of 1/4" marine plywood into place with some 404 micro fiber mixed with fiberglass resin. This added 1/2" to the front hatch/washboard area. The hard part was getting the pieces fabricated so they fit just right and bending them into position while they setup. This was done with a couple of 2x4's and a 25 pound weight as shown in the pictures below. When I build the new washboards in the future this will create a even better seal than now.

All during the following week before and after work a combination of gorilla glue then 404 micro fiber was used to fill in gaps and seal up areas that water had penetrated from years of exposure to the sea. Priming consisted of 2 coast of Interlux Pre-Kote, one per day and sanded the following morning then 2 coats of Interlux Brightsides Sea Green. I'm going for a white with green trim look. That ways it matches the cover on the roller furler and I think it's fitting since the boat was made in England. Here is the finished result that I put back on this morning....it's hard to see the painted hatch cover in this picture because of the green tarp across the mast but I think you can get a feel for what's been done.

I'm fairly happy with the end result. After putting weatherstripping into place it should be a big improvement over how well it battened down before. I still want to replace the washboards time permitting later on next year. The paint job on the hatch cover I'm just so/so with. I'd like to interject that I'm a perfectionist so while I'm sure you'd look at it and say offhand it's great, I see all the little imperfections in it because I built it. I think it will get the job done and looks "ok" but it's not like new for sure. Money being the major constraint here I have to make due the best I can. Hell, compared to the guy who sailed a open dugout canoe across the pacific ocean it's fantastic...and I try to keep reminding myself that every time I doubt my work.

It's back to the grind for me until Thursday. Hope to finish up the prep sanding for topside priming and paint this weekend before the turkey browns. Until then...fair winds.

Sanding is oh so much fun......(or not)

2005-11-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

This weekends goal was to finish up the hatch and sand the topsides in preparation for painting next weekend. The hatch...is taking longer than I thought it would but it's nearly done. Hopefully I'll have pictures and a paragraph up about it in the next day or two. Sanding the topsides was oh so much fun. (or not) I started Saturday by running out and getting more sandpaper. I went with 60 grit on the orbital sander to knock down the main areas and then switch to 220 for the final pass. Then for the areas that a orbital can't get to...and there are a lot of them...it's basically the same routine but by hand. Man are my arms sore right now. It might be a small boat for some people but that's a hellava lot of sanding I just did and it's not quite done. I'll have to hit the cockpit again in the tuff to reach areas with 220 by hand on my next day off. The portholes will have to come out right before the final sanding too so when the new gaskets and ports are installed hopefully the following weekend, they will be a good fit over clean fiberglass. That's the part that worries me. I don't like having open holes in BeBop so critters can get in. I'll tape them up good but it would still be like cutting a few holes in your roof for 2 weeks and leaving a tarp over it. Yep, it makes me nervous.

Sunday was a rehash of Saturday with a little bit of metal polishing thrown in. I was told to use bronze wool instead of steel wool for cleaning the stainless steel so you don't embed it into the steel and get rust spots. Makes sense and I'm taking the advice to heart. I also stripped off all the old riggers tape from the lifelines and cleaned them up some too. I think I'll probably end up taking them off and soaking them in bleach for a few hours to get them totally clean from stains, then coat them with a lithium grease for protection. Later in the day Rich pitched in and cleaned out the cockpit compartment for me while I swabbed down the decks to remove the sanded material. Then as a finale, I reoiled the teak rub rails because they were really dirty from all the sanding as you can see in the picture. I was literally covered in the stuff. Yes, yes, make fun of the monkey boy wearing the mask but it's better than having breathing problems. Ah what a man will do for his boat.

I made the mistake of ordering the paint I'm going to use online to save twenty bucks when I should of just bought it at West Marine. I don't think it will be here by next weekend. Still mad at myself about that since time is a factor and I can't waste a single day. But I guess the worst case scenario would be it doesn't arrive and I'm forced to do 1 of 100 other things that still have to be completed by the summer. Work on completing the yacht tender and stripping that god awful blue paint off the sides will be what I'm doing next weekend sans deck paint. When it arrives it will be a 3 day job minimum to paint..1 day per coat. 1 coat of primer and 2 of the paint...and yes you have to sand twice in there. Like I said.....sanding is oh so much fun. (or not)

Next time on BeBop Around The World: The long awaited completed hatch project....

Let the Refit Begin....

2005-11-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

After a week at work I couldn't wait for the weekend so I could get started on the refit. Saturday morning after breakfast Rich and I hopped in the car and headed over to West Marine to pickup some supplies for this weekend. Teak Oil, Paint, Bungs, Brads and lots of sandpaper were on the list plus a few more misc items. The goal for this weekend was 1. Refinish the rub rails 2. Get the outboard running. 3. Work on the teak that makes up the companionway. I would say 1 and 2 was completed and about a third of number 3.

1. Refinish the rub rails was a complete success. I am amazed at how much better they look. Even the neighbors were impressed. I know there are many more important items on the boat that need my attention (like the paint and ports) but I wanted to start out with a small project that I was pretty sure would look nice and give a positive start to the entire venture. The former owner I guess trying to cut a corner with maintaince, covered the rub rails with fiberglass resin...which of course being exposed to the sun turned yellow then started to crack and peel. Followed was a silvering of the wood. So Rich did a quick sanding during the week and determined yes it was salvageable. On Saturday after getting back home from West Marine I broke out with the Dewalt orbital and some 60 grit. With some assistance from my trusty putty knife the rail was looking much better. I followed the orbital sander by hand with 220 grit. I was thinking varnish for the rails but Rich and Yashi from back in Georgia both said I should go with teak oil instead. Boy am I glad I listen to them. I love the stuff. Just call me a teak freak. If I could teak the fiberglass hull I would. It's cheap, looks fantastic and it's as easy to maintain as running a duster on your furniture.

2. Get the outboard running. I take no credit for this as Rich did all the work. I just bought the new fuel line for it. While I was doing my best to cover myself from head to toe with sanded teak dust, Rich was tinkering with the outboard. I wasn't present for the entire ordeal but it went something like, clean the plugs, fuel filter, change the gear oil, mix the fuel cause it's a 2 stroke, prime the engine and it worked! He was right it was simple fuel contamination. It seems to start consistently now on the 4th or 5th pull. I guess the part that strikes me as being the coolest is the fabrication work Rich did. A piece of the internal throttle control assembly was missing and there was no way to buy a new one. It was a tiny piece of rounded metal drilled with a hole to accept a pin. When you twisted the throttle it slid up and down a groove in the handle to control the engine rpms. Rich fabricated a new piece using a masonry self tapping screw head. I should of had him make 2 so I can just show the other one to people cause it's really neat. So few people know how to really make things anymore. There is still some work that needs to be done, the kill switch is beyond repair and a new one will have to be wired in. Until this can be done simply choking the engine works nicely to kill it. All in all I consider it a success. Just a FYI for the 2.5 people who read the site and are still awake, the picture of the engine is with the cover off, mounted on a engine stand (Rich fabricated the mount for that too) with the throttle assembly off. It looks much nicer in person but I just wanted to give you a feel for the work that was done.

3. The companionway still needs a lot of work to get it up to par. The washboards are sanded and teaked. Told ya I love the stuff now. But there will be a problem. The washboards have been sanded and sanded over the years and are getting to be a lose(r) fit in the slats. They will work for keeping critters out of the inside and will probably work just fine at the dock during the rain too but for offshore work they are too loose imho. I plan on heading over to Don's Salvage Yard in a few months and get some scrap teak pieces and fabricate new washboards from scratch. The companionway frame cleaned up nicely too. The hatch cover is the real story on this project....but it's not done yet so no pictures or the rest of the story til then. This pretty much brings you up to date with the state of BeBop right now. Next weekend I plan to start sanding down the decks in preparation of receiving new paint. Until then.....

Taking Stock....

2005-11-10T21:48:00.000-05:00

After a nights rest, I started early the next morning by taking all the stays, rigging and guide wires off the main mast. I thought it was going to be a 2 or 3 hour project to get it all squared away and then hit the interior later in the afternoon. Heh, little did I know. It took about 2 hours to get all the rigging unknotted and put away then another 2 hours to get all the guide wires off. That was the worst part as I tore up my hands pretty good while getting the pins out of the shackles. About this time Rich woke up and started helping me straighten things up. With his help we made a tall sawhorse to mount the non functional engine on for work and a "A" frame for the stern to hold the mast up off the deck. We took the roller furler off the mast and stored it in the garage diagonally cause it was too long to go straight in. I'd like to interject a hearty thank you to the neighbors for putting up with a HUGE boat next to the house. I was really worried about them freaking out about it.

Sunday and last day before my vacation is over I started taking out everything from the interior. Everything from the cushions in the quarter berths to the sails in the front lockers were removed and inspected. I'm telling ya it was like Christmas. The coolest thing found was a spinnaker in the forward v berth area that was in brand new condition. I bet that sail cost 1/3 what I paid for the boat. The previous owner never said anything about that. Other cool items found was a offshore life jacket, working jib cut for the roller furler, 2 safety harnesses, a depth sounder that's not installed yet and a autopilot for the tiller. I felt like I'd hit the motherload. The gear totaled about what I paid for the boat. But I can't wait to see that spinnaker flying next summer most of all!

After emptying the interior out I took the main sail off the boom and washed it good with dishsoap while my friend tried to get the engine started with no luck. Luckily we found the manual onboard to troubleshoot the problem. The gas looked like milk. We tried changing fuel hoses and using clean gas but it still won't start. It wants to with starter fluid but with bad fuel and hoses it wasn't going to work. A new hose will be picked up this weekend and we'll try again. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't start then as it looks real clean otherwise. The last order of the day was to coat the standing rigging with lithium grease for prolonged storage until the summer.

It was kinda sad knowing that from this point forward the majority of the work will have to take place on the weekend because my vacation is over. Since we are no longer on daylight savings time it's dark in the afternoons by the time I get home. I can still work on the small things like cleaning up the dodger frame with steel wool and doing the research for what kind of paint I want to use on the topsides then write up the blog before I got to bed. But all things being equal I'd rather be working on BeBop and her refit. Believe it or not it's a major stressor to me for a few reasons. 1st, it's the biggest project I've ever undertaken. Before this the biggest was rebuilding a motorcycle 2nd, I don't have a lot of money to do it with and 3rd it has to be in liveaboard condition by late summer. The clock stops for no man. Just do the best I can I suppose, like that makes me feel any better.

Next up on BeBop Around the World: Let the Refit Begin....

You meet the nicest people in a marina....

2005-11-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

With the newly purchased trailer and my friends truck to pull it we set off at 4:30am to go pick her up. Coffee check, Gas Check, Coffee...you get the idea. The trip was uneventful so I'll spare you the details. I'd punched in the address for the marina into google maps before we left and it led us right to the marina about 40 minutes early. BeBop's previous owner said to call him when we arrived so we pulled into the marina by dock 7 and I pulled out the cell phone and asked what dock he was at. He asked were I was and I responded with dock 7 and he said beep the horn. Go go gadget google. So we beeped and he said turn around and there she was right in the front slip. My heartbeat quickened as I walked up to her and the owner and introduced myself.

Walking back out to BeBop he said he couldn't get the engine running and would arrange for a tow to the haul out. I wasn't really happy with that considering he said the engine ran great, but I don't think I've ever read a story about a sailboat where the engine didn't have issues. It's a sailboat afterall. When we inspected the interior, it turned out to be in much better shape than I thought. Areas around the deck and bulkhead fittings that looked like water damage in the pictures were actually the seams where Westerly had used chopped glass to reinforce the area. No complaints from me. My only disappointment besides the non functional engine was the horrible condition of the ports. They had to be original. The gaskets are very worn and the once clear lexan window was a milky white and cracked, probably from someone cleaning them with a ammonia based cleaner. But this was nothing that cannot be fixed for a reasonable sum of money and a lot of elbow grease. I took a deep breath then money and title were exchanged.

The owner had made arrangements for a liveaboard named Bob to give us a tow to the haul out with his inflatable dinghy. Onboard for help was my friend Rich who made the trip with me and another liveaboard named Yashi. He was only 10 or 11 but knew more about boats than I did and I'm man enough to admit it. I envied his position in life. So technically I was the "captain," but I let Yashi point out where to stay in channel and what to avoid since this was the biggest boat I've ever really been in charge of. We had just cleared the end dock 6 heading into the channel when Bob's engine quit. Everytime he'd get it going again it would die after putting it in gear. He wasn't real happy about that considering he just got it out of the shop and with his age rowing back to his boat didn't seem like the fun it could of been 40 years ago. Rich suggested we raise the sails since we are in a sailboat. So while Bob rowed back home, we raised the main and put the genny out. We might of been moving at .5 knots considering how calm it was. To make matters worse the wind was coming directly from the haul out so we had to tack back and forth in the channel about a mile to the haul out area.

After what seemed like forever we reached the haul out area and the marina staff helped us get her stern-to for towing behind the truck....then promply left for lunch since we were over a hour late. They saw the entire debacle with us sailing into haul out, tacking along the way thinking we were going to turn around and head back to the slip lol. Bet this was the first and last time they ever had that happen. But we got there in style. During the next hour while they ate lunch we took down the standing rigging and mast and set about preparing her for towing back home. Once again a hearty thank you goes out to Yashi for the help. It was a simple affair to get her on the trailer minus the load of cash they charged to pull her out. I figure they were making about 5 dollars a minute based upon the 185 dollar one way haul out fee. I'm in the wrong business. Yes that's me on top of Bebop smiling like a Cheshire cat.

The trip back was pretty uneventful minus the fact it was done at a strict 55 mph for fear of wrecking the truck and boat. Rich didn't think it was quiet that smooth since he was driving and I'm sure felt responsible for Bebop. It only represented a nice chunk of my complete net worth. No pressure. Total time in transit was 600 miles by truck 1 mile via boat sans engine. About a 16 hour day including a sunburn souvenir. Ouch. But she was safely home and ready for the refit to begin. Next time on BeBop Around the World: Taking Stock

The search for BeBop....

2005-11-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

I had no idea I'd end up with a Westerly Nomad. I'd never even heard of one. I figured I'd end up with a Catalina 27, Bristol 24 or perhaps a Cape Dory 25 that would need alot of work. Ya see, they just don't make a boat under 30 feet capable of going around the world anymore. I looked at a Hinterhoeller 28 that was in my price range but she was literally sinking at the dock....the Flicka 20 is one that can do it but they cost over 20 grand. The Falmouth Cutter is another very nice boat but they sell for about 50 grand.....I was seriously depressed by all this to the point of buying a Hobie 14, a pop up tent, saying fuck it all and shoving off. Then by chance I stumbled upon this link. I didn't think much of her until I started doing the research into this boat. The Nomad beat both the Flicka and the Cutter in price and could perform at about the same level. I had a new number one boat on my realistic wish list....and I even liked the name.

So I started checking the want ad's for the little Nomad and I found one just 300 miles away in Georgia for $4500. To cut the story down a bit, I ended up sending the owner a email that read something like this. "I'm not a man of alot of means but I have a big dream to go sailing and the Nomad is a boat capable of doing it. What is the minimum you'd take for her?" The very next morning I recieved the reply. "I was going to take her off the market but I'd be willing to sell her to the right person for $3500." Perfect! I thought...if she's not sinking at the dock like that Hinterhoeller was. I asked the owner to send me a disposable camera full of pictures and I'd develop them. Quick enough they came and I developed them. The same day they arrived I called him back and said I'd take her. I then promply chewed my nails down to the quick cause I had just a little problem...

I didn't really have a way to get her from the slip in Georgia to the west coast of Florida in the amount of time I had on my vacation. It would take too long to sail her and it was hurricane season. Not a smart move since the last time I sailed anything was a Hobie Cat and it would cost me my job anyway. Enter my best friend, Rich. He understands what I'm trying to do and the dedication that I've shown by selling all my stuff and we reached a agreement for the purchase of a 6x16 dual axle trailer capable of hauling the Nomad. A deal was also struck for a place to put her on the hard until this summer while I work on the refit. Folks..you wish you had friend(s) this good.

Next time on BeBop around the world: You meet the nicest people in a marina.....

First I needed money...

2005-11-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

Being of little net worth and working mostly paycheck to paycheck buying a awesome 20 foot Falmouth Cutter was out of the question. I'd be lucky to come up with 5 grand. But just to show you if you want something bad enough you can make it happen. So a simple plan was created. I started selling anything I owned that was worth anything. You just gotta love eBay. Oh can't forget trashing my credit rating by defaulting on my bills.

The first thing that had to go was my bike, a rare 1993 Suzuki Bandit 400. Probably for the better anyway since bikes haven't always been great to me. 3 wrecks with titanium pins in boths wrists to prove it. This provided about half the money I need to buy BeBop. Along with the bike I sold my nice Fieldsheer riding jacket, Nolan helmet and Alpinestar gloves. I felt liberated in a way knowing a bike wasn't going to be the death of me.

Next I sold off what was left of my musical equipment. My 2 amplifiers and 3 bass guitars. This was pretty painful to part with. I recorded a demo with those basses with my old band. Call it sentimental value but it was a painful day to package them up and sell them off. Wasn't really able to play much anymore anyway because of the pins in my wrist. By selling this stuff off it provided me with the rest of the money I needed to buy my boat. The sacrifice was noted in the name I gave my boat too. I suspect I'll pick up something in the woodwinds family down the road and learn to play yet another instrument.

I still have some major items I need to part with over the next few months. What's left of my major consumer items will provide BeBop with new ports, paint and rigging. It all will have to go. Firearms, Blueprints, TV, Desktop Computer. There is no room onboard for it. It's a time consuming process to sell it all off and more than a bit stressful sometimes. I worked my ass off to buy that stuff only to get rid of it. But at the end of it all as Brad Pitt in Fight Club said, "The things you own end up owning you." So true and so easy to forget. Consumerism and Materialism are a evil thing. Who cares what the neighbor's have and you don't. Let them have the bill for it too.

Next post: The search for BeBop

This is how the story starts.....

2005-11-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

I guess you could say I'm just not a happy shiny person. Never have been and probably never will be. I just wanted my little slice of the pie. That didn't happen either. Some might say from lack of effort or being too nice a guy to sell you shit you don't really need. So I remain without alot of money but have a lot of practical skills thru having to fix stuff myself or just my very inquisitive nature. This lead me to how I discovered the true nature of things and what's happening in the world. No I didn't find religion or some such thing, but I'll be sure to speak on that subject at some point I imagine. I'm speaking mainly of resource depletion and how in my discovery it's allowed me to revise, then revive a 10 year old dream to buy a boat and sail it alone around the world.

Over the course of my blog, I'll first highlight the refit of my sailboat "BeBop" and the construction of my dinghy for her. Later the difficulies on living aboard a small boat and all the cool places I hope to visit. I'll follow this post up tomorrow with the story of BeBop and just what I had to sacrifice to get her. Until then here is a picture of her. She needs some work and will be "on the hard" until this summer for a refit, but she's one of the smallest sailboats ever made that can take you around the world in relative comfort.