Re-launching Cathleen!

Wow, has this been an intense few weeks (months)? Biggest items...Cathleen is back in the water, at her new home in Hayden Bay, and the sun has finally started shining after (apparently) 22 straight days of rain.

The final boat list (and this may not be everything, but this is all I remember at the moment)...

- winterizing (RV / water-safe antifreeze for the water tank - that still needs to be pumped out / flushed)
- rebed all stanchions with new (longer screws) using Boatlife LifeCalk (TM)
- use aluminum backing plates on the inside
- dig out the rotted wood, paint with antifreeze to help kill the bacteria causing the rot. (Mike & Mark patched it with epoxy and woodflour, proped up a support with wax paper and it looked quite sharp - especially given that it was being hidden behind the backing plate).
- Replace the hose connecting the shaft tube (fiberglass) and the stuffing box - old one was cracked. Pacific Rubber is The Place To Go for that stuff.
- This meant that the shaft had to be disconnected from its fitting to the motor, which took several hours of swearing and pounding.
- This meant the shaft & the motor had to be realigned (a lifesaver was used to prop up the shaft to the right height, so it wouldn't rub the tube and scar the shaft).
- The prop was removed (that was a feat, there's a special tool for this), rebalanced, and reinstalled.
- I ground out 125 blisters on the bottom (several were a couple layers deep), patched with fiberglass & epoxy, sanded.
- The ablative paint was sanded off and Interlux barrier coat (3 coats) & Trinidad SR (2 coats) were put on. At this point I was DONE with sanding on the bottom and couldn't bear the thought of 10 more hours of sanding, so I had the yard do this.
- Cosmetic crack behind the keel - Alberto ground it out for me, I patched it (and it looked pretty darn nice, if I do say so myself!)
- Then, of course, the old aluminum fuel tank sprang a leak from a pinhole, and getting the tank out involved (not necessarily in this order) shaking my fist at the sky, cursing the fates that be, prayer, meltdown, a miracle, and a whole fuel tank removed rather than having to cut it into pieces with someone standing by with a fire extinguisher (the thought of this precipitated the meltdown). AT least it was diesel, not gasoline - that would be really dangerous.
- New fuel tank - smaller (12 gallons, not 20) from Moeller installed.
- Boot stripe above the bottom paint - sanded the old one completely off (it was chipping) and did 3 coats of paint on it. Nice & thin, as though it were varnish. The end result looks really nice - like it's still wet! The shear stripe, though, now looks dingy, of course.
- Replaced the anchor locker drain cover.
- Scraped off the old stickers and adhesive, put on new stickers.
- Replace the old batteries with new ones (same kind) from West Marine.
- Mike waxed the sides and patched some gelcoat and scrubbed off the top.
- replaced the broken windfly support on the top of the mast.

Whew.

Relaunched at Schooner Creek ($$ again) on 6/11/09 - one week shy of 8 months, and had a number of people show up - Alec, Don, Mike, Mark, Jim Everett, Ken. It was a regular party! Next time, I'm bringing party hats and noisemakers! Much more fun with a group of people.

Handlined the boat over to the dock, and then worked on bleeding the fuel lines, running the engine, adjusting the packing nuts to try to optimize the leak rate. By about 6 (having started at 8:30 at the yard) I was done, so Mike & I called it quits and went for dinner.

Saturday morning, after breakfast - back to the boat, with a 2nd packing nut wrench in hand ($20, our guess was right on), ran the engine for a bit, worked on some of the lines, and then cast off! Motored around the tiny bay for a little bit, got the RPM's up some more, and then out into the river. Some big logs running around! Had to get up to 2000+ RPM to make headway against the current - the speed indicated ~3.5 knots, but we were probably going 1 or less, so it's strong current & high river.

The slip in Hayden Bay is a double slip, starbord tie, and HUGE compared to what I learned on last year. Combined with no current, I was able to cruise right in, with only a little adjustment suggestion. Lowest stress docking ever!

Sunday has been a boat-free day (well, except for this posting). I cleaned, got bunches of food to fill empty fridge, I mounted the new mailbox, I mounted a screen door closer, I did laundry, I scrubbed the porch (damn cat pee), I met JJ for Waffle Window, we shopped (I found boots! They are gorgeous!), I stopped by the comic book store and chatted with Debbie. Really, really nice day - even if I didn't go on the Dog Mountain Hike with Tam & Hilary...