Heart of Gold is out of the water for 2010

Garboard Drain Plug info

Collecting info for one of my off season projects:

Perko UL listed Garboard drain plug (with some dimensions) Why don't manufacturers post dimensions with their product info? I have to call to see if this will fit.
SeaSense one way plug
JD ordering page for Perko Garboard Plug (no backing plate)
more Perko Garboard plugs

Windsurfing at Barrinton Beach - Labor day 2010

Photos by Sal C.

Photos from Herreshoff Classic Regatta August 28, 2010

Classic sailboats racing off Bristol RI in light air conditions. The full photo set is available on Flickr

Photos from the Ida Lewis 2010 Distance Race

VJ & I were sailing from Cuttyhunk to Newport on Friday afternoon and our course took us just outside and parallel to one of the early legs of the Ida Lewis 2010 Distance race, a reach from Brenton Point to the "SR"MoA Whistle, south of Sachuest Point. I was able to photograph many of the boats making their way downwind as we sailed past. The course was shortened from 177 to 122 miles due to light winds. We anchored overnight in Newport and were awakened multiple times before first light on Saturday morning by the horn as leaders finished. Once daylight broke, I emerged with my camera and photographed many of the finishers. Here are a few samples. Many more are on Flickr.

Rambler finished first overall.

Barbie Mermaid Figurehead seen at Newport

This figurehead greeted visitors to the West Extension St. Dingy Dock in Newport last weekend.

Evolution of the Maine Lobster Boat from Maine Boats, Harbors & Homes Magazine

http://www.maineboats.com/files/u2/Lobsterboat-EvolutionLG.jpg

by Doug Alvord

more great artwork here: http://douglasalvordart.com/

Barrington River Barge Removal Scheuled for Aug. 7

Notice to Members of the Barrington Yacht Club:


On Saturday, August 7th at 11:00AM, the large construction barge from the New Bridge Project will be moved down the Barrington Harbor. The process should take only take 30 minutes once the Tugs get underway. The Harbor Patrol will be monitoring Ch12 and all harbor traffic will be stopped. Both BYC launch service and fueling operations will be shut down during the transit.

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors

http://www.maineboats.com/

S Boats racing on Narragansett Bay July 10

Egbert - 1885 Oyster yacht

Here is a photo of Egbert at Stanley's Boat yard in Barrington taken with my camera phone during one of my morning bike rides earlier this week. She is an antique yacht built in 1885 in the style of a traditional oyster boat.


The marina still has quite a few open spaces, which is unusual for this time of year, and I hope is not a sign of more economic trouble to come.

P-28 Heart of Gold fired up the diesel today!

Still have a lot to do before the boat hits the water, but I fired up the diesel today. Great to hear her start right up.

Sheeves from the masthead of my P28-1

Here are my sheeves, removed from the mast, before and after polishing with a fiber wheel. Replacement halyards ordered Friday. Yesterday I managed to cut off the mounting screws with corroded threads stuck in the masthead fitting to hold a bracket for the windex. The screws were over an inch long and nearly touched the halyards above the sheeves. Had to grind a metal cutting blade for the sabre saw down to less than 1/4 in width to squeeze it into the slots separating the sheeves.

Here's the bugger on the left.

What a pain! Next drill and tap new holes for the windex bracket. Looking forward to removing the winter cover from the boat today.

Defender Annual Spring Sale

I drove down to Waterford today to Defender Marine's annual spring sale. It was my first time there and it was really busy. At times the check out lines were snaking around inside of the building, fortunately that cleared up before I got to the check out. I threw lots of dough into the hole in the water. I bought a bunch of maintenance items and safety equipment that needed to be updated. I also got a bunch of little stuff that we needed for the new dingy and a GPS Chartplotter. I ended up spreading the wealth around a little though the GPS was out of stock at Defender. They said I could order it online. I stopped at my local West Marine store on my way home, and they matched Defender's price. That put a good sized dent in the credit card. I'm doing my part to shore up the economy.

Heart of Gold - Stripping peeling paint off the boom

I started today stripping paint off the boom. It was a beautiful first day of spring today hitting the low 70's with clear blue sky. It's coming out so nice that I'm considering leaving it un-painted.

I got about 1/3 of the way through it today. I bought a variable speed Dewalt Random Orbital sander with a vacuum hook up. It took me three trips to the store to get the right vacuum attachment and sanding disks with the proper vent holes to line up with the 8 hole pattern. Once I got going, I made progress faster than I was expecting.


Also last week, I cleaned up the propeller, which was crusted with many years of paint and barnacles.
before:
after:

Ralph W. Stanley, fine wooden boats Southwest Harbor, ME

Arial views of Narragansett bay

I had a chance to take a few photos over Narragansett bay while flying out of Green last week.

Adams Point and Barrington River (bottom right), Providence River (top left)

Prudence Island (extending from bottom left), Potters Cove, Patience Island (top center) , and Warwick Neck (top right)

Newport Harbor, Goat Island, Rose Island, Coasters Island, Gould Island, and the south end of Prudence Island

Point Judith Harbor of Refuges and Great Salt Pond

Heart of Gold - spring preparations underway

Finished stripping the hardware off the boom today. Need to decide what to do about the finish. Got a quote for powder coating ~ $480 includes sandblasting, phosphate wash, primer, and two coats of white. That seems like a lot of money to make it look good. I'm exploring other options.


Also cleaned the barnacles and old paint of the prop. It looks much nicer now.

Speed Sailing

Plastiki eco catamaran made from recycled bottles

Feb 26 2010 - San Francisco, CA USA: Adventurer, environmental advocate, and National Geographic Emerging Explorer David de Rothschild unveiled Plastiki, a sailboat constructed of more than 12,000 recycled plastic bottles, with inspiration from Kon Tiki. He plans to sail from California to Sydney, Australia, to show what can be done with ingenuity, determination, and reclaimed materials.

More info at: De Rothschild's Message in a Bottle: Plastiki - NatGeo News Watch



Plastiki web page (under construction) The Plastiki Expedition

Validus of Boston MA at Cove Haven Marina

Pretty vessel waiting for warmer weather. Yes that's a thin glaze of ice near the stern.

Winter photography

Sailing vessel Aurora of Riverside, RI on the hard at Cove Haven Marina, January 9, 2009