Launching date set for April 6th

[redbopeep]

Yes, it's true. We've finally set a launching date for our Crocker schooner. I put the bottom paint on the boat--except for the spots on the lead keel under the blocking...that goes on later this week after we've moved the blocking.

Hubby is now frantically installing all that last minute stuff--uh...the gammon iron, and bowsprit blocking...uh, making the boomkin hardware...yea, that would include making the boomkin! And installing the depth/temp/speed tranducer and the FLS transducers and all those thru-hulls that have been sitting by waiting for the bottom paint to go on--and hooking up all the bilge pump hoses to the thru-hulls :)

And, then there's the "re-installs" like the elbow on the main raw water intake which leaked a bit when we did its pressure test... Oh, yea, and we just sent the Kobelt (yes price-y) engine control back to Kobelt because they forgot to put the pulley on the back for the second (inside) steering station :(. We'll have it back and ready to install by April 1st. Oh, yes, we're calling it close. hubby says if it doesn't get back in time, one of us can sit down in the engine room while the other of us rings a bell for forward, reverse, etc ;)

Besides finishing the bottom paint, my job is now to put the final coats of paint on the deck house and in the cockpit...and another coat or two of varnish on everything. Oh, and to bed one new portlight spigot :). And...to get the leather onto about 10 more mast hoops!

The surveyor comes on Friday Mar 27th and we should have a written report by the following Monday. We need to remember to pull the life jackets and safety equipment out of the storage unit and throw it in the boat before he gets here. He's kept an eye on the entire rebuild and we have lots of pics so shouldn't have too much troubles getting insurance but still...keeping our fingers and toes crossed on that one--send good insurance karma our way, please. :rolleyes:

The masts won't be stepped until we've been in the water a couple weeks--still keeping our fingers and toes crossed--we'll finish a couple repairs on the masts once the boat is moved and we have room to work on them.

But, exciting, exciting. She was originally launched in April 1931. 78 years ago. We hauled her out August 2006 and her rebuild started later that fall...I know she'll be glad to be back in the water! Be thinking of us on April 3rd when she goes on the trailer and April 6th when she gets into the water! :)

[C. Ross]

WOW! Congratulations! It has really been fun following your project threads - you guys are inspiring.

Of course you know...we expect many pictures.

[StevenBauer]

Such exciting news! Looking forward to the full report.



Steven

[John Boone]

Congratulations guys,

One heck of a project for sure. I look forward to your launch photos and to see her under sail .

Best Regards,

John

[Willin']

A springtime San Diego launch! What could be better than that? Don't stress!

[Bobcat]

Good choice of days.

It's me birthday....:D

[redbopeep]

Good choice of days.

It's me birthday....:D

Oh, a happy birthday to you on April 6th :)

We considered launching on April 1 which was when she originally launched back in 1931 but we're not liking to launch on April Fools day :rolleyes:

Its hard to take pics right now as she's all covered in a big tarp tent thing and we can only get a couple feet away from her--not much of an angle. As soon as that's down, I'll post some pics of her :)

In the meanwhile, to whet your appetite, here's a couple pics of her original April1931 launch. The tall fellow in the second pic is Alexander (Sandy) White Moffat, her original owner (who was 6'4") and we assume the smaller guy could be is either GF Lawson (the builder) or S.S. Crocker, NA:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3384305758_c3447ff858_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3384305956_d902130177_o.jpg

[P.L.Lenihan]

The second picture is just lovely!I do have a a weakness for those bold plumb pilot houses and stems.Very handsome!Good luck with her re-launching!!


Peter

[WX]

Very best wishes...wish it was me :D

[Thad]

Whoop de do!! She is a beauty!! Want to see the sailing pictures! Cheers!

[Lew Barrett]

Congratulations and well done.

[redbopeep]

Man oh man--details, details, details

We're doing all the last minute "we put it off and now it has to be done" stuff.

Like, umm...moved the four piles of blocking under the boat to sand/scrape off the last bits of old bottom paint-and rediscovered three keel bolt/nut recesses that hadn't yet been sealed off with 5200 or epoxy. Argh...I'm really tiring of crawling around under the keel doing things. Now it looks like I'll be down there at least 5 or 6 more times (put on the Strontium primer, put on the epoxy primer, put on three or four coats of bottom paint)

And then there are all the injuries--first I pinched the skin on my thumb between a bronze reinforcing bar and the rudder while helping hubby with the 3/8" copper rivets thru the rudder (I was the backer/buck person...). The, my right palm was stung by a bee (I squished him when I grabbed onto the companionway hatch--ouch for him and me!), then, I managed to googe up my hands with epoxy...lets not discuss that one...and somehow my knees are all scraped because I'm not wearing heavy jeans crawling around in the gravel under the boat. All in one day :(

[Quidam1947]

I think I just drooled on my keyboard. Best wishes for a lovely day and good and safe launch.

Michele

[StevenBauer]

And still a week to go. :eek:


You'll make it. Deep breaths. Slow and steady. :)


Steven

[FSS172]

Here's hoping for all thumbs up from the surveyor and underwriter! Very exciting!

[S.V. Airlie]

Great news and great pictures. It's always funh to have pictures of when (some) of our boats were launched in the distant past.
Airl;ie photos only go back to 1948. No pics from 1929..I wish but...

ps.. when I first saw this, I thought you were giving a heads up on the North Korean missile launch. This was way better and appreciated.

[Keith Wilson]

OMG that's a lovely boat! I'm looking forward to seeing the new launch pictures.

[redbopeep]

Here's hoping for all thumbs up from the surveyor and underwriter! Very exciting!
Woo-hoo!!! We're insured! Happy dance! :D

Got a policy with BoatUS--can you believe it? Holy cow. Figured they'd turn us down flat so with nothing to lose....along with the surveyors 9 pager, I sent along a huge document (18 pages) with a bunch of the pics of the boat and the work as it progressed as well as a 10 page spec sheet of all the materials and methods used. Details, details, details.

Overwelmed them, I think. They were happy as all get out--congratulated us on the fine job we've done and offered us the insurance we wanted no problems.

Happy dance....:p Life is good.

Well...only glitch is that the Kobelt control isn't back from Canada yet, so, if we don't want to rig a temporary engine control system, we may be towing the boat from the launch spot to the slip...our RIB doesn't have a motor, so...that'll be interesting :rolleyes:

Well, back to working on the boat--still doing touch up paint. And, painting the name on the transom. Washington DC is a LONG hailing port to paint!

--I PROMISE I'll post lots of pics for you'all next week. As soon as the tent around her comes down tommorrow, I'll take a couple pics and post them.

[Concordia...41]

Congratulations in advance. I know everything is going to be just fine!

- M

[Thad]

April now, I'm sure you're checking all the through hulls and touching up the last of the trim, as well as standing back to admire her and looking forward to voyages to come! Good luck.

[redbopeep]

Touch up paint--yep, how'd ya know? ;)

Hubby is up to much more serious work--wiring the windlass, installing windlass and the bow roller so we can get the 600' of 1/2 bbb on board before they load us on the truck on Friday. Woulda liked the chain to go separate but seems this is the easy way...hope the weight isn't a problem during the 8 miles to the launch yard.

Tomorrow afternoon I lose my scaffold and all the hull touch up will have to be done on a ladder--so incentives to finish it now. Oh, Margo--I'm using those artists brushes on the waterline--durn bottom paint seeped up a bit :rolleyes:

Later...back to the touch up...

[redbopeep]

I've really gone downhill with this project. We're basically out of food, so, on the way back to painting...as I stopped in the galley looking for an energy bar, granola bar...there's nothing. Saw some chocolate chips and Johnny Walker Red Label...now I'm mellow and have a sugar high all at once :o

[FSS172]

DC is a LONG hailing port to paint!

DC eh? And when do you figure on being back in these waters? Hope you'll be prepared to be boarded for your WBF Chesapeake Sector Certification. Congratulations on getting all your bureaucratic seals of approval! Arf arf! Red Label and chocolate chips.... sounds like a feast fit for a fool, April or other-wise! I'm into the Black Seal and Ghirardelli's dark myself as we speak... bon temps!

[redbopeep]

Well, the boat mover has a chance to make some "real" money monday-tuesday on a longer trip than just taking us the few miles to the water. So, good deal for him and a price break for us :) Also gives us monday-tuesday to get a few more things done!

My "short list" is down to:

1. Sew up the covers for the (dirty) bumpers so they won't mar the new finish.
2. Clean the portholes.
3. Put some more paraffin in the bilge (along the keel at frame heels) in spots that are low/below the limbers and could hold water.
4. Wash the boat.

Given extra two days:

5. Put another coat of paint on the accent trim on the deck house.
6. Strip the paint off a couple places on the canvas deck where it is too thick/cracking and repaint those areas.

Hubby's short list is down to:
1. install the fairleads on the bow and the mid-ships mooring cleats.
2. when it shows up, install the Kobelt engine control that STILL ISN'T here! They promised it last week, they promised it friday...they promised it would here already...so...if it isn't here, Hubby assures me he has a back up plan that doesn't involve me sitting in the engine room shifting into forward with one bell and reverse with two....

Given the two extra days, he's going to start working on the spars for their install later in the month.

:)

[Concordia...41]

Ahhhh ... extra time - one of life's greatest gifts!

Enjoy! :)

[redbopeep]

Oh...seem to be out of time again. The launch happened yesterday. I'm at the boatyard (where the computer resides in our boatshed...) for a few minutes so thought I'd post. Here's a couple pics. We took lots more..and two friends took even more...will get them all together hopefully by the weekend.

She floats! yes, I know you all knew she would, but still...

No "gushers" just a bit of weeping all over her seams as she takes up water. There's one spot with a little stream of water that you can actually see moving water...its on the oak keel to forekeel interface where its bolted together. Hopefully it will swell up shortly and be nice and tight. She's sitting with the bow 4 or 5 inches high and the stern at the waterline. We still don't have the rig on nor any inside ballast nor any water tanks nor much in the way of furniture....so hope she doesn't end up sitting low. I didn't paint on a boot stripe because we weren't sure where she'd sit--so as long as she sits at or above the bottom paint all is good :) Else, we'll be painting the boot stripe sooner rather than later.

Will post more pics this weekend...:)

Here's a couple pics with links to much larger pics next to the little pic--

link 1 (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/3426592529_5067c82962_b.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/3426592529_5067c82962_m.jpg

link 2 (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3426399531_2c932c85fd_b.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3426399531_2c932c85fd_m.jpg

link 3 (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3427235812_8427d0d168_b.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3427235812_8427d0d168_m.jpg

[FSS172]

How exciting is that! Congratulations! What a beauty!

[StevenBauer]

Wow! This shot is great:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3426399531_2c932c85fd_b.jpg


She looks fantastic. You must be so elated. What a huge milestone. Looking forward to more pics. :)



Steven

[John Boone]

Congratulations guys. Bravo....Such a great accomplishment.

Best Regards, John

[boylesboats]

that is awesome... I don't know how I miss this earlier.. that is great looking vessel

[The Bigfella]

Fabulous. Well done both peeps.

[Thad]

Beautiful!! Cheers!!!

[C. Ross]

Bravo! She's gorgeous. Congratulations and fair winds.

[rufustr]

Thanks for posting those photos.

Absolutely fantastic.:cool::cool::cool::cool:

[redbopeep]

Hey all, back at the boatyard for a bit...thought I'd post a bit more.

Here's a great pic right before we went to the water. Click on the LINK (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/3430212020_a31a6476ff_b.jpg) for a larger view of the same thing

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/3430212020_a31a6476ff.jpg

We had a few little glitches that were interesting--since Kobelt hasn't sent back out throttle control head yet, we were actually stuck using the bare push-pull cables to shift into and out of gear as well as to control the throttle.
LINK (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3430021840_2d96f1a63e_b.jpg) to larger pic of the bare control cables[/url]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3430021840_2d96f1a63e_m.jpg
As we left the launch dock for a nearby workdock slip, hubby David was steering AND running the two control cables himself. I was onboard as well as friends John and Chris; John's wife, Pam, was walking the dock and would be waiting to catch a line. With a hefty side wind and tight quarters pushing us about, and the full keel behaving as full keels do... it was amazing that we didn't squash any of the nearby boats or a pier as we got out of the tight quarters. We were very thankful that the 10 ft bowsprit was NOT yet installed on the 54' boat.
Click on LINK (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3419108106_081175d12d_b.jpg) for larger image of below pic

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3419108106_081175d12d_m.jpg

The only "oops" was when David thought he was putting the boat in reverse and applying throttle to stop us and use the prop walk to spin us more parallel to the work dock...instead he put us in forward and...rammed the work dock. Lucky us, as John pointed out, our hugely thick bobstay iron is much, much stronger than the dock. A few splinters in the dock but the boat wasn't scratched...

The bobstay iron in this pic--click on LINK (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3429965870_2f65454fdd_o.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3429965870_9480c1ba8c_m.jpg
Unusual for San Diego in that it was quite windy. The winds were up enough that we just spent the night at the work dock and moved the boat to the assigned slip at daybreak. The winds had died down about 1 am but we don't yet have the rig up--with the associated navigation lights--and David wouldn't move the boat after dark without the required nav lights. With no wind, it was a simple task to get her into the slip. Though, we must admit it is a bit unnerving to be putting your boat into a slip that is only two feet wider than your beam and when you can't see the finger piers on each side you just have to trust that the extra foot on each side is really there. :rolleyes: It was...

As a wood boat, we have to wait to see how she "takes up" water. She's weeping at the seams and the oak keel and the primary bilge pump (a Rule 3700) is kicking in every few minutes to spit out some water. We're thinking she's taking on about 20 gallons/hr. All of it through tiny weeps all over the place that should seal up nicely as her planking swells and the oak keel does as well.

Yesterday, I lugged as many tools and heavy things as I could to the very front of the boat as she's sitting bow high by about 4 or 5 inches. The stern is about 1" lower in the water than it should be--which means that some of the topside paint on the overhanging countertimber is in the water. We'll bring some of her lead ballast onboard over the weekend and put a few hundred pounds of it on deck right at the stem and that should level her enought to get all the topsides out of the water. Once the masts are stepped, she should sit very level as the foremast is about halfway between the center of mass (at the main mast) and the stem.

I'm uploading more pics to Flickr right now...I'll post a link when they're there. Now I'm off to pick up the cat at the vet's where he's been boarded for two days. He'll be glad to be back on the boat, I'm sure.

More later...

Link (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3429136517_160ce44f38_b.jpg) to bigger image

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3429136517_160ce44f38_m.jpg

[Capt'n Widda]

Beautiful, Congratulations, May you enjoy many happy adventures on her.

"Life is Too Short...Be Kind, Have Fun & Help Someone Along the Way"

[J. Dillon]

Congratulations :Dand it seems like Lady luck is already with you.;)

JD

[Concordia...41]

Contratulations! What an amazing wonderful beautiful job!

- M

[C. Ross]

Wow. Thanks for the pictures and the stories!

Mahdee is beautiful, just beautiful. Looking forward to seeing pictures of her rigged and under sail!

[Paul Pless]

Wow is right.

[Noah]

Amazing - nice work!

[RT MAN]

Wow, I really like it.

Looks great

[PeterSibley]

Well done , really very ,very good ....a great return on all the work .Enjoy !!!!!:):)

[Lew Barrett]

She looks comfortable, sleek and ready. Bravo.
Much improved in her new coat of colors, as well.

[Bill R]

Wow. Stunning. Nice work!

[redbopeep]

Thanks all for the nice compliments--keep them coming--they provide much needed "energy" ;)

We've gone from weeping in 20-30 gallons/hr to about 5 gallons/hr. The Rule 3700 bilge pump comes on every 10-14 minutes for a second and spits out a slug of water...so we're happy with how that's going.

And now the fun is really underway...

We moved the lead "inside" ballast from the boat yard to the boat late last night. Mainly to get the bow down and the stern up so my topside paint at the stern won't be in the water and getting growth on it (and peeling...) So...after moving 300 lbs of misc tools inside the boat from the main saloon to the forecastle...we then moved 1400 lbs of lead from the boatyard to the foredeck just aft of the stem. The boat is now sitting 2" above the waterline in the bow and the stern has come up a tiny bit so that it is only maybe 1/2" below the waterline. That's better than the way it started with 4-5 inches bow high and an inch stern low. We also just picked up the anchors from our storage unit--a total of 320 lbs extra on the foredeck should help matters http://www.cruiserlog.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/happy.gif

Once the masts are stepped, things will be more even but I'm beginning to think we'll be about 1" low all around once the masts and rigging are in place. Guess I'll order a 3" vinyl bootstripe to install so I'll have something to scrub the barnacles off of besides my topside paint :rolleyes:

Lovely day today, too. After a couple days of overcast it is bright and sunny. Perfect for getting a morning coat of varnish onto the steering box and companion way hatch before moving all that stuff!

This afternoon's task here at the boatyard is to do final measurements on a few more bits of rigging so I can put my wire order in on Monday or Tuesday. Hubby David is taking apart ladders and re-arranging piles of scaffold too. We've put all the scaffold bits for sale on Craigs List...hope it is sold soon.

I hope everyone is having a great day today!

[Raka025]

Wow - that is one beautiful boat. One could go places with her!!!

[redbopeep]

Thanks, Rob, we're planning on it ;)

That is a lovely part of Arkansas that you must live in--looked at your blog and saw the ice storm. Nice boat shed too! Good luck on your project.

Update on ours--she's still floating and the bilge pump coming on every 10-15 minutes for a second to spit out a slug of water. Probably about 4 to 5 gallons/hr.

Sold the scaffold quickly and threw out a bunch of construction wood. Now hubby is doing the mast repair. I just did my "count" for ordering rigging stuff needed. We're doing Hi-Mod fittings on the uppers and splices on the lowers. Couldn't bring myself to spend the money today. Tomorrow.

Rainy and overcast again--ah but it's so great to be in the water :)