Seemed like a good time for an update...

[Concordia...41]

As most of the English-speaking world knows, we launched SARAH on October 27th and when she didn't promptly sink straight to the bottom of the river we celebrated with her very own "Yacht Safety Signaling Device" and copious amounts of alcohol. :D

It certainly wasn't a surprise, but shortly thereafter I realized it was really important to make a living, pay some bills, and generally keep a roof over my head and Her dock lines attached.

Then my mother was ill, and the holidays, and yada yada yada.

SARAH and I did however, enjoy a beautiful sunrise Christmas morning.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bcb5f298000000026108BYtG7lsxbq


http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bda80e8ff00000026108BYtG7lsxbq


http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bdaad69e200000026108BYtG7lsxbq

I actually went down to get a picture to share with all of you as our Christmas offering, but the horned devils at Comcast decided that I didn't need the Internet for 48 hours ... :mad:

One of my many New Years Resolutions was to do something for SARAH every single day. Even if it was only to go by and clear the deck scuppers on the way home, I have made Her a promise that I will do something every day.

So far this year she's got about a dozen new screws (missing from a deck beam that got replaced last year). It took all of ten minutes... there's no reason I didn't get to it a year ago... but taking care of little things add up. (And they count toward my "do something every day" plan. ;)) I've also gotten some sanding done, and these last two days it was cold I worked in the warehouse varnishing bits of the interior.

[Concordia...41]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bcc9069d400000026108BYtG7lsxbq

Lefty will recognize these. They're the pieces to the port forward bulkhead that he installed last January and which I took out for some reason or another (probably involving the need for more paint and/or varnish).

But I didn't just slather on more varnish. I took each piece and drilled out the old punky screw holes, epoxied a dowel in each one, sanded the epoxy fair, stained the repaired area to blend in as good as possible (even though most screw damage was below the floor boards or behind cabinetry and not visible), and then slathered on the varnish. :D

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bddaa297e00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

These pieces will go back in FOR GOOD this weekend.

My other success story is what I'm going to call "Bulkhead Reclamation" - I wish I had time to do a Smalsher essay on the whole process, but here is before:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bd210e86b00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

[Concordia...41]

And after:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bef2529e800000026108BYtG7lsxbq

Actually, this isn't even before. Before (as Lefty, SailorDave, David Gage and others can attest) was actually worse. The one is the picture has been through rounds 1 and 2 of sanding, gluing, drilling, and doweling.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bd79aa87b00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bd51fa8ff00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bfec4e8a900000026108BYtG7lsxbq

On the "after" shot after about 4 rounds of gluing, sanding, etc. I used a Minwax stain to even out the color. In the picture it has the first coat of varnish and I put the second on before I left tonight. Before I go any further, I need to pick the interior panels out of the pile of miscellaneous pieces, get them glued and stained to match.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bf51c29dc00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

[Concordia...41]

The bad news (and I was fussing about it earlier today) is that this one came out so amazing, I'm never going to get the back side of it, both sides of it's mate, and the two forward ones to look as good. :eek:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38be12429ee00000026108BYtG7lsxbq

So there's another New Years Resolution (to be better about updates) made good. :p :)

As always, thank you all for your friendship, your kindness, your support, and your encouragement.

- Margo & Sarah

[Nanoose]

Great resolution, Margo. I'm sure Sarah smiled when you told her.

Looking good!

How much longer do you have the warehouse?

[Concordia...41]

Well... I had :eek: four months. That would be two now... :(

Can somebody please tell me where November and December went to :confused: :(

[Nanoose]

Well... I had :eek: four months. That would be two now... :(

Can somebody please tell me where November and December went to :confused: :(

See post #1 ;)

[Bob Perkins]

Ahh an update. I've been looking forward to a Sarah update for a long time. Is there an ETA for adding the mast? And, how did all of the little leaks work out? I know you had thought to haul and check - but I don't know if it ever happened. (maybe I missed it..)

Thanks for taking the time to post - major milestones do make one want to rest up for the next leg of the triathlon ;)

[Hughman]

:):):):):)


Climb every mountain.....

[Kim Whitmyre]

Good to hear from you! Life, as always, takes its toll ;)

[boylesboats]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bf51c29dc00000026108BYtG7lsxbq
Love that tint.... Have a nice warm glow to it:)

[Concordia...41]

Hi Bob - we're going to be hauling next week. She is wet. Wet. Wet. Lots of little leaks - due no doubt to the fact that yours truly thought that she could go to a caulking seminar at the WBS and then proceed to caulk her whole boat... :rolleyes:

We were scheduled to haul, but as things happen for a reason, they were working on the travel lift that day and put me off. It occurred to me that with my mother being ill, it might possibly be months before I could work on the boat and if she was going to just sit she'd be better off in the water than drying out on the hard again...

Projected fantasy schedule:

January - Haul, reef and recaulk a half dozen seams, repaint topsides (they look horrible in the harsh light of day), relaunch

February - get as much of the interior back in as possible, get rest of stuff out of warehouse

March - finish interior electrical and step masts

[Thad]

Great! Thanks. You're definitely right about keeping her wet.

[Banjo]

Very nice job on the bulkheads.

Here's a tip.
On the other ones before you varnish them, try using some caustic soda diluted in water and scrub those nasty looking dark stains along the bottom edges out.
It will look 120% nicer IMHO. :)

[Paul Pless]

beautiful work as always:):):)

[Tar Devil]

Margo, you are an inspiration!

[katiedobe]

I love the bulkhead!! Great charecter stains.

[Mrleft8]

Hell.....If I'd known you were going to tear everything I did apart, sand it all down to bare wood, and put it back together proper like....;)

[Concordia...41]

Very nice job on the bulkheads.

Here's a tip.
On the other ones before you varnish them, try using some caustic soda diluted in water and scrub those nasty looking dark stains along the bottom edges out.
It will look 120% nicer IMHO. :)


I appreciate the comment and respond not out of defensiveness, but because there was thought behind this, and it is something Raka and I discussed yesterday.

Lefty can tell you about the ceiling boards - they had like 5 screw holes each and I had taken each board (some 200) and bleached the stains, which like these were "through and through," stained the bleached spots to match the wood, and refinished.

Point being 200 boards, 1000 spots, easily a 200 hour project start to finish refinishing 200+ ceiling boards within an inch of their life.

As you can see in the pictures, the dark stains on the bulkheads are "through and through." They're actually spots where the wood was damaged and moisture wicked up 2"-3".

A. Bleaching in this case wouldn't have helped. I seriously don't believe that this deep and thick of a stain could have been helped in any instance. A spot this deep (and the wood was damaged and puny) on a cabin side would have called for a Dutchman skillfully crafted and blended in.

B. I made a decision to spend the time adding to the structural integrity and the bulkheads are solid now.

C. You can see the shadow of the frame in the pictures which shows that the dark areas are not just below the floorboards, but actually screw to a frame.

Point C is the most important because realizing that I don't need to spend a couple of hours bleaching stains on areas that will never show is a big deal.

As I cautioned Raka, on a multi-year project if you waste an hour here and there, those hours add up days and weeks and time that could have put you in the water months earlier when you get to the end of the project.

As an example:

If you get 3-4 days a week (evenings / weekends) to work on the boat and waste 15 minutes a day overdoing something, that's an hour a week - or 52 hours in a year.

Don't anyone tell me that in a five year project 250 hours wouldn't have put you in the water a couple of months earlier. That's where the Overview matters.

I don't regret the hundreds of hours I spent meticulously refinishing the ceiling boards, but in hindsight I should have concentrated on getting the visible ceiling boards perfect and the hidden ones fair.

Raka it's occurred to me that when you remove the interior you should take a china marker (or something removable - not tape) and actually mark what is visible. That way when you've got 15-20 pieces on your work bench for refinishing you know which areas you need to spend an hour on and which ones you need to spend 15 minutes on.

Make sense?

[Banjo]

Wow! What a great response :D

When you paint the whole picture those are all valid points too.
"just between you and me, I probably wouldn't have done it myself either" :)

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

All I can say is you certainly have your nerve going to work and making money when you should be working on Sarah..:D

[banjoman]

I actually went down to get a picture to share with all of you as our Christmas offering, but the horned devils at Comcast decided that I didn't need the Internet for 48 hours ... :mad:


Those horned devils at Comcast decided I didn't need internet or phone for a week not too long ago.

She looks great!


Mike

[Andrew]

[quote=Concordia...41;1729592]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df22b3127cceb38bcb5f298000000026108BYtG7lsxbq

One of my many New Years Resolutions was to do something for SARAH every single day.



I think just dropping by and sitting in the cockpit qualifies.

Great pictures, thanks.

[Woodonwater]

Hello Margo..and Sarah,

I have been following your posts for a little while. She is looking great and I look forward to more progress! I am restoring a Sam Crocker 37' ketch and have posted various times here myself. It is not quite the 'quest' your project seems to have become, but I am still 'early' in the project! :) I have a question for you, How do you post nice clear pictures on your posts? When I started using this forum, I was instructed as to how to link my pictures from Picturetrail.com which is a lengthy little process and doesn't show the pictures on the post.

What is the secret to doing this?

Thanks,
James

[Ed Harrow]

Come on, Margo, you are a perfectionist... Somebody might just lift up the cabin sole to have a look ;)

I use magic marker, take pictures. Label with something that means something, maybe date, and take photo (lots and lots of photos). Keep a logbook IDing what photos you took on what date. Being the belt and suspenders sort, I've been known to vibra-etch the ID stuff on the back side where it won't show.

Jim, I use photobucket to store my photos for linking. It is a pretty simple deal. http://photobucket.com/

[Canoez]

Ed - careful with that quotation. You'll have visitors from the Department of Commerce asking you questions about violations of the ITAR rules! (seriously!)

[Concordia...41]

Hello Margo..and Sarah,

I have been following your posts for a little while. She is looking great and I look forward to more progress! I am restoring a Sam Crocker 37' ketch and have posted various times here myself. It is not quite the 'quest' your project seems to have become, but I am still 'early' in the project! :) I have a question for you, How do you post nice clear pictures on your posts? When I started using this forum, I was instructed as to how to link my pictures from Picturetrail.com which is a lengthy little process and doesn't show the pictures on the post.

What is the secret to doing this?

Thanks,
James

James - the key is storing your photos some place that allows linking to the photo. Ed's works as does Shutterfly.com

Once you get the images uploaded to an album "The Margo Way" =

Double click on image or whatever it takes to get it full size.

Right click and select "Properties"

With the mouse highlight the address line

Right click and select "Copy"

Come here to your post, right click again and select "Paste"

Then go to the immediate front of the pasted text and put "" (no quotes) and go to the end of the pasted text and put "" (again no quotes). That is computer lingo for put this image here.

And you get :D

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df29b3127cceb462d43d54bc00000025108BYtG7lsxbq

TA DA!

And Ed what makes you think I'm a perfectionist??? :confused: ;):p

[Ken Hutchins]

Margo, a wonderful update.:):):):)

[almeyer]

Quote:
One of my many New Years Resolutions was to do something for SARAH every single day.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
But of course, you already know that!
SARAH's looking good!

Al

[Texasgaloot]

Projected fantasy schedule:

January - Haul, reef and recaulk a half dozen seams, repaint topsides (they look horrible in the harsh light of day), relaunch

February - get as much of the interior back in as possible, get rest of stuff out of warehouse

March - finish interior electrical and step masts


I'm now going to reveal my heretofore carefully guarded ignorance, but it was bound to slip out sooner or later, so let's get it over with:
Why install the interior and then wire, rather than the other way around, or is the key to the kingdom in the word "finish"?

Keep the updates coming -- We're all getting excited!

[Concordia...41]

Sorry for the confusion. :o

The interior is "pre-wired" i.e. breaker panel is in and appropriate lengths of wire run from breaker panel for mast stuff, running lights, and various places I think I'll need electric - (lights, stereo, etc.)

Most wire runs thread through the cabinets and bulkheads. Those won't be able to be perfected until the bulkheads and salon cabinets (at least) are in.

Make sense?

[Thad]

After years outside in Fla and then in the warehouse the boat will have changed shape considerably and after a good swelling (like now) she will be at a shape that should remain close to constant (keep her wet). Putting the furniture in now you know it will stay fit. If you had installed the interior in the warehouse it would not be fitting right now. It is nice to run wires when you don't have to snake them through cramped spaces.