Teak Oil and Little Projects

Scrubbing the floor boards with simple green and a little dawn dish soap

While Don and I were working on fixing leaks and blocked hoses in the head (bathroom) on Florian, we noticed the teak slatted wood floor that inserts over the shower basin was stained, and a little, er... odiferous - from its proximity to the leaking toilet.  We took it home, and scrubbed it thoroughly (diluted simple green & a drop of Dawn dish soap), rinsed it really well, and then put it outside in our dry, hot desert air for a week.

Putting the first coat of Watco Teak Oil on the slats

After researching options for treating the teak, we bought a can of Watco Teak Oil Finish, and followed the easy instructions: Apply it generously, wait 30 minutes (it soaked in pretty fast), apply it again, wait 30 minutes, and then wipe off the excess. It worked beautifully.

After applying the 2nd coat, and wiping away the excess

I was amazed at how quickly the oil soaked into the wood, and the transformation from dull and parched looking, to rich and grain-beautiful. I chose this route with the floor slats after I read about teak oil in an article by Don Casey. Access to information like this is one of the thousand reasons I love the internet. In my day to day boat ownership school, I'm in the 1st grade, learning to read See Jane Run, and the expert advice archived online is a stadium of generous tutors, waiting for me to pull up a bench and absorb the knowledge they're sharing. I feel so stinkin' lucky to be mounting this boat-ownership adventure at this time in technical history.

Re-installed in the shower basin floor, and it looks brand new

Old and new rubber ladder caps

The next little project was replacing the caps on our Swim Ladder. They were split and cracked, so we bought a few spares to swap them out. I dont expect them to last long in the sun and sea air, but at least I don't have to worry about the stainless ladder tubing cutting through the old rubber to mar the gelcoat on our transom (rear end of the boat - the ladder legs rest against the transom when it's dropped down for climbing in and out of the water)

Drop-down stainless swim ladder on Florian

Before & After - Rubber Swim Ladder caps

Next up on the swim ladder is a little stainless polish and some elbow grease.

Every boat needs a bottle opener

The bottle opener on Florian is mounted to the cabinet under the Nav desk. It's in a good spot, but had seen better days; the ridge that catches the lip of the bottle cap had chipped and required a bit of wrestling to get the cap off a bottle. Since Florian is the Patron Saint of Firefighters, we thought our new bottle opener should be adorned with the Florian Cross. We tested it with a couple of frosty Sam Adams when we finished projects for the day, and I'm happy to report that it works beautifully.

The next handy tool we need to bring aboard Florian is a working cigar snipper. :)

Prop Wash & Anchor Rode

We had a great Labor Day weekend laboring on s/v Florian. We re-installed new, longer rope with a new splice to our existing chain, and put the anchor back on with a new shackle, minus the last 6 chain links that were corroded.

Stiff, twisted rope in the anchor locker. With Don on deck using the windlass
and me down below wrestling rope kinks, we eventually got it all off the boat.

The splice in our chain/rope was too stiff & swollen to fit through the windlass. After several attempts - both wet and dry - we decided to pull the chain, rope and anchor off Florian so we could lay it all out in the garage at home and take a closer look at the entire rode.

Anchor and rode off the boat and in the car.

We cut the fat, old splice off, and I was amazed at how fluffy and light the interior of the nylon strands are, considering how hard and stiff they were on the outside from compression and 16 years of silt & salt water.

After cutting the splice, the rope opened up, like a flower.
(I know, that's a total girl-statement, but I get to. (: )

The anchor shackle screw pin was corroded, and the last 6 links of chain were pretty beat up too. Don used a plumbing wrench to get the shackle off, and we bought new, longer rope. We had a new splice made to our existing chain (70 ft), after cutting the bad links off. I'm interested in learning to splice, but since keeping the chain and rope connected is rather crucial, I'll opt to leave this new splice to a professional so I can relax when we're anchored, and I'll practice splicing with the old rope.

The previous shackle had to be wrenched from the anchor

 We haven't been able to identify the manufacturer of our chain. It could be Simpson Lawrence, since we have a SL Windlass, but after calling them (now Lewmar) to ask if they sold chain in the mid 90's, the support staff had no answers and little interest in finding one.

Do you know of a chain manufacturer that stamps the links with SL?

*UPDATE* At the Annapolis boat show in October 2012, we had the good fortune to speak with Kevin Donahue of Lewmar, formerly Simpson Lawrence. He helped us identify that the SL on our chain stands for Short Link, and that it's 3/8 BBB, likely manufactured for Simpson Lawrence by ACCO back in the early 90's. Mystery solved! Thanks, Kevin!

Pile o' rode

We re-attached the anchor to our partially new rode and fed it through our cleaned and greased Windlass (more on that in the next post). It's a tall pile of rode with not a lot of fall in our anchor locker, so we'll have to be mindful of kinks & hockles by letting the full length of chain and rope out without the anchor in deep water so it can untwist and right itself once or twice a year.

Bearded Propeller on s/v Florian

Florian hasn't left her slip for about 8 weekends while we removed & re-built the head, cleared a sanitation hose block, and worked on the windlass and anchor rode, so our prop has grown a beard. (Which is a good thing; no growth = galvanic corrosion from electrolysis) Our zinc anodes are working.

This is a 20 second video Don shot with the GoPro - to test the camera & dive housing mounted to the whisker pole, and to see if he could clean the prop from the cockpit. :)

After lots of labor over Labor Day weekend, it's time to relax on Florian.

After ticking off a list of To-Do's, it was time to relax with a cold brew in the cockpit. The weather was beautiful in the marina (though we heard a big Southerly swell from Pacific storms was not fun out on the water, and most of the boats that left in the mornings came right back.) We hope you had a safe & fun (and productive, if that's on your list) Labor Day weekend. Happy September!

Finding the right marina

Aerial view of Ventura Isle Marina (photo courtesy of Almar Marinas)

Last summer, when Don and I were just starting to assemble our plan to buy a sailboat, we visited several California marinas - to meet with brokers and look at boats on the market, as well as slips.  

I remember multi-year wait-lists for slips back in the 80's in Santa Barbara, so I was surprised at the empty/available slips in every marina we visited - evidence of sad economic fluctuations. (I wonder where all of those boats went? Where are they now, if they aren't in marina slips?)

Through out the summer and into last Fall, we gathered brochures, looked at amenities, met with marina administrators and walked the docks - sometimes for hours, because we were enjoying the coastal atmosphere, comparing all the makes, models and sizes of boats, and soaking up the environment. 

Walking along Ventura Isle Marina near A & B Dock

After we purchased Florian, and had a confirmed LOA (Length Overall - needed to calculate the size & cost of the slip. Don grumbles that LOA always includes the bowsprit, so you have to pay more for a plank of wood extended beyond the bow.) We returned to the marinas we were considering, and took a closer look at what was available for a 36ft boat.  After repeated visits to our top choices, we knew we wanted to keep Florian at Ventura Isle Marina. We marked dock maps with our preferences, and waited for Spring, and Florian's arrival from Maine.

Kayak & Paddle Boat rentals, shops and restaurants
at Ventura Harbor Village (photo courtesy of Vicki Leigh)

Coast of Southern California with Channel Islands (photo courtesy of NASA)

Everyone has different criteria for a marina, but here is a list of things we like about ours:
♥ We live about an hour from the coast, and the drive to the marina meanders through citrus groves and farms. That's not a bad weekend commute when you live & drive on the freeways of Los Angeles.
♥ Ventura Isle is owned and managed by a marina company that has reciprocal privileges at all their marinas. So, lets say we want to sail to San Diego, or San Francisco. We simply call our marina office, and they make arrangements for a guest slip for us, no charge.
♥ The Channel Islands National Park is - at it's closest point - 14 miles from the Marina. This chain of five islands are laced with hiking trails, protected anchorages, sea caves, diving, kayaking, camping and an amazing assortment of wildlife. The islands also host the largest aggregation of bue whales in the world. The accumulated pristine coastline spans 175 miles. We plan to spend a lot of time exploring this beautiful treasure of islands.
♥ We spend most weekends on the boat, and if we don't feel like cooking, we can walk the curve of the harbor to Ventura Harbor Village for dinner at any number of great restaurants. There's also a variety of bands performing every weekend in the village, so we can sit in our cockpit to watch the sea lions, cormorants and the sunset with a live musical score.
♥ We have great neighbors. (This one is very important, because you're all hanging out in very close proximity.) The day we walked the dock to look at available slips marked on the map, a gentleman with a big smile, an effusive Italian accent, and a cute little dachshund named Roma popped out of his Catalina 33 companionway to say hello. He asked if we were considering the empty slip next to him. When we confirmed that we were, he gave us some insights about other folks on the dock, and shared the reasons he thought it was the best place in the marina. He was right. We love it there, and we count down the week days to each Friday so we can get back to our waterfront property on board Florian.

What was on your list for the Right Marina?

Aerial view of Ventura Isle Marina, surrounded by ocean & farmland.
 (photo courtesy of Almar Marinas)

Ventura Harbor Village Fishing Boats, Dive Charters & Water Taxis

s/v Florian in her slip at the marina

Fixing a Marine Toilet (part II)

The what's and where's of a manual Marine toilet
which I found very helpful - from Nigel Calder's book
Boat Owners Mechanical & Electrical Manual

In the last post, after attempting (& failing) to fix leaks, tired parts and an apparent block in our Raritan head (toilet) with vinegar and a new pump assembly, we re-wound to the beginning, & dismantled the whole toilet. What we found was the source of the remaining leak; a warped ring where the bowl attaches to the base. According to Raritan, this is the result of a hard freeze. It must have been leaking for awhile, since the bolts on the base left corroded water tracks & rust stains on the floor leading into the shower basin.

After removing the new pump assembly & the toilet bowl,
we discovered another source of leaks: a warped base,
likely from a deep freeze during Florian's history on the East Coast

We also found mineral deposits inside the toilet bowl flush holes around the rim, so the whole bowl was brought home to soak in a vinegar bath for three days while we waited for a new raritan toilet base to arrive.

The new Raritan toilet base installed, with shiny new bolts.

After reading about minerals and calcification growing in
 marine sanitation hoses where sea water pools, I traced our hoses, looking
for low points and up-angles where that might occur.

A sailing friend who does a major overhaul on his boat toilet every year told us we might be able to dislodge some of the calcification from the interior lining of the discharge hose by lightly tapping the length of the hose where it was accessible with a hammer. We did that - gently - and pulled another cup or so of grit and mineral chips out of the hose. After re-assembling the hoses and head, on the new base, and pumping a test flush, we still had backwash, bubbles and a handle that popped back up from internal pressure in the lines.

Sanitation hose on s/v Florian, from the head to the holding tank

We checked the holding tank to be sure it wasn't mysteriously full (we hadn't used it except to test-flush). It was almost empty. We checked the vent line and the the vented loop, and they were both clear. So, the block had to be somewhere between the head and the holding tank, in the length of discharge hose that ran under the sole (floor). Argh.

Armed with gloves, mask and an altered plumbing snake

We read all sorts of cautionary tales about how you shouldn't snake the hoses on your boat, for fear of puncturing the line and having a stinky mess under the sole that would be far worse than a blocked head. But it was either that, or take up the sole, and do some major re-piping and disassembly projects that we aren't equipped to pull off. So, we went to a hardware store, bought a snake, altered the end so there was nothing sharp on it, and put on some masks to brace ourselves for the dirty task.

Snaking the line from the head to the holding tank

Once Don got the snake into the hose, I sat by the bilge with my finger tips on the hose so I could hear & feel that he was getting the snake all the way through.

The other end of the sanitation hose; it runs under
the sole (floor) and through a couple of holes bored
through cross beams, from the head to the holding tank

Don used the snake to clear the hose all the way to the holding tank, where it abruptly stopped & got stuck. I reached inside the tank, trying to get to the hose/tank terminal, but the angle was impossible, even with a coat hanger or a screw driver. Ultimately, he was able to pull the snake out, and while hoping and praying no one set foot on our slip or strolled down-breeze, we squeezed a catch bucket into the bilge, and disconnected the hose from the holding tank. And there lay the problem: almost 8 inches of solid calcification blockage. We used a screw driver to break it up and scoop it out into the bucket, and as soon as it was cleared, all the clear test-flush water came gushing forward until Don tilted the hose end upward to stop it. After re-connecting and re-strapping all the hoses, I recharged the head with sea water, and did a test flush. THIS TIME, it went through without resistance, or bubbles or backwash. And taking a hint from an article by Peggie Hall titled marine sanitation fact vs folklore, we left the cover off the holding tank, and counted how many flushes it takes to exit the hose into the tank, so we can use that count on each flush to ensure there is no waste sitting in the hoses all week between the head and the tank.

The latest and greatest Raritan pump handle

When we ordered the pump assembly, we decided to re-use the same handle that was already on the existing system. Unfortunately, it was too large a circumference to fit into the new pump. The good folks at Raritan told me about their new handle, with a telescoping arm. The cupboard door in our head swings open - right into the old, longer arm, so this new one tucks perfectly out of the way. If you have a Cape Dory with a Raritan handle limiting how wide you can open your under-sink cabinet door, check out a replacement arm at Raritan. They aren't in the catalog yet, but you can call or email them to inquire.

Spiffy new (working) toilet on s/v Florian

Don and I can both say with confidence that we know how our sanitation system works on Florian, and that's one of the benefits of these sorts of projects. When you buy a boat - new or not - one of the best ways to get to know her bones and pipes and parts is to roll up your sleeves and fix her yourself. I'm certain we'll eventually bump into repairs way beyond our skill set, and those will require a professional, but wherever possible, we are enthused and ready to do the work ourselves. What have you fixed on your boat that left you feeling knowledgeable about a system or a part?

Watching the sunset and the moon rise from the cockpit
after a very productive day

P.S. On a somewhat related, but slightly askew side note, did you know Bill Gates hosted a competition to reinvent the toilet as we know it?

Fixing a Marine Toilet (part I)

This post is about toilets. If you're looking to read something about good wind and rocking the sails in calm seas on a clear day, maybe skip this post, and come back and see us again later. :)  If you're trying to fix the head (sea-speak for toilet/bathroom) on your boat, read on.

The Raritan PHII Toilet on s/v Florian. The upper arrow shows how
the pump assembly handle popped back up on each flush cycle.
The bottom arrow shows the area where a visible leak stained
 the floor and collected in the shower basin.

The first few weekends on board s/v Florian gave us a chance to really get acquainted with her. We washed every surface, explored all of her cupboards, and crawled around in her cockpit lockers & engine compartment. On closer inspection, one thing I was a little intimidated by was the toilet. (Eegads, look at all those hoses.) It's been over 20 years since I felt comfortably familiar with a marine head, and my fears of the unknown weren't helped when the first test flush spouted little arcs of water, back wash into the bowl, air bubbles, and then a mysterious pressure popped the handle back up in my hand.

Looking down at the rear of the pump assembly - arrows show
were leaks erupted with each pump of the flush.

After scouring the net for cause & effect, symptoms, and solutions, I decided the issue must be a number of things related to the joker valve, and the pump assembly piston rod and the air valve.  It's a manual toilet, so it can't be that hard to figure out, right? (Quit laughing.)

Studying the exploded parts diagram in the Raritan pamphlet

I called Raritan (we have a Raritan PHII) to confirm my conclusions for a fix, and review the parts I planned to order. After totaling my list, it became clear that instead of parts for a re-build, we could buy a whole pump assembly for close to the same price, and start fresh, without worrying which teeny part would fail next.

The Raritan Pump Assembly arrives!

My husband Don is completely "disinterested" when it comes to toilets, sewage and holding tanks. The notion of taking hoses and leaky fittings apart on a sixteen year old toilet made him shudder, so he announced "I'll write a check! Just tell me how much, and we'll put a whole new head in!" I assured him that I would handle the replacement pump because toilets don't bother me so much. As I researched particulars on marine toilet systems, and waited for the Raritan shipment to arrive, he started referring to me as the HEAD Engineer on Florian, and reassured me again that he'd simply write a check and we could be done with the whole sordid affair.

I wasn't strong enough to disconnect the joker
valve elbow from the discharge hose, so I had to ask for some muscle.

The pump assembly arrived, and I couldn't wait to swap it out, and fix the toilet.  We drove out after work on a friday night, closed the sea cocks, laid out the tools, and got to work. My step Dad TC warned me that the hoses would likely be very tight, and I should be prepared to use a blow dryer to heat them for easier removal (thanks, TC, you were so right). Even with the heat, and lots of pulling, I couldn't disconnect the discharge hose from the joker valve elbow, and I had to ask poor Don to help me. :( What a good sport.

After heating the discharge hose (with a blow dryer) where it meets
the joker valve elbow, Don muscled them apart for me.

Removing the old Raritan Pump Assembly

I read on various boating boards about calcified mineral deposits from sitting sea water - adhering to the interior of the hoses - and causing problems with eventual blockage and/or sand-paper-like surfaces which were perfect catching points for toilet paper and waste. What I found when I got the joker valve elbow off was a complete blockage in the discharge hose made up of calcified minerals. It looked like the minerals had collected on the interior hose wall to about 1/8 inch thickness, and collapsed in a pile, only to collect and collapse again and again, until the hose was filled completely at it's lowest point. 

A chip of calcified sea water from the discharge hose.
I pulled about 2 cups of this out of the hose at it's lowest point.

After clearing the interior of the hose, and cleaning everything with simple green and bleach water, we reattached the pump assembly to the base of the toilet, attached the elbow and joker valve and re-strapped everything good and tight. (As much as I wanted to do all of this myself, Don actually did most of it. Once he got squeezed into the small space of our bathroom to help me disconnect the discharge hose, he just stayed there, and asked for tools & parts in the order they needed to go in.) 

Once it was all assembled and clean, I opened the sea cock and charged the hose with sea water for the inaugural flush. And once again, the handle popped back up in my hand, sea water back-washed into the bowl, and burped bubbles, and little streams of water trickled out from under the base. Arrrrrgh! It was late Friday night, at the end of a full week, and I was so disappointed that we weren't celebrating with a cool drink, and toasting a successful toilet fix!

The next morning, we concluded that there had to be a block somewhere else. We studied photos of Florian's bones and underparts, and traced the hoses through the bilge to understand where all the possibly blocks could be. We also noticed - now that everything was clean and dry - that  sea water was leaking from the base of the bowl, where it connects to the floor, and the bolts holding it in place appeared to be corroded. So, the areas of trouble could be:

1) a block further down in the discharge hose, under the sole (floor) or at the holding tank intersection

2) a block in the vent line in the holding tank, or the vented loop of the discharge hose

3) a full holding tank

4) some as yet unknown problem we weren't thinking of

We decided to take the toilet apart, and start over.

Toilet parts and the teak floor board from the head in the back of my car.
There's just nothing discreet about walking around a marina with a toilet bowl.

The toilet bowl and the seawater pump-to-bowl instake hose,
soaking in vinegar-water at home

After three days soaking in vinegar-water,
the toilet bowl is spotless, and all mineral-clogged holes are now open.

Stay tuned for Part II; How we fixed our Marine Toilet.

Cape Dory 36 & Robinhood 36 Sailboats

When Don and I talk to other boaters – especially all the folks we’re meeting online and in the Marina - people want to know what kind of boat we have.

Florian on the truck, arriving in Ventura, CA - and in her slip with Don

When we reply that she’s a Robinhood 36, just about every person exhibits that tilted-head-Huh?-look… “Never heard of ‘em.” When we explain she’s just like a Cape Dory, faces light up with familiarity, and they nod at us approvingly. (Especially the full keel & classic design affectionados.) 

Florian's roomy deck is perfect for one of our niece's to explore

 We wrote a little in this post about our experience with all the Cape Dory folks at Robinhood Marine.  The Robinhood 36 is pretty much the same boat as the Cape Dory 36 – glassed in the CD hull mold – but all of them were built after 1991, when Cape Dory morphed into Robinhood, so they are a teeny bit modified.  Here is a great page on the Cape Dory Owners Association site, reviewing the history of Cape Dory and the transition to Robinhood Marine.

Just after Don re-painted the Dorade cowls

As I understand it from Dave Perry, the toe rail and sheer line are slightly changed, and some of the crazing issues on Cape Dorys were addressed on Robinhoods, but that was more of a cosmetic issue and didn't affect the integrity of the decks. Some of the wiring and bones are a little modernized, but over all, Cape Dory 36 & Robinhood 36 are sisters.

Florian's galley the day she was lowered into Pacific water.
I sat and stared - marinating on the realization that we owned this beautiful boat.

 When Don and I were searching for a boat, we looked at a number of Cape Dory 36's, and I don't recall any overwhelming differences between our Robinhood and a Cape Dory. Same hull, same teak, same layout, built by the same hands – with the same plans, but in Maine instead of Massachusetts.

Photos I snapped of Florian the day she was moved from the truck to the water

I’d be curious to hear from other CD owners about differences – especially if you’ve got a 36. Check out some of our pics here and let us know if your boat is very different from ours.

Sitting on the v-berth, looking aft

Florian on the first weekend in her slip

On the truck - just arrived from Maine (April 2012).
Getting acquainted with [petting] her hull.  :)