The continuing adventures of Koinonia

[Bob23]

JT:
   I'm afraid I'm all out of insightful comments but I'll do my best to improvise! We will definitely plan an overnight next spring and/or summer. Maybe a bunch of us can converge for breakfast at Shut  Up! A fitting place for us Compac-ers plus we could make it world famous with just a few photos here at the site!
   I kinda miss my old Wherry but it wasn't that great a rower...more of a looker than anything else.
   Koinonia gets moved to her winter home at my father in laws house in Surf City this weekend. Then the winter cover ritual begins followed by the winter to-do list followed by my usually high level of procrastination followed by spring launch after I get hardy anything done on the list!
   Primary on this years list is the straightening of the mast. Somehow, I aquired a gentle bend in the mast- she points forward! I don't remember hitting any bridges sailing backwards so I'm thinking either it was like that when I bought her or I induced it while using the mast for a ridgepole for the winter cover, which is a fairly heavy canvas cover. Either way, I'll get it straightened out.
   Yup, Mike- 7 knots. I was pleasurably terrified. It was a great final sail and to do it with my son was icing on the cake.
   No year round sailing up here in NJ but I am looking forward to our trip to Florida in either January or February to visit our daughter. I hope to meet up with a few of the southern lattitude Compac-ers here at the site and maybe, just maybe if I behave myself-they'll invite me out for a sail!
bob23
 

[Bob23]

   Koinonia is safely tucked away for the winter. I put her canvas cover and associated framework  on her yesterday while listening to some favorite radio programs- "Ain't Misbehaven" and Car Talk". Ain't can be heard on WYRS. org or if your'e in earshot of Southern Ocean County, NJ try 90.7 FM on Saturday at 0800 EST. It's  a mix of bluegrass, folk, singer-songwriter stuff but you might find a surprise thrown in! As they say, 2 hours of good clean fun and a solid education. Car Talk needs no intro.
   I had the Fisher Canvas cover cut in half with matching grommets installed. The cover will last a lifetime but each fall it seemed to get heavier...couldn't be me getting weaker, could it? Nah, I didn't think so. Now its a bit more managable. I've tried tarps, even the heavy duty ones....don't like em and they only last at most 2 years. Considering that I really don't like needlessly loading up the landfills, I went for the canvas. Plus I like the smell- lightly tarred canvas smells great. They should make a cologne!
   On the list for this winter: Remove all below waterline through-hulls. Teak general maintenance and remove and strip the teak bow pulpit...it's ready for a total strip-down. I may reconfigure the stove installation. On the starboard side a built a chart table which is about 40" long- just slides under the cockpit seat when not used but when it slides out, there is a lot of table space. I may do the same thing of the port side for the stove. It was easy and cheap- I have most of the wood lying around.
   For now, it's just planning and getting ready for Christmas. HOLY SMOKES!!! IT'S IN 3 WEEKS!!!
Bob23

[Bob23]

MAST STRAIGHTENING SYSTEM:
  Long time readers and those with good memories may remember that for some reason unbeknownst to me, my mast has a gentle bow toward the bow. Or is that a bow to the bow? Anyway, it's not straight and I've no reason why. So, as part of this winters to-do list, I've dared to go where no man has gone before: The Straightening of the Mast.
  Using approved parts and methods, the system looks like this:

  The mast is layed with the bow up across 2 approved sawhorses and is held in place with 4, count 'em, 4 Compac Mast Stabilizer Blocks:

  Then, a Compac approved cement block made from the exact same concrete as in the keel of the boat (or maybe not) is tied using some spare line, thus completing the first stage of the straighening operation:

  Now, all we do is wait and check it in a month. See you in  30 days!
Bob23

[Billy]

Bob, love the com-PAC issued stabilizer blocks! Be careful, a month is a long time, don't want to bend it too far.

I would be glad to have you as company on my 19 when you come to Florida in a few months. And can we see any pics of your chart table?

[Bob23]

Billy:
   A month is a long time. I just checked the mast after only a week and saw a difference. I've just taken some interior photos of the yacht so I'll post 'em here in a bit.
   After I'm done with the Mast Stabilizer Blocks, I'll donate them to the International Museum of Compac Things.
Bob23

[Bob23]

Fellow 23ers:
   Here are a few shots of some changes I've made to Koinonia over the years, at her request of course:
   I removed the sink and built a slide out chart table. Here it is in:

   Here it's pulled almost all the way out:

   Here's another shot with the Chief Navigator looking over the chart:

   The table is about 42" long, if I remember correctly with a white formica top. It will slide out enough to eat on or as a book stand for reading while sitting on the starboard berth with my back against the bulkhead. It was made with hardwood that I had lying around. My goal with all these improvements is to spend no or very little money but without compromising the project.
   Why is it that we sailors are like that? Talk about coupon-clipping housewives, we are the most frugal bunch on the planet.
Bob23

[skip1930]

Should be able to pull that 'bow' out of the mast with just the standing rigging next season from the front hatch when laying on the vee birth looking skyward.

A really bad 'bow' like when the semi driver plows the end of the mast into a building need a big tree with a sturdy 'sling~shot' vee for a trunk and two hefty men.

skip.

[Bob23]

I tried tensioning the bow out of the mast using the standing rigging but no-go. So I removed the mast and am straightening it out as above. So far, it's working. The mast is straighter than before but still has a bit o'bow.
bob23

[Bob23]

More interior shots of Koinonia improvements:
   The storage area under the foredeck where the anchor lines go has a lift off panel just like yours:

   I built this simple wood divider that gives me 2 separate areas for 2 different sets of lines. It's removable and replaceable without tools. Kinda hard to see what it is in this shot:

   In the foreground of this shot is 200' of 5/8" line. Behind, where the chain is, 100' of 1/2" line is stored.

   More coming soon...bob23

[Bob23]

I never liked the lift-off panels for the storage areas below the shelves on the side of the boat so I made these sliding panels using some translucent fiberglass left over from a job. The frames are made of Cumaru (Brazilian Teak) which also was left over wood from a house I built. There are 2 panels per side and they bypass each other. All in all, the project worked out well and the only expense was the ss screws and bolts needed to fasten the frames.
Open:

Closed:

Bob23

[Bob23]

   When we last heard from the courageous Bob23, he was in the middle of bravely attempting to  straighten the mast on his intrepid Compac 23, Koinonia. Happy to report, the gentle bow that was in the mast is gone forever! Using hardly-ever-heard-of state of the art techniques, a few months time, and near endless patience, he has removed the bow that was present for likely the 7 years he has owned the boat.
  As a reminder, pictured below are secretly obtained photos of the process that were previously posted.


  Next on the list are addition of LED bulbs to the nav lights, maybe relocation of the battery and the endless, but rewarding varnishing of the teak. Also on the improv horizon is a positive ventilation for the bilge, improved vent on the foredeck, and a larger slide out frame for the original equipment Origo 2 burner stove. Great stove...heats enough water for my 3 cup French Press in 8 minutes. Fresh coffee is a main staple about Koinonia.
 Bob23
(Tentative launch date: 5/14/2012)

[Bob23]

Koinonia update:
  " Well, the well intentioned but lazy Capt Bob23 has spent another winter working too much and working on his 23, that'd be me, too little. Nonetheless, I know he'll get me in fine shape for a May launch. He has successfully straightened my mast, installed a custom pvc pad under the stainless steel mast foot. Pictures to follow if I can get him to shoot some. The pad will eliminate the possibility of water intrusion into the structural fiberglass deck that has plagued some sailors on this site."
   Aside from the ventilation project listed above, there are no plans for any major improvements this year. Hey, if it works, don't fix it, right? Of course, a new Raymarine depth sounder may be in order, LED bulbs will be installed in all nav lights, and a Davis Spar-fly wind gauge which was a gift from PeterG, will be installed on the mast head.
   The plan this year is to sail, sail, and then when I'm done- sail. Of course I must leave time to row. This year I'd like to row the length of Long Beach Island, NJ (18 miles) in the ocean. I hope I can make it. Any bets out there?
bob23

[Tim Gardner]

It'll be a Dark & Stormy night if you do.

TG

[Bob23]

Sounds like a bet to me. If I fail, I'll buy you a D&S. If I succeed, I'll be too tired to drink one.
b23

[jthatcher]

hi Bob,  i would be interested in hearing more about the led bulbs that you intend to install.   i would like to put some in as well.   i do not have an all around light at the top of my mast.. that is another addition that would make sense before stepping the mast this summer...  jt