LOG OF PEGASUS - enter at your own risk!

[MKBLK]

.Log of the "Pegasus"

Forward: Following is the "log" of "Pegasus". She's a 1981 Com-Pac 16. Since I just started this log, some early dates are fudged (just a little). More details (if you're really interested!) have already been posted. See MKBLK.

7/2/2011 - Exciting day today, having closed the "deal" on a Com-Pac 16, traveled to Groton, CT to pick up "Pegasus" with my traveling buddette (and niece), Katelyn. First stopped at my Volvo mechanic (and sailing friend) Dario in Trenton, NJ to install the trailer wiring. Naturally, I had bought the wrong set and Dario "just happened" to have a proper set "lying around". That done, the trip was quite pleasant and we arrived in Groton right on time.

The previous owner, Brian, a Coast Guard instructor, met us and the transaction was completed. We hooked the CP16 to the Volvo, bid goodbye, and drove home (about 200 miles). The trip was uneventful (a good thing!) although I did schedule 3 stops to check the tires and bearings on the trailer. Was able to skip the 3rd check since traffic was moving all of 3 mph through the Bronx. No hot bearings here! Besides, Brian had recently replaced the bearings along with one of the rubber support rollers.

It was a fairly long ride home at 55 mph (except through the Bronx!) and we didn't arrive back until about 11:30 pm. Poor Katelyn! She was wiped out (she's only 14) and didn't even get to go sailing. She lives in WVA, so she won't get to experience "Pegasus" until next Spring. However, she will get a nice remembrance from her uncle comes Christmas.

7/7/2011 - Took inventory of "Pegasus'" standing rigging and decided to raise the mast while parked at home. Here is where my lack of sailing experience really showed: I kept "chickening out" while raising the mast, thinking that it would keep going and nail my Volvo wagon. Tried 3 times and finally garnered enough courage to hook the forestay. See, that wasn't so hard was it? (you had to be there). Can't wait to get her in the water!

7/10/2011 - Spent the next couple of days gathering necessary safety equipment like pfd's, flares, lines, etc. The CP16 appears to be in pretty good condition for 30 years. The only thing that needed replacement was the gooseneck casting which I ordered from Dwyer for $20.00 and arrived the very next day.

7/15/2011 - Finally got to get her wet! Took her out on the Delaware near Pennsbury Manor at the new Falls Twp. boat ramp after work with son, David. Was hardly any wind, but that was probably a good thing for the first time out. Just went out and back.

8/6/2011 - Went out for the second time with David. Headed north on the Delaware from Penn Manor Park. Nice little cruise. Wind at about 5-8 mph from the S.

8/13/2011 - Third trip on the Delaware from Penn Manor with David and his gf Rachel. Met up with his friend, Dennis on his Jet-ski along with his son Liam. Virtually no air, but the Minn Kota worked just fine.

9/3/2011 - Great day on Barnegat Bay! Pretty good wind at 15 - 18 mph out of the SW. Had experienced help on board in the person(s) of Dario and John. Really thrilling day. Can't wait to do it again! Tried out both jibs. The genoa seemed a little big for all the wind, so on the second trip out from Cedar Creek used the standard jib. Glad we did. The wind had picked up and other boats were getting beat up. The CP16 took it all in stride. It was super! After returning to "Up the CreeK" marina, we observed a boat coming in that had been dismasted.

9/10/2011 - Second time out on the bay. This time with my friend Bob. Also met Bob23 who was nice enough to come up to Bayville to introduce himself to me and Pegasus. Bob23 pretty much convinced me to stick to "Pegasus" as the boat's name (obviously). Wind was pretty good, but out of the NE. Tacked 'til I was blue in the face. Never did make it out into the bay, but had fun anyway. Next time!

9/20/2011 - Finally received the registration and title from PA. Now I have to get registration numbers/letters. Found them at Walmart for $9.00.

9/27/2011 - Bought a nice blue 2" accent strip for "Pegasus'" hull. Plan to install it immediately under the rubber rub rail. Should make the boat look a little sharper than the plain white hull.

10/3/2011 - Ordered gold "Pegasus" decals online from "Lettering on the Cheap". Plan on installing toward the stern on each side. Heard a rumor that the sun will shine tomorrow! If so, maybe I'll clean "Pegasus" and apply the accent strip.

10/23/2011 - Trailered "Pegasus" over to Mercer Lake at Mercer County Park just north of Trenton, NJ. Crew consisted of No. 1 daughter, Wendy (my first sailing buddette) and grandkids Gavin and Gianna (see "Sailing Mercer Lake in a CP16..."). Weather was very pleasant with clear skies and temps in the 60's. Lots of fun!

11/6/2011 - "Pegasus" her first trip up to Lake Nockamixon in Upper Bucks County, PA with No. 1 son, Michael (see "Sailing Nockamixon in November!?"). Although a bit chilly, the sun shone hard (until it started to set!) and we were pretty comfortable.

11/13/2011 - Did it again! The weather gods have been nice. This time I had a most enjoyable sail with jt & j who drove in 2 hours, from Wilkesbarre!

11/23/2011 - Procrastinated a little too much, so dates are somewhat irrevelant. I built a PVC crutch to support the mast and rigging, did apply the accent strip and it looks great! Also, a week or so later, applied the lettering and it also looks great. She's really starting to come together to be MY boat! Recent jobs were the replacement/repair of two of the trailer rollers (see my post "Magic-Tilt Trailer Mods"). It looks like the third one is going to be addressed this weekend. Jobs to be done by spring (I hope) are: install teak grabs on the cabin deck, paint bottom maroon, make new crutches to support the mast when parked and trailering (the ones I made from PVC work well, but I want to provide additional headroom for my 6'2" height.

Well, this has been plenty for openers - more is coming... if you can stand it!

Marty K.

[Bob23]

Thanks, Marty:
   I hoped to start a log so complete as yours but, due to my doctorate in procrastinology, I never did. Each year I start a sailing log for that year but eventually forget to make an entry and another entry and so it goes. Same for my journal.
   Keep yours going! I'll read it and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Bob23

[Spartan]

Marty -
Thanks for posting, it is enjoyable to follow along and to compare notes

Tom

[MKBLK]

Guys,

Thanks for the kind remarks... it's nice to know there's some interest. I try to read as many postings on CPYOA as I can, but it can be a challenge. Check out the ongoing saga of Bob23's Koinonia   in the CP23 forum. We can learn a lot from all the other guys and gals out there, plus it can be quite enjoyable. Looking at many of the photos, my keyboard is at risk of being drooled on. I am trying to stick to the ships log format because it will give me some idea of when and where. After a while, a lot of memories get kind of mushy! Enjoy.

Marty K.

[MKBLK]

The continuing adventures of the ComPac Yacht "Pegasus"...

Being very good at procrastination, I'm once again playing catch-up with "Pegasus'" adventures:

11/2/2011 - Well, Weatherbug says it's gonna be nice Sunday. So, I'm throwing my hat in and plan
to mini-trek up to Lake Nockamixon. Hopefully, the weather does hold and the colors ought to be
a riot. I'll be looking forward to meeting jt and any other CP Yacht owners that may show up.
Should arrive about 1100 to allow Sol some time to burn off frost and fog. Since it's time to
"fall back", it will get darker an hour later. That should allow about 3 - 4 hours of sail time.
Will dress appropriately!

11/8/2011 - Dragged Pegasus up to Nockamixon on Sunday with No.1 son, Michael. Temp was in the
low 60's with no clouds and plenty of sunshine! Got to the lake around 1200 and enjoyed a
pleasant cruise for the next couple of hours. Most of the time had a SW breeze of about 5 mph.

Had lunch on board and viewed the herons enjoying the beautiful day, as well. Unfortunately, we
missed the leaves turning; that happened a week or two ago up there. As the sun started to drop
(along with the temperature!) we headed back to the ramp only to have the wind evaporate about
half a mile out. "Fired" up the trusty Minn Kota and motor-boated back to the ramp. By this
time, the sun was below the horizon. Mike got the car/trailer and we pulled Pegasus out. We were
the last sailboat out, probably for the season as none were in their slips anymore. Over 600
sailboats - vanished!

5/12/2012 - Pegasus is off to Bayville today for her first sail on the Bay this season. I'll be
listening on channel 9/16 if anybody else is out there. Should be really nice, 78 degrees with 5 -
10 out of the SW. I'll fit the genoa for this one. Looking to hit the ramp around 13 or 1400.

Took a shakedown cruise on the Delaware Thursday afternoon. Gusts to 25 and a strong upriver
current - fun! Didn't use the jib, didn't need to. Tried out the "new" Minn Kota 36 pounder -
worked very well. Plan on testing a friends Honda 2.2 on the Bay this afternoon.

5/13/2012 - ADAGIO, ADAGIO, ADAGIO. This is PEGASUS. Do you copy? Hey, I tried. My first
opportunity to try out the new VHF and nobody answered! Anyhoo, I didn't trade for a 122 (hmm, a
'72 1800? Nah!). But, I did meet up with friend Alex in Bayville. We ventured out into a
beautifully crafted day. Light winds were fine, made good use of the Jenny after an hour
experimenting with the Honda 2.2. Pretty sweet iron wind for sure (except it's aluminum wind -
weighs a hefty 29 pounds!).

Drive home was uneventful, until I crossed the Delaware into Morrisville, PA. Bridge Street is
somewhat of a mess and my little 8" wheels took a beating - to the extent that the axle broke!
After driving 114 miles, it quit about 1 mile from home! Nice cops from Morrisville and Falls
assisted me, but Pegasus wasn't going anywhere without wheels. Long story, short: Ordered in a
flatbed and had it dropped in front of my home. Finally got to bed about 2 am.
Checking the axle in the morning showed only a little crack - all the way through! It was
thoroughly rusted so I can't blame it all on Morrisville. Besides, I was damn lucky that it
failed when it did. I could have been on I-195 cruisin' at 60. Not pretty.

As you know, the Magic Tilt trailer is all galvanized steel, but evidently the axle isn't. I
noticed that replacement axles are galvanized - duh. I'll check with Magic Tilt tomorrow about a
replacement axle and also contact Northern Tool & Equipment about an entire suspension
replacement. They offer axle, springs and hubs for about two hundred bucks. Seems reasonable.
Just want to make sure its an exact fit.

Look forward to the Barnegat Bay Bash 2012.

6/8/2012 - Completed the electrical work for auxillary power. A group 27 deep cycle battery is
now located in a Minn Kota Power Center just forward of the compression post. Cables run astern
to a plywood mounting platform, sitting on the scupper tubes, that holds the bilge pump and a
pair of + - studs for the electric motor. Also, installed an emergency battery cut-off switch...

just in case!

[MKBLK]

6/23/2012 - Second trip to Mercer Lake in Mercer County Park, NJ. The day broke absolutely gorgeous! The sun shone brightly and the clouds were big cotton balls across the sky. The temp was in the 70 - 80's with a nice 5 - 10 mph breeze. Picked up #1 son Michael and his two kids, Madison 7 and Morgan 5 for my grandchildren's first boat ride... ever!

Madison - "OMG, the boat is rocking. We're going down!" Really!
Morgan - "This is really cool, how fast can it go?"

Obviously, Morgan is the adventurous one. We sailed out on the lake, dodging a practicing scull and enjoyed a cruise of about an hour with Morgan dropping a line and trying to catch a fish and Madison holding on for dear life! We saw fish jumping out of the water and egrets catching them!

After the thrill for Morgan and the terror? for Madison, both girls declared that they had a great time and would do it again (I think the promise of ice cream helped!).

Mercer Lake is a great place to introduce little ones to the joys of sailing. The facilities are wonderful. They have plenty of parking, an excellent ramp, food and pedal boat concessions, etc. Also, a very nice playground, hiking trails, picnic areas and on, and on. And it's free!

One caveat: Overall mast height is limited to 22' above the water line due to high tension lines crossing the lake. Lucky for me, Pegasus is a CP16 with 21' to top of mast.

The lake is home to the Princeton National Rowing Association and the site is also the training venue for the US Rowing Teams as they prepare to compete in the 2012 Olympic games.

http://www.nj.gov/counties/mercer/commissions/park/boat_marina.html

[Pacman]

One caveat: Overall mast height is limited to 22' above the water line due to high tension lines crossing the lake. Lucky for me, Pegasus is a CP16 with 21' to top of mast.

1 foot is pretty small safety factor.  A swell or a good rain could put you even closer to the danger.

You might consider intentionally heeling over to reduce overall mast height while passing under the overhead lines.

With the rail in the water you could increase your safety factor by 2 or 3 feet.

[MKBLK]

Pacman - You're correct about a slim safety factor if the difference was only one foot, however, the Powers that Be took that into consideration, there is way more clearance. Going under the wires, I'd say there's plenty of additional space, not to worry. The lake does vary in depth (it is used for flood control) so after a very heavy rain or several days of rain, the authorities can and will close the lake to sailboats if necessary.

Of course, if I did get too close, I could charge my "Flux Capacitor"! ; )

Marty K.

[MKBLK]

Continuing...

07/09/2012 After sailing on Mercer Lake, the temperature soared in the NE. Not as bad as out West, but too hot to sail in a CP16 without a bimini. So made use of the time on the hard by working on Pegasus. Last summer I constructed a grid for the cockpit deck with the idea of being able to raise it to seat level in order to accomodate an air mattress. Finished it yesterday and it works great. If the no-seeums don't attack, you'll know where I'll be camping out!

In preparation for BBB-2012, finished an "egg-crate" storage bin forward of the compression post to hold the Minn Kota Power Center and other "stuff". The compression post itself has come in handy by providing a place to attach the fire extinguisher. Rigged up some 12vdc outlets to power a fan, my cell-phone (Pandora!) and VHF radio. Now I'm trying to eliminate un-needed junk and carry only what I consider neccessities - like the fan!

Still need to install a proper electrical system. Although my CP16 didn't come equipped from Hutchins with one, a previous owner did install a four circuit panel. When I got the boat, it was just hanging by its wires. The panel has no place (like a bulkhead) to secure it. I plan on fabricating a bulkhead so I can install it properly.

[Spartan]

Nice update, I was off all last week and just way to hot even in Western PA to hit the lake. 
I run a trolling motor and have been putting the battery in the lazerette, thinking about running wires up front with plugs though.
Would love to see some pictures of the mattress platform.

Cheers
Spartan

[mandolinut]

I have also considered installing a grid in the cockpit that can be used for an occasional air matress platform. Interested in how you support the grid to keep it at seat level. Thanks.
Patrick

[MKBLK]

OK guys, I promise to make an effort to learn how to post photos. I'm certainly not a craftsman, but I do have ideas on "adding value" and convenience to the boat and am willing to share. But, be warned, I'm an expert procrastinator!

In the meantime:

I made the deck grid with nominal 2 1/2 x 3/4 "recycled" pine (they were formerly mattress slats from IKEA!). I laid out a grid and screwed and glued it together. Then filled in the spaces with little filler pieces that I glued in place. Polyurethaned the whole thing. Took a heck of a lot of brass screws, though! It looks and works great. My wife was really impressed with my new-found talent!

Note: The "grid" is not super tight. If it were, the dang thing would weigh a ton. The top surface is laid out on 4 lateral boards thus providing plenty of drainage! Overall thickness is about 1 1/2".

I then made 3 lateral supports with 3 more pieces of slatting cut to the width of the the cockpit and attached galvanized angles (wrapped in duct tape). The angles are in the shape of a "Z". Simply drop the lateral supports onto the cockpit seat and the deck grid on top of that. Voila! The deck is now flush with the cockpit seats. I might add one more lateral support (for esthetics?)... just to be sure, but it seems to be very strong as is.

IF you need pics now, email me...

Marty K.

[MKBLK]

7/14/2012 - A nice day for a cruise! Back to Mercer Lake. This time with David (son) and Ava (future grand-daughter?) who is 6. First time on a boat of any kind for Ava. She was a bit intimidated by the rocking, but warmed up to it eventually. Not much of a breeze when we launched, so didn't bother with canvas. Just used the Minn Kota at 1/2 power. Good opportunity to evaluate range on the battery. No problem, simply motored along pleasantly listening to Colbie Calait on Pandora.

Having overcome most of her fear of the boats movement decided she'd like to ride the bow like on "Titanic"! David and Ava enjoyed themselves forward while I just aimed for the far end of the lake.

I can't overstate how pleasant sailing on Mercer Lake is. The facilities are really great and the price is right - free! It is ideal for taking little ones out. If you have a CP16 or smaller, you can sail all day and have a wonderful time or the kids can play in the playground or even take them out canoeing, rowing or pedal boating (for a fee, of course).

Count down to BBB-2012 - 13 days!

Marty K.

[jthatcher]

sounds like you had a great day - nothing like sharing the boating experience with someone for the first time..   i take it that Ava got pretty comfortable if she got to the point of moving to the bow!   good for her..    jt

[MKBLK]

08/26/2012 - Last Sunday, the 26th of August, was a really great day. Family and friends all
gathered together to celebrate my big "Seven Oh" at Lake Mercer in Mercer County Park. The
weather was absolutely perfect! Plenty of sunshine, temps in the 80's, 5-10 mph winds.
"Captain" Marty was worn out taking all the grandkids and everybody out for rides! Exhausting,
but loads of fun. Pegasus performed just fine, even with lots of pedal-boat, canoe and kayak
traffic. Didn't run anybody over! It was wonderful to finally get back on the water; the
previous several weeks had brought nothing but hot, hot, and more hot.

One minor problem did show up: The port scupper broke loose from the cockpit allowing water to
enter when the boat was fully loaded (4 adults). Since I wasn't immediately aware of it, I took
on about 5 gallons. Bilge pump handled the water behind the stern bulkhead. Had to bail the
cabin when I got home. Actually, I think most of the water got in on Saturday when I power-washed Pegasus!
Inserting the scupper plugs and a bit of Duck tape has temporarily solved the problem. Plenty of sunshine
last week dried her out. Must reseal the scupper pipe before BBB-2012 in 2 weeks.

All in all - a truly memorable weekend, and birthday!

Marty K.