A little "Together Time" (The saga of a CP19)

[Salty19]

What a fine looking yacht you have there, mac! 
And it's not even 100% yet.

Together Time is coming along nicely indeed.

[Greene]

Geez Mac, we're feeling pretty bad up here in Wisconsin. You've just about completely renovated your 19 and we haven't so much as washed Wrinkles yet.  Nice work!  We are anxious for CLR 2013 so we can see her.

Mike and Brenda

[Saluki86]

Mac,

Your boat looks fantastic.  Truly an inspiration.  Makes me feel a little guilty that mine hasn't been treated as lovingly.  Maybe next year.

Saluki

[MacGyver]

Thanks everyone!
I just applied the last coat of bottom paint (Fiberglass BottomKote NT Blue) over the 2000. still have to paint the slings yet, but she is coming along well.
Pulled the tape and snapped a few pictures before I left the shop.
First one is Ginger posing in front of the boat, she was really happy to see it lifted and that I sanded it. She actually came out and watched me sand it........ must have been to be sure I was going to actually work on it, not just sit and stare (I was really really really wore out.....)

Here is how it looks with the bottom paint.





Tomorrow I am going to work in my home shop to cut some pieces to bump the motor mount out some, and try to catch up on the woodwork. "Together Time" wont come back home till Tuesday at 3pm. That should be ample time for cure in this type of weather.
When the shop doors were open, customers were asking "Who has that new boat?" and "Why is that new boat in the sling in the shop?"

Pretty cool feeling to show it off on work time........ lots of compliments.
Cant wait for you all to see it at CLR, especially since most of you follow the progress. Once this is done, hopefully I can follow through with the video editing! Lots of stuff to go through!

Thanks again for the compliments! I sincerely appreciate it!
Mac

[ssullivan]

looks good! planing to re-paint next year, hope it comes out half that good.

[kickingbug1]

    well jason i see that youre just about done with my boat. let me know when i can pick her up. shes a beauty

[MacGyver]

  SSullivan, I should have vids up on how to paint like that sometime in the coming months.... After all this work I am taking a break for a bit, LOL

Steve, wait till you see the name......... we just designed that tonight as well, and boy Ginger did a fantastic job!

UPDATE:
FINALLY got the woodwork on..... man.... what a job. None of it is new woodwork, but it is old stuff, redone to work out decently.

The old is in rough shape (to me....) and I have new wood to rework most of it. we are using the old for time reasons.... it would just take me too long to make new stuff to my liking. So that is going to wait to Winter.
The planned launch was Thursday the 20th. but that isnt going to happen. So now the day will be Sunday the 23rd in the morning. My wife sings in a band that day at 1pm till about 5 pm. So we plan to sail the "Together Time" after that.

While typing this, I am listening to "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, one of the songs she performs with such awesomness. So to setup and launch the boat, then go drink and listen to music, and then go sail should be a fantastic launch day.

Back to the project: The wood was installed with butyl, as a matter of fact, I have only used the Lifecaulk on the port holes, to seal around the actual port hole. The bolts for them are butyl.
The new wiring thru deck connector is a 4 prong. Just for expandability that will happen in the future. To get me by on some of my wiring I am using some wire I had around, as this project also will wait to be corrected in the Winter, this boat screams to be sailed, and frankly I am ready to indulge.

The last job to be done is the names, and the reg numbers. And the motor mount, which will be installed tomorrow. I plan to reinstall the mount with (2) 1.5 inch spacer blocks made of UV stabilized and solid Rudder plastic that measure up to 2 inches wide by 10 inches long.
The backer plate inside is 1/4 inch aluminum, and there will be 8 bolts holding all of this together. SOLID to say the least.

I have no pictures...... I hung my boat that I am building literally directly above my head in the shop.... the boats stern rail has about 3 inches clearance to this boat going in.... so pictures come out badly.
In the next day or 2 I will haul it out and snap some more with all the completed work. She needs a bath.........

Thanks for following the progress! I will be posting how to do's at some point.

Mac

[MacGyver]

Today Ginger and I had the daunting task of installing the motor mount, which went fairly well, I only had to crawl in and out 3 times.
The sheaves I ordered to replace the ones on the deck organizer werent the right shaft diameter, close but no cigar....
After that we leak tested the boat to a wonderful ending, NO LEAKS
So it became beer thirty with the neighbors for a successful day.

She is washed and back in the shop for the night.

Mac

[MacGyver]

The plan was to launch her today..... but that didnt happen due to rain prolonging getting some jobs done.

So today we installed the bimini, and had to shorten it 3 times in trial and error. It still doesnt quite clear the boom, but I am one inch away from having it where the factory (bimini maker factory) installed one of the bows.

They said I could cut her down 6 inches..... we cut off 8. I am really surprised it doesnt clear....  It actually hits the cente 2 feet of the bimini.......... OH WELL.

Like the Admiral Ginger says: "It is what it is" a page out of my book. Besides she was probably tired of seeing me and my grandpa sweating it out and the main flopping about as we dry sailed the boat in the driveway in order to check for clearance.........
I also finished the trim inside, amongst other items. She is quite finished.... but close enough that we will put her in early tomorrow morning.

Today brought more bad (but has a brightside) crap that happened.......
The last few days have been rough. Ginger backed into someone at a eatery, but luckily, no damage, no problems..... I drilled into my hand...... but luckily it is healing great and no trip to ER or DR....... I had a buyer for my moped, who then backed out at the last minute during the test drive (which took away from working on the boat mind you) because the foster kid is probably now going to lose his job because he is really lazy....... I am so glad I held onto it for a month to sell to them at a really good deal...... (Good side is im not taking a loss.......)
TODAY: I drilled a hole for the cabin light.... first hole, no issues.... 2nd, no sweat. THIRD..... day light.
the cabin isnt square in my boat..... now I know..... and even though it was right next to the original holes........ I still drilled through. Lucky side (as this is a trend this week) It was  a 1/16th size... so I filled it and used white lifecaulk to match it to the paint for now....
Boy was I mad........ what a week.

Needless to say, I look forward to putting it in tomorrow.... It better go well, or I am going to lose my freaking mind.


Mac
Mac

[Shawn]

Mac,

On the bimini/boom clearance... can you raise your boom up? On Serenity I have to keep the boom just below the opening in the sail track to clear the bimini. If I have it down lower I don't have enough clearance. I use a sail stop below the boom to keep it in place when the mainsail isn't raised.

Shawn

[MacGyver]

Shawn,

I actually raised the main as high as I could, then tightened the downhaul (attached to the boom, then tighten down to the cleat on the mast) to tighten my luff.
Then swung the boom back and forth with the mainsheet attached.

Would a looser luff be alright? We kinda thought maybe in low winds it would be good to sail with bimini up, but as they progressed, to then have bimini down to better facilitate seeing the main and headsail since we are noobs yet.

It does seem that my boom gooseneck would be closer to the slot..... I did start with it right at the bottom before tightening the downhaul... but it tightened a lot...... also the back of the sail is holding the boom up, because my topping lift was slackened.

let me know what you think

Mac

[Shawn]

Mac,

"Would a looser luff be alright?"

It isn't optimal but it is doable. If you want to avoid that have a cunningham cringle sewn into your mainsail. You can then raise the boom and tension the luff with the cunningham. Sailing with the bimini up is a little trickier in not being able to see the headsail as well but on hot days the shade makes a huge difference.

Shawn

[Billy]

Mac,
Here is how my bimini works with the boom.

When not under sail the boom does sit on the bimini....barely.  But with the mainsheet tight the boom does not rub back and forth on the top. also I shortened my topping lift to raise the boom off the bimini.
And then when I raise the sail, I loosen the topping lift and the curve of the sail keeps the boom up off the canvas.



so with the sail down it does touch the canvas, but doesn't rub. And then I just shorten the topping lift.

Sail up, the curve of the sail lifts it off the bimini.

Shawn, Not sure about a 23 but on my 19 the angle of the mainsheet does not allow the bimini to go too far back. When at the helm I have no trouble seeing the main sail. However, I am not in the shade.



but I do have a tiller extension for those really hot summer days we have here in FL.

Mac,
How is your halyard attached to the sail?
A eye splice? a bowline?

What size shackle do you have attached to the headboard of your mainsail?

Going w/ a smaller shackle or tighter knot could also free you up an inch or two.

On my boat it is close but when under sail it doesn't touch. adjust that topping lift and that should help. Maybe have two settings......long for when you are under sail and short for when you are motoring and while at anchor or at the dock. Some people like a pig tail on the back stay but personally I don't like not having the boom connected to something.....I'm too forgetful.

Boat looks great by the way.

[Shawn]

"adjust that topping lift and that should help. Maybe have two settings......long for when you are under sail and short for when you are motoring and while at anchor or at the dock."

Instead of having the clip on your topping lift put a fairlead V cleat on the back of your boom. Run the topping lift through that and put a stopper knot in it. That will let you adjust the topping lift as needed very quickly and easily.



Shawn

[MacGyver]

Thanks you Billy and Shawn.
To answer a few questions: I do have my main sail attached to the main halyard with a bolen, (sp) that is tightened to be as tight as I can get it onto the headboard. No shackle so I have less banging things on the mast.

On the topping lift I do only have one position, and that idea to add a second, or make it adjustable is something more I will look into later.
The bimini isnt on the boat yet, so once I install it totally I will fly the main and see what happens.

We launched the boat Monday, went fairly well, having my friend across the street help me. I was really hoping to get the names on it in time....... but they werent done. Just something I will have to do in the slip.
The rig is now tuned as of today and we went out! Boy, was I overwhelmed.... I guess not being out in several months had me back to being a bigtime noob.
The gusts came and boy I would gasp......Boat would barely heel...... But as we went along I did well, getting better and more at ease. So we kept moving along, watching a oday 26 in the distance get hit by the gusts and lay over quite a bit...... Here we sailed on just the main, headsail ready to deploy if we so desired....

We never did use the Jib. But we did sail out past the dam, (short trip for those that dont know Carlyle) and back, then went into a small cove and sailed down wind for a bit drawing attention from the campers. Then we turned and tacked back and forth till we headed back out into the lake, back to the turnaround spot from before.
All in all we spent about 2 hours under sail. By the end I was really regaining my trust in the boat, and the confidence I was building on last year after my adventures with Rich.

Today was also the day to run the new SailPro 6hp back to the marina, for a small run, it was running no more than the recommended for the break in procedure. She scooted us along at a good speed and slightly over idle...... amazing little engine.
Started out of the box on the first pull. The only issue I have is that it is kinda shakey....... I cant come up with another word to describe it.....
It does vibrate a bit worse than my old 2 stroke, but for the ease of use, the fact that it is in the water a nice amount, and that it also tilts to almost horizontal completely out weight the negative.

Another BIG gain is that RUDDER.... WOW, WHOA. AMAZING.
I see everyone post of the changes, and frankly I couldnt imagine it. But now, after seeing the boat power through at a low speed into the wind for a tack, I know it is that rudder. The boat also feels tighter surprisingly enough...... I mean really, tighter steering. and no connections were changed or messed with.... Just the foil added.

Also, with the way I added the foam, and such, it hasnt tilted up on me (but I am only in the beginning stages of testing....) and the lift at the end of the day..... well, she with a slight nudge will float slowly up on her own.

With the spacing off of the hull on my motor mount, during testing on land, neither the rudder or prop make contact.

Another change I made was to add a inline block at the end of the boom for the mainsheet. Instead of the standard Ronstan side by side one, the inline Lewmar was way better, the mainsheet doesnt tangle up like it did last year.

The lifelines are Amsteel, 5/16 I beleive, and I used a simpler method of splicing, that I hope to show soon (still having photobucket issues) and look amazing as well, they actually look like they are the right lifeline for the boat to be honest.
I have also been working on a mod for the lifeline cushions. maybe I can get those back on  soon.....

Well, with that, I will stop going on. I just had to share, as to my surprise the different things really made the boat that much nicer overall.

Next few days I will be working on my mainsail cover, and Together Time will sit happily in her slip, showing off her fanciful new job as the only ComPac in the harbor..... atleast until CLR, when her family comes in for a visit!

Mac (Pictures as soon as my app allows it!)