The saga continues...the grinding is done, finally!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2007

It’s been a long spell since I updated this blog. We went thru some frustrating times and I could not bring myself to keep on with “still grinding”. Seems like we ground on the hull forever. Some friends, Rob and Becky, finally gave us a huge gift and came and helped us. Rob came several times, which got us over the hump and got us to the point where Walt could finish the finish grinding. That was sometime late September. Then we hired Alison Mazon, a surveyor to tell us how to proceed with the blister repair. Alison measured moisture levels in the fiberglass and recommended a waiting period to let the hull continue drying out, then based on recommendations from industry peers, she said that two layers of fiberglass mat and epoxy, plus a minimum of 5 coats of an epoxy barrier coat, then 2 coats of good bottom paint. That should bring the bottom of the hull to blister free condition for a period of at least 10 years.

While waiting for the bottom to continue to dry out, we continued other repairs in process. The weather in late September and early October were unseasonably warm, so we decided to paint the topsides with Interlux Perfection a 2-part epoxy paint. We rolled and tipped the first coat, sanded, then after recommendations from another “boatyarder” just rolled the second coat, early in the day. It looked great, but the next morning it was cloudy. The evening’s dew affected the finish of the paint. Another coat yielded the same results. We decided to follow the example of the other “boatyarder” and purchased a very large tarp, 40’x60’ and with PVC greenhouse framing (supplied by friend, Rob) we tented the whole boat. Was wonderful! Light, roomy and best of all, kept the moisture off the hull. The last coat, just rolled (not tipped off) came out beautiful, with a sprayed like finish. Even the professionals from the yard said it looked great, no better praise could we ask for!

Then the first of the winter storms blew in. With 60 mph gusts, our pvc frame splintered, fractured and collapsed. What to do? Build another frame, this time out of wood. After several days, we were back working on the boat in our light and roomy tent. We then decided since we were here until probably Spring, we might as well tackle some of the projects we planned to do after we were out of the yard such as installing the new Lewmar hatches we purchased on ebay; replace the stem head fitting for the anchor system and install a new Maxwell windlass, and remove and replace the back stay chainplate; install the 2 new stainless tanks for the water and sewage systems.

So….here we are, still in the boatyard, still working on the boat, with dreams of sailing soon….. But first, let’s all celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Wow, where has a month gone?

It's hard to believe that a month as passed. We are still grinding, however, we are making progress. The gelcoat is all off, and we are working on the first layer of fiberglass mat. We have taken a couple of weeks off from grinding. Walt had a bout with kidney stones that were dealt with, and then we had to deal with frustration and depression of the continuous grind. We have found that Marty can only grind about two and one-half hours per day, and Walt about 4 hours, and then we are totally spent. We go back to the motor home, eat, shower and nap, and if we can drag ourselves back to the boat yard we work on other projects.

The progress shows on the other projects. Walt almost has the chain plates fully complete. All that is left is some small tabbing to the deck and sealing against leaks. Two new seacocks have been installed and are hooked up (in the steering well), and two existing seacocks have been resized and replaced and are hooked up. There are four more to be done, two in the head and two in the bilges, one for engine cooling and one for refrigeration intake. The topsides (area from the waterline up to the deck) have been sanded and are ready for paint, and the mast has been fully stripped and will be rewired, all the fittings put back on with new bedding compound to prevent corrosion, and all new standing rigging. Marty has been fortunate to make the acquaintence of one of the professionals in the boat yard and he has been a wealth of information and hints. The week she was working on the mast he was re-rigging a mast next to her, and was generous and patient to teach her what to look for. It was a good thing he was there, for we found some bolts that go thru the mast attaching the standing rigging that were wearing through. They were inside the mast out of sight and being worn by internal halyards. 30 years of wear!

He has also been generous with his expertise in advising us what to do about the blisters on the hull and the voids we found, and the water in the hull. After a lengthy discussion of solutions, he said it: "it's a 30 year old boat that hasn't sunk from these problems, just get it ready to go sailing." In other words, we are not building a piano, do what's necessary and go on!

Walt designed two new stainless tanks, one for holding sewage, and one for fresh water that are being fabricated by the local marine welder in the boat yard. They will be complete in 3-4 weeks and will be installed in the forepeak. 28 gallons each of water and sewage.

What started out to be 6-8 weeks in the yard has grown. We now expect to be back in the water at the end of October. A total of four months, 16 weeks! Double what we expected. We probably won't be finished with all the projects, but it should be operational and we can head back to our home port, Hood River.

Grinding Continues

Brigadoon skirted to contain grindings Refinishing station
Chain Plates and forward berth dismantled.


We had a great visit last week with our Grandson Julian Root and our daughter Christy. Grandpa still got his work done, mostly, but Grandma had a great time visiting. We all went to the Portland Zoo and the OMSI (Oregon Musuem of Science and Industry). They had a spectacular exhibit called "BodyWorks". I highly recommend it to anyone interested in how the body looks under the skin. Absolutely Amazing!

It's August 6th and we've been in the boat yard over a month. Walt has all the gel coat ground off the hull. He skirted the hull with plastic to keep the grinding dust controlled and swept up. Now he has to decide whether to grind off the first layer of fiberglass cloth, or grind out each individual blister. The grinding is very hard physically as well as dirty and hot. To promote drying out the blisters we also have to wash the hull daily to remove the chemical residue that seeps out of the blisters.



Besides the hull work we are also making good progress on the other projects. Walt is designing new tanks for under the forward berth for fresh water and sewage holding. Once those are fabricated, he has to rebuild the forward bulkheads and platform for the berth. The inside of the hull has teak strips lining the hull, called ceiling strips. Those were removed and Marty is stripping off the varnish, bleaching and getting them ready to go home to have 3-4 coats of varnish applied.



Also in progess is the repair on the chainplates. The rigging that holds up the mast fastens to a fitting that goes thru the deck and is bolted inside. The areas where the chainplates were bolted had dry rot and have to be removed and refabricated with fiberglass reinforcement. As of now it is all apart, including the surrounding ceiling strips which are also being refinished.



Still to come: We removed the rudder and will replace the steeing cables, installation of the new tanks, installation of anchor windlass, re-rigging the mast with all new standing and running rigging. Once done this boat will be seaworthy and ready to go anywhere we decide to take her, whether it is down the coast to the Sea of Cortez, to the South Seas, or just stay in the Pacific Northwest.

Sanding and Grinding continues

It's July 18, 2007 and we have been making progress! Marty has the hull all scrape and sanded and Walt is in the process of grinding off the gelcoat. He is thinking that he will also have to grind the next layer off to get down to the bottom of the blisters, instead of grinding each individual blister, since there are literally thousands, too many to count!

The first picture is early 6:30 am in the boatyard. With the heat soaring to the high 80's up to 102 degrees, we start early, quit around 1pm, then return after 6pm till dark. You can see the grinding going well. We have also taken out all the thru-hull fittings getting ready to replace them with new valves. Today we had rain so could not grind, but worked on dismanteling the forepeak to install new holding and water tanks. Back to Dallas to see people, get more supplies and pick up our Grandson, Julian. Julian will help us all next week! (in between trips to the Zoo, OMSI, and swimming) Hi Julian!!

Pictures of -sv- Brigadoon

Brigadoon in the lift, readying to haul out with the mast and standing rigging already taken down and then in the traveling lift ready to go into the boatyard. Boat pox, a case of very bad blisters shows more work to be done than we had intended.

Chronicles of Sailing Vessel Brigadoon

-sv-Brigadoon is a 1978 Ericson 35 Mk II sailboat purchased in 1999 by Walt and Marty. We found her at Sailing Life, Portland, Oregon, during a February snowstorm. Walt was holding out for a trailerable sailboat and a big old Buick convertible to tow with. Marty, remembering how it was to try to stand in 4'9" headroom was holding out for a bigger boat. We went aboard and the owner was polishing the teak cabin in Pledge. The warm cabin, the smell of Pledge, and the sea stories we shared were very strong pulls, after discussing a purchase over clam chowder in the local seafood house, we made our offer which was accepted. After 9 years, we wonder if we did the right thing. There were 4 pages of problems listed by the survey, but we got her at a good price and with stars in our eyes we went ahead anyway. In the last 5 years, we have torn the boat apart and put in all new marine wiring, additional fuel tank, water tanks, refinished the interior, new cushions, all new canvas covers, new sailing instruments and modifications to the livability of the cabin. The diesel layed down a black layer of smoke, and to Walt who spent his career rebuilding engines, this was unacceptable. So out came the diesel engine for a rebuilt. That was in October 2002. It just went back in June 2007. Just in time to get us down river from our home port, Hood River, Oregon to the boat yard at Tomahawk Bay Boat Yard for exterior repairs. To include all new standing and running rigging, bottom paint, all new thru hull fittings, new waste holding tank and system. The first order of business was the haul out which went successfully. After the hull was pressure washed we were stunned to see how many blisters covered the 35 foot hull. Remember the kid in your high school class with the worst case of acne? Well, that's how our hull looks. What started out as a simple scrape the old bottom paint off and apply new, changed into a major project (which extends our time in the yard by months....and several thousand dollars. If we were to have it done by a yard instead of doing it ourselves, Walt says it would run $10,000. What we have to do is scrape all the old bottom paint off, sand any bottom paint remainders off the hull, grind off the gel coat layer and maybe the first layer of fiberglass cloth, grind out each individual blister, let the whole hull dry for a month (or more), washing off the chemicals as they come to the surface during the drying period, once dry applying many coats of an epoxy barrier, then several coats of bottom paint. See why it would run $10,000?I expect to be a very strong old lady once we are finished!As of July 14, 2007 we have the bottom paint scraped off, about 1/3 of the hull sanded, and while Marty is sanding, Walt is grinding. After about 2 hours of grinding, Walt's trusty old Craftsman grinder gives up, so off to buy a new one! Grinding resumes tomorrow.