Shop time: finishing touches for our Columbia 43

Making joints in the shop. On top is a dovetailed hatch frame, which is sitting on the medicine chest for the head. Next to them are the rails and stiles of the medicine chest door, which will be put together with mortice and tennon joints.

Lately I've been spending more of my boat-work time off the boat and in my garage shop. My goal is to finish the last bits of unfinished storage: a medicine chest for the head and six drawers for under our bunk.

These will be made primarily with dovetail joints. It's the best joint for the job, they look fantastic and, once I get going, I really like cutting them. There's nothing like getting it right and having the joint go together with a piston fit. Sometimes I get so excited that I call my neighbor Ray over as a witness. Once the joint is glued together the moment is gone for ever.

Ray is a great friend and a great woodworker. He spent most of the previous Saturday helping me resaw and plane what seemed like hundreds of board feet of mahogany and maple for the doors and drawers. That is just plain hard work. You can understand why master cabinetmakers assigned their apprentices that task.

Some of the mahogany and maple Ray helped me mill.

We ended up with a nice stickered pile of beautiful lumber in the thicknesses I needed and half a pickup load of wood shavings and cut offs.

This weekend, while I was in the dovetailing mood, I also cut the joints for a new hatch frame for Oceanus. The old one was an ill-fitting replacement made of cheap mahogany that had gone to rot. The new one is of teak and will fit perfectly.

I bought the teak several months ago and I've been working up the courage to make a hatch out of it. If I botch any part of it I'm out about $100 for the wood, not to mention my time driving to Portland to buy it and then making it. I'm much more fearless butchering the African mahogany I use on interior projects, which I can usually get locally for $4.50 a board foot. The teak costs $27 a board foot and I must drive two hours one way to get it. That's six times as expensive, if my feeble math skills are correct.

Oceanus has seven hatches. Two of them I built and four others I rebuilt. All the latter were rotten and leaked. The largest hatch in the forepeak seems to be in good order and is original to the boat. I may yet replace it, but it's low on the list of things to do.

New non-skid for the decks of our Columbia 43

Weeks of hard prep work finally pays off as Virginia applies the first coat of our non-skid.

Weeks of hard work on her knees last fall finally paid off when Virginia rolled on special non-skid paint on the deck of Oceanus last weekend. The decks look beautiful! To my eye they look even better than new.

When Oceanus came out of the Columbia Yachts yard in Costa Mesa back in 1971 she had robin-egg blue non-skid areas with off-white water channels surrounding them. I'm sure they looked groovy just a couple years after The Summer of Love. Over the years the decks were pierced with vents and deck gear that now are long gone. They were beat up and painted two or three times, first with grey then with white paint. By the time we purchased the boat the decks were an ugly mess.

Worse still, all that paint filled in the texture of the molded in non-skid pattern making it unsafe. For two or three days each week for several weeks last fall Virginia was on her knees stripping off the old paint with Citristrip and wire brushes and lots of elbow grease digging down to the original robin-egg blue, diamond-patterned non-skid. It was a lot of hard work: she came home beat. It was also a classic it-looks-worse-before-it-looks-better project. Way worse.

Oceanus's deck taped and ready for non-skid.

When she finished the stripping and sanding, she painted two coats of white Brightsides polyurethane paint in the water channels bordering the non-skid areas. Things started looking better. But just when she was ready for the big payoff -- painting the non-skid -- the Northwest rains descended. Since October there hasn't been the three days in a row of good weather she needed to apply the special non-skid paint. That changed a couple of weeks ago and things started looking better.

Before she started this project last year Virginia researched several non-skid paint options and finally decided to use a coating called Ecoprocote Eco-Tuff Flex Formula Fine Aggregate in the wheat color. It's a low-VOC, high-traffic, rubberized non-skid industrial floor coating that has ground-up recycled tennis balls to make it grippy. The makers, Eco Safety Products, describe it as "The highest quality 100% Acrylic emulsion and Urethane dispersion with advanced bio-based technology that offers outstanding abrasion, hot tire pick-up, chemical, water, and weather resistance for interior or exterior use. It is a breathable self sealing, uniquely hard yet resilient rubberized non-skid coating that waterproofs, protects, and provides a non-aggressive barefoot friendly texture." I think it was the barefoot-friendly texture that sold us.

Virginia applies the special primer for the Eco-Tuff non-skid coating.

The special primer for the Eco-Tuff looks like skimmed milk, goes on thin and drys tacky. Virginia had half a gallon left over when she finished coating all of the boat's non-skid areas. The non-skid coats must be applied within 48 hours of laying down the primer.

The cockpit get's its first coat of non-skid. The teak strips on the sole of the cockpit are taped off.

The final coats are about the consistency of thinned oatmeal and must be stirred well every time before filling the paint tray. The stirring part is important to get a consistent look to the surface. To apply it you need a special roller cover you can buy from the Ecoprocoat folks. (The coating is water soluble so cleaning the roller between coats is not hard. We bought three roller covers just in case.) This stuff goes on thick so it doesn't go very far. Two gallons of the final coating covered two coats on the non-skid areas of the deck and in the cockpit. We ordered a third gallon so we can apply a third coat as recommended for high-traffic areas.

After two coats of non-skid Virginia removes the tape.

We struggled with the color selection. We didn't want something too dark that would be hot in the tropics but we also wanted something that was easy on the eyes. The Wheat color turned out to be the right choice for us: not too dark and it looks good with the color of the canvas and bullworks. They didn't offer it in groovy robin-egg blue -- not that we would have picked that.

The best part about the new non-skid is way it feels. Your footing is secure both with bare feet and while wearing our Keens (the best shoes and sandals you can buy, in our opinion). In bare feet it feels soft and a little squishy, like the soft matts sometimes used in children's play areas or the running surface on a high-tech track. The Eco-Tuff folks also claim it has some insulative qualities, which won't hurt when the sun is beating down on Oceanus's huge deck.

Beautiful decks at last!

 

We couldn't be happier with how it looks and feels. Now we will wait to see how it holds up during actual use. Here's hoping Virginia's hard work pays off long term.

New frig/freezer looks like a winner

Our new Engel Fridge/Freezer and all my fancy blocking to get it securely hung by the corners.

Son-in-law Tony got a long list of wiring projects completed over the Memorial Day weekend and a couple of good starts on others. In between playing electrician's assistant, I checked off a couple projects of my own, the most exciting was installing our new Engel MB40V Fridge/Freezer.

Engel has been popular for years with truckers, RVers and boaters for their excellent line of 12-volt portable frig/freezers. Many blue-water cruisers count them as one of their top-10 favorite pieces of kit. The Totem crew among them. Finding a spot for a portable frig/freezer on a sailboat is a problem, but most crews figure something out.

A few months ago, while perusing Engel's web site, I noticed a new offering in their line: the MB40V, a 40-quart capacity, top loading model made to be permanently installed in cabinetry. This would fit perfectly in an otherwise underutilized space in Oceanus's galley. The inside measurements are 15-inches deep by 17 by 10.5, or about a 40-quart capacity.

West Marine carries several portable Engel frig/freezers in their catalog, but not the MB40v. I could have just ordered it from the Engel site, but where's the fun in that? So a couple of weeks ago, when we were in the Portland West Marine, store I ask a helpful associate if he could special order one for me. He checked the computer and said he could, so we told him to go for it.

I got a call from the Portland West Marine store about 10 days later saying it was in. Virginia picked it up on Friday while Tony and I worked on the boat.

I've got to hand it to West Marine, they made the whole transaction easy. I also paid no shipping, used a $15-off coupon I had and will get cash back for my purchase because I'm a Gold Card member.

I wish the installation was as easy. The tricky part was that the MB40V is designed to hang from four little tabs at the outside corners of the top. So I had to devise a system of corner braces and a partial bulkhead to suspend the unit under the countertop, which I, of course, had to remove. It also had to be mounted below the underside of the countertop by exactly the thickness of the insulated top. All this was complicated by having to hold the 45-pound unit in place with one hand, while measuring with the other.

I devised several complex methods of installing the unit in my head, but in the end I started at one corner, got it right, then fitted the next corner and finally made up the partial bulkhead with one corner block already attached, glued and screwed it in place. Finally, I glued and screwed the last corner block in with the unit in place. There is a hole in each corner for screws to hold it in place, but they are largely redundant in my installation: that baby ain't going nowhere.

Now I just need to cut out the section of countertop over the lid of the frige/freezer, install some hinges and a pull ring. That's one of this weekend's projects.

Before installing the frig/freezer, Tony temporarily hooked it up. It got cold almost instantly and was nearly silent. He was also impressed with how little amps it drew. It has three temperature settings: +5 degrees C, -10 degrees C and -15 degrees C. Pretty impressive. It will be the perfect complement to our Isotherm 4.6 cubic foot refrigerator.

Our trusty Isotherm refrigerator has been working like a champ for about a year.

Tony finalized some wiring in the head and installed three 12-volt sockets: one in the forepeak, one in the master stateroom and one in the saloon. They will be useful for 12-volt fans as well as charging electronics so as to bypass the inverter. A recent article I read said you lose about 40 percent of the juice from your battery converting it from 12-volt DC to 120-volt AC and then back to 12-volts, which is what most cell phones, laptops and tablets chargers use anyway.

Tony ran wires directly from the battery to the Air Head fan. Since it should run continuously, there's no need to run it to the panel and have it switched. We protected the little fan with an in-line fuse, which I can easily disconnect if I need to swap out the fan.

The new ship's bell finds a place on a repurposed BBQ bracket.

While Tony wired up the VHF, I installed the antenna in a temporary location on the bimini. At Englund Marine, I spotted an aluminum BBQ mounting bracket for one-inch tubing. The VHF antenna will eventually get mounted at the top of the mast. The bracket will stay put, however, because it is the perfect place to mount the ship's bell.

I looked long and hard for the ship's bell. I rang dozens of bells in Portland and Newport to find one that sounded good to me. I finally found one in a little brass shop in Depoe Bay. It was the last one of its kind in the shop, so the old guy who helped me unscrewed it from the wall. Besides the tone, I really like the wonderful shape and that it's chromed. I'm hoping the chrome will make it easier to keep shiny. The U.S. Coast Guard requires a bell on a vessel the size of Oceanus.

The VHF seems to be working fine, but the West Marine stereo wouldn't turn on, even though it was getting power. Virginia gave me this for Christmas, but I'm sure West Marine will replace it. Still, I was hoping to crank some tunes this weekend.

Cleaning our boat never felt so good

Order returns to Oceanus: Our boat is finally clean and orderly after completion of major projects.

Yesterday was a fun day for my wife and I. We gave the boat a through cleaning, installed some equipment and moved a few more things aboard. It feels much more like a home now.

Most the major construction and painting projects inside Oceanus, our Columbia 43, are finished... I think. When I made a statement to that effect, my wife said, "That's what I said about painting two gallons ago."

Maybe I'm kidding myself, but it sure feels like we've turned the corner. I'm so convinced that I brought our big shop vac home.

Virginia cleaned and put away, erasing the bad effects of several weeks of major projects.

Virginia glued a piece of hull blanket to cover the exposed fiberglass under the workbench in the forepeak.

She also installed a piece of hull blanket in the forepeak. She glued the hull blanket on some exposed fiberglass under the work bench opposite the forepeak bunk. It was nicely painted, but still the heavy weave of the fiberglass was not attractive. It also lacked insulation and was cold to the touch. Now it looks and feels great.

Moving aft, she made up our bunk for the first time in several weeks. With all the sawdust and paint fumes, we haven't been able to sleep aboard the boat for some time, something we have both missed.

The new rug was on a clearance sale. We cut it to fit around the mast. 

Virginia found a rug at Lowe's we both liked. It is a runner almost eight feet long. Virginia carefully patterned around the mast and I cut the rug to fit. We are very pleased with the results.

Nothing says home like a stack of towels. The brown ones are a new type of quick-dry towels we really like and that dry quick.

We brought a couple of boxes of towels and other household items to the boat. We need to get them out of the house to reduce clutter when we put it on the market this month. It felt good to see towels stacked in the locker where they will live.

Tub for two: Daughter-in-law Margene demonstrates the roomy soaking tub on Oceanus with newest grandchild Peter.

I worked some more on plumbing, installing the tub faucet. The faucet has a diverter valve for a shower.

In the main saloon I installed the stereo speakers and stereo. I also cut a hole in the bulkhead for our new VHF radio. Next week when our son-in-law, the electrician, visits we'll hook them up.

The marine stereo, speakers and Standard Horizon VHF radio are in place ready to be wired up next week. 

We came home tired but happy. Then we spent two hours cleaning out house. That was not nearly as fun as working on the boat.

A Columbia 43 with Sole

The teak plywood got three coats of polyurethane varnish on both sides and the edges.

The plywood sole on Oceanus was utilitarian and ugly. Jason, the previous owner, was planning to cover it with cork flooring, a good choice for him. But for me -- who, at 6' 4" just barely has standing headroom -- that was not an option. The quarter-inch thick cork flooring would leave me only slouching headroom.

The paint in the rest of the boat has a nice sheen and very small glass beads mixed in it for a secure footing.

So, in the saloon's raised section, we replaced the old fir plywood with teak plywood. This is the nicest plywood I've ever worked with.  It's beautiful, strong and has no voids. And it is priced accordingly. Luckily. we needed only one sheet.

Because it was so expensive, I nearly drove myself crazy double checking my measurements before each cut. It took a long time, but when I was finished, the fit was nearly perfect.

In the rest of the boat we use good old porch paint with some grit in it. We carefully picked the color at the paint store. But when we opened the can back at the boat it looked like we opened a can of pumpkin pie filling. We both got a nearly uncontrollable urge for pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin bars or chocolate milk?

Virginia went ahead and laid down the first coat, but the next day we took the paint back and had them tone it down a little. It's more like chocolate milk now.

Virginia stirred in small glass beads -- about half the size of table salt -- to the last coat of semi-gloss paint. In addition to providing better footing it also adds a nice texture. It feels good on bare feet too.

We are happy with the result. The floor has a nice sheen and will be easy to maintain.

With the floorboards up you can see the tops of the water tanks, two storage lockers and the V-drive. One of the old floorboards covers the bilge. The yellow pyramids, called painter points, are what I used to hold up the floorboards while the bottom is wet. 

I am not a big fan of polyurethane varnish, but I think it's the right choice for the teak section of the sole. It is very tough. If the varnished flooring in the saloon proves to be to slick when it gets wet, I will, mix some of the glass powder into a fourth coat of varnish.

I cut more access hatches in the sole so I can have access to every part of the hull.

News Update! Oceanus is featured in Three Sheets Northwest, an on-line boating magazine. Here's the article.

Oceanus Named an Honorary Columbia 50

Columbia 50, Hermie, homeport Rowayton, Connecticut, shows her racing style in 2010. In that year she won the NYYC Cygnet Cup with three firsts and two seconds as well as the "Lobster Run" from Stonington, Connecticut to Boothbay Harbor, Maine with a family crew.

I'm going to cast aside any false modesty and just tell you that Oceanus is an honorary Columbia 50. I was surprised, pleased and proud when Kevin Reilly made Oceanus part of the Columbia 50 Owners Group. I've written before about Kevin and his wonderful web site celebrating Columbia 50s.

There's a lot to like about Columbia 50s and Kevin should know -- he's owned two of them. Cruising World recently named the Columbia 50 one of the best production sailboats of all time. The boat certainly inspires a dedicated group of owners who lavish attention (and boat bucks) on the old girls. The boats Kevin features on his site are sailed often, well maintained and upgraded.

Little sister, Columbia 43.

Big sister, Columbia 50.

Columbia 43s and 50s are more alike than most sailors think. Besides the obvious -- same designer, flush deck and small gun-turret deck house -- they share many other features. Tripp designed several cabin layouts for the 50, the most popular of which is nearly identical to the 43 cabin arrangement. They both have balanced spade rudders and large fin keel. The beam and draft is about the same and there is only about a foot difference in the waterline length.

	Columbia 50	Columbia 43 Mark 1
LOA	50 feet	43.25 feet
LWL	33.25 feet	32 feet
Beam	12.03 feet	12.33 feet
Draft	6.52 feet	6.92 feet
Displacement	32,000 pounds	18,900 pounds
Ballast	14,600 pounds	9,500 pounds
Ballast to Displacement Ratio	45.63%	50.26%
Sail Area	979 square feet	806 square feet
Sail Area to Displacement Ratio	15.61	18.24
Displacement/Length	388.62	257.46
Number Built	62	153 (all three Marks)
PHRF Handicap	102	102
Designer	William Tripp, Jr.	William Tripp, Jr.

The biggest difference is not the length, but in how much these two sisters weigh. A 50 is half again as heavy as a 43. The 43, at the time it was built, was considered an ultra-light racer. Now she would be a heavyweight compared to today's ultra lights. In her day, however, she was a game changer and a very competitive boat.

Both boats have an impressive racing record.

Simoon shows her racing style in 1967.

The Columbia 50 hit the race scene about 1967. That year Simoon, won her class of 24 in the Transpac and come in second overall. She was also first in class in the Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race, which was the largest ocean sailboat race in the world.

In 1973, a Columbia 43, Encore, won the Transpac Class B. A few years earlier, another 43, Blue Norther, was first overall in the ocean racing class in the Newport-Ensenada race.

Both 50s and 43s are actively raced today. On his website, Kevin documents several great examples of Columbia 50s that are still actively raced as the fleet enters its 50th year.

Stumppy J, a Columbia 43 Mark III, heads for the finish line in the 2013 Transpac.

Columbia 43s are still competitive on the race course as well, exemplified by Stumppy J, a Columbia 43 Mark III, making a good showing in the 2013 Transpac. In the same race, the 83-year-old yacht Dorade, was the overall winner on corrected time. Older yachts being seriously campaigned in big-time ocean races is an exciting trend for classic sailboat lovers. The new Columbia Yacht Corporation is helping the trend by offering a completely refurbished Columbia 50 with a new boat warranty. Let's hope their next project will be a Columbia 43!

The pictures on Kevin's web site are serious eye candy, as the two I borrowed for this article attest. I spend a lot of time just looking at them. It's an honor for Oceanus to be among them. My ideal cruising buddy boat would be a friendly couple or family in a Columbia 50. Sitting in Oceanus's cockpit and gazing across a beautiful anchorage at a sleek Columbia 50... views don't get much better than that.

Oceanus gets new curtains

New curtains to cover the two large deadlights in Oceanus's saloon.

Virginia went back and forth about whether Oceanus needed curtains to cover the two large deadlights in the main saloon. Then she saw a video from our friends at Sailrite and we both liked the idea.

The library easy chair on top of a fiberglass deck step made a good sewing seat while the double bunk made for a roomy work surface. 

Virginia chose a sand-colored furniture fabric made by Sunbrella for the curtains. It goes well with the other fabrics on the boat and is what we used to cover the part of the mast that shows below deck.

While I worked on fitting a new teak sole in the main saloon, Virginia set up her small sewing machine on our bunk. The big Sailrite sewing machine weighs 78 pounds and would be overkill for this project. She used a dock step with our big deck chair on top. The combo worked well enough and in less than a day she sewed both pair of curtains.

We installed upper and lower rails above and below the deadlights. The lower rail keeps the bottom of the curtains in place so they don't swing back and forth with the movement of the boat.

Sunny days are rare on the Oregon coast, but not where we are headed.