Stripper pole safety with true-lover mats

Sailor's true lover mat weave provides secure footing on Oceanus's companionway steps.

The vast majority of injuries (more than 70 percent) aboard a sailboat are the result of falls. Most falls occur while going in or out of the companionway. *

This statistic became real for my friend Kevin, who owns Skylark, a beautiful Columbia 50 he moores on San Diego Bay. Last year his wife fell coming down the companionway ladder when they were anchored at Catalina Island. Her feet were wet from kayaking and she slipped on one of the three wide steps going down into the cabin and broke a rib.

Kevin's beautiful Columbia 50, Skylark, getting ready for a sail on San Diego Bay.

The accident cut the trip short and they made a speed run back to San Diego and the emergency room.

"It's easy to forget just how incredibly slippery things can get when they get wet," Kevin said, "Things getting wet on a boat is an everyday deal. Plus, I'm only getting older and don't heal as fast anymore."

Kevin's quick solution was to install self-adhesive rubber safety treads from Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com/self-adhesive-rubber-safety-step-tread-98856.html). It seems to be working.

"Elegant?  No.  Functional?  Yes," he said.

Skylark is so elegant that I didn't notice the rubber treads when I was aboard. I was about to follow Kevin's lead and make a trip to Harbor Freight for treads to cover our varnished steps, but my wife had another idea. She suggested that I make rope mats for the steps similar to the ones I made for our previous sailboat, Lobo, a Pearson Renegade.

The pattern for the rope mat is called the sailor's true lover mat weave. I saw it in my old copy of Hervey Garrett Smith's book, The Marlinspike Sailor. Even in Smith's day (before the advent of fiberglass boats and synthetic ropes) sailboat owners used rubber matting on ladder steps. He grants its efficiency, but says: "Neat rope mats, however, are not only just as efficient, but softer under foot, far more interesting, and bespeak a real welcome to the cabin below."

I got out my old copy of the book. I looked at the picture, but try as I might I could not get the knot started. Why I could weave a rope mat 30 years ago, but not now is... well... let's think about something more pleasant, shall we?

Rosella to the rescue

Our friend, Rosella from a few boats down, weaves rope mats. I know this because examples of her work are all over her boat. She's from Western Samoa and started weaving mats and other things when she was a child.

Rosella and Virginia weave rope mats for Oceanus' companionway steps.

She agreed to come to our boat and show us how it's done. She wove the first mat while Virginia knitted and watched. It took a few months to schedule another weaving session. When Rosella returned, she and Virginia wove the last two mats together. Rosella set up the pattern for both mats and then together they wove in the rest of the rope. This kind of activity encourages a lot of visiting and stories. It's the kind of activity that weaves communities together.

After Rosella left, Virginia and I tightened up the mats so they fit the steps. The edges of the mats come right to the edge of each step.

Rosella and Virginia talk story while weaving rope mats.

Once they were the size and shape we wanted I glued them down with white adhesive caulk. Each mat took an entire tube. It's a time consuming task too. You must make sure all the rope is glued down, especially around the edges. It takes time to mold and press the mats into the right shape and clean up the extra caulk that squeezes out as a result.

I installed the top mat three or four months ago. We are pleased with how well it's held up. It looks better with age. The 5/16ths nylon rope used to make the mats is tough and abrasion resistant. Best of all, it provides great traction and feels good when you step on it with bare feet.

Keeping them clean is less of a challenge than I anticipated. A quick vacuum usually does the trick. The steps are removable, so when they get really dirty I can take the steps on deck and give them a good scrub. If they really get ugly we could always paint them. I would hate to do that, however because we would lose some of the cushy feel.

Stripper pole love

The other part of safety around the companionway is having convenient and strong places to grab. A few months ago I installed a brass stripper pole near the companionway. Several visitors to the boat looked at me over their glasses when I point out this safety feature. "Every well-found yacht should have a stripper pole, right?" I said sheepishly.

A view of the weavers from the companionway shows the brass stripper pole.

Since everything aboard needs to serve at least two functions, I used the stripper pole as a leg to our new salon table. I lashed on an L-bracket on with net twine using a French hitch. Now, blessedly, it looks less like a stripper pole.

Two teak grab rails on either side of the companionway complete the safety upgrades.

Making Oceanus safe is a major goal during her refit. Projects to improve safely, like getting in and out of the cabin without falling, are a priority. I can't eliminate all possibilities of falls, but these are some obvious ways to mitigate the risk.

* For you ex-copy editors and researchers out there: I can't remember where I read this, but it stuck in my head. Anyone?

Tales and tips from our haulout

Oceanus after our six-and-a-half week haulout last fall. We are still recovering.

I'm still recovering from last year's haulout, but I think I can finally write about it without suffering a full attack of Post Traumatic Haulout Syndrome.

For the benefit of my brothers and sisters about to put their beloved boat on the hard, I have two stories about what went well and one tip I wish I knew before we splashed the boat.  I still can't talk about some parts of the haulout. Maybe someday after more (sailing) therapy.

Replacing the cutlass bearing

After the crew finished pressure washing our hull, I walked around it looking in wonder at the work that lay before us. It was apparent that something needed to be done about the cutlass bearing. I may have uttered an expletive. OK, I confess. I definitely remember uttering an expletive. Having never replaced a cutlass bearing, or even pulled the propeller shaft, I was intimidated and briefly considered hiring the yard to do it. I'm glad I didn't. (Story to follow.)

The thing that saved me was an excellent set of instructions on the Compass Marine web site. This corner of the web is must reading for DIY boat owners. I followed his directions exactly and had no problems.

After cutting and removing the old bearing I polished the inside of the strut using my Dremel tool and a red scrubbing attachment.

The new cutlass bearing.

The setup with the all-thread rod, three nuts and three washers.
I put some grease between the two washers on the business end.

Almost there...

...and we're done with no drama.

First you remove propeller shaft. Then you can try to tap out the old cutlass bearing. Just looking at my cutlass bearing I knew this wouldn't work so I went to the second option. Using a hacksaw, I cut most of the way through the old cutlass bearing and used a screwdriver and hammer to bend it in on itself. I could then easily tap it out.

As I cut out the old cutlass bearing, a yard employee stopped by to offer advice. The employee was always friendly and tried to be helpful. This occasion was no different.

"Once you get the old one out," he advised, "all you do is take the new cutlass bearing, grease it up good with liquid dish soap and bang it in with a big ol' hammer. Nothing to it."

Using liquid dish soap to lubricate the new cutlass bearing during installation is good advice. And I took it. Banging it in with a big hammer... not so good. The yard employee may have been able to pull this off, but I doubt it. Had I elected to hire the yard to install it we would have found out. He would have been the yard employee assigned to the task. The Compass Marine method is a sure thing and easier on the cutlass bearing, not to mention the propeller strut. It's not as exciting as the yard employee's method, but haulouts are never short of that kind of excitement.

Instead of a hammer, I used a two-foot length of one-inch all-thread rod. I had this left over from another project and it was perfect for this application. You put two nuts and a washer on one end to lock the nut on the rod, slide the rod through the hole in the strut, slide on the new cutlass bearing (well lubed with liquid dish soap) and thread on a third nut with a washer. Turn the third washer with a wrench. I needed the biggest wrench I had and used all the leverage I could to overcome the friction of the cutlass bearing sleeve sliding into the strut -- but no trauma, no drama. Easy.

Sealing the mast

I use "Capt. Ron's Never-Leak Super Spar Seal (TM)" to seal around my mast. You will not find this wonder product in your local chandlery or even the West Marine catalog or Fisheries Supply. But you will find it in your local hardware store in the plumbing section under it's more common name "Toilet Bowl Wax." It will set you back all of about a dollar. You will even have some wax left over for emergencies. I've been using it now for about two years and I'm sold on the product. And not just because I'm a cheap #*(&$^d.

Sealing a mast is never easier than with "Capt. Ron's Never-Leak Super Spar Seal (TM)." In this photo I tried some rescue tape around the mast collar to dress things up, but it didn't last and it wasn't necessary.

Here are the advantages: It's cheap, available anywhere people use toilets, easy - almost fun - to gob in with a putty knife, quick to install and de-install, and -- best of all -- it never leaks.

The only disadvantage I've found is that it's hard to get off the deck. Once, when I wasn't paying attention, I dragged the hose over it. Some got on the hose and then on the deck. Scrubbing with soap and water wouldn't touch it -- as you might expect, but it was easy to remove with mineral spirits.

When I hauled out it was quick and easy to dig out most of the wax in preparation for the crew to pull the spar. After I launched, the yard crew stepped the mast just as rain clouds gathered. I quickly tightened the stays and dove into the cabin for my "Capt. Ron's Never-Leak Super Spar Seal (TM)." In 10 minutes I had the mast hole watertight just as it started to pour. I can't think of another product that would work in that compressed timeline.

I have a friend here at the marina that used a fancy (read: expensive), two-part compound in a kit to seal the mast on his Ingrid 38. It worked OK until he decided to tune his rig. Then it leaked like nothing was there at all. Another friend used the same product and didn't wax well enough and the yard had a heck of a time when they tried to pull his mast, which increased the cost of pulling the mast and damaged his boat.

Some people I've told about toilet wax are concerned it will melt when it gets hot. In the Northwet this is NEVER a problem, but it might be when I go south, say in Mexico. The person who told me about "Capt. Ron's Never-Leak Super Spar Seal (TM)" cruised Mexico and the western Caribbean and had no problems with melting wax. We will see.

I keep a spare ring of toilet bowl wax around for emergency leak repairs and to remind me how grateful I am that do not to own a house anymore.

What I wish I knew

After we splashed our boat, an update to a blog I follow arrived in my email. The couple say they always ask to be the first boat launched in the morning. Then they ask the yard to put them in the travel lift slings at the end of the workday before launching. That way they can coat the bottom of their keel and have it dry over night.

Oh well, there's always a next time.

The Mystery Dinghy goes to rehab

After some extensive work, our Mystery Dinghy is ready for relaunching. 

When I bought our 8.5-foot fiberglass dinghy last summer off an ad on Craig's List, I knew she would need some work. Her teak inwales and outwales were in splinters, her thwarts were in need of repair and her bottom was covered with scars. I also wanted to reinforce her transom and install quarter knees since she was going to have a small outboard. And she just would never look right in my eyes without a breasthook.

Just how much work to do on the dinghy was a matter of philosophical debate with Virginia. Do we make it beautiful to match Oceanus? Or do we make her strong, but not fix her cosmetically so she's less appealing to would-be dinghy thieves? In the end beauty won out -- as it should.

Rowing the Mystery Dinghy for the first time was a real pleasure; she rows like a dream.

To begin with, the dinghy is inherently beautiful. We call it the Mystery Dinghy because we don't know the designer or builder. Whoever built the boat really had a good eye: the beautiful sheer, near perfect proportions, and nicely spiled lapstrake planking, are all evidence of good design well executed. She also rows like a dream. It's tough to get all that right in such a small package, as evidenced by the many ugly dinghies I see that don't row worth a damn. Not giving her a good finish and fixing her cosmetic problems would not do her justice.

The Mystery Dinghy is now papered with a HIN and registration number and sticker.

Another thing we had to fix was her documentation: there wasn't any. The guy I bought the dinghy from had no title and didn't know the builder or any previous owners beyond who he got it from.

There was no builder's plate and no Hull Identification Number (HIN), although the boat was clearly professionally built. Since it didn't have a HIN, it was built most likely before 1972 when the Coast Guard started requiring the numbers. That mean's she is about the same age as Oceanus, built in 1971.

I applied for a new HIN, title and registration from the Oregon State Marine Board and got the Sheriff's Marine Deputy to inspect the dinghy. After a few months, the Marine Board sent us a new title, registration and HIN. Because she is under 12 feet and is used as a tender to a documented vessel, we perhaps didn't need to pay the extra for full registration. But because we will have an outboard I wanted to be on the safe side. Now that we were legal, we could start the restoration.

I removed the thwarts and old inwales and outwales, and cut holes cut for inspection ports. The pattern for the quarter knees is in the upper left of the photo.

The biggest project was to remove and replace the teak inwales and outwales on the sheer strake. The old ones were originally riveted an glued and screwed into place. Taking them off was a chore. The tool of the hour was my trusty grinder with a metal-cutting blade.

I used the old pieces as a rough pattern to make the new outwales. The new inwales were different because of the addition of new quarter knees and a breast hook. I felt the dingy needed these for a couple of reasons: First, because she would have a small outboard, it would serve to better tie the transom to the rest of the boat and strengthen it. Second, they provide excellent places to grab when muscling a dinghy aboard a boat or up the beach. Third, they are beautiful and the dinghy's traditional look demanded it. I made the edges smooth and well rounded over so they feel good to your hands as you grab them.

I put nearly ever clamp I had to use when installing the inwales, outwales, quarter knees and breasthook.

Installing the new inwales, outwales, quarter knees and breasthook took nearly every clamp I had in the shop. All the clamps outweighed the dinghy, I'm sure. I cleaned the surfaces to be glued with acetone and coated them with epoxy mixed with cabosil filler and clamped them in place. Once they were where I wanted them, I drilled, countersunk and screwed them on for good measure. Later, after the epoxy kicked, I removed the clamps and Virginia plugged the holes with plugs made from cutoffs so they would match.

The new teak breasthook is nice to look at and a great handhold right where you need it.

The dinghy was now structurally sound. We could have quit there and had a perfectly serviceable dinghy. But we decided to go for beautiful.

Next, I mixed some epoxy filler and started filling the dings, old screw holes and other imperfections before we could paint. The bottom of the dinghy was especially challenging. Below the waterline it was covered with small pock marks in the gelcoat. My guess is that she was left in the water for a season and when someone scraped off the barnacles devits of  gelcoat came with them. She looked less like she suffered from acne and more like she survived a bad case of smallpox. Filling and sanding between the keel and the laps was the toughest part.

Virginia puts the first coat of black paint on the sheer strake.

Once all the filling and sanding and filling and sanding was complete, the dinghy got a final sand all over with 220-grit sandpaper. Then Virginia worked her magic with paint. During our recent trip to Minney's in Newport, Calif., we scored a quart of black and quart of white EasyPoxy one-part polyurethane paint for less than half price. Virginia painted the outside of the dinghy white with the exception of the sheer strake, which she painted black.

After she gave each color two coats, we turned the dinghy over to paint the inside. Virginia mixed a little of the black paint in with the remaining white to get a light grey for the inside. While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled some glass beads into the paint where we wanted non-skid and stippled it with a foam brush loaded with the grey paint. When it dried, the results looked and felt good.

Stippling paint on the non-skid parts of the dinghy's sole.

The dinghy's thwarts are made up of slats of teak attached to a frame and then screwed into the dinghy. They are light weight and surprisingly comfortable. I replaced a couple of broken slats, sanded and varnished the whole assembly while they were out of the boat.

A closeup of the quarter knee also shows the rejuvenated seat thwart.

Before we painted I applied several coats of my linseed oil and spar varnish mix to the new wood on the dinghy. I also carved the new HIN in the transom. Now that the dinghy was painted, I applied three coats of spar varnish. The wood glowed. I screwed in the rehabbed thwarts and she could have passed as new.

But we weren't finished yet. We attached the new registration numbers and sticker. Then we attached the new Dinghy Dogs. These are inflatable tubes that attach to the sides of the dinghy. They will add stability when getting in and out of the dinghy while diving or boarding from Oceanus. They should also help keep the boat upright when landing her through the surf. The best part is they don't drag in the water so the dinghy will still row well.

Dinghy Dogs attached.

Virginia and I got the Dinghy Dogs idea from Lin and Larry Pardey. They are similar to what they put on their fiberglass dinghy. With the addition, they say their dinghy could serve as a life raft in emergencies. This makes more sense to me than buying an expensive, single-purpose life raft that you must pay someone else to repack every few years. I've spent time in these kinds of life rafts when I took a Safety at Sea class. I don't like them. I would much rather be in a dinghy set up with additional flotation. I also don't like equipment that I can not, by law, maintain myself. The horror stories about this are legion.

We completed the work on the dinghy a couple of weeks ago, but other jobs and bad weather have kept us from relaunching her. We are eager to try out the Dinghy Dogs and the new outboard, but we want to do it when the weather is calm so we can get to know her. It looks like we may get our break soon.

A proper sailor's knife with some history

My rigging knife has served me well for more than a quarter century.

A friend asked me yesterday what I thought made a good rigging knife. The question took me back 25 years ago when I was working on the tall ship Lady Washington. I worked in the office pimping the project but I stole out to the shipyard often to talk to the shipwrights and riggers. Ostensibly, it was for information that I could use in the articles and news releases I wrote to promote the Washington State Centennial project, but really it was to learn as much as I could for my own selfish ends.

I was a hopeless fan boy when it came to the riggers. Those guys were just cool! And they carried a knife everywhere, all the time. This knife wasn't like the knives you saw in chandleries that catered to weekend sailors and yachties. This knife was made for serious work. It was almost always in their hands. I looked for one like theirs, but couldn't find anything close, so I had a friend make me one.

Ken Adamson also worked on the Lady Washington at the same time I did. We were friends for some years before. It was he who encouraged me to leave my job at the newspaper to work for the fledgling Grays Harbor Historical Seaport, which was building the Lady Washington.

That's me at the right, in a costume my wife sewed. Ken is the guy with grey hair and glasses in the back row second from the right.

Ken was an all around craftsman. A former high school industrial arts teacher, there weren't many crafts he wasn't familiar with, if not already an expert in. His woodworking skills were legendary in the shipyard. When there was a problem that needed solving Ken was the go-to guy. He also made pots, jewelry and knives in his home studio.

I told Ken of my fruitless quest to find a proper rigger's knife and asked if he would make me one. He watched the riggers closely too and knew just what was needed. I had complete faith in his skills as a craftsman and left the details of the knifemaking to him. Several weeks later he told me my knife was finished and I went to his studio to pick it up.

It was everything I wanted and more. The wood scales were of African kingwood and the handle fit my hand perfectly. The blade had a thick spine to take whacks from a mallet to drive it through rope. Ken ground down the blade to give it a little hollow and bring it to a sharp edge. He crafted, almost inconspicuously, a small eye in the back of the handle to take a lanyard. But perhaps the most elegant feature of the knife was its drop point. It looked just right.

Most "rigging knives" sold at chandleries had a sheep-foot point - maybe end is a better term because a sheep-foot point is not pointy at all. In the sailing ship days when a sailor would come aboard for a cruise he would hand over his knife to the bosun's mate. The bosun's mate would stab the point in the ship's rail, break it off and hand it back to the sailor. Fights in the fo'c's'le were less lethal with pointless knives.

Unfortunately, these disabled knives became associated with sailor's knives and the tradition created a whole crop of knives without a point. Having a point on a rigging knife is a handy thing, and not just when your shipmate gets a little feisty.

Ken made the blade of high-carbon steel. It holds an edge like nobody's business. I've never had a problem with rust on the blade; care and use keeps the rust away. Stainless knives are for late-night cooking shows; just like stainless boat anchors are for marina queens - not real voyaging boats.

Some of the other tools in my ditty bag. Note how deep the knife is in its sheath.

I made my own sheath for my knife out of harness leather with a turks' head knot at the top for reinforcement and to keep the opening's shape. The sheath is deep, so the knife is secure. Ken approved of the sheath and especially liked the turk's head.

When I'm on deck, or especially aloft, I attach a longer lanyard to the leather thong that's always on the knife. The lanyard hooks the knife to my belt and keeps me from losing it overboard or becoming a missile when dropped from aloft.

The knife Ken made me may not be the best rigging knife for everyone - maybe not for my friend who asked me about rigging knives, but for me it's perfect. Ken died a couple of years ago. I miss him. The knife he made me is still warm with the labor, skill and love he put into it. I think of him each time I use it.

Winches aboard Oceanus: Barient, Barlow, Wilkie and Winchmate

Some of the 12 winches aboard Oceanus from the largest to the smallest.

Columbia Yachts built Oceanus in 1971 as a racing boat and the winches show it. The big two-speed Barlow and Wilkie Number 30 primary winches and the Barient 22 two-speed secondary winches in the cockpit are impressive and expensive pieces of equipment. In all, there are a dozen winches on the boat: two 30s, two 24s, two 22s, four 16s, and two small reefing winches on the boom that I think are 12s. They are from a mix of makers: Barient made in the U.S.A., Wilkie made in New Zealand, and Barlow made in Australia.

None of these makers are in business anymore. Lewmar gobbled them up and shut their doors. That would be really bad for us old boat owners with all this glittering hardware if we couldn't get the little springs and pawls that need to be replaced from time to time. But bless their little black heart, Lewmar continues to make and sell those two items. Hutton-Arco Yacht Winches in Australia acquired the tooling from Barlow and sells other spare parts for these old winches as well.

The machined stainless steel drum on the Barient winches
 is still beautiful after 45 years.

I've been thinking a lot about winches over the last few weeks as I've serviced each one of them. For most of the winches it takes about an hour to take apart, clean and lubricate the parts, replace the springs and put them back together. For the big number 30s it takes closer to four hours, just because of the many parts and their size. It's a job I've grown to enjoy and something that gives me time to reflect on the yachting scene of the time Oceanus was made.

Back then Columbia Yachts was the largest manufacturer of sailboats in the world. They also made the largest production sailboat at the time, the Columbia 57. The 57 and the 43 were the company's flagship race boats. Both were designed by Bill Tripp, the hottest racing-yacht designer of the time. Both boats regularly won their classes in the premier ocean races of the day like the TransPac, Ensenada and Bermuda races. The company's advertising featured these wins, which helped Columbia sell all the boats in their line.

From 1969 to 1973 Columbia built the Tripp-designed 57 and 43 to win big ocean racers. 

But I digress, back to winches. Being the biggest builder of sailboats in the world meant Columbia had to buy a lot of winches to put on those boats. The winch manufacturers put out a fairly uniform product regardless of whether they were made in the U.S.A., New Zealand, Australia or England. The designs largely came from the America's Cup boats, which had to be built - even the hardware, like winches - in the country the represented. (Don't get me started on the current state of the America's Cup. Let's just say I yearn for the 12-meter days.)

The consequence was that these winches, regardless of the manufacturer or country are nearly identical. Some have drums machined from bronze and some models and manufacturers have machined stainless steel drums. But the parts themselves are pretty much interchangeable. They are all incredibly well made and built to last. There is not a speck of plastic anywhere inside or out. The stainless steel needle bearings gleam inside their bronze cages nearly a half century after they were made. The drums, spindles, pawls, gears and other parts are finely machined and a joy to look at and handle. These are finely-made machines that will easily last another 50 years with a little care.

My big Wilkie number 30 cleaned and ready for some grease. There are a lot of parts, but they go together easily.

I've worked on newer wiches with too few needle bearings set in plastic cages. They do not inspire the same feeling. That's why I enjoy servicing the wonderful old winches. I get a sense of the pride and craftsmanship the builders put in their work all those years ago. It makes me feel privileged to own such a fine thing. I want to take care of it. I also want them to work well and not fail when they are under a heavy load.

My guess is that the winches on Oceanus have not been serviced for a dozen years because that's how long it's been since she's been sailed. Lucky for me, the grease used by the last guy who serviced them held up. None of the parts are frozen or corroded. It also helps that everything is either marine bronze or stainless, which play pretty well with one another. Winches with aluminum drums and other parts may not have held up as well.

According to the manufacturer's instructions, winches should be serviced at least once a year. More often if they are raced hard or if they have aluminum parts. In fact, they recommend aluminum winches be serviced once a month! You can find original manuals and other helpful information here and here. I'm not an expert on servicing winches, but here are a few thoughts and observations that might be helpful.

Lubricants

Lewmar and Harken, two current winch makers, both put out nice tubes of winch grease. Both seem pretty expensive for what they are, but I like them. The greenish amber Lewmar grease seems a little heavier of the two and reminds me of the waterproof bicycle grease used on wheel bearings. The Harken grease is a translucent white and reminds me a lot of Vaseline. I like to use the heavier Lewmar grease on the gears, needle bearings and adjacent surfaces and the lighter Harken grease on the ends of the pawls and the surfaces they contact. It seems to me that you want to keep the heavier (and stickier) grease away from the pawls so they don't get gummed up.

I also use 3-In-1 Oil on the springs and pawl pivots so they move freely. Some people recommend using spray lubricants like WD-40, but I don't think they are heavy enough. The original directions recommend a 30-weight oil. I think 3-In-1 is a little lighter, but close enough. I like to use WD-40 when I'm cleaning the winch, in concert with a soup can filled with mineral spirits, but I don't think WD-40 is heavy enough for the long-term lubrication the pawls need.

I also use my trusty old can of waterproof lithium grease for all screw threads so things come apart easily the next time. Lithium grease wouldn't be a bad choice for lubing the entire winch. It certainly would be cheaper than the spendy little tubes of grease from Harkin and Lewmar, but I thought I'd go with winch-specific grease - at least until I get more confidence. Interestingly, the old Barlow instructions for servicing their winches recommend their grease (of course), which is no longer available, but in a pinch they say you can use Vaseline.

The grease I found inside Oceanus's winches looked like green axle grease. It is much heavier and stickier than should be inside a winch because it slows the action and can cause the prawls to stick and not work properly. But, the heavy grease did a great job preserving the innards of the winches. The bottom line is this: what you use to lubricate your winches is less important than keeping them lubricated.

Directions on servicing winches all caution against getting the stickier bearing grease on the pawls since it could cause them to stick in place. That is true and good advice. But the maker of one YouTube video I watched took this so much to heart that he was stingy with the grease he put on his aluminum winch parts. I think that's a mistake, especially on an aluminum winch. Every surface inside a winch should be covered with a light film of grease or oil.

Pawls and Springs

Pawls and the little springs associated with them are what keep winches rotating in only one direction. If they fail it could be bad. I can think of several scenarios where someone could be severely hurt if these little fellows failed. I bet you can too. So it was distressing when I serviced one of the spinnaker halyard winches (yes, Oceanus has two) and found only one of the four pawls was working. Yikes!

I found several pawl-spring assemblies in my other winches where one leg of the spring was broken or corroded off. These springs are small. It wouldn't take much corrosion or metal fatigue to cause them to break. They need to be replaced regularly. As I mentioned, Lewmar still sells springs and pawls to fit Barient, Barlow and Wilkie winches. I found them at West Marine. Keep a supply on the boat and change them when you lube your winches. Don't wait for them to break.

On my big two-speed number 30s the pawls have larger coil springs that fit into a dedicated hole. I suspect they will be good for the life of the winch if they are kept oiled.

Winchmate

Barlow 30 with the Winchmate self-tailing conversion installed. The Pepsi is for scale.

Speaking of the big 30s, the owner of the other Columbia 43 in my marina, Alcyone, retrofitted his 30s with Wichmate self-tailing conversion. I wanted some for Oceanus.

These are well-made self-tailing conversion kit for larger sized winches of the Barient-Barlow-Wilkie design. It fits numbers 27, 28, 30 and 32 right out of the box. The larger sized #33 through #36 winches can be retrofitted after modifying the drum, according to Winchmate.com.

At $550 or more per winch (depending on the model), these are not cheap, but they are still a good value. They are a high-quality product. Compare replacing a winch the size of a number 30 with a new self-tailing winch and you won't balk at the price. They are also a great value because of the personal service Dave, who makes the Winchmates, gives. Here's my story.

Stripper arm at 8 o'clock.

My number 30s are nearly identical even though one is a Barlow and the other is a Wilkie. When you get them apart, however, the Wilkie seems to have a higher polish on the machined parts. After cleaning and servicing them I fitted the Winchmate self-tailing device on the Barlow. It worked great. Then I tried to do the same on the Wilkie, but the drum wouldn't slide over the spindle extension. I called Dave and told him my story. After a few questions he agreed with me that the spindle extension needed to be turned down a bit in a metal lathe. He said he'd send me a new one. And he did. I got it in about a week and it fit and worked perfectly. The service was absolutely top notch.

If you get the Winchmate self-tailing conversion, place the striper arm at the 8 o'clock position while you are facing it and looking abeam. That way the stripper arm deposits the line in the cockpit and not over the side of the boat where you don't want it.

I'm no expert

If there's one thing I hate about the internet, it's folks passing themselves off as experts when they are not. Let me say this flat out: I'm not an expert on servicing winches. If I have something wrong, please tell me in the comments. I will fix it. I don't want to perpetuate bad information on the web; it seems to get repeated and eventually gains gospel status. Maybe in a year or two I'll review this post and update it as my experience dictates.

Driving for sails

Kevin and Virginia at the helm of Skylark on San Diego Bay.

Virginia and I had a great week driving for sails. We went from Newport, Ore., to Newport Beach, Calif., with side trips to San Diego and the Napa Valley Marina; around 1,800 miles total in our little Ford Ranger without air conditioning.

Ostensibly, we went to the legendary Minney's Yacht Surplus to get some used sails and other used equipment to finish outfitting our Columbia 43. But really we just wanted a road trip. My wife loves to drive and I like being a passenger so I can look around.

Kevin's beautiful Skylark, a Columbia 50.

The highlight of the trip, by far, was sailing with a virtual friend that became a real friend. Kevin and I started corresponding while he developed his web site dedicated to Columbia 50s. It is truly a labor of love engendered by his beautiful Columbia 50 Skylark, which he keeps on a mooring in San Diego Bay.

We met around 1 p.m., about the time the afternoon breeze starts up on San Diego Bay. Kevin and his friend Blair moved Skylark from her mooring to the dock before we arrived. Even sitting at the dock a Columbia 50 looks fast. Most sailors agree that the 50 was the most beautiful of all the boats produced by Columbia and one of the most beautiful production sailboats ever. Seeing her at the dock while Kevin and Blair prepped the boat for sailing really got my heart pumping.

We went down to the dock and Kevin put us to work taking off sail covers and reeving lines. Kevin's daughter, Lisa, joined us on the sail too. She was home from UC Berkeley on spring break and was a pure delight as well as an enthusiastic winch grinder.

Approaching the Coronado Bridge.

Kevin assigned me the first trick at the helm so I got to work the big sloop upwind under the Coronado Bridge and past downtown. Kevin and Blair kept up a discussion on sailing priorities. It ended with the decision that you could be stupid as long as you didn't make the boat and her crew look stupid. I'm proud to say that, while I wasn't a great helmsman, at least I didn't make the boat and crew look stupid.

The Star of India with the San Diego skyline in the background.

There was plenty to see on San Diego Bay. Beautiful boats and ships, from aircraft carriers and the square-rigged Star of India to other boats sailing on the bay, all held my attention. We even sailed past a Columbia 43 on her mooring. The San Diego skyline and waterfront was beautiful from the water with big buildings, a waterfront park with an enormous statue of a sailor kissing a nurse. Past downtown the buildings and commercial waterfront gave way to moored yachts and Navy vessels.

Virginia at the helm.

At the mouth of the bay we turned back. Kevin assigned Virginia the wheel and went below to make sandwiches with Lisa. Just then, pod of dolphins surfaced within a few feet of the boat. I was the first to spot them and, thinking the San Diego folks saw this all the time, I tried to be casual when I announced their appearance. Lisa was out of the cabin like a shot. "We never see dolphins in the bay!"  she said, "only sometimes in the ocean."

Lisa and Kevin making sandwiches down below in Skylark.

Virginia had the most challenging trick at the wheel sailing downwind. Sometimes the course dictated that she sail dead downwind with the sails wing-and-wing. Blair sometimes served as a human whisker pole until he got bored. We returned to Fiddler's Cove Marina when the sun was low on the horizon. Kevin is a great teacher and we learned a lot about sailing and docking the boat and the best way to fold sails at the dock.

Skylark is a beautiful boat and Kevin has her dialed in for sure. We plan on staying in San Diego Bay for about a month this fall. I'm eager to get to know Kevin, his family and bay better.

On the way back to our hotel, every comment Virginia and I made about the day ended with "wasn't that great!"

We spent the next day at Disneyland We were in line before 8 a.m. staying nearly to the midnight closing. Lest you think we have amazing endurance, I must admit we went back to our hotel for a two-hour mid-day nap.

Thursday was Minney's Yacht Surplus day. We found a very crispy 135-percent genoa and a like-new storm staysail. I couldn't resist the symmetrical spinnaker made for a Columbia 43. It was old, but in perfect shape. We were hoping to buy an asymmetrical cruising spinnaker, but they didn't have one the right size for our boat at the time. I also found a winch that fit the base of the missing winch on our mast. We combed the store and found a few other needed items. It would have been easy to go nuts; the store really has a lot of great stuff at good prices.

I surprised myself because I was anxious to the point of stomach upset over the transactions. (We had a couple sails and a winch to trade in addition to our purchases.) I needn't have worried, Mr. Minney and his three crew members were friendly, patient and helpful. We felt good about the whole experience, which took the better part of a day.

While at Minney's, we also picked up a mainsail and genoa for Harry James, who is restoring a Columbia 38 in the Napa Valley Marina. After a quick visit and overnight stay with a cousin in the Bay Area, we met Harry in the flesh after years of reading each other's postings about boat restoration.

Harry's boat, Sheer, on the hard at the Napa Valley Marina.

Harry has long been an admirer of the Columbia 38 and finally bought one three years ago with the intent of restoring it over one winter. As I said, that was three years ago. But the work Harry has accomplished is top notch and the boat, Sheer, is a beauty. You can read about his adventures here. His plan is to truck the boat to Port Townsend this summer, do the final commissioning there and then sail it home to Alaska.

After leaving Harry, we wound our way to Highway 101 through the Napa Valley wine country. We decided to take the long way home and see the redwoods stopping the night at Eureka. The next day we checked out marinas at Eureka, Crescent City and Brookings for future reference.

It was a great trip with a great traveling companion. The experience made us look forward with even more enthusiasm to when we will be traveling full time on our sailboat.

Contentment: best word to describe living aboard

A few weeks after we moved aboard we looked at each other and smiled. "What are you feeling right now?" I asked my wife. She thought for a minute and answered, "Content."

I think about that a lot over the last few months. While we have had some frustrations -- I'm thinking plumbing right now -- the overall feeling is contentment. Perhaps that's why I haven't been as regular at posting to this blog. It's not that there isn't a lot of exciting things to post about, there is. We are still busy getting the boat ready. The last few months have been a blur of buying and installing gear that will turn Oceanus into our own escape module to take us places we now only dream about.

Impulse, another Columbia 43, fitted with a Hydrovane.

We recently took delivery of our new Hydrovane, an auto-steering device that uses the wind to keep the boat on course so you can do other things. The Hydrovane is made in Nottingham, England. Yes, that Nottingham: Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest, Sheriff of, and so on. This prompted Virginia to name our newest crew member Maid Marian. Sadly, the Maid must remain in her boxes for a couple more weeks while we continue to work on more pressing matters, but it's exciting to have her onboard nonetheless.

One of Ocean's 11 winches clean and ready for lubricating. 

I continue to work on the wiring and plumbing. We now have running water, but hot running water is still in the works. Wiring and plumbing is frustrating, difficult work for me, so I intersperse it with fun stuff, like servicing the 12 winches aboard Oceanus, finishing up some woodworking projects or rehabbing our dinghy.

Tethys getting new inwale and outwale. I used more than 50 clamps on the new rails while the epoxy set.

Working on the dinghy is the most fun. We named her Tethys, who was the wife (and sister) of Oceanus in Greek mythology. I bought the little 8.5-foot dinghy last year. We are still trying to figure out who made her and when. I believe she is at least as old as old as Oceanus (1971) because she did not have a Hull Identification Number, which was required after 1972. I had her inspected by the marine deputy and recently received a new HIN and clean title from the Oregon State Marine Board. While her hull is sound, the wooden thwarts and gunnels were in bad shape. I was able to rehab most of the wood making up the thwarts, but the gunnels had to be replaced. Getting them off was a chore -- they were both riveted and screwed on. Once I got them off, the project became pure woodworking bliss.

New quarter knees clamped in place while the epoxy sets.

I reinforced the transom, added teak quarter knees and a breast hook to strengthen the boat, since we bought a little 2.5 hp Lehr outboard. For such a tradition-looking dinghy, not having quarter knees and a breasthook just didn't look right to my eye, so I would have made then anyway. They also make wonderful handholds for lifting the dinghy or pulling her up on the beach. When I epoxied the new gunnels on I ended up using more than 50 clamps. I think the clamps weighed more than the 90-pound dinghy. After the epoxy set I added screws, countersunk and plugged, of course. She's all done except the painting, which Virginia is itching to do.

Yesterday brought a pair of Dinghy Dogs in the mail. These are two large inflatable hot dogs that attach to the side of the dinghy to make her more stable. Since they don't drag in the water, the won't hurt the wonderful rowing qualities of the dinghy, but they will make it unsinkable and more stable for beach landings through the surf, scuba diving off the dinghy and getting in and out of her from the mother ship.

Turkey breast dinner with all the fixings cooked in the pressure cooker.

Just learning to live aboard is fun. Virginia continues to amaze me with her cooking using only an induction hot plate and microwave while I figure out the propane installation. Her new pressure cooker is the go-to cooking implement. We got a pressure cooker for our wedding 38 years ago, but we really only used it to cook mashed potatoes. Then she got this new one and it's amazing; no rattling, hissing, steaming, or any of the stuff we associated with the old pressure cooker. The new one has a little yellow button that pops up when it comes to pressure and it quietly cooks away with no noise or steam, which helps keep moisture out of the boat. Among other things, she cooks cheesecake, brownies, crème brûlée, amazing Hawaiian pork, some of the best pork chops I've ever tasted, a turkey breast, and the lingcod that our fishing friend Tom McAdams gives to us about once a week.

The shoppers

Yes we had sunshine on the Oregon coast!

Over Presidents' Day weekend we had our oldest granddaughter and our youngest daughter-in-law come stay with us on the boat for three nights. It was a good test of having guests aboard. It went really well and we all felt comfortable (even me). Not only did we have room for our two guests, but we easily stowed the wheelbarrow-full of shoes and clothes they bought with Virginia at the Woodburn Outlet Mall.

Having guests, especially of the female persuasion, meant I had to finally hang the teak door on the head. The door came from an old wooden boat that was parted out before it sank. It took a lot of stripping and sanding, but the door is now really beautiful. I paid $100 for it. I'm sure I would have had to spend at least that much to buy just the wood to make a door. Before anyone mourns the passing of a "beautiful old wooden boat" this one needed to die. It was rotten through and through. To top it of it was named Love Child. Ick! The bad news is every time I tell the story I can't get the song out of my head.