Sailing Withdrawl

I stopped by the boat today briefly over lunch to check on progress at Pierside Boatyard in North Charleston. Last week we put a moisture meter on the hull and found it to be quite wet. The hull was peeled in 1995 to mitigate a blister issue with the resins used in the 1980's for boat construction. The layer of resin and fiberglass that was laid down to replace the gelcoat that was stripped has absorbed some water.

The yard finished media blasting the hull last week removing all the old bottom paint and most of the old barrier coat so the hull could dry and the blisters we found could be repaired. The recent dry spell has helped a lot in the drying process.

While the boat is out of the water three are three major projects going on, first is all the work to repair the blister damage and protect the hull with a new barrier coat. The second is to repair some damage on the tip of the rudder, both of these issues were identified during the survey so aren't a surprise. The third item is a some play in the propeller strut - hull joint, this is a new discovery but not a huge issue to correct, hopefully.

We are still on track to get the boat back in the water about mid-March to be ready for Charleston Race week and the CORA offshore series.

I'll be updating the blog as we get closer to launch, if you are interested in crewing let me know. I will also accept volunteers to come down and sand on the bottom to get it as smooth as possible before we put her back in the water.

Play time is over :(

Today we pulled Dimi II out of the water for her face-lift at Pierside Boatyard in North Charleston. 

We brought her over to the boatyard Friday afternoon, under tow from Sea Tow. After sailing part of the way up the Cooper River the wind died, the current turned against us we were unable to get the engine started from fuel contamination. We changed out a fuel filter but killed the battery trying to purge the fuel lines.

Before hauling her we unloaded two van loads and a pickup truck full of gear - so much for room in the garage. 

The boatyard crew carefully moved the boat into position and deposited her safely ashore.

The work-list keeps growing. Initially we were planning on blister repair and bottom paint but we also found some damage to the bottom of the rudder, a loose propeller strut and completely disintegrated zincs.

While the yard takes on those projects I'll be rewiring the AC electrical; installing a new AC panel and galvanic isolator.





For the most part the bottom looked to be in pretty good shape, the rudder really showed the worst fouling, as you can see from the before and after pictures

 After pressure washing the bottom, there were only a few barnacles but the anti-fouling paint was definitely wearing thin.

Happy New Year!

The best way I can think of to usher in the new year is spending time with good friends on the boat. We were joined by my coworker David Hanson and members of the Gurr, Anthes and Yecke families. The weather this afternoon with light winds and temperatures in the 60's resulted in a very leisurely sail out past Fort Sumter and then back to the Marina.

The dolphins were out to play which added a special touch to a really great afternoon on the water.

This will likely be our last sail for a while, Dimi II is being hauled for some MUCH needed bottom work. A while back someone in the Little Creek Marina mentioned they could hear the clicking of the barnacles on the bottom of their boat. I didn't believe it until last week when I was cleaning up the bilge and could hear continuous clicking sounds coming through the hull.