Capt'n Pauley's Virtual Boatyard -- Projects Galore!!!

Capt'n Pauley's Sketchbook - Cutting Thru-Hulls

Installing a Holding Tank Monitor

How well I remember the first (and only) day I overfilled the holding tank. The good news was that nobody was standing beside the boat when the noxious fluid came shooting out of the vent.   After cleaning and deodorizing the dock, I knew I had to prevent such an occurrence from ever happening again.  

Capt'n Pauley's Sketchbook - Installing Seacocks

Dual Bilge Pumps

This project came about because of a glaring item on the surveyor’s report: “Vessel has only one manual bilge pump installed, no backup pumps, manual or electric, are present”. Just to put some number with the problem, considerer this: Hollander and Mertes, in their book “The Yachtsman’s Emergency Handbook” quotes the following approximate flow rates:

• Three-finger sized hole near the waterline:            4762 gal./hr.
• Three-finger sized hole 3 feet below waterline:        7937 gal./hr.
  

That prompted some research into electric bilge pumps on my part.  

Columbia Memorabilia - Shieds and Patches

_{As I mentioned in a previous post, I've inherited the Columbia Yacht Owners Association archives. I'm in the process of scanning and digitizing all that information now.In the process, I've found a treasure trove of factory original metal Columbia shields, as mounted on the original boats, and a collection of cloth patches. These are all new and were saved when the Columbia factory in Chesapeake, Virginia closed down.
I'm selling them on my website, www.captnpauley.com, for those Columbia owners out there. once on the site, go to the "Ships Store" and follow the links. First-come, first-served...}

Capt'n Pauley

Winter Covers, Tarps and Frames

(How NOT to do it!)

Why use covers or tarps along with frames instead of shrink-wrapping? There are several different reasons. If you plan on keeping the boat indoors, for example, an inexpensive generic cover would be fine. If you are planning on keeping the boat for several years, the cost of a custom cover and decent frame can be amortized over those years and actually cost less than shrink-wrapping. You may be planning on working on the boat and need decent headroom and easy access to various parts of the deck. Finally, you may have an oddly configured boat that may make shrink-wrapping difficult and a precisely fitted cover more practical.

  Covers There is a pecking order in covers, ranging from the custom made and fitted cover at the top to the generic off-the-shelf cover at the bottom. These covers are also made for different purposes, it is important to pick the right one for the right job.   Manufacturers offer covers in a wide range of fabrics. A quick look at some webs sites offers the following material types:            

• 100% Cotton            
  
• Dupont Tyvek (R)            
  
• 100% polyester with acrylic coating            
  
• Olefin fabric with a waterproof coating  
  

The purpose of your cover will determine the type of material needed. Top of the line cover material is required for outdoor use in the winter. The material needs to be waterproof, to shed water obviously. It would also be nice if the surface texture was at least a little bit slippery to shed snow and ice. An average useful life of eight to ten years can be expected of a well-constructed custom cover built of the best fabric.    

The less expensive, materials are suitable for use when storing the boat under cover, such as in a garage or shed. Why do you need a cover when storing indoors? Think birds, or at least the surprises birds can leave behind. Better to leave those on the cover than inside your boat. A cover will also keep out other critters looking for a cozy home for the winter as well as keep the general dirt and dust out of the inside of the boat.  

Having decided where you’ll be storing your boat, you can consider the type of cover you’ll need. Again, custom covers are made for your exact model and type of boat. These covers are a little more expensive but can be cost effective if used for many years. They fit tightly and have robust tie down or fastener systems to prevent flapping and the resultant scuffing of your gelcoat.  

Check with an established cover maker or canvas provider as they may already have a pattern for your boat. I know one manufacturer, Fisher Canvas Products, Inc. of Burlington, NJ, has patterns dating back to the early 1960’s. Their covers are also exceptionally long-lived, some lasting as long as ten to fifteen years with proper care and repair.  

At the bottom of the cover food chain are the stock or generic covers sold by many boat stores. These are available in several grades of material. Most stores will have some sort of catalog or configuration sheet available, listing the different covers for different configurations of boats, i.e. vee-hull, cuddy cabin, bow riders, etc. Each configuration has several different length and beam configurations available.  

You pick the closest match to your boat and hope for the best. Most of these covers have a rope or elastic drawstring along the bottom edge. This helps snug down the cover on your boat but must be supplemented with additional straps or lines to tie the cover down.  

Any style cover must be properly supported to prevent water from pooling. Some options are extendable cover poles or flexible battens. The extendable poles fit into grommets or sockets in the cover to hold it up. The battens fit into special fittings either side of the boat and bow upwards to support the cover. 

You can also use inflatable tow tubes (used for tubing and towed behind your boat) or similar products to support the cover. In some cases a framework may be necessary. I’ll discuss this at the end of the article. The important thing is to eliminate the sags and the flapping of the cover. 

One additional thing to check for is an adequate number of vents, especially for the waterproof covers. Like a shrink-wrapped boat, ventilation is necessary to prevent condensation, mold and mildew during the winter storage season.  

Tarps For every boat with a neatly fitted cover, I probably see a dozen others using the old standby, a blue, silver, green, white or black tarp.These tarps come in a bewildering selection of sizes, colors, weights and prices. You used to be able to tell the quality of the tarp by the color. Blue being the lowest quality with silver or green being the best. Now days it is much harder as the color no longer signifies the quality. Probably the best gauge of quality now is the weight, the heavier the tarp the better the material. They are much less expensive than any type of cover.  

Whatever quality tarp you buy, it will need to be longer than the boat, at each end, to be able wrap it around the bow and stern and tuck it into place. All the tarps I’ve seen have regularly spaced grommets for tying the tarp down. You may well need to tie off at locations where there are no grommets. Most places selling tarps also have grommet or tarp tie-down fittings to add those extra tie-downs where needed.  

Tarps are much harder to properly tie down and are much more subject to flapping in the wind than other types of covers. Spend the extra time and the extra line to get your tarp or tarps tied down properly. Don’t expect the tie downs to remain tight all winter. Get out and check them regularly. If you don’t, you risk the cover shredding prematurely of the loose lines scuffing your gelcoat.  

By the way, NEVER TIE THE TARP OR COVER TO THE BOAT STANDS! The constant motion of the tarp and lines from the wind can actually work the boat stands loose, thereby ruining your whole boating experience, not to mention your neighbors. Be sure the boat stands are chained together, side-to-side, to keep them from walking out from under the boat.  

Frames There are many styles of frames built from many kinds of materials. The frames are used to support the cover or tarp. Frames are also to keep the cover from letting water pool and to allow access to the boat under the cover.  

At one time, almost all frames were made of wood. Some of these frames were works of woodworking art, intricately shaped and assembled with precision. These frames were knocked down and stored each spring for use in the next fall haul-out. Other wood frames were cobbled together from furring strips and common lumber and were often discarded at the end of a season.  

The boat owner now has several different choices for frame material and some unique frame parts available. White PVC tubing has been used for frames many times. Individual lengths of tubing are bent into arches and fastened to stanchions with hose clamps, duct tape or large wire ties.  

Other lengths of tubing can be run fore and aft to act as rafters and ridgepole. Fasten these on the inside of the frame to make pulling the cover over the boat much easier. The individual PVC arches may need to be supported in the middle if you are expecting a heavy snow load.  

Another option for frame material is electrical conduit or EMT. This tubing is available at any home improvement store, in ten-foot lengths and at a dirt-cheap price. It can be cut to length with a simple tubing cutter. Bending is also simple using an electrician’s conduit bender.  

To make assembling a conduit frame much easier, there are specially designed clamp systems available. These clamps, called Kover Klamps, will hold two pieces of tubing together at any angle. The complete system includes protective rubber pads to snap around the Kover Klamps (To protect the tarp from any sharp edges), special connectors are available for connecting lengths of conduit together and rubber feet to prevent damage to the gelcoat on your deck. A video is available from Kover Klamp to take you through the entire process of erecting a conduit frame.  

The photos show a winter frame on a  Columbia 34 being built with Kover Klamps. The boat is being worked on during the winter so the frame allows standing headroom on deck.  

One of the most important factors in a successful winter frame is the elimination of any sharp corners or rough spots on the frame or the boat. Any of these will ruin a cover or tarp in no time. Pad the sharp corners with carpet scraps well fastened in place. Split foam pipe insulation works well on conduit as long as it’s firmly taped in place.   If you plan on reusing your frame next year, make sure you properly mark each piece with an identifying mark. Make an overall sketch or diagram for the frame so you know where each piece goes. Depend on your memory and you’ll be standing among a bunch of parts wondering where they go.  

Finally Don’t just cover up your boat and wait from spring. Check it regularly for loose ropes, slipped frames or holes in the cover. Fix the problem before the cover or tarp is ruined and needs replacement. There is nothing like trying to horse a heavy cover or large tarp in place during a snowstorm with a –10 chill factor.  

Companies mentioned:  

Fisher Canvas Products, Inc. 415 St. Mary Street Burlington NJ 08016 (800) 892-6688 www.fishercanvas.com/  

Kover Klamps P.O.     Box 04 City Island New York 10464 (718) 885-2202 www.koverklampframes.com/  

A well-fitted custom cover  

A Generic cover, well tied down  

The standard blue tarp  

Kover Klamp system, from upper left: conduit connector, rubber foot, closure for tube ends, Kover Klamp, all on a rubber protector snap pad 

Kover Klamp frame  

KK Frame with tarp on 

How not to do it  

Capt'n Pauley's Sketchbook - Installing Cleats

Old Man Winter is Coming!

It’s not nice to rain on anyone’s parade, but the fact is winter is around the corner. Labor Day has passed and, while there is yet some great boating weather to be had, we need to start thinking about winterizing.  

Most people think only of the engine and water systems when you mention winterizing. There are really five main areas of concern regarding winterization:  

1.     Cleaning the boat

2.     Winterizing the engine and outdrive

3.     Winterizing the fresh and waste water systems

4.     Preparing the cabin

5.     Inspecting the trailer and/or winter cover

 

Activity at the Boatyard

Got kind of a chuckle from a comment a reader just made. Something to the effect "you don't have time for this" or something similar. That's the problem with a Do-It-Yourself blog like the Virtual Boatyard, ya gotta actually DO something to write about it. That is, unless you want to blow smoke or regurgitate press releases.

Having spent all spring and most of the summer either in the hosptial or recovering kind of put a crimp in things. I'm happy to say that things are a changin'. I've just finished an article on fiber rigging for the next issue of DIY Boat Owner Magazine, an article on roller furlers in the current issue of Small Craft Advisor Magazine, an article on www.ActiveCaptain.com for both Small Craft Advisor and Long Island Boating World, and there is an article on www.MadMariner.com about the new EPA fuel regulations. Most of that content will end up here as soon as the contractual period ends (most magazines restrict republication for a certain amount of time).

There is also another BIG project underway. Eric White, founder of the Columbia Yacht Owners Association has decided to go cruising. Before he left, he passed on the Columbia archives for me to manage. I've been madly scanning all the literature so I can make it available to others. Haven't decided the best place to it that but some will probably end up here. I also ran across a treasure trove of original metal name plates and cloth patches for both Columbia and Coronado sail boats. Most will be offered on my website, www.captnpauley.com. In terms or actual projects, I completed a portable gangplank for the little boat, which finally made it into the water and her slip. I also am finishing up building new drop boards for the companionway of the big boat. These are made from StarBoard instead of the more common teak or mahogany and has a solar vent installed.

So, you can see things have been active in the Boatyard even though the posting haven't been. Like I said before, you gotta do it before you can write about it!

Take care,

Capt'n Pauley

Varnishing and Other Deviant Habits

Ask any ten boaters how they protect the exterior wood of their boat and you’ll get ten answers, sometimes at length. There is no question that the deep, lustrous look of twelve coats of gloss varnish on a cap rail epitomizes boating elegance. Living with that reality is a different story.