In which Dan moves aboard a boat.

The last few days have been fairly action packed so forgive the absence. Most everything is moved onto Allez! and the rest will have to go to Goodwill. I'm nervous of using the bilge lockers both aft and forward as they seem like a pretty crummy environment for anything you wish to be kept in nice condition. I need some kind of bookcase aboard, and a built in cabinet for clothes will be fabricated soon.

The rudder has been a source of constant frustration over the last few days. Both the pintle, tiller and rudder are all worn so the tolerance build up is significant. This manifests itself in healthy "clunks" while the tiller is lashed. I think a new pintle will need to be lathed up at the race shop before too long.

As soon as an outboard is procured, Allez! will be at Crescent Shores Marina, right in downtown Holland. No more wonderful views of Macatawa at sunset, but at over 1200 dollars a month here at Eldean, I guess moving to a MUCH cheaper marina is worth it.

Back to Minneapolis for a few days to hang out on the Croix and pay my respects, and then more updates to follow!

A bottle of Champagne and and a drink of Jameson

A boat Christening;

Allez! was launched today here at Eldean Shipyard in Holland Michigan. Except for a fairily hair raising docking under tow with 15 knot winds (The Santana 25 is VERY easily driven), things went exceptionally well. The dock line situation here is quite different than in Minnesota; instead of cleats on the dock there are poles that you hitch your boat to. No bumpers required, so no scratches in the still curing paint. I am at the end of a very long dock about a half of a mile away from Lake Michigan. My neighbor boat is a 69 foot Pershing motor yacht. I guess I'm in good company. The boat was Christened at 1AM, with a bottle of exceptionally cheap Champagne (sparkling white wine) with myself as the only witness. It's been an exceptional transformation from the sad and neglected "Alacrity" to "Allez!". I've put my heart and soul into this boat, and I hope she will provide safe passage for future adventures in return.

A Eulogy of sorts;

A new chapter in my life started today, but the final page was finished for a treasured member of my family. The O'Donnell's place on Lake St. Croix Beach was where I spent a good chunk of my childhood. Back then it was all about the water, and that has always stuck with me. There were endless days of sailing, hanging out on the pontoon and swimming at the beach with my cousins. Dave and the rest of the adult contingent would typically be seen at the kitchen table chatting and drinking a few (or more) beers. The river was an amazing place and Dave was the master of his environment. Tales of docks gone missing, close encounters with the authorities and anything generally river related were the staple of our discussions. My last conversation with him was about his son in law falling in the drink while putting the spring docks in this year. This was as things should be. Dave was the race judge for the Saint Croix Sailing Club for 25+ years. In tribute the club sailed past the O'Donnell's at dusk last night. A fitting commemoration which I would've loved to see. The Croix' won't be the same without my uncle.

So a slug of Jameson for a father, an uncle, and a boatman.

I'm setting my course for the East and on the same day, my uncle set his course for the West. Fair winds and following seas, Dave, you shall be missed.

Closer.

Got lots of work done today. The top stripe is installed, head vent is installed, the transom got it's final paint, docklines are installed, bumpers are cleaned, rear cleats are installed and I hauled out some more trash from under the cradle. The outboard bracket is en-route, but the outboard isn't figured out/purchased yet. Tomorrow the rudder is being installed and painted with ablative along with more cleaning/organizing. High res photos tomorrow.

Huge Day!

Final topside paint is done!!!

Also, the first coat of bottom paint is on. Big thanks to my Dad who spent the last week toiling on Allez!. Left to do -

Top stripe to hide original top stripe, Boot stripe (possibly), Outboard motor bracket, and outboard.

Shooting for a launch/move in date of the 30th.

Woo.

Again, with the sanding.

I put in 6+ hours and my dad did almost 10 hours of wet sanding on the first coat of Brightside. From the looks of everything, the final coat of paint will go on tomorrow. And then no more sanding, until the decks get done sometime this summer...

I've established;

That UPS is probably the Anti-Christ. The idiots shipped my motor back to the sender, and they didn't follow up with any paperwork or anything. Called and basically told me it was none of my business. Jerks.

Paint!

Finally painted after a month of waiting for good weather. We're happy that this is the first coat as the results were good, but not great. Hopefully the next coat will level better than the first, but it's an acceptable 10 foot paint job as it stands now. I think we'd both be satisfied with a good 18 inch paint job, but we'll see what happens.

Final Prime.

The last coat of primer went on today. Allez! is looking pretty good now. Tomorrow looks like an optimal painting day; temps in the mid 70's, light winds and high overnight temps.

Back to sanding.

My Dad and I (mostly my Dad) sanded the first coat of primer fair today. Hopefully one more coat of primer will be enough to prep for paint. Toilet seat installed, 2 hoses to connect and the head will be finished. General cleanup is progressing. Still no word from UPS about my motor - it sounds like that might be the thing that holds the whole project back at this point.

Optimis Primed.

First coat of primer went on today, and it went well. Practiced my roll and tip, along with all the other prep stuff for the "scary" painting next week. On the docket for tomorrow is sanding and another coat of primer.

The Plot Thickens.

The friendly UPS driver who dropped off the motor came and picked it up for "inspection" today. I have a funny feeling that he's going to bat for me on this one. Although it's far from sure, I could possibly get a new motor out of the deal. His quote was "Don't expect a new Johnson 250, but don't worry". So far dealing with UPS has been reasonably pleasant, but we'll see how pleasant I am once it comes to check cutting time.

Claims expert.

Hopefully this fellow will be understanding tomorrow, and cut me a check for a few hundred dollars. Not. Bloody. Likely. The guy who I bought the motor from apparently has some of the parts to get the motor back to running shape, but who knows. If worse comes to worse, I can always rig up a makeshift throttle cable and bank the claims money but that would be a bit on the ghetto side, not that there's anything wrong with that. Tomorrow looks like a promising day to prep and get the first coat of primer on, but we'll see what happens. The weather has been playing havoc in both my work and recreational life, so I'm not to happy with Mother Nature now. Not that she gives a shit or anything.

Outboard Update.

UPS managed to mangle the outboard in shipping, and broke the steering bracket, along with all the throttle assembly. This is a big deal because all these parts are discontinued, so another major setback. We'll see how the UPS damage claims system works...

Rain Delay.

I found out in the last week that Interlux Toplac is discontinued. Crap. So I'm back on the single part Polyurethane bandwagon. None of it can go on until the weather clears up though. The boat needs to be out of the yard by the end of the month, and this wx is just killing me.

Engine on its way.

My eBay purchased 1986 Evinrude 9.9 is on its way from Connecticut. Like everything else on the project, it was cheap, and there's something wrong with it. Need to order a new switch for the electric start and a spare impeller kit. The mount is being welded in the next few days also. Progress!

Something completely different?

This would be hilarious.

No Painting Tomorrow

I'm changing the paint process from West Marine single part polyurethane to Interlux Toplac. Figured I might as well do things right, so paint will go on next week. Head installation is done except for connecting all the bits with hose.