New cockpit deck

While cleaning out the boat preparing for painting we discovered that the bad gas smell is coming from under the deck. So there is no question that we have to replace it before going further. Started the tear out today.




Fortunately, on removing the first panel it became clear that the smell is actually in the old plywood deck boards themselves, not in the fiberglass hull.

More tomorrow...

On Monday I pulled up the rest of the floor. It was tabbed in along the sides very securely with about two layers of glass, which meant I had to grind it out with my small Makita grinder. For the first time in my life I used a respirator, goggles and ear muff style earplugs, and I was glad for all the protection. That was one very messy, noisy job. There is fiberglass dust everywhere.


The result, after removing the sole (that's the official term for the cockpit floor) was a clean bilge with no debris, water or damage of any kind. The stringers were laid up beautifully, with no messy glass fiber edges anywhere. Those early Skagit crews were obviously taking pride in their work.

Then came the harder job of removing the side stowage boxes. The old "expedition" fuel tanks used to fit between the bulkhead and the stowage boxes on each side of the cockpit. The tanks, by the way, were not original; Mr. Smith had them fabricated out of galvanized steel, and although I was tempted to re-install them, the fuel fill pipe is an odd diameter and there are no fuel sending units ... and, I do have these two new Moeller 18 gallon tanks to use. Unfortunately, the new tanks are 3" longer than the old ones, so that means moving the stowage boxes 3" aft.


I had only a couple hours this afternoon and spent them doing the last of the grinding and the start of the sanding process. I'm using 50 grit paper on the random orbital to remove all the loose paint and rough every surface for painting. Tomorrow, Saturday, I hope to have enough time to finish the sanding, clean everything thoroughly (there is dust everywhere), and do the cutting and fitting of the floor boards. Prior to screwing and tabbing them into place I have to get two lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe to run from the cabin all the way back under the floor to what will be a well for a bilge pump. If it sounds a little complicated, it is becoming so. Some discussion on the club web site today made it clear that I have to foam the voids between the stringers after the floor is down. Fortunately, that process can wait until after our San Juans trip next week, but the pipes must be in place before I start sealing things up.

Club Trip Around Fidalgo Island

We are joining other club members tomorrow for a circumnavigation of Fidalgo Island, starting and ending in La Conner. But the tides tomorrow morning are very low, so I got up early today and put in at the La Conner ramp, then motored over to Shelter Bay where I have moorage for the night.

I was by myself this morning – launched around 6 a.m. – and things went very smoothly. The tide was a little over 2' with virtually no current. I tied up both bow and stern lines with lots of slack and just unhitched the boat: the steepness of the ramp at that tide level meant the Welike slid off on her own with very little encouragement.

















Notice our new Town of La Conner ramp dock; wider and more stable – really pretty snazzy. There is room for boats to tie up comfortably on both sides of the float.

After parking the truck and paying my ramp fee I started up the engine, cleaned off the foggy windshield and adjusted side curtains, then motored slowly up the channel to the north basin, where we'll rendezvous tomorrow with the rest of the club boats. Several of them are launching on the slings up there. Then, I motored back to Shelter Bay, where we are in C-41 for the night.

While waiting for the office to open at 8 am I installed the cigarette lighter style power points; I got a dual outlet so I can have the hand-held VHF radio and the iPhone plugged in at the same time.

As I motored back I experimented with the GPS chart plotter and finally figured out how to make the screen display track with the boat. I have heading, speed over land, depth and of course chart position on the same display now. So, Amanda, next time you drive it will be a LOT easier to figure out where you are!

After paying moorage I walked home; took about 20 minutes to go up and over the hill.

We are off to Seattle today to visit my old friend Chris Mitchell in Winslow, then we'll be heading home for the night. Tomorrow we will probably drive over to the boat around 9 am to get fuel and meet up with the gang around 10.

SATURDAY
Fran and I rushed over to Shelter Bay this morning, a little late. We were supposed to meet up with the other boaters at 10. Shouldn't have worried: the sling hoist at the Port of Skagit marina was on the fritz. By the time we motored up there and got our gas tanks topped off, the line of classic boats was just starting to enter the water. A couple of Skagit 17s. Another 20. A Bell Boy 18, a 21 foot Dorsett Farallon, and a couple other boats. Nearly all of them are beautifully restored, and their owners are some of the nicest people we've met in years.


We all headed out around 11:30, having teamed up into groups of 2 or 3 "buddy" boats. Our buddies were Clint Stroebel in his Skagit 17, and Bruce Bridwell, in a Skagit 20 -- the WillaB -- like ours. Only his has been in his family since the day his dad bought it in 1958, and it is totally original.

Unfortunately, the WillaB started having engine trouble with its 35 year old Johnson, so about 2/3 of the way up the channel the three of us had to turn back to port. Bruce worked on the engine en route, though, and by the time we were back to La Conner it was running fine. Instead of re-tracing our steps we decided to keep heading south and make for Deception Pass, then meet up with the other boats in Bowman Bay after their trip around the north side of the island.

The passage was fairly uneventful until we got to Deception Pass. There, a huge fog bank obscured most of the bridge and much of the surface ahead of us. Luckly though it started to clear a bit, and Clint led us through the smaller of the two passages. Fran drove while I took pictures of the sheer rock walls and beautiful boiling water as the fog slowly lifted and bathed the scene in misty golden light.

A shot of the WillaB, exiting Canoe Pass.

We continued over to Bowman Bay, where the club took over the big float. We sat in the sun, visited, ate picnic lunches, looked over each other's boats and generally had a very convivial time.

Around 4:30 we headed back through the pass - this time taking the main channel. We circled around Hope Island and Clint pointed out the nice little beach camping site on the northwest side of the island. Then we hurried on back to La Conner, where Fran and I took the boat out of the water at the town ramp. All around great day!

Friday Harbor!

We finally took our Maiden Voyage to Friday Harbor today, and all went well. We launched at Washington Park in Anacortes on a rapidly falling -1.7 tide, and JUST made it. The girls (Amanda spent the day with us) held onto the boat while I raced the truck and trailer up to the parking lot, then we quickly started the motor and shoved off, motor tilted up so as to avoid hitting the bottom.

Once underway we hit some fairly rough going across the channel, and had really more wave action than we would have liked all the way to Friday Harbor. We did 20-25 mph most of the way, so we were slamming around pretty hard. Skagits really are hard riders. Several times during the trip Fran and I exchanged that what-did-we-get-ourselves-into look.

The Evinrude seemed to work fine, if a lot noisier than we'd been led to believe. Well, it is a 2-cycle after all, so I should have known. We plugged our ears with paper and put the back curtain down, which helped a little. It was certainly too rough to open up to more than 4000 rpm. We had departed Washington Park in Anacortes at 11:45. We arrived in Friday Harbor at 12:55.



Fran has been talking about her "picnic boat" for years, so it should be noted that today we had our first official picnic on her boat! And Martha and Linton, in your honor they were Grand Lake Sandwiches.

Yummm.


We walked around Friday Harbor being tourists. I took a half hour nap in the cabin. We all had ice cream. Beautiful day all around. And Welike, though one of the smallest boats in the harbor, looked just fine.
We left Friday Harbor around 4:30 and enjoyed much calmer waters all the way back. Throttled back to around 3000 rpm for most of the trip, which gave us a cruising speed of around 20-24 mph, and that seemed a lot more comfortable. It will take a while before we know how to get the best performance and the most comfort out of the Skagit.

Amanda drove most of the way home and enjoyed it a lot – although she can't exactly see the point in doing something for "fun" that is a stressful as this day's cruise started out to be.



Home at last, after our very successful first outing. Can't wait for next Saturday's club cruise, a circumnavigation of Fidalgo Island.

More Repairs

MONDAY
After our disappointing, aborted "shakedown cruise", Welike went straight to the emergency room at Action Marine in La Conner -- the only Evinrude dealer around. We picked her up this afternoon, one week and $400 later. Problems were wrong spark plugs, a clogged fuel filter, and worst of all, very undersized battery cables that had been put on by the shop that mounted the engine. It turns out that these motors are very particular about the amount of amperage they need to turn over. The mechanics ran Welike in the Channel today to make sure everything was okay. Apparently the 19" prop is wrong, too, and would be very hard on the engine. They recommended a 15", which will be in on Wednesday with the new battery cables.

Bill Roberts, former owner of Welike, helping remove the old Merc 115 from Fran's Skagit on July 1st. A lot has happened since then!

WEDNESDAY
I bailed out of work at 2 o'clock determined to get Welike ready for a test ride tomorrow. Installed the new 15" prop, which went quickly. We will keep the 19" on board as a spare.

Then I pulled off the battery cables and installed the new, much heavier set. Took a bit of fussing as it is very tight quarters under that cowling. I was so happy. Mission accomplished! But no. After putting everythng back together and buttoning up the cowling, I got back aboard for a quick test and the trim/tilt function didn't work! Tried jiggling all the wires, checked for missing contacts -- nothing. Called Action Marine for advice, and although I couldn't speak with the mechanic, Duane, the gal I spoke to said it sounded like a ground wire problem, which got me wondering about the condition of those wire terminals I'd just reassembled. I knew I hadn't missed any, but I hadn't really inspected them, either. So I pulled the cowling and removed all the wires again. Each of the wires terminates in a little circular piece of stainless steel or brass that drops over a bolt on the engine, one negative and one positive. On close inspection, all of the surfaces were dirty: I couldn't actually see bare metal for all the grime. So, I got a piece of fine sandpaper, a flat blade screw driver for scraping, and a piece of steel wool and went to work until I had gleaming bare metal on all the contacts. Then I reassembled everything and turned the nuts down VERY snug. And, what do you know -- the trim/tilt works just fine.

So with that behind me, we are ready for a splash test tomorrow afternoon when the tide is up. We will launch under the Rainbow Bridge and cruise in the channel a bit, then head out to Skagit Bay so we can open up to full speed. Duane says we have to be able to see 5500 RPMs or he's not going to be happy.

If all goes well we are planning to launch in Anacortes tomorrow for a day trip up to Friday Harbor with Amanda. And yes, we will take the little Merc as a backup just in case.

Oh, I do have one other repair to make tomorrow. I have to replace the all-around white light. When Bill had the new bimini top installed, he made it fairly tall, and the old all-around white is no longer visible from the stern. The current light is one that Mr Smith obviously devised; I'm going to pattern a taller one on his design using a new pole I got at West Marine last week.

Shakedown Cruise

We are joining a few other classic boat club members this weekend for a day trip on the lower Columbia River. We had a big day Friday trying to get ready to depart at noon. What with finishing a client project that took until 11, last night's discovery that I can't make the old fuel tanks work, and Fran having to spend a lot of the day on her course, we didn't get away until 7 pm.

The E-Tec started on the first revolution, by the way. I ran it on the hose before we left just to be sure.





Loading up.


That's Fran's Skagit sitting forlornly on foam blocks.

We drove non-stop and had a very smooth drive to the Rutherglen Mansion B&B on the western outskirts of Longview. Our room overlooks a brightly lit Weyerhaeuser plant and some other industries - actually quite a pretty sight. The house, built by a lumber barron, is lots of fun to explore. We'll get more pix tomorrow before our early departure for Cathlamet, the launch point for the Adventure.







Cool old house!

SATURDAY MORNING
Boo-hoo. Engine troubles from the moment we started up. Batteries not cranking over properly. Waved the others off and pulled the boat. Waiting for charge at NAPA, but it is 2:00 now and boating day is pretty much over. Mechanic in La Conner gave me some advice, which I will try this afternoon. Staying the night in any case.

Later, pulled the plugs and administered Brake Clean; and replaced the battery terminal wing nuts with hex nuts and tightened the helll out of them. We were about to launch again at 3:00 but the first wave of beleguered boaters started returning, a bit earlier than planned. Lots more wind and waves than expected, aparently. Robert was among them. He owns a 25 in Portland and we wanted a tour.

Welike Gets a New Engine

John at Marine Services on Cornet Bay said c'mon over whe I called asking for a little help with mounting the E-Tec. I showed up at 1:30and he and his son Jason and mechanic JR swarmed over the boat and had the thing on the transom in about 45 minutes, including hooking up the steering.








I've asked them to work on the controls, and they're on that now.





It's raining pretty hard now and I've just discovered the joys of a full camper top: the while cockpit stays nice and dry. I like it!



The old dash is full of ugly holes but one of them is now filled with the new tach-and-idiot-light display. we'll worry about cosmetics later.



Next, new batteries:


Finally, three hours later, we're all done and heading home.

Welike in her new home in La Conner. Tomorrow, fuel tanks. Thursday, sea trial!


One last note. For those of you family members who know the property, you probably don't recognized the location of the photo above. It's actually right next to the pump house. I had Terry McNeil, our local backhoe service guy, come over for a couple hours this morning and prep what will become the boathouse pad. The plan is to create, over the next few years, a building that will house a shop and an outdoor covered area that will accommodate two boats, a 20-footer and my Skagit 25 - a very long-term project that we never talk about. Here's another shot of the location.

Welike Day

Picking up Welike at 7 pm starts at 10 am with a ferry trip to PT. It's drizzly and dark. The E-tec is still in the bed of the truck, and it doesn't look like Action Marine is going to be able to hang it for us.

It's now 11 and I'm at Keystone with only a possibility of making the noon boat. Could be the 1:30 before I'm aboard. No matter - plenty to read.

1:30. On the boat and underway. That's the public launch where we will pick up the Welike this evening - assuming all goes according to plan.


Picked up the boat at the shop. Marty did the bulk of the transom repair and found a replacement window, both projects for me to finish up -- all part of my education.


Marty got a kick out of my funny boating statistic: that we now own twice as many boats as the number of times we have taken our boats out in the past year. I do hope we will soon correct THAT situation!

At Kingston waiting for the 4:30 sailing.

Made it back to La Conner around 7 pm and quickly off-loaded the boat onto three foam blocks Marty loaned me. Actually, it was a little hairy. Tied the boat to the house through an open window, removing the window just in case the boat rolled off the trailer and landed against it.














Pulling the trailer forward ... VERY carefully.





























It Worked!!! We're insane - and here's a picture to prove it!!

Then we drove to Coupeville, met Bill, loaded up the Welike, and headed for home. That's the short version ... more tomorrow. I'm tired!!

We like the Welike

So here's our solution to getting Fran's Skagit finished and out on the water next weekend: Buy another boat. In this case, it's the Welike, a 1956 Skagit 20 that has been owned by only 3 other families since it was purchased from a dealer in Marysville in 1957.















Among her many remarkable attributes is the fact that she still sports her original gelcoat. She's been well loved and cared for for over 50 years, and we intend to take good care of her as well -- starting with a "new" Evinrude E-Tec 90.

Next week will see me in a flurry of activity as I return to Nordland to get Fran's Skagit and the trailer that's under her; pick up the Welike on Monday afternoon; clean up and re-paint the interior; mount the new engine and controls; and load her up with a few pieces of electronic gear we've been accumulating. It'll be a fun week, hopefully capped by a drive down to our first club event, a tour around the lower Columbia next Saturday.

Trip to Island Boat Shop

Today I'm heading over to Marty's shop to have him mount the new engine. On the Edmonds ferry at 10:45. Beautiful day, nice crossing. Hey, how would the 20 do in those white caps?


Arrived at 12:15




Discovered I neglected to secure the hatch, which flew open en route and broke the left-hand window - a real sad loss. Marty says he may have a replacement, but I'm just sick about it. What a stupid blunder.




Here he is chipping away on the transom to see if it is okay for mounting the motor.




A half hour later: The verdict is that there is no systemic rot, only a little surface softness right under the glass that someone laid up when working on the splashwell. But Marty reccomends an additional layer of 3/4" ply to thicken the transom. It will be 2.25" thick when finished.

But more interesting things have transpired during today's visit. Clint called to suggest that Bill R. may be interested in selling the Welike, a '56 Skagit 20 that's ready to go. I called him. He is. Marty just might be interested in Fran's 20 as trading stock. So I left her boat at Island Boat Shop and am on the PT ferry. Meeting Bill in Coupville in a half hour to look at Welike.



What a day.



So I arrived in Coupville. Bill met me, led me up to his house, and took me to his shop and his yard full of cool boats and Bearcat outboards.



Then we went through the Welike. She's a boat with a lot of history including two trips to Alaska on her own bottom, as the guys say. Here she is sporting the full camper canvas Bill added. He is only the boat's third owner since 1956.

The inside would need a little TLC and a lot of paint, but it's sound and complete and very appealing. I'm taking Fran over to look at it tomorrow.

And that's it for the trip to Marty's Shop!