Fancy fabric
One of the first things we did when we arrived in Bellingham in September was to seek out a sailmaker. We wanted to have the sails which came with Sundown (her original ones!) inspected. Right in Squalicum Harbor Marina, UK Sails has a shop and a very knowledgeable and experienced sailmaker, David O’Connor. We spread out all three sails on his lofting floor and he gave them a once over. The conclusion was that all three were serviceable, but probably not for long as they showed signs of stress and UV damage. So we ordered a new mainsail and genoa, which we took delivery of when we returned from our holiday hiatus. They’re not only beautiful, but are performing perfectly. Thank you, Dave! (Thank you, too, for letting us use your car to run errands and buy provisions when we’re in Bellingham. That’s going way above and beyond, and we’re SO grateful.)
I zinc so
When we were anchored in the clear water of Princess Cove on Wallace Island, BC, Clay was paddling Lightfoot (our dinghy) around the boat, inspecting it. It’s a good thing he did, because he noticed the zinc on our propeller shaft was gone and the cutlass bearing had pulled out a bit. Neither conditions put us in immediate danger, but needed to be addressed sooner or later.
For those of you unfamiliar with boats, let me explain the zinc thing. Electrical currents flow through marinas and will attack the metal on boats. It’s called galvanic corrosion. Metal like propeller shafts! To prevent that from happening, zinc plates are attached to the bottom of boats and around shafts—zinc being a more noble element than steel, so it becomes sacrificial and electrical currents corrode them first. That’s a really elementary explanation, but is how I understand it…let’s move on.
After returning to U.S. waters from our two-week Canadian adventure, we headed back over to Bellingham and had Sundown hauled out at Seaview North, the boatyard where we first launched. While she hung in the slings, we fast and furiously removed the two zincs which also were mostly gone, put a new on her propeller, re-bedded the cutlass bearing, reinstalled the transducer that gives us depth soundings and washed her boot stripe. A couple hours later, we splashed again.
As additional insurance against galvanic corrosion, we also purchased and Clay installed a galvanic isolator. The galvanic isolator works like a one-way valve to control electric current flow from the water around the boat to the boat.
Moisture mitigation continues
Reducing moisture which leads to mold and mildew is one of my constant battles. We run fans to keep air circulating as much as possible. We’ve reorganized exterior storage areas to allow for more air circulation. At least once a month, we wipe down each storage area with a light bleach solution. Another tactic has been to install Dri Dek under our mattress and along the side of it next to the hull wall. We also wipe away the moisture each morning from these walls, but that’s getting to be a bit laborious. “If I could just line those walls with some kind of absorbent material that I could change out when necessary,” I said to myself. Enter Wee-Wee Pads, the mats some people use when potty training dogs. I bought some at a local pet store. So far, so good. I’ll report back in on their long-term effectiveness.
Yet another way we’ve been introducing more air flow under our mattress is either to flip it back each day to let it dry out or to prop up the center. As an alternative to these methods, Clay just made two what-we’ll-call “fan tubes” (patent pending). He took a couple of six-inch diameter PVC pipes that have holes drilled in them, fitted one end of each with a computer fan and wired them up. Now each morning part of making the bed includes inserting the tubes under the mattress and turning on the fans. Again, the jury’s out, but this has to help.
Other newbies
We also wired the dodger in the cockpit for a light, speakers and solar panels. The light we scavenged from the galley; it’s an enlightening and much needed addition. The speakers we still have not found, so in the meantime, a little bluetooth cube speaker keeps us sailing along in rhythm. Solar panels are on “The List;” we’ll get them when the budget allows. (Perhaps we should add one of those Paypal buttons to our blog so our fans can help us buy little things like that.)
The boat projects continue as we sail on.
Sundown Sailing Adventures 
Tell Us What You Think