And so it begins

[25yearslater]

YOT doth float. Most everything went without a hitch other than a slight gas leak at the fuel pump, a stuck fuel check valve at the tank and the electrical fire when the ammeter shorted to ground and burned off the insulation. The repairs were quickly attended and I am happy to report the old Atomic 4 barked to life. The Hayn Hi-Mod fitting I used for the backstay is a cinch to use. As you may remember I had the split backstay with adjuster but opted for a single fixed stay. Ordering extra length on the backstay a quick cut and assembly were an onsite rigging walk in the park. With the mast up the final measurements were placed with the order for a 140 Genny and an Asymetric Spinnaker from none other than the good folks at SBO.

 

[TENACITY CS36T]

Looks great, glad you're in the drink!

 

[Panta Rei]

Not often fuel leak and electrical fire can be used in a great news post.

Great ending, great start

 

[RubyJean]

Nice, glad to see you in the water. Great pic's, now for some sailing pic's..Michael..

 

[anchorclanker]

Ive followed this thread since i joined the forum I guess. Have read it though at least twice. At first I thought it was overkill, and never wanted to say anything negative. As time went on, the more I saw the more I thought it was nuts. The boats not worth it, blah blah blah. But i still kept my beak shut.

Then some wiseguy pointed out the cost of a new boat. HMMMMM. Suddenly it didnt look so crazy. Yeah, you did a lot of work. But I think the kicker was that mast, the darn thing is actually, uhhh, pretty? Can a mast be pretty? i dont know, but I thought so.

So ive come full circle. I have watched you take that boat and restore it so well, to such "as new" condition as it likely possible, or reasonable, and its really a very pretty and very sharp boat. And it is amazing how modern it looks.

So I raise a toast to you Sir, you did amazingly well. You should be very proud of her, she shows very well the effort you put into her, and is worth every bit of it. YOT indeed.

 

[jibes138]

Joe,
Looks amazing. Time to pack up, move aboard and head out for parts unknown. That view from the top really shows off the non-skid areas, you did a remarkable job with that. And Anchorclanker didn't mention to think how much weight you lost and how much booze you didn't drink while engaged in this hobby? I built a sailing dinghy once and lost 15 pounds in the process.

 

[rajhnsn]

Congratulations Joe. I'm not sure if I have ever known of anyone who took on a project of this magnitude and saw it through to the level of detail that you accomplished. Excellent work and fair winds.

 

[SailingCal21]

Congratulations, thanks for the pics. You are indeed a role model for many and your work is inspiring.

 

[25yearslater]

Man you guys are getting me a little misty eyed here. I sincerely appreciate your kind comments and have enjoyed all your input. The good natured kidding and input were often critical in the decisions I ultimately made during this project. You folks kept my eyes wide open to every possibility that made this possible. Of course there are two other people who deserve recognition. One is my eldest son Aaron who stayed with me every moment lifting, twisting, turning, cutting, mixing and whatever else need doing. He was indeed my second set of hands as well as a source of debate regarding any approach. Next of course is Mrs. 25, Mary. She has always been willing to indulge my eccentricities and agreed to the time and monetary commitment to pull this off. So thanks again everyone. I will get some pictures under sail up here in short order, yet I have one word that needs saying. NEXT!

 

[Ward H]

Yes, that is a fine looking boat. Glad the splash went well. Find ending to a great job.

 

[SailingCal21]

Hey Joe, it takes a village right, props to your family as well.

 

[jibes138]

"The good natured kidding and input were often critical in the decisions I ultimately made during this project."

Gee, all this time you had us thinking you did this all by yourself? Now we find you're like the whip cracker on one of those ships with all the oars making the slaves row faster. Put Aaron on the line so we can see what really went on here. :>)

 

[rajhnsn]

Joe's comment "next" reminded me of the article "Are Storm Damaged Boats Trash or Treasure" in the latest issue of Boat US magazine. My conclusion would be Treasure based on two things. If you have the skill, place and endurance like Joe then they are Treasure. Secondly, if you read the article, the previous owner of my boat was interviewed. I was aware that it was a salvage but not to the degree that the article points out. If the PO previous to my PO had not salvaged my boat, I would not have been able to afford a boat today. (Ironic that it is at this time receiving its second hurricane paint job and fiberglass repair but who's counting.) I suppose what is being done here is just a higher form of recycling. If done well, it can be a win-win. I wonder if Joe's "next" will be a Sandy salvage?

 

[25yearslater]

URGENT NOTICE: If you or someone you know has the Universal Atomic 4 engine equiped with the mechanical fuel pump check your sediment bowl for pin hole leaks. The water that can accumulate in them can and does rust through the steel bowl creating an explosion and fire hazard. No YOT is happily afloat at her dock after a brief run under power. This week has proven frustrating with the engine fuel system. The pin holes proved unnerving to say the least. A quick silver solder job solved that but I have ordered the electric fuel pump conversion from Moyer Marine and will install upon arrival. The blower wheel exploded and the tiller snapped. So while these are pesky things this is to be expected. By next weekend up go the sails. Oh and another thing, damn she's fast.

 

[SailingCal21]

Ah yes, the joys of spring commissioning.

 

[jibes138]

That's why they nickname them "Atomic Bombs." I heard that nickname from the former owner of the Towboat US franchise in Beaufort, I thought it was pretty funny.

I had a talk with the owner of the Beta Marine business in North Carolina today. They had a nice 30 HP and 20 HP on display at the Little Washington boat and music festival. 8221.00 for a 25 HP Beta. Very nice design, compact, good coolant system and exhaust system. Maybe next year after my fuel tank project this year. Joe you should think about putting in a diesel at some point.

If your tiller snapped I have a great method for making tillers. Rip strips of clear pine on a table saw about 1/8 inch wide, then make a jig using nails or screws in the shape of the tiller. Now coat the strips with epoxy and bend them around the nails. Keep adding strips until you have the thickness you want. Now clamp it all together with c-clamps and/or bar clamps, let the epoxy cure. Next sand it to round off all the edges and the handle area, using a belt sander which after many hours of use you will find you are an artist with the belt sander. Coat the outside of it with epoxy then varnish it, or Cetol or whatever. The laminated epoxy strips are quite strong, a lot more strong than a solid piece of wood. And it looks good too.

You can get a wheel upgrade system from Edson for tiller steered boats. Since you are looking for your next project this is a good suggestion. I had a wheel on a Catalina 25. The wheel took up a lot of space in the cockpit, and the tiller gives you a much better feel of the forces acting on the boat. The tiller has zero backlash where the wheel has a little bit. This is an important feature as you become one with your boat, and get in tune with nature. Kind of like a zen experience. So get up in the morning, do your transcendental meditation up on the bow chanting in weird tongues until the harbormaster comes over to see what's wrong, and then go sailing.

 

[25yearslater]

Oh jibes you can always give me a great laugh. Especially true with the chanting since I often chat with myself when pondering. I often have people ask others who is he talking to as a result. Genius/insanity, all I know is I lost track of the line a while ago. The answer to your previous question about how everyone here at SBO contributed to this project is: I often depended on the options put forth as second, third and so forth techniques in the event my preferred method went down in flames. These approaches offered me the courage to try the radical knowing I could recover with another method that would provide excellent results. Perhaps not what I had hoped to achieve but definately acceptable and in all probability superior to what was original. So again thanks for all the encouragement guys. You were all a big part of this. I will have a new tiller from D&R this week as I talked to Rudy this afternoon but I think I will try making one just as a backup.

 

[jibes138]

You will need lots and lots of clamps to prevent voids between the layers. I made a tiller this way for my sailing dinghy and it came out great, still looks like new after 13 years. Yours I'm sure will be a lot bigger and longer. Leave the strips rough so the epoxy has something to get a good grip on. Alternate the grain direction in the wood to give it further strength and you could probably even use a layer or two of 1/8 plywood in the middle to really make it strong. If it is marine grade plywood with no voids the end grain will look fine in the tiller middle. Remember epoxy doesn't hold up in sunlight so you will need to coat the outside with something else like varnish or cetol. If you have really extreme bends you might have to steam the wood, the tiller I made was fairly short and just small bends. for the jig use a 2x6 or 2x8 trace out the shape of the tiller you want, then allow for sanding on each side. Screw in a bunch of deck screws along the trace line leaving them sticking up higher than the width of the tiller. Put some saran wrap down and start laminating, use small pieces of wood wrapped in saran wrap so the clamps don't gouge the wood too bad. Then start clamping. You might need to do this in stages, meaning laminate say three layers, then add a couple more layers, as bending all the layers at once into the shape may be more force than is available. Use epoxy thickened with microfibers for laminating strength as there will be a large residual shear stress between the layers unless you steamed the wood and let it dry in the shape you want first.
I also laminated a mast, boom this way, and they are still going strong at 13 years old.

 

[25yearslater]

Yarg me yargies. I am stupid happy to report...YOT has sailed. After 27yearslater the 27 pressed dacron against the sky and roared across the waves. With a 10 knot breeze out of the east not a creak or groan or pop was heard as the rig loaded for the first time in 3 years. Now to install the new fuel pump and shift lever. Yes a mod is in the works. That archaic two lever thing that controls the iron wind is being replaced with the Vetus SISCO single lever dual function unit. That should make things a bit more enjoyable when manuevering. And I forgot the camera tonight. Rather fitting that after 27 years the boat I chose to rejoin the sailing community is a 27.

 

[SailingCal21]

Congrats!