Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES 19 Oct 20 Row and Sail

19 Oct 20: 

Got out on the water in ST. JACQUES today, we wanted to have a little fun, reclaim part of the bay and see if we could spot any items that were still MIA from Hurricane Sally, like our channel marker number 6 sign. 


But first Skipper had to clean storm debris out of the centerboard trunk, pine needles, bark and tree leaves.  There was so much muck packed in there by the storm surge that the centerboard would not move. She used a knife and a stick to dredge out debris, and poured water into the trunk to flush out the muck. 



Ready to go, I planned to row mostly but Skipper had other plans.



Back from a successful row and sail, 75F with light winds 8-9 mph, coming out of the East which made for a nice broad reach.



Skipper found a rock.






Maybe we should have cleaned out more of the muck and bay residue before we left, but when we were done ST. JACQUES got a fresh water rinse with a little TILEX added for style. TILEX is great to remove mold and mildew, but it is best to spray it on a rag, wipe down the boat then rinse right away. If it is sprayed directly onto some paints it can run and leave a lighter bleached out streak. The streak eventually fades but it is best to apply the TILEX sparingly in small locations, a little goes a long way. Test it out in an inconspicuous area and as always, read the application and health hazard information on the bottle. The Porter Cable cordless Wet/Dry Vac makes short work of sucking muck out of the bilge, 2 1/2 gallons at a time. Nice to not have electrical cords in wet locations.



ST. JACQUES rode out the Hurricane mostly carefree, she did get a little rash on her lower strakes, possibly from the boat next to her or the dolly. 


Very small rub on the gunwale, which was protected by a Sunbrella cover. The cover didn't fare so well, it needs a few repairs, but it did Yeoman's work protecting the boat as no water got inside during the storm. Interestingly enough, the wooden boats in the Sunfish Shack did amazingly well, the fiberglass boats not so much.






In other news we put down 12 tons of #4 crushed limestone along the inland side of the seawall, with help from a Toro Dingo, along with topsoil and sod and. We are going to call restoration of the quay, aka Mini Gun Deck, complete.




Sunday, October 11, 2020

Maybe We Should Change Our Name To Small Marine Construction and Landscaping...

 11 Oct 20:

Hurricane Sally did a number on our pier, seawall and our yard. In the whole scheme of things, non-essential but as property owners we like to protect our investment by keeping things in order. We spent about 2 weeks cleaning things up, vegetative debris, broken pier and dock parts from across the bay and starting to reassemble the seawall and pier. 

Skipper lost her beer keg burn barrel to storm surge, so we sourced a new fire pit from Lowes. Felt good to burn a little of the yard debris.


Here's a shot of some of the damage to PHOENIX.  Boat repairs will be slow in coming, but we are beginning to gather parts and materials.


All repairs suspended as we were in the cone for Hurricane Delta for a few days. We expected some storm surge and tropical storm winds, so we loaded as many boats as we could into the Carriage House, still room for the canoe and kayaks if Delta gets closer.


Lowered the mast on the Catfish SMEDLEY and mover her into the front yard, WILLOW got moved also, so it's Boatapalooza up front now. WAVE and PHOENIX on the Wheel Deck.


We put a small slatted cap on top of the seawall to help dissipate wave energy, it was tested out this morning with 2 feet of surge from Delta on top of high tide, with 18 mph wind driven waves from the West. The splash zone on the yard side of the seawall filled up but there were no waves crashing down to redistribute yard bits.


Our anole buddy Henry helps us with pier work, he hung out in the cone for a few days.



Finished the seawall cap, realigned the border stones and put in fence posts and new fence panels. Sand, dirt and sod are on the list now to replace some divots.


Skipper salvaged some bay lumber and we made carpenter's trestles out of some of the pieces. They come in handy as boat stands, benches and plant stands.




Planked out 64 feet now, 186 to go.



Thursday, October 1, 2020

Time Flies

30 Sep 20: My how time flies when you're having fun. September was going to be slow with small boats as I had some real work to tend to with the day job, but Hurricane Sally showed up mid September and changed that. We got storm surge that damaged 2 boats, stripped the decking off of the pier, removed a few pilings and relocated some hardscape and landscaping outside. House stayed dry and garage got a little water. So first half of September was spent prepping for seasonal storms before I got tied down by work, the second half has been consumed by debris cleanup from the storm, mostly other folks' debris that washed ashore at the casa.

Rising water, the boats in the Sunfish Shack could deal with, it was when the breakers started that the boats started taking damage. Meanwhile someone's dock floated by with their picnic table. We saw WAVE break loose and decided to act, we were not going to let WAVE float away. We went out and moved the Penobscot, 4 Sunfish, 1 Super Sailfish and 2 kayaks to higher ground, set up a ferry chain where I would cut a boat loose and float it to Skipper, then she'd float it to our son up in the front yard. WAVE was first, her bow was damaged, she was mostly submerged and making a break for it around the corner of the house, but we caught her and got her to the Carriage House. Photo below is of the conditions after the boat rescue, WAVE will need some fiberglass work as well as PHOENIX.


PHOENIX's damage was not as severe, but significant. The rest of the Fleet got through the storm, our boats WILLOW and CYANE had been pulled from their lifts about a week prior and rested comfortably on their trailers.


SCOUT hung out with WINNIE and ZIP, had we had more timely and accurate information on the surge intensity this space would have been full of Sunfish and kayaks. 


SMEDLEY napped out front as well.


ONKAHYE was safe in her garage spot and the rest of the Fleet, PHOENIX, MADISON, CHIP, TRACKER, SACAGAWEA and CLARK held a meeting by the front porch.


Skipper scored a new 5x10 Carry On trailer from Lowes out of the deal to help with pier restoration and we used it to rescue a 1978 AMF Sunfish fro a debris pile down the street. She has a lot of stern damage, right now she may merge with WAVE to become WAVE v2.0 but plans may change on that.


Skipper also scored a John Deere E130 lawn tractor with V Twin 22hp motor and an 8Y convertible cart/wheelbarrow, it has come in handy for yard cleanup.


The most significant save besides WAVE was ONKAHYE's old floorboards that Capn Jack made back in the 80s, we recovered them from the neighbor's debris pile. They were being used for a utility deck for a boat trailer conversion, and now will be reassigned plant watching duties on the back porch. The 3 tons of driveway gravel they hauled a bag at a time, a few weeks back, played a big role in having nice firm surfaces to move cars and boats around before and during the storm. 


The pier was stripped of most of its decking during the surge, not unexpected, and had a visitor in the way of 3 pilings and 2 joists from the dock next door. We slowly released the pilings and floated them to the beach.


The Dynamic Dollies are Piling Transport Rated now, we tied the piling to the dolly handle and then the line up to Skipper's John Deere named WILEY COYOTE, Skipper pulled while I steered the dolly. 


There was a tattered Ensign rescue a few days after the storm, the bay was still angry but we needed to lower the storm flag and raise a new one. SCOUT was enlisted for that endeavor, she carried out the tools and a ladder, with Skipper as Master and Commander. Bay was whitecapping but we got the flags swapped out. SCOUT also helped move debris to the lot next door to be loaded onto a trailer.


Dollies got some more work as well.


Paradise tax, we'll get everything stitched back together.