The winter of 2016-17 in southeast Georgia was as good as it gets for working outside on boats and sailing: it arrived late, was mild and dry, and left early. On top of that a spring drought reduced the numbers of biting gnats and mosquitoes that we would normally experience. Even better, during the summer and fall we were not threatened by any hurricanes. As a result of all this good luck we accomplished more than expected this year.
Afternoons we devoted to boat work, but for several hours nearly every morning for 10 months I worked to finish my third book, The Next Distant Sea. In the book I recount my adventures aboard Atom during part of our second circumnavigation. It took place between 1992-96 as I sailed from Hong Kong to the lesser-traveled islands of the Philippines and Indonesia, to far-flung island outposts in the Indian Ocean, including a lengthy exploration of mysterious Madagascar, then on to the newly post-apartheid South Africa. Along the way my personal journey is interwoven with the tales of some of the extraordinary characters who befriended me along the way, from a man who crossed the Pacific alone in a dugout canoe, to a vagabond trader sailing his engineless 30-foot steel junk among the poorest ports of east Africa, to a young sailor who tragically lost his life. The stories meld into a an ode to the sea and a look at the individualist, minimalist, and libertarian mindset of some of those who go to sea in small boats. In the coming year I hope to finish the next book in the trilogy, which brings us home to the US after 15 years overseas.
This year the Tripp 29 that was mentioned in last years blog was trucked to her new home in Texas after we completed the first stages of her refit, including reconstructing the cockpit to allow an enclosed outboard well and easier access to the companionway, lowering the cabin sole for more headroom for her 6’4″ owner, and several other jobs. The new owner plans to continue the refit near his home in Texas and then begin sailing along the Gulf Coast.
Among the boats coming in for work and going on their way in 2017 was a Bristol 29 that found its way into one of our boat sheds. Her previous owner had begun a major refit and then had sadly died less than halfway through. Her new owner picked up the project boat and brought it to us with many of the bulkheads and the cabin sole entirely missing. In some ways it’s easier to start extensive modifications from a bare hull like this because you are not confined to the original layout and are free to change everything to your ideal design. On the other hand, it can be daunting to stand inside what resembles a big empty drum with no reference points or straight lines to work off of and create everything out of nothing. After installing the floors and cabin sole, bulkheads, bunks, and other cabinetry, the boat was taken to the owners home for final fitting out.
Another boat brought into our shed on its own trailer was a Compac 23 trailer-sailer that needed some repairs and equipment added for coastal cruising in the southeast. Once it was finished we brought in the Pearson Triton Osprey, a sister-ship to Atom, that we had worked on in the water at the marina in 2016 to fit a tilt-up outboard well. Her new owner has commissioned us to do a thorough refit incorporating many of the design elements and latest equipment that has made Atom a unique and proven small voyaging boat. In October we began the project by installing a full chain locker bulkhead and sealed door, then moved on to build an integral water tank under the v-berth and add watertight bulkheads in adjoining lockers. As work continues we are chronicling the jobs on the atomvoyager youtube channel.
Last December we finished another Alberg 30 project and launched the boat locally. This A30 was one we bought from an acquaintance in northern Michigan and trucked home to resell to a client who hired us to get the boat back into sailing condition, which included replacing the missing inboard engine with an outboard well, repainting the topsides, replacing seacocks, adding solar panels, and so on. The boat was in exceptionally good condition for its age, due to her easy summer days on the fresh water lakes in Michigan and winters in covered storage. This year we have been sailing the boat, renamed Trufaste, locally doing sail training lessons with her new owners. Also this year we added a few more upgrades, including new sails, Tides Marine sail track, and a new aluminum boom to replace the old heavy roller reefing wooden boom.
This A30 came with dark blue topsides that were painted years earlier with a single part paint that was now caulking and heavily scratched. Dark blue looks great up north in her home waters but it highlights
imperfections and we find it heats the interior of the boat too much in southern latitudes. Here we strip the old paint to prepare for spraying off-white two-part Alexseal, which is similar to Awlgrip.
The Alberg 30 Trufaste with new paint and new mainsail.
The new US Spars Z202 boom with reefing gear added.
An interesting project for me this year was to install an SSB transceiver on the Alberg30 Barbara J. We had planned ahead for this option when we refit the boat in 2015-16 by installing an insulated backstay and copper foil counterpoise ground for a future SSB. The owner of Barbara J chose the Alinco SR8T and EDX-2 tuner. He uses the radio for voice communications on the amateur and marine bands as well as email messaging through a modem and Winlink. Another option for SSB transceivers is the Icom 7200, which costs more and does not have a remote control panel but does have some other features some people might prefer. For a small fee both of these amateur radios can be “opened up” (MARS/CAP modification) by some distributors to enable the radios to transmit on the marine bands.