Frejas' Striptease......

After what has seemed like months, US 111 is completely stripped of all of her exterior varnish. In reality it has only been about 15 days. A couple of the items on my list have changed drastically from my original plans.

First off, there was a large crack on the port combing, that was repaired once but has seemed to open up again. The first attempt at fixing this problem involved drilling and embedding 1/4" x 6" long bronze machine bolts from the bottom, and some epoxy. That worked for a little while, but as the years went on, the crack grew in length, and the combing became less stiff.Next was the issue with the king plank on the foredeck. I have pictures of the boat when she was brand new, and the crack was there from the beginning. It has been filled with epoxy, varnished over and starts to crack further forward. As you can see from the picture below; I am running out of boat. Then there was the knot meter. Great in concept, but horrible in use. Don't get me wrong, if they work they can be a asset. However this one did not, and has become more of an eye sore then anything else. The problem with this is that you leave an unsightly hole in the bulkhead once the knot meter has been removed. I'll have to think about that one, but we still have lots to do and plenty of time to resolve that issue.
While thinking the knot meter issue through my mind, I noticed another unsightly hole in the boat. Although useful if utilized (Not by many boats in S.F.) The stock position of the backstay control line. Hey, if having your crew jump off the rail, and adjust it while you kick them in the face is your secret to boat speed, so be it. It isn't my cup of tea. Most boats that are raced here regularly have run the backstay threw the deck hiding the rats nest of purchase, leading the controls just forward of the skipper, on both sides for easier adjustment from the rail. So, add that one to my list.

Like I said, the "To Do" list has changed..... We have our ideas on fixes, but the 1,000 chicken shit little details keep popping up. Other problems that need attention include:

• The teak laminate on the front of the cockpit seat is peeling on the starboard side and needs to be repaired or replaced.
• The cabin top is too weathered to just patch and blend and really should be re-painted.
• The waterline on the rudder is painted the wrong color blue.
• Nameplates were installed over the divots left by the jib lead blocks (When we sheeted to the deck). Bleach and repair the cabin sides where this has taken place.
• I know that there are a bunch more, I just need to find them..............

We have a lot to think about repairing, and figuring out a slick way to accomplish it.

Where To Start?

Now that the boat is in the shop, I can take a better look at the projects at hand. My list of "To Do's" looks something like this:

• Strip and refinish the outside of the cabin
• Strip and refinish the combing and cockpit bulkheads
• Strip, repair, and refinish the king plank
• Repair, clean, and refinish or replace toe rails
• Patch and rub out cabin top
• Clean and refinish teak decks
• Strip and refinish margin boards
• Clean up interior finishes around the companion way
• Tear down of the mast and refinish with 3-4 more coats of varnish
• Polish hull
• Strip and paint bottom
• And 1000 other chickenshit little details...........

The first thing that needed to be done was taping off the deck. The boat sits next door to our steel fabrication shop, and steel dust will embed itself into the teak decks and allow the never ending battle of rust. Sounds easy enough..... Three hours later, this is what it looked like. Then start stripping all the hardware on the cabin top, deck, and cockpit. My rule of thumb is the cleaner the canvas, the better the artwork. I do not believe in taping around fittings and such. I have found that problems can lurk in the some of the most hidden of places. That, and knowing that it is much easier to bring the parts to the polishing wheel, rather then bring the polishing wheel to the part. By the end of the second day the boat was completely stripped of all her hardware and we were ready to start stripping the cabin sides, bulkheads, and combing. My father started stripping varnish off of the front of the cabin, and I headed to the cockpit to remove the micarda trim on the top of the combing. At end of day three the boat looked like more of a skeleton then anything else.

The Winter Is Here........

And what does that mean, you may ask? The answer is simple; 4 months until the next race. Sounds like a long time to be off the water, but not when the list of "TO DO's" extends past both ends of the boat in which you rely on getting you around the race course and back to the marina every other weekend for the remaining 8 months of the year. After two years of racing the boat, my list of wants has been overtaken by the ones of necessity.

US 111 was built in 1984-85 and was (To the stories that I have been told) the first of it's kind produced, the proto-type per say. However, I will go into the history of the boat in another posting later on. 23 years of racing on San Francisco Bay, even with meticulous maintenance and upkeep will have it's toll on a boat. US 111 is at that point. The original owner, Ed Welch had taken great care of his boat over the years, but a couple years lacking varnish and fixing this and that has left it "Good from far, but far from good". In all honesty, those couple of years she was under new ownership (Ours) and there was a line awaiting use of the Hayward boat yard. Knarr US103 had staked claim on the hard, and we have only made one boat cradle for the two boats. It would scare me to have both of the boats in the shop at the same time. Too much to do and too little time to do it in.

The first step is arranging the art of getting the boat to Hayward. Nothing that Svendsens, 18 wheels, a boat cradle and a forklift can't handle. I motored the boat over to Svendsens on November 22, and had scheduled the boat to be hauled the following Monday. Removed the sails, boom and running rigginng from the cabin top, and stow the halyards to make unstepping the mast as easy as possible for the riggers. That Monday I loaded the empty boat cradle on our trailer and headed to Alameda. Svendsens unstepped the mast, hauled the boat and placed her on our cradle. 60 mph down 880 and the boat is in the Hayward yard. Back the truck into the shop, unchain the cradle and pick the cradle and boat off of the truck with a 10k pound capacity forklift. Pull the truck out, position and place the boat on the ground for a long winter nap. Build a small scaffolding system around the hull and POOF, instant boat yard. It is a little extra work, and not many sailors have access to their very own Peterbuilt and forklift, but it sure beats the cold, wet winter outdoors.