Te Ara - September Update - The haul out is here!

Intro

Hey all! I hope you are settling into the fall season! I am stoked to give the Te Ara update this time, as I've gotten some pretty cool stuff to share!

This week, I will go over some of the projects I have been working on over the beginning of the month as well as tell you about our last sail before the major haul out!

I have greatly enjoyed the last couple of weeks, as they have coincided with a slowing boat project schedule, which means more time for sailing! Once the haul out is complete, we will have reached the last major safety milestone of mine and I will be able to take friends out sailing for all future trips! So if you are in the Bay Area and fancy a day out on the water, hit me up!

Ok on to the update.....

Projects

Here is one thing that may not be readily apparent to all of you following this blog: I currently live ~75% of my time up here on Te Ara. As a city rule, marinas in the Bay Area are not allowed to have more than 10% of their berths as "live aboard". To be a live aboard, you need to spend more than half of your nights on the boat and the boat in question must meet some minor living and sanitation standards.

I am lucky enough to have McKay up here as a secondary home for me to spend my evenings and have been able to keep under that 50% limit for liveaboards by staying at her house (and thanks to Nick Wagner and Sandy Johnson for putting up with me in their fancy new home on the hill). That being said, I do spend roughly half my evenings down here on Te Ara and work from the boat every day. One aspect of life aboard that has become readily apparent over the last 8 months is that the place has to feel like home.

Before

When I bought Te Ara, she was generally clean and tidy, but obviously a temporary home for the previous owner. I have spent the last 8 months planning out some interior design ideas with McKay to make it a place we would feel comfortable and genuinely like spending time. Making critical systems functional and re-designing the interior is a full time job and has taken up many of my evenings, but the results speak for themselves. Check out some of the before and after shots in this post! I can honestly say that now Te Ara is a home I would be proud to show off to others (and it's only getting better).

Note to anyone thinking of doing wood finishing on a boat - my brother Morgan made me a fan of a finish called "spar urethane". I used it on all the surfaces in the pictures in this post. The stuff goes on like maple syrup and takes a few coats until it really sets well, but man does it make a beautiful finish! Overall a pretty easy multi-day process to make this the finish for your projects.

On top of all the interior updates, I am also spending the rest of October tackling the removal and replacement of the port gas tank. As some of you may have seen, last month I completely rebuilt the port lazarette locker. I designed it to come apart easily so that I can access all the storage and gas tank underneath. The tank that is currently occupying that space is a 50 year old (installed with the boat) steel monstrosity and rusted through in a majority of the metal. To remove it, I have to cut it out bit by bit with an angle grinder and cutting discs. As of today, I was able to break or cut out most of the lid. Once the boat is back in the water, I will tackle the rest with an oscillating multi-tool

One thing I was not expecting: There was still some 20+ year old petrified diesel in the tank. It formed about a half inch crust along the bottom fifth of the container. Anyone who has used an angle grinder before will know that it produces a bunch of sparks... This started to heat up the petrified diesel and actually caused it to smoke and ember

up a bit. Somewhat unnerving but nothing a wet towel couldn't fix! (Thanks for the advice dad) I'm hoping to get the rest of it removed this month and clean out the space it was occupying. The new area will hold a (smaller) plastic fuel tank and the new refrigeration system.

In the background of all of these projects, I have been preparing for the haul out, which just happened October 1. I am removing three thru hulls, replacing at least two others, and getting the remaining six serviced. On top of that, Te Ara will be getting new bottom paint...a sexy all black... some repair to the rudder, a new stuffing box/packing gland, and cutless bearing. This should give her a sleek and sound underside.

Actually preparing for the haul out has been so similar to what I do for my job as a project manager that it's almost laughable. I have to coordinate activities and schedules, source materials, give clear requirements to the yard, prepare the boat, inspect the docking area and approach vectors, etc. I even made a work breakdown structure and instructional diagram for the personnel who will be performing the jobs. If any of you reading this are boat owners and trying to plan your own haul out but don't know where to start, send me a private message and I would be happy to help! This is my bread and butter.....

By far the best event of the last month was getting to take Te Ara out for a quick day sail with McKay. It was a bright sunny day with a brisk breeze and we got her to fly super well up north of the Bay Bridge. Must have been 10-15 knots and we were easily cruising at 5 knots on the wind. This was topped by a lovely downwind run and warm cruise into the berth with a perfect docking and even better "docktail" hour.

Up Next

"Damn Gavin... sounds like you've been doing a lot!" . I hear this all the time, and in general, it is true. But this is absolutely what I love doing the most in life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I know that the end goal is worth it and every hour I put into practicing or working witht he boat now will pay off 1000 fold in the end. I'm very excited for the boat to go back in the water in a few weeks time. Once back in, McKay and I will spend the rest of October doing some final upgrades. She wants to put tile backing on one of the bulkheads in the kitchen to give Te Ara a splash of character. I am also going to get a new roller furling headsail made and replace all of the lower shrouds on both the main and mizzen mast. The new headsail should increase her sailing performance going upwind and the new shrouds will help her handle stronger winds without fear of something breaking. On top of all that, McKay and I will be travelling quite a bit for work over the next 4-6 weeks. However, we are both looking forward to doing some multi day cruise outs in the near future!.