And so it begins...
Jan 26 2008 --- I have asked around at WYC as to where to get a bottom job done. It seems there are about 3-4 choices of where to go. Mississippi is one choice. It's about 10 hours away by water. I don't have a trailer. This seems a bit extreme. Next would be Decatur or Guntersville. Both options seem reasonable and one quote I received was quite a bit cheaper than the others, but these are also a days trip away and in the opposite direction from the areas I frequent. I have been told that J's Landing in Stenson Hollow of Wilson Lake had done Artemis' (an X-99) and Spindrift's (a Capri 30) bottoms and they are competitive racers. I asked their owners about their experience with J's and both gave positive reports. J's Landing is only one lock away and considerably less distance than the other options. I called for a quote - $38.00 per foot. (My boat is a CAL 25 Mk2) This includes hauling, pressure wash, sanding and repaint with ablative Interlux paint. Blister repair would increase the price. I agreed and had my name put on the list. Jeff told me it would be mid-April before they could get to it. I said OK, but give me a call if he could move me up in the schedule.
Feb 5 2008 --- I got a call from J's Landing; I have been moved up in the schedule (yes!) to 23 Feb. They say it will take about a week to do the job. All this sounds great. Henry Garrett (sailing mentor and WYC member) has graciously offered to help me deliver John B to J's on the 23rd. I am looking forward to having the carpet removed from the bottom of my boat and a new (faster) bottom surface applied.
Feb 21 2008 --- Jeff from J's Landing called and confirmed my delivery of John B. I told him that we'd leave Wheeler Marina about 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. and that I estimated about 3-4 hrs time travel to Stenson Hollow. Jeff told me a fellow named Mike would take delivery of the boat. I asked if they planned on hauling the boat while we were there and he said that he would put that request on the work order and it shouldn't be a problem. I look forward to seeing and photographing the John B's hidden bottom side. I would assume that they would want to get on with pressure washing to remove the carpet of bio-growth before it hardens and becomes (I would think) a very hard substance that would be very hard to remove. It would be interesting to see the "carpet removal" process. As I commented in the beginning of this web log, I think I could learn how to do this entire bottom job project.
Our wives will do land duty in the chase truck (haha) and witness the hauling (we hope). It will be an all day adventure for sure. This will be my first time piloting through the locks, but I feel a lot more confident knowing Henry will be there to guide me through.
Feb 21 2008 --- My new issue of "Good Old Boat" magazine (great mag!) just arrived and there is a good article named "Choosing the Right Antifoulant". I read the article with great interest. It confirmed that we're on the right track with Interlux ablative paint. This should render a smooth bottom that will slough off as the boat moves through the water, shedding green growth and muck as well as exposing biocide that makes it difficult for growth to re-form. It mentions that Pettit Trinidad (what John B presently has) is a Hard Epoxy Ester that should be sanded before applying a "polishing" or "soft" ablative paint like Interlux Fiberglass Bottomkote. I can believe that.
Feb 23 2008 --- Henry and I pushed off from Wheeler Marina at 0930 and headed towards J's Landing. I figured it would take about 5 hours to get through the lock and motor across Wilson lake, almost to Wilson Dam. This was a good estimate as it took between 4 and 5 hours. It was about 40 degrees and overcast - it did not warm up during our trip. Both of us had to add layers of clothing and we still got pretty cold. Locking through Wheeler dam was pretty easy, although the lock master took his sweet time getting us through. It took over an hour. We arrived at J's at about 2:00 and I started looking for Mike. Ran into Russ Hudson and he told us Mike had gone to get some lunch. We checked out a very large steel hulled Chris Craft that Russ is working on as well as his new mobile (trailer) workshop. Mike arrived and was munching on his fried chicken when I told him we had arrived. Things swung into action as Mike called James to come help him run the travel lift.
James is the guy in charge of the workers at J's Landing (don't know James' title) and he showed up in about 40 minutes. James told me to undo my backstay and back the boat into a concrete and steel (deep) area so the travel lift would be able to pick it up. James began rigging the slings of the travel lift as Henry and I used the jib and main halyards to take the place of the backstay (the backstay would have come into contact with the travel lift). I backed John B into the slot and James got the travel lift into position. I came ashore. James and Mike had obviously done this many, many times and I felt comfortable with their handling of the lift and my boat. As the boat was slowly lifted out of the water, it became apparent that the bottom was covered with growth. The old bottom paint showed through in about half of the wetted area. It was my first time seeing the bottom side of my Cal 2-25 and I was pleased with it's shape. Nice deep fin keel and an efficient, full shape to the hull. It has a "built up" area from the trailing edge of the keel, aft to the spade rudder from about 4 to 2 inches deep. I could see why this is such a sweet sailing boat. Henry commented that he liked her lines. The travel lift and JohnB were driven over to a work area as Mike readied the pressure washer. Excitement over seeing the sweet lines of John B turned into anxiety as the muck was removed with the pressure washer. Blisters were revealed from the waterline down onto the keel. No pattern was apparent, but there were (by James' estimate) about 200 dime to quarter sized blisters
in the gelcoat. Bummer.
I should note here that I did not have the boat hauled for inspection or a survey done on John B before I purchased her. This is not the correct way of buying a sailboat, but we're talking about a 25 footer that's 28 years old - a survey with hauling and pressure washing charges was equivalent to 1/5 or 1/6 the cost of the boat. I didn't feel it was justified, but as it turns out, the blisters would have been a good bargaining chip during purchase. Oh well. Rest assured, if I were buying a boat for $10,000+, I would have it hauled and a survey done.
My lovely wife Neysa drove us home after a stop in Florence at Rosie's for dinner. I had already been reading about bottom jobs and blisters, but now my research intensified. I found two Cal 2-25's online that had very similar blister issues (a buncha small ones). Both were repaired by their owners (something I cannot do as discussed earlier). One fellow actually removed ALL of the gelcoat and cut into the fiberglass layup and then recoated (6 coats) with epoxy. The other guy did the
traditional "grinding out and filling" method. Both worked and they reported no more blisters (2 years later) but the cost and incredible amount of DIY work seemed like overkill.
Feb 25 2008 --- Jeff called me and asked how I'd like to proceed with the John B. I asked him to give me a quote for repairing all the blisters. He came back with a quote of $1,950 for grinding out all of the blisters, filling them with epoxy, adding a barrier coat (or maybe 2) and then 2 coats of ablative bottom paint, which according to my research is certainly in line with the job at hand. A fair market price. I had done my research, looked at my bank account and consulted with my
wife and sailing buddies. I came to the conclusion that I would have Jeff and the guys a J's Landing stick to the original plan and NOT fix the blister issue. Although it goes against my motto -- "a job worth doing is worth doing right" -- I decided that I had moved up to the John B to get experience sailing, do some racing and have a good time. Big money spent on fixing blisters was not in the plan. I know what the bottom of the John B looks like. It has blisters that might slow her down a bit. I could gain that time back by losing 20 pounds from my pudgy body. They might grow or multiply over the next 10 years (or not). If they were repaired, who's to say others might appear? We'll never know. I plan on enjoying this boat for years to come. After all, as one old salt told me "I've never heard of a boat sinking because of blisters".
Feb 27 2008 --- I called Jeff to see how things were going. He said they had popped a few blisters that "were easy ones" and said that they would probably be ready for me to pick the boat up on the coming weekend. This would make for a one week turnaround.
Mar 1 2008 --- I got the call from Jeff saying the John B was complete and ready to pick up on Friday. Neysa and I had been expecting to pick up the boat. Neysa'a Mom gave us a ride to J's landing. We arrived to find the boat slung over the water, ready to splash. I took several pictures. The blisters were still visible, but the bottom now had a very nice surface. Hopefully we wouldn't be doing this again for a good while -- like a few years. Jeff's son and I exchanged money and paperwork. He then lowered the John B into the water. Neysa and I loaded the dog and our gear in and we prepared for the return trip to Wheeler Marina. The 9.9 Merc fired right up (as always) and we started putting home. he trip back was much more comfortable. The temps were very nice and the sun was out. The ride back took 4 hours and getting through the dock was a breeze. We burned about 3 gallons of fuel on the trip to and from J's.
