Historic Gardner's Basin - Take Two!

Slo Poke at the Parkertown Ramp before the aborted launch attempt.

Our third cruise with the Nomad starts today, and it promises to be a good one. Mr. "Nimble Nomad," the newsletter publisher, and his spouse, Kathy, are meeting us with Slo Poke in tow. The plan is to launch in Parkertown and be underway by 0900. 

I've been looking forward to meeting Bill and Kathy and to cruising with other Nomads. Today's fun was delayed a bit because the ramp was too steep at high tide. Bill was down the ramp as far as he dared without sinking the truck and Slo Poke didn't even have her tail feathers wet.

SUNSHINE and Slo Poke at Gardner's Basin.

Short of waiting three hours for mid tide and another try, there was nothing we could do. Bill had a back up plan. He knew of a ramp of the Great Egg Harbor River that was suitable. He and Kathy set out for that ramp which he estimated to be about forty-five  minutes away. 

Meanwhile, Anna Marie and I finished provisioning SUNSHINE. We were underway by 0915. Our goal is to travel at 3000 rpm to check the speed and fuel burn rate. Our speed topped out at 9.0 mph with a tail wind and current pushing us along. In the flat calm river that runs through the salt marshes, our speed was in the mid to high 6's (6.5 to 6.9 mph). After four hours of motoring, the needle didn't move off of "full." We'll calculate the burn rate after the next fill up.

Slp Poke - lookin' good!

We made it to Atlantic City at 1315 hours. Kathy and Bill called to say they were underway at 1130 hours and that they was passing through Margate. They were tied up at 1540 hours. They certainly had a long day!

We thought that we'd " Do AC" tomorrow. Today we'd get to know each other and check out the boats. SUNSHINE looks shabby next to Slo Poke. Her topsides and hull sparkle and shine. SUNSHINE's hull  by comparison, is blotchy and faded. The topsides are fade too. It's as though the hours I spent bringing up the hull back to a nice shine,  seems to have been for naught. 

I'm going to see what else I can do the bring a sparkle back do the boat. 

Saturday, August 23, 2014 - DO A/C! 

Marina District Skyline!

After breakfast, we took the Jitney to New York Avenue for our first bit of business for the day. We purchased a sheet of ten enior tickets for the Jitney. We then walked the boards. we went north to Pier 1 then south past the Trump Plazza then north to the Revel for the  $6.00 shrimp basket. Everyone enjoyed the shrimp and afterward, it was time to do more walking. We walked south all the way to Trump Plazza unwittingly passing our exit.  We had to back track one block, left the boardwalk,  then turned west and walked two more blocks to the Walk. We continued to do just that (walk) looking at the sights and gabbing the whole time. After skipping all but the Bass store, we walked two blocks to the east where we caught the Jitney for the quick ride back to the marina. We dined at the Back Bay Ale House after which we sat down on the sea wall for another gam before heading to the boats for the evening.

Sunday, August 24, 2014 - Twenty-two Minutes in a Washing Machine!

After breakfast at Gilchrist's, we returned to our boats, said our good byes, and prepped for departure. Bill and Kathy beat us out of the marina by about about twenty minutes. Bon Voyage, friends!

We had to attend to a low oil alarm. That’s funny because I filled the reservoir only five motoring hours ago and it still looked full!

A quick check of the manual and we had our answer. When the oil runs dry (we won’t let that happen again) the motor will run for five hours after which, the alarm will sound. The solution is to prime it. We followed the procedure (it was very easy) and in less than five minutes, the Evinrude e-Tec was purring like a kitten and all systems were go.

We pulled out of the slip and as we rounded the corner from the marina into the inlet area near the Coast Guard Station, we were greeted by a one foot chop with the wind, 15 knots of wind, on the nose, and one - 2 foot chop.

I am happy to note that the boat handled the chop very well. It was very stable and although I expected some pounding of the flat hull, there was none. We easily made it into the part of the NJICW that goes through the marshes of Brigantine Wildlife Preserve. Even though 15 - 18 knots of wind was on the nose, we were traveling at 7.3 mph @ 3000 rpm, obviously getting a boost from the current which was opposite the wind.

The next challenge was Great Bay. We would power into the wind that whipped up some serious white caps created by the longest fetch of the trip. It took us twenty-two minutes to make it to the salt marshes off Osbourne and Mystic Islands. We encountered some boat and wave runner traffic in the marshes. It was a delightful ride and a nice respite from the chop in the bay. 

As we entered Little Egg Harbor Bay, the chop returned. It was short and on the nose again. The boat handled it very well. Even with the fetch of Little Egg Harbor Bay, we were very comfortable, stable and there was none of the expected pounding.

As we neared West Creek, we had to motor through a Hobie Regatta out of Spray Beach Yacht Club. There were about fifty boats. Back in the early 1980’s there were over one hundred Hobies participating in the Spray Beach Regatta. Witnessing the regatta brought back a lot of fond memories.

We tied up in our slip at 1245 hours after another nice trip to Atlantic City. We enjoyed Kathy's and Bill's company. He really knows his Nomads and many of the Nomad owners and we enjoyed hearing his stories. I've read all the news letters and he helped me connect names of people with their boats. Regarding M/V SUNSHINE, we were very impressed with how she handled the wind and wave conditions.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

Hobie racing on Little Egg Harbor Bay.

SPLASH!

SUNSHINE is floating! I had every intention of photographing the launch but when we reached the ramp, several squadrons of green head flies began a coordinated arial assault. Thousands made it through our meager defenses. Between our launching tasks and swatting flies, there was no time to take pictures. Once in the water, the Evinrude E-Tec started right up. By the time we reached Little Egg Harbor Bay (a couple of minutes) there were hundreds of dead green heads littering the sole. We motored about for a bit before heading to our slip.

We’ve been experiencing very low tides for the past few days. At dead low, there are only a few inches of water in our slip. We arrived at our slip in the West Creek Town Dock at 1400 hours. Dead low tide is 1630 hours.We made it into the slip, but the bow was in the mud and we were about six feet from the bulkhead. We tied up and got off. There were only a few green head flies around, nothing like Parkertown! 

Josh and Rose seemed to enjoy the boat ride. The highlight for them was getting splashed on occasion.

Here are a few interior shots of the salon area:

Lights reinstalled, book shelf and pictures are hung.

Cushions and throw pillows are aboard.

Fans installed.

Getting Close!

We are finally putting her back together. Here are a few pictures of what we've been doing since the last post:

BEFORE: Helm Station

AFTER - Helm Station

AFTER: Seven coats of varnish

BEFORE: Galley

AFTER: Galley (notice the countertop and the water pump)

BEFORE: Anchor platform

AFTER: Anchor platform

BEFORE: Chart table

AFTER: Chart Table

What's Happening?

This problem was found under the anchor platform. 

Good question! We continue to work on the boat. By now, we thought it would have been in the water, but each minor project seems to turn into a time consuming affair. Take the bow pulpit for instance. In an effort to spruce it up and give it more life, I thought it should be varnished. All of the hardware had to be removed, including the grill receiver, anchor lock, cleats, Sampson post and bow roller. To repair a stress crack in the gelcoat, I needed to remove the whole anchor platform. Two of the bolts were seized and the heads broke off. When I finally got the assemble off, I found major delamination. In addition to the stress crack, I now have to repair the area under the platform.

Repair of a "minor" stress crack turned into this.

I found another problem while attempting to repair a stress crack in the radius where the cabin house meets the deck. While grinding fiberglass to address the stress crack, water started pouring out. I continued to grind away until all the water was released. The small six inch crack turned into an eighteen inch area that will need new glass and gelcoat. 

Anna Marie apparently wasn't impressed with the ceiling (after I spent thirty hours sanding and polishing it) so she painted it. Actually, she misunderstood my request to do two little touch up spots while she had the paint open for the project she was doing. The paint job didn't turn out well, probably because she applied the paint to the freshly waxed ceiling. She removed some of the paint, but I couldn't devote another thirty hours to sanding the rest of the paint off so we repainted but this time the ceiling was properly prepared. It looks much better and after the third coat.

Small stress crack under repair.

The head interior is finished and the Airhead composting toilet is installed. I used the old holding tank pump out deck fitting for the vent. I just need to finish the custom made cap to keep water out. The vent fan will be powered by a reacharable 12 volt motorcycle battery. It won't draw power from the house battery and I can hook up a solar charger to it when it needs to be charged.

In the meantime, all of the exterior handrails, hatch boards and navigation light boxes have been sanded and have had seven coats of varnish. They look great. The trim and doors are all that's left. It should take a day to sand and three or four days to apply seven coats of varnish.

I also removed the starboard picture window and I have to take out the port window again. It seems that one corner still had a leak. I'm not sure if my caulk job is the culprit. The gaskets are pretty we'll deteriorated and may be causing the problem. We are going to take the windows to a glass plans to have the gaskets replaced.

Airhead vent

I'll need a couple sunny, light wind days to do the fiberglass work. Then we should be pretty  close to a launch date. Of course I still have to finish oiling the interior paneling, reinstall light fixtures, install the new fans, but that should take too long.






Finally, there is some sad news to report. The Mallard eggs were expected to hatch sometime on Memorial Day weekend. Early Saturday morning, just before sunrise, the hen flew away, presumably to feed. While she was gone, crows swooped down and devoured the eggs before we could do anything about it. The hen returned shortly to discover her eggs smashed. She hung around for several hours but our activities (cleaning the deck and furniture) convinced her to nest elsewhere.

The teak box covering the Airhead vent needs a teak cap.

Hopefully she'll have better luck with her new nest.

Wax On... Wax Off!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I celebrated by finishing the compounding and polishing of the hull. Tomorrow, I'll apply a coat of wax and the hull project will be finished, except for a couple of spots that will be filled with gel coat. 

By the way, I finished the ceiling last week. I'll post a photo when I remember to take the camera aboard.

The Mallard continues to nest in the flower pot. The kids check on her every few hours to see how she's doing. When she flys off to get food, they go out to count her eggs. She's still sitting on eight eggs.

My boat refit activities aren't bothering the Mallard. Recently, I've been sanding, waxing and polishing the hull. I'm below the deck so she hardly knows I'm there. I try to limit the munger of times I get on board and I'm very quiet when I open the door. Sometimes, she doesn't even know I'm there. At other times, she ignores me. She rarely looks in my direction as I climb aboard. 

There's a Duck In My Flower Pot!

Friday, April 25, 2014 - No Work… Here’s Why!

That’s right, the boat refit project has been delayed for a few days, and not by choice. A Mallard has taken up residence in a flower pot on the back deck. The boat is only a few feet from her nest and every time I get on board, she flies away.

We checked on line to see if we could find out how long she'll be nesting.

Here’s the story:

Mallard Nesting Behavior

I'm assuming your duck is a mallard. Few wild ducks of other species seem to nest around homes, but even if they do, their behavior is similar enough to the mallard that the following should cover them as well. If you are dealing with a Muscovy or other domestic breed, all bets are off...go see your local farmer or pet dealer for information.

Wild mallards typically nest on the ground, in tall grass and shrubs. Occasionally we find nests built on piles of decaying vegetation in the middle of a wetland. Even less frequently, they will nest in trees, most commonly in old crow or hawk nests. Man, of course, has provided all sorts of nesting structures that are placed in wetlands and designed to protect nests from predators. These are heavily used by mallards in some locations. Perhaps with brood after brood of ducklings hatching in artificial nest structures, it is only to be expected that some will also take up residence on a flower pot on your front porch or on your second story balcony. One other point on nest location: mallards are philopatric, which means that the hen frequently will return to the site of last year's successful nest; this may have implications for next year if you had to relinquish your barbecue to a mallard this spring.

Be that as it may, Ma Mallard typically lays one egg per day until she has accumulated a full clutch. Early in the nesting season, a full clutch averages 12 eggs. Hens that lose the first nest will commonly nest a second (and even third or fourth) time later in the summer; these "renesting" hens generally lay fewer eggs, commonly 8-10. The first few eggs are laid in a shallow "scrape" in the ground. As laying progresses, Ma will add grass, twigs, and copious amounts of her own down to the nest, resulting in a well insulated and surprisingly well camouflaged nest bowl.

During the laying period, Ma visits the nest for only about one hour per day. While there she lays an egg and works on nest construction. Don't be concerned if she skips a day. She does not incubate the eggs during the laying stage. Because no embryo development has occurred, weather conditions in her absence generally have very little effect on the clutch. An exception is a hard freeze, which may kill the embryos if it occurs before the hen has insulated the nest. Once she has constructed a nest bowl, she will cover the eggs with nest material whenever she voluntarily leaves the nest. This behavior makes the nest less obvious to predators, and protects the eggs from temperature extremes.

Incubation begins after the clutch is complete, and typically lasts for about 25-29 days. During this period she will usually cover the nest and go off to feed for about an hour each morning and afternoon. As hatch date approaches, she will begin to feign injury if she is disturbed. This behavior evolved to lead predators away from the nest...once she is a safe distance from the nest, her "broken wing" will miraculously mend, and she will return to the nest as soon as the danger has passed. This behavior is fun to watch, but be aware that she is risking real injury in the process.

Because no incubation occurred during the laying stage, all viable eggs will hatch within 12-24 hours of one another. After a short period of brooding the ducklings at the nest, Ma will lead the gang off to her chosen wetland. This may be up to 3 miles away, so don't be surprised if you don't see "your" brood on the pond right behind your house...she will take them to where she has found the best source of aquatic invertebrates to feed them. Not uncommonly, one or more unhatched eggs will remain in the nest bowl. Some of these are infertile; others are "addled" (eggs in which a partially developed embryo died during incubation). Discard the leftover eggs, but do it carefully; gas buildup in an addled egg can cause it to explode when handled, and the results are not appetizing.

By the way…if you are wondering about Pa Mallard, he's off looking for an unattended female during most of this. He and Ma stayed together during selection of the nest site and the laying process, but as Ma began to leave him for long periods during incubation, he gradually lost interest and flew the coop. Not politically correct, but that's nature for you.

Prior to today, she was apparently laying eggs; as mentioned in the article, one egg per day. She'd be on the nest for two or three hours and then leave until the next day, when she repeated the behavior.  In eight days, she laid eight eggs.  She started laying on the nest today, so we think she’ll be less skittish. Hopefully, I won't scare her when I get on the boat to work.

Progress Report!

All the wood paneling is sanded

Wood paneling all sanded

Portlights polished

Floor sanding just beginning

Ceiling restoration underway

As of today, the two big projects are sanding the ceiling and floor, but we also have to reseal the portlights. I can do the sanding anytime, but recalking the portlights will be done on  one of the warmer, less windy days because one of us has to be outside. The boat is pretty much torn apart. All of the projects currently underway create a great deal of dust. Finishing varnish, wax, paint, oil, will have to wait until all sanding is finished and the clean up too. 

Welcome Spring... The Project Moves Into High Gear!

Spring arrived yesterday and it's time to move the project into high gear. Of course the 50 degree temperature predicted for today should help!

repacking the portlights

I worked on the Nimble for a couple hours today. Anna Marie and I replaced the gasket (3/8 x 1/4 neoprene sticky on one side from McMaster-Carr (less that $8.00 for 50' under $15.00 with shipping) in the two starboard oval portlights. We then removed the outside rims and laid in fresh butyl. Then we put it back together, only now, two screws were too short due to the thickness of the butyl. We managed to get it together temporarily.

After the portlight project, I experimented with a variety of grits of sandpaper on the ceiling. I settled on a light sanding of 180 grit to remove some of the paint and will follow with 220 to remove the rest of the paint. The I'll use ever finer grits until I get to 1500. A coat of polish and wax and the ceiling will be finished.

Cabin lights after 800 grit sanding and polish.

While watching TV in the evening, I cleaned and polished two of the cabin lights. I wasn't sure how to bring them back to life. The Brasso wasn't nearly as effective as it was on the portlights. Coincidently, Capt.  Mike (Boston Belle Charters) posted pics of his refurbished lights on the Nimble Nomad Owners Facebook page. He used 400 grit wet/dry and polish. I used 800 grit and a brass polish (Brasso). They look pretty good!

Detail of Teak Stain on Fiberglass!

Stains like this are all over the fiberglass at most of the places where the wood meets the fiberglass.

After the use of a razor blade, some water and 600 grit sandpaper, the stains are gone!

There’s no easy way to get rid of these stains. It just takes time and effort. The tools to accomplish the task are a razor blade, a spritz of water and 600 grit sand paper. That and perseverance will get the job done... in time! 

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Snow and ice have slowed work on the project!

Work has slowed considerably in the last two days. After four to six inches of snow, a freeze settled in and it is cold outside! By the end of the day, all but the hand sanding of the paneling was completed. I even was able to start sanding the fiberglass headliner in the forward area of the cabin. It had been painted white. Pits, stains and imperfections detract from it’s appearance. I plan to sand off the paint. Then I’ll hand sand it with ever finer sand paper ranging from 600 to 1500 grit wet/dry paper. After that, I’ll polish it with super duty rubbing compound, Finesseit II and then a final coat of pure wax. It’s the same treatment I’ll do to all the interior and exterior fiberglass.

The sun allowed some of the accumulated snow to melt and I found several leaks. Anna Marie and I cleared all of the snow off the boat. We’ll address the leaks as soon as we get a warmer day.  

Yikes! It's COLD!

This port (and three others) developed small leaks.

Rehab of the Nimble Nomad Begins!

The third day of the rehab of our 1992 Nimble Nomad is in the books! It’s still chilly outside, so all of the work is being done on the interior. With the electric heater running it’s fairly comfortable inside. Commitments unrelated to the rehab have limited our work to about three hours a day. Some of the work is tedious and time consuming. It took about forty-five minutes to polish one port and there are six of them. You do the math! There are five brass light fixtures are left to be polished. The most tedious task involves removing teak stain where the floor and side paneling meet the fiberglass.

The boat came with these galley cabinets.

The galley cabinets have been temporarily removed for installation of a new countertop.

Most of the trim wood has been removed, labeled and stored in a safe place off the boat. The small head and three-quarters of the port side paneling have been sanded and the interior fiberglass has been compounded. We still need to polish and wax it. The navigation instruments and VHF radio have been removed and stored for safe keeping. Except for tools, the boat is pretty well stripped out. 

A trial fit of the Airhead composting toilet indicates that it will work well in the small head compartment. It will be installed after the floor pan receives a fresh application of gelcoat and the wood has been varnished. 

In summary, the work is progressing nicely. There have been no major surprises and the work has been rewarding. Based on the results to date, we are optimistic that the boat will look new, at least on the inside! 

Work on the exterior will have to wait until warmer weather arrives.