Preparations of Boat and Sailor
First views of boat
I first saw the boat, neglected,
in a corner of the boatyard in Gregg Neck on the Sassafras River,
a tributary of the Chesapeake in February 2002. I could see that
it was a well-made boat, but it had not been maintained recently.
The cover had collapsed on the deck, the deck was missing much
of its toerail, the engine was missing entirely, the sails were
underneath the boat, sitting in snow and ice. The bilge was black
with oil and scum. There was no head, or stove, the wiring that
was left was a mess of spaghetti. But the boat had such a pretty
shape to it, and I new that the original designer and builder
were highly regarded. It would require much work to ready it for
sea, but work was what I could do, and the price was right. Within
a week, I was owner; within two weeks, Jack Walsh and Joe Gallagher
were helping me to clear the boat of debris, to clean it out and
build a protective cover against the winter, under which I could
get started on rebuilding.
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| Son, Dan, sanding off 30 years of bottom
paint |
JPF getting topsides ready for son-in-law,
Joe McPoyle to spray paint. |
My plan was to start from the bottom
of the boat. Danny and I spent more than 100 hours removing old
paint, and old paint and more layers of old paint. It seemed that
we'd never get further than the bottom. We applied 6 coats of
Interprotect moisture barrier, and then two coats of Micron plus
bottom paint. Next the topsides - sanding down to gelcoat, epoxying
and fairing. Then brother Jim and I putting on Awlgrip primer,
before son-in-law Joe McPoyle with Kathleen's help, sprayed on
the two-part Awlgrip making the boat look in its dark navy hull
color, shiny and renewed. Danny and I repaired the deck next,
and awlgripped that. Replaced the old crazed port lights with
1/4 inch Lexan. Jody and I re-bedded and reinstalled all the deck
hardware.
Inside, Jack Walsh, Danny and I replaced
the chain-plates support - these are the braces that hold the
wires that hold the mast up. The triangular wooden braces were
compost - over years water had seeped down the wires and into
the wood rotting it entirely away. We replaced and fiberglassed
the whole structure of the six chain plates.
In October, we re launched the boat,
and the first winter, with much help, I rewired the entire boat,
and mast. Then rebuilt the head, and reinstalled the galley.
Wickes
Wescott, owner of the Gregg Neck Boatyard, told me that there
was an old diesel engine in a wrecked boat, that with some work,
might suit... A Danish built Bukh 10DV - 10 horsepower, single
cylinder engine - I would be a year and one half from the time
Wickes mentioned it, until it was rebuilt, parts found (Denmark,
Columbus Ohio, Deale Virginia, Toronto Canada) installed and operating.
It is a sturdy little engine that pushes the 12,000 pound boat
along smartly at about 5 miles per hour. It will, more importantly,
recharge the batteries, during the long ocean voyage.
The sails were sent to Sail Care
of Eire PA who restored, cleaned, put in reef points and repaired
seams. Vince Townrow of Havre de Grace rebuilt the standing rigging.
Son, Jody, then nephew Michael Ferry, helped rebuild and install
the toe rail.
In October 2003, with the sails (no
engine yet) Joe Gallagher and I sailed the Falcarragh. It was
the first sail that she had had for over 3 years. We tacked up
the river, reefed down, into a strong west wind, then flew back
wing-on-wing to our mooring.
During the time I was not working
on the boat, I was studying - wind and weather patterns over the
north atlantic, gulf stream movements and meanderings, chance
of gales at different times of year. Reading about the experience
of other small boat sailors that had crossed the ocean - Slocum,
Pidgeon, Gerbault, Montessier, Knox-Johnson - circumnavigators,
Robert Manry in Tinkerbelle, the voyage of Sopranino. Many have
done it, some have even rowed across - Chay Blythe and Captain
Ridgeway. I read of polynesian navigating procedures, dead reckoning,
celestial navigating processes, and the more recent GPS technologies
for finding one's way through distant waters.
Falcarragh ready
The past few weeks have been a time
of final preparations - installing radar, installing autopilot,
testing life raft and emergency beacon, signals and flares. Also
setting up safety equipment - life vest, harness, jack lines;
these are ways to insure that I and the boat do not get separated
from one another. Niece, Laura Lee Swan, has given me a bag of
first aid supplies, with hopes that I'll need none of it.
Soon it will be time to bring aboard
clothing and food. My sister Eileen is thinking through diet and
nutrition matters. Left to my own devices, it would be coffee
and pretzels and canned soup - that would be breakfast, lunch
and dinner, I'd vary the meals with stovetop stuffing and V-8
juice.
