Merry Launchmas!

The launch went off without a hitch! I was able to burn a half day at work to pick up the boat so I could get Jep rigged for the 4 o'clock launch. I chose to launch at the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (MCSC) as their launch fee includes stepping the mast. When I haul the boat out in the fall, their fee includes de-masting and power washing the hull! It's a great deal.

After routing my new halyards, boom topping lift, Lazy Jeps, flag halyard, and a few other miscellaneous items, we got Jep in the slings. The slings were not exactly centered on the boat, but it allowed Pete to use his air gun to finish painting the swing keel and other areas of the bottom. I was unable to change the keel control line. I'll make another attempt at the end of the season.

Both Mike and LT came down to help, so of course, we had a celebration beer once the mast was in place.

Mike and I motored out of McKinley, through the harbor and up the river to my slip. The wind was blowing about 20 knots straight out of the west. Unfortunately, where my slip is on the Milwaukee River, the river runs east/west. I have never in my short time here in Milwaukee seen the current of the river so strong! Mike and I did a bit of a crash landing, but she was in! Let the post-launch projects begin!

Jep Is Ready For Launch

Today Chad and I put the final touches on Jep before the launch this week.

I arrived at the barn in East Troy around 9 this morning. Two weeks ago, I applied oxidation remover to the starboard side of the boat so today I completed the port side. Oxidation remover does exactly what it says - removes any oxidation from the surface of your fiberglass. Oxidation creates a dull, hazy finish on the surface of gel coat.

After the oxidation remover was applied and buffed off, Chad and I secured the shore power inlet. When we originally started the shore power project, we were unable to completely secure the shore power inlet to the boat because the holes in the back plate (for added strength and security) were misaligned. Today we drilled through the back plate to give us some "wiggle room" and bolted the inlet to the boat.

The next project was to attach the halyard organizer plate to the deck. To complete this project, we had to remove the mast step plate as a template so we could drill the necessary holes in the organizer plate to attach to the deck. After destroying a couple screws, we finally got everything put back together.

We then took the mast off of the boat and laid it out on the grass. This allowed me to rig the topping lift for the boom and install the main lines for the Lazy Jeps.

Once we got the mast back on the boat, the barn owner pulled the boat out of the barn with his tractor. We applied a coat of wax, attached the rest of the exterior bright work (wood) and filled a couple areas with marine silicone! DONE! I'm hoping to be in the water by Friday!

Jep Has a New Bottom

This weekend I completed my bottom painting project. The process started 6 months ago when Chad and I stripped the my bottom using 80 grit sandpaper and a wide variety of foul language. With that part of the equation complete, the boat went into winter hibernation.

Three weeks ago I began the blister repair. According to BoatSafe.com, "water being absorbed through the gelcoat and fiberglass laminates in the hull causes blisters. Once thought impervious to water, it has been discovered that constant contact with water can cause it to be absorbed through the gelcoat from the outside and through the exposed laminate on the inside of the vessel (from standing bilge water). The water absorbed causes changes in the physical makeup of the hull and reacts with the resins, which build up residues and finally raise blisters by increased pressure on voids between the laminate and the gelcoat. This is what you see on the hull. This phenomena usually starts occurring, although it may occur earlier, from the fifth to tenth year after the manufacture of the boat. It occurs when boats are left in the water for long periods of time and happens more frequently in fresh water."

Luckily I only had a few blisters and 3 of them actually began to de-laminate the fiberglass. I sanded the gelcoat completely down to the fiberglass and used Marine-TEX epoxy putty to fill the blister.

The next weekend, Drew and I came back to barrier coat the boat. After we did a once over on the hull and sanded down the blister patches and any other imperfections, we mixed up the epoxy-paint and began to roll. I used Interlux 2000E barrier coat. This stuff has the viscosity of pancake batter but is very easy to work with. I found that mixing the paint and hardener in a milk jug and pouring into the paint tray as needed worked very well. We applied 4 very thick coats and let it cure for a week.

Yesterday was time for the Interlux VC17m Extra bottom paint. The paint combines copper and Teflon to create a super hard, smooth finish perfect for racing sailboats. It also prevents slim and other marine growth from growing on the bottom as Jep sits in the river all summer. It's noteworthy that VC17 drys in 15-20 minutes!

To get the paint ready for application, you mix a bag of copper powder (provided) with the paint. Again, we mixed the two components in a ketchup bottle. I was told the best way to apply the VC17 was to squirt the paint from a ketchup or mustard bottle directly onto the roller and apply. I would love to see someone make this work because we definitely could NOT! We decided to use the paint tray and only squirt in as much as could soak into the roller. The paint will literally evaporate before your eyes, so this method of application allows for as little waste as possible.

Painting the bottom of a boat with practically zero experience proved to be a challenge. Here are a few lessons learned from the endeavor:

1. Sanding the entire bottom of a boat is about as fun as smashing your head into the corner of a hard object
2. Wait for bottom paint to go on sale at West Marine (I did and saved a boat load - no pun)
3. Don't forget to bring beer
4. Applying barrier coat isn't much more fun than lesson 1 above
5. Apply VC using THICK coats
6. When applying VC with the roller, roll in 1 direction (not back and forth)
7. Apply VC using THICK coats

Here are a few before and after shots. You can click on them to get an enlarged image.

Lazy Jeps

Various sailing hardware companies such as Harken, Lewmar, Schaefer, etc. produce Lazy Jack kits that sell for $200 to $300 (Lazy Jacks make "flaking" or folding your main sail easier as you drop the sail). Once you have been around and used Lazy Jacks, you realize that there is absolutely NOTHING to them. So why on earth would anyone pay an inordinate amount of money for something you can make yourself for about $40?

Enter "Lazy Jeps."

First off, who the hell is Jack? I don't know Jack (no pun), I don't like Jack, and Jack is probably some tofu eating, PBR hating sissy that has no place on my boat.

I'm not sure where I was going with that. I'll try and stay on point going forward.

After being appalled at the prices of these kits, I hunted around the Internet and BINGO! Harken was nice enough to publish the manual to their small Lazy Jack kit (for 21' to 28' boats) which conveniently gave a parts inventory and directions on where to place the hardware on your boom and mast. I drew the fancy diagram using Paint one night when I was, um, not doing much. Here are the parts and approximate costs for MY Lazy Jep kit:

-100 Ft. of 1/4" braided nylon and polypropylene rope (Home Depot - $12)
-2 Harken Micro blocks (West Marine - $8 a piece)
-5 Stainless Bimini eye straps (Marinepartdepot.com - $10)
-1 cleat (Free - I had an extra)
-12 1/2" #10 sheet metal stainless screws (Home Depot - $3)

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a "cost effective", do-it-yourself Lazy Jep kit!

Happy Easter!

I've got plenty of updates but they will have to wait. Tomorrow I'm going down to the boat to do some blister repair so we can paint the bottom in the next couple weeks. So...bottom paint and barrier coat are expensive! Holy @$%&!!!

Anyway, I arrived home today after work to a long, narrow box leaning against my front door. The return address was from Pentwater, MI, so I had no clue what it was. Turns out my folks sent me a little Easter present! Wipe your dirty feet before you step on my boat or your ass is walking the plank! Not really...but actually yeah...welcome aboard!

New Neighbor?

In a story first reported on MLB.com, it appears that left fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, Ryan Braun, is venturing into the restaurant industry. The name of his new establishment will be Ryan Braun's Waterfront Grill and will replace Fratello's Waterfront Restaurant, 102 N. Water St., in the Third Ward. This happens to be directly across the river from Jep. I'm not exactly sure what a left fielder knows about being a restaurateur, but if Brett Farve's Steakhouse in Milwaukee (which is now closed, by the way) is any indication of how well a professional athlete can manage in that industry, I'm not overly optimistic. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong.

A Slip Patiently Waiting in the Cold

After running some errands on Saturday, I thought I'd stop by the slip and do a little day dreaming. Looking at the countdown clock on the blog, there's only 73ish days until the launch! This assumes the boat is launched on May 15th. If at all possible, I would like to get in the weekend before. We'll see. I couldn't hang around and day dream for long because it was too dang cold!

As you can see from the picture, the floating fingers of the dock have been removed. There are slips further down the river that are left in year round, which is surprising given the amount of ice that moves down the river in the winter months. As of now, I do not know my exact slip assignment. I'm hoping to be somewhere in the middle. Either way, it's a huge improvement over EZ Storage!

Readin' and Day Dreamin'

I can honestly read this over and over. The author of the article does a terrific job articulating the story about crossing Lake Michigan. Their trip over to Michigan sounded very similar to our crossing last year for the Queens Cup. It's tough to describe the feeling of being in the middle of Lake Michigan at 3 a.m. with calm seas and 10 knots of wind.

Every time I read this I can't help but imagine the quintessential moment of the Queens Cup. It was around 3:30 a.m. Half of the crew was below deck taking a cat nap while the rest of us were keeping our eyes on the wind and sails. I was sitting on the port side of the boat in the cockpit as we were on a port tack. It was about 50 degrees and dew was forming on my foulies. As my eyes were getting heavy, the song "Sailing" by Christopher Cross came on the radio. The timing was impeccable! The night was clear and the stars were amazing. I sat there and drank it all in - along with my PBR!

Crossing Lake Michigan