I have just received an email threatening a defamation lawsuit from my post about a year ago entitled “Be forwarded…There is no Justice….”. In that post I highlight the extensive corrosion that my newly purchased boat had hidden below its paint that the surveyor was unable to identify. In that post I named the negligent surveyor. Until I am able to seek legal advice I have removed his name.
Stay tuned!
Goderich 35
I can see some light at the end of this tunnel. Still a lot to do but in the final month or two of preparation and repairs.
The boat will be shipped to Florida early December 2018 where I will complete what is necessary to get me on the water and sailing. The remainder will be completed as I travel. I can wait no longer.
Today I installed some new cabinet doors built by my brother to replace the plastic sliding doors that existed previously. The beautiful VBirth door was also made by Duncan. The satined glass whales are courtesy of my later mother and mounted onto a stained glass mosaic by my sister Heather. I am lucky to have such talented and creative family willing to help when they can.
In a letter I was to pen to the Marine surveyor that was hired to asses my boat formerly known as Artful Dodger, I wrote….. “Although you have prevailed in this proceeding it is my sincere hope that you have learned to have a less cavalier and more professional approach to future surveys of vessels. I do not know if you indeed have the required knowledge to professionally assess a vessel adequately or are just lazy. However your attitude and professionalism has been poorly demonstrated. The consequences stemming from your lack of professionalism may have had even more serious consequences than the extensive time and money I have been subjected to in order to correct your failings. God forbid that in the future others suffer more serious, life threatening consequences…”
I have struggled with the idea of calling out the surveyor based near Kingston Ontario, for quite some time now. Initially I was quiet because of the legal action I had brought against him for the extremely deficient survey I received from him for the boat formerly known as “Artful Dodger”. I feel the public should be warned of the real harm that can be done and so I have posted a warning to research well before you hire a marine surveyor.
It is incredulous that the Judge sided with the surveyor’s main witness in believing that the extensive corrosive decay I found after the purchase of “Artful Dodger” was the result of stray current corrosion. This witness had only seen photographs of the corrosion. Many of which you can find in this blog in earlier posts. It is impossible for anyone to unequivocally state from a photo that the corrosion occurred at a particular time. Without a doubt it did not happen in the few months I owned the boat as it was hardly even in the water and I cared for as one does a new child.
At a preliminary arbitration the judge at that time said that, and I paraphrase… “There is no Justice in the court if that is what you are looking for.”
I will soon include here as a PDF attachment my evidences presented to the court and the court’s decision against my case. I will let you decide. I would however caution each of you to research the surveyors you intend to hire. Surveyors come with all maner of Certifications. Some real, some nothing more than a purchased document.
Stay away from anybody that appear to be training. Instead hire an ethical professional.
It has been so long since I made a posting. Partially due to being too busy with boat repairs and work but also due a slight despondency with the overwhelming amount of work to do. I am no expert nor would I even describe myself as a competent beginner. I am but a guy trying his best to figure out how to do things. I spend countless hours in consideration of projects before finally deciding an approach and carrying it out. You tube has been a great learning resource but even with the good advice found here I find myself doing a project 2 or even 3 times to get it close to right. If you eve come on the boat please don’t look too close. I think i will have to shoot video of her with a nice soft focus filter 😛
I have finally installed the anchor chain diversion system to direct the anchor chain closer to midship and out of the bow. It takes up a bit of room and has decreased the space in the V birth but I think I will gain much better balance and a much lighter bow. The V birth will mostly be for sail storage unless I have guests on board as it is pretty small for me to use as a birth. The chain is 300 feet of BBB 3/8 inch and weighs almost 500 lbs. The Rocna anchor weighs another 73 lbs. Thats a lot of weight at the very front of the bow.
There is much left to finish the area still. I am going to fit a roller below the bottom of the hawse pipe to help keep the chain aligned and of course the cabinetry needs to be completed. Including making cushions for possible use for sleep.
It was a damn cold winter and that too provided some challenges in repairs.
After much consideration I have decided to change the name of the boat to Mica after my daughter Micaela. I have been fortunate to have been reunited with her after many years of her absence from my life. She was always in my heart and thoughts and I knew this day would one day come but I am very happy it is many years earlier than I imagined.
Herb, Skipper s/v Mica
The cockpit in the Goderich 37 reminds me a lot like a big square bathtub. Although fairly deep it is only about 6 feet long by a little less wide. It is a tight little area that makes it cramped for entertaining more than a couple people at a time so I won’t be have big dinner parties on board thats for sure. But the small space does provide a sense of comfort and safety while sailing in big seas. It is going to be pretty hard to knock me overboard deep inside this little tub 🙂
The original paint sure needed a refresh and brightening. But additionally there were a few minor rust areas that needed attention. It was a few hours work scrapping off the old paint. Initially I was only going to do it in patches and slap a coat of fresh paint over everything. But as with most jobs once you get into it more and more work reveals itself and requires much more effort. I ended up having to scrape of all the top paint right down to the zinc coating with a few places ground down to remove any pitting and rusted areas.
I started first with the a sander and the needle descaler but surprising these need up rather slow. The tool that worked the best was simple elbow grease and a wood chisel. Who knew? Well I do now. The chisel will be my go to tool for the rest of the deck which I will soon have to turn my attention to.
I am quickly running out of time and summer to get the boat ready for departure. In fact I have resigned myself to setting out in early October, before completion of the Sea Gypsea, to catch the last days of the operation of the Erie Canal that runs through New York State. Because I still have to work for a living, or rather work to pay for boat repairs, I have had to return to work for the month of June and into July. I am currently in a Northern Ontario First Nations community called Sandy Lake. I will return to the boat in a few days and have an additional 6 weeks to work on her before yet again having to return to the cold reality of work.
The Erie Canal system that runs from the Hudson River to both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie will be my route out of the Great White North before the snow flies.
The Erie Canal, original known as the New York State Barge Canal, began construction in 1817 to provide a cheap transportation route for bulk goods. It now serves as a wonderful recreational waterway through New York State and best of all a fast way out of dodge for many sailors heading south for the winter.
I had navigated the canal only once before after a circuit route to Newfoundland in 1997 when I participated with the Newfoundland Flotilla for Cabot’s 500 Anniversary of the discovery of the New World. I sailed with this flotilla of boats from Lake Ontario to Bonavista Newfoundland then returning to Toronto via Nova Scotia and the Eastern Seaboard and ultimately up the Hudson and Erie Canal. I still remember the smart ass shouts of the passing southbound sailboats…. “Hey, you are headed the wrong way” as I meandered the canal heading north into Lake Ontario and the coming winter season. I wonder if I will be able to call out to a north bound vessel and taunt them in return come this October?
My plan is to head down to, I think Charleston, South Carolina, to complete the boat in the warmth with the knowledge that I am free on the cold ice grip of winter. I expect the remaining repairs will take another month, perhaps 2 allowing me a final glorious departure to ports unknown in late December or January.
For most of my journey south I intend to take the Intracoastal Waterway and am quite looking forward to seeing some interesting countryside that would otherwise be overlooked by a purely Ocean passage. I think it also prudent to take this route as the Sea Gypsea II will be untested as I was unable to finish her for sea trials this summer.
I am caught in a current that is sweeping me toward the distant haze of my childhood dreams.
The dream of sailing the world has been so long in my psyche that I feel I had been born with it. In my youth I would often feel in a melancholy mood and wonder if I should not have been born at an earlier time in history. A time where the globe stretched like countless waves into the haze of distance beyond ones knowledge. I always dreamed of traveling by sea to lands yet undiscovered to marvel at the newness of the landscape and the strange ways of the indigenous people.
The world today seems simultaneously immense and tiny when considering an adventure circumnavigating the globe by sailboat. Once, great men defying all odds undertook passages into the unknown and with heroic effort of will returned to tell their strange tales. Soon a not so herculean man will voyage into the unknown aboard a small sailboat named Mica. The s/v Mica will travel into an unknown that is both foreign and familiar. Familiar by default of the many over the millennia who have gone before and returned to their homes with the riches found afar. Riches I could read about, watch on documentaries and latest still, watch in real time on You tube and other social medium platforms. And yet to me it was as distant as the moon.
I am now so close I can almost feel the waves rocking me towards the future. I am caught in a current that is sweeping me toward the distant haze of my childhood dreams. Soon the boat will be re-fitted and complete enough to begin the journey. Soon I too will marvel the familiar ports of yet to call.
To celebrate my journey I had for many years now thought I would commemorate the occasion with a tattoo. I have been considering a design for a very long time and I am now considering immortalizing the s/v Mica in ink upon a most personal canvas. To that end I tripped upon a website called Fiverr and found an excellent illustrator going by the name jowyanderson (https://www.fiverr.com/jowyanderson). He was able to produce an excellent image for me and was extremely easy and helpful to work with. Thank you Jowy 🙂
The slide show above shows the progression of images. From his image I am sure I will be able to find my tattoo, and logo for the boat.
Progress is slow as I am redesigning it on the hour with each new piece cut out and welded in. I really wish I knew how I manage to measure things incorrectly so often when I am living by the rule of measure twice and cut once. Well it just aint so. I measure 3 or 4 times and yet I am often cutting twice 😦 Thank God welding can help make up for my incompetence. Speaking of welding…. I am slowly improving. I think one major mistake was I wasn’t providing enough power as I was fearful of burning through the steel. I finally turned it up for the gauge and I am now getting much better results albeit my aim still needs improvement.
Manufacturing with steel has some distinct advantages over a fibreglass boat as I can easily (well relative for me) weld the dodger directly to the cabin top. With fibreglass I would be drilling holes and bolting it down with back plates, so I think this is somewhat easier and probably stronger. Now that I have the framing structure in place it is very strong and stable.
I initially considered using plate steel as the roof but I have changed my mind and will now use 3/4 inch plywood as it is much stronger, stiffer actually, and will allow me to stand on top should I need to. I can also insert sweet little windows in the roof flush with the surface by routing a recessed edge.
Yesterday I went into the big smoke to pick up my electronics. It felt a bit like Christmas until I had to pay for them. The it felt a bit like bankruptcy 😛 I will begin installing the hydraulic auto helm in a day or two by manufacturing a base in the lazerette. I can’t start to install the electronics until I get out of the indoor storage as I will have to cut some holes in the steel and the management at the harbour won’t like that too much. Hopefully I will get outside this week. Maybe it will warm up and dry out a bit too. Wouldn’t that be nice 🙂
I am quickly running out of time. I have to return to work the end of May. Bills to pay you know. I figure I have another 2 good weeks to dedicate to the refit. I do have to complete a recertification in Controlled Substances for work and that will be a pain in the butt that no narcotic can alleviate. Aa well the last few days in May I will have to knuckle down and review for the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course I have to do.
Next week…… Autohelm installation 🙂
“Bad news me thinks Cap’n”.
I have yet again another major repair to undertake before I sail off into the wild blue yonder.
A short time ago I was examining the anchor rollers in their twisted metal Frankenstein like frame to determine how to best manufacture a new and better system than what is there at present. Upon removing a stainless cap on the nose of the bow I noted some rust and a possible hole. When I poked my finger into it the bondo (can you believe it) the previous owners had stuffed in to keep the water out (Hehehehehe…really!) crumbled away revealing a good sized gap. I could literally put my finger in it making me feel a bit like the Dutch boy trying to save his village from the flood streaming out of the dyke.
I now know one of the inlets for the major intrusion of water into the boat that has been the cause of all my repairs and the major headaches.
If you look a little closer you will see something even more disturbing…….
Notice how the deck appears pulled up at the plate where the tack of the sail is attached (silver plate in centre). Well…. This plate had not been welded directly to the stem of the boat and either through the tension of the forestay or a head on collision directly on the bow has caused the deck to buckle. “Bad news me thinks Cap’n”. Any real force applied to the forestay… I am thinking maybe a storm at sea and a very real chance of a DEMASTING 😦 and possible loss of LIFE!
The repair will entail cutting back the wood capped toerail a good 6 inches on either side, cutting a substantial portion out of the bent deck at the tack attachment bar, welding an extension onto the tack bar and welding this directly to the stem which terminated right below the deck. I then of course will need to patch the hole in the bow by welding further patch into the boat…. What?… That makes this about the 12th hole 😦
I have finally realized how appropriate it was that have named the boat the “Artful Dodger”. As Jack Dawkins replied to the perhaps naive Oliver, “Huh! A Friend’s just an enemy in disguise. You can’t trust nobody”.
It is unbelievable what some will do for money!
MISSION STATEMENT
Providing coastal and island support and humanitarian aid to disaster-hit people, using boats to deliver food, fresh water and medical supplies to help coastal communities until governmental or large-scale relief arrives.
While following some of my favourite sailing Vlogs, of which the you tube channel SY Zero is high on the list, I came across this interview with Ray the main organizer of IRG.
Check out the interview and the IRG website (http://members.internationalrescuegroup.org)
What a mess I found after removing the floorboards. Rusted holed hull, rusted stringers, old corroded and foul pipes.
It is now starting to look fresher. I am Building a new holding tank out of plywood and fibreglass. The old tank was aft of the head below the bilge but too was rotten and poorly plumbed with hoses coming and going everywhere. It was removed and now I can use that space for heavy storage and future expansion of a water desalinator. The new holding tank will be above the waterline behind the head but hidden by a removable wall. It will be gravity drained which will be very helpful while off shore.
I haven’t decided what to do with the walls. Any suggestions? I was thinking a clean simple look of white as it is or even pine wainscotting or even stainless steel… Hmmmmm?
s/v Mica 