Mandolin is back in the water!

Day 78:

Ellen: We finished sanding the areas where the pads had been. Then it was
time for the nasty solvent wash and then Interlux 1000. Part of the 1000
needed to go under the keel, which, of course, means lying on the ground.
Fun. Four hours later, we were able to wash and sand these same areas. I
look forward to the day I won't need to hold a random orbital sander a few
times a week. I would say I'm done sanding such hard surfaces as epoxy and
1000, but we will be fiberglassing the bottom of the dinghy in a few days
with, you guessed it, epoxy. Joy.

We had thought of applying a few coats of Interlux 2000 tonight, but it
was past 6pm when we finished sanding. So we decided to call it a day.

We have a 4-foot deep bilge, and since we don't have 4-foot long arms,
anything dropped in the bilge stays there. While hauled out, we've managed
to get all sorts of bolts, nuts, wrenches and tie-wraps out of the bilge
using a friend's wet-dry vacuum. To avoid this problem in the future, we
decided to fill the bilge with foam up to the point where we can reach the
bottom. To this purpose, Todd has been investigating various forms of
expandable spray foam. We finally decided we needed dry foam that we would
hold in place with the expandable spray foam. So when we saw, on the
beach, a huge chunk of foam encased on two sides with cement, we were in
bilge filler heaven.

This piece of foam and cement was about the size of a couch and must have
been part of a dock in its past life; it had washed up on the beach next
to the boat yard. I sat on the beach enjoying the view and wondering why
we hadn't walked over before now while Todd went into hunter-gatherer mode
with a knife and paint scraper. He even brought a bag to carry his booty
home. Who would have ever thought that beach debris would become a part of
Mandolin?

Day 79:

Ellen: Oof. 5:30am is early. But by 6am there was enough light to paint
by, so up and at 'em.

We applied 7 coats of Interlux 2000 to the pad areas today. It requires 2
hours of waiting between coats, so we would work for a little more then
1/2 hour and then take a long break. Not terribly difficult work, but we
started mixing at 6:30am and finished our last coat at 8:30pm. And then it
was time for the bilges.

While I painted all the coats, Todd was busy filling our 4 foot deep bilge
with our scavenged Styrofoam. He had already epoxied and sanded the more
forward bilge areas, so they were ready to barrier coat. When I was done
with the seven coats we had more than enough to coat these forward areas.
I had the easy job of holding the light while he squished grey 2000 all
around the bilges. I remember the fun I had of fiberglassing these same
areas and knew he would have sore muscles.

It was after 9pm when we finally left Mandolin for the night. We had a
bilge blower sucking air out and a big fan above our forward hatch blowing
air through the boat. The fumes from the 2000 are quite toxic and we want
them to go away as soon as possible.

Day 80:

Todd: After our late night last night in the bilges, we slept in this
morning. When I finally was able to get through the fume induced fog from
the 2000; I started a coat of bottom paint on the propeller. Yesterday we
applied several coats of the 2000 to the propeller as a primer coat and if
you put on paint before the 2000 completely dries you get a chemical bond
instead of a mechanical bond. This is called hot coating. For the
propeller I think it is appropriate, but on the hull we chose not to do
this but wait for the 2000 to dry completely then sand before applying
bottom paint. We have heard of some boats blistering due to hot coating,
but felt that the propeller should be safe and could use the extra
adhesion offered by using this method. I then went into town to get food
for the kittens we are taking care of on Cutter Jones. I also purchased
some fiberglass for the dinghy and bilges, some primer for the dingy, and
was able to find a bike shop that had a tire pump that we need for Ellen's
bike. Once back I had lunch with Ellen before a quick nap. The trick for
the afternoon was to trim away the excess expanded foam in the bilges. I
took an old knife and bent the tip at a 45-degree angle so I could run it
along the sides of the bilge and get a nice curve out of the foam. This
will make it easier to lay in the glass on top. After consulting with
Ellen we decided that we needed another can of expanding foam for the aft
edge of the keel. Once that was purchased and sprayed in I got to work
sanding the 2000 on the outside of the hull and put on the first coat of
bottom paint.

We are trying to schedule Friday or Saturday to go back in the water, but
found out Saturday does not have a good tide, so Friday it is. Also we
asked what our final bill would be. Everything was correct on it except
they decided to add another $210 for sanding that was done by the yard. I
explained to them that this was unacceptable since all the sanding they
did was to correct problems that they caused themselves trying to cut
corners. We also need to let them know that we saved them a huge number of
man-hours by doing so much of the fairing ourselves. I am sure we will get
it resolved, it is just upsetting that they try to get away with stuff
like this. We will keep you posted on the outcome. I didn't mention that I
might let the wrath of Ellen descend upon them if they didn't remove that
charge. Maybe I will save that for tomorrow.

Day 81:

Todd: We got up at first light to paint where the pads had been on
Mandolin. After that we had coffee on Rick's boat then started in on the
dinghy. After all this work on Mandolin our dinghy has been feeling
neglected so today we spent on the dinghy. Ellen and I finished sanding
the old peeling paint off, then spent the rest of the day adding a layer
of fiberglass to the outside of the whole dingy. This went quite well, but
was a big project. After our showers this evening I went and talked with
Eduardo. They are not charging us for the sanding so we are back on track
for our original quote. Tomorrow will be the last coat of bottom paint we
will need on Mandolin before we go back in the water. Perhaps after that
we can finish glassing the bilges where I put the foam in.

Day 82:

Ellen: Another milestone: the last of the bottom paint is on Mandolin. We
celebrated with coffee and croissants at the French Bakery. I wasn't sure
I would be happy as we still had so much work to do in the bilges; but I
was very happy to sit at the bakery and know that the bottom of Mandolin
was all done and looking beautiful.

And then it was time for to glass the bilges. I assisted Todd by cutting
cloth and mixing epoxy, but he accomplished the difficult part of actually
putting it into the bilges. What body breaking work. He also painted the
previously barrier coated parts of the bilge with Interlux Bilgekote
paint.

Day 83:

Ellen: Today Todd painted a second coat of Bilgekote in the forward
bilges. Then we sanded the dinghy together. Then I continued sanding the
dinghy while Todd sanded and washed the fiberglassed areas of the bilges.
And then I mixed barrier coat and Todd applied it in the bilge.

We had just left the boat when Grover and three of his friends showed up.
Grover brought graphite oil for between the propeller and the propeller
shaft. So now our propeller is on! Hurray. Then Bruce and Elaine from Iris
happened by while we were finishing the prop. We were interested in
trading outboard engines, so they had sailed their dingy over from Marina
de La Paz. We took turns testing outboards on their dingy as Abu was not
yet painted and decided to make the trade. They wanted more horsepower and
we wanted less.

I then mixed more barrier coat and Todd applied it to the bilges. Ugh. A
long exhausting day indeed.

Day 84:

Todd: Another busy day starts out with me applying Bilgekote paint to the
aft part of the bilge. Now we are in cleaning mode. I vacuumed and washed
the sanding dust off the dingy while Ellen washed the decks and rigging of
Mandolin. Next came the primer coat for the dinghy. Somewhere in their we
purchased and hooked up a new set of golf cart batteries to the charger.
We splurged for lunch at the French bakery and split a sandwich since
neither of us felt up to cooking something. A struggle ensued as we put
the rudder in and found that we put too much barrier coat in the rudder
tube, so after sanding a bit and several more tries the rudder was finally
on. Instead of drilling holes in the hull to mount the strainer over our
intake thruhull, a friend suggested we just glue it on with 4200 adhesive
after sanding away a bit of the bottom paint where it would go. We will
see how long it lasts. I spent the rest of the afternoon rounding up
plumbing fittings for the Engine/Watermaker thruhull. It is like a puzzle
getting them together. So much so that I took a photo of the finished
product so that I can label which order it has to be undone in order to be
removed. Untwist the assembly from the thruhull 1/4 turn, remove the
furthest elbow, then untwist the assembly another 1/4 turn before removing
the T from the ball valve, then the whole unit can be removed. Wow. Ellen
made us rice and a salad for dinner. It was tasty and didn't require too
much effort. Will we really go in the water tomorrow? It is so exciting to
think about. Of course we still have much to do. Hook up water hoses for
the engine/watermaker, reinstall bilge pumps, another pass of bilgecoat,
sand and paint the dingy, measure the cutlass bearing outside diameter,
install the radar on the mast, pay the yard for their work, the list goes
on. Now it's time to get some sleep for tomorrow is the big day.

Day 85:

Ellen: Well, it's true. Mandolin is back in the water and looking good. By
the end of the day, I am almost too tired to laugh. The morning saw Todd
hooking up the engine water intake and me running a few times between
Mandolin and the Marine Store with various pieces of hose in my hand. The
cockpit and down below are still disasters when it's time to pay so we can
go back in the water. I had had visions of a tidy boat when we launched,
but it was not to be.

I dug into my wallet and Todd's wallet and then found a bit more money in
our backpacks aboard Cutter Jones so I could pay the bill in cash. Todd
had agreed with Eduardo to pay the full bill and then for us to return at
a later date for the money they owed us for our stolen sandals. I didn't
like this agreement and was thinking up all sorts of reasons why the money
needed to be taken off of our bill. Many possible conversations ran
through my mind while gathering the cash. I decided to be as pleasant as
possible and put on the slightly stupid "gee, I just don't understand" act
until I got my way.

Luckily, it was far easier than I had feared. Eduardo told me the final
bill was $449.00USD. I said, "Yes, minus the $100 dollars for the shoes."

"Oh, that is how you would like to do it?" Eduardo asked.

"Yes, please, that's how I would like to do it." I replied.

And that was that. He charged us $349USD converted into Mexican Pesos at
an excellent exchange rate. Cool.

And then it was time to go back in the water. By the time I left the
office, the tractor and trailer that moves boats was on its way to
Mandolin. We watched while they removed stands and back the trailer under
Mandolin. It's very scary to watch the weight of your vessel get
transferred from stands to trailer. After working so hard, we were praying
that nothing would go wrong at this point.

Then it was time for Todd and I to go aboard, the ladder to come off and
Mandolin to get driven through the yard. We stowed as much as we could
down below to get our cockpit usable. Our friends told us when the rudder
was touching water and then the keel and then the prop. We threw docklines
to our friend on the ways. I felt the stern begin to float off the trailer
as Todd ran around down below checking thruhulls for possible leaks.
Everyone was congratulating us on floating, but we had to make sure we
weren't sinking. Todd gave the all clear and we were truly floating and
safe at last.

The engine kicked over on our second try. Brown ucky water came out the
exhaust; I watched until it ran clear. Engine works. We caught the lines
back aboard and motored around to a small dock to wait while the yard
hauled a boat out of the water. We planned to then go back into the dock
in the ways where we would put up the mast. We docked, tied up Mandolin
and were met with hugs and congratulations from our friend. What now? Our
good friend, Kim, declared a lunch break at the French Bakery, an
excellent choice. It was a chance to relax, rehydrate and refuel before
the work of putting up the mast.

Todd: Before we went in the water Chris and Kim from Jasmine Isle helped
me paint eyes on Mandolin. The tradition is for eyes go below the
waterline so the boat can see where she is going and avoid running into
things. Now Mandolin sports a nice pair of Interlux green colored eyes.
After we were in the water we had to move out of the way so another boat
could be taken out of the water before we came back into the ways to put
up the mast. In our maneuvering we backed into shallow water and stuck
the bottom of the keel on the ground. Grover pointed out that perhaps we
should have painted a pair of eyes on the back of Mandolin and perhaps the
bottom of the keel as well. What a good idea, perhaps next time when we
are out of the water. So now we have the first ding in the paint. It's
OK since it was going to happen sometime, not unlike the first ding in a
new car. Now we've got that out of the way.

Back in the ways (where boats are taken in and out of the water) we had
help from several of our friends to help raise the Mast. Of course we
couldn't do this before spending over an hour trying to run a length of
coax wire for a VHF radio antenna up the inside of the mast. After
several tries we were finally successful. Next came attaching the boom
and it's bridal to keep it in line with the mast. After the electric
winch was hooked up we raised the mast. It was a wonderful moment since
Mandolin now looks like a real sailboat again. Now it's time to
celebrate. Ana and Rennie from Cassiopeia presented us with a bottle of
champagne to rechristen Mandolin. The cork flew above the spreaders
before a liberal dowsing of champagne on the foredeck, anchor and wait,
what's this, Todd gets a hold of the bottle and pores it all over Ellen's
head. Ellen promptly returned the favor, and then got Grover who has
helped us so much. What was left in the bottle was consumed, followed by
a case of Modelo cervesa. Fortunately we had nine others to help out.

Update: Mandolin has now enjoyed a cleaning with lots of fresh water
during our one night stay at Marina Palmira where we also had a party for
all those who helped us during these trying months. Now she us happily
resting at a mooring in Marina Santa Cruz Bay while we finish cleaning,
organizing and making her ready for the ocean again. Next door (mooring)
is Jasmine Isle with Chris and Kim who used to be our neighbors in Oregon.
Life is very good now.

Todd and Ellen Mandeville
S/V "Mandolin" - Cal 34

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