Gel coat cracks?
We just noticed that Rainshadow has a bunch of small cracks on the topsides near the toe rail. Yikes!
Chronicles of Rainshadow
End of Summer Cruise
This cruise was special, not only because it was the end of summer cruise with great fall weather, but because it was the first trip of our new sails – yes, that’s right. Rainshadow has a new set of skirts!
Fresh Water Tank Repair
The problem was that our fiberglass fresh water tank (located in the keel under the cockpit sole, about 100 gallons volume) was blistered and had spider cracks. It was still sound, but the water quality was poor due to the styrene leaching into the water from the venting blisters.
We figured we had the following repair options:
August Crewed Trip to the San Juans
My last posting ended with a question – will our guest crew turn out to be lubberly or salty? After nearly a week in the San Juans, the answer is – Jonathan, Lianne, Chris and Max all get high marks as sailors!
August Crew Has Arrived!
Our dear friends from the UK have arrived to join us for summer fun during the month of August. Too bad the weather is a bit grey and dodgy, but maybe it will improve.
Second Trip to the San Juan Islands
This summer got off to a slow start. Anyone from the PNW can tell you the weather was rotten till early July. And I made the mistake
A Double Double Rainbow
I’m sure most people have seen a double rainbow – in good conditions you can see both the primary rainbow (caused by diffraction of light exiting a raindrop after a single internal reflection) and a “secondary” rainbow, caused by diffraction of the light after two internal reflections. But have you seen a “double double rainbow”?
Alternate chainplate design ideas
Looking forward, it’s pretty clear that eventually our chainplates will need replacing. Crevice corrosion is almost impossible to stop, and is likely to lead to eventual failure. Whether that is one year from now, or twenty is not clear. We still have nine more chainplates to pull – the first three showed modest corrosion. What if we pull one and it’s in terrible shape??
Adding a Fuel Polisher
A few months ago, we had our fuel tank professionally cleaned. We vowed to keep the fuel clean so we are not stranded by our trusty Perkins when we need it most.
A Week in the San Juan Islands
We’re just back from 8 days of sailing in the San Juan Islands. It was a fantastic voyage, and full of ‘firsts’! Okay, okay, the weather just stunk. Heavy rain, grey skies, 50ish F. What happened to that nice weather of a couple weeks ago?