John William's 37VT68 new Screen Doors

From John Mackie, John William

Screen doors almost done. Window trim in salon up and varnished. 

Hiaqua Gets a Makeover

Randy Miller, Hiaqua 37VT03

rfmillerdesign@gmail.com

Yes, this whole project is starting to wear us down, but after seven weeks inside the paint booth, Hiaqua had a "coming out" celebration yesterday.  The top side of the hull painting is complete, however the bottom is still a little too wet to paint, so it will sit outside for a month to dry out more.  Hopefully that will be enough and we can complete the bottom work.

We bagged the whole boat to keep out the dust and to assist in removing moisture. The bulwarks was also full of moisture.  Heat was piped into the interior along with a dehumidifier running 24/7. As you can see from the attach pic, the bottom was also a big mess.  Layers of buildup hard coat bottom paint and slapped on patches.  The hard coat just flew off with a chisel, thus uncovering hundreds of small and many larger blisters. Surprise!! The yard wanted to plane the entire hull below the waterline and let it sit for, who knows how long (2, 3, 4 or 5 months).  Instead we elected to chip off and sand the entire bottom and re-evaluate the blisters, so the bottom was tented and piped with heat and another dehumidifier was running 24/7.  After a couple of weeks the moisture had gone down dramatically in the bulwarks, as well as the hull above the waterline and below the waterline was going down too. During this period the bulwarks was opened up, dried out and reworked with glass as well as the scuppers and hull prep.  Finally, the topside was painted with Awlgrip and yes, I replaced the sad looking bronze rub rail with stainless.

2016 NW Cruise-out planning

 From Macy Galbreath

vp@LNVT.org

We had a great brunch at the home of Tom Blackwood and Janis Bialko last Sunday and a big turn-out.  At that time, Bill and I presented an idea for a NW Tugger Summer Cruise rather than a rendezvous similar to what we have done before.  We had started talking about a cruise last summer at the rendezvous in Port Orchard and it was welcomed as a great idea last Sunday.  We hope you agree and plan to join in.  The idea is that the fleet will cruise together casually for about 10 days up into the Canadian Gulf Islands with boats joining us along the way and dropping off whenever they need to.  We are looking at a combination of marinas and anchorages.  We have not yet nailed down anything and want your input!!  Attached is a draft with some tentative dates and locations.  See where you can fit in.

Here is a short summary of the stops.  For detailed information, see the attachment.

Nights 1 & 2:  Langley on Whidbey Island at a marina

Night 3:  Cornet Bay Marine State Park east of Deception Pass - dock space or anchoring

Night 4:  Deer Harbor at a marina

Nights: 5 & 6:  Montague Harbor at a marina or anchoring

Night 7 and perhaps 8:  We have some choices: Ganges or Genoa Bay for 1 night or Telegraph Harbour for 2 nights at marinas

Nights 8, 9 and/or 10:  Sidney, BC at the marina  (accessible by ferry from Anacortes)

1.  Most people at the brunch favored the July schedule.  Would you be interested and able to cruise: June 18 - 26 or 27 or July  9 - 17 or 18?

2.  Would you want to include Telegraph Harbour, BC and therefore extend one day?

3.  Do you have other places you would like to suggest instead of the ones listed?

4.  Are you interested in participating in this cruise?  Or not?

We would like to have a tentative count of boats and whether we should plan on June or July dates in the next week or so.  We will need to try to get tentative reservations at the marinas once we have some idea of when and how many.

Q & A:

1.  When will be Tug Talk?   We have planned two nights at a marina at the beginning and two nights at a marina at the end.  Both are accessible by car for those wanting to drive and have various kinds of accommodations.  They will also offer us a chance to gather at breakfast and talk tug issues and upgrades.  While cruising we will probably have ample time to talk more!!

2.  Where will we go through Customs? You can clear Customs right on the way between Deer Harbor on Orcas Island and Montague Harbour on Galiano Island, BC at Poet's Cove/Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island, BC.  (For those having a Nexus Pass for each person on the boat, you can clear at Montague.)

3.  Do I have to sign up for the whole cruise?  No, just sign up for the things you can attend.  If you are working and can only do the weekend at Langley or the following weekend in Sidney, BC, just plan to do one of those.  Some people might want to head further north once we are in the Canadian Gulf Islands.  Others might want to continue cruising in the San Juans.  It is up to you  The only important thing is to let us know your plans so that we make the necessary reservations and can expect you. 

4.  What if I have never been to a LNVT event or cruised into Canada?  This will be a great event for first timers.  We will have a planning event to figure out food, what to take and what can't be taken into Canada.  We will also go as a group and will review charts and courses for each stop during the cruise. 

Please let us know what you think and whether we should sign you up - also which month is best.

Macy and Bill

vp@LNVT.org

Winter Projects

Allan Seymour (Sally W 37VT42) prepares for his 8th year of ownership.
Photo by Sally Seymour

Tug Art Work

The sight of eight Lord Nelson Victory Tugs gathered at the 2014 Rendezvous in Olympia, Washington sure got a lot of attention.  Those tugs were captured in a drawing by Jeff Orlando which appeared in the Fall Tuggers issue, number 65.

Many owners contacted Bicki Howell (Editor, LNVT Association) about the art work with questions about the artist and wondered how they could get a copy of it.  She contacted Jeff and learned he was born in Buffalo, New York and had fond memories of the Erie Canal as a child.  He always thought it would be fun to cruise through there as well as to complete the Great Loop.  Jeff said, "I love to draw boats with character and all the tugs there at the Olympia Yacht Club docks were a natural."   Jeff graciously offered that our owners and members were welcome to use or share the image (shown on right) without restriction.  You can download it at the following link: https://goo.gl/Peoi0q 

If you have any specific questions about his work, you can contact Jeff at:  jeff.orlando@gmail.com

An Engine's Marine Age

Is the number of engine hours the best measure of an engine's age?  The following is from John Mackie, John William 37VT68:

I found an interesting article about engine age.  This pertains mainly to after cooled engines but is still interesting.

Charter an LNVT 49

Mary K. 49VT02 is available for weekly charter from Ship Harbor Yacht Charters,  Anacortes, WA.

Hat tip to Tom Blackwood, Thistle Dew 37VT46 for passing this along.