Off-season kickoff & the new tender

This weekend I promised myself to get started with several of the major projects that I had planned for the boat. Over the summer, as we'd taken trips to the islands, some of the really pressing problems made themselves clear. For one, Nevermind's ground tackle isn't great. With a 22 lb generic plow at the bow and a cheesy 20 lb Danforth at the stern, we aren't going to ride out the perfect storm at anchor. Furthermore, the chain portion of the rodes was in marginal shape and the rodes themselves weren't long enough.

Another major problem - it's hard to cook well on Nevermind. There's no fixed stove. In fact, there's no stove beyond the sea swing, on which you're lucky to boil water. Poaching an egg would be an incredible feat. Also, stowing all the pots, pans and other cookware is a problem: there is plenty of space in the galley lockers, but poor access and no subdivision.

Yet another tricky matter: the head just wasn't right. Nevermind was built in 1963 when direct overboard discharge was the norm. That's fine but not legal today and also not compatible with exploring in the Channel Islands. Besides, the head itself was an ancient Raritan PH1, probably original equipment to the boat, and somewhat leaky.

There are questions about the rig. It's in decent shape overall, but the chainplates are doubtful. The port shroud has a newly broken strand. Corrosion is widespread on the boom, and the dodger interferes with the boom's swing.

Nevermind needs a tender or tenders. The old one lies on the ocean floor near Point Conception, yet another victim of that infamous cape.

Finally, the engine needs some attention. It doesn't have major problems that I know of, but it's time for it to get a thorough renewal. All belts and hoses need replacement, the valves need adjustment, the motor mounts are shot, and it's out of alignment. The starting battery is shot. The primary fuel filter is better suited to gas than diesel and takes up too much space. There's no strainer on the raw water intake line, and the raw water pump impeller needs replacement.

This weekend was a chance to get started - to jump in with both feet. The boat was covered in ash from the Day Fire, so I spent the first few hours Saturday cleaning the decks. I also opened up all the cockpit lockers, cleaned everything out of there, and scrubbed them down. The dock box got cleaned out and organized. I replaced the lost bow hawsepipe cover with a new one from my spares box, but it still needs a retaining line of some sort to keep this one from being kicked over. I took care of a few small things, like removing and measuring the tiller for replacement (I plan to have H&L fabricate a new one), getting a new shore power cord and reel, and cleaning out the bilge. But the proudest accomplishment was the removal and disposal of the ancient Raritan head. It's gone.

In between all this work, I managed to test out the new tender: my new Folbot Yukon folding kayak. One thing's for sure: there's not much else that tops the coolness factor of showing up with a couple of bags and 15 minutes later paddling off in a sleek kayak you put together from the parts in those bags.