River Running and Shakedown

650 miles of dodging debris is exhausting

I started my adventure in Mary Annie from Little Rock Arkansas two weeks ago.  My wife Amy and I left on a cold and windy Thursday morning and headed down the Arkansas River.  We spent three days on the Arkansas and one day on the Mississippi before she left for home. We had a great time together.  I continued with a friend.  It took 6 more days to make it to New Orleans and Lake Ponchatrain.  The Mississippi River was intimidating.  It was running at 34 feet with very strong currents and trees floating along side us.  We averaged about 11 miles per hour with a max speed of almost 15 mph!  I have been working on the boat doing a final shakedown on Lake Ponchatrain and will continue on toward the Bahamas Feb. 11.   I will post a detailed description at:

The Adventures of Mary Annie

Cheers
Pat

Who said the lower Mississippi River is "ugly"?

Watching the sky show

Caught on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans at night.  I come inches from taking my mast off on the last draw bridge.

Arrive at Orleans Marina around 10 pm.  Very happy.  Very tired.

A Postscript

I started out with very little knowledge in boat restoration.  What I had was experience in woodworking, painting, plumbing, and electrical from my work in construction.  I had also built 4 small wooden boats; three  16 foot McKenzie River drift boats and one Doug Hylan designed 13 foot Maine Peapod.  I used three main books for reference during this project, Don Casey's This Old Boat, Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, and Beth Leonard's The Voyager's Handbook.  I also talked to boat owners and read blogs on the internet and of course Googled.

The 1974 Hallberg Rassy Rasmus 35 Hull number 337 was in serious disrepair.  It was a wreck.  It took me 5 years(2.5 years part time and 2.5 years near full time) to turn it from a wreck to near new condition.  The work is documented here: www.lizardheadone.com.  Everything on this boat was replaced except for mast and boom, a few cleats, and the interior cabinetry(I did replace the galley cabinetry).  I did 99.999% of the work myself.  It took thousands of hours in labor, tens of thousands of dollars, and energy and motivation that at times became hard to come by.  This project became a grueling marathon that never ended. But it did.

The transformation started almost immediately after stepping the mast.  My body released the tension and anxiety that had built up over the last two years of restoration.  My legs went weak.  It was actually hard to stand for a few hours.  A sense of calm and satisfaction was replacing anxiety and stress.  The boat restoration had taken it's toll on me.  The burden of a job of this magnitude was lifted and it felt good.  Now it's time for ME to rehab.

In hindsight, I would have taken another coarse in becoming a boat owner.  I would have purchased a boat in better condition for starters.  One with a nice equipment list.  One that would take far less effort to bring back to condition.  There was no financial advantage to buying a low cost boat and rebuilding it. With all the advantages that I had (boat shed at my house, woodworking shop, time, and sufficient funds) the project was almost too much for me.  I had doubts many times about finishing.  Posting my work on the internet really helped in keeping me motivated.  I heard from folks around the world and they gave me encouragement and advice.  Thank you.

This restoration project did, however, give me a enormous sense of accomplishment. It also gave me knowledge necessary to repair any system on the boat.  I really know this boat.  This project was a journey in itself, and even though I doubt I would ever attempt something like this again, I believe I will always be glad that I did it.  ONCE.

Cheers
Pat

Mast is stepped

I hired a boom truck to step my mast a couple days ago.  Everything went very smooth, even though I have never stepped a mast this large.  The crane operator was good.  He used nylon webbing only and started just above the winches around four cleats and put a half hitch there, then went up just above the spreaders and put another half hitch and one more half hitch about 6 feet from the top.  No damage to even my windex.  Pics below.

Some fisherman came up to the boat while fishing and asked if I got a new boat, I said, "No, it's 38 years old, with the last 5 years of its life being restored.  I extended it's life by 10 years and took away 10 from mine."

Mast Step Orientation on Hallberg Rassy Rasmus

I asked a question about mast foot orientation and received some answers and some more questions.  I have learned from initial replies that the connection of the mast to mast foot on the HR Rasmus varies between hull numbers.

First let me clarify some terms(from Selden Mast):
Mast Step is the hardware bolted on the boat to accept the mast.
Mast Heel is the fitting on the base of the mast that fits on the mast step.

From the information provided me I can say that on all boats the mast is connected to the mast foot by one bolt which bolts through a hole in the mast step and a corresponding hole in the mast heel.  My guess is that they don't use two bolts in this configuration because it would stress the  bolts as the mast pendulums.  Some boats have this bolt in the center of the mast step and other boats have it on one side of the mast step.  My boat has the bolt on the aft end of the mast step but other boats have the bolt on the forward end of the mast step.  On the opposite end of where the bolt is located, there is another bolt, BUT this bolt fits in a slot in the mast step so the mast can pendulum without stressing the bolt. This bolt help keeps the mast in its place in the for and aft orientation. Below is drawing.

Since boats have all three of these configurations on attaching mast to deck, I would guess all work just fine.Thanks everyone for the help on this.  I appreciate it.
Pat

She's back in the water

After a 5 year rebuild, she is back in the water and happy.  It was a memorable day.  Below are pics.

Backing out of the boat shed

At the Little Rock Yacht Club Marina on the Arkansas River

At her home until mid January when we head for the Bahamas

Please Help on Mast Step Orientation

Can anyone tell me where the slot goes(aft or forward) when mounting the mast step casting.  Below is a picture.  I have the slot mounted forward but it was just a guess.  Anyone know for sure.  Thanks.

You can see the vertical slot on the left side of the mast step casting.

Marine Survey and Insurance

I was able to find a marine surveyor here in Little Rock and he was unusually busy at this time of year but was able to squeeze me into his schedule.   Insurance companies require a survey before they will offer their coverage.  I was dealing with BoatUS Insurance company.  Before the survey they were only going to give me coverage up to $25,000.  After they accepted the survey, they upped their coverage to $50,000.  That will cover about half of what I have in the boat if it's totaled but I knew going into this project that this wasn't going to be a money making venture and I would certainly lose money. I will carry coverage insurance for at least a year to gain experience and will later adjust it as I see fit.  I am scheduled to move the boat the week of Nov. 27th.  I only have a 10 mile move from my house to Little Rock Yacht Club.  I am cutting it a bit close, but still plan to leave in the middle of January for my trip to the Bahamas.  It's getting very exciting indeed.