Maintaining 4 Sailboats

[wolverine]

I promised myself in 2026 I would stay home and complete all those items on my "Boat Check List". Owning 4 sailboats, not including 4 kayaks and 2 inflatable dinghies, makes for a l o n g list. I made it to the Orion today and met with a young lady to get a quote on new interior cushions. The originals have deep impressions in 2 places. She also took the biminis from the Orion & Seidelmann to mend some zippers and seams. Then I began to install a new control panel for the bilge pump. It will only work on manual so I  need a new float switch too. I was quite pleased to find only the pink antifreeze in the bilge after its winter nap.
The Seidelmann is in back of the house at our dock sitting on the mud today with this south wind. (we don't have a moon tide, but a strong south wind pushes the water down the river into the sound, which sucks the water out of the creeks). I removed both sails and cleaned them of the mud dauber nests before bending them back on. I tossed the main and jib sheets along with the fuller line in the wash. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning the interior.

Check 2 items off the list.

[Frank]

A friend sails an Orian here.
Proper little ship!
Should do a "before and after" on your cushions.
Happy boat work 👍

[Godot]

I can't seem to find the time to maintain one boat, let alone four. Jealous.

[CapnK]

I've long said that having more than 1 boat, is like having more than 1 girlfriend.

Sounds great, but the implementation differs from the ideal. ;)

[wolverine]

Things are coming along...okay. The Compac 19 is all ready to splash. The Seidelmann just needs the interior cleaned up a little. The Orion? Every time I complete a task, 3 more are revealed. I washed and am waterproofing all the canvass. Today I took her out for a spirited sail. While out the Genoa caught on the spreader and tore the protective sunbrella covering. I need to install those spreader boots. While dropping the main I noticed one of the sail slides wasn't connected to the sail. Back in the slip it looks like I'll have to remove the sail pack to get to the slide. The mast has a track instead of slugs. Then there is the stern water tank. I flushed the pink stuff from all the lines, then filled the bow tank. While filling the stern tank, instead of running out the overflow, it came up through the lid and wetted everything in the quarter berth. The same berth I just stuffed all my gear for an overnight sail. Sleeping bag, sheets, pillow, clothing, foul weather gear, wetsuit, extra lines. Now I need to empty it, dry everything out, and find why the overflow didn't...overflow.

The overnight sail? Cancelled after I provisioned the boat. I guess the club feels the predicted 30+mph winds and a smallcraft advisory warranted it.

[CapnK]

Heard wind noise all night, boat was shifting around a lot. Just poked my head out of the hatch, coffee in hand to take in the morning. Nope. Head back in and hatch closed 5 seconds later. Not a good time to be out on open water... especially not with Murphy lurking aboard like that.

[Godot]

Then there is the stern water tank. I flushed the pink stuff from all the lines, then filled the bow tank. While filling the stern tank, instead of running out the overflow, it came up through the lid and wetted everything in the quarter berth. The same berth I just stuffed all my gear for an overnight sail. Sleeping bag, sheets, pillow, clothing, foul weather gear, wetsuit, extra lines. Now I need to empty it, dry everything out, and find why the overflow didn't...overflow.

I have had a problem with overfilling my tank. It would bulge up, lift the berth cushion, and eventually leak out of the inspection port. My overfill/vent is probably clogged somewhere. It still works, but probably not as well as it should. Not a trivial issue to replace the tube, though. That said, I can use the tank just fine and have taken to filling it by bringing the hose inside the boat. Just as well as the deck fill seems to have seized shut (I'm guessing because I put in extra bleach one year to "shock" the system, went sailing to stir it up, but got called away for a couple weeks before I had a chance to flush the system...I'm guessing the chlorine gasses are corrosive to the deck fill alloy). At least this way no water will accidentally make it's way in from the deck fitting. And, when I get around to installing another tank I won't been tempted to drill another hole in my deck for yet another deckfill.

[CapnK]

overfill/vent

Bugs love to inhabit them things...

[wolverine]

Took her out for a 2 hour sail. She was heeling most the time with 18mph winds gusting to 24. I had a heck of a time raising the main. The battens kept catching the lazy jack lines. On the way in the auto helm would steer off course enough the alarm would sound. Something else needing attention. The main has mud dauber stains on it and the stack pack filthy inside. Took me an hour and a half to remove both from the boom. At home now getting ready to wash them.