GREYHAWK's Sailing Adventures

October 2009

2009 Season Summary

October 24

The boat was in the water for 114 days, underway on at least 32 of those days, sailing about 925 nautical miles. Tim spent 33 nights sleeping on board, and made 11 round-trips between Keene and Boothbay in the van.

Sailing Crew

Dan H. Allen
Bob Girsch
Rich Mechaber
Wendy Allen
Bennett Allen
Rick Thorpe
Matt Coffin
Mark Long
Rebecca Todd
Nathaniel Todd Long
Elizabeth Todd Long
Noah Bergeron
Nathan Bergeron
Mike Leavitt
Leo-Paul Giannakis
Bill Peterson

Shore Crew

Lucy Wendell
Susan Gilpin
Patricia Thorpe

Race Summary

Harraseeket Race, 2nd in class
Boothbay Regatta, 2nd in class
Southport Regatta, 1st in class
Monhegan Race, 3rd in class, 1st doublehanded
Maine Rocks Race, 4th in class (1st family crew), 6th in fleet

Thank you all for another great season aboard GREYHAWK!

Haulout

October 16, 2009

It was cold -- the thermometer read 32F -- and windy, blowing about 20 out of the North. I had brought the boat to the dock the night before and left the battery charger on the start battery all night to ensure we'ld have enough juice to get the engine started. Rick and I got underway at 7:00 and motored our way around from Boothbay Harbor through Townsend Gut to Ebenecook Harbor and the Boothbay Region Boatyard. They wanted us there by 8:00.

no fenders needed -- the wind is keeping us off the dock, and heeling us over pretty good, too!

With the wind on the beam, it was a bit tricky getting the boat into the travel-lift slings, but we did it. I love watching boats get lifted out of the water....

Back in August, we had hit a rock -- hard -- travelling at about 4 knots. The boat jumped up about 6 inches! Making our way into the anchorage, we pulled up the cabin sole and checked the hull, floors, and keel bolts for damage and signs of any leaks. Nothing. As soon as the anchor was down, Wendy went over the side to dive on the bottom (hull and keel). The water was about 57F. No damage to the hull. A major scrape on the bottom leading edge of the keel, with the lead bulged out about a 1/4 inch on each side. No reason to haul out immeadiately, but everyone was curious to see what it really looked like when we eventually did haul out.

So it was not really as bad as I thought it was, based on Wendy's underwater description. Here's a spring 2008 report on previous repairs to the keel.

With the boat hauled out, the bottom was washed off, the boat set on stands, and then the mast was unstepped. Our neighbors were a Hinckley Pilot sloop and a steel full-keel cutter -- three very different hull forms and three very different rigs:

Ready for the truck (CWC Boat Transport, Round Pond) to come and pick her up! (the mast stayed at the boat yard, after disassembly by Maloney Marine Rigging)

After a long wait that afternoon, the truck finally showed up to deliver the boat to her home for the winter, in the boat shed at Harborfields:

With the boat in the shed, the next day I built stairs to ease access, and then proceeded to change the engine oil and drain the cooling system.

With the engine box taken apart for this, I remembered that long ago I had promised a picture of the electrical installation:

Still a lot of projects to do, so stay tuned!