The Sailing Shipleys

Since we successfully delivered Kismet to Niceville, we have been non-stop with boat projects – at least that is how it feels most days. Not surprisingly, there are few hours between our full time 730am-430pm jobs, looking after Moses, boat projects, and actually sailing. Time feels especially slippery when we think about our hard push-off date of 1 March. Yikes, that is less than 8 months away!

Our approach has been to make a list of projects, try to prioritize them, and just start doing things – whether that buying a new mainsheet, or drilling holes in the deck for granny bars. We will write a post about our whole laundry list of things to do, but for now here’s a brief update of what we’ve accomplished since July:

1. Removing the Manual Head

The first project we undertook was removing the manual head. Why on earth would we get rid of the toilet? Well, a manual toilet requires constant maintenance and putting your fingers in the parts of the toilet that see the most poop. Plus, they smell TERRIBLE. Imagine your bathroom smelling like a festival port-a-john all the time. Thats’s how a boat head can smell.

Instead of a manual toilet, we are installing a composting toilet! [more on that later…] At its most basic, a composting head separates the liquid from the solid waste. The solid waste is mixed with coconut fibers or peat and “composts.” You empty each bucket as it becomes full – that’s Jimmy’s job. We ordered an Airhead Composting toilet, because we had one on our previous boat and LOVED it.

Plus, by removing all the head infrastructure (hosing, pump out, holding tank/bag) we gained an incredible amount of storage under the v-berth. So much so, that Jimmy can climb in the compartment and be stowed away. We had to wait about a month-and-a-half for the composting toilet to arrive – which meant a lot of trips walking up and down the dock to the marina toilets. But since then, it has arrived, and we feel like we are living in luxury!

3. Replacing Faucets in the Head and Galley

This was our first project to make the boat feel like “home.” The old faucets were old and corroded, and probably the original. The galley faucet leaked and was so low, you could not get dishes under it to wash. We purchased a faucet from Amazon for the galley, and a marine grade Scandvik one for the head. We wanted the head faucet to have a long enough reach so we could shower on deck with it if necessary.

Like all boat projects, this “simple” install was much more complicated than originally expected. I had hoped to exchange mixers in an evening…but we went one week without running water as we completed the install. We were going from a two handle faucet to a single handle faucet in the head, so we had to fill the extra hole and wait for it to set. In the galley, we had a tough time getting the old faucet unscrewed. Needless to say, there were many hours spent with our heads under the sink, trying find the screws in the back corner.

Thankfully, our sailing friends came to the rescue again, and let us borrow a multitude of plumbers tools. Zach even spent a good 20 minutes with his head under the sink trying to get the old faucet off, and put the new one into place! We couldn’t have done it without you, thanks Zach!

3. Installing Granny Bars

On our first “fun” sail with some friends, we lost a cowl. What is a cowl you may ask? We did not know either before this incident. One of the ways our boat is designed to maximize airflow is through “dorade boxes.” These are teak boxes that go over an opening in the deck which you can open and close from down below depending on how much airflow you want and weather conditions. The “scoop” on top of the box is the “cowl.” It’s job is to scoop air into – or out of – the boat. There’s a whole science to sailboat airflow that depends on high and low pressure areas in the boat, but we’ll save that for later.

What on earth are “granny bars?” If you were to take Granny on a sail, and she happened to be up at the mast, you would be glad to have granny bars to make sure she didn’t fall overboard! Granny bars are also called “mast pulpits.” There’s a good Sailing Magazine article that describes the benefits of having mast pulpits, besides protecting your cowls and your granny. This project turned out to be slightly more challenging that expected, but planning to write another post on the whole deal!

4. Ordering new sails (and canvas?)

Out at sea, we are firm believers that your sails (and rigging), not your engine, are the most important pieces of equipment. Last week, we met with Hunter Riddle of Schurr Sails and got fitted for new sails! It was quite like getting fitted for a dress, with tape measures and note taking and the such. These are the new sails we ordered from Hunter:

1. Add deep third reef in the main
2. New 82% Genoa
3. New Staysail
4. New Mizzen
5. New stormsail

We also need to get a new dodger, but are undecided whether we will build it ourselves or hire our canvas lady to help us out.

5. Learning to sail our new boat

We continue to sail with our favorite race crew Epiphany out of Blue Water Bay Sailing Club for Wednesday night racing and most PHRF weekend races. We also decided to round out our American Sailing Association (ASA) classes with ASA 104, Bareboat Cruising, through Midbay Sailing School. We were even able to do a day of the course on Kismet!

One of our friends said, “Every time you take the boat out, you are preparing for your sailing adventure!” and we couldn’t agree more. The more we sail Kismet, the more we will know what we like, and don’t like, what works and doesn’t, what changes we want to make and how she best sails.

6. Other projects still to do

There are some pressing projects we must address sooner rather than later. These include:

• Rebuild the rotten companionway hatch
• Fix the fridge (it currently refuses to get cold)
• Get hauled out and a new bottom job
• Fix the banging in the mast – likely unstep the mast…
• Install new anchor light (possibly a tricolor)
• Install new depth/speed/wind instruments (possible new thru hole)
• Rebuild the manual windlass
• Install radar
• Fix the AIS (currently refuses to turn on?)
• Update the traveller
• Decide on a storm drogue (maybe jordan seires?)

We have an entire spreadsheet of projects, and this is just a taste. So wish us luck and fair winds!