Launch

And Life Beside the Sea

Point Wilson Lighthouse Built in 1879. A working light aiding navigation at the entrance of Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound. Its signal is unusual. A white light that occults every 20 s for 5 s, with one red flash in the middle of the occultation.

The Lighthouse doesn't directly have that much to do with Sea Gypsy's upcoming "splash," except that Point Wilson is a favorite place to walk  at this corner of the continent. It's one of the good reasons I live here, in a boat. 



Sea Gypsy is scheduled to launch Thursday at 0800. 

After three months on the hard, (what?) I’m ready to be back in the water. Originally we were going to be a couple of weeks. Paint the bottom and replace the zincs and a few thru hulls. But here we are, and I’m not going to estimate how much more work I could do. On an old boat the work is never done, but it will be mostly done for now. Except,  

We’re going in without the mast, which is now on saw horses beside Mark's shop. Remember the stairs I built? Well I gave the stairs to Mark in exchange for using a narrow strip of real estate out side his shop for working on the mast. Mark is a shipwright, and has a collection of stairs, and other sundry staging for working on boats. So this is a great deal for me.  

It’s less expensive to be in the water than sitting in the boatyard. Between the yard fees and buying materials - those forty odd and counting trips to the hardware store - my usual strained monthly budget has been blown out of the water. Also, living next to the road has gotten old. The wacko loud muffler crowd, the sirens, the solitary man dragging a cart shouting at the sky at 0500. Too much civilization. Also, the poplar trees lining Sims Way are losing their leaves, and every time the wind blows, which is every day, leaves and debris collect on the deck. I think this also accounts for the large population of spiders onboard, they apparently parachute in from the upwind poplar canopy. 

Going in without the mast will make managing that project more challenging. Like the two minute commute on foot. Not too bad, but more importantly tools and supplies will be spread out. Lots of contractors  work out of their vehicles though, so I guess the Prius will become a work vehicle. It’s all starting to sound like a real job. 

                     Sea Gypsy with neighbors. 

Well, real work is part of any village, and that’s what Boat Haven is, a village. Boats, and the people who work on them, are the heart and soul of the place. There are slips for 475 commercial and recreational vessels. More than sixty marine businesses have a home on Port property. Shipwrights, builders in fibreglass and aluminum, marine systems specialists in mechanics, electrical, plumbing, sailmaking, upholstery, and brokers. Sunrise coffee opens at 0700 and sells an 8 oz cup of drip  for a buck. A group of old sailors meets at Sunrise Tuesdays at 0800 to talk about their latest grounding, the latest thing gone wrong on the boat, and politics. There’s the Key City Fish Market with a fish taco takeout stand. The Marina Cafe makes killer berry muffins in the morning, and sells lunch for $10.00. There’s no menu and no cash register. You get what they’re making, and leave your money in a jar on the counter, self check out. The Port Townsend Brewery and Pub will quench any thirst, and when you need a #4 x ¾” bronze round head slotted wood screw Admiral Ship Supply stocks it along with most everything else you need to build or repair a boat. Marine Thrift will accept just about anything salty, from a scrap of teak, to outdated charts, curiosities in bronze and chrome, all proceeds to benefit the Northwest Maritime Center’s programs of marine education and outreach. 

Three of Sea Gypsy’s immediate neighbors also launch this week. Hulakai (Sea Dancer) a 49’ masterpiece of bronze, varnished teak, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar built in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1929 will be first. Richard, the owner, has been into wood boats since he started fishing in Alaska decades ago. Hulakai has been extensively upgraded, but her ironwood ice sheathing applied over the planking in 1929 is original. I asked Richard if he was curious about what was underneath the ironwood. Oh yeah, he said, but she doesn’t leak. She’s a lot of work, but we love her . .  and hate her.

       When a boat approaches perfection. Hulakai about to be picked up. 
              
               Link to Hulakai on the Classic Yacht Register. 
                https://classicyachtinfo.org/yachts/hulakai


To port are Hartley and Ester, a couple from New Orleans who come to PT in the summer to get away from the heat. They're hauled out for bottom paint and a couple of things. Hartley said they’d be in and out in a few days but during sanding the bottom water started dripping out of an old keel repair. Fibreglass when flawed or compromised is not impervious to water, and water can migrate between layers of laminate, or seep into “blisters” which can result from flaws in material or technique in the original layups. Hartley, 81, says he has more money than energy, and has hired all the work. One morning no one was working. Ester told me their man had to go fishing. He didn’t say that at the beginning, she said. But now they have to wait longer for the boat to dry out before repairs can be made. They moved off the boat and rented a place in town.

To starboard, Don is working on a teak clad Baba 30, about the same vintage as Sea Gypsy. By Don’s own admission Outward Bound was pretty rough when she came in. I let her go, he said. For the first two weeks Don sat in his pickup and watched his twelve year old grandson using an orbital sander on the woodwork. It was obvious the boy had no experience, but he stayed with it for hours patiently moving the ladder along the hull. I told Don I was impressed. "He wanted to earn some money, so. Tried it last year with his older brother but that didn’t go so well. He had a phone," said Don, dryly. They didn't come for a while then one day more family showed up without Don. With more energy than experience they started varnishing where the sanding wasn’t finished. Varnish dribbled down the topsides.  It was painful to watch. After Grandpa showed up he had them backtrack some. Since then Don has been working alone. He’s my age, maybe older, and his left hand and leg tremble involuntarily.
Where’s your crew? 
It’s summer. They’re gone being boys, and that’s ok.