Maintenance: Adding Cabinetry

Before our annual week-on-the-boat this year, I finally motivated myself to execute on an old idea: Convert two of Jenny G's storage spaces to wooden cabinetry.

The first idea was to convert the passive ice box below the helm seat to two drawers. One large drawer for a powered cooler and a small drawer for cutlery. After carefully taking measures several times and spending the weekend ahead making the cabinets, they were finally ready for installation.

Wow, I couldn't believe how many compound curves exist in a boat hull. Of course, as an amateur woodworker, I knew it would take me longer to fit them than a professional, but I didn't anticipate using the first two days of our vacation to get it done.

The main culprit for all the work was a brace, installed at the factory, to support the old icebox. Turns out that the brace wasn't level, but visually I couldn't tell that its slope increased from front to back, so I ended up sanding the drawers more than they needed to be but not enough to ruin the look. The most complicated trimming I did was to round the forward corner of the back edge on the cutlery drawer because I measured the depth at the aft side of the box, not realizing how quickly the hull is curving in toward the bow at the helm.

However, they are installed and finished now and we really enjoy having our forks and knives in a real drawer instead of a pouch inside the galley.

The second idea was to replace the inside face of the forward dinette cabinet with a door and create a divider for the compartment itself. Since I had the factory panel as home as a model, I was able to cut the compound curves with my table saw and jig saw and, to spoil the plot, the frame installed in five minutes...a full one day, seven hours, and fifty-five minutes faster than the drawers.

Now, The Admiral and I can store a few articles of clothing on the boat, so that we will no longer have to move luggage around each night for bed.

Were these upgrades worth the time? Only more time will tell as we get used to having them. I'd like to think I would be faster the next time, but we have upgraded the one of one boats that we own.

There is one last idea: Replace the rear dinette inside face with a small drawer and face to cover the water tank. If I get really bored this fall.....

Anchorage: Cypress Island

Even after four years of boating in Puget Sound, we still discover new places from time to time and this past weekend, we found one that we can't wait to go back and explore: Cypress Island. The state's department of natural resources has a great description of the island:

Cypress Island is the last largely undeveloped island in the San Juan group. Cypress Island provides a scenic reminder to passers-by of a rustic, pre-settlement western Washington. On the 5,500 acre island, DNR manages 4,800 acres, with 3,933 acres of forests, wetlands, grassy balds and marine areas currently protected under NRCA designation. 
The southern two-thirds of the island is the only protected low-elevation forest growing on serpentine soils in Washington, and supports unusual plant communities. The island's steep topography offers vistas of the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, mainland Washington and the Olympic and Cascade mountains. Cypress is a popular site for boaters offering primitive camping, lakes and miles of trails and abandoned roads

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/AboutDNR/ManagedLands/Pages/amp_na_cypress_island.aspx

Because we had plans with friends on Sunday, we drove to Anacortes on Friday for the free concert at the marina, followed by drinks with our boating friend Bruce and a comfortable night's sleep at our slip. Bruce gave us a great recommendation for breakfast on Saturday and, after a hearty breakfast, we were underway for Cypress Head, which is a comfortable 45 minutes from Cap Sante Boat Haven at 6 knots.

Once we anchored, I launched the dinghy and we landed on a beach full of kayaks. I even got a chance to fly my new kite from King's Market in Friday Harbor. It it 3 oval-shaped sections with a ventilation hole in the lower third; I'm not quite sure why the design can fly but it works well. If you look carefully in the upper right-hand corner of the photo, you can see my little kite aloft.

However, the best part of the day was our steak dinner for lunch (!!!) We never eat that well midday, but since me met Bruce after I bought the steak, we decided to live well at anchor. The Admiral sauteed the best Walla Walla sweet onion I've ever had and even made lemonade. After lunch and a walk around Cypress Head, we returned to Cap Sante. What a great day. Stay tuned for more adventures from Cypress.

Maintenance: A Low-Cost Dinghy Rack

One of the many ways that C-Dory owners can play "yacht" is to keep an inflatable tender onboard.We started with a two-person kayak that was really fun for touring, but difficult to get into from the swim step and required dunking our feet in Puget Sound ice water when beaching. So, after a couple of years, we upgraded to a small raft with oars and have been very pleased. Its rowing position is comfortable, we can step into it (carefully) from the swim step, and going over the bow on the beach means dry feet.

But, as with all things boating, the trade-off was that the raft is kind of heavy (about 45 pounds) and all the top side protrusions could scratch the pilot house roof when the raft is stowed upside down. I bought an inexpensive mooring cover so that I could stow it right-side-up, but then there was the problem of passing tie-down straps under the raft.

Thus the rack idea was born. I considered two options before a really low-cost third idea came to me:

• Idea #1: Automobile style rack. Pro's - looks good. Con's - costs hundreds of dollars and would probably rust.
• Idea #2: Home-made PVC pipe rack. Pro's - an inexpensive DIY project with exact fit. Con's - looks bad. Requires me to mount antlers on the bow, a gun rack in the pilothouse, and wear flannel and a baseball cap year-round.
• Idea #3: Pool "Noodles." These are the little foam cylinders, usually with a hole in the middle, that people use as a flotation aid for a casual day in the pool. Pro's - cheap & comes in blue to match the Jenny G color scheme. Con's - none.

So, this weekend, I "built" the pool noodle dinghy rack in four easy steps. Step one is to cut the ~5' noodles to the 35" width of the center section of the pilothouse roof. Utility scissors will do it in just a few cuts. Step two is to feed rope through the hole of the noodles. Step 3 is to tie both ends of the rope to the pilot house roof rails. My 6' rope lengths were a little long, so I tied a fishing lure style knot to use up the excess line. Looks good to boot. Step 4 is to load the raft, put on the mooring cover, and pass the tie-downs under the new gap. Voila! Total cost: ten bucks, consisting of $6 for two pool noodles from Fred Meyer in Ballard and $4 for 12' of utility rope from Ace Hardware in Anacortes.

Anchorage: Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island, WA

For the fourth of July weekend, we chose one of our favorite destinations in the San Juan Islands: Prevost Harbor. This protected harbor lies between Stuart Island and the much smaller Satellite Island off Stewart's Northeast coast. Getting to Prevost Harbor is possible from both ends of Satellite Island, though the Southern entrance is possible only for shallow draft boats like Jenny G.

Stuart Island began its modern history when it received its name from Charles Wilkes during his expedition between 1838 and 1842. The island was named for Frederick D. Stuart, Wilkes' clerk of the expedition. Later, in 1871, after Kaiser Wilhelm settled the “Pig War” between the British and the Americans, the island was surveyed in 1874 and the land that would later become Turn Point Lighthouse was identified and reserved by the U. S. Government. The rest of the island was made available for homesteading.

Things to see and do on Stewart Island include, of course, the beautiful Turn Point Lighthouse walk from the State Park dock between Reid Harbor and Prevost Harbor (6 miles round trip). For this visit, our highlight was the new Louis Borcher museum that has recently opened by the Turn Point Lighthouse Preservation Society. Along the walk, you'll see the island's schoolhouse, which has been closed and reopened over the years as students needed teaching. We understand that this is a K-8 school and that high schoolers must go to neighboring San Juan Island high school to complete their education. While at the school, please check out the honor-system “shop” where great t-shirts, hats, and other items are available for purchase. But don't leave cash....mail it when you get home!

As for the anchorage itself, Prevost Harbor never disappoints. Although the weekend was fairly cloudy, we rowed around the shore of tiny Satellite Island several times. The YMCA's Camp Orkila is on Satellite Island and we wished we were kids again so that we could go to camp there. 

Back on the boat, we enjoyed yet another great barbecue dinner and listened to the Prairie Home Companion 4^th of July special on the radio. Speaking of radio, Stuart Island is a great place to tune in. Pacific Lutheran University NPR station repeater in Port Angeles (90.3 FM, I think) and Canadian Broadcasting Company station (91.3 FM, I think) out of Victoria come in flawlessly. The reason why I don't know the exact frequencies is our radio has a good-old-fashioned dial, so none of that digital precision for us!

And finally, the bird life in Prevost Harbor was great. Not only did we see a Great Blue Heron in a tree, we experienced the high drama of the evening when a Bald Eagle made several attempts to pluck a baby Canada Goose from the water. He didn't succeed and, if you think those geese are loud in your favorite park, wait until you hear about thirty of them ward off an eagle attack.

Maintenance: Extending our cruising range

The Jenny G's fuel supply comes from twin 18 gallon tanks beneath the splash well. Though the C-Dory site claims that a 22 Cruiser with a Honda 75 should get about 5.25 mpg at its most efficient cruising speed, I've measured more like 4.75 in our real-world cruising.

So, with a 10% reserve, how do I get my range above 150+ miles? Options are:

• Upgrade to the current twin 23 gallon tanks that come on a new C-Dory. Cost: I don't want to know.
• Purchase a fancy fuel bladder. Cost: Between $500 and $600 for 20'ish gallon models from Imtra, Turtle-Pac, or others.
• Purchase very low-tech 5 gallon utility cans. Cost: $17 per 5 gallon can from Blitz or dozens of other manufacturers.

Right now, I'm leading toward the low-tech option because, for about sixty bucks, I can put one between and two in front of the permanent tanks. If the two in front of the tanks are in the way when empty, the 10" width means I can put them on their sides in the splashwell.

Plus, there's the decidedly low tech benefit that I don't have to be at a fuel dock to refuel these bad boys. I'm not above beaching the boat and walking to the nearest gas station and I couldn't do that with a 200 pound "baggie" full of gasoline!

Got an opinion? Post a comment; I'd love to hear from you.