Atomvoyages.com

James Baldwin of Atomvoyages.com has been a great help and a very good resource for plastic classic boats and, more specifically, Carl Alberg-designed boats. James has circumnavigated in his own Pearson Triton twice. I came across a video he posted just a few days ago of his refinished interior. It is beautiful, simple and functional. I can only hope my refit comes out half as nice.

Thank you James for sharing. Lots of great ideas!

Alberg 30 Boat Shelter

The boat is finally covered. I had started by looking at different types of covers people had used during refits. Problem was there were as many shelters as there were boats. One that I really liked was a wooden bow shed, which seemed very popular. The only problem: I am not a carpenter. While I can nail two things together, I'm just not a carpenter. At least I'm aware of this and probably saved myself a ton of grief trying to build the bow shed. I also found RV shelter intriguing but there were none in the size I wanted and they're expensive. So I set out to make my own. I found a place in Oregon that sold the shelter fittings and used their template to design mine. After a bit of trigonometry I had one designed and fittings on the way. Below are photos of the building process:

  

First things first: Most of southeastern Virginia is a swamp, or was one before it was drained and settled, and nature works tirelessly to return it to that condition. My yard is no exception. In order to make this into a suitable work area I had some stone brought in, about 5 tons of 57 grey. Cheap and effective! 

With the help of a friend I spread the stone....and soon found out that 5 tons wasn't enough. It was a good start but I will be ordering more in a week or so.

After the stone was spread, started building the shelter. Still not a carpenter, but I can work with steel!

These fittings make it a breeze, and within an hour or so I had roof assembled.

Next we lifted the roof frame onto the boat so we could get the legs under it.

With the legs under it and in place.

There is the shed, just about complete. I need to make this shed look as temporary as possible (to skirt city permits and rules for a permanent structure) so I set the feet of the shed in buckets and then concreted them in. Then I installed the cover. While it isn't quite done, it is now keeping Sal dry. I still need to install some X bracing to stiffen up the structure, but so far we have had 25mph winds on a few occasions and it has held quite nicely.

Now that the boat is covered and shelter nearly done I can get to refitting the boat. I am going to take some video and pictures of how she sits now for before and after photos of the project. These will provide me with references for getting her back together later.

A New Year, featuring cruisers from Maine

Happy New Year All!

Things have started to settle down a bit. I passed my boat handling test with the owner of the ferry and I am happy to announce I am now gainfully (part-time) employed as a captain. This is a big relief; and a time-consuming endeavor completed. I no longer have to go to the boat 2-3 times a week to practice boat handling. This has freed up some free time in the evening to allow me to catch up on other projects. One such project is a 302 engine rebuild. I am 90% done with that, and I hope to deliver it and collect a little boat money this weekend. Once that engine is finished I can start to get serious on refit.

This weekend I made preparations for the the boat shed I am building. I am making a 15'x40' shelter out of fence posts and a large tarp. It should do the trick without breaking the bank. It should also be strong enough to handle most weather, and temporary-looking enough to keep the City code inspector off my butt. I guess only time will tell if it's going to do the trick.

Now that we are all caught up on what's going on I want to share a few photos of some cruisers that I saw heading south recently. In Portsmouth, VA, at the start of the Intracoastal Waterway there are free docks that always have cruisers tied up. The time of year will usually dictate the direction in which the cruisers are traveling. This time of year there are typically very few cruisers; however, the last few times I worked the ferry I saw the boats below. Both had young cruisers living the dream of heading off to warmer and simpler places. What I found interesting about these boats is that they were both from Maine. Both crews admitted to getting very late starts south but were headed there nonetheless. This has given me renewed inspiration for getting my refit started.

Posts should become more regular as I have my PC up and working enough to post... and a very special Christmas present has enabled me to take high quality photos again. A good friend gave me a Canon DSLR T1i Camera- just what I needed! I was too cheap to buy a new one and still very upset over the theft of my T2i. But thanks to the generosity of friends, I am now back in business and re-equipped to dedicate some time to the blog.  

Here are the fittings that the fencing material will slide into

Bristol 30 sitting at the High St dock in Portsmouth, VA before continuing south to warmer climes

Crew says this outboard will push them 5kts in calm water. They said they were glad to have removed the old A4. This has me thinking about the upcoming repower of our Salacia

A beautiful classic sitting over in the corner of the High St dock basin. While piloting the ferry, I had been looking at this boat all day wondering where they were headed and what their story was

After work I had to take a closer look. There was a young crew of four. Owner said she was found in need of repair and over the last few years he fixed her up and was now headed to the Caribbean. He said she wasn't fancy but simple and in good repair. She sure looked good to me!

We are still alive and kicking! Alberg 30 refit coming soon!

We are still here and doing well. Unfortunately we have been very busy, and as a result have not kept up with the blog. There are a few reasons for that; the first being that my computer is limping along after having coffee spilled on it. I have it up and working but it is not very easy to use (requires an auxillary keyboard, an auxillary fan for starters). Another problem is that someone stole my Canon T2i. I admit that I was careless in leaving it on the dock the day I motored Sal around the corner to the next marina to be hauled. When I remembered that I had left it on the dock about 30 minutes later, I went back to look and it was already gone. Some asshole at Bay Point Marina had stolen it off the dock. I put signs up asking for it to be returned and informed the office in case it was turned in...but of course it has not found its way home. After these 2 electronic setbacks I took a break from posting. It has been on my mind but I just never could get myself around to it. I hope to replace the camera soon but for now I'm just using the cell phone for photos. Fortunately, they're pretty hi-tech these days:

This stunning photo was taken with the camera on my phone. It's a beautiful sunset across the Elizabeth River, which is a pretty typical view during my shift on the ferry.

The first mate and I have been busy learning and testing for additional new skills that will hopefully help us earn a small living when we set sail on Salacia. The first mate completed her personal trainer certification, which will complement her yoga teaching, and allow her to coach others toward health and wellness. She enjoys it, and hopes to find a way of sharing the love of physical activity with others. 

And I have finally completed my captain's license. I am now a 100T Master Near Coastal with Sailing Endorsement Inland. This is a big accomplishment for me. I worked for quite a while getting all the paperwork straight, not to mention the years at sea beforehand. I had quite a bit more sea time than what was required for the license. It finally came in last Friday. I hope to continue working the ferry and possibly even assume a shift as a captain soon. In the meantime, I have been working a lot of weekends as a deckhand to put money into the refit fund.

I'm legit!

The unfortunate part of us being so busy is that we have not done very much with Sal in a few months. She is patiently waiting for her refit to begin. I hope it will begin soon. I am working now to procure all the parts to build a 14'x40' shelter over her. Getting her under shelter is priority one! This will allow me to refinish decks, hatches and just about any other work that will require her to stay dry.

 I have been thinking a lot about where to start. I think I am going to tackle the interior, then the deck and finally the hull, in that order. At least that's the plan for now. I am still pondering repowering her, and I have noticed that her rudder needs some attention....so basically a complete refit will be in order. This is just fine with us because we have the time and spreading the work out will allow us to fund the project. When she is complete we will have a better-than-new Alberg 30.

Tall Ship Godspeed docked at waterside near mile marker zero on ICW a few weeks ago.

I will be posting more often and I hope to get the electronic situation under control here in the next month (it's yet ONE MORE unexpected expense added to the pile...ugh).

Just Checking In

Hello all, I am just checking in., not much to report. The boat has been home for about 6 weeks now. We have begun to unload her. The mast has been removed and placed on sawhorses in the back yard and we have slowly begun to unload her. 

I will be posting pictures soon but we currently experiencing some computer issues due to some spilled coffee. I am currently researching the bow boat shed as a feasible shelter for Sal while she is being refit.

Check back, pics will be coming soon!

Salacia our Alberg 30 is now home

Here she is sitting by the house. What a relief!

Busy day ahead, just a quick update, I will post more later

She's Out of the Water

The business around here continues. However, I finally found the time to get ole Sal out of the water and onto the trailer. This will be a short post as I have more pictures and a few videos to download and I still have to get her home. 

Boatel forklift lifting mast off, it didn't cost me anything. Big savings!

Here the boat is set on the trailer. At this point she was a bit wobbly up there with no bow support and only 2 hull supports. I had to move her to a place with electricity where I could fabricate and weld rest of the supports

There is the trailer and boat, long project almost finished

Perfect!

Adding bow support before heading home for the day. I was tired

Returned the next day to add the remainder of the hull supports

There she is on a finished trailer, I tried to keep the supports away from hull so I can work on it, Looks pretty good I think.

I will post more pictures and a few video as I get them downloaded. I am off to marina this morning to crane mast up on boat and secure it. If rain holds out for a few days I will be able to get her into my yard.