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Our Sailing Hideaway Blog and YouTube videos will remain active. Join the HideAways as we tell, through blog stories and videos, what life really is like on a small, 23' Com Pac sailboat. We'll show the joys, thrills and chills of the sailing life, but also what it takes to maintain a boat, trailer and truck. You are just as likely to learn how not to do something correctly as to do it right. That's important too! New! The Hideaways take to the road! Follow Traveling Hideaway: Winds of Wanderlust Transitioning from Sailing Hideaway to Traveling Hideaways as sailors learn to travel without heeling, well, not much, anyway. The Paint Wasters Society unlocks the art of paint squandering with sheer delight, free from the shackles of remorse or guilt. Trust me, a century down the line, nobody's going to bat an eyelash, so why not indulge in some paint splattering shenanigans today? Let's turn those pricey pigments into a canvas of laughter and joy.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Sailing HideAway GenoaTrack & Car Replacement




I knew I forgot something!


Filling the Old Bolt Holes

The thought of mixing epoxy and cramming it into 30+ small holes is not as appealing as it sounds. 

I found Waterweld, made by JB Weld, at a local home center.  
It looks like a tube of round cheese with similar consistency. Looking at the end of the roll you'll see the center is a different color than the outer part.  The procedure is to cut off a small slice and knead it until it is solid white. 

The clay like material can be formed into any shape  and worked great for plugging the bolt holes.  It's thick enough not to require support from down under for bolt sized holes. 


According to the Website

After curing, it can be drilled, tapped, filed, sanded and painted. WaterWeld has a set time of 15-25 minutes and sets hard in one hour.  Use of rubber gloves is recommended.  



will waterweld weld?



It's too early to tell how well it works, but since it is made to seal leaks in anything except emails, I have no reason for concern. 


Track Sealer

I did not put any kind of sealer under the new track for three reasons. The original installation did not use sealer.   By drilling the holes slightly smaller than the bolt allowed the bolt to carve threads in the fiberglass that hopefully will prevent leaks.  The new "T" track has a concave bottom.  It would require a lot of sealer and probably make a mess without likely doing much to prevent leaks.  


filling the old bolt holes
"T" TRACK BOTTOM
You may have noticed the long shadows in the latter part of the video.  This was filmed late afternoon on a new years eve just before the Hoot.

What's a Hoot you ask?  Well here's one HOOT 

SMALL BOATS ROCK!!

Sunday, January 8, 2017

HideAway Goes Home


After months in dry dock its time to take HideAway Home
A TIME TO REFIT AND A TIME TO GO HOME

There a major advantages to bringing your boat home to your work shop.  I’m glad we did. It saved a lot of frustrating drive time and made the work much easier .   However, as nice as it was to look out from my living room window and see HideAway perched majestically on her trailer, I somehow lost my identity of being a sailor for the same reason.    Watching my videos helped of course.  I made the videos to sail when I couldn’t, if you know what I mean.

Are Sailboat Projects Sailing?

Anyone who takes on a major boat project may tell you that projects are part of being a sailor.   It’s just not the same though.  You can’t just hop on board for a day sail when it takes more than a day to get the projects shut down, tools collected and parts stored.  Besides, while some of the projects are fun to do quite a lot of them involve long, hard, physical work in hot, cramped places. 
   
The Summer Heat Broke Late This Year.   

It was well past Thanksgiving before the fall/winter sailing season became possible.  It’s time to take HideAway back to her home.  There are still projects to do of course, but the major work has been completed as recently as New Years Eve.  The video may have to wait a bit – We really need to go sailing!


SMALL BOATS ROCK!