Disassembly And Refit Plans

by John October 12, 2004
Phyllis in the storage room where we stored all the stuff we took off aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud during the refit.

It all started with six weeks of intense work last June stripping the deck for painting.  Every cleat, every track, every fitting and every hatch came off and slowly a 10’x20’ storage unit filled with boat bits.

Reassembly

by Phyllis February 27, 2005
Aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud exits the spray shop in the travellift at Billings Diesel & Marine with a new coat of white Awlgrip.

I am writing this while looking out the window of our rental house in Maine, admiring another gorgeous sunset over the beautiful waters of Penobscot Bay. There is about two inches of snow on the ground and on as much of the rocks as stick up above the water at high tide. The window I [...]

Death By A Thousand Details

by John May 18, 2007

Over the last 35 years of offshore boat ownership (there were dinghies before that) I have done four major refits and a complete rebuild—I’m beginning to think that this may be seriously sick behavior. But, be that as it may, at this point in the process, with the launch date looming large, we have entered [...]

It Takes Guts To Own A Wooden Boat

by John May 19, 2007
Replacing the horn timber on a wooden sailboat.

Our neighbour here in Down East Maine, where we have been refitting Morgan’s Cloud for the last three winters, is Jeff: lobsterman, talented photographer, Persian carpet dealer and, for the last two years, wooden sailboat owner.

Laying-Up, A Break From Vigilence

by John November 18, 2009
Aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud without her mast, lying alongside at Billings Diesel and Marine, waiting to be hauled.

Phyllis and I just finished laying-up Morgan’s Cloud for the winter at Billings Diesel and Marine in Maine, where we will be replacing the engine. As always, we are sad to move off the boat, which, over the last 18 years, has become more our home than any place else.

We Can’t Do It All

by Phyllis May 15, 2010
Engine room of aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud showing new engine blocks and bulkhead.

Part of the engine installation project on Morgan’s Cloud was the fitting of new engine mounts—which meant welding, which meant sparks flew, which meant the paint in the engine room got speckled. (Morgan’s Cloud’s builder did a wonderful job of most things, but painting the bilge in the engine room was not one of his [...]

Priorities In Preparation—Part 1

by John March 24, 2011
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Phyllis and I are in the throes of preparing Morgan’s Cloud for a voyage to the high latitudes this summer. As usual, we are splitting the many tasks—I call this stage of voyage preparation “death by a thousand details”—between us, based on our individual skills. I was once, in the dim and distant past, a [...]

Priorities In Preparation—Part 2

by John March 30, 2011
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In Part 1 I asked the question: “who contributed more to a safe and seamanlike voyage over three days recently, Phyllis who rebuilt the mast winches and went through our medical kit, or me who installed a new AIS transponder and nearly lost his mind doing it?”.

It’s Painting Time Again

by Colin May 1, 2011
It's hard work keeping a boat looking good

As the old saying goes, you pay for your pleasures, and that’s certainly true when it comes round to the annual re-fit. The many little jobs that were just too awkward afloat, added to the big ones like antifouling, can all back up and lead to a formidable worklist. And to top it all, there’s [...]

Are Refits Worth It?

by John March 17, 2012
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It seems like a logical way to own a good offshore sailboat. Buy an older and a bit rundown but fundamentally decent boat and refit it. But does it really work? To explore that important question, I have a true story to tell you.

The Three Most Dangerous Words In Boat Maintenance

by John April 2, 2012
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We joined our friends Dave and Shelly, who live and voyage on their beautiful, and beautifully maintained, Able Apogee 50, Cadence, for dinner the other night. I knew that they had spent the day on maintenance tasks on Cadence and I could sense that it might have been a tough go. (It’s a sure sign [...]