Spring 2023 Launch Maintenance

Preparing for launch in Spring 2023

This will be Ceilidh's 7th season since her complete rebuild.  As usual there are a number of matters to be attended to and I will list them below for a record.  

1.   Install a Harken cam cleat on the mast.  This is not necessary but an interesting idea that I came across during the winter that may assist when choosing to raise the main at the mast as opposed to the cockpit.  Probably a Harken 150 will do the job.

2.   Re-route the chart plotter box power and signal lines through a separate SS pipe on the binnacle guard.  This will make it easier to install radar to the chart plotter when required.

3.   Varnish the toe rail and handrails.

4.   Finish installation of the electronic fuel gauge.  The sender is done and the signal line has been run.  Need to install gauge in 2 1/8" hole and power to 12V.

5.   Complete check of all thru-hulls, rigging, etc.

6.   Additional coat of VC17 anti-fouling

7.   Consult with Jim P. about making a change in the cradle keel board.

8.   Make new binnacle and guard cover from Sunbrella.

9.   Change and lengthen the MC4 cable run from the solar panels.

10.  Install replacement #20 winch on mast.

11.  Install additional cleats.  Neef bolts

12.  Install new winch on SB side

13.  Check and lubricate chain and cable steering

2022 on lift trailer before launch  Note rug hanging over side to protect hull from lifting belts.

History of Ceilidh

 Ceilidh is #174, 1976 Alberg 37 Mark II design manufactured by Whitby Boatworks in Whitby, Ontario, Canada or at one time Ajax, Ontario.  There were about 260 of this model produced at the Whitby works from plans prepared by Carl Alberg; a world famous yacht designer.

I do not know the early history of the boat but it was purchased by Ron Wilson sometime in the 80's.  Apparently it was his intention to sail her to the Caribbean which he did.  In fact the information from the original A37 club indicates that he took her as far as South America.  

In the late 90's he made the homeward trip and went aground off of Florida.  The rudder was badly damaged and an entirely new rudder and fittings were installed.  Apparently he decided that the new rudder should be 4" shorter than the keel in order to prevent a similar occurence again.

By 2000 he had returned to Sarnia, Ontario where he passed and the boat was sold to someone from Chatham, Ontario who spent money upgrading the speed/depth instruments and autohelm with the idea of also going south with the boat.  The boat was then moored in Erieau, ON. They also bought two huge ST46 self-tailing winches to replace the original winches.  The boat was moored in Barneys Boatyard in Erieau for a few years but the owner lost interest in going south with the boat and she was sold again.  The new owner never used her and decided to trade her in on a new boat from Anchor Yachts.  

The purchaser was Anchor Yachts in Toronto.  They purchased the boat unseen as a trade-in and decided to have Barney's sandblast the bottom and apply 5 coats of epoxy barrier coat.  Then they applied 2 coats of VC17.  About a year after I purchased the boat I went to Barney's and asked about the history and whether the work had actually been done.  "Yes" they replied and Anchor Yachts apparently spent $5,000.00 having it done.  So when I purchased the boat she looked exactly as appears in the lead picture to this blog.  The bottom was perfect and other than replacing thru-hulls and updating the VC17 I never touched it again.  After Barney's had finished her she was shipped to Anchor Yachts in Port Credit and that is where I first became aware of her.

Because the boat had been in the Caribbean for over 10 years and was sailed back she did not have a cradle.  That's why I had to buy a brand new cradle from Marine Cradle Shop.  I decided to buy a mobile vs. static cradle.  The difference is in the gauge and size of the steel and does cost more.  It is a 7 pad cradle.

Cost of Purchase and Restoration

The following are the NEW parts used in the restoration of Ceilidh.  There were a few other new parts on the boat when I purchased it.  See my blog page on the history of the boat.

Purchase                                        $ 7,900.00     These parts are all new unless noted

Cradle                                               1,900.00

Transport                                          1,100.00

Loading in Toronto                             250.00

New Westerbeke 44B diesel engine 

c/w Balmar 100A Alternator          12,100.00

& AR5 External V Regulator              906.00

Racor 500 MA primary fuel filter       395.00

Driveshaft/drivesaver/etc.                2,200.00

Dripless shaft seal                               275.00

Propeller    15" replacement               250.00  used

NewFoundMetal Ports (6)               2,400.00

Acrylic and new window frames        350.00

Eco 4 burner stove/oven combo      1,800.00

Isotherm Freezer/Fridge                  2,300.00

Blue Seas 8 position panel                 220.00

500' tinned marine duplex cable         320.00

10 new C panel breakers                     285.00

Moulding for inside windows             300.00

2 sheets 1/2" teak plywood                 435.00

2 sheets of arborite for counters       150.00

3 gallons of epoxy                            350.00

Awlgrip primer & paint                    700.00

15 board feet of solid teak                350.00

11 litres of varnish                            550.00

Selden 206 furler                           2,200.00   Original Harken furler was worn out.

7 oz. 135% genoa                          3,100.00

7 oz. main                                      3,500.00

Stackpack from Doyle                   1,800.00

Tides mainsail track/hardware         800.00     

Used propane tanks                         185.00

New propane hose and fittings        235.00

New cockpit drain valves                485.00  Holland Marine--replaced poor replacement

New 2 1/2" cockpit hoses               120.00

New sink and drain/hose.valve       210.00

New taps in galley & head              275.00

Harken #46ST Winches                 2800.00

Harken #20ST Winches (4)            2,100.00

Garhauer Mainsheet Track             800.00

8 Garhauer turning blocks             400.00

45 lb. Kingston anchor                  400.00

25 lb. Plow                                    NC

60' 5/16 chain and 200' rode         450.00

New Dodger & Bimini               5,000.00

New standing rigging                 1,300.00

Supplies (low estimate)              1,500.00 

Hauling to Goderich                   1,300.00      

New 2021 Garmin 942xs GPS       995.00 

Victron BMV DC gauge                400.00    

Labour--not accounted for

Other items

    New Halyards

    Curtains

    Ceiling vinyl & glue

    Mattress cover

    Remove/wash cushion covers

    Shed/Canvas

    

    

    

Labour:

3000 hours @ $10.00  per hour is $30,000.00

Ceilidh UPDATE February 25, 2023

 UPDATE

Note:  Owing to Google's poor management I couldn't post to this blog for a few years so much is missing on the restoration.  I will try and do some backdated posts when time permits.

As of February 2023 I have managed to regain control of this blog.  As such I may be posting backdated articles on the restoration.

From this point in time (February 2023) I will only post current articles that have more to do with 2023 maintenance and sailing.

Ceilidh was completed in 2016 and launched in Goderich in the spring of 2017 and has been sailing ever since.  She has also made two trips to the north channel (700 km each) so she has been well tested.

Going Solar

In 2017 I installed three new batteries.  One type 31 for starting and two type 30 of 88 amp/hrs. each.  During the winter of 2018/20 I decided to add some solar charging power for the house batteries as we had decided to do a 700km trip up north and I wanted to be sure that my refrigeration, etc. would not be lacking for power.  We do have a 100 amp alternator but I don't like running the engine to charge batteries.  Moreover it's hard on the engine running at 'no load'.  

We had just put a new dodger and bimini on the boat and I was not keen to mount solar panels there.  In any case the boom would shadow part of them.  I came up with the idea of adding a pole at the very aft of the boat.  Initially my plan was to put 50 watts of panel and see if that was enough to bring the batteries back to full charge after running the fridge, lights, etc. all night.  Based on my calculation 50 watts and an output of 2.1 amps by the panel would not be adequate so I designed the whole structure around having a total of 3 - 50 watt panels  (20" x 19") possible.  As I thought 50 was not enough in the first part of the summer so I added 2 more panels and my batteries now recover by 10-llam in the summer light.

I designed the structure of the pole and mount to enable all three panels to turn and change angle depending on the position of the sun.  After initially installing it with all 3 panels I locked it in a south westerly direction at an angle of 45 deg. in the marina and never changed it and never had to plug my boat into shore power again.  

Upon arrival in the North Channel for four weeks and always anchoring we adjusted the panels to straight up and occasionally at an angle to catch the lower sun in the late afternoon.  The batteries were always up by 10 or so in the morning.

The panels cost me $90.00 each plus tax and shipping and I added a PWM charge controller at $45.00 and MC4 cables .   The structure is almost all aluminum.  The pole is a pipe and tube combination that allows for turning.  The lower part ( 2 1/2" ) goes through the deck and is fiberglassed to the bottom of the boat hull. The tube ( 2" ) inserts in to the lower pipe.  The angle adjuster plates sit on either side of the tube with a 1/2" bolts securing them to the tube.  The mount is  1/8" aluminum angle that connects to a steel plate that is mounted on top of the angle adjuster plates.  The whole structure is very strong.  The first solar panel is mounted to the top of the steel plate and the other two are hinged off of that panel and held up by rods.  When not required the latter two fold down and lock.

Anchored the North Channel north of Manitoulin Island

Manitoulin

 

My initial plan was for solar only but as I built it up in my shop I realized that I could add an outboard motor lift very easily.  In the shop I used a light 4 to 1 advantage pulley system to lift my outboard which weighs 55 lbs.  That worked well but for actual boat use I ordered a much heavier tackle from Garhauer with 1/2" rope to make it easy on my hands.  Most of the time the lift arm simply drops against the support tube and is out of the way.  In the pictures above it is extended with the tackle on it.  Like the solar array it turns to lift anywhere off the aft rail of the boat.

Aesthetics

The only negative of the pole structure is that it does take away from the Alberg's beautiful lines.  From a practical standpoint is works well and if I ever decide to put a new radar dome on it I can simply replace the upper panel which can then go on a third side.

The aluminum pipe and tube are rather neutral in appearance and I suppose it would be good to either paint them white or polish them.  Another option is to replace those two pieces with stainless steel pipe and tube.  I shudder to think what that might cost.

New Westerbeke engine for Ceilidh

This is the Westerbeke 44B replacing the old Volvo 23hp in my restored Alberg 37.  I bought it from Anthony-Keates, the Westerbeke dealer in Wheatley, ON.  I ordered it equipped with a 100 amp Balmar alternator and quad pulley with dual belts and Balmar AR5 external regulator.  Notice how clean the engine compartment is.  With all of the new piping and electrical properly distributed there is no need for a spider web of wires and pipes in the engine area.  Note the Racor 500 diesel fuel filter behind the engine.  The 2 gallon water lift muffer is just below.  The engine came complete with a 2.1-1 PRM transmission.  A new coupler and drivesaver  were added to the brand new shaft and dripless seal system.  New mounts were fabricated and tapped into the existing aluminum mounts buried in the base fiberglass.

Westerbeke 44B 44 horsepower diesel engine installed 2016 with 100 ampere Balmar alternator
and AR5 Balmar external regulator (just out of sight).  Currently has just over 200 hours on it.  The boat design allows for more than adequate engine space.  This makes for excellent access for maintenance.

Update December 2012

Ceilidh is coming along but it is obvious that more summers will be required to finish her and I am not entirely sure how long it will take.  At 71 I have slowed some and don't accomplish much each day.  None-the-less she is virtually ready for primer and paint next year and once that is done the inside assembly can proceed.  The engine will have to wait until later in the summer for final hookup. 

In the meantime I am proceeding slowly this winter with the final refinishing of removable parts and creation of new parts.  There isn't much left to do, but as I said I'm slow. 

Oct 30, 2012.  The blue canvas keeps rain from getting on the deck as I have
several access holes laying open on the deck. 

I am currently working on two specific projects.  The first is the electrical panel board.  The panel mounting has been changed from a fixed place to a horizontal opening door and is complete, but I am preparing a second opening door to mount the windlass breaker, etc. so that all electrical pieces are accessible. 

The second is the back of the starboard seat under the cupboards.  Like so much of the boat it was very plain with only openings behind the cushions.  I am veneering it and building door fronts that match everything else in the boat.  Over the last few years I have rebuilt all of the interior and upgraded it at the same time.  There is a completely new galley and a revamped navigation station geared toward electronic navigation, but leaving room for charts.