Well I have been remiss in my blogging. So I have a lot of catching up to do. But first let me tantalize you with an upcoming project.
Belaying pin

A beautiful set of teak belaying pins by Mike Anderson of Anderson Boat Works

yep, it’s gonna be fun. It will also make Shanti even more versatile and salty looking.

If you want a set for your very own, contact Mike at Anderson Boat Works.

Anderson Boat Works in California

Plus I will have a few more blogs in store for everyone. Two big ones in particular. Installing a new engine and replacing the chain plates.

Stay tuned.

Hi all,

I will soon have a new website for www.garyfelton.com. I have needed an overhaul for sometime now. BUT, I have also just finished a new site just for yachting and sailing photography. Please go visit if you love pictures of boats  and the sea. go to www.yacht-photography.net

I will have the new garyfelton site with links to the yachting photography site up in the next few days. This will enable to offer some exciting products for my audience. You can order beautiful prints for your wall, ebooks of photography, screen savers and wall paper apps for your IPhone etcetera.

See you soon!

Gary

Hi all,
Back in March of 2009 I decided to try “Honey Teak” which is a 2 part varnish. Practical Sailor had done a test and found it to hold up well as much as 5 years out. They reported no loss of finish. Now I don’t know exactly how the “finish” part was defined. You can read the report here http://www.signaturefinish.com/fabula_practical_sailor.pdf (large download)

Anyway, I had to redo all the varnish on Shanti down here in the tropics. We usually only get about 6 months on a varnish job before we need to top coat it again. And that is with a 8 coat varnish job to begin with.

So I was anxious to use this new wonder product. Also a little apprehensive, as a failure would be difficult and time consuming to remove. Read my post about being “on the dock“. The Honey Teak was applied 28 months ago.

This is a 2 part 2 part system. It uses 2 different types of coats that are both 2 part. You first apply a 2 part undercoat. I did the recommended 2 coats of the first part. This first part has a strong brown tint to it (honey?). This is from all the UV inhibitors that are loaded in it. Then I applied 3 coats of the clear top coat. This was all done wet on wet, except for the change from undercoat to top coat.

The final finish looked GREAT! (note: planks are oiled)

March 2009

The finish Now at 28 months. Notice the reflection of the rope.

I did wait just a little too long to put on some maintenance coats. On the eyebrow (trim around cabin) I lost finish on the edge. So now I will have a few “dark” spots when I refinish. All I will be doing for maintenance is a light sand with a red 3M pad. Then 2 coats wet on wet.

The key here is to not wait to apply the “maintenece” coats. It’s easy to put off since you need to sand and varnish a surface that looks great. I should have done this back in March.

So in the end I got a solid 2 years out of this system. For the Caribbean that is GREAT!

Down side is the expense. But compared to how much labor you save I think it’s worth every penny.

Cheers, Gary

Back from the yard at last!

It has been a long 7 weeks out of the water. A bottom job and repair of Shanti’s drive train were the main reasons for the haulout. I will expand on them in the next post.

We decided to repaint Shanti’s bulwarks and change the color scheme a bit. The primary color went from off white to Grand Banks beige, with a burgundy accent stripe. Also did the bottom paint in black instead of green. That was due to the bottom paint we used only being available in black. But I like it.

Here is a pic of Shanti shot with my iPhone.

Shanti's new colors

As a by product of Hurricane Earl, my synthetic rigging went through a real torture test. There have been continuous questions about how this new technology will hold up to chafe. People have visions of wild eyed Haitians with machetes cutting down there rig. And what about the main sail chafing on rigging during a down wind sleigh ride of a week or more duration? Well I have had my Dynex Dux rigging for almost a year and have seen no problems as of yet with chafe. I have been VERY satisfied with the rig so far. Of course I have not yet had the pleasure of a week or more downwind sleigh ride.

To the meat of this post, “The torture test”. During Hurricane Earl Shanti was was pushed into the mangroves that were close aboard my port side. Please refer to the post “How I secure Shanti” for a close look at the setup. as the wind backed during passage of the storm winds of about 40-50kts out of the W to SW pushed my port side hard into the mangroves. I didn’t sustain any damage. But while inspecting the boat I noticed this …

Mangrove trees where rigging chafed against branches.

I estimate that the wind blew from the W to SW for about 3 hours. And as you can see from the above photograph the rigging severely chafed the branches and even broke some off. The result … a little bit of fuzz or none at all on my aft lower or cap shroud that I estimate were taking the brunt of the load.

OK, nuff said about chafe!

Gary