Catch-up

Feb. 12, 2011 - Met Mike, paid him and picked up the keys, sails, cushions, whisker pole, tiller and a few odds and ends. Went over to look at the boat and was pleasantly surprised at how clean the inside was.  Apparently Mike has the rudder in the back of his garage still as well as the spinnaker sail.  We'll make arrangements to get that all from him later. Took some pictures so that I can figure out what needs work on her.

Feb. 23, 2011 - The trailer tires came today in the mail.  Princess Auto had a sale on for $35 a tire sonow I have four new ones.  The 3 old tires that still look half decent will be the spares. One of the old ones has come off the rim so it's done. 

Feb. 28, 2011 - Heard from Mike today.  Apparently he's found the spinnaker and one of the frame pieces for the bimini.  He's still waiting for his son's to come and help him clear out the garage enough to get to the rudder. Apparently he also wants the flare gun and container back since it wasn't his to sell. Oh well. The weather still hasn't warmed up enough to do anything on the boat.  I think the groundhog saw something that spooked him.

Mar. 5, 2011 -   Well the boat license came today.  I get to keep the same numbers that are on the boat. Sweet!  They're dark blue and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to find coloured numbers to match the stripe if I had to change them.

Mar. 18, 2011 - Today was a nice warm day to work on the boat.  I jacked it up out of the ground and pull the old wheels off.  Glad I brought the compressor and impact wrench. Repacked the wheel bearings. Fortunately they were in really good shape so I just cleaned out the old grease and put in new grease.  Unfortunately, the new rims don't fit the old hubs. So I  have to swap out the tires.

Mar. 19, 2011 - So it turns out the bolt circle of the new tires is the same as the old ones, just the hub hole is slightly larger.  No big deal then.  On they went. Updated Gallery 1 with some more pictures. The wiring now needs to be done so that I can actually take it on the road. Princess auto had a sail on submersible trailer lights for $20.  While I was there I also picked up a couple of winches that will be needed for the trailer and the mast raising system. It's been a good weekend to get things done.  Now she sits on her own wheels.

Mar. 20, 2011 - Well, the tail lights are on and working.  Good enough to get it home.  The wire is run for the marker lights but since they have to come off again for painting I'll just leave them for now. Now to get something to tow it with...

Mar. 31, 2011 - Today we bought a new minivan.  An '06 Grand Caravan SXT.  It has a 3.8L engine and the tow package so I'll be able to haul the boat. 

Apr. 2, 2011 -   Today I picked up the remainder of things that Mike still had for the boat.  The key for the hitch, the rudder, a bimini frame member, and the spinnaker.  Then down to Princess Auto to pick up a few odds and ends. Soon we'll bring her home. I can hardly wait.

Apr. 9, 2011 -    Well, today I brought Winded home.  The van did a great job of towing her.  A few things on the trailer need to be fixed and/or upgraded but all together it tows quite nicely. Chatted with Bob while I was waiting for Sue to bring some wiring tools for me. (I made the harness 6" too short) Seems the boat's been sitting in their shed for more than 19 years.  It was there when they bought the house 19 years ago. Spent some time unpacking her, took the mast off, the boom out, and then tried the electrics.  The good  news is the lights all work.  I will need to spend some time cleaning up the wiring later. 
 So in the coming weeks the plan is:
1. lift her off the trailer and then repaint and redo the trailer.
2. pressure wash the exterior and polish it all up again.
3. fix up some of the hardware and put in new windows.
4. polish up the mast, boom and stainless steel railings.
5. redo the woodwork.
6. check the keel and redo that if necessary.
7. set up the rudder properly.
8. build the mast raising system.
9. go sailing.

See, got it all worked out.  Now to get done.

Apr. 16, 2011 -  Found an outboard motor on Kijiji that a guy on the 6th Concession was selling.  Went and had a look today and I picked it up for $500.  It's a 1988 or 89  8HP Evinrude.  Started first pull, runs well.  Needs a bit of cleaning up.  It's dark blue so it will match the dark blue accent on the boat nicely.

Apr. 22, 2011 -  Jacked the boat off the trailer this afternoon. Also built the wedges and supports for keeping
it in position. It looks a bit awkward but I gave it a good heave and it all held.  Climbed up into it as well just to make sure and it seems quite stable.  Also started pulling stuff off the trailer.  Tomorrow the fun really begins.

Apr. 23, 2011 -  Sanded the trailer, pulled the carpet off the bunks, painted the trailer black (first coat anyway) and rounded off the top edge of the bunks.  They are made of three 3/4" pieces of marine plywood laminated together.  Still in excellent shape so I'm keeping them.  The ends separated a bit so I clamped them and put some screws in to hold them together.  I also put some Thompson water seal on them.  Then I looked at the keel and thought, "How in am I gonna get that out of there?"  I need six more inches to get the front out and six more inches up will be very precarious and perhaps dangerous.  Then it suddenly dawned on me that it sits on a gravel driveway so why not go down six inches instead?  So I dug a hole and then lowered the keel. Wouldn't you know it, the cable doesn't let the keel all the way down. It also has the original double top pulley system in it so I'll need to switch that over to the system on the Mullholland website suggested.  While I had the keel hanging down I peeked into the forward gap and boy, is the keel guide ever thin in there.  I think that I'm definitely going to have to replace it.  Now the question is to do it now or wait until after the sailing season and do it over the winter.  At this point I'm leaning towards leaving it until the fall and do the repair over the winter.

Apr. 30, 2011 -  Finished the trailer this morning.  Bolt holes for the tongue extension needed to be redrilled, the winch put back on and foam riveted to the bow stop. Then I went to work on the centre board.  Dropped it out using jacks after I undid the pulleys from inside. Man, was the top of the centre board ever rusty.  It took me half an hour just to grind off most of the rust.  Some of it was so pitted that I would have had to grind off about 0.100"  or more.  Then I painted it with Armour Coat.  Then I looked over Lorne Mullholland's modifications and decided that maybe bringing the forward pulley back a bit would be better. So I measured very carefully to get the pulleys as close together as possible.  Unfortunately, the hole was just 1/16" higher than the other and that didn't leave enough room for the pulley and the cable at the top. So now there are two holes. 

May 1, 2011 -    Well, the centre board is back in with the new pulley arrangement.  A bit harder to winch up but still manageable.  As I was installing it I had a brain fart and I think I might be able to put a second smaller pulley in there to increase the purchase to what it was.  I'll save that for when the boat is back on the trailer though.

May 23, 2011 -  This was the long weekend I had hoped to get so much done.  Got side tracked building a a new bed for Ben instead.  Finally ran out of things I could do on the bed this morning so I hauled the trailer back up to the garage and welded ladder rungs to the winch post.  I added some height and put a third rung up high.  Then I went and lowered the boat back onto the trailer. Silly me. the boat isn't that high.  Didn't need the third rung so I cut it off again Anyway, it now sits on the fixed up and repainted trailer ready to be carried to the water.

June 26, 2011 - Well, I've been busy doing the wood work for the boat.  New toe rails, hatch trim, and tiller. I had some black walnut laying there so I milled it and used that.  It looks really nice. I've also made some mods to the mast head.  I've added another set of pulleys to each side so that I can use one for the topping lift, and the other for the spinnaker. The windows also need replacing so that will be next on the list. Hopefully next weekend sometime I'll get her to the water.

1975 Matilda 20, hull number 761. Purchased Feb. 12, 2011.

This site is about the life and times of this boat. (at least while I own her)  I'll be using it as sort of a blog
about our adventures with this boat. She sat on her trailer at the Attrell's where Sue also keeps her horse
for over 19 years. The previous owner, Mike, named her KNOTSENSE. Before that her name was Libka.
We've renamed her WINDED.