The C&C 121 SV Calypso: November 2016

Calypso has a beautiful 3 bladed folding prop on its saildrive. However, it and the bottom both had many barnacles.

Part of the reason for all of the barnacles was that the bottom paint was worn out. And then I had the problem that I could not find out what paint was used--many bottom paints will not stick to other bottom paints. The result was the yard had to test the paint used to repaint the bottom and use paint that is perhaps less optimal than I would have liked.

I purchased a new winter cover for her and took these pictures so I could remember how it fits on.

The Boat next to Calypso is Ariel. In Greek mythology, Calypso was the consort of Poseidon God of the Sea, while Ariel is the Goddess of the Wind...some trivia

Here is a list of the Work Completed over the Winter of 2014 to 2015

These are in no particular order, mostly, but they give an idea of the quality of the maintenance by the previous owner. Additionally, it shows the number of systems that are important for cruising that were much less important for racing.

Electrical System
I found out after buying Calypso that the electrical system is one of the more important and most complex systems on the modern cruising and blue water racing boats. I really had paid little attention to the electrical system on Starwood, other than repairing the alternator a couple of times and replacing the batteries when they went dead. Now I started out on a whole new curriculum. My teachers have been and are Cliff a master marine technician, Wayne a friend who has learned much both from other cruising sailors and in the school of hard knocks, and Alex one of my racing crew on Starwood and also a superb marine electronics and electrical expert. Now that I'm studying yacht electrical systems, through reading a variety of marine maintenance books, I suspect that most the initial set of electrical systems problems were caused by the installation of a 100 Amp alternator.

However, in the fall of 2014 I started having work done from a position of sublime ignorance with respect to many cruising systems.

Fixed the Alternator Belt Problem: The surveyor found that the engine compartment was full of Bell dust and the alternator belt was squeaking. Obviously there was a serious problem with the alternator belt. The previous owner agreed to "fix" the problem which they did by replace the belt. This did fix the problem for about two weeks. During the six weeks I had the boat in the water in 2014 I replaced the belt twice more. This meant a new belt every two weeks. Over the winter the yard did a number of minor fixes that worked, sort of, during most of the summer of 2015. More later.

Clean Engine Compartment: While not an electrical problem, one effect of the alternate belt problem was that the engine compartment was black with belt dust. Additionally, the air intake filter was missing. This meant that the belt dusk was being sucked into the engine. I suspect that the engine quit or was oxygen starved because the filter was clogged so the previous owner simply took it off and didn't replace it. This was high on my list of "to do" priorities.

New inverter/Charger: The surveyor found that the charger/inverter was not working and the owner agreed to repair it. When we were sailing back from Salem we found that the charger function, sort of worked and the inverter function did not work at all. So I replaced the Charger/Inverter with an updated model.

New Regulator: The surveyor did not tell me that the alternator to battery regulator was both broken and hooked up backward. Without a good regulator, the 100 amp alternator (larger than is typically put on the engine by the manufacturer, but not very large) could have overcharged the batteries, causing problems. So, Cliff installed a new very good alternator.

Check/Replace Batteries: Even though the surveyor told me that all four batteries in the boat were good, the yard found that the two deep cycle batteries had failed and the other two were car batteries. So I had to replace all four. Now it has four good batteries.

Miscellaneous Items
New Sail Cover: The mainsail did not come with a cover, which I found surprising, since that is the best way to allow the sum to ruin a good sail. So that was one of the first items that I added.

Move the Gooseneck: The previous owners had moved the gooseneck down. This meant that the sails didn't fit properly and the boom was wearing holes in the Bimini. So I had it moved up.

Fixed the windlass: The windlass would hardly move the line or the chain in pulling up the anchor. Several replaced palls later it work fine.

Add the rear handle: The handle on the outside of the swim platform was missing. It is there to allow some to crawl back onboard without the swim platform being down. So I purchased and installed a new one.

Repair the Swim Platform: The surveyor found that the actuator to lower and raise the swim platform was not working and the owner agreed to have it fixed. Well they did "fix" it. It went down and up when I tried it before the purchase, but didn't after that. So before the boat went in the water, the yard's mechanic and I got it working, again. It worked on and off for the summer of 2015 and then quit. More on that later.

Fixed all of the Stanchions: When I purchased Calypso all of the lifeline stanchions were wobbly. My opinion is that the choice of the stanchion design was a poor decision on the part of the boat's builder. Anyway, it was somewhat dangerous so I had the yard take care of the problem.

Fixed gas control for stove: The first time we went to use the stove on the cruise back from Salem (which the surveyor told us was working) it didn't. The gas warning gauge was broken. I replaced it with a new one. It worked, sort of, in 2015.

New 30 AMP AC cord: The boat had two 30 Amp AC sockets, one to the charger and to run most of the appliances on the boat that us AC power (e.g., the microwave and TV) and one to power the Air Conditioning (something that I never would have purchased if I bought the boat new). But since I had it I felt that it would be nice to be able to hook it up occasionally. So I purchased a second cord. And, yes, in 2016 we used the air conditioning system one time and it was nice to have it.

Get the air conditioning system working: Another item that the surveyor found was not working was the air conditioning system. However, in the spring of 2015 the yard's mechanic found that the only reason it didn't work was that there was an air bubble in the air conditioning intake.

Replaced a refrigerator pull: One thing that bothered me from the first time I saw the boat was that the handle on the pull was a piece of string. Later, I found the original handle, broken off. With help from the boat's manufacturer, Tartan Yachts, I purchased a replacement.

Repaired gas strut to refrigerator door: Additionally, I notice that the gas strut for one of the refrigerator doors was missing. When I found it buried in a drawer, I found that the strut was complete and working, but it had been torn out of the refrigerator (probably when the pull was broken). I epoxied the screw holes and screwed the strut back in. My repairs lasted most of the summer of 2015.

Repaired the Bimini: Between general wear and tear and the scraping of the boom, the bimini had couple of large and a number of small holes in it. Since I had to spend so much on other repairs, I decided to repair the bimini rather than replace it.

Light for Dodger: When I took responsibility for the boat I found that the light attached to the hard dodger didn't light up. This was a puck-style LED light run on batteries. Since its location makes it very valuable for lighting up the companion way and since I couldn't find a way to open it (at the time), I replaced it.

Added a Winter Cover: The boat's inventory included a cover. When I couldn't find it I asked the broker and owner where it was. They told me that the inventory was in error. From my time spent with Starwood, I concluded that, long term it would be cost effective to purchase a winter cover rather than having the yard cover the boat either with a tarp or shrink wrapping it.

Replaced burned out bulbs: As I expected from the condition of maintenance, there were many burned out bulbs in the cabin. Before I purchased the boat I had decided to replace any burned out bulbs with LED bulbs. In the process of purchasing and replacing these bulbs I found out a lot about LED bulbs, bulb bases, and so on.

Got the port-side Cabin Lights working: In the process of changing bulbs I noticed that all of the lights forward of the galley were not working. After doing everything I knew how to do--not much--I had the yard's mechanic check it out. He found that there were no wires coming to that part of the boat's lighting. In fairly short order he repaired the problem.

Added Winch Handle pockets: One minor upgrade that I wanted was to add winch handle pockets. I had found that they were essential for keeping track of the winch handles on Starwood. So I added them.

Added a Trash Bag Holder: Another minor upgrade was to install a small waste basket below the sink in the galley.

Checked the Microwave: The surveyor could not get the microwave to work. When I checked it out, it worked.

Step to get on deck: Given that Calypso is about 1 foot higher from the waterline to the deck, I thought a portable step would be a great addition, so I added it.

Paper towel holder for galley: An additional minor upgrade was to install a solid cherry paper towel holder in the galley; very useful for yours truly.

Bottom Paint: See above.

"Added" New anchor system: According to the surveyor, the anchor was a good lunch anchor, meaning the it did not have enough holding power for a major blow. So I talked with a cruiser friend of mine who suggested a 45 LBS plow anchor. When I got it, it was obvious that while it would hold the boat in a Cat 5 hurricane, there was no way to mount it on the bow of the boat without extensive redesign. Then I doubt the windlass would lift it, if it were well set. So I returned it and bought a Danforth-style anchor, but its shape would not allow us to moor the boat easily. I'm still working out a design for mounting it.

Added a tide clock: I mounted a tide clock on Starwood and eventually figured out how to set it and use it. And I found it quite useful. When I got Calypso, she didn't have a tide clock, so I added one.

Repaired the Waste System: While I had to do much the same sort of thing to the 25+ year old Starwood, I found that the waste system, other than the waste tank was in a state of disrepair. Initially, the surveyor found that the toilet seat was broken (minor problem) and the prior owner replaced it. Then the yard found that the toilet itself needed to be replaced, all of the waste hoses needed to be replaced, the Y-valve needed to be replaced, and the macerator needed to be replaced. A big job, but now it works.

Fix the Rudder: The surveyor found that the foam core of the rudder was water saturated; not a good thing. So the previous owner had his/her yard cut the rudder open, replace the foam, and resealed it. However, when the yard pulled Calypso out for the winter, Larry, the yard manager found that the rudder was, again, saturated with water. I had a plug installed in the bottom of the rudder to let the water out (this is a temporary fix).

Engine water intake: The boat came with a saildrive. After having the after third of Starwood taken up with an engine and drive train this I find a saildrive wonderful in increasing the interior space. However, the intake for the engine is also located in the saildrive. In salt water barnacles can inside this intake blocking the water. There is no feasible way to clean these out short of doing a short haul (pulling the boat out of the water) taking the drive off the engine, pulling it apart, cleaning it out, putting it back together, reconnecting it to the engine, resealing it to the hull, and finally dropping the boat back into the water. This blockage could occur at any time in any situation; according to Murphy's Law. They recommended installing a separate engine water intake, which I had them do.

Dock Lines: Calypso came with only two dock lines, while a minimum of four are needed in many situations. So I bought two additional lines.

Masthead Wind Direction Sensor: The day we sailed from Salem we discovered that three sensors were not working, the boat speed, the depth, and the wind direction. That evening, after a sail of 75 miles we found that the speed and depth sensor was not installed, so we installed it. Shortly thereafter we discovered that the wind direction sensor was completely missing. So I purchased a new one and had it installed. It lasted about a month.

Remove stain from shower: There was a bad stain in the shower, possibly a blood stain; we didn't check. Anyway, Evelyn spent a good deal of time on it and got most of it out.

Covers for Fenders: Calypso came with two fenders, about half the number needed. and their covers were in miserable condition. I replaced the covers.

Adjust the Doors: Many of the cabinet doors and at least one of the cabin doors did not latch properly, so they would open while on a tack. I adjusted a couple of them and continue to try to figure out the best way with the rest.

Polish the interior wood and trim: Calypso, like all C&C 121's came with cherry veneer interior walls trimmed in solid cherry. However, the wood, like the rest of the boat had not been maintained. So I cleaned and polished it, with help from Evelyn.

Check out bowsprit gear: Calypso came with a retractable bowsprit. While I like the idea of a beak found on many new racing boats, I like the retractable bowsprit for cruising because it allows me to add a roller furling spinnaker that will not get entangled with the roller furling jib; a problem with adding the roller furling to the asymmetric spinnakers on Starwood. When extended, the tack of the spinnaker is about 4 feet off the bow of the boat (if I had a 4 foot beak I would have a 44 to 46 foot boat (much more expensive a marinas and more difficult to maneuver), especially if it had a fixed swim platform. Anyway, this bowsprit was difficult to move at all and impossible to do with the control lines on deck. What I found, the following summer was that the carbon fiber bowsprit has so much upward load on it that the "Bearing" is/are overloaded and that the bowsprit is now loose in it/them.

Replace light over chart desk: another minor, but important item was that the light over the chart desk had been changed from a previous light to an LED light. The problem with that is that it only had a bright white light. This is not good if you're sailing at night as it destroys your ability to see in a low light environment. Red is a good color for that, so I replace the light with a Red/White LED light.

Fixed a "short" in masthead sensors: During the time I sailed the boat in 2014 several times none of the masthead sensors worked. However, when I unplugged them and plugged them in again, they worked. I had the marina's electrician check out the problem; he found it and fixed it.

Get Bungs for the Through hulls: Bungs are angular pieces of wood. If a hose or clamp inside the boat and below the water fails, bungs a pounded into the through-hull fitting to stop the leak. So I purchased these safety items.

Repair Remote Fuel Gauge: The gauge for the fuel tank is located under one of the seats in the saloon. A repeater gauge is located at the navigation station and is consequently much easier to get to, to read. However, when I got the boat it wasn't working. During the winter of 2014 to 2015 I tried to chase the problem down. Finally, in the summer of 2015, my friend Alex found the problem, a bad fuse hiding behind some other wiring.

Replace Saildrive Dipstick and some Seals: As noted above, Calypso has a saildrive. When the mechanic went to check the saildrive lubricant, he found that the dipstick handle was missing, very unusual. He got a new one. When he opened it up, he found streaks of a milky liquid (water) in it. Since it was only streaks, and not milky throughout, it indicated that one or more seals were not sealing completely; so he replaced the ones most likely to leak. This is a sign of an experienced mechanic.

Lines
New Spinnaker and gear: When I contracted to purchase Calypso, a spinnaker was included in the inventory; but when the spinnaker came out of its bag, it came out in four parts, which according to the sailmaker could not be sown back together. Consequently, the owner and I came to an agreement that we would each pay half for a new sail, a roller furling code 1 spinnaker. This type of spinnaker is also denoted as a cruising spinnaker or a gennakur. A code 1 is somewhat smaller than the "normal" code 3 asymmetric, so I figured that I could handle it, including furling it by myself it need be--and I can. So I purchased the furling system and the extra blocks need for the sail.

Ties/hooks for the lines led to the cockpit: One feature I particularly like on the C&C 121 is that nearly all of the control lines for sailing the boat are led aft to the cockpit area through a tunnel under the deck to stoppers on either side of the companion way. However, that leaves a spaghetti bowel of lines under the dodger and increases the difficulty when making sail changes or adjustments. Many people have added bags to hold this mess of lines, which merely hid the mess. I chose to add hooks and ties to separate the lines with one hook per line.

Reorganize Lines in Stoppers: When I acquired Calypso which line went through which stopper made no sense. When Tartan Yachts sent a copy of the deck rigging diagram it became clear that someone had moved them. So, I returned to their original position. This made it easier to understand and untangled some of the lines in the tunnel.

Checked the Outhaul: The line coming out of the boom was not the same color or size as that going into the boom. In fact, it looked like and probably was part of a broken Spinnaker halyard, or spinnaker tack line that came with the boat. So I had the yard check it out since I was concerned that under stress the line would fail. I was told that the line was fine and tied to a block inside the boom.

New Jib Sheet: One jib sheet that came with the boat was about half worn. I replaced it.

Replaced the Spinnaker Halyard: The spinnaker halyard also looked like it had seen better days. Since I had learned from experience with Starwood just how much tension was needed, I had it replaced with a higher tension line.

Replaced the Spinnaker Tack Line, Main Sheet, and Main Halyard: When I acquired Calypso, these lines were all 5/8 inch lines. It was obvious to me that lines of that size because that blocks were not working properly. I had the yard reduce their size to 1/2 inch, though I discovered since that Harken recommends 3/8 inch as the maximum size.

Fix/maintain the Jib Furler: When I acquired Calypso, I noticed right off that the jib furler was very hard to pull. I had asked to sail the boat as part of the survey but was told that it was not possible--and I believed them. Anyway, when we were bringing the boat back from Salem I noticed it. It seemed to me that the furler had not been properly maintained. So I asked the yard to check it. They removed a block under deck from the furling system, but went no further thinking that would take care of it. It didn't. I'll show you the reason in my next post (Summer of 2015).

$$$ Whew!!!

The C&C 121 SV Calypso

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Summer 2015

Repairs to the Roller Furling System

After the Storm

The Sail to Martha's Vineyard

Additional work

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Winter 2014 to 2015

Here is a list of the Work Completed over the Winter of 2014 to 2015