Thursday Aug 10 - The end of the voyage

On Thursday morning we had a big breakfast at the marina's cantine then while Jim prepared the boat for shipping I stayed in contact with the driver of the boat transporter and tried to make arrangements to get home, not an easy feat from Trois Rivieres. By 1445 the boat was loaded on to the truck and Jim and I were on our way to the airport in Montreal.

By 2130 we were home in Halifax; Sapphira will arrive on Friday night.

"Sapphira" will be launched into the clear waters of St. Margaret's Bay on Monday or Tuesday, as soon as we've convinced ourselves that the sterntube is O.K. The carburetor will be removed and returned to Shelburne Shipyards and the original wil be installed. Then we have to clean, sand and oil the teak, and scrub the hull again. We'll fix the remaining problems and enjoy sailing on St. Margaret's Bay.

Thank you for following along.

Wednesday August 9

We left the Auberge Handfield Marina at 0725 making 6.8 knots with the help of the current. We traverserd the St. Ours locks, the largest lock on the Chambly system, at 0915 and carried on downstream. We stopped at a small marina to get gas and tried to arrange to pump out the main fuel tank without success.

As per our plan we contacted a boat transportation company in Nova Scotia to arrange to ship the boat from St. Jean Port Jolie near Riviere du Loup at the end of the week. When we discovered that the price would be the same no matter where on the river we had him pick up the boat, since he had a truck on the road that could pick us up the following day, and since the mast was already stored on deck, we decided to end the voyage at Trois Rivieres, and use the rest of my vacation to bring the boat to perfect condition with no more issues, such as bad gas in the fuel tank, and occasional loss of power when moving ahead.

As if to confirm our decision, when we left a small private dock in Sorel, after changing gas tanks, so we would have a full one for the trip across Lac St. Pierre to Trois Rivieres, we found the engine revs once again reduced to a maximum of 1300 rpm. There was too much current to risk diving on the prop so we decided to continue on to Trois Rivieres. With the help of the current and a following breeze we made a steady 7.4 knots with occasional 8 knots. We arrived at the dock at Marina Trois Rivieres at 1825, after an beautiful run across Lac Stl Pierre on a clear, sunny day. It was a good ending to a wonderful week.

Tuesday Aug 8 (2)

We are now in St. Marc sur Richelieu at the Auberge Hanfield Marina. We had a wonderful trip through the Chambly Canal; we travelled with another boat, a Monk 36 power boat, so that the bridges would be opened without delay. The engine worked perfectly with no indication of power loss. At one point, going under a railway bridge, we achieved 8 knots (with the help of the current). Before we left St. Jean we manouvered astern as much as we could and we think that may have cleared whatever was binding the propellor shaft. The canal runs through beautiful country and was a fantastic trip. We traversed nine locks operated by the most pleasant and helpful Parks Canada employees. After entering Chambly Basin we continued up the Richelieu River at maximum speed until we arrive here at around 1515.

While here we have walked through the village to the depanneur for supplies. We have also installed a new anchor light and wind indicator, and have checked out the bilge blower which is working well at the moment. We purchased a new blower in case the present one fails, since it is such a vital piece of equipment.

Jim & I just finished dinner at the bistro of the auberge and will probably turn in for an early night to allow an early start tomorrow. We hope to arrive at the St Ours locks when they open at 0815; that means we must leave here at about 0715.

What a trip; we have already started the detailed planning for the voyage down the Riviere St. Laurant, tide timing being particularly important.

I may not be able to post again until we arrive in Quebec City on Friday.

Tuesday Aug 8

It`s 0800 and I have to run. The canal opens at 0815 and since we are travelling slowly we want an early start. Happily this internet café opened an hour early just because the owner felt like it. And now you`re up to date!

Monday Aug 7

After un strppping the mast and clearing the weeds from the prop we set off up the Richelieu River toward the Chambly Canal. Once again weeds wrapped around the prop and we had to pull into a small marina and I went diving again. Since them we have been unable to maintain full pwer adn are forced to operate at about 1150 revs giving us aboutr 3.5 knots. Fortunately the current and wind were with us and we arrived safely at St. Jean sur Richelieu, at the entrance to the canal. The scenery along the Richelieu River is beautiful and even with our (minor) troubles the voyage so far has been wonderful.

Sunday Aug 6

We left Plattsurg under power but soon switched to sail. For 3 1/2 hours we had a wonderful run before the wind right up Lake Champlain toward the Canadian border. At one point we were making a steady 5.5 knots.As the channel narrowed we lowered the sails and returned to motoring. As we approached the customs dock our engine stopped. We had just enough way on that we could bring the boat close enough to throw a rope to a customs officer. Then the carburretor started leaking again. After completing customs clearance w remained tied up while I removed the carburretor ansd installed our spare, also borrowed from the engine in Shelburne. We then lowered the US flag, raised the Canadian flag and motored to St. Paul. On the way the engine`s performance continually reduced and we barely made it to teh Marina Gosselin. After analysing the situation all evening we decided we had weeds wrapped around the prop so on Monday morning I put on my trunks and dove to the prop, cleared the weeds, and we set off again. This is not a dull voyage.

Saturday August 5

We reinstalled the carburretor and motored to Burlington, a beautiful little city on the lake. We tied up at a public marina and Jim went shopping while I showered and shaved ansd stood by on carburretor watch. We then returned to Shelburne, purchased some last necessities and started the voyage home. We motored to Plattsburg, New York, taking 3 1é2 hours and burning 4.4 US gallons of gas.

Friday Aug 4th

When we ran the engine on Thursday we discovered the exhaust gasket leaked badly and the muffler leaked water like a sieve. On Friday we replaced the gaasket with one taken from an engine held by teh yard for spares and repaired the muffler with epoxy. During our test run we found we had very poor performance which we attributed to bad gas left over in the gas tank before we filled it. We attacehd our emergency tank directly to the fuel pump and acheived perfect performance. However when we got back to the dock and chut down the carburetor leaked and we had to remove it to stop the accumulation of gasoline in the pan under the engine.

Getting closer

We're here. Jim & I arrived in Shelburne last night, thanks to Ed Doucet and his brilliant driving. Today we will finish the engine installation, clean the interior of the boat, bend on the sails, provision for the trip, install the clean cushion covers and prepare for our departure on Friday morning, as early as possible.

Almost ready

For the past three days, 2 friends and I have been working like beavers to get the Sapphira ready to launch on August 1st. Dennis sanded the bottom, and turned blue in the process, while Bruce cleaned and I worked on the bilge pump and the engine bed. Since then, Bruce and Dennis painted the bottom, and the boot stripe and we all cleaned the above-water hull. Then we dropped the engine into place, and installed the dodger. (Sorry for the lack of photos, but I won't be able to upload them for a couple of days.)

Now, on Friday the 21st, Bruce and Dennis have returned to Rhode Island and Massachusetts and I have almost finished the installation of the rebuilt Atomic 4. Tomorrow morning I'll spend a couple of hours working on the electrical wiring, cleaning the interior again, and setting up some work for the yard to complete before we launch. Then I have to drive to Toronto, Ottawa and back to Halifax.

The plan remains the same; the yard will launch the Sapphira on August 1st, we will arrive August 2nd and we'll sail on August 4th.

I'll keep posting, and upload some fabulous photos of the work in progress as soon as I can.

Progess on the engine

I drove to Vermont on June 10. On the 11th I removed the engine from Sapphira. It was a straight forward process until I tried to remove the aft holding down bolts; one snapped and I had to cut the head off the other. Eventually I was able to lift the engine. I was very fortunate in that there was a yard employee working on the 11th, a Sunday. He was moving power boats with a huge fork lift truck and agreed to take a break from his work to lift the engine from the boat, down to the ground. He also helped load the engine into the back of the car. I had removed the back seat from my Chrysler Sebring and had covered the floor with cardboard and wooden planks. It was relatively easy to slide the engine onto the planks and then to tie it in place so it wouldn't fly around on the drive home.
Now the engine is in my garage, the valves and valve seats have been ground and lapped together and the cylinder compression has been restored. Now I have to re-install the accessories and make it run.

The point of it all

I know it seems like a lot of work, and a lot of time spent, but I think the attached photo of a sister ship explains why we think it is worthwhile.

The hatch boards

The hatch boards, i.e. the "door" to the cabin from the cockpit on an Alberg 30 are a particularly attractive feature of the boat. However if they are falling apart like the ones on Sapphira, our Alberg 30 they can become a major source of annoyance. However, I have the boards with me in Halifax and I've asked my neighbour Jeff, who is a ship's carpenter in the Navy, to refurbish them. With luck they will be ready to take with me to Shelburne, VT.

Engine issues

May 22, 2006

The issue that I'm currently focussed on is the engine, or more importantly how to put it back in running condition. The engine is an Atomic 4 gasoline engine. I purchased a used engine in Maine with the intention of overhauling it and replacing the engine currently in the boat. However, now I have been advised by our proposed parts supplier that we should overhaul the engine currently in the boat and use the older engine for parts. This means that I will have to travel to Shelburne, Vermont (a 13 hour drive), remove the engine and drive home again. The only time I have available to do the trip is next Sunday through Wednesday. I guess I'd better start planning that trip.