For Sale?

Well, Hattie L has been pulled fro the water, placed on her trailer is is sitting on the hard at the Harbor Marina in Watkins Glen. Although we do have a For Sale sign on her, we may not end up selling her. It all depends on whether or not we get a larger boat. We have been bitten by the "two footitis" but and are looking for a bigger boat!

We thought we had a shot at an O'Day 272LE, but the current owners decided that they weren't going to sell since they couldn't find a bigger boat that satisfied them.

We are in the same position, although we have made a tenative offer on a 1983 Hunter 31. The "tenative" nature is based on the availability of a slip in the marina. If we can be guaranteed of a slip with electricity and water, we will purchase the boat.

If so, a new adventure will begin - with a new boat for us. If not, we will be back in the water with the Helms 25 until such time as we can move up in size.

Hattie L is now legal to sail in inclement weather and the dark of night

With the purchase of a used 100 AH AGM battery (all 75 pounds of it), Hattie L now has a functioning electrical system. It was a most pleasant reaction when I turned on the navigation and running lights and they all worked! This is surprising for a boat that may have been out of the water for up to 10 years.

The next step may be to rewire the cabin lights since they don't seem to work - and I bought four LED light fixtures for the cabin. With the addition of a utility outlet (cigarette lighter fixture) and a small inverter I will be basically done with the functional tasks of the Helms 25.

I obtained the original Bimini from the prior owner but it is a bit inconvenient. Since the boom simply sits on a pin on the mast (for the roller furling main) the boom can easily slip off the mast when the main is not deployed. Opening the Bimini requires lifting the boom and it usually falls off the mast - bummer - but just a pain in the butt is all it means. I don't believe that the Bimini can be up when sailing either. Will do the best we can with what we have.

Underway under sail

We have finally gotten Hattie L out on Seneca Lake under sail! It was a beautiful Sunday morning but the winds were light and variable (variable is the way of winds on Seneca Lake) so we powered up and left the marina. We figured out how to raise the sails and away we went for an enjoyable four hours.
Coming back into the marina was a breeze and we made a perfect (for us) docking manuver.

We both now need to practice - preactice - practice but there are lots of folks in the Seneca Harbor marina and the Finger Lakes Yacht Club who seem more than willing to give us all the advice we need.

A new Kicker

Bought a 5HP Honda Four stroke outboard today. So many problems with the 7.5 ancient Honda that it seemed better to buy a new motor and be done with it.

Looks like Friday will find us mounting the motor and taking a short motor trip before berthing at the right berth and then going to the local USPS Seamanship course.

Hattie L is floatng

Well, Hattie L is afloat - but not without some problems.

When she was lowered into the water, the centerboard would not come down so out she was pulled. After about 20 minutes with crowbar and hammer the crew got that rusty chunk of metal to raise and lower.

Then there was the issue of the lower shrouds. They are connected but there is a possiblity they are backwards which means getting a ladder to reverse them.

Finally, the starter rope on the old Honda 7.5 HP kicker broke on the second pull.

Overall, not the best situation! We soothed our battered souls while sitting in the marina's bar and tomorrow we should get the starter mechanism installed and motor over to our own slip.

There will be more and photos and this saga continues.

She does look nice, to us, afloat though.

Water coming soon...

We anticipate getting Hattie L launched this week into the cold waters of Seneca Lake. Just a couple of minor maintenance jobs to finish and then call to schedule the mast-stepping and launching. Let's hope that she floats well!

Mary and I are half-way through the US Power Squadron Seamanship class, the next four sessions on on the water. After that is finished we will begin the US Power Squadron Sail course. Our local Seneca Sail and Power Squadron seems to be quite active and we are glad that we have joined them. Looks like they will be a lot of help when I need it with Hattie L. Many of them have their boats docked at the Seneca Harbor Marina - so the community will have this helpless and hapless sailor to help.

Hattie L back home.

Well, we have finally retrieved Hattie L from my sister's farm and it is again parked alongside the house. Don't know where it came from, we had a canvas over the boat (but it did flap around a lot on top of the hill) but tere is alot of water inside and in the bilges. First, get the water out, then try to find out where it came from. I assume that a lot of the topside hardware needs to be rebedded.

My spare time has now disappeared and She Who Must Be Obeyed (henceforth referred to as the First Mate) is going to be on me to do stuff around the house and not give my full attention to Hattie L.

2009 - Where to from now?

Christmas has passed - a couple of small presents with Hattie L in mind. We will be picking up some accessories/necessities at the closest West Marine (have to go about 90 miles to find one of them) and stop in Ithaca to order new lower shrouds.

Will be picking up the porta-potti (a REAL necessity when you are over 65!), and other little stuff.

Refinishing the interior woodwork continues, much to the dismay of the First Mate who feels time is better spent around the house. Still, the wheel is looking great as is the door between the owners cabin and main salon (lots of room in the Helms 25). Wish I had taken more "before" pictures so I could show off with the "after" ph0tos.

Just a recommendation for others who will rehab a boat - take lots of "before" photos.