Mariposa sails again!

[Porthandbuoy]

Yes, she's in!. I launched Mariposa yesterday evening, after a 2 1/2 year underbody refit, and have just come back from a two hour beat up the Gareloch with my daughters tending the sheets.
When she first went in, the water reached the top of the floors in about 15 minutes and the manual bilge pump could only just keep pace. The most spectacular leak was around the stern knee where it sits on the keelson; it looked as though someone had left a tap running. By midnight things had improved and she 'only' needed pumping every half hour. This morning the stern leak has taken up completely, though this evening I'm still pumping her out every couple of hours. Does all this sound reasonable? Is my optimism the improvement will continue justified?

 

[Peterduck]

I would think so; there should be a softwood stopwater in the joint between the keel and the sternpost, usually located at the bearding line [the deepest part of the planking rebate]. This could take a while to completely take up if it has been drying out for a couple of years. When this swelled up intially, [when the boat was new] it would have been compressed, so that when it dried out it would have ended up smaller than it was when new. So now it has to swell up a little more to achieve the same tightness. Not impossible, but it might take a little longer than it would have intially.
Peter.

 

[ValleyForge]

It must have been a magic moment. Many years ago I had a norwegian BB11 which leaked like a sieve for the first 24 hours after launching for the summer, usually round the keelson & stern post where there was no discernable crack in the paint/varnish in or out ! Always stopped after a bit though - just wooden boaty stuff. More problematical is when ribs start deteriorating & planks & garboards start to spring. Prior to re-ribbing I effected an 'emergency repair' with aunty Mary's Christmas cake - worked a treat till we could find the seelastic !

 

[Peterduck]

It is clear that Aunt Mary's Christmas Cake is something which every classic boat should have on board. Anything which can feed the crew as well as stop leaks is a winner! You owe it to your friends on the forum [ie, the rest of us mortals] to publish the recipe for this epicurean delight forthwith.
Peter.

 

[ValleyForge]

Recipe sadly not available, however I can add that it was actually from the previous Christmas, not the last !

The Gareloch's a lovely cruising ground, I used to crew in a yacht kept there in the early 70's, moored at Timbercraft next door to Faslane. I guess its all changed now, Popping in to the Royal Northern (as it was then) a great treat, then in its heyday.
Good luck for the season.

 

[Mirelle]

Well done. I hope that the Stuart Turner P5M is behaving itself also - you probably don't need to be told this, but go nowhere without a plug spanner and a couple of spare spark plugs!

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Thanks to all for the encouragement!
As I write it's 16:10 and I'm just back from a wee sail past the "Sugar Ship" (a grounded coaster) towards Greenock. Louise (daughter #2) and I just practiced tacking and gybing, and sorting out which bull-eyes to use for the jib-sheets. First impressions are that Mariposa is very light on the helm and she tacks 'gracefully', a euphanism for slowly. Nor does she develop any weather helm to speak of in the gusts.
We're pumping her out now just twice a day; it's only half a dozen strokes before the pump sucks air, so things are looking good.
The Stuart Turner runs well when in gear, but slowly winds down to a stop when in neutral. I suspect I haven't got the carb fuel/air mixture set quite right yet.

 

[Eduard]

I had the same when my boat, a 1942 22square metre, touched the sea. Prior to launche I had seawater in her and stuffed the leaking seams with margarine. This wil disappear after launch. The same can be done on the inside if there's to much water leaking inn.
My dog liked it as well, he cleaned up the inside.