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Seayanika Update Let’s face it, I’m not particularly adept when it comes to building things with my hands. I’m not even very artistic. Sure, I can draw stick figures almost as well as your average first grader, and I can almost always get that teeny tiny screw back into my glasses when it falls out, but that’s the extent of my phalangal talent. So when Erik began asking me to help him with some mixing/puttying/sanding/fairing /scraping on the hull of our 49-foot custom sailboat Seayanika, I thought he was joking. Think again! (Cut to visual) See Katriana on the boat’s scaffolding mixing fairing putty in a coffee can -- three squirts of 105 resin, three squirts of 205 or 206 hardener, several scoops of filler powder so fluffy and light that significant loss through inhalation needs to be avoided. (Speaking of this fluffy stuff -- it seems rather silly to be paying $160.00 for a 4-pound container of this fluff which is almost totally sanded away after setting. Does this make any sense?) Katriana, still on scaffolding, mixes aforementioned ingredients until exothermic action produces a peanut buttery consistency. Then she races across the scaffolding and applies mixture smoothly and evenly to cabin house before goo “kicks off”. Repeat process. Repeat process. Repeat process. (End visual). Not that I understand any of this, but evidently after applying fiberglass one needs to 'fair' the surface to assure a smooth finish. This process includes applying the epoxy goop, letting it set up, and then going over the area either with a power sander or by hand with a long board sander. Erik spends hour after hour, day after day, week after week, sanding, sanding, sanding. He explains to me that meticulous fairing makes the difference between a homebuilt boat and a professionally built one. Okay, okay, I get all that. But why must one go over the same area 10 times? I see no lumps. How can he? There has, however, been quite a bit of progress on Seayanika over the past couple of months. The deck and cabin house have been totally fabricated, installed piece by piece, fiberglassed, and -- in spite of complaints -- most of the fairing has been completed. We can now enjoy cocktails in the cockpit at sunset, along with a stunning view of the Vista hills from our very own “On-the-Hard Marina”.
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A glass of wine, a loaf of bread...and a finished cockpit -- Erik and Katriana Vader celebrate the milestone with a sunset toast.
The teak bulwarks are next on the list of installations, then the stainless steel cleats and chainplates. These items will be easier to install before any of the inside cabinetry is built in. Portlights and windows will follow. As winter is quickly approaching, Erik wants to get as much of the outside finished as possible before replacing the protective tarp and moving back to the inside work. On a more relaxing note, we’re taking a couple of weeks off the boatbuilding grind to participate in the Baja Ha-Ha. (Maybe the saltwater will help dissolve the epoxy under my fingernails?) We were very kindly invited by Steve and Angel Phillips to crew on their Catalina 42 Fruitcakes. I think a Jimmy Baja-Buffett-fest is exactly what we need for relaxation and inspiration. Friends and passersby continually ask us if we are still on schedule. Erik, in his infinite wisdom and with optimism always answers with a hearty affirmative. And I suppose he's the one who would know. When they ask me, I can only answer with a shrug, being careful not to allow my shoulders to come in contact with any epoxy that may be lurking behind my ears. Readers -- We've been doing regular updates on the Vaders' buildup of their Cal 49, which they bought as a bare hull a little more than a year ago, and are completing on their property down in Vista. If you want more info on this project in between these updates, go to Seayanika's website at www.geocities.com/seayanika.
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