What's in a Name?

A boat's name says much about the owner. Walk along the docks of any pier and read the names on boats: Knot Easy, Second Wind, Endeavor, Yachts of Fun, are some examples. For those among us who are not so enthusiastic for a walk, or fear taking a long walk on a short pier, I refer the reader to Boat Names.

Unfortunately, the birthing or "relabeling" of boat names are sometimes made in haste. Perhaps scented mood struck the owner to which the unflattering name floated itself upon her stern; "Passing Wind." Yet, with all the naming of boats, one can change a boat's name when one desires. "Passing Wind" boats can be renamed "Passing Waves," or "Passing On," or "Passing By," or "Passing Gas ---Powered Boats." Ironically, the naming of a boat passes from owner to owner, usually.

And here my interest in the name of "Great Ketch." The Herreshoff boat is a fine looking boat; traditional lines with masts that stand majestically. As two columns of a castle rising above the horizon the stand free masts rise from the base of the hull upward toward the sky, high above the waters; with greatness looking upon the waters toward its next destination. Understanding the great aspect is easy once one looks upon the Herreshoff designed boat.

What about "Ketch?" Well, a ketch is a certain type of boat where the placement of the masts matters: "Great Ketch" is a boat with two masts. I also thought that my finding her on the hard and my acquisition of her was indeed a great catch. Great Ketch has had two previous sets of owners, and has retained her original name from her beginning.

Recently, I was in contact with one of the first original owners -- the power of the Internet. I shall call her K for respect of her privacy. K told me that one of the owner partners loved baseball; hence, the name "Great Ketch." I am glad the name wasn't something like "Strike Three", or "You're Out"-- although not original, somewhat belittle all the same.

The name of the cat ketch remains "Great Ketch." The name of the hailing port has been changed from Port Arthur, Texas to Bristol, Rhode Island. The boat builder, John Newton had the boat yard in Texas; whereas, the boat designer, Halsey Herreshoff, had a residence in Bristol, RI. For the curious, there is the Herreshoff Museum located in Bristol.

By the way, can you imagine a distress call?

"Mayday Mayday, this is "Blowing Hard," we need assistance immediately. We are taking water. We are at latitude 40.166561, longitude 72.993164 Another ship, "Passing Wind" crashed in

0.166561,-72.993164

to us and .. blah blah blah,, gulp gulp,,, spit cough,, passin,,,, ,,,,,"

Great Ketch Back in the Water

It has been many months since my last post. Two major obstacles needed to be met before Great Ketch could be launched this Spring: repairs as a result of a grounding the previous year, and the Winter months had to pass. Great Ketch is back in the water and looking "great".

The grounding, August 2010, resulted in the rudder breaking in half, dents on the keel, bent hardware, and 16 inches off the lower skeg. Great Ketch was transported to a local repair shop, Fast Forward located in Brewerton, NY, where the company worked on her during the last summer months.

Fast Forward did an excellent job of restoring the boat to perfect condition; they rebuilt the rudder, shaped the keel, and much more. In addition, the folks at Fast Forward provided excellent customer service. I was allowed to stop by to view the progress of their work, they took pictures of the work for me, they ensured the boat was returned promptly, and they listened to my concerns and comments. The attention they gave Great Ketch and myself was impressive.


While Great Ketch was on the hard during the winter, I researched to learn more about the boat and the people who were associated in the build, design and other aspects of the boat. I met with the designer of the carbon fiber masts, Eric Sponberg, corresponded with the builder, John Newton, and had recently been contacted by one of the previous owners. I shall post information regarding the results of my research in the future.

Winter Work

It has been several months since my last update. Been busy for sure.

I have been learning how to mas epoxy teak. On my previous boat, Catalina 25, I had used Cetol to restore the wood -- after washing all the teak with a two part system. I have observed the difference between the Cetol and the MAS Epoxy, the Cetol is more like an orange color on the wood; the MAS Epoxy is clear and so the wood appears brownish -- although, I have yet to apply Epifanes varnish over the wood, which may affect the color.

I wanted to learn something new, and give it a try, so I researched the MAS Epoxy system and have been trying it out. I'll post some pictures after I have completed the job.

Check out the website here: http://www.masepoxies.com//Videos/Clear_Coating_Wood.html

Great Ketch Rudder

These are a few pictures of the Great Ketch Rudder.

Notice the rudder connects to a pin located at the bottom. Above the red boot line on the right side of the rudder is a rubber boot that holds the ball joint to the rod that connects to the steering wheel.

I pin inserts into the bottom of the rudder from the skeg.

Launching Ketch 2010

The day arrived for Great Ketch to be launched. The early morning was calm with a slight breeze, and not many boats were in their slip. I arrived at the marina to see the boat in the hoist waiting for me to apply the remainder of the anti fouling paint to areas where the stands had held the boat while on the hard during the winter.

After the boat was launched, a dockhand and I started the Yanmar engine and expressed delight knowing that the engine was pumping water and running well. Basic engine maintenance task still needed to be performed.

Great Ketch was placed into its slip. I checked the boats hull for leaks, the through-hull connections, and the overall condition of the boat. I walked along the deck admiring the feel of the Great Ketch as it floated in piece in its new slip.

I made a request to the marina to have all fuel filters replaced, the impeller in the water pump replaced, and to save the oil changing task for myself, which I performed the following week. Using a hand pump to suck the oil from the oil pan it became obvious that changing oil is a time-consuming task --imagine sucking heavy syrup from one of those hollow plastic tubes used to stir milk in coffee.

Bottom Paint 2010

It was a cloudy windy day, early May 2010, when I applied the bottom paint. I used a roller and one gallon of ablative paint. The bottom appeared to be in very good condition, and the bottom paint went on easy. The blue color was very attractive in that it gave the boat a very clean look.

The areas under the jacks were painted the following day. The marina lifted the boat and I painted the areas with a foam brush. Within 2o minutes after I painted those areas, the boat was launched -- yes the paint wasn't giving the correct amount of time to cure, but the marina was not able to afford having the boat tie up the hoist for 8 hours.

I painted the hull after I used a machine to apply "Buff Magic" - - as a recommended rubbing compound. I also applied the Professional Polish. I admit that I need to become better at using the correct product and buffing machine -- I wasn't too pleased with the results especially after the time and energy I made working on the hull. Painting the bottom was so much easier on my arms than buffing the hull. The exercise has led me to the understanding of why many sailors choose to leave the hull alone,,, let it age gracefully, or sailors pay someone else to buff and wax the hull.

Gelcoat on Hull Port Side Part 2

The picture toward the left depicts the repair of the hull at the location where I sprayed gel coat that was matched to the color of the hull. Notice that the two repair spots are barely noticeable.

My first attempt at color matching the gel coat was not successful because I had not sprayed enough gel coat, which made the original repair show through the new color match gel coat.

My second attempt was an improvement. I sprayed a thick layer upon layer of gel coat using the Preval sprayer to cover the original gel coat repair. The thick layer of gel coat left an orange peel textured that required sanding with 320, 400, 500, and then 600 sand paper. Lastly, I used a buffer machine to smooth the final gel coat.

The repair was my first using a disposable sprayer. The picture doesn't depict much variation, but, that is the point of color matching.