Captain’s log
Dateline: 07.07.2022

It gets the hose

Finally got a water hose to clean the exterior and refill my boat’s fresh water tank. After a bit of research I landed on this bad boy. Seems to be safe enough to drink from, and weighs less than 4 lbs. Has to be drained after each use and kept away from sunlight, which I’m more than happy to do. My second choice was Dramm ColorStorm, but that thing is super heavy, and not easy to toss around and move over your boat.

Some say cats don’t like water, but Curious Cat just loved being washed, we had so much fun today! The nozzle that came in the box does magic. In jet mode it’s strong enough to chip off old Awlgrip — the paint job was made over the previous layer, which is not exactly holding up great a decade later. I’m planning to sand and repaint the whole exterior anyway, hence not sorry seeing that ugly old paint go. The jet is so strong that it actually damaged some of the sheets that were covered in dirt. They were likely already heavily damaged by UV, so no surprise in them being so brittle. Not gonna miss them either. Lastly, that jet was able to help me finally clean clogged drains in the cockpit. Magic is real.

Refilling the water tank without having to carry heavy bucket from 50 ft away is a game changer, should’ve gotten a hose the moment I bought the boat, it’s really a must-have.

Captain’s log
Dateline: 08.07.2022

Neighbor

Starting yesterday evening, have got a neighbor. I love neighbors, neighbors are awesome!

The dock is long enough for my 44' cat and his 30' fishing boat to be docked with a pretty wide gap in between. The guy is from Florida, a bit younger than me, also lives on his boat while fixing her up. He bought that boat from his uncle, so it has sentimental value to him. He told me that in Cape Coral there’re laws against staying at the same spot for more than a month, and people are usually dicks about sailors living on their boats there, so St James City is the place to be for boaters like us. His powerboat has two mercruiser gasoline engines, and today it costs nearly $2000 to fill the tank up — he wishes he had just one diesel engine instead. I gave him empty jerry can with funnel that I had left from my 10hp gasoline outboard that came with the catamaran, he’ll need it more than I do.

Fenders

Inspired by yesterday’s near-collision (kudos to TowBoatUS), decided to purchase much better fenders for my cat.

Since you love gossip, long story short is that the 30' neighbor was towed by another boat attached to his starboard side, and when they were passing my boat, the captain of the towing vessel yelled to tell him if the fishing boat gets too close to my catamaran. That was when the fishing boat was about 2 feet away from my starboard. I yelled "2 feet, one foot, get away from my boat!". The towing guy turned right and my new neighbor managed to push away from my hull without scratching it (I think). You had one fucking job. If I was away or asleep, they would’ve bumped and left a nice meaty scratch on my side at very least. The moment I saw that boat approaching, I knew I had to keep an eye on the operation. I’m old enough to not believe in coincidences, and the guy had a shit ton of space on his starboard side, he just decided to get close to me. The day I was towed here from the boatyard, another TowBoatUS captain ran me aground and made my port side bump into a boat lift. At very least he didn’t give a shit about my boat and his job, if not did it out of malice. In my eyes it’s obvious that many people like messing my boat up because it’s something they can’t afford and are simply jealous. Same kind of people that get captured by Tesla cameras keying those beautiful little cars.

So, fenders it is. Jim, the captain who used to skipper my boat 10–15 years ago, told me she had some kind of fancy inflatable fenders back in the day. Today, all I have is five UV-damaged 8" Taylor Made basic vinyl fenders that are too small to give me enough cushion even against the dock, and one big white fender (I think it’s Tuff End by Taylor Made) that kinda works, but it looks like absolute disaster, it must be over twenty years old. The rule of thumb is there should be 1" of thickness for every 5' of your boat’s length. That means my 8" fenders are too small, I need at least 9" or 10" fenders. I’d also like them to be taller, I have about 4' from the waterline to my rub rail. My cat is quite volumptious, which means she may need thicker fenders than flat hulls for when the tide is high, but with the 30' beam I can’t go too crazy and make her more than 32' wide, so likely staying below 1' on each side is the way to go.

Fender Innovations

https://www.fenderinnovations.nl — seems to be a good product, but they make something like a hybrid between rubrail and fenders, permanently attached to the boat. It's likely not that good for aerodynamics, and I can't make my boat chunkier than it already is. Next!

AERÉ

https://aeredockingsolutions.com — their thinnest models start at 12". They seem to be targeting large yachts with their biggest model being 8' wide and 10' tall. Made in the USA, Florida more specifically. Product description features interesting claim, "up to 10× stronger than your standard vinyl fenders". Their 12" × 42" (1' × 3.5') is $250 per fender, which is going to cost me $2000 to guard my boat from both sides. Exy, but I do need something that screams "I have money to sue you if you decide to bump into me". I like the kevlar stitching and the air valve seems to be easy to use.

Taylor Made

https://www.taylormadeproducts.com/products/fenders-and-buoys/ — stupid name, but they seem to be one of the top makers of buoys and fenders. These are the fenders I currently have (8" × 20", navy). Nothing good, nothing bad (if the size is right). Marine grade vinyl, the longest they get is 34" at 12" thick. Their table says 8" × 20" is recommended for vessels below 35', with 10" being for 35' – 50', and 12" is for 50'–60'. So, obviously I need either 10" or 12". I hate the way these guys look and how short they are. The price of $100 per fender is attractive, but pay once, cry once, let’s keep looking.

Polyform

Nothing good or bad, I’m indifferent.

Jim-Buoy

Expensive and doesn't seem to provide any benefits over AERÉ.

Seatec

Seem to be making decent vinyl fenders.

Conclusion

So far aiming at getting eight–ten 12" × 29" cylindrical and two-four 18" round fenders by AERÉ. Lines will be by AERÉ (6' or slightly longer), sox will be AERÉ as well. For inflating/deflating I’m gonna get a Ryobi tool, since I already have a bunch of their 18V power tools. I still need to decide on the length of those main fenders, since I see some people making them cover most of the freeboard, some just keep them below the rub rail. Need to sleep on this and measure some more.

Captain’s log
Dateline: 10.07.2022

Battens

Jim was passing by my boat again today, we chatted for a bit.

Turned out that those long fiberglass planks in my cabin that say "Tektron 44" on them are mainsail battens. Mystery solved.

He’s recommended coating them in epoxy to make them slide in and out more easily. I’ll probably do just that. At least one of them is very good at giving me splinters, so that’s another reason for epoxying right there.