Dear Diary - Weebles will splash soon.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Weebles is splashed. There are several items to be ironed out, not the least of which is I need more ballast in the forward hold. I made gringo mistake of getting confused between kilograms and lbs. 800 kgs came out, 400 kgs went in. I thought I needed about 400-pounds more. So she is super light in the bow. Also some of the instruments still need calibration.

But she's at her slip. Monday is a holiday in Mexico - I will bring Weebles back to the yard Tuesday morning. She not be pulled, just float in the ways.

A few pictures

1. Team La Costa. Not just them, but a LOT of people came to see Weebles finally launch.
Team La Costa.jpg

2. Offloading gear from my car to Weebles
Offloading Gear.jpg

3. Backing out - half the yard shows up to help. And two of them came with me for the 1-mile steam to Cruiseport Marina.
Backing Out.jpg

4. Daffy Duck at work. I guess Disney struggles to get good work done too. This is the stern of the Disney Wonder that happens to be docked in Ensenada today. At least they didn't get the Mickey Mouse crew....
Daffy working on Disney Wonder.jpg
 
Awesome! Before you go crazy with ballast, think about whether you may want to add more ground tackle at some point and whether there's any heavy stuff that may get stored forward. Once she's loaded up and ready to go you may get closer to being in trim (or it may get worse).
 
rslifkin said:
Awesome! Before you go crazy with ballast, think about whether you may want to add more ground tackle at some point and whether there's any heavy stuff that may get stored forward. Once she's loaded up and ready to go you may get closer to being in trim (or it may get worse).
Click to expand...
I have 225' of chain, 55 lbs of Mantus M2 anchor, a pair of G31 AGMs, and a spare prop in the lowest extremity already. My hope was exactly as you suggest. But I'm about 250-300 kgs short I think. With over 6000 lbs design ballast, even several hundred pounds of ground tackle doesn't move the needle much.

I should have taken a picture when the 5th worker walked to the bow to add weight. These are really heavy boats.

Peter
 
mvweebles said:
I have 225' of chain, 55 lbs of Mantus M2 anchor, a pair of G31 AGMs, and a spare prop in the lowest extremity already. My hope was exactly as you suggest. But I'm about 250-300 kgs short I think. With over 6000 lbs design ballast, even several hundred pounds of ground tackle doesn't move the needle much.

I should have taken a picture when the 5th worker walked to the bow to add weight. These are really heavy boats.

Peter
Click to expand...


Might as well add extra chain if it'll fit, even if it's normally just there as ballast. I'm pretty sure that's on the list of things that are hard to have too much of. Definitely sounds like you'll still need a good bit of extra ballast regardless though (unless you can think of anything else useful and heavy that to add that would fit up forward).
 
Fantastic news! We all look forward to following your adventures - They will all be well deserved.
 
mvweebles said:
Weebles is splashed.

But she's at her slip. Monday is a holiday in Mexico - I will bring Weebles back to the yard Tuesday morning. She not be pulled, just float in the ways.

A few pictures

1. Team La Costa. Not just them, but a LOT of people came to see Weebles finally launch.
View attachment 135707
Click to expand...

Woo Hoo! Looks great! Congratulations!

-Chris
 
Final new post - Weebles has Splashed

Sunday, February 5th 2023. Weebles is in her slip, but with an asterisk.

I had hoped splash-day would be a magnificent, seminal moment. An enormous exclamation point followed by "The End" written in Ole English script. In reality, it ranked more of a ‘period’ to end a paragraph, perhaps a chapter. But the story continues.

When floated, Weebles was way off her lines. Very high in the bow, and a significant list to port. Why? What had changed? Sure, I moved about 200 lbs of trim-ballast from beneath the starboard side deck to the forward bow section, but still, she was riding so high in the bow.

First, the history. As many know, Willard’s have an extraordinary amount of ballast – the W36 carries 6000# for a 25,000# boat, an extremely high ratio. The ballast is distributed in three compartments: bow/stateroom section; aft lazarette section; and engine room compartment where the fast majority of the ballast is located. Ballast is poured concrete using steel punchings as aggregate, and it’s well done as far as concrete goes – and very dense with steel.

When I decided to have a bow thruster installed, I decided to remove all the ballast in the forward section not just the part for the thruster. I had the ballast weighed as it was removed by the Hack Team (no complaints here). Plan was to replace with lead ingots but they were only able to find around half the weight that was removed.

How much ballast you ask? Why don’t I use numbers? Because there’s a lost-in-translation moment coming and I want to build suspense. Yesterday as I viewed Weebles with her lopsided presence – sort of a flop-eared dog instead of a venerable steed, I went back to the text stream with Mario (owner of Hack Team). From memory, I thought they had removed 800 lbs but they had removed “in excess of 800 kgs.” 400kgs is almost 900 lbs, which is a very big difference. For context, my Toyota Matrix is listed at 2800 lbs, roughly 3x the amount of missing ballast. At the time, Hack Team was clear they only found 400 kgs to replace. With my feeble math with veneer of 2-years, I was thinking 400 lbs, which I mostly made-up with moveable ballast such as spare anchor, chain rode, two G31 AGMs for thruster; and my Sailrite sewing machine beneath the v-berth. Would have been close except for that pesky metric blunder.....

Guillermo had several workers stand on the forward-starboard bow and sure enough, I need about 350-450 kgs of ballast. Another self-inflicted wound. He thinks he knows someone who has a bunch of ingots which would be great. He also knows someone with a lead keel that would work but would need to be melted into manageable pieces. Final option is San Diego.

And then there is a list of stuff that still needs to be checked and made operational. Boatyard is about a mile from the marina so I’ll bring Weebles over and sit in the water Tuesday. Not sure if I should continue this thread – seems like this is a natural break point.

PICTURES - bit of a repeat but despite we all read Playboy Magazine for the articles, I'm similarly afraid no one will read this unless I have some eye candy.

1. Baptism. First touch of water.
FIrst touch of water.jpg

2. Low in stern. I should have taken more pictures. She rides a good 4-5 inches high in the bow.
Low in stern.jpg

3. My Toyota Matrix (a bit blurry). I am missing ballast equaling about 1/4 to 1/3 the weight of this car. I think.....
The Matrix.jpg

4. Getting gear aboard. Today is my final day in my AirBNB apartment. Most of my stuff has already been moved - Team La Costa was kind enough to load from my car.
Getting stuff onboard.jpg
 
This has been a treat to read! Finally in the water which is a huge step. Looking forward to seeing Weebles pics and descriptions when seaworthy and headed on her cruising adventure. Thanks Peter for sharing this journey. I always learn a lot reading your posts....
 
She looks great in the water!



Thinking about it, once you've got the list sorted out, it might be worth experimenting a little with fore/aft trim as you sort out the ballast situation. I kinda wonder what the impact on ride quality (particularly pitching motion) is with it a bit light in the bow or not. And being that your helm is fairly far forward, I'd think pitch behavior may be a significant comfort factor.
 
I also have been following closely and enjoying all the details from Peter. However (and I mean this in the best possible way) my biggest surprise is Peter thinking the boat would hit the water and he would sail off into the sunset with no issues or worries to deal with! I wish Peter all the best and hope that some ballast trimming is the only issue after all the extensive work you've had done.
 
backinblue said:
I also have been following closely and enjoying all the details from Peter. However (and I mean this in the best possible way) my biggest surprise is Peter thinking the boat would hit the water and he would sail off into the sunset with no issues or worries to deal with! I wish Peter all the best and hope that some ballast trimming is the only issue after all the extensive work you've had done.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to give the impression I thought this would be similar to picking up a new Ford F150 and driving off. I didn't give the full list of small issues but in short, Weebles needs a day or two of work to even be able to start on sea trials. This list ranges from tiny items (Perkins would not shut down- wire on stop-solenoid came loose) to fairly cumbersome issue of finding several hundred kilos of lead ballast. And there are a few items that fall into "careless" category (generator sound shield is missing some screws).

Today is moving day. Cleaning out my apartment and doing last load of laundry. Cruiseport is a nice marina, but does seem to have several old single guys who need a haircut. Within 5-mins of meeting 'Jerry' who lives aboard a faded IOR era sailboat with his long haired chihuahua, he asked if my wife enjoyed the boat as much as I did. Odd smalltalk question - likely a backstory

Peter
 
Last edited:
Jeff F said:
Wait, is that bad?
Click to expand...
Not bad, but just mentioning whatever that certain demographic is has a strong presence. A good friend of mine who cruised from California to Florida 30 years ago had a young girlfriend who was a kayaker. Julia observed some cruisers had "Eddied-out" of society. Even though the closest I've ever gotten to white water kayaking is tubing down a lazy river with beer in hand, I understood why she used the metaphor.

Peter
 
You can start a Part II
 
twistedtree said:
Oh, no. It ain't over 'till the boat sails away. You gotta keep posting...
Click to expand...
Actually the refit is over, weebles did sail away for what will be about 72 hours. I think the first book can now be published and a new story started on how to maintain a rebuilt boat. :popcorn:
 
twistedtree said:
Oh, no. It ain't over 'till the boat sails away. You gotta keep posting...
Click to expand...
I may start another thread on sea trials, troubleshooting, and what amounts to old school commissioning. Not that you have any experience with any of that.

Peter
 
I think TF is well suited to blogs like these. Carry on, please.
 
Peter, this may be a stupid question, but was the water line painted in exactly the same location as the original water line? Asking, because if you are using the water line to check fore/aft trim, and someone slipped with the chalk line . . . .Just askin! :whistling::D
 
Peter,

Weebles is looking fantastic (I love your engine room) and once that missing ballast is replace and she is sitting on her lines, you will find yourself smiling, I am sure. Excellent work, and a credit to you all. What did the fire hose test reveal about that ER water leak?
 
I hate to say it, and not about Weebles, but about any boat. If the thread doesn't end until there are no more issues to fix, then this thread will outlive us all!
 
And a fine thread it would be! But every story needs chapters.
 
mvweebles said:
I may start another thread on sea trials, troubleshooting, and what amounts to old school commissioning. Not that you have any experience with any of that.

Peter
Click to expand...


OK, just don't think you will get away without continuing the story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wfleenor
SF to Cabo San Lucas
Replies
3
Views
254
mvweebles
mvweebles
lwarden
Sport Boat Sinks off San Diego
Replies
17
Views
1K
OldDan1943
OldDan1943
Shifty
Dingy Towing Harness - shackles, carabiners, locking, etc.
Replies
5
Views
391
Mainship Pilot
Mainship Pilot
R
Baja Naval Updates/Comments??
Replies
9
Views
2K
READY
R
N
AWLGRIP Paint Experience
Replies
16
Views
1K
TBill36
T

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom