Where the heck have we been? It has been just over a year since we posted anything on our blog, but the reason is simply that we have been so busy, we could not find the time to get something together to share with you. I thought I better at least give everyone an overview of our past year.
We have helped a number of folks find the right sailboat for their needs through Parker Sailing Consultants. This is one of our top priorities and the most fun of the services Brad and I offer. The excitement of a new sailor finding the perfect boat allows us to feel that excitement and anticipation as well and lets us know we are doing what we love.
My business, Bay Boat Works, has also been busy with rigging projects for my customers, and I have sold quite a number of sails this year. So those parts of our businesses have continued to boom right along.
During all of these projects, we sailed as much as we could over the summer and Brad and Leah moved to Mississippi in July. Brad got connected with a race crew at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans and spent some of the fall season racing on a J 100 on Lake Pontchartrain.
Appledore V
Starting in mid November 2018, PSC took on the role of project manager for the refit of the steel sailing schooner Appledore V, which is a sail training and environmental education vessel here in mid-Michigan. The boat needed a significant amount of hull plating and some internal structure replacement, all systems needed updating and a complete paint job on the exterior was necessary. We had a very short timeline to get it all done and, of course, a very tight budget. Some of the work was completed by contractors and some by a fantastic group of tremendously talented and dedicated volunteers.
The ship is owned by BaySail, a 501(c) 3 organization in Bay City, Michigan and has a very comprehensive environmental education mission. The ship is one of 2 owned by BaySail and is used for sail training of teens and young adults, a Science Under Sail program for Middle and High School classrooms, and day charters and daysails. The summer of 2019 was a Tall Ships Challenge year in the Great Lakes, so the vessel needed to be complete and back in the water by mid-May for what turned out to be a very full schedule. All work was done under the guidance of US Coast Guard ship inspectors from the Detroit sector as the ship is a USCG licensed vessel.
I have included a few photos here for some perspective of the magnitude of the project.
These few photos provide a basic understanding of the scope of the project. When complete, on time and on budget by the way, there were more than 3500 volunteer man hours in the project. The contractors did all of the steel replacement with their certified welders, and we had an electrical contractor go through the electrical system. The volunteers replaced the engine, replaced the fresh water system completely, replaced the entire head system and holding tanks, replaced the gray water system and holding tank, gutted and rebuilt the interior from the main companionway forward and rebuilt the galley. We finished up by stripping the hull below the waterline and applying multiple coats of an epoxy barrier system and 4 coats of antifouling paint. The hull topsides, the deck and cabin house were all stripped, primed and painted as well. The vessel had a very successful season fulfilling her mission and sailed from Bay City to a number of ports to attend Tall Ships festivals. The ship traveled to Buffalo, NY on the east end of the summer and got as far west as Duluth, MN with many stops at ports between.
There are a number of other projects we will tell you about over the next few weeks just to get you updated on our efforts to help folks have a wonderful time on the water (sometimes frozen).
Stay tuned,
Joe