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Piper Blog

If you need a welder in the Redwood City area, I have gone to John Romanoff many times. From boat stuff to Highland Games equipment, he's always delivered on time at a reasonable price.

(650) 364-9767
2985 Spring St Redwood City, CA 94063

John built the frame for me originally, several years ago. He just modified it, turned the job around in two days, and did it for a totally reasonable cost. He can also weld stainless. Highly recommended.
 
Many moons ago...years ago, actually, someone on this forum was so kind as to give me some used, but perfectly usable kevlar halyards from off of....I think, their Express 27. They left the halyards on their F-27 in the Alameda Marina. Well, I finally reeved them this past weekend. ~~Finally~~ Thank you, again!
 
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Alpha, now painted, with DF#'s and name applied, is sitting at British Marine waiting to get the last of her ancient bottom paint removed and a new one applied, and to have the mast stepped. I hope I didn't make the backstay too long. I did the math.
11-AlphaYard1.JPG

Maybe launch on Friday...fingers crossed.
 
Looking proper for launch. Does backstay have options to adjust and bend the mast?

I will likely be in Bay area in early June. Crew options…….

Ants
 
AntsUiga said:
Looking proper for launch. Does backstay have options to adjust and bend the mast?

I will likely be in Bay area in early June. Crew options…….

Ants
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Yes, though the system needs some re-thinking. The lines and blocks that were on it were 1960's vintage, so they're now gone. The "tail"...the part that goes through the turning block just below deck level, and then forward towards the cockpit was wire rope. It was actually in good shape but it's so little $$ to replace it that I just did it. The rest of the backstay is now dyneema, seeing as I had an appropriately long piece that I'll never use for anything else. I looked online and learned how to do a brummel splice around an eye, and did that. The tail is sewn down. The anchoring eye-bolt for the backstay resists some pretty good tugs and whacks, but that bulkhead really needs replacing so for now I'll just lash it on there. The adjustable feature comes later.
 
Tomorrow I rig up the mainsheet, and put some cleats in, to tie off the jib sheet twings. The twings lead to convenient spots below decks. Finally, the backstay adjustment system needs to get put in, and she's ready to sail.

Not DONE.....but sail-able. Saturday!
 
Philpott said:
She's a beauty, Alan! Where will you keep her?
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For now, at Embarcadero Basin in Oakland. The slip I'm applying for is on the same dock as Mike and Linda of HARP.

While she's in the water I will work on the trailer, as it needs new wood bits and could use some cleaning up and paint. When a slot comes available at the dry storage at Treasure Island, I'll move her there.
 
BTW, you'll never see Alpha in an SSS event. She's an open-cockpit boat with no internal flotation. I'm not taking her out in the Central Bay on a big day. 95% of her sailing will be in the estuary, the lee side of TI, and no further south than a line roughly east-west of Hunters Point. Maybe on a quiet winter day, I might go up the Cityfront and out to the GG Bridge again. Maybe....or around TI.

Besides, with a PHRF of probably 279 and my mediocre skills, I would be so far behind the last class that I probably wouldn't even be able to see the boat in front of me, at the finish line.

At some point I still intend to make either bateaux.com's "caravelle" from the plans AZsailor went me, or a 15 foot +/- semi-performance rowing boat that I can overnight cruise in the Delta. I'd like to do a RAID in Puget Sound, and the Texas 200, so the little 14' 6" Caravelle is the more likely candidate. I've restored boats, but never built one. A simple 14-15 footer seems doable.
 
At some point I still intend to make either bateaux.com's "caravelle" from the plans AZsailor went me, or a 15 foot +/- semi-performance rowing boat that I can overnight cruise in the Delta. I'd like to do a RAID in Puget Sound, and the Texas 200, so the little 14' 6" Caravelle is the more likely candidate. I've restored boats, but never built one. A simple 14-15 footer seems doable.[/QUOTE]

You'll probably be splashing the Caravelle right as I'm finishing up the RoG. Good. We can come up with some Bay/Delta RAID.
TISC wouldn't even put me on the wait list for a spot. How long do you think you have?
 
Tchoupitoulas said:
At some point I still intend to make either bateaux.com's "caravelle" from the plans AZsailor went me, or a 15 foot +/- semi-performance rowing boat that I can overnight cruise in the Delta. I'd like to do a RAID in Puget Sound, and the Texas 200, so the little 14' 6" Caravelle is the more likely candidate. I've restored boats, but never built one. A simple 14-15 footer seems doable.
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You'll probably be splashing the Caravelle right as I'm finishing up the RoG. Good. We can come up with some Bay/Delta RAID.
TISC wouldn't even put me on the wait list for a spot. How long do you think you have?[/QUOTE]

Apparently as of March there were two people still ahead of me. I doubt that many people will move during the summer sailing season so I would guess...August? Maybe? September?
 
Something is going on with the Treasure Island Sailing Center. I wrote to the guy I've been communicating with about dry storage and got a bounced e-mail. He doesn't work there any more, but gives two other e-mail addresses and names to contact.

One of those people is still listed on the website, but when I e-mail her, I get a bounce "addressee not found". It's been five days and no word back from the other person.

I might be in Embarcadero Cove for a while. BTW, I'm on the same dock and Mike and Linda on HARP.
 
TI sailing has had some major turnover of personnel but I finally heard back from their Waterfront Activities Director. Word is that the development company is requiring them to shrink their footprint. They can only store boats directly in their program on-site for at least a year. They're having to kick out their tenants who don't have boats directly participating in the community sailing program.

So I'm SOL. I'll be in a wet berth for the foreseeable future....again. This is twice, now that I've purchased a boat on the assumption that I'll be able to dry-sail it, only to have it work out that....nope. No Can Do.

I can't imagine that anyplace else around the Bay is ever going to build a hoist again, so seems like if someone wants to dry-sail their boat, better figure on it being ramp-launchable. I'll faint if the promised hoist and dry storage ever appears at the Alameda Marina. Putting in a 2-ton hoist is not all that expensive. The jib crane is about $5K - $7K and the chain hoist itself is another $1500 more or less. Pouring the cement pad and building the under-cement base with the bolts might be another couple thousand bucks for an all-up cost of probably <$15 K..... but then it requires maintenance and of course there's the insurance issue.
 
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The jib crane is about $5K - $7K and the chain hoist itself is another $1500 more or less. Pouring the cement pad and building the under-cement base with the bolts might be another couple thousand bucks for an all-up cost of probably <$15 K..... but then it requires maintenance and of course there's the insurance issue.
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As Rodney Dangerfield said "you left out allada stuff". Those numbers would work on a DIY but pricing anything contractor work wise in the Bay Area is shocking. Hoist will be about what you say..... $10-12k to start. The cement pad will likely be on a wharf, not on land anywhere you would put one around the bay and I bet that mean BCDC and others getting involved. Even if it's on land you will need a design plan, permit, etc. Can't imagine what all that will run but I'd say in the current market at least $3-5k..... if BCDC is involved and consultants/experts/reports are required all bets are off. Try getting ANY construction company to do something like this and I'd bet you be at least another $3-5k or more. A basic small hoist would run $20k+ if you were lucky. Of course it would likely be a bit easier if you were simply replacing an existing hoist. Still a small amount in the big picture of any marina or yacht club. Unfortunately I don't see anyone doing it on the bay but I'd love to be wrong.
 
solosailor said:
As Rodney Dangerfield said "you left out allada stuff". Those numbers would work on a DIY but pricing anything contractor work wise in the Bay Area is shocking. Hoist will be about what you say..... $10-12k to start. The cement pad will likely be on a wharf, not on land anywhere you would put one around the bay and I bet that mean BCDC and others getting involved. Even if it's on land you will need a design plan, permit, etc. Can't imagine what all that will run but I'd say in the current market at least $3-5k..... if BCDC is involved and consultants/experts/reports are required all bets are off. Try getting ANY construction company to do something like this and I'd bet you be at least another $3-5k or more. A basic small hoist would run $20k+ if you were lucky. Of course it would likely be a bit easier if you were simply replacing an existing hoist. Still a small amount in the big picture of any marina or yacht club. Unfortunately I don't see anyone doing it on the bay but I'd love to be wrong.
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I bet the administrative costs of dealing with all the million permits is a lot more than the cost of the materials and labor to build the thing.

Of course you have to have a dock floating under it, too, which means building the dock and driving some pilings. At least the piling would be set very close to shore so could be done from a shoreside truck rather than a pile driving barge.

Whatever the case, I agree. I can't see anybody putting in a new one in the foreseeable future, although it's possible that if TI sailing center physically moves, like they're supposed to, the TI developer might build them a new one. $20K - $30K is chump change for a multi-hundred-million dollar real estate developer.

I'm so disgusted by the whole thing at the Alameda Marina that I haven't gone to see what the latest iteration is, but I wouldn't be surprised if the promised hoist and dry storage has vanished from the current agreement with the City.
 
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It seems like the people at the helm of Alameda's future only see a landscape of dense housing and as little undeveloped space as possible. Didn't know what we had until it was gone. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot".
 
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