Why Walden?
The boat name Walden is derived from Henry David Thoreau’s landmark work of philosophy dubbed Walden, in which he argued that the ‘mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation’. He built a tiny cabin in the woods to live deliberately with nature, and not be beholden to the ‘tyranny of the clock’ so that he could pursue ‘higher pursuits’ such as reading great books and writing. He was an inspiration for us to take to sea.
in exceptional condition with no corrosion.
Painting in a humid, dusty boatyard, and not caring for a mirror finish, I simply pressure cleaned the mast and then applied (via foam roller) Rustoleum Marine Primer formulated for metals, which adhered well. After two coats of primer I applied three coats of Petit EZPoxy one-part polyurethane paint in white. While the mast looks great, if I were to do this job again I’d use a two-part paint system such as Alexseal for increased longevity and gloss.
Power management
To keep our boat’s AGM batteries topped up at anchor I also installed 300W of solar power. To install the solar panels, our davits had to be through-bolted, rather than lag-screwed to the boat, an inexplicable oversight! To mount the panels, I had to design and build a custom frame, which included many revisions and modifications over a month of sporadic labour. To regulate the 300W charge capacity, a solar charger was installed between the panels and battery bank and fused accordingly. The panels had to be wired in parallel and for that a special connector had to be ordered, which delayed the project. The impetus for the solar array was to be able to use household power while at anchor in remote locations and thus a 1500W DC to AC marine inverter from Pro Mariner was fitted. In order to safely install the inverter, large 2/0 AWG cable and an in-line 200A fuse were used. The inverter casing was also grounded to the boat’s DC circuit, which required the installation of an additional DC bus bar.
Damaged dorade
While installing new equipment I found that our dorade box was rotten. Dorades allow airflow into the cabin but should keep water out. Unfortunately there’d been a manufacturing defect with the dorade system on our boat, which had been rectified on later models. Being a separate piece that was tabbed to the deck during construction, the dorade box floor was gelcoated plywood, which had quickly rotted, allowing water to pass through fastener holes to the headlining and find its way to a cabin bulkhead.
Because this was not a structural concern, and separate from our solid balsa core deck, I simply dug out the rotted wood as best I could (drilling small holes in the rotten wood I couldn’t reach) and filled with thickened epoxy. A band-aid for sure, but it stopped the bothersome cabin leak. I then slathered EZPoxy paint on the inside of the dorade box and called it quits.
Another minor fibreglass repair was the reattachment of a bulkhead that had come away from the hull structure in one section, perhaps due to a soft grounding on the muddy Charlotte Harbour.
Windlass and rigging
Another project I tackled was the installation of an anchor windlass: a necessity for a 38ft cruising boat. In order to do this, I removed the anchor pan,
‘Walden looked great on launch day. It was a proud day and a monumental achievement’
which proved difficult and eventually required cutting a hole in the pan to lift it out. Nonetheless, once the pan was out, I noticed a few small leaks that required the re-bedding of deck hardware in the immediate vicinity. Since the mast was unstepped – and because of visible rust – I removed the front chainplate and bow roller for inspection. All the bolts were severely corroded and needed replacing.
Replacing chainplate bolts tucked up under the deck was a miserable task, but one that I’m glad I did. The condition of the front chainplate was excellent but its fasteners were clearly compromised, which prompted me to remove the backstay chainplate as well. Though it proved to be in exceptional condition, I’m glad we removed and re-bedded both the fore and aft chainplates.
The athwartship U-bolt style chainplates on either side of the cabin trunk, appeared to be in good condition – with no visible cracking or crevice corrosion – and were left alone because of the sheer difficulty of removing and reinstalling them.
With all difficult-to-access hardware in the area rebedded, I added core material and fibreglass to the anchor pan. I also added backing material to the deck mounting flange to increase its strength. Once completed, the new and improved anchor pan was secured and sealed down to the flange with lag screws and adhesive sealant. The result was an anchor pan so strong I could jump on it!
Windlass installation did not go as smoothly as planned and still has not been completed to satisfaction.
The engine
Amid all of the upgrades, Walden’s engine had been neglected and needed routine maintenance. I changed the impeller and checked the transmission fluid. The old bronze propeller was showing signs of failure, with the blade tips eroding, bending and warping; some even had hairline cracks. I took it for repairs and for a mere $100 it was restored to new!
Clean and polish
After months spent in a dusty and dirty boatyard, Walden’s once beautiful appearance had been marred by layers of dirt and a green slime. Before we could launch her she’d need an extensive clean. First we pressure-cleaned the hull, and followed this with an acid wash, using an on/off hull cleaner to remove deeply ingrained stains.
Afterwards, the hull and deck were polished with Zep Floor Polish, which is about the only thing I found that works on aged and oxidised gelcoat.
Walden sure looked great on launch day. It was a proud day and monumental achievement on 9 April 2019 when she finally left the boatyard!
Though we still had an ocean to cross in terms of uncompleted projects, we knew we’d soon have a waterfront view with water gently lapping the hull, rather than one of dust and gravel with a chorus of power tools!