The Refit of a Classic Cheoy Lee 41
The Refit of Astraea
Here is a documentation of the work done by Svendsen's Boat Works in Alameda, CA from November 2005 to the present. Click on each phase to see details of the work.
Phase II: Electrica System Update, New Force 10 Stove, Bottom Rework Part Deux
Phase IV: Scheduled for Summer of 2009 just prior to going cruising. This phase will include the installation of a Monitor Windvane with emergency steering, a Spectra watermaker, and (perhaps) an electric winch.
Phase III Continued
Also, the Mizzen Boom is being raised 14 inches to allow a normal person to stand up at the helm. Not sure why Cheoy Lee mounted that boom so low.
Here is the mizzen after the track was raised and the Awlgrip repaired. It will be great to have the mizzen high enough to stand up underneath it!
September 3, 2008. Work so far has continued to be S-L-O-W. Some things are happening. The engine is almost connected. Almost. The mizzen is back up, the rigging back on, and the new radome is mounted. Also the Furuno NavNet2 repeater at the helm is now in.
Mizzen back up!!!! This is a huge psychological factor to have both masts back up. The new radome and custom radom mounts are on the mizzen now.
New Furuno radome with custom made radom brackets.
New Furuno NavNet2 repeater at helm. The binnacle is not yet back in place. There will also be a large NavNet2 repeater at the navigation desk inside the boat.
A Few Last Details
In the meantime the riggers are removing the old chain which was only 125 feet long. They are now loading 400 feet of galvanized chain.
This is the new chain. THis has a working load strength of 5400 pounds and a breaking strength of 16,200 pounds. This is almost twice as strong as BBB, and slightly lighter. Good stuff.
Small thing, but the new galley faucets are now in. The small one is connected to a Whale footpump for use when the electric water pump is not on.
Here a yard worker has removed a damaged piece of teak and is replacing it. Big, big bucks here in San Francisco.
I am taking the opportunity of being the the boatyards to do some work on Astraea myself. The pedestal looked pretty bad and had a number of coats of paint on it. I decided since we are installing a new pedestal guard and new 7" Furuno NavNet2 radar/GPS repeater at the helm that I should ge the pedestal looking better.
I used several layers of paint remover, an electric wire brush, and then 80 grade sandpaper and got it down to the bare aluminum. Nothing is ever easy, or even inexpensive. After I got it down to bare metal (aluminum) I had to put on a cote of Interlux Primewash, then a coat of Epoxy Primecoat. After this will put two to three coats of Epoxy Primecoat, and she should look great!
Interlux definitely has this all figured out. Two primers and then the topcoat, and each of these three paints requires it's own paint thinner. This all comes out to about $250 worth of paint and thinner just to paint the pedestal. What a racket!
Here is the pedestal just after the yards removed the pedestal guard to modify it to hold the NavPod with the Furuno repeater.
Here is the pedestal after stripping off all the paint, taking it down to bare metal, and priming it with Interlux Viny-Lux Premwash 353.
Here she is with her primer coat of Interlux Preimkote 404.
Would you believe it takes all of these two part paints just to redo the pedestal?
In the meantime, on the homefront, Bob has been working to strip several hundred square feet of teak and holly sole. Unlike modern production boats, the cabin sole on Astraea is half inch solid teak with holly strips inlaid a quarter inch deep. The half incho of teak is then glued to a half inch of hard marine plywood, making these sections of sole an inch thick. They are also heavy! The stringers that hold these sections of deck sole are 3x3 solid teak beams. This really provides good lateral strength to the hull and also provides a lot of weight down low in the boat. Another reason that this class of sailboat has been called "stiff as a church".
The teak sole is looking good after Bob has stripped, sanded, and sealed it. Here he has the first two coats of varnish (Ultimate Sole).
Working on our high rise terrace overlooking San Francisco Bay with a glass of California wine is a much more pleasant environment than the boat yard.
The new piping and electical on the engine is complete, or close to it, so brought all of the refinished teak cabin sole back to the boat to reinstall it. Here it sits on the dock. Oh, side note, that is a sweet little solid teak hulled 1961 Cheoy Lee 30 in the next slip. There are now three Cheoy Lees in the yard: our CL41, an Offshore 40, and a Cheoy Lee 30. How cool is that?
In the meantime the life raft is being inspected down the road at Sal's Inflatibles in Alameda. Here she is with Bob looking at her a bit skeptically.
Monitor Wind Vane
As of December 1, 2008, my career was complete and it was time to retire and prepare Astraea for extended cruising. However San Francisco is not the most pleasant place to live on a boat in the Winter as it is damp and chilly, therefore I will be spending most of the Winter in Palm Springs with frequent trips to SF to check on Astraea. As the weather warms up I will spend increasingly more time in SF to work on Astraea and get in some practice sailing, do some extended anchoring out, and just enjoy a San Francisco summer. When I will head South is not yet determined, however it will be in time to participate in the 2009 Baja Haha, which begins in San Diego on October 25.
On January 15, however, a major requirement for cruising was installed, the new Monitor Wind Vane. Wow! What a beauty. She was carefully installed on Jan 15 by Tim Ursen, who was recommended by the Monitor company. Tim has installed about 150 wind vanes over the past decade and is definitely a pro at wind vanes.
Tim prepares a hoisting line from the mizzen boom to raise the heavy Monitor Wind Vane frame. 
Tim and his partner fit the new wind vane to Astraea's stern. They commented that the deck and transom were one of the thickest they had seen. They said that this wind vane is so secure that the boat could be lifted by the wind vane. I don't think I will try that, however it is reassuring to hear them say that the boat's structure was so strong. 
The completed wind vane. Right after the installation I took her on a trip to Half Moon Bay and tried it out. Unfortunately there was almost ZERO wind most of the trip down and it only picked up slightly on the return trip. However the vane worked great. It is amazing to watch it work.
Click here to see the extensive refurbishment of her brightwork.