Category Archive

Diann and I brought KaBoom, the Ceremonial Cannon, to Oriental two years ago. We thought that we’d have time to participate in a number of festivals, and events, from that area. Cruising In Place on Yacht A Fun at Southport last year, Gemini catamaran boat work in Beaufort early this summer, and cruising plans for the Albemarle Loop for August …

Gemini catamarans, of the 105 series have rudders which can be lifted by pulling on lines.  Lines also pull them back into place and hold them via friction clutch. A frayed line means failure is not long coming. Since Yacht A Fun had already been hauled and blocked for drive leg repair and bottom paint work, maximizing the boat yard …

When our Gemini catamaran “Yacht A Fun” left Southport, our original destination had been New Bern.  The plan was to haul out at a small boat yard and verify the need to do bottom paint- a fairly quick process.  However, we discovered on travel day one that the catamaran’s drive leg seal was admitting water.  So a more significant (and …

In the earlier post, about minimizing the plop-plop slapping noise of our Gemini catamaran’s hull when we are at anchor, we had just finished laminating the polystyrene and propped up the assembly as the silicone adhesive cured for two days.  We are now done! The sticks were removed so that we could shave the laminated strips.   Using a Cuto …

Before Yacht A Fun left Oriental in 2014, I used three coats of Rustolem paint to form a “ribbon gasket” on the lower joint of the catamaran’s Sonic Sillette drive leg.  That paint stopped the slight oil ooz that was coming from that joint.  The fix lasted for over 1,800 miles and for almost two years. This May when we …

It was Sunday.  The Jeep had been serviced and the afternoon was free of work opportunities in that the “Slap Stoppers” for our Gemini catamaran’s bridge deck were still curing in preparation for final shaping and fairing. Diann and I chose to drive north on US Hwy 70 to its very end- the working docks at the town of Atlantic, …

Living in a boat yard has its disadvantages- beyond climbing up a ladder (ten steps total) to get to your deck; and riding bikes to the bath room vs. using your own head.  There are rusty nails for your vehicle tires.  Yep, our Jeep picked up a nail this week while we were working on our Gemini sailing catamaran. While …

  Gemini sailing catamarans of Yacht A Fun’s 1997 vintage were designed such that small wave ripples are caught in the square shoulders of the inner hull transition.  When at sea, the small sounds are masked somewhat by the boom sound of the bridge deck being pounded by full sized waves and swell. On a mooring, or at anchor, small …

Where to haul one’s boat often has a lot to do with timing.  Yacht A Fun had yielded a not unexpected item- a leaking seal for the drive leg. My “fix” in 2014 had held up fine for a couple of thousand miles.  And there was no oil leak while simply sitting at Southport.  But minor “milkiness” was evident when …

Yacht A Fun, our Gemini catamaran, made it to Mile Hammock Bay anchorage in 7 ½ hours.  Zoey hadn’t made use of her pottie carpet and so hadn’t peed in 36 hours!  Diann and I anchored securely, dropped the dinghy, and sped back to a marina in Sneed’s Ferry.  It took just ten minutes, though. We “recharged” the carpet by …