Copernicus had some problems that, if not addressed, would send the boat into fast decline. The most serious issue was the keel-hull transition where the floor timbers were too short to give the structure enough support. Byron had a grounding and opened a crack where the hull meets the floor timbers on the starboard side and I did the same on the port side. That made the the ocean trickle inside on either tack, and with no bilge to speak of, even a small amount of water would run up the sides and wet everything in the lockers when the boat heels. That brings us to the other issue: excessive heeling. Byron recognized that problem and added some lead to the bottom of the keel increasing the drought by about 20 inches. That was not enough to ameliorate the problem , so in 2011 I have decided to save my beautiful boat, make her stronger and safer. With the help from Eric Jespersen and his crew of very skilled shipwrights and the guys from Blackline Marine Services from Canoe Cove Marina in Sidney, British Columbia I embarked on a 23 month project to accomplish that.
Haulout and building the workshop
Out of the water at Canoe Cove Marina- September 2011
Masts stowed away and shipped out for painting
Power tools made it possible to get it done over a weekend
Masts pulled out by the crew from Blackline Marine
Construction of the workshop begins
And ends
Interior work
Interior gutted and ready, keelson notched for the new floor boards
Floor boards fastened in place
New sapele floor boards laminated
Four additional keel bolts installed
Rebuilding of the interior
Adding ballast to the keel
Designing and shaping additional ballast
Drilling through lead was no fun at all, but grease helps
600 pounds of weight added,but it didn't make a difference I had hoped for
moulds made with concrete
Lead poured
With a bit of sanding it is ready to be bolted to the bottom of the keel
Scraping the hull and fairing the keel/hull transition
Scraping the hull
Scraping below waterline took me a lot of time and effort, the topsides were much easier
Fairing the hull- keel transition
Sealing and glassing the hull
Sealing the hull with epoxy
The crew from Jespersen Boat Builders glues 9 ounce glass cloth with West System 105+206 epoxy in one 36 foot piece
The bottom leyer glued in place
After sanding, the hull is ready for glass
Procedure repeated on the other side
All glassed and faired with epoxy mixed with West System 407 low density filler, sanded and ready for paint
Painting
Two coats of Interprotect paint applied to the keel and hull
Boom painted with Awlgrip paint
And the masts
Topsides painted with semi gloss Easypoxy
4 leyers of bottom paint applied
The same for the bow sprit
Out of the shop and back in the ocean
Patric and Derek from Canoe Cove Marina expertly pull the boat out of the Taj Mahal
Loaded on the truck for a short trip to Westport Marina
Picked off the truck by the boat lift
Almost out
Waiting for the ride
Arrives at Westport Marina
Byron Burns shows up for the occassion
23 months to a day and Copernicus is back in the water
Stepping in the masts
Masts are ready for the crane
Attaching forestay, inner stay and the shrouds completes the refit and Copernicus is good to go
Main mast in first
Followed by the Foremast
The Final Chapter
Two years later Eric Jespersen designed and built a new rudder to replace the original with the more streamlined and much more efficient one
