One day I closed a thruhole before leaving for a long hiking trip. I had never done this before so Mike explained the safety reasoning & where all the thruholes were on the boat. He explained, if a pipe directly connected to a thruhole were to fail (aka break) & we were gone, it would potentially allow for the boat to sink. I immediately googled thruholes and read this little tidbit of information “A three inch diameter hole twelve inches below waterline can emit 177 gallons of water per hour (gph)…”. I was horrified to realize someone had intentionally put holes in my boat. I understand how silly and ignorant I was but back then this information was revolutionary to my fear of living on a boat. Proof that ignorance is bliss. A week later Mike left for a business trip. This left me on Gaia, on a mooring, by myself, for a week (can you feel the impending drama building???). I tell ya, I surprise even myself at how many things I found to keep me up at night. My Dad would always joke saying ‘leave one foot on the ground when you sleep, just in case…’ . I’m embarrassed to admit I wasn’t that far away from trying it – I mean WHAT IF the bilge pump broke and the VHF radio didn’t turn on, AND the dinghy was stolen…..

Fast forward a boat season or two…..

We hauled Gaia out at Admirals Hill. And while others could slap an undercoat of paint on or polish the hull over the course of a few days, Gaia always seemed to become a semi-permant resident in whichever marina we were being hauled out. This haul-out was no different. This seasons haul-out was dedicated to thruholes or “seacocks”. Mike replaced 5 thruholes, and filled in three we deemed unnecessary, and together we rebeded one stubborn thruhole… (fun story there).

Kirstens brief overview…..

• First step; choosing the thruhole: underwater thruholes shouldn’t be plastic, it’s more expensive but go with the bronz (do I need to remind you how many gallons of water can get through a 3 inch hole?). Plastic, as you may guess, has a much easier breaking point and is more susceptible to extreme changes in cold.
• Second: Once you have your replacement thruholes you’ll need to remove the old ones….. good luck with that. Items required for removing a thruhole are the expected screwdrivers, wrench, and angle grinder and unexpected but most productive was the blow torch.
• Thirdly, clean out the hole, sand lightly around the edge and apply the 42Hundred. 42 hundred is your underwater sealant which retains a bit of flexibility to prevent against cracking.
• To remove and close up a thruhole you’ll need to sand the edge at a slight angle so as to make it a beveled edge. After that it’s all about layering fiberglass carefully to reinforce the hole.

Overall, after hearing it so many times, I admit it…. It’s not as scary as you may think.

Last bit of this story is; Mike replaced and touched up every thruhole EXCEPT ONE (which was a lot). When it was time to put us back in the water the travel lift operator sat Gaia in the water and we eagerly jumped onboard to check for any leaks. “Looks good”, “looks good”, “looks good” rang back and forth between Mike and I as we checked each thruhole with headlamps. I thought we were in the clear and then we heard the bilge pump go off … crud. There was a leak somewhere. Mike shined his headlamp at the ONE thruhole he didn’t touch and sure enough that little bugger was leaking. We had an emergency haul out and we were put back on the stilts. The marina operator gave us one hour to fix it and get back in the water. There was a lot of cursing and blow torch action but we got it done like we always do.

It had never occurred to me people lived on boats until I met Mike McLinn. And like anyone that opens your eyes to a new and exciting possibility that resonates with your interest and desires…… he became a kind of mentor. He also happened to become my climbing buddy, hiking friend, boyfriend, and, in due course, my husband.

We have been living on our 424 Pearson (42ft LOA (length overall) for over two years. Her name is Gaia and make no mistake, a slight against Gaia is slander against a good friend.

Over the last five years in sailing Gaia, I learned a few things from Mike, experience, and comparing her to other sailboats. Gaia is a ketch rig, so, double the fun with masts! It makes her interesting to sail and balance out the mizzen (smallest sail- in back) with the genoa (our largest sail that’s in front on the forestay). Jibbing with a ketch is also a bit more interesting because the mizzen sail can act against you in crossing the wind (if you’re not tactful enough). Ketch rigs tend to be heavier and more seaworthy, ideal for long distant passages in my mind. 424 Pearsons (ketch as opposed to the cutter/sloop design) also have a lower mast (51 feet), intended to fit under bridges “easily”. Another perk is our keel; it’s a modified full keel so our draft is only 5 feet for a 42 foot vessel (not too shabby). And did I mention how much water we can carry….. 170 gallons of water…. Let’s review: low mast, shallow keel, seaworthy vessel, with lots of water storage.

Over time, I realized something…. This boat was not meant to sail circles in Boston harbor.

It was then I began to appreciate the 3 large solar panels mounted on the davets and wind generator for power. I began to love that Gaia never smacked into forceful bounding sea swells the way that faster boats did with a flatter haul design. I enjoyed taking down the main sail just to see how Gaia would sail with just the geny and mizzen. At some point in those five years, I became a salty sailor.