SVJoli: Triumph Returns to Original Name, Joli

One of our favorite places to go on Lake Erie is Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. We typically pick up a mooring ball because the anchorage near the monument can be a little tricky. We had picked up a mooring ball in August 2004 to spend the weekend there. We had gone ashore for dinner and the northeast wind had picked up enough to kick up the chop in the mooring field. As we were walking back to the Boardwalk to catch the water taxi back out to the boat, we noticed the police boat in the harbor. Then we saw our boat being tied to the police mooring ball. It turns out the the ring on our mooring ball had failed, allowing our boat to drift into the mooring field. Our boat bore down on a man in his dinghy who was trying to help another boat pick up a mooring. He was able to jump onto our boat, get the engine started and get Triumph out of the mooring field but not without damage. One whole side of the hull had been gouged by the anchor on the bow of a moored boat. Before the night was over, several other boats broke free and ended up on the rocks. It was determined that there was a manufacturing flaw in the mooring rings. The following winter, we had the hull and deck painted at Toledo Beach Marina. We decided to go to a white hull and back to her original name, Joli. TBM did an awesome job and we have been very pleased with the results.

The old Fuller Brush portholes (photo above) with plastic cowling in the cockpit were replaced with Newfound Metals portholes during the painting project.

The two photos above are from 1977 at Joli's home port in Washington. Note the smaller steering wheel and coffee-grinders in the top photo. When we bought Triumph, the coffee grinders had been replaced with electric winches and the large steering wheel was in place.

Gouges from grinding up against the anchor on the bow of a moored boat - We were pretty lucky a man in his dinghy was able to get on our boat and help. The damage could have been much worse!

Bryan took photos and added captions to indicate what gear could be removed and not replaced. We eliminated quite a bit of gear from the deck, cabin top and cockpit! Many owners had made changes and added all kinds of extra stuff over the years.

The gouges had gone through the paint and into the fiberglass.

The sanding was the major part of the project.

We chose Awlcraft 2000 in Matterhorn White since Hatteras uses this color. We figure the color will be available long-term in case (or when?) touch-ups are needed.