The Stick is Up... Kinda...

Put the mast up yesterday, twice. Went well the first time, seated on the keel. The pin was missing on the roller furler, but there was two on the backstay, (one on the boat, on the stay), so no brainer there. Then the lower shrouds wouldn't hook up. The two front ones were too long and the two back ones were too short. Plus, the backstay wouldn't hook up, the "new" one was an inch short, and nothing we did was going to fix that. Oh well, into everyone's life a little rain must fall. So down came the mast.

Changed around the lower shrouds, and there is a long story behind that, but 50/50 chance, and I got it wrong on the first attempt. We spent the next little while trying to figure out a way to lengthen the backstay to no avail. So finally we just put it up without the backstay, so that it would be done and out of peoples way. Rick the guru gave me a couple of pieces of old chainplate that I will fashion into an extension here soon.

The second time up was no problem though, we had practice.

But I am getting ahead of myself. First thing in the morning when we got to the yacht club, I had to fix that little exhaust problem. Put the drain back in and shut off the valve. Then I adjusted the stuffing box so that it just stopped dripping without the shaft moving. Then we took the ol' girl out on the bay to try and get it adjusted properly. 1 - 3 drips per minute is the recommended. It was perfect on the way out of the club, but then the drips went away. So I tinkered, and I tinkered, and I tinkered, and kept tinkering until I just said screw it. I couldn't adjust it so that there were no drips when it was stopped, yet dripped when it was moving. So I set it up so that it wouldn't drip when it didn't move, and any drips that came out while it was moving were a bonus. I kept checking though, and the stuffing box never seemed to get over heated, so this will do for now.

I was talking to someone at the club later about it, and they said that it is very difficult to impossible to set the stuffing box in the Bay of Quinte, because the water is so dirty. Wish I had known that before it went out.

Finally after screwing around for 6 hours, we got our mast up, twice, two other masts for club members, helped move some stuff around, and we were done. Cleaned up our saw horses, tied the boom onto the deck, put mast tape around the mast, which self destructed during the process and put the add-a-room back on the cockpit, before we headed for the Beer store. A long hot day. Sunburns, and heat stroke, isn't that what boating is all about!

The Mast is Ready

I think we have about 25 man hours into the mast now. Amazing how much work it takes to get so simple a thing done.

1. New conduit run from the base to the mast head, riveted to the mast every 18" or so;
2. New standing rigging;
3. New running rigging, 5 new halyards;
4. New topping lift set up;
5. New lazy jack set up;
6. New TV antenna;
7. New VHF antenna;
8. New masthead tri-light with anchor light;
9. New steaming/deck light;
10. New wiring, all of it, properly done with correct marine wire;
11. New hole in the bottom of the mast for all the wire;
12. New support for the VHF antenna;
13. New roller furling line; and
14. Test all electrical connections.

Of course, when I put it like this, it looks like a lot more.

The mount for the VHF had to be attached to the mast strongly, and keep the VHF antenna 36" from the top of the TV antenna so that I don't damage the TV amplifier or the TV when I transmit with the VHF. I had a lot of problems getting this done, but the finish product was quite nice.

I had to rewire the mast head tri-light/anchor light. Not too bad though. changed the slide connectors to ring type, removing the manufactures connections and screwing in my own. Much better. Put heat shrink on all connectors. Tested good. A little 3M 4200 sealant on the ring will stop the lens from coming off. A very little though.

The TV antenna was really straight forward. The kit came with everything. I did however break my riveting tool on the second stainless steel rivet, and had to run down to Crappy Trash (Canadian Tire), to pick up a new one. Bought the Stanley, guaranteed for life one, much nicer.

Had to drill a new hole for the topping lift shackle, as the old hole got in the way of the new position for the sheave. Way back, I put the mainsail on the mast to see if I had room to move the boom up, I didn't, but I found out that the mainsail halyard was too close to the mast and was crushing the top of the mainsail into the mast. Then, while working on the mast, I noticed that the main halyard sheave had 3 positions, and the one it was on was closest to the mast, so I moved it out to the furthest one to relieve the tension on the sail. Unfortunately this didn't leave enough room for the new topping lift, so I have to redrill and move it. Pain in the butt, however an easy fix. With my luck, it will probably be in the way of the sail......There should be enough room, cross fingers, knock on wood.

Tomorrow we hope to fix the exhaust leak, adjust the stuffing box, and step the mast. Then I will be taking a week off from boat stuff to finish the landscaping at home, and have a really big garage sale. First purge, we are planning on getting rid of everything next year, this is just the first step.

Later, and fair winds.

More slow progress...

Well, the good news is that I accomplished some stuff, the bad news is, just not that much.

Serena was broken again today, so I had to go work on the mast myself. I devised a way to get the halyards back through the mast by myself. I made a 4" wide triangle out of 1/16" aluminum and drilled 5 - 1/2" holes through it, one at the point, and 4 along the bottom. I had 1 tag end left in the mast, and I taped it to the hole at the point, and then tied in each halyard into one of the holes in the bottom. The triangle was big enough that it wouldn't rotate in the mast, but small enough that it would pull all the way though. Then I put each halyard loosely in an empty container and spaced them so that they wouldn't have a chance to wrap around each other during the pull through. Lastly I pulled the tag end through the mast 3 feet at a time, going down to the other end to make sure the lines stayed fair, and voila, I had 4 halyards run the full length of the mast, perfectly parallel to each other, and not tangled around anything. Mind you, they are 6 feet away from the sheaves that they are supposed to run through, but one step at a time.

Next I taped a small line to a halyard, and pulled the halyard back so that the small line was under the sheave. Using a metal coat hanger with a little hook in it, I was able to hook the small line and draw it through the sheave. Mind you it sounds much easier than it was. But I did that for each of the 4 halyards and then tidied up the mast.

I also had time to run two 14/2 wires through the small conduit that was already in the mast for the steaming light and the deck light. I installed the new light, soldering and heat shrinking the wires. Then I labeled them at the bottom of the mast with my new label machine, oh is it nice.

Truth was, I wasn't even thinking about taking pictures today, I was so concentrated on getting the job done, because I won't see the boat for another 3 days, I have to get some of the landscaping done. I will try to get some pictures later, although pictures of the rig to get the halyards in would have been nice. I need to get better at this whole picture thing.

Have a great May 24, for those in Canada.

Rob.

Timeline, what deadline

Originally I thought I would be done the refit by the end of May so that we could go cruising, and then I was content with the end of June, and after today, I'll be surprised if we ever sail again. Ughhhh

Ok, not that bad, but what a slow day. Monday I cut up the cradle because it needs to be modified to fit properly, Tuesday we picked it up and did some shopping, Wednesday we worked on landscaping, so nothing boat related, and we bought another piece of property, so that took some time. Then today I decided to tackle the mast. Serena is laid up again with her herniated disk, so I worked on it alone, not that the extra pair of hands would have made any difference.

It took me 6 hours to get the conduit riveted in the mast. OMG was it a pain. I drilled out several of the rivets, several times before I finally got it done. The halyards were a mess, tangled all around everything, so I eventually had to remove them from the mast, except for the staysail one, because I couldn't figure out how to get it back in there. Then I installed and removed it one more time, because, wouldn't you know it, I got it wrapped around the staysail halyard. Then there were screws, and parts of the mast in the way. I eventually got most of the rivets in. There are about 6 or 8 in the whole length that didn't get put in right, and they are spaced every 18", so it should be lots to hold it. And to top it off, I was laying in the dirt the whole time working on the mast upside down. In other words, a freakin' nightmare.

Now I need a second person to help put the halyards back in, so they don't get tangled up. It'll have to wait, I will try it by myself tomorrow, but I am not confident that I will have any luck. Who knows, maybe I'll get something figured out.

I am trying to get the mast up so that I can have the weekend off to work on the landscaping, but I don't think that is going to happen either. Slow, slow, slow..... I know that everything will eventually get done, but delays are depressing. Only good news is that the landscaping at the house is well over half done, and when its finished, the only thing left will be the boat. I can't wait for that.

Oh, found out the leak in the bilge is not a leak. I don't know why, but for some reason when the boat was put in the water, a teaspoon of water leaked into the bilge from the drain plug, and then nothing else. Totally weird, but may have had something to do with the shape of the hull. The boat is designed to be in the water, not on land, although its built on land, go figure. But, the hull shape changes a little between the two, and there is an adjustment period. Even the door to the head does not shut properly when the boat is on the hard, but in the water you could close it by blowing on it. F magic I guess.

Might get some pictures tomorrow, of some progress. Pictures of rivets wouldn't have excited anyone. Until later.

Rob

Splash Down... Vita is wet again.

We didn't sleep last night. Nerves I guess. Our little girl was heading to the water today. I was a little concerned, but fairly confident that everything would be fine. The only issues were a couple of small leaks, one in the exhaust, and one in the lower part of the bilge. The one in the bilge is from the drain plug in the side of the keel. Its not leaking enough water to fill a tea spoon in 2 hours, so not critical. The engine leak is from the drain in the exhaust can, only leaks when the boat engine is running, and easy to fix, really easy in fact.

 Splash down.

 Proud Papa.

 Home to the slip.

 And this is the dumbass look. The leak in the exhaust is no leak. The drain is reversed in its operation. So when it is closed, it is actually open, and when its opened, it is actually closed. Figured that out after I removed the drain and started playing with it. Below it is in my hand. Someone told me not to tell anyone, but I told them that I tell everyone about my screw ups in the hopes that someone else will be spared the embarrassment. Anyway, I sprayed a liter of water into my bilge motoring to the dock. And, to add to the insult, the stuffing box was too tight, and the boat wasn't in the water long enough for water to get up inside the packing gland, so it was smoking a little after the trip. It got a little warm.

Other than that, all looks good. But I am exhausted from the work up, early days yesterday and today, and the pain in my knees, from blowing them out 2 weeks ago. I just need some down time. I am so baked I can't even sleep, so I think I'll curl up with a cold beer and a book.

Cheers.

T minus 2 Days

Okay, 2 days plus a few hours, but only a day and a half left to prepare. Saturday morning is yet another work party, and I will be the first one lifted in on Sunday morning at 08:00 give or take a few minutes. And, were almost ready...

I haven't even touched the mast since the last post. It doesn't need to be done until next week, so I've been  concentrating on the things that were important to the lift-in. After the boat is in, Monday/Tuesday I'll finish up the mast and put it up. After that I am taking a couple of days off. Not to relax, but to get some more of the landscaping done at the house, its almost finished, but its like an albatross around my neck when I should be focusing on the boat.

Where to start.... Sigh...

 I guess with the bilge pump. Since ironically it is the last thing that has to get done before lift in. There are other things I want done, but none of them are as important as being able to get unwanted water out of the boat, should there be a leak somewhere. (Knock on wood). Anyway, Pride Marine got the rebuild kit in, and I picked it up on Tuesday when I went to get the discharge hose for the head, and a pile of other things. Put the new kit in, and kept the old ones as spares since they where still in really good shape.

Of course, silly me, I put it together in the shop with no thought as to the proper orientation of the inlet and outlet valves. So it is sitting in the cockpit of the boat right now waiting for me to tear it apart, put it back together the right way, and mount it below the back seat of the cockpit. Mind you, I didn't really think of that when I installed the new cockpit seat. So now I have to cut the center hatch hole in the seat so I can install the pump. Hind sight, what a tremendously irritating thing.

And on to the cockpit seat. None of this information is in any kind of order. In fact I have jumped around so much over the last few days, that I probably couldn't figure out which came first anyway. Wait, I think is was the chicken, or was it the egg, shit... Anyway; This is the beginning stages of the mock-up. Take lots of measurements, try and figure out what the hell I am doing. I decided how high I want the finished seat, then figured out where the bottom of the deck would lie, and then drew a line around the area. Next I screwed and glued (with thickened polyester resin), 3/4" x 3/4" cedar battens just below the lines to act as nailers for the front and deck of the seat. They stay there and get glassed in. In fact, after the seat is done I will epoxy the underneath as it will be much stronger, but the top needs to be polyester resin so that I can use gel-kote on it. Also notice the front of the new seat is clamped in place, next the top.

 And here it is, looks good eh... Okay, looks better than the gaping hole that was there.

 Its hard to tell in the photo, but I removed the battens and ground off the gel-kote all around and up above where the pieces fit. I beveled the glass in a little everywhere as well so that I would have somewhere to lay the fibreglass tape and cloth. Then I put everything together for the last time. I still need to fill in all around the outside crack, and make a nice little fillet in all the joints before taping, hopefully tomorrow. I would like to have this in there good before lift in. There is no picture, but I figured out where and how big the hatches will be and drew them on the top. This seat will have three hatches, a center one for access to the back, steering, hoses, and for fender storage. The other two will be for propane lockers, one on the starboard side for a spare, and one on the port side for the primary with the regulator.

Next the engine. It is a matter of pride that a boat when lifted into the water motors to the slip under her own power. And even though we are in the middle of a huge renovation, I still managed to get the engine running with a jury rigged setup. I mentioned before that I was moving the engine controls up from where my feet were, and I had removed them and cut the hole. Well, I built a box to fit that hole, but used epoxy for the fillets, and then decided to make it out of polyester resin so that I could, once again, gel-kote it. The gel-kote matches the original surface, assuming I can get the colour right. Anyway, I mounted the box temporarily and put the engine controls in it, looks sharp eh? I used the old battery cables and hooked them up to my new starting battery, reconnected the water intake, put a new impeller in the water pump, lubricated it with O-ring lube, and started the engine. First try, she purred like a kitten. Now, with any luck it will do the same thing on Sunday, fingers crossed, pray to god of choice......

Oh boy, this is going to be a long post....

Next was the cockpit drains. In the original survey the cockpit drains were picked up because the elbow going into the sea-cock was plastic, and apparently the insurance companies have a hissey with this. It might be because this same type of fitting has been responsible for sinking several boats over the last bunch of years, but who knows.

 It was probably a good idea to get ride of them, after all when I took them out, there were kind of squishy. I tried to find bronze fittings to replace them, but to no avail. So I ended up using galvanized. The surveyor said there was nothing wrong with galvanized. I would like to shake him now..... But the insurance company was happy with the change.

Then sometime in the fall when I was loafing around Pride Marine, I spied a pair and grabbed them up. I am not a big fan of galvanized, and given the opportunity I would rather use the proper equipment. Lucky thing too. When I removed the galvanized ones to replaced them, they were all rusted out inside, from one season. Just imagine what a year in salt water would have done. I wish I had taken a picture to show how bad it was, but they were dropped off at the dump with a bunch of scrape metal a while ago.

And tada.... the finished product. If you can see through all the dust. The original drains used PVC fittings down to a 1 1/4" pipe, then a piece of exhaust hose from there to the elbows attached to the sea-cocks. Of course finding a hose to fit the new proper size bronze fittings, and the PVC would be impossible, so I ripped out the old PVC mess. It wasn't very strong anyway, and I was worried that it might give away at some time. So I switched to good quality 1 1/2" head discharge hose, and few fittings, that are a little tougher than the original. I learned something during this process though, and that is to heat the hose with a heat gun until it is just about liquid, and then and only then will it go on to the fitting. Don't ask how much time I spent trying to get these puppies on. Hot water, cold water, dish soap, sanding the rings off of the fittings, you name it, and in the end only massive amounts of heat got the job done. Very important lesson learned, and it made installing the new head a breeze.

Now onto the head. I wanted this done prior to launch, just because part of the system attaches to a sea-cock. And that's the only reason. I figure any system that goes through the hull blow the water line should be taken care of while the boat is out of the water. A personal preference really, because this could have been done anytime. The first picture is of the old head in my little garbage pile out beside my shop, and this is as much respect as this piece of crap deserves. I can find nothing nice to say about a Jabsco, except maybe they are cheap. I know dozens of people who have them, and many of them like them, well all I can say is, they can keep them, I want the Cadillac.

 Start by positioning the head and figuring out where the first two holes go.

 Then install the first part of the hose from the head to the pump. Remember, lots of heat.

 Then install the second part of the hose from the pump up to as high as possible, and then down to the waste holding tank.

 Lots and lots of heat here.

 Through the hanging locker. I just know this will be my side.

 Then install the water inlet line. Look, its toilet spaghetti.

 Here you see the two hoses with their loops up nice and high. It helps prevent anything from moving the wrong way when the boat is healed way over. You can't see it, but there is a hole drilled in the incoming water line, right at the top of the loop. Then there is a plug, provided with the head, that has a small hole in it that is shoved into the drilled hole. This provides air in the line to prevent siphoning of outside raw water into the boat. Very important piece of kit. Neat too. When I tested the system with the sea-cock closed, the little plug whistled me a tune as it equalized the pressure in the head and released the toilet lid seal. If you are considering replacing the head on your own boat, you should look this one up. Lavac.

 More holes in the bottom of the hanging locker.

 The incoming line. And more heat.

 And this is what the finished product looks like. The handle removes so the door can open. I used a piece of hickory under the pump, and a couple of pieces of 3/4" plywood inside the locker to stiffen everything up.  It worked well, when I operate the pump, nothing moves except the stuff that's supposed to.

 Head done, I moved on to the 110v electrical. I wasn't even going to put this in, but along the way, my mind got changed. However, I am not ready to set up, build, and install the electrical panel, and I wanted 110V available on the boat during the refit, so I made up this little panel in the interim. The breaker panel will eventually go somewhere around there, and the outlet will move a few feet forward beside the nav station. This will work great for now.

Tomorrow is a little fibreglass work, the bilge pump, and start cleaning the mess, oh boy its messy. Perhaps I'll get this all done before Serena kills me, or gets fed up and leaves.

Fair winds.

Rob :-)

Moving along...

Albeit at a very slow pace. Yesterday I spent the better part of 9 hours at the boat working on the pre-launch list. But, it seems like every project gets put on hold until I get another part.

I got the conduit in the mast for electrical wires, but couldn't fasten it in because I had the wrong size rivets. I installed the 110v electrical plug in the side of the deck house, but couldn't wire it without the wire. Was going to install a temporary engine control box to mount the panel in, but it needs an 1/8" shaved off with the table saw. Well, you see where this is going.

I did managed to get the hull washed and waxed. Red made up a topping lift cable for my mast, so now I don't have to use the rope, I can turn that into a spare halyard. I ripped out some more wiring, the old instrument transducers and the VHF antenna cable. Tried to determine how much room I actually have for a fridge. Which by the way I have decided to build in place. So much for the time and expense on the first fridge box, but I learned some things along the way, so not a total loss. I also finally got the front hatch just right. Now I can glass that up and get it installed.

Today I want to finish up rigging and wiring the mast. The VHF will have to wait until I am finished at Pride Marine so that I can get one more fitting, but I think everything else can be done. Maybe build in the cockpit seat that is cut out, and start putting the cockpit drains back together. I didn't take any pictures yesterday, because nothing really happened. Sad considering the amount of work I put in. Maybe today will have more note worthy progress.

Later
Rob

Misplaced Camera

Yeah, that's right, I left my camera on the back of the toilet in the yacht club. Thank god we have a nice safe place to park our boats, where thieves do not tread. Mind you they did take some pictures with it, nothing knotty, but I bet Jim was thinking about it. Being Commodore probably keeps him in check. Mind you I don't know how he kept a leash on Mike, the club manager, I thought for sure he would take some pictures that would make a Nun blush. Oh well, it is back in my hands, and now I am back to the blog. Hate to blog about the same things twice, once when it happens, and then again when I can prove it with a picture.

Here is the front part of the anchor locker hatch with a 1/4" ply epoxied in place to bring the whole thing level. Hind sight being what it is, I wish that I had used regular polyester resin now that I have decided to gel-kote the deck and cockpit modifications. Gel-kote doesn't stick to epoxy all that well, or at all in some cases. The epoxy manufacture says that it will, but Rick the Guru said that I should use polyester. A third of the price too. So I will probably use epoxy on the bottom, and then bond the hatch at deck level with polyester. Paint underneath, and gel-kote on top.

 Finally rigged the mast with the new standing rigging. About $800.00 to get all new standing rigging. I only had to replace one turnbuckle though, (some dummy bent it, no names), okay, it was me, but the rest of the turnbuckles came out of the operation just fine. I took off the mast head fitting so that I could mount some stuff to it. I will mount the antennas and the tri-light/anchor light, run the wiring through newly installed conduit, sometime before lift in, a week from now.

 The mast head provided such easy access. Two screws and out it came. There are 3 halyards here, and a topping lift, and there is another halyard further down the mast for the staysail. However, I have decided to change the topping lift to cable, and replace the rope topping lift with another spare halyard. Not a bad idea to have a spare for the head sails and a spare for the main. Especially considering my concern over being too far off the ground, like up the mast, or a tall ladder.

 So Saturday was the work party/lift-in for most boats, all day burnout. Sunday and Monday I busted my buttcuss rigging the mast, painting the boottop, tearing out the old head and hoses. Setting up the new head and hoses to try and figure out how to install it. The new head is very different from the old, pics coming soon, I promise. Put up a couple of other peoples masts. The beauty of self-help yacht clubs, everybody helps. Some of the older guys are getting to the point that even with help, its just too much for them. I guess eventually everyone needs to slow down. I have some other pictures to take before rambling on, but I changed a bunch more stuff. Tuesday Serena and I went to Kingston, but I could barely stand, let alone walk around. It was a rough day. Monday Patrick had sucked me into helping him to move a couple of cradles from the grass to the pavement. Pick up one end and swing it around, easy right. At 400 lbs, maybe not. Anyway, I blew out both my knees, and now I am enjoying the ever constant pain of screwed up knees. I should have known better. I am border line useless for a while now. Serena and I did manage to get the boot stripe finished on Wednesday, and get the new davits installed.

How much fun was that. I had planned on mounting the davits with the base on the stern, but there was no way to accomplish that, so we found a spot to squeeze them in on the aft deck. We loosely set up the davits before drilling, and noticed that they didn't look right, and nothing we could adjust would make a difference. Finally realized after a few measurements that the top tubes on one of the davits were 1" longer than the top tubes on the other davit. No idea what the measurement is supposed to be, but they are the same length now. I had to tear apart my new davits, cut an inch off of the tubes, re-drill the bolt holes and put it back together. I had made up some heavy aluminum backing plates at home before coming and used a generous amount of 3M 4200 to seal up the holes I drilled in the deck. The deck was solid fibreglass back there, so I didn't have to epoxy fill the hole and re-drill it. It took a lot longer than I had thought it would, but they look sharp, and work really well.

And today, Vita got her new name and port of call. The guy who did this does good work, I was impressed. The name and port of call on the stern, and the name on each bow, $100.00. Looks way better than if I had of painted it with my shaky hands.

That was all I got done, and I didn't even do it. I gave a bottle of scotch to John, as he had given me an invaluable piece of gear. A manual pump that attaches to the deck pump out for my black water tank. This way I am perfectly legal in Canada and the US, but when I am offshore, I can still empty my holding tank. It is the perfect solution, and I don't have to re-plumb the boat. Well worth a bottle of Glenfiddich. I also helped him put up his mast with some other gentlemen. After that I was in so much pain I decided that I would be happier at home, drunk, or drugged up, and in bed. I had put my knee braces on a little tight this morning, so I loosened them after helping with the mast. Apparently I should have left them alone, because I could barely stand after that. Tomorrow I am taking most of the day off, I will probably go do some shopping, but I already told Serena, when she goes into the grocery store, I am staying in the truck.

I will try and catch up with all the other projects going on simultaneously. More blog entries in the next few days, maybe even a little more detail. Saturday is a work party and boat yard sale, Sunday I have to get caught up with my new list, because I think Monday I am off to Pride Marine in Kingston again, to get the hose for my head that they had to order. I wanted the odor free hose. Most people don't realize that boat smell comes mainly from the hoses running from the head. They soak up the odors and then release them into the cabin. Problem is that the cheap head hose, good for a few seasons of occasional use, is only $3 per foot, and the good stuff is $13 per foot. Makes a difference when you need 10 feet, and even bigger difference when its 20 feet. Explains why so many cheap sailors boats stink of boat smell. Their head hoses are probably original to their 30 year old boat. Vita does not smell like boat.

Talk soon.

Rob