I finished up the seacock installation, sanded down the epoxy covering the bolts, reinstalled the engine cooling strainer, scrubbed down the hull and put the first coat of bottom paint. Unfortunately, I forgot completely about the thru hulls that need to be installed above the water line. So much stuff going on, I get a little lost sometimes. I realize that I could install them at a later date, but drilling holes in the hull while it sits in the water bothers me a bit.
So now I have to order the parts from Marine Outfitters, and have my friend Jack pick them up for me. I have to get them soon, and I have to get them installed before the boat goes in the water. I need 3 - 3/4" thru hulls; propane locker vent, automatic bilge pump, and shower sump. And, they all have to run to the back of the boat, otherwise I have to put proper seacocks in for all of them. The ABYC standards say that every thru hull below the maximum heeled waterline must have a proper seacock. On a sailboat, that's pretty much everywhere. Though they define maximum heel as if the toe rail is at the water, so that leaves a little bit of the bow, a little bit of the sides near the stern, and most of the stern. Although the stern can be overtaken by following seas, so even that's questionable. Power boaters get off lucky on this one, they are limited to 7 degs of heel. I really don't want to have the added expense of 3 more seacocks, plus baseplates, etc..., so I figure if I install them near the centerline of the boat, on the stern, I should be ok, at least from a legal/insurance point of view. From a pure safety point of view, I don't have any issues with it, its well above the waterline, in a relatively protected area. Now bronze or marelon?
Over the winter the tarp, had made a mess of the topsides. So I took a few hours this week and gave the ol' girl a good scrub down. A fellow cruiser told me about Vim, the bathroom cleaner, a few years ago, and I find it does an absolutely great job. Let the rain wash off some of the residue, and she'll be ready for wax.
I also scrapped off the licence numbers from the bow. Now that Vita is a registered boat, she doesn't need to show off her number. Its a good thing, they were ugly and worn out. She is starting to look really good. I'll get a picture next week after I get the bottom finished, the tape removed, take a rubbing compound to the area where the licence numbers where, and get a couple coats of wax on her.
Last year I removed the port side trail board from the bow because it was leaking. In my infinite wisdom it made sense to seal up only the screw holes so that if water got behind the board then it would be able to drain out. It didn't work, in that it was still leaking, but more importantly, I found out that waves have a tendency to get behind the board and rip it off the bow. The recommendation is to put a bead of sealant all around the board. So that's done now.
Started installing the plumbing. Found out I have a bunch of mismatched fittings and hoses, and I think I've got it figured out now, maybe..... 3/8", 1/2", 9/16", 5/8", 3/4", threads that don't match anything, and this is just the water lines. I could change it all, and have some sort of standardization, but Serena would kill me for adding another $1000.00 and a week to the work. If refitting boats was easy, everybody would do it, right?
There are some other things, but this post is getting long winded, as they usually do with me. But I'll include one last thing. The new table. I had forgotten to take a picture of it when I installed it back in February, so hear it is. I stole the idea from so many other boats that use the drop down with a shelf in behind. It really isn't a very adequate table. but considering how much space we have, it will have to do for this trip. Eventually we would like to turn the starboard settee/bunk into a dinette, maybe next year.
Keep your stick on the ice...
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