New Winches

Yes I am made of money, I grow it in my back yard.... Ugghhh....

Today we went down to Kingston to my favorite chandlery, Pride Marine, which is no longer Pride, but Marine Outfitters. And if I say it enough I'll get used to the name, but I am going to be a slow convert. It was for good reason they changed their name though.

Anyway, goal, buy seacocks and thru hulls to replace all of the holes below the waterline. Resin, odds and sods. Well, we had to order all of the seacocks and thru hulls, and a few other things. We did however end up coming home with 2 new self-tailing winches. I checked the shopping list, but couldn't find them anywhere.

I had wanted a set of STs for the cockpit, but they are expensive, and the bases seem to be much larger than the Lewmar 7s that came with the boat. In other words they didn't fit. Also, I wanted a set of Lewmar 7s on the mast for halyards. I asked about the 7s, and they don't stock them because they can get them overnight when they order, okay, for future reference. Then I noticed these cute little ST winches on the shelf, they looked about the right size. After some research we found they have twice the power of the Lewmar 7's and the mounting holes are almost identical. And just to make the whole deal sweeter, they are discontinued, these are the last two, and on "clearance", my favorite word.

So, I introduce you to Vita's new staysail sheet winches. Harken Classic 16STs. $429 ea, plus Harper's cut. Not bad considering the same equivalent from Lewmar is $600 clams.

Can't wait to get them installed and play with them.

So, now that I don't get my seacocks until the 25 Oct, I guess I will be doing things in a slightly different order. Tommorrow finish the epoxy and a coat of bottom paint on the old boot stripe. Then onto the new boot stripe. Plus whatever else I find the time to do.

Later

The Sea Cock Debacle

Not much will sink a boat faster then a 1 1/2" hole opening up below the waterline where a shut-off valve used to be!

Vita came with gate valves. In 1983 when she was built, it wasn't just the standard of the time, but it was pretty much the only thing available. Not a good idea, but hind sight being what it is. I have been debating whether or not to replace these for a long time. I know the experts say that there is no place on a boat for a gate valve, and I find it hard to believe that they are all wrong. However, they have been on the boat for 30 years, they still work just as good as the day they were installed, and they look pretty heavy duty. Plus, replacements will work out to be an additional $700 clams, and this refit is already pushing the pocket book.

So today after I put the first coat of epoxy on the old boat stripe, I took a good look at the seacocks. Again, they seem solid, they all work, what am I not understanding. So I went to the books, Dan Spurr, Nigel Calder, and Don Casey. If ever there was a more knowledgeable group. They all said the same thing, get rid of them before you regret it. Ughhh... No support from the experts.

So at it I went. The first 1 1/2" seacock for the galley sink drain. When it turned, the thru hull turned, and turned easier than I was comfortable with. I tried everything, and there was no way that gate valve was coming off the thru hull. Sawzall to the rescue. So either the gate valve has corroded and fused together with the thru hull, or they used bedding compound to seal the two together. Neither is a good thing. 

 You can see by the picture that I cut the thru hull. That means I had access to it, and that is a problem. It causes a week point between the hull and the valve. Proper seacocks are attached to the hull, no weak spot.

 Not much support here, just a plywood washer.

 This is what it looked like before I ripped it out. This is the one in the head, as the before picture only turns out if I take it. What is up with the remembering to take the picture thingy.... Must be a missing gene.

 Below is the intake for the head. This one always made me a bit nervous, because it just didn't seem very strong. The last owner had replaced the broken gate valve with this ball valve. When I removed it I found that there was a 3/4" piece of thru hull being supported by bedding compound wrapped around it. This could have snapped at anytime. A little too much pressure on the handle, and in would come the water. Luckily its only a 1/2" hole. This one I am glad is removed.

 And here is the support for the engine cooling water intake. A round piece of rotted plywood with a thru hull nut working its way through it. Another bad one. And to top it off, the elbow and tube attached to the top were copper. How long in salt water before that would have broken down.

 All I can say is that I am glad that we changing them all. I will sleep better off watch in the middle of the ocean knowing that my valves are not going to explode.

And of course, the purpose of the trip to the boat today, two coats of Interlux 2000. Two more to go, and then bottom paint.

Replace the seacocks.

Two coats of bottom paint over the whole bottom.

Then I can paint the boot stripe back on.

Nothing happens fast on a boat.

New Waterline

The first change that happens after a sailing vessel becomes a cruising vessel, raising the waterline....

Well, Vita is not yet a cruising vessel, but I won't get another chance to move the waterline before I leave, so here goes nothing. I decided to move the waterline up 3" starting at the top of the original boot stripe. I did some quick calculations, and that should give me an additional 1800 lbs carrying capacity before the water gets into the boot stripe. She sat just below her waterline this summer, but the boat was gutted, so we'll call that another 400 lbs. That should be enough. I would rather have bottom paint above the waterline than boot stripe paint below.

 So here she sits. I managed to get her level side to side by knocking out the blocking under the starboard side of the cradle, loosening the bolts that hold the forward cradle sides together, and cranking the port side pads until she was level.

See below my waterline marking tool. Two 3" pieces of wood attached with reversed tape to allow them to slide back and forth. A level and pencil. There is a great Youtube video from Sail magazine, narrated by Walley Moran that shows how its made and used.

 So I taped the top of the existing waterline, in case the old gelcoat waterline got sanded off in the process. Marked and taped the top of the new boot stripe.

 Turns out that gelcoat waterline is pretty thick. I went through it a couple of times though. All I need to do now is retape, since the original stuff got destroyed by the sander, and start with the epoxy.

That's today's job. Plus I am going to make a trip to Pride Marine in Kingston tomorrow, so I need to make sure I am getting everything I need. I am even going to try and pull one of the seacocks. I'd like to find out what kind of shape the thru hulls are in and whether or not I have to replace those as well.

Off to the boat.

Vita on the Hard for Another Season

Lift Out was yesterday, including the commute it was a 13 hour marathon. Only one crane showed up, and most of the boats came out. With low water levels and the usual, (how the hell did that fit last year), we struggled thru. Serena did good, she kept going all day and didn't even stop for lunch, her back was tender last night, and she won't be moving much today, I guarantee it. My knees felt like they were going to explode most of the day, but I tried my best to keep involved as much as I could, and keep a smile.

The bad news is that the boat didn't fit on the cradle how I had hoped. It will work for this year, but it needs more consideration. I think I am going to have to cut and re-weld the front supports. I am not sure if I want to attempt it while the boat is on the cradle, plus I don't think there is enough power available down there to run the welder.

On top of that, we didn't get it centered properly, and the boat is listing to the port side. I need to try and get it straightened out so I can work on it. Monday... I am pretty confident that I can get her all leveled up.

Today I think I'll tinker in the shop, maybe take it easy. Walking is a little more difficult than usual today.

Cheers.

Nav Station/Port Quarter Berth

Yesterday ended up being a flop. I had grand plans, but only managed to get the Nav Station table cut and clean up the hatch molds for the cockpit lockers. Then we got a phone call from the Realtor, and she wants to show the house this morning. Having been working in the shop for a week, it was wrecked, so I spent until 8:00 last night cleaning, and no painting of course, to keep down the fumes. I did however get all my tools loaded back into the truck for next week. Today will also be a write off, with the house showing and family visiting later. If the house sells, we're screwed, we'll never get everything built before we lose the shop. But don't tell Serena. No seriously, it'll get done, but I might not get much sleep in the process.

Anyway, I finished the port quarterberth and the battery boxes a couple of weeks ago, but I never got around to posting the info, so that is today's quest.

 First I wanted to show the fuse holders for the battery connections. Fuses are designed to protect wires, and to do so efficiently, they need to be at the beginning of the connection from the source to the wire. You can buy special connectors to do just this, but they are expensive. So I made my own. I used some discarded fiberglass from gutting the boat and ground them down with a diamond blade in a 4" angle grinder to fit the shape of the 100Amp fuses. I'll zip-tie a small piece of rubber to the wire that will provide some measure of protection in case fumble fingers drops a screw driver. There's nothing wrong with talking about yourself in the third person, just answering yourself, right?

 Then I built a box to fit the 3 house batteries, with some wiggle room. The box fits the existing locker, and then there is a frame at the bottom of the box that fits the batteries. I epoxied the seams, and strengthened all the parts with epoxy. After all, this is a lot of weight. Then I added a removable 1/2" copper water pipe down the middle to make sure they never get out of the box to play on their own. Can you imagine the damage these things could do if they were lose in rough seas, or God forbid, a knockdown. Ouch, 80 lb cannon balls full of acid.

 Here is how the box fits in the space. There is a frame underneath that supports the box, but it is glassed into the liner as apposed to the hull. That way it doesn't interfere with the hull flexing, and won't break apart because of it. I also added some additional bulkheads to breakup the space a little, made a template and cut the top in two pieces, then cut out all of the hatches. The starter battery goes in the last hatch, and gets strapped into the back end of the battery box. I had to build a special base for it, and screwed it to the bottom of the commercial battery box instead of attaching it to the hull. Facilitates easier maintenance and removal.

Notice below that the bulkhead is glassed into the hull, however, there is a 1/2 piece of foam between the bulkhead and the hull, and I only used 1 layer of glass to cover the joint. It is not intended to be structural, I just wanted to make sure it didn't move around. This particular piece could fall right out and not effect the integrity of the hull, or the battery compartment for that matter.

 And here is what the finished product looks like. I still need to paint everything, and add some strategically placed vents. I may also add some latches to the locker hatches to make sure that they don't fly across the cabin in rough seas. More than likely though, there will be so much stuff crammed in here that it would take an act of God for them to get out. This can still be used as a berth, since I only raised the deck by 2 1/4".

Its hard to tell in the picture, but the top is glassed to the liner as well. I glassed a cedar 3/4" x 3/4" stringer to the hull at the height of the deck, and rested the deck on it. There are a couple of screws, but basically they are not attached, and there is a 1/2" space between the top and the hull. Then the top is screwed to all the other bulkheads, dividers, etc.. The theory again, being that it does not interfere with the hull.

I will mount a folding boat seat to the battery box lid, and add a cabinet under the current shelf at the top of the picture. Overall this project was probably worth it. There was a gentleman on the news group who managed to squeeze four batteries in the original space, so this wasn't really necessary, however, I got a lot more usable storage space just by adding better access, and on a cruising boat, storage is good.

T-Minus 3 Days Till Lift-Out

A depressing time of year usually, but for us, it is also a good time. It means we can work on the things that can't be done with the boat in the water, and things that are just easier to do when its out.

We have decided to replace all of the seacocks. They are 30 year old gate valves, and although they work fine, they are not the type that bolts through the hull, they are just the screw on type. Failure of one of these could sink the boat very easily, so for the sake of a couple days work, and a few hundred dollars, it makes sense in my book. We are also going to raise the waterline 4" on spec. We had originally hoped to have the boat loaded for cruising to determine where the new waterline should be, but as fate would have it, we'll just have to make an educated guess. Then there is finishing all of the exterior wood, which Serena has graciously offered to help with. Nice to have both of us working on the boat for a change. The transmission needs to come out and be sent to Toronto for rebuild. We noticed last year that when it warms up it tends to slip when first engaging from neutral. Which, according to the gurus, is because the cone that engages the drive has gotten a little too shinny and lost its traction.

Yesterday we delivered the cradle to the boat. Took the girl over to the pump out to empty the holding tank. Removed the temporary 110V electrical panel, so that it could be put into the new panel, and removed the big yellow umbilical cord that provided the dock juice. The rest of the day was shopping. I was going to paint, but we had to show the house this morning, and I didn't think the lady would be too happy about the smell of 2-part polyurethane paint.

Today was good. I finished the electrical panel, and got the first coat of cetol on it. Made the molds for the cockpit locker lids, and spent an hour practicing the guitar. We all need a hobby... Tonight is painting, staining, and fibreglassing different things at different stages, and the polyurethane paint is about to go off in about 5 minutes, so I better get back to it. Pictures tomorrow, of something I'm sure....

New Cradle Mods/Project Update

Shop talk, or work, or play, depending on who is looking at it, and how frustrated I get while doing it. Yesterday was a play day, mostly..

Finished the cradle. The cradle that came with the boat was not appropriately sized for the boat, it worked, but barely. Trying to finish the bottom was impossible, because the legs were not adjustable, so no way to paint under the pads. Plus they were positioned on the waterline, promoting osmosis blistering.

Since I was planning to strip, epoxy, and paint the bottom, I needed access, and cut out the legs, fashioning new adjustable legs. A jury rig, but effective, considering the boat was sitting on the cradle when I did it.

That solved some of the problems for last year. After the boat was put in the water, I cut the cradle into pieces. The theory being to make the cradle portable, and make it a little narrower. Brought it home, and let it sit there. With the boat coming out of the water in a week, I figured I had better finish it up.

 And here it is. I cut the corner pieces out of the old cradle and bolted them together, changing the width from 9 feet to 6 feet, to get the support pads back under the boat where they should be. Shortened the length from 12 feet to 11 feet, to keep the pads away from the knot log and depth sounder transducers.

 But the most notable change is that there are now effectively two cradles, one for the front, and one for the back. That makes the cradle much more portable. In fact, I can move it around and load it in the truck myself.

There is a little concern that the pads will be too high. I knew it was going to be tight but they are as low as they can go. To make sure they would fit, I put 3 - 2 x 10 planks along the centerline to support the keel, and lift it 4 1/2 inches above the cradle. I'll know more after this lift out. But with any luck they won't be needed next winter.

The rest of the day I worked on the electrical panel. I was having a hard time figuring out where to put the electrical panel on the boat. I was going to put it in the existing shelves beside the Nav Station, but I didn't want to ruin the shelf just for that, besides, I like the smoked plexiglass sliders. So I was trying to figure out a way to put it below that shelf with its own sliding cover.

As luck would have it, I realized when I was designing the 110v panel that there was enough room on the panel for all of the circuits. I had moved the 110v input plug from the cockpit to the side of the coach house by the Nav station. It was a bit unsightly, so I planned to put a little cupboard over it that would provide a little storage too. Then I thought it might be a good spot to put the 110v breaker.

 Above is the cardboard mock up in the boat. Notice the VHF radio also, I installed that last week. Originally I wanted it and the stereo in the electrical/electronic/nav station panel, but decided it would be better placed as close to the companionway. Its fairly water resistant, but the stereo is not, so the stereo couldn't join it. I'll find somewhere else to put it. The electrical panel is 4" deep, roughly 20"x15". But after making this template, I realized that it could house all the electrical controls.

And below is the preliminary panel.

I took the switch panels apart, sanded the writing off of them, and painted them gloss black. These were the cheap breaker/switch panels that can be picked up at any marine chandlery. I'll label them as I use them. I don't like the Blue Sea breaker panels. Coming from an electronic/electrical background, breakers were for protection, and switches were for turning things on and off, and a neither should be used to do the others job. So the one set of breakers on the far side, I left for future use, just in case. On the first two panels I cut the breaker side of the panel right off and tossed it away before I painted. I will use fuse panels with automotive blade-type fuses to protect my circuits, the way they are supposed to protected. Most people don't realize that fuses/breakers are designed to protect the wire, not the equipment. Also, when a breaker/fuse goes, there is a problem that needs to be fixed, and switch type breakers make it too easy just reset them and carry on. My rant for the day, sorry.... Ironically, I used a Blue Sea breaker panel for the 110v system, but I don't intend to use it as a switch. I'll report more on the panel later when it gets installed and I start wiring.

That's all for today. Tomorrow we have to go set up the cradle, pull the temporary 110v breaker out of the boat so I can mount it in the panel, and go shopping, apparently we need food in the house, and I could use some new slippers.

Cheers.