Finally got around to painting the cockpit floor

Since the boat's cockpit doubled as a workshop, the floor took a pounding.  Well, I finally broke down and spent the time and energy yesterday to sand and paint it.  I used the Interlux Interdeck nonskid paint.  I ended up using the beige on the boat many years ago and it's worked pretty well.  I went with as light a color as I could, just short of white.  The previous owner painted it gray over baby blue with horrible prep work, so it was peeling.  I fixed this right away by using this bottom paint solvent stripper that was supposed to work on the bottom and didn't.  I tried to get out of spending three days grinding off the old bottom paint, but nope, did it anyway.  So, with this fancy stripper, I painted and stripped the upper deck and painted it with the Interdeck back in 2004 and then wanted to spruce it up after changing some deck hardware which required some repainting, so I repainted the whole thing again several years later.  They changed the color scheme for the paint somewhere in the middle of that time frame, so It's actually slightly darker now, darn it.  I wanted it to be as light as possible so as to reduce the amount of heat it generates below, and not blister your bare feet too.  It's amazing how things heat up in the Florida sun.

Before

During

After

a little work on a beautiful Saturday

Spent the day doing a couple of fun chores.  I screwed on a couple of scraps of starboard, onto the bottom of the bag that hangs from the dinghy's bench seat.  That should elevate it a quarter of an inch and keep things a little dryer.  I also took the basket that came with the refrigerator (that we could never find a really good use for as it didn't work well inside the frig) and it fits inside the bag really well and holds the anchor, the kite, and the bag of lights and whistles and flares nicely and keeps them all together and a little protected against bumping.  I of course pull it out and store it below when we're not on the boat.  You can barely see the plastic in the photos.

Besides that, I put in a larger shim / piece of wood at the base of the companionway so that the hatch boards fit better.  I'm sych'ed about how that's turned out.  It's been several years in the making, but without completely redesigning and rebuilding it, that it's done and good to go, unless I want to put in barn doors.

The last thing I did was swap out the oversized 44 lbs bruce on the bow, with a more proper sized one which is 33 lbs.  I also took out the swivel and went with two shackles, and wired them closed.  Everything will now fit thru the bow roller and not cause me to hang over the bow pulpit and pull the whole thing over the roller, ouch, the back won't take much more of that.

And of course, several other new projects were discovered in the process of doing these three.  Do we ever end up with the perfect boat?

Taking advantage of some great weather

We actually went sailing this past Tuesday, and the weather was perfect.  We warped with the tide out and ran into some 5 to 6 footer at the breakwater because the wind from the east was opposing and a swell had set up from the east.  Of course we had one wave that sent the bow shooting straight upwards for what seemed like forever, and no one had a video cam going, damn.

Oh well, we just kept motoring until we were out of it, then raised the sails, and away we went.  It was blowing 10 knots and there were 2 to 4 foot seas with some roll to it, it wasn't too uncomfortable beating to wind.

A couple of hours like that, then a tack, that slowly turned into a beam reach and back to the St.John's MOA and it was time to call it a day.  It had actually lightened up some and it was still churned up at the breakwater, there were a couple of 6 footers.  We dodged a car carrier going out, as well as the usual assortment of boats and ferries.

A quick trip back to the marina, a wash down, and then it was time to head home, pour ourselves a 'dresser' cocktail, clean up, then head to dinner, sushi.

Earth Date; May 25th, 2015; successfully transitioning from spring to summer

Well, it's been another fun filled month (plus).  Debi and I took off down the ICW and marina-hopped again, put some more hours on the new motor, and had a great time.  10 days later and we returned with no worse for wear.

Our first stop was into St.Augustine's municipal city marina.  We timed it better this time where we came in on slack tide, and the wind wasn't against us, and we landed successfully and without incident, yea!  The next day we were off to Palm Coast.  We ran into several friends, had a great time and headed to New Smyrna Beach City marina.  It was along this route that when we got to the two bascule bridges in the Daytona area, we almost had a real disaster.  We ended up with two motor trawlers and they were using channel 16, I was using channel 9.  We cleared the Main St. Bridge just fine.  I was in front so I hailed the Memorial Bridge with my usual 'bridge, bridge, this is the south bound sailing vessel Renasci requesting passage at your next opening'.  He came back and said 'hold on a second please', so I did.  Not shortly after that, he raised the bridge, I had peeled off and was behind the two trawlers now, and all three of us started for the bridge.  The two ahead of me made it, and then all of a sudden, five horns.  What the F$%K!, I had to do an emergency peel off just feet from the fenders, thank GOD I wasn't 10 feet closer to the bridge.  So, two seconds later, I power down and I get on the radio and ask what happened, and the bridge tender said he didn't hear me.  I guess he did SEE me either ?  I mean, it's so easy to not see a fifty foot telephone poll headed towards ya, not to say 37 feet of boat.  But, I calmly asked again for passage, and he did his thing and we got the hell away from him/that-bridge.  While waiting though, the two motor boats called back and asked the tender if he had emergency traffic of some other emergency, cause they had never seen anything like that, quote unquote.  So, off we went.

Once at New Smyrna Beach City Marina, we ended up staying a couple of days and not going any further south.  The weather was against us and we didn't have to go, so he hung out, had a good time.  I was glad to help the Hatteras 60 off the next morning, they forgot to untie a bow line and they tried to leave.  Well, they pulled a huge 24 inch steel pillion over a good 6 inches and I reached down and undid the line.  When it gave way, the dock lurched and with a huge snap, the line was off, and so were they.  Angel picked up fleas somewhere along the way, so we washed us, the sheets, the boat, Angel, and everything else, not once, but twice on two different days.  The dock master Pam was really really great at helping us with all that.  But, we soon headed north.

At Marineland Marina, we had a blast.  We stayed for several days and look forward to going back.  We did the eco tour which we recommend to friends and all.  The dolphin tank was being redone, so maybe next time.  Lots to do, but take everything you need.  The following day was up to St. Augustine where we circled for an hour and a half so we could go in on slack tide.  definitely worth the wait, and wow how the tides can cut or add lots of time to a leg.  Here's our boat with the Galleon in the background.

The next day was uneventful.  We came back, got the boat put away, come home to a welcoming shower and sushi dinner.  Yea for Otaki's.

Until next time, fair winds and following seas.
Kb

Ship's log, Date; Friday March 13th, 2015

March 13th, 2015 Friday
We left (cast off) Harbortown Marina @ 09:37am.  Cruising south down the intracoastal and picked up an escort, a dolphin on our starboard side.  We are heading @ 6.5k down the ICW.  Had a raindrop or two, but nothing that lasted, Fl. showers.  We passed the American Pride cruising north and SeaTow - towing a sailboat.  It is a beautiful 78 degrees as we head south.

1400 Hrs and we made the Bridge of Lions in time to land south at St. Augustine Marina.  Decide to stay 2 nights - Kilt Festival.  Okay, 1420 hrs pulling into slip or should I say screaming into slip.  Engine being wired forward - reverse backwards, at least no crash landing.  1500 hrs, cocktails being served in the cockpit.  Met neighbor, Capt. Dano, works at local bar Mi'Casa.  We cooked some awesome salmon with Carolina Sunshine spice we purchased in Blowing Rock from The Spice & Exchange (spiceandtea.com)  After dinner, we went with Capt. Dano to Mi'Casa, had a beer and headed home, fun night.

March 14th
Sat morning up early, walked to Starbucks for coffee, tea, & breakfast.  Waited until 10am to see St.Patrick's Day Parade.  Watched a little of the parade & headed back.  In the afternoon, walked St.George Street - back at Mi'Casa. Met Helen & Marjorie (80's), invited us to party in Palm Coast next Sat.  Great ladies with the daughter a NP in oncology.  Headed back to Renasci, early night.

March 15th
07:20 am, up early, Starbucks walk & back to the dock to shove off.  08:30 am, wicked current, but with help from Capt. Dano, we are off to Palm Coast.  1330 hrs, arrived at Palm Coast, Breat Marina.  Ran into Neil (Keith's friend) & his dog Buddy.  Enjoyed happy hour with a group from the marina, met Sarah that just returned from 3 month cruise in islands.  She said "1,000 things went wrong & 100 things went right."  Cooked steak on boat, Keith still learning grill, then off to bed.

March 16th
Up early 07:01 with the sun, leaving Palm Coast.  Cup of coffee & tea and cast off at 0900, on to Halifax.  12:45 Easy docking G30 at Halifax.  Beautiful weather, very dog friendly.  Met little 4 pound poodle Nicki? with sunglasses.  Wayne across the way - very nice - offered to pick up supplies if necessary.  Headed to Marina office for ice, no ice ??  Remember to call next time.  Rode dinghy to J dock, Keith headed to 7-11 for ice, Angel & I headed to put clothes in the dryer.  We both met back on the boat.  Cocktails in hand, time to learn how to drive the dinghy.  Well, rough start - too much gas and almost put Keith and Angel in the drink.  After awhile, got the hang of it - even got 2 complements from the Captain.  Was able to land dinghy next to hoisting lines.  Watched the sunset over the condos.  The sky went from pastels to dark orange to purple, beautiful.  As the sun dropped, a little back trouble so I went horizontal.

March 17th
08:00 am, Walk to 7-11 for coffee & OJ, nice walk back, contemplated breakfast, decided we were okay.  10:15am, cast off - on our way to New Smyrna Beach.  12:30 am, Arrived at New Smyrna, dolphins followed us in, easy docking.  Watched the dolphins frolicking and dancing.  Some deep sea fishermen came in with their catch.  It was a pelican frenzy feeding time.  Met Doug (B&D Salesman) and Will, nice guys.  Chatted on docks for a while.  Earlier, Keith had helped dock Gene's boat, he'd been motoring solo cause he's retires.  Then another couple came in on a yacht named No Zipcode, from "Nowhere, OK"  Nice time, enjoyed friendly dog people.  Did have lunch at Yellow Dog Eatery, waitress didn't bring what I ordered. But it was better than the Club Elvis.  Don't think we'll eat there again.  Angel got over-heated, had to cool her down with ice on paws & holding her in front of A/C vent on boat.  It may be a long night.

March 18th
07:58 am, Cast off from New Smyrna Beach - Angel appears to be back to herself.  Course: Titusville Marina.  Fun trip through Haulover Canal, Had some Manatees on our bow, then through the canal.  Is passage between the mangroves and one bascule bridge.  There were a group of Manatees playing in the boat ramp area.  Such gentle giants.  Headed out south thru the railroad bridge that is always up, except for the occassional train.  Not so much anymore since Cape Canaveral doesn't send off spaceships.  Did pass the security zone in the water that used to be monitored and saw the big shuttle assembly building.  12:15, arrived at Titusville Marina.  Put us on A dock furtherest from everyone.  The only dock without a locked entrance.  Something about the city only doing one gate a year.  As we were sitting in the cockpit, the gentleman from hailing Port Heighton NC, went to the bow of his boat and proceeded to pee, facing us.  Yes, I took his picture.  Then as we were leaving to pickup some provisions, he commented on Angel.  Something to the affect "I'm watching your dog",  Well, Keith asked why, and he said our dog was cuter than his, strange.    As we walked down the dock, there appears to be a lot of derilicks living in this marina.  Boats are not well cared for, one has a screen door with a doggy door that emits a foul odor, yuk.  One nice boat had Easter decorations, getting festive.  We took a cab (30$ incl tip) to liquor store and publix.  Had to buy some hamburger meat for Angel.  Her tummy is still a little upset.  We returned and showered, had a great salmon and salad meal.  Then Keith was able to hook up the computer to watch UNF basketball in the sweet sixteen, they lost.  Night cap in the cockpit and early to bed.  We can avoid this marina on our next venture.

March 19th
0758 hrs, Cast off from Titusville on our way N.  Had dolphins swimming and playing in our wake.  Tried to get pictures.  Passage thru Haulover Canal and saw lots of manatees.  Passed the wrecked sailboat at green marker 45.  Landed at 12:45 at New Smyrna, welcome site.  Left Angel on boat for the first time.  We walked to the Dolphin View, used to be the Sea Harbor, the food is much better.   So we had a late lunch / early dinner.  Arrived back only to a little whimper.  Met Alan and Candice with their dog Sisi.  We dropped off our boat card and asked if they'd listen out for Angel.  Candice was so sweet, she said we could bring her over and she would watch her.  We left her and the boat and all was good.  Good night sleep to be up and go early.

March 20th
Up at 07:30 am but fog was so think we hung out until 9:45am.  Candice, Alan, and Sisi took off ahead of us, but we met up at the bridge and timed it perfect for passage north.  3:30pm, docked safely at Palm Coast.  Had to do a couple load of laundry.  Then happy hour at the office, nice group of people.  Brought the salmon spread, 7 layer dip and goldfish.  Salmon dip was hit of the party.  Back to the boat for cocktails and dinner.  Had to take Angel out again to read "P-mail".  upset tummy - pepto for her after her "Disney Ride" (butt scoot).  Got weather report, dense fog advisory in the morning, no hurry to leave in am.

March 21st
08:30am, Tea & coffee, breakfast cooked, dished done, 10:35, left Palm Coast.  1300 hrs, just cleared Cresent Beach and engine stopped.  Coasted out of channel and dropped anchor.  She is out of gas.  1500 hrs, SeaTow to the rescue, 11 gallons of gas and we are on our way.  1600 hrs. Timed the Bridge of Lions just right but north of bridge, fog, fog, fog.  1645 hrs. Conch House Marina, last time we were here was 2009.  Have to admit coming into fog was a callenge.  Thank God Keith has a booming voice - All of a sudden, a power boat was coming fast for our bow - Keith hollered, I'm on the bow screaming with arms waving and the woman says, " I saw you". Funny, we didn't see them until they were almost on us.  She said she wasn't lost, don't believe that one.  Then heading into the channel of Conch House, Keith was heading too far left of markers.  Thank goodness we (me) got that corrected and got the red markers on right.  Landed safely, Cheryl Tucker and Rocky came to visit.  Conch House is not dog friendly.    Sheryl arrived and we found out the bars and resturants do not take dogs.  We ordered 3 seafood alphredos that were delicious.  Had cocktails and ended the evening with Cheryl staying over.

March 22nd, Next morning up at 07:15am  Breakfast and coffee made.  Got hot water for tea and we headed north at 0950 hrs.  Arrived at Harbortown Marina around 3pm.  Great trip.

Went fishing and got her under sail, finally

It had been far too long since I had had her under sail, but Uncle Koy and I headed out to go fishin.  Everything was running really really well, and we pushed hard against the incoming tide.  This also means that it took us an hour and a half to get out of the St.John's River.  And, to add to the mess, there was a nice ocean swell out of the south east at about 2 feet tall, just enough to make your rollercoaster a 4 foot up and down while you're trying to drift fish lying with the hull abeam from the swell and waves.  I think Koy enjoyed his afternoon nap!.  No fish, we started dropping a line with frozen shrimp on a hook, out at some place called the 'spoils'?, about 4 miles out.  We then hit a couple more places on the way back in, no luck.  Back to the dock.  Looking back, I think I'm starting to learn how to land that beast, with the folding prop, it glides like a son-of-a-bitch, and so my most successful landing so far have been really slow of course, but even at that, I still had to give her some throttle in reverse to stop it, not a strong gear ratio in that direction either.  Oh well, it's running great, can't wait to go out again.

Kb

50 hour service

Alright, a milestone, the '50-hour' service.  Al from Al's Mobile Marine Service out of Palm Coast Florida, adjusted the valves, swapped the oil and filter, and checked everything out.  He found where the fuel supply line was leaking air when placed under a vacuum, so 50 bucks later, I swapped out the old valve and hardware for new, using sealant and all's good.  A trick I learned from Al was to use clear tubing from the initial filter and the electric pump on the motor, because it's a great place to watch for bubbles.  Air in the line isn't catastrophic like the older motors, but will cause the pump to run harder and cause the motor to not start smoothly in the morning.  I used Yanmar oil this time instead of Rotella, I'm still waiting for the results on analysis on the oil.  While it was down, I installed an exhaust extension so that the exhaust hose isn't kinked.  Looking forward to our next trip out.
s/v Renasci

Back from Spring Break, yea...

We left going south (of course) and planned on several days of good weather and a couple bad, and we ended up having just that.  We left expecting to have a good time, and we had just that.

We left with the idea of motoring down the ICW so as to put some hours on the new motor, we needed to get to 50 hrs so we could have the 50-hour service performed.  We returned with 54.7.  We stayed in St.Augustine, Palm Coast, Daytona, New Smyrna Beach, and Titusville.  We did the same on the return trip expect opted for The Conch House in St.Augustine instead of downtown.  Downtown was great, but scary coming and going.  All I can say is that I knew that the current was wicked there prior to going, tried to get there at slack tide, and still have way too much fun docking.  Thank goodness another dock hand come over to catch us.    But, as time when on, we got better at docking, which we did the whole way.  Afterwards, it became obvious that that was the right thing to do because of our 13 year old poodle, I mean child, I mean poodle.  She's a joy have in our lives.

Here's our going to Haul Over Canal going between Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River.

The highlights were meeting old friends in Palm Coast, making new ones there, and visiting a new marina.  The excitement was listening on the VHF when the poor folks who hit the power line going along side the 520 bridge going over Port Canaveral channel, were talking to the Coast Guard.  It wasn't long before they had to jump over.  We watched the video the next day wishing that it hadn't happened.(  http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/raw-boat-fire-on-indian-river/vDLZw3/ )  Makes us wonder what the specifics were; where there warning signs, height clearance signs, maybe an extra tall mast?  We know the tide was pretty high as we were just 20 miles from them.  The other excitement was being amazed at how many NOT-SEA-WORTHY boats there were in Titusville.  There's no tide there, and the economy is struggling there, but dam.  One Ospry had taken over two boats sitting side by side, people there said the owners hadn't been there in years.

Titusville was our turning around point, so North we went.  We had a great time again at Palm Coast and New Smyrna Beach, and headed to St.Augustine.  It was on this trip that I discovered what happens when you run out of diesel.  Yea, right after having gone under the Cresent Beach Basculle Bridge, we ran out.  Thank God we only had a knot of breeze, a 1/2 knot of current, beautiful weather, and a place to glide to and anchor next to the ICW.

( This pic and the above were courtesy of Tuktu.  Thanks again guys!

Two hours later and SeaTow brought us 10 gallons.  A couple of cranks, and off we went.  When we got to St.Augustine, we saw that the upper floors on the buildings downtown, were in fog.  Oh yea.  Once we cleared the Bridge of Lions, we headed to the Conch House, where it got really really thick.  We were almost run over by two vessels, one was a once-a-year-boater and the other was an overly confident fisherman.  But, we made the channel and made the Conch House.  What a party animal house that is.

The next day was the final leg home, were I have never had a smoother landing in all my life.  We unloaded, cleaned, then headed back to the house.  Yep, it was strange driving in a car after that time, it seemed like things had changed, but probably hadn't, we were gone only a week.  We had the 50 hour service performed yesterday and found out that the fuel line is sucking air, so we gotta fix that.  It'll be time to put in that exhaust extension (45 degree elbow) so the exhaust fits a little better, and verify the motor mounts are tight, the motor is still aligned, rewire the prop couple retaining bolts so that the wire will actually keep them tight, a little locktite is in order too.  But everything ran great and we're looking forward to this spring's and summer's sailing season.

Ah, back home.

Pics of new cushions and wax job.

Yea, yea, yea, I know, I still need to repaint the non-skid.  Soon, hell, I was impressed that I was able to wax the whole thing in one day.  I could have done a better job too.  But, done for the most part, hopefully it won't be too much longer before I get motivated to do it again.  I also waxed the cockpit cleaning it at the same time.  As soon as to rain that's expected for the next 4 days subsides, I'll have to jump of the non-skid, that'll dress it up nicely.
Here's a shot from the dock of the new cushions;

 And here are the new cushions with a new wax job.  Debi oiled the teak.

 And just look at that shine.  Glad I got one coat one before our trip and before it gets hot.

That's PPG semi-truck trailer paint that's 12 years old now, and still looks great.

Alrighty then, another project checked off, for this year.

Wax on, wax off, and so that's how it went today.  I'm actually surprised how I was able to get the whole thing done.  It takes three days during the summer, gotta take that mandatory break every now and again.  But, I got on a roll today and whipped it out, so done.  I have one good day before it rains for 4 or 5 days, so I'm going to repaint the non-skid in the cockpit tomorrow.  Then a little cleanup on the gelcoat and that should make it livable.  More pics to come, as soon as I find that dammed camera.

Getting down to the final touches before spring.

Okay, I'm getting psyched now, I know spring just has to be just around the dammed corner.  And what better way to celebrate than breaking in some new cockpit cushions.  I knew that getting to this point would be a milestone, and yea, it is.  Now, it's time to start a new chapter.  But, back to reality, the cushions were made by William Gardner Assoc. and did a good job.  I have had this boat for almost 12+ years and I thought I knew a little bit about it, but I didn't realize how non symmetrical it is.  It's like ever piece was custom made.  I tried to see if I could use the cushions on opposite sides and there was just enough of a difference, that it would look like the cushions just simply didn't fit .  But, with each one being 'an-individual', it works.  I'm ready for 80+ temps now.

And, this is a shot from another angle,

And of course the next warm day will be spent re-doing the non skid

And, you thought I was kidding.  Glad that I extended the cushions beyond the base of the locker lid.

Oh, and while I'm at it, here's a couple of the inside, making a new home for the new dishes, cool.  And, of course it starts with a template;

After only 9 years, it was time to replace the refrigerator

Back in 2006, I installed a CB40 under counter refrigerator from Waeco.  I bought one of these because I could slide it into the space where the old 'ice box' was located and not have to take any cabinets apart.  I originally mounted to compressor down low, then after several years, I fiber glassed in some tabs and mounted the compressor up nice and high.  Well, I think that that might have shortened it's life.  Either that or trying to run it hooked up backwards for a little while when I was redoing the electrical system.  Lesson learned, if you have an old boat, don't use the new safety color coded boat wire, use the old red-black color so everything matches.  So, after trying to revive it, I succumbed to the idea that I was going to have to replace it.  This time, I mounted the compressor down low, and did a much better job of it this time, and it gave me a chance to reroute some wires and hoses.  Here is the before shot, and a couple of during shots, and the after shot looked exactly like the before shot, so there's no after pic.  Of course the first thing I put in the frig, a bottle of rum to get cold.  Last night was a fun night of staggering around the marina looking at the new LED lights I installed sipping on a glass of rum, yum.

Outside cockpit lazarette locker, under all that stuff is the frig.  The original 'ice-box' was set up so that when you came to the dock to get a block of ice, you didn't have to cram it in via the inside hatch because there was a larger hatch accessible via the cockpit locker that allowed one to drop the block of ice right into the frig.  Ice in one side, food in and out from the inside of the cabin.  So, when I originally mounted to frig, I cut out a large corner of the big fiberglass tub that was there, and had to use the claw of a claw hammer to remove the foam.  Then I glassed in a shelf at the right height, and the new frig slid right into place.  Originally, there was no really good place to put the compressor, but this second time around was different, and now it's low, where it will be cooler, has air ventilation around it, and it protected from falling gear and people.

This is the battery box, it had to come out, but wasn't too hard, I had built it only a couple of years ago.  I know, no more than 4 wires per battery terminal.  It's okay, I used to be an electrician so that gives me leeway, right?

The above and below pics are from just prior to putting in the new replacement.  You have to tilt your head sideways, but you can see the shelf that I glassed in.  Okay, that's it, the show's over now.

Hull liner before & after pictures

Sink with foam and shelf liner, too dark.

New hull liner glued down, brighter, better.

Aft berth, before

Aft berth afterwards, still need to paint.

Even took out the fresh water flush tank and associated hoses, built some end stops to keep groceries from rolling too far, glued down some hull liner, now we have a nice storage locker.

And here's a lesson learned

The 'mouse-fur' hull liner is fairly transparent.  You can see in one phone the shadows from the two large holes, so I torn it back out, plugged the holes, painted it, then made a new template and cut n glue.  The old piece didn't fit that well on the right hand side, down in the grove, so the next time, I took a little more care and had it come out right.

And here's the view going around

And it will look all homie here after some sheets and a comforter.  Can't wait to do the aft berth.

Good day today, hull liner installed in the vberth

And, I'm still trying to get my camera running where my wife sent it through the washing machine.  But, four sides, templates made, hull liner cut then glued up, yea haw.   Oh yea, here's the specs on how the prop did ;
Against Current
1500 4.25 73c
2000 5.38 74c
2500 6.33 74c
3000 6.59 74c
3300 6.74 75c

With Current
1500 4.10 73c
2000 5.54 73c
2500 6.07 73c
3000 6.58 74c
3300 6.78 75c

Need to;
Install anti chaff over battery cable
loosen stuffing box glad slightly
Reroute hot water heater hose away from exhaust elbow.
Investigate leak coming from somewhere aft
Stuffing box was cool to the touch the whole time
Strut lock nuts were tight, no leakage around strut mount nor stuffing box, muffler appears to be not leaking.
Alignment was good, no vibration at engine.

And tomorrow will entail tackling the engine room stuff, so I can then move onto putting down the hull liner in the aft berth.  Man, it's finally coming together.
Kb

Sea Trial complete, it's alive professor...

Greetings from SailH37,

Since the last time I wrote, things have really picked up, for the positive.  I pulled the plug on working in Knoxville TN and we headed South!  My wife was very happy to return home and I was anxious on getting back to installing a new motor.  I spent the next three months in Green Cove Springs Marina and installed the motor, pulled the mast and painted it and both booms, and did a bottom job also.  I learned many things during that period, I must have, I kept saying to myself, gee, I never knew I was so dammed dumb.

First of all, After having been up on the hard a dozen times and having done all the work myself, I think I'm fairly qualified in saying that Green Cove Springs Marina has a good thing going on there.  The people know what they're doing.  From Krystal in the office to the mechanics, to the hoist and crane operators, they all made it work well.  I was able to get and do everything I needed there from ordering parts, to purchasing supplies they have on hand there, to working with Monkey Fist Marine who has used boat parts, to Chuck Coats Machine shop.  They have a long term storage lot there and the place is run by cruisers, and they accomodate cruisers, in every way they can.  It was really cool doing Thanksgivings Day there with everyone too.

But, what I learned was don't cover the boat with home depot style tarps, they only grow mold and didn't protect any plastic pieces from rotting.  Green Cove Springs Marina uses a very wide weave type cloth that's about 10 wide and allows about half the sun in and the air and rain can move freely.  Another thing I learned that I hadn't thought of was that one can not use one's mast and boom to install a motor, while up on the hard.  You might be able to do it if you're in the water, but not in stands, it'll pull the boat over.  When I purchased the motor, I hired the Yanmar dealer in Green Cove Springs to help me get the old one out, and the new one in.  He originally had planned to use my mast to swap motors, until he showed up and noticed that I was scraping the paint off of it as it sat on saw-horses.  I don't know if this was his first motor swap, but it was certainly mine, and after he asked me '...so, how do you plan on getting this motor out of the back of my pickup truck, we usually use the customer's mast and boom...', I decided that it was probably better that I work with the mechanics in the yard instead.  That was a good decision.  We of course used cranes, and they were very gracious holding the motor there and then pulling it up so I could drill new motor mount holes.  Everyone thought I was crazy when I locked the new motor sitting on the ground next to the boat, to the boat using my anchor chain, but hey, I didn't want someone to drive off with it while I was in the middle of getting the old one out.  It worked out well though.

I continued to do all the things I could like put in the new 3" exhaust where it had a 2" before, not lots of fun folks, seriously.  The new control cables caused me to pull the whole steering system apart and after a half dozen times, I had everything in, on, about, and around that pedistal in perfect shape.  I put in a new prop strut, to go with the new prop (Flex-o-fold and I'm loving it so far), align the motor, run the fuel lines, new fuel filter, rework the house batteries and verified the complete electrical system.  I made many many other small changes, filling holes with resin and gelcoat, etc.  Since the mast had to be repainted, I went with new standing rigging and LED lights too, still gotta do those chain plates.  But, after 3 months of working on it every day, I lost another 20 pounds of unwanted belly fat and I was ready to start up the new motor.

My neighbor (Karl Stien) who was also having a new Yanmar 3JH5E installed, made a great suggestion.  He said that his mechanic was stopping by to start up his motor for the first time and I might want to take advantage of his being in the yard.  Man oh man was that the best decision I ever made.  I hired Al from Al's Mobile Marine Service out of Palm Coast and he found a couple of things I had done wrong, and some extra sealant on the oil pressure gauge, but got it started and running.  His knowledge of marine engines blew me away.  He knew the exact wire to check to make sure the oil pressure gauge worked, and all kinds of other things that most mechanics have to look up in service manuals (I had look up stuff  all the time when I had working on cars for 10+ years) .  Hiring him was really a good thing, and after talking with many people about it afterwards, they all agreed that he's very good and has been recommended by everyone.  He is the mechanic that everyone dreams of hiring.

Splash down, yea!  Back in the water, and what a heck of a big mess to clean up.  I had taken just about every system apart so there were tools and parts everywhere.  Using Tide laundry soap took most of the bottom paint dust off the deck, and several days later, I made the two day trip to Harbortown Marina in Jacksonville.  It's only a 9 to 10 hour trip, but the bridges in downtown Jax makes it too long for a single day.  But running the motor at it's break-in RPMs of about 90% to 95% of max RPM was really sweet.  Flex-o-fold tried to sell me a prop that I thought would have been just slightly too big and would have given me big prop walk problems, but I went with one size smaller in diameter, and the boat speed was 6.5 knots at max RPM.  This is on a boat that weights 11 tons and has a PHRF rating of about 180, and max hull speed of 7.2.  No noises, no vibrations, all was good.

After many days at the dock putting everything else in order like hooking the hot water heater back up, and installing a couple of new parts I had purchased while working in Knoxville like the fresh water pump and autopilot, my wife and I decided to spend the night on the boat.  Oh yes, another milestone.  They we found that the refrigerator wasn't working, and oh yea, the toilet won't pump either.  Well, it's always something, huh?  The frigerator was one of those install yourself under a counter and move the already attached compressor to where you need it, within a couple of feet.  I think that when I mounted the compressor in a really nice and safe place, it ended up being too high compared to the unit, and I'm thinking that maybe the oil didn't circulate or settle where it should have.  The old one worked well for 11 years, so I'm going back with another one, this time I'm going to mount the compressor down low.  About the toilet, well it was put in new 11 years ago and never messed with, it always worked well, and I just wanted to procrastinate taking it apart, but that's what it needed.  Something sat in the bottom and coated the inside of the first part of the whole thing to the point where the coating was about a 1/4" thick.  A piece of this affluent came off and had jammed in the first valve.  No biggie, just scrape all that stuff out dropping it into a couple of plastic bags, and one new joker valve, and that job was finished.  Lesson learned here was that thinking that I could escape the usual unpleasant and sometimes nasty repairs needed around a boat by putting in new parts, just doesn't hold up.  In time, what ever you install will need to be repaired too, there's no getting out of it.  Learn how to work on your boat, you'll have to do it at some time, or spend lots of money paying others to do it.

Yesterday I finally had my sea trial.  I wasn't able to coordinate schedules with Al's Mobile Marine Service before then, and had my hands were full with other repairs, so it had been some time since the install.  The usual track is to do a sea trial very soon after installation.  I hadn't run the motor but a couple of times sitting at the dock, so it was nice to go thru the trail.  Again, Al did a great job.  While we motored at specific RPMs for a set period of time, we checked boat speed, temperature, etc.  He crawled all over that motor while we were under way, and had some great suggestions for me like maybe some anti-chaffing gear here, re-route the hot water heater hose a little further away from the mixing elbow, etc.  He had me give it wide open throttle for a short period of time to make sure that I couldn't over rev the motor, which also validated that the prop wasn't too small.  Wide open throttle was at 3,210 RPMS and I hadn't run it beyond the max stated in the books of 3,000 so when we reached 6.75 knots, it's was exciting.  The hull speed of boat is 7.2 and I see that it wouldn't be safe motoring that speed, so I'm really happy with the way everything came together.  There were no vibrations, no noises, everything is there.  I can now safely say that the motor has been installed.  Al's Mobile Marine Service, Green Cove Springs Marina, and Yanmar gets the accolades.  And again, none of this would have even possible if it hadn't been for two very generous friends; Chad and Patti Roberts.  Thank you again.

It's the first of February now, it's still too cold in my eyes to be out there sailing, so I'm going to busy myself with installing the new hull liner that arrived (getting tired of rolling over and trying to find a painted fiberglass hull warm and fuzzy at 6am), and installing the new frig when it gets here.  These two projects will be finished just in time to go put some hours on the new motor.  I need to get it to it's 50 hour mark, then have Al come adjust the valves and send a oil sample off to have it analysed as suggested by Yanmar.  This spring is starting to shape up very nicely.  If you're in the middle of a project and you're a little frustrated, take a deep breath, and press on.  It's worth it, you can do it with diligence and patience.  See ya out there.
Kb
s/v Renasci

Propane Locker Replaced

The latch was broken many years ago, and it was originally meant for holding home irrigation controls.  It was twice as large as it needed to be and stuck out a little bit, made it so you always came in and out of the cockpit using the port side of the backstay.  It had to go.  I was really happy to have found the plastic box I did, and even more surprised by the way it installed.  I still keep thinking it's too good to be true.  I used a plastic box from off of Amazon, under the name of BUD Industries NBB-15243 Style B Plastic Outdoor NEMA Box with Solid Door.  The regulator I already had fit so well that I put a hole in the top so that the gauge could be easily seen.  The box had a structure already built in that allowed me to bolt down a piece of starboard and then screw the regulator down to that.  I drilled a couple of really big holes, a couple of small ones, and wha-la.  If I need to make it more robust, I'll need to cut some small wedges out of starboard and shim it against the railing.  The stern rail is conforming to the curvature of the stern at that point and isn't level itself.  The new box is have the size and everything fits perfectly, as far as I'm concerned.  I especially like the catches as they are plastic too and seem to work well, so far.

And of course, one job completed and another arises.

We spent the weekend on the boat and had a great time.  We got to clean the dinghy and took it for a spin around the marina.  Then we discovered that the refrigerator wasn't working and the toilet clogged up with only a small amount of paper.  Oh boy.

I'm wondering if the frig when out because I had hooked it up backwards and tried to run it for a few minutes.  It wasn't hard to do, all you have to do is use a scrap piece of wire that is coded the new color scheme and hook it to a piece of wire with the old black/red scheme, then try to remember years later... was it the red that was hot, or... So, after 10 years, it might have just gone out.

Now, the toilet.  I put in a new joker valve, it's manual, and the handle works but is very stiff, and won't draw matter into the pump.  So I'm going to try a coat hanger to try to see what's clogging it and hopefully get it into the tank, so I don't have to handle all that with my hands.  I'm betting that my idea of using aluminum foil to put underneath the pipes as I loosen them, will help keep the affluent from going everywhere.  I'm going to have the wet dry vacuum there too.  Its a work vacuum that is on it's last leg and has been full of everything else nasty, so why not.  Pray for me,  More updates to follow.

New Raymarine Autopilot installed

I installed a Raymarine wheel autopilot and performed dock side install steps, so far so good, still need to test it out on the water.  It's the new version of what they've carried in the past, so lets see how it does.  I am pushing the limits a little with the overall weight limits for the vessel, but with a balanced rudder, no weather helm, all new hardware from pedestal, to pulleys, to rudder, and on and on.  It paid to read the install manuals over and over again.  I'm glad I mounted the sensor upside down like they said I could, that made it really easy to plug in.  I also followed the suggestions to drill a hole into the handrail and route the wire thru that avenue, instead of going thru the pedestal.  After redoing everything in there, I had everything secure and really well put together, oh yea, you have to completely take everything apart and put is back together again no less than one dozen times before it's right.

The only gottcha was the wires from the actual drive unit, a wheel drive in this case, were brown and blue and they had female spade connectors instead of soldiered wire tips.  After looking and looking, the consensus was use the Blue wire for B aka negative.  Well, then I first cranked it up and did the dockside test, the wheel turned the opposite direction from what it initially thinks.  I say it like that because it displayed a series of questions that had it going in the right direction within seconds, literally.  I think it's a mute point on how you hook up the drive motor, the calibration process fixes which way is which.

Here are the pics of the pieces.