On the road again

Bright and early those marina staff were on the ball.

And now tucked away in her new location until I can get to her again.

Next time I get back it will be hot, hot, hot. So I plan on running the AC all day and working on the Yanmar inside out of the heat in the afternoons. At least that is the theory of it. Who knows when we get down to brass tacks what I will do.

It's a wrap!

Day 13......a vacation you ask? Working your tail off from dawn to past midnight in hot and freezing weather? Yes! Absolutely. Best holiday ever! So my last day started out putting up mosquito netting on the hatch over the V-berth so that I wouldn't have to wake every couple of hours from the zzzzzzzz of those pesky insects.

Measure twice, cut once. Velcro makes this stuff like child's play.

Next install navigation lights on the bow.

I am going to have to run new cable but that is for another day.

I had to cannibalize 2 to make one for the port side and even then it is slightly at an angle.

I worked the rest of the day put anchor rollers on the bow sprit. There was aluminium, stainless steel and brass involved so I had to insulate one against the other. I found some plastic tubing at Ace hardware that fit perfectly over the half inch screw and inside the bow rollers.

All finished and it looks good but what an ordeal. Especially after dry fitting them, then turning around and having to caulk to stop water egress.

In the yard Day 12

I worked until 1am last night cleaning out the old marine air system. Saw lots of recluse spiders and only killed one of them. Started out this morning installing a stanchion post.

Next I finished off the port side of the windlass.

Then I began cutting up pieces of fiberglass mat for the 3 projects I am working on.

To begin with I ground out the outside of the hull where the depth transducer used to be and where I had glassed on the inside yesterday.

I ground back probably half an inch.

Then cleaned it up with acetone.

Then put 5 layers on.

Then on the inside.

Then up front at the bow on the inner bobstay.

At this stage it was too hot to work so I had a siesta and afterwards went down and picked up a package from Bud Taplin at the westsail parts company. It included a set of running rigging and a new tiller all up about $700. Before I use the tiller I have to give it 2 coats of epoxy and 5 coats of varnish. I also need to make a cover for it to keep it out of this harsh sun. If I don't it will end up like my old tiller.

Craig, the previous owner stopped by and dropped of the Aries wind vane that will help me steer the boat.

It weighs a ton!

At this stage it got too hot so I retreated downstairs and fired up the air conditioning unit and ate dinner comprising a can of sardines, beans and sweet potatoes.

Afterwards I installed a hose from the bathroom sink to it's thruhull.

Finally as it was getting dark I finished up installing a hawse pipe. Trouble is I suspect the bolts and nut are brass instead of bronze.

Early to bed tonight as I am beat!

Day 11...just 2 days left.

Only 2 days before I finish up here. I started out the day removing the transducer that measures the depth. Here is the outside.

And here is the inside.

Inside was quite rotten.

Outside the teak was tough even after 40 years.

I guess black mold is quite destructive.

And out comes the transducer.

I finally see the light.

Now I grind away the fiberglass from the inside.

And use epoxy with mat to enclose it.

And while I am using epoxy, I put another layer behind the bobstay.

Now switching gears I try to install a hawse-pipe on the starboard bow.

It wouldn't fit though so I moved on trying to replace the steel nuts on the other hawse pipes with bronze ones. I couldn't get them off though so I gave up. This time I empteied a can of 3M 5200 on my bow.

And stern.

And finally success!!!!!!! I got a recluse spider with my new super duper retractable fly swat.

At this stage I did a run up to Home depot and bought some netting to keep the leaves clogging up my scuppers and sinking my boat on the hard.

Not sure if it will work or not but time will tell. While I was up there I treated myself to some soft chimichangas at a Mexican restaurant that were to die for. It was nice to escape the heat for an hour too.
I also got an 8 foot flexible drain pipe and installed it on the starboard side of the windlass gypsy. You can see it under the deck.

It feeds into the chain locker under the V-berth while the port gypsy feeds the anchor chain directly under the  windlass at the bow. Here again is the topside starboard view.

It was getting dark and I had to use my flash on the last 2 shots and they both came out a little blurred. I guess the camera had had enough for the day too.

In the Yard Day 10

I had some wonderful neighbors right next to me that are leaving today. Thanks a million Dick and Char.

I decided not to pull out the inside of the bobstay and just to epoxy around it. I used epoxy mat with West systems epoxy which is a bit slower to cure compared to the home Depot epoxy.

I decided to fix my leaky hatch next so that meant filling the missing screw holes with tiny wooden disks.

Next I laid a layer of epoxy over it.

Then I worked on installing the windlass but ran into a snafu. The bolt holes didn't line up on the windlass.

At this stage I was getting hot and burnt out in the sun so i made a trip to sailors exchange to buy an automatic bilge pump that works. I used heat shrinking plastic connectors to connect the wires and added a layer of electrical tape to play it safe.

It was still too hot to go outside so I had a glorious siesta. After which I attacked the windlass once more. I actually used a truckers knot to pull the front bolts forward so they would fit.

Next I had a problem fitting the plastic sleeve. Because the windlass is aluminum and the bolts are stainless steel, it is important the a barrier is placed between the two metals otherwise corrosion will occur. I ended up using an oar for leverage.

All finished.

Now I had to work on the anchor chain entry to the bilge. I used a couple of pieces of mahogany and a device that cuts a circle.

I used a drill press, a hacksaw and a coping saw to cut the mahogany and epoxy sheet.

Tomorrow I will work on getting them secured.