Belaying Pins

I have a 40 year old sad looking pin rail on both my port and starboard side with belaying pins that have seen better days.

New pins are available on the internet for a huge amount of dough ray me so just for kicks and giggles, I picked up some poplar, from my local Home Depot and gave it the old college try.

Never having turned wood before, as you can see it was a total disaster. So I headed up to my local woodcraft store and they were unbelievably helpful. The chap spent a good 10 minutes with me showing the proper technique needed for turning and sent me away with some African mahogany and a turning tool.

I cut each piece of wood in 3 first of all.

Of course I had to look the part!

Then I tried out turning with my new found knowledge.

Talk about easy peasy!

No problemo!

Then I set to doing the rest.

OK they don't stand the closeup look but they will do the trick. Next I have to coat them with 4 layers of epoxy and 4 layers of varnish. Isn't boating fun!

Stepping the Mast and new standing rigging

Today I had my new mast stepped and new rigging fitted. Here to give me some fantastic help, were neighbors, Doug, and his wife Michelle.

And of course, Daniell, the crane operator.

We first fed the wiring through the deck.

Have you heard that the sun shines out of you know where? Well it is true and now I have proof.

When you are up there, it seems a lot higher than looking from the ground up.

That was easy now that it was over!

So now I had to cut the wire rope to the correct length.

There is a cone that slides inside the inner wire for these Norseman fittings.

Give them a shot of 3M 4200 caulk.

Here are the old and new side by side.

And finally the boat with all new standing rigging regaled in all her new LED lights.

Caprail project

Well it was too windy for the crane today so out came plan B. I first dropped of my engine starter to get repaired, then drove over to Sailor's Exchange and traded my old Profurl furler and a couple of smaller items for these.

When I got home I realized that the Mustang pfd was not approved by the USCG so that was a big boo boo. The spreader boots turned out well though.......

And same with the under sink water filter.....

Then I got stuck into the leaks that I had discovered during all the rain we had over the past few days. I removed the genoa track first on the port side.

Then up came the caprail.

Then I cleaned up as best I could, removing all the old caulk.

Then I used up a tube of 3M 5200 caulk laying out a layer of it and finally put everything back again.

 While I was at it I also plugged up holes in the bowsprit and bob stay with the 5200. It was the end of the day so then I drove up to see a fellow Westsail owner who is outfitting his hull from scratch.

Even though it is the same boat, it felt huge inside.
Tomorrow we shall try again to step the mast.

Starting a Yanmar Engine 101

Today was diesel day! My 3JH2E engine has not been started in over a year so I called Davidson's Marine and Jeremy came out and spent some time working with me on my engine going over each part for me and trying to start it.

He was top notch and spent time instructing me on the various parts and functions. He recommended that I send the 3 injectors out to be serviced.

I need to change the oil and the oil filter.

Also the engine fuel filter.

I have a Racor fuel filter as well that I need to replace. And I am supposed to take out the water filter and clean it. Then he showed me how to use the lift pump to bleed any air out of my fuel lines by loosening the nut on top.

Then we checked the transmission oil which he said looked good.

He recommended changing out the impeller and also the thermostat.

He suggested buying an infra red temperature sensor and checking the temperature at the thermostat. Also I have a spare alternator belt that I should install.
At this point we tried to start the motor, but it wouldn't turn over and tracing it back with a voltmeter, we isolated the problem as the starter motor. After Jeremy had left I removed the starter and now I have to have it repaired.

That part in the front of the starter is the solenoid which Jeremy said was OK. I should add that we did turn the motor over by hand and the compression feels good.
Tomorrow is crane day and the mast goes back up!

Rain, rain, go away......

I have been confined to barracks because of solid, steady rain so not much to report. I have been able to work on closing up the 3 holes in my hull with West system's epoxy and have nearly finished them.

Then I took on the dreaded task of cleaning up mold and mildew and also chasing down leaks. This is a galley cupboard before...

And this is it after a dose of Clorox bleach.

All ready for painting. Also I plan on leaving a couple of these DampRid buckets when I put the boat back in storage.

Not sure if they will be effective, but I need all the help I can get. Stopping the leaks is more important and one advantage with all the rain is that I have found 2 leaky areas. One is under the port genoa track and the other is under my newly installed bowsprit. Both of these are major tasks to accomplish so in the meantime I have placed heavy duty Husky plastic bags over them.
One last item is to prove that even though I am roughing it living on a boat, I am eating well. Here is my delicious dinner.......mushrooms, asparagus and brussel sprouts. Mmmmmm!

The Great Galley Makeover.....Granite countertops

I did a bunch of things yesterday but on impulse and one with the greatest visual impact was way down on my priority list.Take a look at my new galley.....

And my new table top.......

Notice anything? OK how about my new navigation station.....

Ok perhaps those strips of contact paper gave it away. This is my secret $8 weapon.

You just peel and stick. Easy peasey.

And for you purists out there who are shaking their heads, you can't tell the difference unless you get close up. The biggest problem is that now I lose stuff sitting right before my eyes because of the pattern. If I put a nut on the table, it disappears. It's like the black hole of Calcutta.
OK so you know that song "There's a hole in my Bucket?" Here is a classic case of how my day went. Started out with a simple task of checking my thru-hulls for leaks with a hose.

Yep.....that hose is leaking. I could drive 20 minutes to Wally World and buy a new one, but it may be faster to try and fix it.

OK that didn't work. Attempt number 2.....

Bingo! We have lift off...

Not pretty but it works. Now where was I? Oh yes......thru-hulls.......Mmmmmmm.....What is this thru-hull?

Check on the inside of the boat and this appears.

Not sure what it does but it has to go.......

Took me ages and lots of elbow power.

I now have a new respect for Marelon plastic. This is the third hole in the hull that I am filling with epoxy in between all my other projects. OK it is now the afternoon, and it is nap time. Either that or a cup of tea using my new propane switch. And while I am there at the switchboard the 12 volt plug keeps looking at me so I replace it.

The new one has an led light on it and also a 2.1 amp 5 volt dual USB charger that I can use to power my Nexus.

By the way, I now use these new waterproof connectors that have silicon inside to protect the connection from moisture. KISS!

And while I was in the galley, all the tarnished brass fixtures kept looking at me too so I tried cleaning them with Brasso.

What a dismal failure that was. When I was a kid, I spent many hours cleaning brass with Brasso. Not sure what I am doing wrong. I need to go back to the drawing board on that one. While at the sink I decided to take apart the water filter.

Eeeeek! Not sure but I think there should be a filter somewhere there. I need to make a run up to the store. Two hours later after visiting Lowe's, and Home Depot, where they only have large water filters, I come to the conclusion that I need to ditch the under-sink water filter and just use a carafe.
While I was at Lowes, I bought the contact paper on impulse, so 10 hours later after starting out checking my thru-hulls for leaks, I finished my Design on a Dime, Galley Makeover!
Happy New Year!