Maintenance Log

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Went over to the shop this morning as the temperature is finally bearable! Cleaned up a bit, and straightened up the shop to be able to get some work done.

Last week Kitty and I had taken some measurements for the main mast sail handling platform (SHP). We also decided pretty much on the exact location of the SHP.

I dug out all of the aluminum pieces I had purchased months ago for the SHP. I took the measurements from the Pink Book, and verified I had enough aluminum for the legs of the SHP and the braces and supports of the SHP.

I then cut out the legs, making sure they were just a little bit long. When I finished cutting the legs, I smoothed off the edges, and loaded the legs and all the other aluminum pieces for the SHP into the Black Beast.

Measured Pieces For SHP

Cutting Aluminum Pieces For SHP

I also loaded the “Box O’ Resins”, and several sanders into the Black Beast. I went over to DREAM AWAY for breakfast.

After breakfast, Kitty went into New Iberia to run some errands. She dropped me off at LeBlanc Oil to see if they had the 1>X 32 threaded rod. They did not, so I headed back to DREAM AWAY to get started on applying the last coat of finishing putty to the fiberglass hard dodger base on DREAM AWAY.

I put three blobs of finishing putty on the mixing board. I added the cream hardener when it was needed. I then applied the finishing putty as needed.

Finishing Putty On Mixing Board

While waiting for the finishing putty to set up, I went down to the galley and set up the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, attached the juicer attachment, and started juicing more oranges. We still had five bags of oranges remaining to juice.

I juiced oranges for 1 ½ hours, then back up on deck. I got out two of my sanders, a couple pieces of sandpaper for hand sanding, and went to work sanding the hard dodger base. I got the hard dodger base all sanded. It looks very good, but I know when I apply the gelcoat, all kinds of imperfections will show up.

I put everything away, and then washed down the hard dodger base and cockpit with the hose to get all of the sanding dust washed off the area.

Kitty had come home from her errands. I went down into the galley and finished up the orange squeezing. When I finished I had two more gallons of fresh squeezed orange juice. ! ½ gallons went into the freezer, and the remaining ½ gallon went into the refrigerator. Rum and fresh squeezed orange juice sure tastes good.

By this time the hard dodger area and the area in front of the mast was dry. Kitty and I went up to do some more marking and measuring on the legs for the SHP. We got the measurements I need to fabricate the legs for the SHP.

Once the legs are fabricated, we can screw the legs to the deck, and accurately measure the braces needed to support the fiberglass grating.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop today as it was just too cold in the morning, and I had an appointment with our mechanic to get the oil changed in the Black Beast at 0900.

When I returned from the mechanic, I walked all three Piers to shut off all of the water we had left trickling during Winter Storm Leon. All of the ice had melted off of all three docks, and the temperature kept climbing.

After breakfast, I got to work on the generator start problem. I had determined yesterday that I should change the air filter in the unit. I removed the combination rocker arm cover/air intake. I removed the old air filter, and put in a new one. The old filter did not look real bad, but I want to eliminate problems so I can get the generator to run.

I got the combination rocker arm cover/air intake back on the engine. Before attempting a start, I wanted to check the fuel system. I verified we had fuel to the injection pump using the manual fuel pump. I then had Kitty turn over the engine, and I verified we had fuel at all three injectors.

We attempted to start the generator several times, but it would just not start. It seems it might be a timing problem, but I am not sure how to adjust the timing on this engine. I think I will put the original injector pump back into the engine and see if that has any effect.

Top Of Engine Before Rocker Arm/Air Intake Cover Removal

Top Of Engine After Rocker Arm/Air Intake Cover Removal

Before the day was finished I drained the holding tank in the shower trailer.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop today as it was just too cold. Winter Storm Leon was moving on , but leaving extremely cold conditions. The high temperature for today was 34°. The good news was there was no precipitation today.

I spent most of the day on the computer, catching up and doing research. Trying to find parts and what is turning out to be off the wall items.

I did leave DREAM AWAY one time during the day to check on the shower trailer, and to walk the docks to make sure the water was still trickling out of the selected pedestals. All of the ice had melted off of the docks except where I had the water trickling, so that was safe.

Ice On DREAM AWAY Deck

Ice On Dock From Water Trickling

The shower trailer seems OK except I could not get water to run out of the sink faucet and the shower. I hope that will not be a problem. We will see tomorrow when the temperature warms up.

Back on DREAM AWAY, I did some more work on cleaning up the work bench in the garage. I put away some bolts and screws that were piling up, and some electrical parts.

I then got out our big KitchenAid Stand Mixer, attached the juicer attachment and juiced some more oranges. I fixed a rum and orange juice drink, and filled up the remaining containers with the juice. I still have four more bags of oranges to juice, but I will have to find another container.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer On Break

Oranges Ready To Juice

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop today as it was just too cold. We were being hit by Winter Storm Leon. I pretty much stayed on DREAM AWAY all day, with two exceptions.

The first time I left DREAM AWAY, was to check to make sure the water was still dripping out of the faucets on all of the docks. Let me make note that the temperature was 28°, and at the same time it was 78° in Marathon, Florida.

I did not want the pipes to freeze. Pier “A” and Pier “B” were fine, but the water left dripping at the end of Pier “C” had stopped. Johnal, from yacht RUTHIE, had noticed the water had stopped at the end of Pier ”C”. Johnal got his heat gun out, and I met him at his boat on Pier “C”.

Water was not coming out of his power and water pedestal, so we hit the water faucets with the heat gun there. After about five minutes, the water was steadily dripping out of the two water faucets. We opened both faucets wide open, and moved down to the next pedestal. No water at this pedestal, so we hit one of the faucets with the heat gun, until the water started trickling out. We opened that faucet wide open and moved to the last pedestal on Pier “C”.

This pedestal was not not dripping at all, and it was the one I had left open. We hit the faucets with the heat gun, and after about 10 minutes, there was a drip in one of the faucets. I had not dressed for a long time outside, so I left Johnal with the heat gun at the pedestal, and I went back to DREAM AWAY to get warmer clothes and to put on socks. Do not even think it. I am out in 28° weather, and I should be on a mooring in Marathon. Who is the brightest light in the attic?.

On my way back to DREAM AWAY, the two faucets at Johnal's boat were running wide open, so we had good water flow at that point on the dock. I backed off both faucets, and just left them steadily trickling. I continued on to DREAM AWAY, and put on warmer clothes and socks, and went back out to the end of Pier “C”.

On the way back out to the end of Pier “C”, the next to last pedestal was running full blast, so I backed off the faucet to just a trickle. When I met Johnal at the last pedestal, he had water coming out at a steady trickle on one faucet and a drip on the second one. We agreed to leave both faucets wide open, and I would come back and check them in about two hours to see if more water was coming out.

When I went back out to the end of Pier “C” around 1600, the water was flowing full blast out of both faucets at the last pedestal. I backed both faucets to a pretty fast trickle, and left it that way for the night. I will check them tomorrow morning when it gets light and safe to move about the docks.

Water Trickling Out Of Last Pedestal On Pier “C"

On my way back to DREAM AWAY, I stopped at Hollis’s boat. He asked me to run both his engines for about 30 minutes to get all of the systems up to temperature, so that none of the pipes would freeze over night. I got the keys and started both engines. I ran them for about 45 minutes, and both engines got up to 180°. I turned them off, returned the keys to the secret spot, and went back to DREAM AWAY for a hot coffee with honey and rum added.

During the day both before and after my two trips into the freezing temperatures, I did work on the computer and worked on a couple of projects.

I got the mostly repaired galley faucet installed back into the galley. I am still researching parts to see if I have everything I need.

Galley Location Of The Fynspray Faucet

Fynspray Faucet Installed

I then worked on putting away a bunch of items that had been piling up on the work bench in the garage. I needed more room to work. I got a fair amount of “stuff” put away, but I still have more to do.

Next project was to continue work on the gen set. I am not having much luck getting it to run. It seems to have something to do with the stop system, as I had the engine running with the stop solenoid removed from the engine.

I went to the rear of the generator, and removed the cover to all of the electronics. I removed the start relay and the shut down relay. I cleaned the contacts on both relays, and swapped the relays around. I had Kitty operate the start switch on the control panel, and the shut down switch, and the relays seemed to be working properly. I then attempted to start the generator, but it would not start.

Electronics And Relays At Back Of Generator

I decided to remove the start solenoid and see if it was working as designed. When I got the solenoid removed, I again had Kitty actuate the start and stop switch on the control panel. The stop solenoid was working as it should.

We again attempted to start the generator, but it would not go. I re-installed the stop solenoid. At this time I am assuming the fuel system is OK, because the last time I worked on the generator, it was running OK. I decided it was time to change the air filter. As it turns out the air filter should be changed every 250 hours, and I have about 700 hours on this air filter. I attempted to get the air filter removed, but could not get it out of the housing.

As it turns out, I have to remove the rocker arm cover/air filter housing to get to the air filter? All of my metric tools are in the Black Beast, and it was sleeting, so I put off replacing the air filter until tomorrow when it warms up.

I did some research on solar panels for DREAM AWAY. As of now it looks like I am going to purchase a 4> watt system from a company named Renogy. I was looking at the 400 watt kit they are selling on eBay. I talked to one of the technicians about how to connect the four 1> watt panels, and other questions about solar in general.

The way I want to install the panels on DREAM AWAY, I think I will be cheaper off buying the solar items individually, because I will have to supply so much myself. We will see how it works out in the future.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Went to the shop, and started in on the aluminum plates I am fabricating for the galley sink faucet. I got the faucet taken apart, as it was very corroded. It seems there is an O-Ring, but I will have to see if I have a parts list to see.

After I got the faucet apart, I got it all cleaned up, and ready for use. I drilled out the aluminum plates and got them the correct size. It was then I realized the plates were too thick and would not work.

Faucet With Thick Aluminum Plates

I dug around in my scrap metal pieces box and came up with a thin piece of aluminum that I could use for the temporary fix in the galley. I fabricated the two pieces required to fit the faucet in the galley.

Faucet With Fabricated Aluminum Pieces

I then started cutting out the zippers from the old soft dodger. There is not enough material in the old dodger to save it, but the zippers could be of some use.

Zippers From Old Soft Dodger

Went back to DREAM AWAY from breakfast, then went over to a friends house, with cruisers Johnal and Cindy, to pick some oranges and satsuma’s before the hard freeze tomorrow and Wednesday. We loaded our bags of oranges into the Black Beast and went back to the marina. We dropped off Johnal and Cindy, and we drove to New Iberia for my doctor’s appointment.

When we finished the doctor’s appointment we ran errands before returning to DREAM AWAY. A couple of the stops on the way back was to find two 1>X 32 X 4 ½” bolts for the motor on the refrigeration cooling pump. No luck so far.

Johnal and Cindy came over to DREAM AWAY, and we squeezed a lot of oranges to make juice.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Before going to the shop, I went over to the electrical panel at the north side of the marina, and disconnected the unused WiFi router. This router was purchased by the Port Director, but it did not have a gateway mode, so cannot be used here at our marina. I put the router, power and network cables in the Black Beast, and went over to the shop.

I had the original shipping box for the unused router at the shop, so I packed the router and all of the cables into the box. The box is ready to take to the Port Office.

On the list now was to try and get a couple of “left over” projects finished. I had a box of fasteners and snaps I had removed when I took off the eyebrow to make room for the hard dodger. I got out the bench grinder with the wire wheel and cleaned up all of those parts. I will take them back to DREAM AWAY, and put them away in their storage box.

WiFi Router In Storage Box

I got out two aluminum circles from a previous project and cleaned them up. I will take them to DREAM AWAY to see if they can help with a galley faucet problem.

Aluminum Circles To Repair Galley Faucet

Went back over to DREAM AWAY, and had breakfast. After breakfast I removed the faucet in the galley that is attached to the fresh water foot pump. I will attempt a temporary repair on the location of the faucet, because the wood panel it fits on is rotting away. The wood panel will be completely replaced when we get to Guatemala.

I verified the size of the bolts I need to put back together the motor on the refrigeration cooling pump. They are 10 X 32 X 4 ½”.

Kitty and I measured the distances and location of the main mast sail handling platform. We have a pretty good idea now of its location, so I can cut some of the pieces and see how it will template up.

We also did some talking and measuring of some changes on the stern. I want to add some storage area, and also make room for the three outboards motors we will have on board DREAM AWAY.

Kitty went off to run several errands, and I stayed on DREAM AWAY and sanded the base for the hard dodger. After doing the sanding, there are still a couple of places that need some more putty, but with the weather, I am not sure when I will get that done.

Hard Dodger Base Before Sanding

Hard Dodger Base After Sanding

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop first thing as it was way too cold, but it did warm up. As I was working on the computer projects, the sun was warming up the boat. As it got warmer, the ice on the mast and all of the standing rigging started falling on the deck. Jillian and Jordan were not impressed, they were very frightened with all of the noise.

I went out on deck and shook all of the ice down that I could see. Now that the ice was not crashing on deck, Jillian and Jordan started to settle down.

After breakfast I did go over to the shop. First project on the list was to get all of our chili pepper lights back to together and stored away in the Holiday box. They are now ready for next Christmas in a warmer climate. The last two days has convinced us that we will not be spending the winter of 2014-2015 in Louisiana. And to make sure, we have another freeze coming in two days.

I then got started on the stand offs I am fabricating for the main cabin grab ropes. When I was in the shop this past Thursday, I had got all of the parts required cut and smoothed off, ready for welding.

The first welding project was to weld the short pieces of threaded rod to the stainless steel rings that will hold the grab ropes. This was pretty time consuming, as they were both small parts and had to be clamped down. I got the pieces welded together, so now I have six rope rings.

Newly Welded Rope Rings On Bench

I then set up to weld the four pieces of stainless steel pipe to the pieces I had cut off of the stainless steel rod. I welded the rod pieces to the pipe.

Four Pieces Of Pipe Welded To Stainless Steel Rod

When all of the welding was finished, I secured the welder and started to clean up the threaded rod and ring parts. I used a die to clean out the threads on each piece. On the inside of the rings, I used a round file and sandpaper to smooth out the rough surfaces.

Using A Die To Clean Out Threads

When that was complete, I had to drill and tap the standoffs that now had a solid piece of rod welded to them. I first used a center punch to get a guide in the top of the standoff, then drilled a hole in the center.

Top Of Standoff To Be Drilled

I then used a tap to cut the threads in the newly drilled hole. When I was cutting the threads in one of the standoffs, the tap broke!

Now I had to cut off the piece I had just welded onto the standoff, and also cut a new piece off of the stainless steel round bar. I got that done, then had to set up the welder again. I got the new piece of round bar welded to the standoff. I drilled a hole into the round bar on top of the standoff, and got the treads cut with no problem.

I put away all of the cables and such for the welder, and got the welder cleaned up. I then polished and sanded the four standoffs I had just finished.

Four New Standoffs On Bench

Now I have to cut the holes in the overhead of the main cabin where the standoffs will be installed. Once the holes are cut I will know how long each standoff will be.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop at all today. It was too cold and too dangerous. The high for today in Delcambre was 31°. I left the boat twice today, once to check on a power failure, and the second time because I had to reboot the WiFi router.

We had freezing rain off and on most of the day! The good news is I got caught up on my email, scanning, and made progress on a lot of computer work.

When I was outside walking around the piers and dock I took some pictures. The floating docks were very slippery because the freezing rain had frozen on the docks. When I got to the concrete dock and the parking lot, the rain had not frozen.

If there was any doubt in my mind where we will spend next winter, this freeze cleared it up! We had left our cockpit cushions out in the cockpit so the rain had frozen on them.

Cockpit Cushions WIth Sheet Of Ice On Top

Icicles Hanging On DREAM AWAY Hatch

Icicles Hanging On Another Boat In The Marina

Ice On The Black Beast

Inside Looking Out Of Black Beast

One Of The Gardens At The Marina

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I had a doctor’s appointment in Lafayette, so just spent a little extra time on the computer. When we returned from the doctor’s office, we had lunch, and I went over to the shop.

First item on the list was to put a third coat of protective paint on the new propane tank. I then put a piece of automobile edge trim on the bottom to further protect the propane tank and to prevent rust.

New Propane Tank With Edge Trim Installed

Next on the list was to clean up and start getting back together the refrigeration pump. The housing and connected parts cleaned up very well. As soon as I can get the two bolts to hold the pump housing together, we will have a spare cooling pump again.

Refrigeration Cooling Pump Partially Together

I did some welding for a cruising friend who is in the marina for a couple of months. I cut a couple pieces of 1 ¼” stainless steel pipe for him to use to fabricate an adapter for his life rails. I will be doing some welding on those pieces when he gets all of the pieces together.

I had received the 1 ⅜” stainless steel round bar, so I cut the six pieces I will need to complete the main cabin grab rails. I also cut some threaded rod to fabricate some pieces to use on the main cabin grab rails.

By the time I made all of the cuts, and cleaned up all of the pieces, it was 1730 I knew I would not be working in the shop tomorrow because of the predicted freezing rain, so I will be doing my welding probably on Saturday.

Main Cabin Grab Rail Parts On Bench

Stainless Steel Pipe On Bench

Cutting A Piece Off Of The Stainless Steel Round Bar

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I drove to V & V auto parts and picked up the new fuel filter for the Black Beast, then drove back to the marina. I got all of the goodies in place and changed the fuel filter on the Black Beast. I bled the fuel system, then started the engine. The engine ran perfectly, so I cleaned up the area, and called that project finished.

I went to DREAM AWAY and had breakfast. After breakfast, I decided it was time to finally time to replace the defective check valve in my freshwater system.

I got everything removed from the area, and shut off the water coming in from the dock. Then it was just a matter of removing the defective check valve and installing the new one. When the new one was installed, I verified it worked when I had the freshwater system activated. I put everything back where it belonged, and checked off another project completed.

Old Check Valve Installed In Freshwater System

New Check Valve Installed In Freshwater System

Kitty and I drove into Lafayette as I had an appointment with my dermatologist. We did a few errands on the way home, and got back to DREAM AWAY around 1630

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I drove Kitty into New Iberia for her colonoscopy. The procedure was a success, and no problems were encountered.

Had to do some chores around the marina, cleanup and garden weeding. The holding tank on the shower trailer was 3/4’s full, so I drained that into the sewer system. When I got that all cleaned up and secure, I went over to the shop.

Did not do very much, but I did put a second coat of orange spray paint on the new propane tank.

I worked on the motor for the refrigeration cooling system. Yesterday I took the motor housing apart, but the two bolts holding the housing together twisted off. I liberally applied Aero-Kroil to the broken studs yesterday and let it set.

Today, I smacked the studs with a hammer, and then using a pair of Vice-Grips, I was able to back out the broken studs. Now all I have to do is clean up the motor housing, lubricate the bearings, and find two new bolts, and the pump will be operational again.

Two Twisted Off Bolts From Cooling System Pump

I went by V&V auto parts to exchange the fuel filter I had purchased for the Black Beast. The filter I had purchased yesterday was the incorrect filter, so I had to order the proper filter. The new filter will be in tomorrow morning.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop first thing. Stayed on DREAM AWAY still trying to catch up on email, scanning and computer work.

Around midday I headed over to the shop to unload some items. One of the items was my 2 foot long piece of 1 ⅜” stainless steel round bar that had arrived for the stand offs I am fabricating for the main cabin.

While at the shop, I was able to get the motor for the spare refrigeration apart. That was the good news, the bad news is the two bolts twisted off. There is enough of the broken bolt remaining, I am sure I will be able to get them removed from the bottom plate of the motor.

I cleaned up the motor as best I could and the applied a large amount of Aero-Kroil to the bearing, and to broken bolts in the bottom plate.

Bearing On The Bottom Of The Motor

Bottom Plate Of Motor Showing Broken Off Bolts

I had purchased a new 30 pound propane tank last week, to replace my current propane tank that is very rust on the base. My plan is to paint the bottom third with several coats of paint, and then put door trim on the base to help prevent rust. My present tanks have lasted close to 15 years, so the new tank should last even longer with all of the protection I am adding.

Propane Tank With First Coat Of Paint

I then went back to DREAM AWAY to install the two new Hella Turbo fans I had purchased. These were two 12 VDC fans to replace the 24 VDC fnas I had ordered by mistake.

I installed the first Hella Turbo fan in the galley, and the second in the aft cabin on the port side. Now all of the Hella Turbo fans on DREAM AWAY are operational.

New Fan Installed In The Galley

Fan Removed From Aft Cabin

New Fan Installed In Aft Cabin

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

After breakfast and some more visiting, Jimmy and Barbara left to head back home. It was a great visit, and we initiated the first “Arcadia Rum Distillery Tour”.

We spent the remainder of the day attempting to catch up on computer related projects, and getting DREAM AWAY back to normal.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

We had a great breakfast, then climbed into the Black Beast and drove into Lafayette to visit the Rank Wildcat Spirits Distillery which is a small artisan micro-distillery, and the second fully licensed rum distillery in Louisiana since prohibition.

We were their first “production tour”, and were hosted by the founders, David and Cole. Their still is a reflux still, hand crafted by David and Cole, and named “Lulu”. David named Lulu after a pot-bellied pig that had been a neighbor’s family pet when he was young.

David, Cole, And Lulu

The rum they produce, Sweet Crude white rum, is made from only sugar cane juice. There is no molasses in it. The adjustments they make to the juice, and their fermentation process, are the secrets to their excellent product.

The cane juice they are using is purchased from a local sugar cane mill, M.A. Patout & Sons. It is the oldest sugar company in the United States still owned and operated by the original family. The mill opened in 1825.

Sweet Crude rum is not aged. It goes from the still to the proofing containers, where ionized water is added to bring the proof down from 170 proof to 80 proof. We tasted the Sweet Crude, and found it to be an excellent sipping rum. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed sipping this white rum.

Freshly Bottled & Labeled Sweet Crude

Freshly Bottled, Labeled, and Sealed Sweet Crude

Cole & David In Front Of Bottled Sweet Crude Holding Award.

They are planning on introducing two aged rums in the future. One will be called Black Gold Single Harvest, and the other will be called Black Gold using the Solera process.

The Single Harvest product will be a single batch of three to four barrels of aged rum blended together to create a special flavor. Once this product is gone it will never be repeated.

The Solera process will be repeatable and will be an ongoing product, and will be their signature aged rum. We are all looking forward to both products.

After the tour, we drove over to E’s Kitchen so Jimmy & Barbara could purchase a bottle of “ Sweet Crude”. The Rank Wildcat Spirits distillery does not yet have a license to sell the product at the distillery. Kitty also purchased a four pack of Swamp Pop Cream Praline Soda.

We drove back to DREAM AWAY, and had a bit of a rum tasting before dinner. The first drink was the 13 Pennies Praline Rum from the Donner-Peltier Distillery and the Swamp Pop Cream Praline Soda mixed together. The drink tasted just like eating a pecan praline, it was very sweet, and would make a great dessert cocktail, or over ice cream.

The second drink was the Old New Orleans Rum Iced Tea. It is made with sweetened ice tea and the Old New Orleans Cajun Spice rum. It is quite a drink and very refreshing.

We then had dinner and watched a movie.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Spent the morning getting caught up with our friends, Barbara and Jimmy. We left Delcambre around 1330 to head east to Thibodaux, LA, so we could visit the Donner-Peltier distillers.

We arrived at the distillery at about 1530 and met Austin who would be our tour guide, and Tess, who explained a bit of the distillery’s history. Tess told us the legend of the Rougaroux. Like most legends, there are many variations.

Austin and Tess also described the products distilled by Donner-Peltier Distillers. As we were waiting for others to join the tour, we decided to do the tastings before the distillery tour. The first product offered by Donner-Peltier distillers was a vodka under the brand name of Oryza, which is the Latin word for rice. They distill the vodka from fermented rice. Using the same base alcohol as the vodka, they also produced a gin with the same brand name, Oryza.

Austin In The Tasting Room

Tess In The Tasting Room

The vodka had a nice flavor to it. I am not a gin person, so their gin did nothing for me. It did taste very good when it was mixed with tonic.

Next, we tasted all three of their rums, all under the brand name of Rougaroux. The first rum is Sugarshine, which is their white rum. The second rum is Full Moon Dark Rum, which is aged and flavored using oak chips. The third rum is 13 Pennies Praline Rumwhich is aged and flavored with spices and pecans.

The Sugarshine white rum has a nice flavor, and is not sharp. The Full Moon Dark Rum is a nice rum with a bolder flavor. The 13 Pennies Praline Rum has a nice and very unique flavor, which makes a nice sipping rum.

The other folks did not show up, so we went on the tour, guided by Austin. He explained how they use raw sugar and blackstrap molasses, purchased from Lafourche Sugars which is also located in Thibodaux, as the basis of their rums. They use separate fermenting tanks for the vodka and rums. Their still, “Big Betty”, is very sophisticated, as it is a pot still and a reflux still combined. It is also automatically cleaned after a run.

Big Betty The Pot Still

Big Betty The Reflux Still

We got to see Austin add the distilling yeast to a fermenting tank that had settled out and was ready to continue the fermenting process.

Austin Adding The Yeast

Before leaving the distillery, I purchased a bottle of the 13 Pennies Praline Rum because Kitty really liked the flavor and we thought it would go great mixed with the Swamp Pop Cream Praline Soda.

When we left the distillery, we went to Bubba’s II Poboys and Seafood. We had a nice seafood dinner, with a very good gumbo, and then headed back to Delcambre.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop today, but spent most of the morning catching up on computer work, emails, and scanning. Around 1130 we left Delcambre and headed west down LA14 to Lacassine, LA.

We met our friends, Jimmy and Barbara from Houston, at the Louisiana Spirits Distillery for a tour and rum tasting.

Jim In Front Of Louisiana Spirits Distillery

Kitty In Front Of Louisiana Spirits Distillery

The Louisiana Spirits Distillery is the first stop on our Great Acadiana Rum Distillery Tour! They showed a very interesting film before the tour, and the tour itself was very informative. The spirits they are presently producing are distilled from a raw sugar and blackstrap molasses combination, both purchased from a local sugar cane mill, M.A. Patout & Sons. It is the oldest sugar company in the United States still owned and operated by the original family. The company opened in 1825.

The distillery is definitely planning to be a very large operation. They would allow no pictures to be taken during the tour, so I do not have any to add to the log.

We went to the tasting room after the tour and had samples of their Silver Bayou white rum and the Spiced Bayou dark rum. Neither rum is aged. The white rum had a nice, unique flavor that comes from the distilling process. I purchased a bottle of the Silver Bayou white rum to have for a future rum tasting at home.

We left the Louisiana Spirits Distillery and drove to Lake Arthur, Louisiana, to have dinner at the Regatta, a restaurant on Lake Arthur. We had a very nice meal, and then continued home to Delcambre.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop today, but spent all morning catching up on computer work and scanning. We then drove into New Iberia to run several errands, and I had a doctor appointment. We returned to Delcambre around 1700.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

When Kitty got up, we finished our packing and loaded the Black Beast to drive from Delcambre to New Orleans. We got to our hotel, The Sleep Inn in Metarie, dropped off our stuff, and then rode the famous street cars. We rode the Canal Street street car from the cemeteries to Cafe Du Mode at the French Market. Kitty had never been to the Cafe Du Mode for coffee and beignets, so we experienced that! We finished off the day by riding the famous St. Charles street car through the Garden District.

On Monday, we spent the entire day at the National World War II Museum complex. What a place, and all very well done. We did not see it all, and we will go back to finish off the total experience.

On Tuesday, we drove to Piedmont Plastics to pick up two sheets of King Starboard and two sheets of Optix acrylic sheet. When we finished, we drove over to the Celebration Distillery for the tour and tasting. It was a very informative tour, and we enjoyed the tasting. While there, we purchased a bottle of the Old New Orleans Cajun Spice rum. We left the distillery and drove back to Delcambre in time to attend the Twin Parish Port District meeting.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

While on the computer, the bilge alarm went off. Sure enough, there was a lot of water in the bilge, but the automatic switch for the pump did not work. I used the manual switch and pumped down the bilge. When Kitty awakens, this will take some investigation.

I went over to the shop and worked on the Black Beast. I wanted to do a thorough check of the Black Beast before our trip to New Orleans. I aired up all of the tires and put a new application of Rain-x on the windows. When I opened the hood to check all of the fluids, I noticed the oil fill cap was missing! The cap had been loose, so I guess it popped off.

I checked, and topped off all of the fluids. When I topped off the oil, I nearly finished the gallon bottle I carry in the Black Beast, so I will have to get another bottle for the trip. I also realized I did not have a bottle of coolant in the Black Beast either. I do carry a gallon bottle of water in the Black Beast, but I will also purchase a bottle of coolant for the trip to New Orleans.

Before leaving the shop, I took the pump housing off the spare refrigeration cooling pump. Sure enough the bearings sounded pretty bad. I attempted to take the motor housing apart, but the bolts would not budge. I got out my can of Aero-Kroil and soaked down the bolts and the bearings in the motor housing, and the bearings in the pump housing.

I left the shop and went to V&V Auto Supply in Delcambre where I purchased a new oil filler cap, and a quart of transmission fluid. I then went to LeBlanc Oil and purchased a gallon of oil and a gallon of coolant. Now the Black Beast was ready to roll.

I went back to DREAM AWAY, and Kitty was up, so I was able to work on the bilge alarm problem. During the winter months, the bilge collects a lot of water due to condensation. Kitty reminded me that yesterday I had dumped a lot of water in the bilge working on the refrigeration cooling pump and the freshwater system check valve. So that was probably the source of all of the water in the bilge.

Just in case, I did a check of all of the connections I worked on yesterday, and sure enough, there was water leaking around the check valve. I tightened the hose clamps and stopped the source of the water in the bilge. Now I had to find out why the small bilge pump was not cycling. You can check out my bilge pump arrangement on the web page.

Looking at the float switch for the pump, it did not look as if it was operating properly. When I manually lifted the float switch, the pump worked just fine. I determined that the float switch was hitting the side of the bilge, so I adjusted the placement of the bilge pump, and this moved the float switch away from the side of the bilge.

It was then I noticed the float switch was not attached to the bilge pump as it was supposed to be! Now the fun begins. To had to get the bilge pump disconnected from the system that is supposed to hold it at the bottom of the bilge. With the engine in the engine room, I cannot reach the bottom of the bilge, which is directly under the bottom of the main engine.

I disconnected the bilge pump from my hold-down system, then pulled the bilge pump up high enough that I could unscrew the hose clamp holding the hose to the bilge pump. I then pulled the hose off of the bilge pump, and got the bilge pump up on the garage deck where I could work on it. This was all done at extreme arms length, and I could not keep my eyes on the operation while performing it.

By the time I had accomplished this task, it was time to take care of our planned social engagement for the day. I got cleaned up and dressed, and we met Johnal and Cindy, off of the sailing yacht RUTHIE, in the marina parking lot.

We then drove to the Rank Wildcat Spirits distillery in Lafayette. When we arrived Dave and Cole, the founders, were there to greet us and give us the “tour”. It is a small operation, but their hand-crafted product “Sweet Crude” white rum is excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, visiting with the founders, and viewing the two awards they have already received, not to mention the rum tasting.

Lulu, The Reflux Still

Dave & Cole With The Two Awards Already Won

Dave & Cole In Front of Lulu

After the tour we drove over to E’s Kitchen to purchase a bottle of “Sweet Crude” as the Rank Wildcat Spirits distillery does not yet have a license to sell the product at the distillery. We then had lunch at a Cuban restaurant, and drove back to Delcambre via New Iberia.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, the first thing I did was empty the holding tank on the shower trailer. I had to make sure it was emptied before I went to New Orleans for three days.

When I completed that task, I then cooked up a bunch of food for our kitties. I cooked some chicken, turkey, and chicken livers. Then I chopped it all up with some cooked carrots and spinach. I put the mix into containers, and put those in the freezer to be taken out to feed the kitties on a daily basis.

Last item for the night was to fix the bilge pump and get it back into the bilge. I needed a small piece of metal, so I had to go over to the shop to get it. I also picked up our suitcase. I came back to the boat where I fabricated a metal fitting I could bolt to the bilge pump, and to which I could then bolt the float switch. I put it all back together, and installed the bilge pump back into the bilge using my attachment system so I was able to get the pump back at the bottom of the bilge. The bilge pump went back in much more quickly than it came out.

I tested the pump and the float switch, and they worked as expected. Now I feel pretty sure DREAM AWAY will not sink while we are in New Orleans.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Went over to the shop and worked on cleaning up the workbench and drill press. I had left it in a mess from the cutting circle project of yesterday. That project is on hold until the piece of stainless steel rod comes in.

I then got into finishing off the tray for the spare air conditioner. I had put it all together a couple of months ago, but never finished. The problem was the length of the bolt needed to hold the compressor onto the tray. The new spare air conditioner needed longer bolts. I had looked for sex bolts and barrel nuts, but could not find the correct sizes.

I had come up with a plan to cut off the ends of four 5/16” stainless steel bolts, and weld them to the ends of the existing bolts in the air conditioner tray. Today I was putting the plan into action.

The first part of the plan is to remove the air conditioner compressor, condenser, and evaporator from the tray. This was fairly time consuming as some of the nuts were not easy to reach. By the time I got the A/C system removed from the tray, Kitty had called, so I went back to DREAM AWAY for breakfast.

A/C Unit On Tray Before Removal

After breakfast, went back over to the shop. The weather was getting nice and warm, so I decided to apply the second coat of gelcoat on the hard dodger uprights. I got out the tack rag and wiped down all of the uprights and anchor support pieces.

I got out all of the necessary accoutrements to mix and apply the gelcoat. I did not make the mixture too hot, so I hope it kicks off in good time. We will see tomorrow morning.

Gelcoat Applied To The Hard Dodger Uprights

Gelcoat Applied To The Anchor Support Pieces

After cleanup and putting all of the accoutrements away, it was back to the A/C tray.

I got the bolt ends cut off, and smoothed out. I then used a C-clamp to hold the cut-off end onto the end of the bolt that was welded to the tray.

Bolts Clamped Together

I then welded the two bolts together. The weld on such thin metal tended to pull to one side or the other depending on where I welded last. As soon the weld was finished, I used pliers to bend the bolts straight. I did this for all four of the compressor bolts in the tray.

Four Bolt Extensions Welded On

When I got the tray cleaned up, I put the A/C system back into the tray and got everything bolted down. The spare A/C system is ready to go to Atlanta to be stored until it is needed. I may build a pallet on which to put the unit to make shipping easier.

A/C System Back Into Tray

Close Up Of Nuts Holding Down A/C Compressor

I then left the shop and walked back to DREAM AWAY. I had purchased a check valve from Touchard Marine to replace the one that was failing in my freshwater system, so I wanted to install it and check it out.

When I got the new valve installed, I discovered it leaked as badly as the one I was replacing, so I put the old one back in place. I will have to find a Perko or ShurFlo check valve.

As mentioned previously, the cooling water pump for the refrigeration system was leaking while it was running. I had cleaned, sanded, and painted the spare pump on Wednesday, so it was ready to go.

I swapped in the spare pump, and it did not sound good! It sounded as if the bearings were shot, and in fact, it quit working in a couple of minutes! I took apart the pump that I had just removed, and cleaned up all of the its insides. It gets very nasty due to the stuff that is in the water around here.

I then put the newly cleaned pump back into the refrigeration cooling system, and it ran with no leaks! I will have to take my spare pump over to the shop and determine the problem. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Went over to the shop immediately after breakfast. Last night, after the Marine Corps League meeting in Abbeville, I went to Lowe’s and purchased a new drill bit for the hole saw arbor.

I chucked up the Milwaukee hole saw into the drill press and started drilling out the circles I needed for the main cabin grab rail project. It soon became obvious that I had worn out the Milwaukee hole saw. It is a good saw but could not stand up to the punishment I was giving it.

It was obvious I was going to have to find another method. I had looked for some stainless steel rod from suppliers, but none sold drops. The shortest piece of 1 ⅜” stainless steel rod I could find was 22 feet.

Cutting Circles Using Hole Saw And Drill Press

Two Cut Circles Using Hole Saw

Material Being Used For the Main Cabin Standoffs/Grab Rope

I had used so much time cutting the circles with the hole saw it was time to go back to DREAM AWAY. Before leaving, I sanded down all of the hard dodger uprights in the shop. This is in preparation to be able to apply the second coat of gelcoat on the uprights.

Sanded Uprights Ready For Gelcoat

Today was our “New Iberia” day with the new cruisers who are in the marina, Johnal and Cindy.

We left Delcambre and drove to the Konrico Rice Mill. We all watched their wonderful video about Acadiana in general and rice production in particular, then Johnal and Cindy took the tour of the mill. When the tour was completed, Johnal and Cindy did some shopping in the company store, purchasing some of the goodies available.

We then drove into downtown New Iberia and had lunch at Victor's Cafe. Victor's Cafe is a much visited place by the fictional character Dave Robicheaux. He is the main character in the series written by James Lee Burke who grew up in the New Iberia area. It was a very tasty meal, and we all had left overs to take home.

After lunch we went to the Shadows On The Teche house. Kitty and I watched the video about the house with Johnal and Cindy, and then they took the tour while Kitty and I read our books. When the tour was completed, we headed back to Delcambre, stopping for groceries on the way.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, I got on the internet and found a supplier where I could purchase just two feet of the 1 ⅜” stainless steel rod. I placed an order for the piece, and hopefully it will be in sometime next week.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop first thing this morning. The cold weather was still here, and it did not get above 32° until 0900. After that it warmed up very nicely.

After Kitty got up and we had breakfast, I went outside to turn the water back on to Pier “A”, which is our pier. The temperature was now in the 40's so it was no problem. I connected the marina water to the shower trailer so the residents could use the facilities. I also turned the water on for Pier “B”.

I went back to DREAM AWAY to check on our water situation. Yesterday, when I filled our water tank, I did not disconnect the hose and drain the water. Bad move! The filter I use to filter water before it comes aboard DREAM AWAY was filled with water, and it froze and the housing broke! With the water on, I was able to get the ice out of the hose and get it connected back to DREAM AWAY. I will now have to get a new filter housing.

I disconnected all of the Christmas lights we had on DREAM AWAY and moved them up to the Black Beast.

I finally made my way over to the shop. Kitty dropped me off with my tools, and I got right to work. The first thing was to get our chili pepper Christmas lights dried out and ready to put away. The red plastic chili pepper coverings for the lights get water in them when it rains. So I had to remove the chili pepper coverings from the lights, let everything dry out, then put the coverings back on the lights, and put them away for next year.

Working On Chili Pepper Lights

I had brought over a screen from one of the hatches in the main cabin. It was coming apart and needed repair. The rubber insert that holds the screen material in the frame was coming out.

Screen Before Repair

Screen After Repair

The other day when I was working on the DREAM AWAY fresh water system, I noticed the refrigeration cooling pump was leaking. The pump housing needs to be cleaned out. I got out my spare cooling pump to swap it into place. Because of the additional problems with working on the fresh water system, I was not able to swap in the cooling pump.

The cooling pump had a very rusty motor casing, so I decided to clean up the motor and paint it before I swapped the pump back into the system.

I had the pump in the shop, and I cleaned off all of the rust, and then wiped down the motor casing with acetone. I then applied two coats of clear spray paint to the motor casing after masking off the pump housing.

Pump Masked Off Ready For Paint Application

Pump After Paint Application

Next I chucked up the new Milwaukee hole saw into the drill press, and started cutting out the circles out of the ¼” stainless steel plate. It was wonderful, the Milwaukee hole saw does a great job. I had cut out two circles, when the center drill bit in the hole saw arbor broke! I was not happy.

Kitty drove up just then so I cleaned up the area, and went back to DREAM AWAY. We got ready to go to the Marine Corps League meeting in Abbeville.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY working on the computer. It was way too cold, 22° in the morning to go outside and work, or go to the shop where there is no heat.

I spent most of the day on the computer catching on email, research, scanning, and just general catch up on business matters.

Later in the afternoon, I went to LeBlanc Oil to pick up a package and to purchase a new propane tank. Got the package, but he had sold out of the propane tanks. Hopefully, will get a new one tomorrow. The package was Kitty’s charging cable for the new iPhone 5 she received for Christmas from Stacy and Tina.

Went back to DREAM AWAY and worked on the fresh water pump on the onboard system. Since the water on the dock is shutdown due to the hard freeze, we are using the water from the tanks on board DREAM AWAY. No big problem, the system works great, its just that the freshwater pump keeps cycling.

I assumed the problem was the pressure switch on the pump. I changed out the pump, for which I have two spares, but the problem persisted! I cleaned up the pressure switch on the pump I took out, and put it back into the system, but the problem persisted.

Next, I inspected the check valve in the system. In my present configuration, I can connect the dock water to a fitting on the bow of the boat, and it supplies the fresh water to the onboard system. This way I do not have to continuously fill the onboard water tanks. When I use the onboard fresh water system, I have a check valve in the input dock water line, so the onboard pump does not pump the water out of the fitting onto the bow of the boat. As it turned, out this valve is leaking, causing the onboard fresh water pump to continuously cycle.

By this time it was 1655. When I called Touchard Marine, I found they closed at 1700, so there was no time to get there and purchase a new valve today. The good news is they have a valve, and they open at 0700 in the morning. So I cleaned up the area, and put all of the tools away for the night.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY working on the computer. It was way too cold, 28° to go outside and work, or go to the shop which has no heat.

Had to go into New Iberia to have a procedure done on my toe. On the way to the doctor, I stopped off at a hardware store and purchased a Milwaukee hole saw. Plan on using it to cut the circles I need out of ¼” stainless steel plate.

Came back to DREAM AWAY, and relaxed. Drained water from system in shower trailer because a hard freeze is predicted for tonight.

Watched national championship football game on TV.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY working on the computer, again trying to get caught up on email and doing a lot of research. Some of the research is for upcoming social events, but also for DREAM AWAY projects.

Around 1100, we headed out of the marina with Johnal and Cindy off of the cruising yacht RUTHIE, and went to Cafe Jefferson for lunch. Before we went into the Cafe, we watched the film on Jefferson Island and the Lake Peigneur disaster. After a scrumptious lunch and a wonderful visit, we took Johnal and Cindy on the tour of the Joseph Jefferson Mansion.

After the lunch and the tour, we ran a couple of errands, and drove around Abbeville and Erath a bit, then we headed back to the marina.

We did what is necessary to prepare for the hard freeze that is coming to the area. I emptied the holding tank on the shower trailer, filled up the on-board water tank in the shower trailer, and disconnected the hose for city water to the shower trailer.

We topped off the water tanks on DREAM AWAY, and then I shut off the water to the docks in the marina. Hopefully, that is all that will be necessary.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

I went to the shop first thing and I brought along one bottle of propane, and all of the drills, taps, and dies I will be needing for the fabrication process of the pieces of pipe.

I set up my Oxy-Propane torch with the cutting tip to see if I could cut away the excess metal of the plate from the bottom of the pipe. The Oxy-Propane torch did cut away some of the stainless steel plate, but the propane does not get as hot as acetylene so it did not do a great job. This is not a solution! It left such a ragged edge, I still had to use the grinder a lot to get a smooth circle.

I have to cut 12 of these circles, so I have to come up with a better solution. I will do some research on hole saws.

I finally got one piece of pipe with the end piece smoothed out, and drilled a hole in the plate at the end of the pipe.

Pipe With End Plate And Hole Drilled

I then tapped out the hole and screwed in one of the fabricated rings. I now had one of the six pieces of pipe needed all of 50% fabricated.

Pipe With Fabricated Ring Screwed In

I then set up to weld another small piece of plate onto the end of a piece of pipe.

Welding Pipe Set Up

I welded the end onto the piece of pipe, and eventually smoothed down the edges. I drilled and tapped the hole in the end of the pipe and fabricated another ring. When I had finished, I decided to do all of this fabrication in a different way.

Instead of doing one end of a pipe at a time, I decided to do all of one thing to completion, so I am not doing so many set ups! I then cut all of the rings for the pipe ends using the chop saw. I then cut the remaining 6 pieces of stainless steel threaded rod so I could fabricate the six rings for the pipe.

This day was over, so I cleaned up the shop, put all of the tools back where they need to be, and headed back to DREAM AWAY.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Did not go to the shop first thing in the morning due to the cold! It was 3> when I woke up at 0530! I worked on the computer and did the December Maintenance Log. I also did some catching up on emails and scanning in documents and greeting cards.

When it warmed up a bit, I went out to take some pictures of the broken hinge on one of the gates at the marina that is used to gain access to our dumpster and Port-O-Potty.

Broken Hinge On Marina Gate

Kitty got up, we had breakfast, and we headed over to the Port of Delcambre office, and finished the clean up. The Port of Delcambre had purchased some new shelves, so we put them together. We moved some furniture around the office, and loaded the shelves with stuff that had been on the floor or the work tables.

There was more trash and one folding table we loaded into the Black Beast.

Newly Erected Shelving In Front Office

Other Side Of Front Office

Newly Arranged Back Office

We then drove over to the Port of Delcambre storage facility, and dropped off the folding table. Kitty dropped me off at the shop while she went to Champagne’s grocery store in Erath.

I checked the status of the gelcoat I had applied yesterday, and it had not completely set up.

I then started working on the mounts I am building for the hand-holds in the main cabin. We will use these when we are underway. We had changed our minds about the way we were going to fabricate these hand-holds.

Initially, we were planning to put up permanent handholds constructed of stainless steel pipe, and anchored to the overhead in the main cabin. Since we are actually underway a very small percentage of the time, we decided to make the hand holds removeable, so when not under way, they could be stored aboard.

Our new idea is to use a small piece of stainless steel pipe, about 4” long, with a piece of ¼” plate welded on each end it. The end pieces will be drilled and tapped. One end of the pipe will screw into a permanently mounted ½” bolt in the main cabin overhead. The opposite end of the pipe will have a fitting to be screwed into the pipe that has a ring on it to accommodate a piece of large diameter hand-hold line.

This system will be mounted during passages. Another advantage of the rope system is that the taller crew members will not have a piece of pipe to bang their heads into, and the rope can hang down enough for the vertically challenged crew members to grab.

Now onto the fabrication of the pieces of pipe. As it turns out, the most difficult part of the fabrication process is cutting the round pieces to weld onto the end of the pipe.

I initially started out using a stainless steel blade in my Bosch jig saw, but the blade was too wide to make the round cut I needed, so I dispensed with this approach.

Next, I tried a hole saw in the drill press, and it did cut, but it seemed to be slow, and I was afraid the hole saw would not hold up.

Setup With Hole Saw On Drill Press

I decided to use the smallest piece of ¼” plate I had, and weld it onto the piece of pipe to see if I could use the grinder to remove the excess metal.

Setting Up To Weld Pipe To Plate

I decided to work on getting at least one piece of pipe completed at one end. I cut off a piece of the stainless steel pipe to be the ring, and I had some left over ⅜” stainless steel threaded rod that I welded together.

Rod And Ring Ready For Welding

Rod And Ring Welded Together

As it turns out I did not have the taps with me at the shop, so I could not complete one of the pipes.

I decided to cut out the six round pieces of fiberglass plate that will be needed on the outside of the main cabin to secure the ½” bolts. My plan is to glass the round pieces to the outside deck, then drill through the fiberglass plate and the main cabin overhead through which the bolt can penetrate. I will then glass the plate onto the deck, and cover the bolt over with fiberglass, so there is no chance of leaking.

Cutting Round Pieces Of Fiberglass On Drill Press

When it is all finished, it will look good both inside the main cabin and outside on deck. It will also add a degree of safety during an offshore passage.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Went over to the shop and spent some time working on the Sony video camera. None of the three batteries would take a charge, but the AC adapter plugged into the camera, and I could load and unload the video tape.

I then broke out my new Stanley TwinTec ratcheting wrench. I will be using this tool as much as possible in the coming months to see how it holds up, and how useful it really is. Time will tell.

Stanley TwinTec Ratcheting Wrench In The Package

Stanley TwinTec Ratcheting Wrench Large Socket End

Stanley TwinTec Ratcheting Wrench Small Socket End

The weather was much warmer than I had expected it would be, so I decided I could apply the first coat of gelcoat on the second side of the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. First thing was to sand down the second side of all the uprights, then wipe them all down with the tack rag.

Uprights Ready For Gelcoat Application

Storm Anchor Parts Ready For Gelcoat Application

I then put together all of the items needed for the preparation and application of the gelcoat. I mixed up a small batch of gelcoat and applied it to the fiberglass hard dodger uprights and the storm anchor parts.

First Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To Hard Dodger Uprights Second Side

First Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To The Hard Dodger Uprights

First Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To Storm Anchor Parts Second Side

When that was completed, I went back to DREAM AWAY and had breakfast. After breakfast, Kitty and I went to the Port of Delcambre office, and did some clean up. We straightened up the office in preparation for some shelf installation. We also collected and threw away a lot of materials that were out of date. We then packed up all of the stuff having to do with the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market, and moved it over to the Port of Delcambre storage facility.

When all of the cleaning up, moving, and trash emptying was completed, the day was pretty much over.

We did pick up two packages that were delivered, that were late Christmas presents. One present was to ourselves and it is the

Woll Nowo 9.5” X 9.5” square frying pan. This pan is perfect for our small stove in the galley. It gives us more cooking space in the frying pan than a round frying pan. A very nice feature of this frying pan is that the handle is removable so the pan can also be used in the oven as a baking dish. We are really looking forward to using the frying pan.

The second gift was a box of Candy Basket salted caramels that I had ordered to give to Kitty for Christmas.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

It was a pretty lazy day as it was cold and rainy all day. I caught up on some more on email, and started the process of getting the December Maintenance Log up on the web page. We also watched some football, and did some reading.

Of course being good Southerners, our first meal of the day included black-eyed peas.

In the evening, we went out to a birthday party at a friend’s house here in Delcambre. It was a very nice party and we enjoyed the food. We increased our chances for more good luck by having boiled cabbage and black-eyed peas while there.

We came back home to DREAM AWAY, and I worked on the Maintenance Log while Kitty showered. Then got into our bed, nicely warmed with the electric mattress pad, and went to sleep.