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.

Today is going to be a busy day, so I got started early. I went over to the Port of Delcambre's storage room and pick up the lawn mower and fuel tank. Then back to the marina to weed all of the gardens. When I had weeded all of the gardens, and trimmed the grass at the edges of the parking lot and gardens, I mowed the lawns in the marina.

T-Boy Renard, the dockmaster at the marina, came over and we went through all that had to be done to move the shower trailer for the upcoming Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market. Kitty and I will be on our trip to Puerto Rico, so T-Boy will have to move the shower trailer to and from the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market by himself.

When T-Boy had left, it was time for me to get busy cleaning out all of the raw water strainers and manifold. Since we will be gone for ten days to Puerto Rico, I did not want to have any issues with these systems.

I cleaned out the main strainer for the manifold (Sea Chest), and the manifold (Sea Chest). Also cleaned out the strainers for the ice maker cooling pump, the refrigeration cooling pump and the forward air conditioner cooling pumps. During this cleaning process, I also cleaned out the hoses for all of the cooling pumps using high pressure water from the dock.

Main Strainer For The Manifold (Sea Chest)

The Manifold (Sea Chest)

I took apart the the refrigeration cooling pump head and made sure it was clean, then put it back into service. I also moved the original ice maker cooling pump back into the system and removed the spare cooling pump.

Ice Maker Cooling Pump

Refrigeration Cooling Pump With Hoses Being Cleaned

By the time this project was finished it was time to prepare dinner and get packed for the trip to Puerto Rico. We have to drive to New Orleans tomorrow leaving Delcambre at 0600!

Did not go to the shop, but stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on the computer and scanning in papers.

Drove into New Iberia to the hospital so Kitty could get her annual reclast IV. To make a long story short it did not happen. It will have to be looked into to see what the issue is with her kidneys.

On the way back home, the Black Beast died on us! It was touch and go, and then we decided to call the GM Motor club. They could not help us, so after waiting an hour, the Black Beast had cooled down a bit. I started the Black Beast and it ran fine. We drove it to the mechanic and left it with him. I am sure it will not fail for him, so he will not be able to find the problem!

When we finally got back to DREAM AWAY, we unpacked some of our stuff, and then went off to Abbeville with our good friend Bonnie to a concert at the Vermillion Parish Public library. It was a wonderful treat!

Back home after a dinner at Shuck’s, I then prepared the food for the cats while we are on our trip to Puerto Rico. Bonnie will be feeding Jillian and Jordan while we are 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, but stayed on DREAM AWAY and continued working on email and the Maintenance Logs. I am making progress, emails are at an acceptable level, and I am working on finishing up the March Maintenance Log.

After breakfast, I started work on an experiment. Yesterday, I had loaded several empty buckets and kitty litter containers into Ruby, which I brought down to DREAM AWAY. I also brought down two tubs that we keep at the marina in which to wash lines.

The experiment is to put all of these containers on the bow of DREAM AWAY and see if the generator exhaust is out of the water enough that I could move the exhaust. I also lowered the tender into the water to take that weight off of the stern of DREAM AWAY.

The experiment was successful in that the exhaust for the generator is completely out of the water, but not enough to do a replacement while DREAM AWAY is still in the water. Exhaust outlet work will have to wait until I have DREAM AWAY out for a bottom job.

Tubs And Buckets On Bow Of DREAM AWAY

I emptied all of the bucket and tubs, and returned them to their proper location. I left the tender in the water, as I needed it to work on the leak in the aft cabin.

We had located the source of the aft cabin leak a couple of days ago, so now I was going to fix it. Along the stern of DREAM AWAY, where the hull to deck joint is, is a crack in the fiberglass. This is the source of the leak.

I had to scrape out the crack to get to good solid fiberglass on either side of the crack. My goal was to clean out all of the area, even though some of the crack was not leaking at the time. Sort of some preventive maintenance.

Captain In The Tender Working On The Crack

Source Of The Aft Cabin Leak

Other Areas Of The Stern That Were Cleaned Out

Once I got all of the crack cleaned out, I wiped down the area with acetone, and then applied Bondo Glass short hair filler putty. This is a filler putty with short fiberglass strands in it, so it is a structural filler putty rather than a finishing putty.

Structural Bondo Glass Filler Putty Applied To Repair Area

This filler putty sets up very quick, so I sanded down all of the filler putty, and applied the finishing putty to the whole repair area. Time was running out, and I did not have time to sand down the finishing putty application.

Finishing Putty Applied To Repair Area

Since the point of this exercise was to repair a leak, I had Kitty get in the aft cabin where the leak is (hopefully was) and keep an eye on the area while I ran water from the hose over the area. Previously, when I ran water over the area, the water appeared in the aft cabin within 15 seconds. This time I ran water over the area for three full minutes, and no leak!! This is great news.

I put the tender back onto the davits, cleaned up the area, put all of the tools and stuff away, and hit the shower!

I slept in this morning until 0700. Must be the effects of the cold and medicine. 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, but stayed on DREAM AWAY and continued working on email and the Maintenance Logs. We had a very late breakfast, as Kitty slept in until 1030. She is recovering from her cold also.

After breakfast, I tested the new Autopilot control head friends Nicola and Noel ordered, and had sent to us. It worked perfectly here in the slip. When we get to some open water, will have to check it again to make sure it actually steers the boat!

Raymarine ST7000+ Control Head Powered Up

I went over to the shop got to work on the console for Ruby. I sanded down the bottom of one of the lids on the console. Theoretically, I am ready to put on the first coat of varnish when I leave the shop today.

Sanded Cover Bottom From Console

Seam In Console Before Epoxy Application

Seam In Console After Epoxy Application

Next, I got started cutting the spacers required for the solar panel risers. I have to cut 36 ¼” spacers from a piece of stainless steel tubing. Once I cut them off with a hacksaw, they have to be filed down to make all of the edges smooth.

Cutting Spacers From Stainless Steel Tubing

I did not finish cutting all of the spacers, but I did finish trimming and polishing all 16 of the risers for the solar panels. I still must get some more bolts and wing nuts to finish that part of the project. The next part will be to drill four holes in each riser, so I can attach the risers to the hard Bimini.

I went to get the console pieces ready for the varnish application. When I looked at the console, I decided I needed to fill more of the gaps in the bottom with the thickened epoxy. I taped up the seams in the console, and then mixed up a pot of thickened epoxy. I applied the epoxy to the seams, so it will have to wait until tomorrow for the varnish.

Did not go to the shop first thing, but stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on email and the Maintenance Logs. The email situation is getting to a manageable level, and I am caught up on the April Maintenance log.

I decided not to work on the leak in the after cabin today, because of wind and tide conditions. Tomorrow the wind will be out of the south, which will blow the dust away from the boat. Also, late in the morning, and all afternoon, the tide will be incoming, so that will tend to keep the tender from banging into DREAM AWAY.

After breakfast, I went over to the shop and started in on the console for Ruby. I got all of the sanding done, but decided to add more of the thickened epoxy to the console.

Bottom Of Sanded Console

I decided to add the thickened epoxy mixture to the seams in the bottom of the console. This would keep small objects from falling out , and also make the total unit stronger. I also added some battens to increase support.

Spaces Can Be Seen In The Bottom Of The Console

I then taped up the seams, mixed up two pots of the epoxy, thickened, and applied it to the console.

Console With Epoxy Added And All Clamped Together

Next, I worked on the vacuum cleaner. I really miss having it, as I like to keep the shop clean. I took the motor assembly apart, and verified that I was getting power past the Off/On switch. The problem must be somewhere in the brushes. I took the motor apart and cleaned the brushes and the armature. When I put it all back together, it still would not run. It looks as if I will have to purchase a new one.

Vacuum Cleaner Motor All Apart

Next, I started working on the risers for the solar panels. I had come up with a method to duplicate the notches needed in the riser bases using the drill press and the drill press vice. I continued with this method, and finished all 16 riser bases and the adjusters. I finish the notches in the riser with a file, so that is all done.

Filing Out Notches On Solar Panel Risers

I still have to drill the mounting holes in all of the riser bases, and do some minor finish work on all of the pieces, but I should be able to get that all completed this week.

The last item for the day was to put the JB Weld repaired raw water cooling pump back together.

Raw Water Cooling Pump In Pieces

I put the pump back together and tested it using the battery installed in Ruby. The pump worked, so now I will have to install it back into the system to see if will continue to work.

I went to the shop first thing and worked on sanding down the console for Ruby. I made significant progress, but did not finish completely sanding the console.

Next I worked on the drilling out the notches on the base for the solar panel risers. Yesterday I had successfully drilled out a notch in the riser, so I continued with that same set up. The three remaining notches did not go as well. I still have to work on a method that is repeatable. As you can see from the photo, not one notch is the same as the other.

The Four Notches Drilled Into The Solar Panel Riser Base

I went back to DREAM AWAY for breakfast, and after breakfast I started to work on the raw water cooling pump for the ice maker. I had noticed this morning that the ice maker was working fine, but the raw water cooling pump was not coming on. This needed to be looked into and repaired, or it could burn out the ice maker compressor.

I turned off the ice maker and then started it again to be sure the pump was being turned on by the ice make electronics. This was not happening. I verified that I was getting the 12 VDC to the ice maker, but it was not switching the 12VDC to the raw water cooling pump.

I disconnected the raw water cooling pump from the ice make circuit and connected it directly to the battery, the pump still did not work. The good news is I had repaired the spare raw water cooling pump, so I verified its operation by connecting it to the battery.

I removed the old pump and installed the spare replacement pump. I started up the ice maker again, and still it did not switch the 12 VDC from the ice maker to the raw water cooling pump. I had two problems, and now I have one problem. The solid state relay in the ice maker is not working, so I will have to troubleshoot that problem. I will take the removed raw water cooling pump over to the shop and see what the problem is with it.

While I was working on the ice maker problems, Kitty took our laundry into New Iberia, and she had now returned. We were now going to see if we could track down the source of the leak near the port cleat in the aft cabin. I used a hose, and we were able to pinpoint the source of the leak.

The leak is a crack in the fiberglass on the very stern of DREAM AWAY just under the stern anchor. Now that I have located the leak, all I have to do is fix it! It would not be today, so we cleaned up the area, and I went back to the shop.

When I got over to the shop, I decided to inventory the fasteners Kitty had picked up from LeBlanc Oil. These fasteners are going to be used on the Tantalus mast step project early next year.

Bolts, Washers, And Nuts For The Mast Step

I then started work on the raw water cooling pump for the ice maker. This pump can also be used for the refrigeration system cooling pump. I took off the pump head , and of course it was very dirty. The water here in the Delcambre Canal is not very clean, so it does tend to clog up diaphragm pumps.

I took the motor out to Ruby, and connected it to the battery, and the motor worked just fine. I then went in and took apart the pump head, and that is when I discovered the pressed fitting in the bearing was just turning inside the bearing race, and not turning the pump.

I concluded that my only attempt to repair the problem was to use JB Weld. I cleaned up the fitting and the bearing race. I then mixed up a very small batch of JB Weld, and applied it to the parts. I hope it will fix the problem, but I must check to see if I have a spare pump head.

Raw Water Cooling Pump With JB Weld Applied

I next got the four aluminum cleats I will be using on the hard dodger sliding windows, and cleaned them up with the stainless steel wire wheel.

Four Cleats Polished Up For Use

Now it was time to get back to the issue of drilling out the notches in the risers for the solar panels. I had come up with a plan to use the drill press vice to hold the riser, and prevent the drill bit from moving away from the riser.

I did the deed on one riser, and it was successful. After drilling out the notches, I used a file to finish the notch, and then cleaned up the riser with 120 grit flap disk on my high speed grinder.

Drilling The Notches In The Riser

Finished Riser With Adjuster, Side View

Finished Riser With Adjuster, Top View

This method proved itself, and I was able to do four more risers before the afternoon was gone. I will finish off the risers tomorrow.

Did not go to the shop first thing this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on getting caught up on emails and the Maintenance Logs. Getting really close on the emails. I have the April Maintenance Log caught up, now I have to get the March Maintenance Log finished.

After breakfast, I went over to the shop and started in on the console for Ruby. The work I had done yesterday looked great. I sorted through the console parts and selected the ones I would need to complete the fabrication of the console. I sat them aside, to be sanded and prepared for varnishing.

Console Parts Set Aside For Varnishing

I had one more seam I had to fill with epoxy so I got that prepared. I mixed up a pot of epoxy thickened with teak dust and applied it to the seam, and then clamped the console together.

Console Clamped Together

The Actual Seam Filled With Thickened Epoxy

I took the selected console pieces, and took them outside and scraped and sanded them down. As soon as the main console box is sanded, we are ready to apply varnish.

When I was vacuuming the tablesaw area, to clean up after working on the console parts, I realized I needed to lubricate the vacuum cleaner motor. It was making some strange sounds due to the fact that some of the dust ends up inside the motor.

I took the motor housing apart, lubricated the motor bushings, and then put it all back together. Now the vacuum runs perfectly again.

Vacuum Motor Assembly

Vacuum Motor Assembly All Apart

Now it was back to working on the solar panel risers. I cut the last two aluminum pieces lengthwise. Now I had to weld some pieces together to create a riser. Originally I did not have enough scrap pieces to make all 16 risers. I was able to weld two pieces together to create a riser . I did this twice.

First Welded Riser

Second Welded Riser

When I completed the welding task, it was necessary to cut the two risers to their required 11” length. I did this with the Evolution Rage III miter saw.

Cutting Aluminum Risers With Evolution Rage III Miter Saw

When the tow fabricated risers had been cut to their proper length I got out the Bosch Jig Saw and cut the risers lengthwise.

Now I had all 16 risers fabricated and cut lengthwise. I now had to try and see if I would be able to drill out notches in the riser base for the actual riser to set in. I set up the drill press, and did a test drill. A couple of very small problems, but I was able to drill out a very nice notch in one of the riser bases.

It was time to head back to DREAM AWAY, but now I only have 63 more notches to drill out.

Did not go to the shop first thing this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on getting caught up on emails and the Maintenance Logs. It was a bit cold to do any outside work, but it was supposed to warm up in the afternoon.

I did go over to the shop after Kitty got up and we had breakfast. Kitty went off to get her hair done, and I went to the shop.

First item to work on is the console out of Ruby. I sorted through all of the parts that I needed to put back on the console, and did a dry fit of those parts.

Console Ready For Epoxy Application

I mixed up a pot of epoxy thickened with some teak dust, and applied it to all of the places I had dry fit console parts. After I applied the epoxy mixture, I clamped the parts together.

Console With Epoxy And Clamps Applied

I started in again on cutting up the risers I am fabricating for the solar panels that I will be purchasing. We have decided to order the panels while we are in Puerto Rico, that way they will be delivered just when we return from the trip.

I have cut the the risers to their 11” length, but now I am cutting all of the risers lengthwise to give me the base and the riser. I did manage to get half of them cut.

Setup For Cutting The Risers With The Bosch Jig Saw

I left the shop around 1530 and went by LeBlanc Oil to see if the bolts had arrived that I am ordering for the Tantalus mast step project. They had not arrived, so I went back to the marina, and worked in the gardens.

Did not go to the shop this morning. I stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on getting caught up on emails and scanning in documents. Still not caught up, but making progress.

The day did clear up , and I went into New Iberia for a doctor’s appointment. When I returned, it was back to computer work. I left again around 1700 to pick Kitty up at the Amtrak station in New Iberia.

Alan had not been feeling very good yesterday, and the cold was getting to him. He decided he wanted to go home, so we made reservations on the Amtrak train for this morning. Kitty is accompanying Alan to make sure he gets home with no problems.

Cheryl, his caregiver, has made a doctor’s appointment for Alan tomorrow.

Did not go to the shop this morning, but stayed on DREAM AWAY and worked on getting caught up on email and other computer work.

Around 1100 we went to the train station in New Iberia, and Kitty and Alan headed to Houston. I went back to DREAM AWAY and worked on more emails, scanning and the Maintenance Logs.

No projects done today, as the weather turned bad, rainy and cold - again!

Alan and I went over to the shop we started in on the console fabrication for Ruby. I have already done all of the cutting, now it is time to get it back together.

I mixed up a pot of thickened epoxy, and applied it to the console where I am putting the side of the console back together. I also applied some of the epoxy between two pieces of wood on the back of the console.

Thickened Epoxy Applied To Console

Next on the project list is continue work on fabricating the risers for the solar panels to be installed on top of the hard Bimini. I did the major cutting with the power tools, while Alan did the fine work with a file. I am having issues cutting a straight line with the Bosch jig saw. I will get that worked out.

Cutting Aluminum Pieces With Evolution Rage III Miter Saw

Alan Filing Aluminum Pieces

Setting Up To Cut Aluminum Piece With Bosch Jig Saw

Kitty called and said she was awake, so we cleaned up the area, put the tools and tables away, and went over to DREAM AWAY for breakfast.

After breakfast we got to work on several small projects. The first on the list was to install a new Taylor weather station. this is an indoor/outdoor wireless unit. The base station is indoors, and it will support up to three remote sensors. The system comes with just one remote sensor, but I will be ordering at least one more for the engine room, and probably one for the refrigerator. I installed the base unit beside the barometer and the analog clock.

Taylor Weather Station Installed On Bulkhead

Closeup of Taylor Base Station

Now it was time to get to work on the ice maker. It was giving me a few problems lately. It would not pop the ice out of the tray, and I know what the problem is. The electrical connections in the unit are just a press connection, nothing very positive. These connections tend to be a problem in the wet environment they live in.

I took the front of the ice head off, and cleaned all of the connections, then put it back together. That fixed the problem, so now it is happily making lots of ice!

Ice Maker After Repair

Next project on the list was to install the backing plate and cover for the turning block on deck that had the bolts coming through in the head. I finally got the leak fixed, so I felt good about putting it all back together.

It is a two man job as we need one person on the outside deck holding the head of the bolt, and a second person inside putting on the nuts and tightening the nuts.

Backing Plate Installed And Decorative Cover Installed

I had finished varnishing the teak wire cover for the head, but had not got it installed. This again is pretty much a two person job. One person to do the drilling, and the second person to hold the vacuum cleaner to keep the mess to a minimum.

Electrical Wire Hanging In The Head

Teak Wire Cover Installed Over Overhead Wire

Jim And Alan Working On Wire Cover Installation

The remainder of the day was spent on applying the sealant around the outside and inside of the windows in the hard dodger. When I got to applying the sealant on the inside of the windows, I did not use masking tape, and the application went very well.

Sealant Applied To Outside Windows, Starboard Side

Masked Windows Port Side

The non sliding windows on the hard dodger are all sealed in. Now we have to decide on the handles for the moving windows, and all of the windows will be complete.

Next big project will be to get the top put on the hard dodger.

Alan and I went over to the shop and unloaded Ruby. We had to make room in the shop to store the grating and the Extren fiberglass plate. After we got the grating and the Extren fiberglass plate moved into the shop, we had to put back all of the material we had moved to make room in the first place.

Unloading The Extren Fiberglass Plate

Grating Unloaded And In The Shop

We worked on Ruby a bit. I adjusted one of the hood studs so the hood looked liked it closed. I also put water into the windshield washer reservoir, and it did not leak. That was the good news, the bad news is the windshield washer outlets do not squirt any water on the windshield, so that will have to be worked on.

The lock button on the back passenger door had come out so we took that door apart to fix that problem, which we did.

We then got out the Optix acrylic sheet, as we had to cut a new window. I had trimmed one of the stationary windows too small so I had to have it redone. I also had to trim the center stationary window for the hard dodger as it was not even across the top.

Cutting the Optix Acrylic Sheet

When we finished the cutting, we loaded the two new windows into Ruby, and went over to DREAM AWAY for lunch. After lunch, Alan took a nap, and I worked in the marina gardens.

We then started with applying the BoatLife LifeSeal sealant to the fixed windows on the hard dodger. First item is to mask off the area where the sealant is being applied with masking tape. When the tape is applied, then you apply the sealant, smooth it out with a wet, soapy finger, then remove the masking tape. Of course the idea is to keep the sealant only where it is applied. Keep a good supply of paper towels handy!

I got the BoatLife LifeSeal sealant applied to the outside of the starboard and forward windows. I ran out of time before I got the sealant applied to the port windows.

Drove to Clear Lake Shores, Texas to visit with friends, and to register Ruby in our name in Texas. We also had to pick up some Strongwell Extren fiberglass plate for the mast step project on Tantalus. I also picked up some grating to be used on the sail handling platform on DREAM AWAY.

We had no trouble or any problems with Ruby, except I must have the transmission looked into. It jumps out of reverse gear, and that is a real problem.

We picked up our good friend Alan while in Clear Lake Shores and brought him with us to Delcambre. He will be helping me with some projects on DREAM AWAY for the next week or so.

On the way into Delcambre we stopped by Rays Auto Repair and picked up the Black Beast. Ray had repaired the broken oil cooling line that had ruptured. When he replaced both lines last month, one of the lines had rubbed against some metal and wore a hole in the line. Ray fixed it all for no charge, so we are good to go there.

One event that happened while we were in Clear Lake Shores, our cruisers Cindy and Johnal left North Pier Marina to continue east. They arrived at the marina in December of 2013, and we really have enjoyed having them around. They are good company with social activities and good help with various projects. They will be missed.

Attended business plan workshop in Chalmette, Louisiana. After the workshop drove home to Delcambre. We made the trip in the Black Beast. When we arrived at the marina, there was a large amount of oil leaking out from under the engine.

We moved all of the tools and supplies from the Black Beast to Ruby, and took the Black Beast over to Ray’s automotive. He is going to look at the problem while we make the trip to Houston to pick up the Strongwell Extren fiberglass plate, and some grating.

We then attended the monthly Port of Delcambre meeting.

Worked on the computer most of the morning trying to get caught up on email and getting the Epson NX330 flatbed scanner to work on Linux. I downloaded the VueScan software for Linux, and was able to perform a scan using the Epson NX330 scanner.

Kitty got up early, so we had breakfast, and then went over to the shop. We had two more pieces of Optix acrylic sheet to cut out for the hard dodger windows. We finished cutting out the pieces, and cleaned up the shop. We loaded all of the window pieces we had cut out into Ruby, and drove back to the marina.

Cut Acrylic Ready To Be Put Into Truck

Set Up For A Cut Of Acrylic

Acrylic Pieces Loaded Into Ruby

Before we left the shop, I checked to see if the “new” console would fit in the area of Ruby between the two front seats with the back seat down. The console fit great, now all I have to do is put it completely back together.

Captain Testing Console Fit

We brought all of the cut window pieces down to DREAM AWAY, and started to fit the windows into the hard dodger uprights. It was obvious, I had been generous in cutting out the windows for the hard dodger, and I would need to “adjust” the windows. It was also obvious I would need to get some tools and equipment from the shop to be able to continue.

I drove back to the shop and loaded into Ruby, my Bosch jig saw, some clamps, a long piece of aluminum flat bar, a piece of plywood for a table, and two large plastic buckets. I went back to the marina, and hauled all of this stuff down to the dock next to DREAM AWAY.

Kitty and I then set up on the dock and started “adjusting” the windows to fit into the channels of the hard dodger up rights. When we were finished I had “adjusted “ nine of the ten just right, but I had cut one window too small. I would have to cut another piece of the Optix acrylic sheet to fit the last window.

Captain Adjusting A Window To Fit

Captain Sitting By Fitted Windows

Captain Preparing Another Cut

Windows Installed In Hard Dodger Frame

When we return from our various travels this week, I will finish the job. I also have to fabricate the handles for the sliding windows in the hard dodger.

We cleaned up around the dock, and I hauled all of the stuff back to Ruby, and then back to the shop. When I got back to the marina, I then had to empty holding tank in shower trailer. When that task was completed, I took a shower, Kitty and I packed up, and we drove over to Chalmette, Louisiana, so we could attend a workshop tomorrow morning.

Worked on the computer most of the morning trying to get caught up on email and getting the printer and scanners to work on Linux. I was successful with our Epson NX330 network printer.

Now I have to get the Fujitsu S300M scanner to work, and the scanner on the Epson NX330 working.

I was actually under a hundred emails in my inbox when we left for the shop after breakfast. Kitty and I went over to the shop, as we were going to be using the templates to cut the pieces for the hard dodger out of a 4’ X 8’ sheet of Optix acrylic sheet.

Handling a 4’ X 8’ sheet of anything is difficult for one person, so having some help makes it much easier. Using the templates we marked and measured until we got the best usage of the first sheet of Optix acrylic sheet. We then set up a fence on all of the cuts so we would be cutting a straight line using my Bosch jig saw. We made significant progress, but had to leave the shop at 1330.

Setting Up Optix Acrylic Sheet To Make Cuts

Pieces During Cutting Operations

Captain Doing The Cuts

Admiral Getting Ready To Cut

Went back to DREAM AWAY and got ready to go to New Iberia to see a locally performed play, Tuesdays with Morrie. It was a great play, sad most of the time, happy at times and insightful most often. We went to the play with Cindy and Johnal, and after the play, we stopped and had dinner.

Up and at em’ at 0445. I made a pot of coffee, and fed our two cats Jillian and Jordan. I arrived at the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds at 0515. I finished the setup of the shower trailer, then directed the vender traffic to their sites for the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market. We closed the gate at 0750, then went to the registration desk, and Kitty and I worked the registration table until the market closed at 1300.

Kitty and I did take a break and strolled through the market and of course purchased some goodies to eat.

After the market shut down, we got the shower trailer ready for transportation. This means draining the fresh water tank, removing the railings for the steps, and then folding the steps up to transport mode. We moved the shower trailer back to the marina, and got it set up there.

We got the water turned on, the electricity connected, and then changed out the trash bins in each room. Kitty cleaned up each room, and then I mopped out each room.

We then drove over to the Port of Delcambre store room and unloaded all of the accessories that I had removed from the folding tent storage bags.

It was back to the marina and down to DREAM AWAY with the final template for the hard dodger. We measured and cut and got the fitting of the template perfect. Now we have all of the templates cut for all of the hard dodger windows. Hopefully we can get them cut out tomorrow.

Did not go to the shop first thing this morning, but stayed on DREAM AWAY working to catch up on email, scanning and the Maintenance Logs.

Had to empty the holding tank in shower trailer, and prepare it for the move to the Shrimp Festival grounds. T-Boy and I got all of the stairs put up and the railings and hose loaded into the Black Beast. We then hitched the shower trailer to the Black Beast and took it over to the Shrimp Festival grounds in preparation for the Delcambre Seafood and Farmer’s Market tomorrow morning.

We set up the shower trailer, filled the fresh water tank, but did not put down the steps. I will do that tomorrow morning when I arrive at the Shrimp Festival grounds at 0515.

I then went over to the shop and cut the last template needed for the hard dodger windows.

Cardboard Ready To Cut Out Template

I then got to work on the wooden console for Ruby. I had already cut it apart, now it was time to start putting it back together. The very back of the console had previously been broken, so I started with repairing that not very good repair. I mixed up a pot of epoxy and applied it to the two pieces and clamped it together.

Back Of Console Epoxied And Clamped

When I was taking the console apart, I discovered one of the cup holders was split into two pieces, so I applied epoxy to each half and clamped them together.

Cup Holder Epoxied And Clamped

Went over to the shop and removed the console from Ruby. I had measured the allowed length of the console by putting the rear seat down. I then cut out a length of the console and pretty much took the console apart. Now it will just be a matter of getting the console all back together, taking maximum advantage of the space allowed.

Ruby’s Console Cut In Half

Now I got out all of the big pieces of cardboard that we will be using for the hard dodger window templates. I cut out all of the templates, and added a little bit on each side so that I would have plenty of material. I did not want to come up short.

Went back to DREAM AWAY, and after breakfast, Kitty and I did the final fitting of all of the templates. It was a lot of fun doing the work, as the wind was really blowing. It made it difficult to try and fit a piece of cardboard into a small space with the wind trying to blow the cardboard away.

Cardboard Templates In Hard Dodger Frame

Captain Cutting Templates For Fit

We finished all of the cutting and fitting, I took the templates up to Ruby.

Taking Templates Up To Ruby

I then took a shower, got cleaned up and we went to New Iberia to see a movie and have dinner with Cindy and Johnal.

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 most of the day working on Ruby. I did not take any new photos of her, but I promise to do so soon. The truck was very dirty inside, so I did a pretty thorough cleaning. I cleaned as many surfaces as I could get to, and vacuumed most of the truck also. It still needs more cleaning up, but that will come as time goes on.

I removed the third seat and hung it up in the shop out of the way. I also removed the front console, as it was too long. I could not put down the back seat to get my space needed to haul boat parts. I will have to cut up the console, epoxy it back together, and then varnish it up properly before it goes back into Ruby.

Dashboard And Steering Wheel Of Ruby

I checked the oil and water in Ruby, and applied a good coat of Rain-X to all of the windows.

I then went over to the marina so I could get Kitty’s help fixing the window and tailgate in Ruby. The window in the tailgate would hang when you put it down or up, and the tailgate was very difficult to open.

I removed all of the panels from the tailgate so I could see and watch the window mechanism work. The problem is once the tailgate is closed, I can not operate the window. That was Kitty’s job. Working together, I was able to find the problem and fix it for now. It still needs some work.

The window had bent the opening mechanism for the tailgate. Once I bent the correct piece back to where it was supposed to be, the tailgate opened properly, and the window did not hang up any more. Another problem fixed.

Kitty and I then went down to DREAM AWAY and made the final measurements for the templates for the hard dodger windows.

When that was complete, I got a much needed shower, and we both got dressed and went to the monthly meeting of our detachment of the Marine Corps League.

Went over to the shop and looked into the repair of the spare generator fresh water pump. As mentioned yesterday, there is a hole in the pump. I mixed up a batch of JB Weld and applied it to the hole and some other bad areas of the pump.

Water Pump With Hole Showing

I need to mow the grass at the marina, so I got the lawn mower from the Port of Delcambre’s storage room. I removed the blade from the mower, and sharpened the blade. Hopefully this will make the grass cutting go much easier.

Lawn Mower Outside Shop

Johnal had replaced his Raymarine radar system on his boat, and gave me the old unit. I am going to see if I can get it working, or salvage some parts from it to use on my Autohelm Radar.

Old Radar In The Shop

My next door neighbor on the dock had got rid of some drawers from his boat, so I also took them over to the shop. I just might find a use for them!

Old Drawers At The Shop

I then loaded all of the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger into Ruby, and the lawn mower and gas can, and drove over to the marina.

I weeded the gardens and mowed the grass at the marina. It looks very good for the residents. The weeds seem like they are taking over the area.

I then hauled all of the hard dodger uprights down to DREAM AWAY, and installed all of them. The good news is they all fit, even after so long. Now we have to make the templates out of cardboard so I can finally get the windows in place, and hopefully finish the job.

Hard Dodger Uprights Starboard Front

Hard Dodger Uprights Starboard Side

Hard Dodger Uprights Port Side Front

Hard Dodger Uprights From Cockpit Starboard Side

Hard Dodger Uprights From Cockpit Port Side

When that was complete, I loaded the lawn mower back into Ruby and went back to the shop. I put the lawn mower back into the Port of Delcambre’s storage room, and I did some more work on cutting and trimming the adjuster’s for the solar panels.