Maintenance Log August 2013

August 31, Saturday, 2013

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.

I went over to the shop with the template for the hide hole piece. I got out my piece of Structoglas and laid out the measurements on the Structoglas from the template. I cut the Structoglas, and put the piece in the Black Beast. I cleaned and vacuumed the shop, stopped by the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the pressure washer into the Black Beast and went to the marina.

Template Laid Out On The Piece Of Structoglas

Making The Cuts

I moved the piece of Structoglas and my tools down to the aft cabin of DREAM AWAY. I struggled to get the piece of Structoglas up into position. I got what spare pieces of wood I had on DREAM AWAY to help hold up the piece of Structoglas, but could not get it done! Very frustrating.

Piece Of Structoglas In Aft Cabin Ready For Fit

I decided to wait and work on this project another day. I went back to the Black Beast and got out the pressure washer. I took it, and a hose and the fuel can out on Pier “C” so that I could clean the dock of bird doo. We had a cruising boat coming in later, and I needed to get the dock presentable.

When finished, I took the pressure washer back to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room. I also went by the shop and picked up several pieces of medium length wood to help at my next attempt of putting the Structoglas back into place.

August 30, Friday, 2013

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.

I went over to the shop first thing and picked up all of the cardboard I had for template material and brought it back to DREAM AWAY. As it turned out, I spent the whole day getting the template for the hide hole cover.

When I brought the template material to DREAM AWAY, I got it in the aft cabin, and spent what seemed like forever trying to get small individual pieces of cardboard taped together.

There is not a lot of room to start with. I am laying on my back trying to get work done, and nothing is going very well. After an hour of not getting very far, I decided to take a lot of measurements of the proposed templates.

Before going back to the shop to build a template, I called Raymarine about the wind instrument. While on hold for 20 minutes they mentioned a web site to go to which is the Raymarine technical forum. I did this and found some entries about checking voltages on the instrument, which I did. After I checked the voltages, and they seemed to be correct, the instrument started working!

I had the instrument connected to my spare cable and vane. I left it as it was, and went to the shop. While at the shop, I found a large piece of cardboard, so I used it as the basis for my template. I built one template based on the measurements I took earlier.

Template Built At The Shop

I took the single template back to DREAM AWAY, and installed it in the aft cabin. Before I got very deep in the template project, I worked on the wind instrument project.

The wind instrument was still functioning properly on the spare vane and cable, so I powered down the instruments. I disconnected the spare vane and cable from the wind instrument, and connected the wind instrument to the masthead vane and cable. I powered up the instruments and the wind instrument functioned properly. Jumping to the future, it is 2030 and the wind instrument is still functioning in the manner to which it was designed!!

Now back to the hide hole project. I put the template up in the aft cabin, and using push pins I attached the template to the main cross piece and the battens. As expected the template was not perfect. I added small pieces of cardboard, and cut off some cardboard in places. Finally got the template where I needed it. I took the template down and took it out to the Black Beast.

Starboard Side Of Template In Aft Cabin

Center Of Template In Aft Cabin

Port Side Of Template In Aft Cabin

August 29, Thursday, 2013

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.

Drove to New Iberia to ship two routers back to Amazon, and the Bounce Shoes to Stacy. We ordered the two routers, unfortunately the item listed on the web page, the one we want, is not the one they ship. Hopefully it will get straightened out, and we will get the proper item. If not they are available on eBay.

While in New Iberia, purchased some groceries, and then stopped at Petsmart to get some Kitty food. On the way back to the marina I stopped at the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the lawn mower and fuel into the Black Beast. Then it was back to the marina.

Took all of the groceries to DREAM AWAY, and changed into my work clothes. Went out and did all of the trimming around the trees and gardens, and mowed the grass. When that project was finished, I loaded up the mowing gear and took it back to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room. Then back to DREAM AWAY, so I could get started on my projects.

Got to work on the aft cabin. I had cut the necessary battens yesterday. Today when I put the battens up on the overhead, two of them needed adjustment!

Starboard Side Before Batten Installation

Port Side Before Batten Installation

I measured the battens that needed “adjustment”, and I also marked where to drill holes for the screws to attach the battens to the overhead.

Working With The Battens On The Workbench

When I had all of the cuts made and the holes drilled, I got in the aft cabin and installed the battens in the overhead.

Battens Installed On Starboard Side

Battens Installed On Port Side

Now all of the framework is done, tomorrow I have to bring the template material to DREAM AWAY, and make templates so I can cut the five pieces of Structoglas that will cover the hole and backing plates. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I will get this project finished, and have a nice looking overhead in the aft cabin.

I also inserted some if the spray foam in the empty spaces in the overhead. This will help with temperature control, but also cut down on condensation during the winter.

Foam Insulation Squeezing Out From The Overhead

August 28, Wednesday, 2013

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.

Slept in this morning until 0620, so was running behind. I also had to spend some extra time getting caught up with emails.

I went over to the shop and cut out the battens for the hide hole project in the aft cabin. I have a table saw on a table that I take outside the shop to make my cuts, so the saw dust does not get all over the shop.

Cutting Battens On Table Saw

Cut Battens Ready To Go

Loaded up the battens and other stuff into the Black Beast, and went to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room. I loaded up the paint and all of the painting accessories and went to the North Pier Marina. I was going to paint the lamp pole bases as per the director. While I was masking off the pole bases, the dockmaster showed up. Since I was there he decided to go and get the weed killer and show me how to mix it up.

T-Boy came back with all of the weed killer and showed me how to do the mixing. Since there was almost no wind I pumped about six gallons of the weed killer around the marina garden and fence lines.

I finished off the masking of the light pole bases, and then I painted the four light pole bases.

Masked Off Light Pole Base

Painted Light Pole Base

When I finished the painting, I cleaned up all of the roller, brushes and pans. I took all of the painting supplies, and weed killer stuff back to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room.

When I got back to DREAM AWAY, it was 1530, I was tired, so I decided to call it a day. I took a shower, mixed rum wookies, and then got on the computer.

August 27, Tuesday, 2013

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.

After breakfast and completing the Maintenance Log for August 26th, I went into Abbeville. I had to go to Stine’s to purchase two cans of the spray foam that I will need for the hide hole project. I also asked in the paint department about tinting paint brought in from the outside, and they said no problem.

I also stopped at Winn-Dixie to do some grocery shopping. Finished the shopping, then went back to DREAM AWAY. Changed into work clothes and went over to the shop.

I checked the long piece of wood I am using in the hide hole project, and it had set up nicely.

Repaired Long Piece

I sanded down the repaired area of the long piece, and put the piece in the Black Beast.

Long Piece Ready To Be Used

I then mixed up a small batch of the Smith’s penetrating epoxy and applied it to the “trash compactor”.

Smith’s Penetrating Epoxy Applied To The “Trash Compactor”

Loaded up needed parts and tools into the Black Beast and went back to DREAM AWAY. Hauled everything from the Black Beast to the boat. Removed the mattress from the aft cabin bunk and got to work.

Will not go into huge detail, but because of the crown on the overhead in the aft cabin, I had to cut the long piece into four pieces. I drilled holes for the screws, countersunk the holes, and installed the four pieces along the overhead in the aft cabin.

Starboard Side Installation

Port Side Installation

With the front piece installed, I was able to measure the length of the battens I will need to finish the installation of the Structoglas to cover all of the holes. I will cut the battens tomorrow and get them installed.

I also removed one last piece of rotten plywood I had left behind yesterday.

Teak And Plywood I Removed

I decided to install our new idea for a hatch security device. This is an inexpensive but strong way to keep someone from coming into the boat through our hatches. I am using carbon fiber arrows, with a stainless steel welding rods inside the arrows.

I drilled holes in the base of the hatch inside the boat. I ran the arrows through the holes, then ran the welding rods through the arrows, cut off the ends of the welding rods, and then bent the rods so they could not be pushed out. It went very well, and will be a great deterrent.

Hatch Base Before Installation

Outside Of Hatch Base Where Holes Are Drilled

Carbon Fiber Arrows And Welding Rods Before Installation

Hatch Base After Installation

Bent Welding Rod & Empty Arrow

This system will work great on all of our wooden based hatches, but not sure what to do for the Lewmar Hatches.

August 26, Monday, 2013

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.

Went over to the shop after breakfast. First thing was to finish sanding the “trash compactor”. I got it about as round as it can be, and the top and bottom surfaces very smooth. I drilled a hole in the center, and put the lifting rope back into it. I put the “trash compactor” in the Black Beast to take over to DREAM AWAY. I want to verify it fits into the buckets before I apply the Smith’s penetrating epoxy and the top coat of paint.

Sanding Completed On “Trash Compactor”

Next I started looking closer at the spare outboard engine. I now have all of the parts to put the engine back together. I have found a couple of bad places on the engine, where there are cracks or an actual hole. I will be cleaning these up and using J.B. Weld to repair the bad places.

Hole In Exhaust Output Chamber

Crack On Exhaust Outlet

I got out all of the parts required to put the flywheel back on the power head.

Flywheel, Power Head And Magneto Ready For Assembly

I fixed up the piece of aluminum I will be using for the main mast sail step, and filled in the four holes on one side of the piece.

Aluminum Piece With Four Holes Filled In

I loaded the cross piece for the hide hole project, and all the parts I thought I would need for the hide hole project into the Black Beast, and went over to DREAM AWAY.

The first thing I checked was the “trash compactor”. It fit into the barrel perfectly, so now it is ready to be finished off.

I had measured the amount of the 1” stainless pipe I had at the shop, and I have 32.5 feet. I measured the amount of pipe I will need to weld up the stern ladder, and the amount I will need for the hard dodger project. I have plenty for both projects, and may have enough to fabricate the hand holds for the main cabin.

I started on the aft cabin hide hole project. The first thing I had to do was to move the mattress off of the bed. This was fun it that having the mattress off of the bed made it difficult to get parts and tools in and out of the aft cabin.

I measured the main cross piece, and it was too long, so I cut it off to the proper length. I also had to remove some trim wood to make room for the main cross piece. Then came the fun of removing a lot of rotten plywood from the overhead.

Plywood Removed From Port Side

Rotten Wood On Starboard Side

Rotten Wood Removed And Cleaned Up On Starboard Side

Port Side All Cleaned Up

I was ready to install the main cross piece, when I discovered a real problem. The crown of the deck! I had completely forgotten that issue. The was a crown of 1 ½” to be taken into account.

I decided to go back to the shop and see if I could find more wood to make the crown in the main cross piece. When I went back to the shop I realized adding wood would not completely solve the problem, and in fact would cause issues with the battens I have to install to hold up the Structoglas I am using as a ceiling panel.

I tried to bend the main cross piece, but since it was a laminated piece, all I did was crack the piece! I have decided to cut the main cross piece into two or more pieces to make the crown. Hopefully this will work. I will find out tomorrow!

Since I cracked the main cross piece, I had to mix up some epoxy to repair the main cross piece, which I did.

It started to rain, so I worked on the spare outboard engine. I installed the magneto, and then the flywheel. It all went on pretty well. The good news is I have pictures of the disassembly of the power head so I can use them to help with the reassembly. The rain stopped, so I called it a day.

August 25, Sunday, 2013

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.

Up early and on the road so Kitty could catch her flight from Lafayette to Atlanta via Houston. She got off with no problems, and arrived safely in Atlanta.

On the way back from the airport in Lafayette, I stopped at the Lowe’s in New Iberia. I purchased four 2” X 3” X 8’ studs to be used for the hole hiding project in the aft cabin. I stopped by the shop and dropped off the four studs, then back to DREAM AWAY.

The hole hide project actually got started back in April, so you can see the beginning the work in the April Maintenance Log.

I had planned to get right into the hole hide project, but there were several small projects I wanted to get out of the way before I got into this large project.

It was time to clean out all of the raw water strainers and manifold. 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. I also vacuumed off the air filter ojn the intake of the forward air conditioner.

I repaired one of the overhead lights in the garage. They use incandescent bulbs, and when they are on for a long period of time the current they draw melts the lead on the base contacts of the bulb. I pulled out the bulb, and with a soldering gun, resoldered the base contacts.

A strap on one of the cockpit sun shades needed to be repaired. I got out the parts needed and repaired the sun shade.

Strap Removed From Sun Shade

Repaired Sun Shade

The two doors under the sink in the galley, have latches to hold them shut while underway. The left hand, or aft latch was not working. I removed the latch and repaired the spring mechanism, then put the latch back on the door.

Latches On Doors Under The Galley Sink

To continue with the hide hole project in the aft cabin, I had to move all of the books on both the starboard and port side. Once the books were out of the way, I had to move one of the fans mounted in the aft cabin on the port side overhead. I had to move the fan forward to get it out of the way of the cover I will be installing.

Fan In Original Location

Fan In New Location With Helper Observing

Following are a couple of pictures of the holes and backing plates that will be covered up with the hide hole project

Port Side Cleat Backing Plate

Starboard Side Cleat Backing Plate

Starboard Side Dinghy Davit Backing Plate

Last item for the day was working on the wind instrument. The wind instrument was still not working connecting to the masthead transducers. I connected the spare transducers and cable to the wind instrument in the instrument pod. It worked for a few minutes, and then quit working. I am pretty sure the problem is the instrument itself, so will have to send it off to get it repaired.

Wind Instrument Back, Removed From Instrument Pod

Spare Vane Connected Directly To Wind Instrument

Wind Instrument Working, But Briefly!

August 24, Saturday, 2013

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.

The two cruising boats that came into the marina on Thursday, departed early in the morning, 0900, to get on their way back to Houston.

No work done on DREAM AWAY projects. Ran errands, spent day with Kitty, hanging out, reading.

August 23, Friday, 2013

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.

Went over to the shop and inspected the “trash compactor”. The application of the Smith’s penetrating epoxy looked good, but I noticed a couple of more places where the plywood was delaminating. I decided to dispense with this old “trash compactor”, and cut out a new one. I measured, and cut out the new “trash compactor”. Tomorrow I will sand it down, and apply the Smith’s penetrating epoxy.

Old “Trash Compactor” With The Smith’s Penetrating Epoxy

Connected the battery charger to the battery on the SeaScooter. Did not take long and the battery was fully charged. Put the SeaScooter back together, and tested the unit. Still sounds like a thrashing machine. Will have to take the unit apart and see if I can find any issues.

Back over to DREAM AWAY, and Kitty and I called our son Stacy and sang him happy birthday.

We then drove into New Iberia with the cruisers from the two boats that arrived into the marina yesterday. We made several stops for parts and groceries, and had lunch in downtown New Iberia at Victor’s Cafe, a tradition in New Iberia!! If you have ever read any James Lee Burke books you will know Victor’s Cafe.

Came home with barely enough time to shower, then it was off to Shuck’s in Abbeville for dinner.

August 22, Thursday, 2013

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.

Went to shop, and applied a coat of the Smith’s penetrating epoxy on the “trash compactor”. Left the “trash compactor” to dry overnight.

“Trash Compactor” With The Smith’s Penetrating Epoxy Applied

Installed the battery that had arrived for the SeaScooter. I installed the battery and verified that the battery actually ran the propeller on the unit. The propeller turned, but it sounded like a thrashing machine, very noisy. Did not have time, but will charge the battery completely, and see if that night be the problem with the loud noises.

Battery In SeaScooter

Loaded up the pressure washer from the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and took it to the North Pier Marina. Took the power washer out to pier “C” to finish off washing the bird doo off of the end of Pier “C”.

On my way out to the end of Pier “C”, I noticed a large amount of bird doo in the area where we were expecting to cruisers to arrive later in the afternoon. I cranked up the pressure washer and cleaned all of that area of Pier “C”. When I finished that area, I went out to the end of to finish there. What a surprise! The area I did yesterday was covered again in bird doo. It looked like I had not even been there, and only 24 hours. I worked on the end of Pier “C” until the rain threatened, cleaned up the pressure washer, and put away the hose.

I am going to have to come up with some method to keep the seagulls off of the pier. Cleaning up a bit of bird doo every couple of weeks will be OK, but not this.

I went back out on Pier “C” and cleaned up the pier by removing some ropes and old tires from the pier. If I do a little of that every week, eventually I will have all of Pier “C” looking really good.

Went back to DREAM AWAY, and completed the installation of the speakers on the boom gallows. One speaker did not work. Swapped the speakers from port to starboard. One of the speakers if defunct, and the working speaker worked on either side with different wiring.

August 21, Wednesday, 2013

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.

Went to shop and worked on “trash compactor”. When I removed the two pieces of Formica, they pulled off some of the delamination! I decided to try to fix the delamination with Liquid Nails. I applied a small amount of Liquid Nails, and used the two pieces of Formica to clamp down on the “trash compactor”.

I loaded up my Skil saw, long extension cord, and spare plywood into the Black Beast. I also loaded the new pressure washer out of the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and went over to the marina.

I loaded the Skil saw, long extension cord, and spare plywood onto the dock trolly, and went out on Pier “C”. I cut the plywood and put it down on the places on Pier “C” where the tar was really bad. Keeps from tracking the tar onto the transient boats.

I cleaned up from that project, and rant the pressure washer and hose out to the end of Pier “C”. I started washing the dock down to remove all of the bird doo that had accumulated. What fun! Rain threatened again, so put all of the gear into the Black Beast, and returned it all to their respective storerooms.

I then helped a fellow boater on the dock with his battery and air conditioner problems. I connected the battery so the generator and starboard engine would start. We connected a pump to the air conditioner cooling lines, and ran a descaler solution through the lines. When we finished, we connected all of the cooling lines back to normal, but the air conditioners still did not stay on. I suspect a refrigerant leak.

August 20, Tuesday, 2013

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.

Went over to the shop and checked on my attempt to repair the car charger. It did not go well, so the un-repaired car charger went into the trash can.

I sanded down both side of the “trash compactor”, and the edges in preparation for the application of the Smith’s penetrating epoxy.

Starting The Sanding process On The “Trash Compactor”

Sanding Process On The “Trash Compactor” Complete

When the sanding was complete, I was able to look into a couple of places where there was plywood delamination. These needed to be fixed before I applied the Smith’s penetrating epoxy to the “trash compactor”.

I got the two pieces of Formica I had used on the boom gallows to use on the “trash compactor”. I mixed a very small batch of the Smith’s penetrating epoxy, and applied it to the de-laminated portions of the “trash compactor”. I put on the two pieces of Formica, and clamped it all together.

Trash Compactor” Clamped Up

I got all of the instruments and the instrument pod front panel on the workbench.

Instruments Ready For Insertion Into The Pod Front Panel

I then inserted the instruments into the pod front panel.

Instruments Inserted, Back Of Front Panel

Instruments Inserted, Front Of Front Panel

I loaded up the instrument pod, speakers, bell holder and all of the fasteners into the Black Beast and went over to DREAM AWAY.

I attached the instrument pod to the bottom of the boom gallows, and then ran the wires for the instruments and speakers.

Instrument Pod On Boom Gallows

Wires Running To Instrument Pod

I connected all of the wires to the instruments, and put the front panel on the instrument pod, and powered the instruments up. Still having wind instrument issues. Will be looking into that problem.

Instrument Pod Installed With Functioning Instruments

Went out and trimmed the grass around the trees and gardens. I then cut the inside and outside grass in the marina.

When Kitty came back from her errands, she told me the air conditioner had a high pressure error on the digital control. I knew what that meant. I took out the main input strainer, and the air conditioner strainer, and cleaned them out. I also connected the high pressure water from the dock, to the air conditioner hose. I turned on the water which cleaned out the hose for the air conditioner from its connection at the manifold top the overboard discharge. Put it all back together and the air conditioner functioned normally.

August 19, Monday, 2013

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.

Went over to the shop for the first time in a couple of days. Did a clean up and a straighten up. Ran the vacuum, and got it looking pretty good.

Brought over my “trash compactor”. The plywood is starting to delaminate, so it needs work so it will not go completely bad.

Trash Compactor On Work Bench

As you can see the “trash compactor” is pretty simple, and it really does work. I have two big buckets on the stern of DREAM AWAY that I store trash in on a passage. I drop the trash bag in the bucket, then put in my “trash compactor”, and stand on the “trash compactor”. It really does a good job of getting a lot of trash into a small area.

I then started in on repairing the car charger for our iPhones and iPads. A little piece had broken off on the inside. I used a bit of the BoatLIFE LifeSeal to hopefully hold the spring in place. We will see tomorrow!

Car Charger Being Repaired

I then went back over to the marina. Kitty took the Black Beast to our mechanic in Delcambre to have the evaporator on the air conditioner checked out.

I got the clippers out of the Black Beast and trimmed grass around the fence lines and trees in the marina. Tomorrow, if it is not raining, I will mow the grass in the marina.

I also took down all of the flags that were up for the Delcambre Shrimp Festival. I got them all folded and stored away.

Kitty came back from the mechanics with great news. As I suspected the evaporator was clogged up with dirt, mud and leaves. This was the cause of the water dripping into the car, the air conditioner not putting out cold air, and the air volume being so small. Cleaning out the area of the evaporator made a huge difference.

We then had to make a run to the Vet’s. I had allowed our cats out on deck while I was taking down all of the flags. It turns out our male cat had captured a bee and it had stung him in the left front paw. The vet found the stinger in his paw, removed it and gave him two shots. All is better, although he was feeling pretty low, and Jillian was also a bit upset.

I took a shower, and did some more work on the June Maintenance Log. I am up to June 24th, so I am getting to the end!

August 18, Sunday, 2013

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.

Spent most of the morning working on the computer and updating the June Maintenance Log. Had a break and with errands and interruptions, never got back to finishing up the log.

August 17, Saturday, 2013

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.

Spent most of the day working on the computer and updating the Maintenance Logs. I did get the July Maintenance Log finished. Now I need to get the June one finished, then I can incorporate them into my web page.

I did spend about ½ hour working on weeding the North Pier Marina gardens. Later in the afternoon we went to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival to eat a shrimp Po-Boy and listen to a band named Krossfrye.

We left the Delcambre Shrimp Festival when Krossfrye finished playing. We then went to a friends “camp” across the bayou from the marina to visit and listen to more live music. Pretty much a great day!

August 16, Friday, 2013

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. Spent extra time working on the computer and updating the Maintenance Logs.

Went into New Iberia to pick up laundry and grocery shop. Came back to DREAM AWAY, put all of the laundry and groceries away. Had a nice early dinner, and listened to some music from the Shrimp festival.

August 15, Thursday, 2013

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. Spent extra time working on the computer and and updating the Maintenance Logs.

Had to drive into Lafayette again today for a followup visit with Kitty’s cardiologist. Nothing specific found, except a possible heart valve problem. Doctor ordered more tests. With some confusion, we finally got some more chest X-Rays, and a nuclear test performed on the lungs looking for clots. We got out of the hospital well after 1900, and drove home.

No work done on DREAM AWAY projects.

August 14, Wednesday, 2013

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. Spent extra time working on the computer and fighting Internet access.

Had to drive to Lafayette today for a dermatologist appointment. Good appointment, only two biopsies! Came back from Lafayette, and the remainder of the day was spent working on the Maintenance Logs, computer work, reading and general stuff.

August 13, Tuesday, 2013

We left Connie and Wayne’s house, and drove over to the Municipal Marina in Freeport, Texas. We met with dockmaster, Kevin, and the Marina Director, Tamara.

Tamara took us out to the three stall shower trailer, and opened it up for us. We took many pictures, and inspected the unit as closely as possible. The unit seems to be in great condition, and would make a great addition to the North Pier Marina until the building gets built here.

Kitty and I then made a report to our port director, Wendell, and I titled all of the pictures. Kitty sent her report to Wendell, and I sent all of the pictures to him. When we finished all of this we went to lunch with Wayne, Connie, Tamara and ourselves.

When we came back from lunch I backed the Black Beast up to the trailer to check out the lights. It was a no-go, none of the lights worked. Wayne backed his truck up to the trailer. and connected into the trailer lights, and all of the lights worked. Talk about good news, bad news! All of the lights on the three stall shower trailer worked, but the trailer hitch light connection on the Black Beast was not working. Now I have another project, to get the trailer hitch light connection working. I have never used that system since purchasing the Black Beast, so I will have to start from scratch.

We then left Freeport, heading back to Delcambre. We arrived at DREAM AWAY around 2100. We unloaded the Black Beast, fed our Kitties, took showers, and headed to bed!

August 12, Monday, 2013

Made a pot of coffee, and checked the weather. Packed our stuff and were under way by 0800. We were driving to Freeport, Texas, to check out a three stall shower trailer. The city of Freeport is going to auction off this unit, and it would be a perfect temporary solution for the North Pier Marina.

The Port Director asked us to drive down and evaluate the unit, and if in good shape and a viable solution for the the North Pier Marina, for us to take many pictures. We will be sending the pictures and a report to him tomorrow after we do the inspection. He wants to have as much information as possible to present at the board meeting of the Twin Parish Port District board meeting tomorrow night.

On our way to Freeport, we stopped in Clear Lake Shores to have lunch with our friends Jimmy & Barbara, and friend Al. After lunch, we drove by Momentum Metal Recycling in League City, Texas, to see if they had any stainless steel square tubing or pipe. We got lucky, they had on hand about 30 feet of 1” stainless steel pipe, which I purchased!

This pipe will be used for the ladder at the stern of DREAM AWAY, and the frame for the hard dodger.

We then continued on our trip to Rosharon, Texas. We spent the night with aour friends Connie and Wayne. We had met them in Delcambre, when they stopped by North Pier Marina, on their way to and from Florida. In fact they are the ones that told us about the three stall shower trailer available in Freeport.

Tomorrow we will be going to the Municipal Marina, to actually check out the unit.

August 11, Sunday, 2013

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.

Stayed on DREAM AWAY, caught up on email and still working on the Maintenance Logs for June and July.

Went and got the lawn mower and gasoline from the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and brought them back to the North Pier Marina. Trimmed and mowed all of the grass at the North Pier Marina. Returned the mower and the gasoline to the storage room, and back to DREAM AWAY. Spent the remainder of the day working on the Maintenance Logs.

August 10, Saturday, 2013

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.

Stayed on DREAM AWAY working on the Maintenance Logs. Had breakfast, and then went out and weeded the marina gardens.

Went over to the shop and unpacked the water scooter that Stacy had shipped from China. It was unpacked and seems to be a neat device. The only issue so far is that there is no included battery, and no battery number.

Water Scooter Out Of Box

Left the shop and came back to the marina. Continued with the garden weeding until it started to rain. Back to DREAM AWAY, and continued working on the Maintenance Log. The remainder of the day was working on the Maintenance Log, and some reading.

August 09, Friday, 2013

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.

No work done on Al’s boat today. Went to Cheryl’s office and attempted to get the wireless printer working on XP, but to no avail. Very frustrating, for of course it only took two minutes for me to print to the printer from my MacBook Pro!!

Al took me to the Amtrak station in Houston. The train was late arriving into Houston. Had a tie-up in San Antonio, so we did not get underway until 1340. I arrived in New Iberia around 1830.

August 08, Thursday, 2013

Got up in the morning and had coffee and breakfast. Got on the Internet, checked email and the weather.

Yesterday I had not used permanente wiring when we tested the alternator on the port engine. After we verified the alternator did work, I got some connectors, and connected all of the proper wires to the alternator.

This morning I realized we did not test the alternator operation after the wiring was complete. So we started up the port engine and verified the operation of the alternator.

Next, I moved one of the old batteries back into place for the starboard house battery. We decided not to use one of the new batteries for the starboard house, while still having old batteries in place for the port house battery.

I also moved the source wiring for all of the DC accessories from the starting batteries to the house batteries. I went through all of the wiring, and verified tightness of connections, and dressed up as much of the wiring as possible.

That pretty much ended the day working on Al’s boat, so I took a shower and had a late lunch. Later I went to Texas City to help a friend of Al’s get her printer working in the office.

August 07, Wednesday, 2013

Got up in the morning and had coffee and breakfast. We got right to work on the alternator problem on the port engine. We verified the alternator was not putting out any voltage when the engine was running.

Alan had two spare alternators, but because the drive pulleys on them did not match the engine drive belt configuration, they could not be installed. We removed the alternator from the port engine, picked up the two spare alternators and took all three to a local alternator shop.

The tech at the alternator shop tested all three and verified their operation. The alternator we had on the engine, we actually had connected to the wrong post on the alternator. The tech mentioned we should have a good ground for the alternator to work properly. We then took all three alternators back to the boat.

After some interesting issues, Alan falling into the engine room with an alternator landing on his knee, lunch and a dermatologist appointment for Alan, we finally got back to installing the alternator back on the engine. I connected the positive battery wire to the correct post on the back of the alternator. Instead of assuming the ground to the alternator was connected to the engine start battery, I moved the alternator to the start battery ground. When we cranked up the engine, the alternator started working. A six year project complete.

I also connected the trickle charge output on the Freedom Marine 30 Inverter/charger to each start battery. There are two trickle charge outputs, so now we have the Freedom Marine 30 Inverter/charger charging each house bank, it is also charging each start battery.

Now we have most of the electrical/battery problems sorted out. I still have a couple of items to do, but the big item will be for Al to build the two new battery boxes.

August 06, Tuesday, 2013

Got up in the morning and had coffee and breakfast. Alan went off for Doctor’s appointments, and was away for pretty much the whole day.

I stayed on TORI, and worked with the electrical/battery problems. Will not go into a lot of detail, but made quite a bit of progress finding and identifying problems, and coming up with some solutions.

The biggest change is that we are delaying the trip, mostly because of the electrical problems, and a couple of engine oil leaks. Alan had purchased a set of new batteries, because of some problems with the current set.

The issue with the new batteries is they will not fit in the existing battery box. I gave Al a couple of options, but he decided that the way to go would be to fabricate new battery boxes. This is the best way to go, but that necessitated putting off the trip until the new boxes are fabricated.

I will be staying on until Friday so I can help Al with a couple of other issues, and to get him pointed in the right direction to get most of the outstanding issues settled.

August 05, Monday, 2013

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.

Went out to the parking lot and finished screwing down the blocks at the end of the parking spaces which I had painted blue yesterday.

Blocks At End Of Parking Spaces

Next project was to get the main boom gallows Installed and the hard bimini bolted back to the gallows. I had all of the hardware cleaned up. I had also cut out some pieces of sheet plastic to insulate the aluminum from the wood. Hopefully this would keep the different metals from causing the wood in the boom gallows to deteriorate.

Boom Gallows Support & Hard Bimini Support Before Gallows Installation

Boom Gallows On Dock Before Installation

Boom Gallows & Hard Bimini Installed Looking Forward

Boom Gallows & Hard Bimini Installed Looking Aft, Starboard Side

Boom Gallows & Hard Bimini Installed Looking Aft, Port Side

When I completed that project, it was in to take a shower, and head to the train station to make the trip to Houston. I am off to do a boat delivery for my friend Alan.

Got into Houston on the train about 30 minutes early, and Alan was waiting for me. Made good time and got to his boat, and finally had dinner.

August 04, Sunday, 2013

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.

Went over to the Port of Delcambre’s store room and picked up all of the painting supplies, including the paint and handicap stencil. Went back to North Pier Marina and started in with the painting project. I am converting two regular parking spaces to one handicapped parking space, and one handicapped unloading area.

I masked off all of the current yellow lines, and masked off some necessary lines in the unloading area. When I got all of the masking done, I opened the paint and painted all of the necessary. I did two coats over the current yellow lines. When completed, I removed all of the masking tape, put all of the supplies including the buckets used to mark off the area into the Black Beast and took it all back to the Port of Delcambre’s store room.

New Lines Painted In Marina Parking Lot

I then went to the shop and put together the SeaLand pump with the new duck bill valves. I loaded the pump, the boom gallows, and the teak pieces to cover the davit holes in aft cabin, the teak piece to cover the winch hole in the main cabin, and the teak electrical wire cover and went back to DREAM AWAY.

After breakfast, I installed the teak pieces that had been varnished. The first piece was over the hole in the overhead of the main cabin. This is where the bottom of the main sheet winch used to be.

Hole In Main Cabin To Be Covered

Hole In Main Cabin Covered

Next we installed the teak electrical wire cover in the main cabin.

Exposed Wires In Main Cabin

Exposed Wires Covered In Main Cabin

Then we moved back to the aft cabin to cover a couple of the holes that were cut in the teak to enable installation of the dinghy davits. After installation of these two teak covers, there is more work to do. I am working on that project, but it is on hold for the moment.

Starboard Davit Hole To Be Covered

Starboard Davit Hole Covered

Port Davit Hole To Be Covered

Port Davit Hole Covered

I then worked on preparing for the installation of the main boom gallows. I got most of the prep work done, but the afternoon thunderstorms interrupted completion of the boom gallows.

Time to shower and prepare a grilled chicken dinner!

August 03, Saturday, 2013

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.

Went over to the shop and finished up the cleaning of the SeaLand pump. Now it is ready to be put back together and have it ready for service.

SeaLand Pump Cleaned And Ready For Assembly

Went to the Port of Delcambre’s dock and waited in line to get some big shrimp just in from the gulf! Well worth the wait!!

Notice Size Of Shrimp In My Hand!

Did some work for the Port of Delcambre, in the parking lot at North Pier Marina. I marked off two parking spaces, then swept and washed them in preparation to be painted. I am making them into handicapped spaces.

August 02, Friday, 2013

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.

No work done today on DREAM AWAY. We both had dental appointments first thing in the morning, then I went with Kitty to her audiogram of her heart in Lafayette, which was cancelled. Did some shopping, attempted to find the necessary switch for the aft air conditioner, but was not successful.

August 01, Thursday, 2013

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.

Took Black Beast into Chabill’s Tire Service to have the air conditioner checked. The air temperature coming out of the vents is just not cold enough. They could find nothing, except there might be an issue with the evaporator. They could not source an evaporator, so it was left up to me to find one.

Mark was with me so we were on a hunt for parts. We first went to Ralph’s Electronics in New Iberia. Here I purchased the switch for the aft air conditioner, that I had to wire around a couple of days ago. We then went to an Ace Hardware store named Handyman Hardware. Here I was able to purchase a metric nut I needed to re-install my Taco LED spreader light. Last we went to Hose Speciality so Mark could get some exhaust hose for his new engine installation.

Hose Speciality was an amazing place to visit. I am pretty sure anything having to do with hoses they could produce. It was very impressive.

Back to DREAM AWAY, and I put the new Texas registration decals on the tender, then put the tender back up on the davits, and the Yamaha outboard back on the life rail.

I then went over to the shop and worked on the SeaLand pump that I had removed from the sanitation system last week. I have to remove all of the built up calcium on all of the parts. To do this I soak the parts in a toilet bowl cleaner that I also use to clean the stainless steel on the exterior of DREAM AWAY.

I also did some clean up and moving around of stuff in the shop.

I then applied the fifth and last coat of varnish on teak pieces to cover the davit holes in aft cabin, the teak piece to cover the winch hole in the main cabin, and the teak electrical wire cover.