Maintenance Log 11/2008 - 03/2009
Went to the shop and started working on the bases for the motor and the pump of the water maker. Cut out some more parts for the bases of the new dinghy davits.
Cut the trim for the new hatch in the mid-cabin floor. After cutting the trim, epoxied the trim on the hatch, and clamped it up.
Went over to Dream Away with Rick, and we worked on putting down the teak parquet floor over the new sub-floor in the mid-cabin. This took most of the day, hauling tools and parts from the shop to Dream Away. With any luck we will finish the installation of the parquet floor tomorrow.
Spent most of today working on computer items. Getting updates done, getting caught up on all of the data entry required.
We finished the templating of the new dinghy davits. I had to cut out an area in the teak trim in the after cabin to get an idea of how i can mount the second support post for the new dinghy davits. I have to build a couple of pieces to make sure they will fit over the very stern of the boat, but that should not be a problem.
We emptied out the bottom two shelves in the on board storeroom. I had to do this so I can get the two shelves out of the area. I need to work in that area to make sure the new water maker pump will fit into the area. I also want to put the reefer deck on some sound deadening mounts, and the water maker deck on the same mounts. I also want to put sound proofing in the area, and put in a 4' vent hose in to make the area much cooler when the reefer and the water maker are running in the tropics.
I will be moving along on the new dinghy davit project, and the water maker project.
Went to Alan's in the morning to get a couple of rivets I needed for the whisker pole. Then went to West Marine and purchased 45' of 7/16" line for the whisker pole. Finally got to the shop and replaced the defective line in the whisker pole and got it back together. It is a telescoping whisker pole so it was time consuming to get it back together.
Took the whisker back to Dream Away and installed it on the front of the main mast on the specially installed track for the whisker pole.
In the afternoon we went on a tour of the Railean Rum Distillery. It is the only rum distillery in Texas, and frankly worth the trip. The rum was fantastic, the dark XO rum was very good straight. After the tour we went to Gilhouleys, a local watering hole. We had told the owners of the distillery we were going over to Gilhouleys, so they showed up with a bottle of a limited edition rum. It is a single barrel rum, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the flavor. It was not as great as Zaya, but I would reccommend it as a sipping rum at any time. In fact when the sell their single barrel rum this year, I am going to try and get a couple of bottles.
Went over to the shop and started to work on taking apart the whisker pole. The control line had a bad worn spot on it, so I knew it could fail at the worst possible time. Loads of fun getting the pole apart, but finally did. Had to drill out two rivets. Measured the amount of line needed.
Worked on the water maker bases for the motor and the pump. Got the base for the pump all welded together. Purchased mounting metric mounting bolts for the pump from Kemah Hardware. Got the parts for the motor cut out of the stainless steel flat stock.
Cutout the pad for the new dinghy davits from the old pad. There were some holes in the new pieces, so I welded up those holes, and that went very well. The Miller welder I have is a really great product.
I ordered the pipe for the new dinghy davits from Great Western Metals. I will be able to pick the pipe up on Tuesday the 32st of March.
I also scheduled the haul out for Dream Away with the yard at South Texas yacht Service. I have to do a haul out for a new insurance survey, so while the boat is out of the water I hope to service some under water items, replace the depth sounder and knot meter sending units, install an additional ground for the Single Sideband Radio, and also clean out and paint the battery area. All this is a week.
Went over to the shop and trimmed up some pieces of teak for the mid-cabin floor. I also put a thick coat of the penetrating epoxy on the piece of plywood that will be used for the new mid-cabin floor hatch.
I also trimmed up and cut the old bases od the dinghy davits, getting them ready to weld up. There are a couple of bolt holes in each one that I well weld and cover up. It is easier to weld the holes over than it is to cut new pieces of stainless flat bar.
I made the mounts for the new pump on the water maker. The new pump is bigger, so new mounts had to be made. The nice part is, now I have a welder, so I can fabricate anything I need.
I then picked up friend Al, and we went to the place that was testing my SCUBA tanks. I got them back, so now I will have to get the air compressor running, so I can fill them.
When I got back from that trip, I again helped Rick with his engine. Yesterday we we just put the engine inside the boat next to the engine room. Today I helped him get the engine swung over into the engine room on the new motor mounts. Rick was very happy to have that task completed. The engine really looks small in the engine room, and it is a 75 horsepower unit. It would surely be nice to have a new engine.
Came back to Dream Away, and checked the electrical connections on the new Raymarine S3G autopilot computer. It seems to be good. Will have to take the boat out very soon and calibrate the computer, and the new wind instrument.
Did not get much work done on Dream Away today. In the morning, I helped Rick take his boat to the Seabrook ship yard to remove his old engine, and drop in the new engine. That took most of the morning. When we got back, I went to Dream Away and removed the old bases for the dinghy davits I used to have on the back of Dream Away. I will be cutting up these bases, and using them on the new davits. When I removed one of the bases from the back deck, it pulled off some of the fiberglass from the deck, so I will have to repair that!!
In the afternoon, we drove to Sugarland so I could have my quarterly checkup with my dermatologist. That went very well, no biopsies!!
Went to the shop and picked up the argon bottle. Went down to Texas City to get the bottle filled and to get some other welding consumables that I will need to work on the water maker and the dinghy davits. On the way to Texas City, I stopped by Gulf Coast Trawl Doors and talked to Billy about getting polished stainless steel pipe. Billy said they use mill spec pipe, then clean it up and send it out to get electro-polished. I guess that is what I will do, so tomorrow or Thursday, I will get the pipe ordered. While returning from Texas City stopped at Kemah Hardware and West Marine. Went by the shop to drop off the bottle, the consumables, and to pick up the teak pieces for the mid-cabin floor.
Came back to Dream Away, and met Rick. We worked on the floor in the mid-cabin, and made some more plans about fitting the teak onto the sub-floor.
We picked up the new pressure switch for the Johnson pump last Friday. I attached the switch to the Johnson pump and tried to get it to work as they say it does. I spent about two hours messing around with the adjustments, and was not able to get it to work. I disconnected the switch from the pump, and tried to use the pump as a cooling pump for the refrigeration system. The pump made a horrible amount of noise. It sounded like a thrashing machine. I am done with the Johnson pump experiment. I have wasted a lot of time and money, and have accomplished nothing. I am back to have three different types of pumps for the cooling systems, lift pump for the water maker, and the fresh water system. I know I will be unpopular with the guys at West Marine, when I return the products. I do not believe the products are very good, and bad experiences with the Johnson pump folks just does not make me want to use their products.
Had to go to the SSA office to sign up for Medicare in the morning. After the visit to the SSA office, went over to the shop and went to work over there.
At the shop I sanded the screens and the new shelf and put the third coat of varnish on all of the pieces.
Rick came over to the shop and we welded up his motor mounts for his new engine. I am trading Rick welding for work on the mid cabin floor.
I then went to work on the pump mounts for the water maker. I will have to do some welding on the pieces to get them correct. I also have to do some cutting and bending on the pieces that hold down the motor on the water maker.
I also looked at the ice maker compressor and how to get it back into the boat. The good news is It will not take much to get the compressor back in and connected up. The bad news is I have to finish some rewiring, and I have to look into the pump situation for the cooling water on the ice maker and the refrigeration.
So that means I will have to take a day and do the rewiring of the ice maker controls, put in the breaker and the wire for the SCUBA compressor and the welder, and fix a couple of other electrical issues I have been putting off.
Another significant event occurred today. The marina, Watergate Yachting Center, has finally got the fresh water connected to each slip. Technically 201 days after Hurricane Ike hit us, we have water.
Did not leave Dream Away in the morning. Did more catching up on computer projects and updating. I did get the activation code for the new version of the CAPN, and put it into the software. It seems to work really great. I will get a chance to test it out in a week or so, when I am able to get the boat out on the Bay.
Went over to the shop and put the third coat of varnish on the shelves and screen. I also trimmed up the wood for the new hatch in the mid-cabin floor, and cut some pieces of wood to use for template's with the dinghy davits.
Went back to Dream Away and put together a template for the top of the dinghy davits. Was not able to do the other template because I have to remove the plates on the boat from the dinghy davits that were removed. I hope to get them removed tomorrow.
Stayed around the boat in the morning and did some catching up on computer projects and updates.
For lunch Kitty and I went to an SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) meeting and a presentation on communication for cruisers done by Steve Bowden of SeaTech Systems . It was a great presentation and we enjoyed it very much. It was a bit of a long outing for Kitty, so we came back to the boat and she took a nap.
On the way back to the boat we picked up Robert Jones and then went to Dream Away. Robert was there to help me with the anchor chains. We got the two chains off of the boat and put on the dock. We had the chain situated so there were two areas where the 25' marks crossed. We then slip cardboard under the chain and painted about one foot of chain either side of the 25' marks. We turned the chain over to make sure we got the chain good and coated. We then put the chain for each anchor back into the chain locker. I can now say the anchor windlass project is finished.
Did not get much done on Dream Away today. I did turn the boat around so it is now bow forward in the slip. This will enable me to take both anchor chains off of the boat, paint them and then put them back into the anchor locker.
Shannon showed up and completed the taping of the name boards and the final preparation of all of the brightwork.
The remainder of the day was spent with Kitty at the hospital while she had her gall bladder removed.
On the way to the shop this morning, stopped by friend Alan's boat and helped him with his aft life rails. He is going to measure and mark the remainder of his life rails. He will bring them over to the shop this afternoon.
Continued on to the shop, but could not do the varnish or gelcoat I wanted to do. The fog was so thick, and everything was way to wet. I sanded the boards that I put the plugs into yesterday, so now they are ready to be measured and cut for the mid-cabin floor hatch. I also sanded the shelf and screens that I varnished yesterday. I will apply the second coat of varnish this afternoon
I loaded up the sub-floor pieces into the truck, and then went back to Dream Away.
Rick showed up and put all of the bracing and the sub-floor in on the mid-cabin floor. I measured the hatch board for the new hatch in the in the mid-cabin floor.
While Rick was working on the floor, I finished up with the Lighthouse anchor windlass. I put the motor on the windlass, then the wiring, then I verified the operation of the windlass in both the forward (down) and the back (up) modes. Now I will have to turn the boat around in the slip so I can get the chain off of the boat. I then can clean the chain, paint it at the 25' marks, and then get it all back into the chain locker.
Shannon showed up and started doing the maintenance coats Cetol on the wood that she had not stripped. She continued cleaning the wheel and did some more masking of the wood that she will be putting the Cetol natural light on. We are all anxious to see how that goes.
I also did three loads of laundry while working on the windlass.
I called Holly at Great Western Metals, and she said she could not find polished stainless steel pipe. She did give me a price for the regular 1 1/2" schedule 40 welded stainless steel pipe at $5.38 a foot for two 20' sections. I will have to look and see if the polished pipe will be available from another source.
I then went back to the shop and got to work there. Alan came over with the life rails. He had them all marked and punched. We brought out the drill press and made short work of drilling the necessary holes. We loaded up Alan's life rails, and he went back to his boat.
I then put the second coat of varnish on the screens and shelving.
I then applied a coat of gelcoat to the two after deck lids. I wanted to experiment a bit, so I decided to brush the gelcoat on one lid and roll and tip the other lid. The brushed on lid looked pretty good, but the real news will be tomorrow. When I rolled the gelcoat on the second lid, lots and lots of lint came off of the roller (brand new) and got all over the lid. It was a real mess, and I was most disheartened. I will have to wait until the gelcoat sets up before I have to sand it down again, and try the applications process with another roller. The good news is the gelcoat seems to flow better when I thinned it with the Styrene.
On the way to the shop I stopped off at Blue Water Ships Store and purchased 40 teak plugs. When I got to the shop, I drilled out the holes in the teak boards to make sure the plugs would fit. I mixed up some epoxy and used the epoxy to glue the plugs into the teak boards. These boards are going to be used to frame and build a new hatch in the mid-cabin floor
I then put the first coat of varnish on the new printer shelf, the screens and the auxiliary teak box. I will probably only put on five coats of varnish.
I also went by West Marine and picked up the new pressure switch for the Johnson pump.
I then picked up friend Al and we then went to the alternator shop, and then to Western Testing. I dropped off the four SCUBA tanks there to have them hydro tested. I will be needing these with air when I start on the dingy davits.
When I took Al home, I helped him with a project he could not do himself. When I finished at Al's I went back to Dream Away.
I continued work on the anchor windlass. I took out two bolts that hold the windlass to the deck and replaced them with 1/2" shorter bolts. This worked much better, so I tightened all of the bolts on the base. I also put the remaining above deck hardware back on the windlass. All that is remaining is to install the motor and check the system out. I had to seal the lower end of the motor with silicon, which I did. I am letting it sit overnight, then install the motor tomorrow.
Went over to the ship in the morning. Got all of the parts that I will be varnishing masked up except one. Because of a slight communication error, I did not get the new printer shelf back from Alan until after lunch. I decided not to start varnishing until I had all of the parts ready to go.
I attempted to put teak plugs into some scrap teak wood I will be using for the new hatch in the mid-cabin floor. I did not have enough teak plugs to do the job, and the bit I have to make new teak plugs was on Dream Away.
I loaded all of the anchor windlass parts, and the windlass into the Suburban.
Went back to Dream Away, and unloaded all of the windlass parts and took them to Dream Away. I also brought a new litter box for Puss-N-Boots down to the boat. The new litter box was scrubbed and dried for Puss-N-Boots use. We are hopeful the new box will contain the litter better than the old one.
Got everything together to get the anchor windlass installed on the boat. Naturally all of the holes I drilled yesterday were not exactly correct, so some adjustments had to be made. Finally got the adjustments made, then I needed to measure and find out what size bolts I needed because of the new windlass pad I installed. Got the measurements made, then went to Kemah hardware to get the new bolts. Got back to Dream Away with the bolts, and dry fitted the whole installation. That all worked out, so got Kitty up on the bow and me in the anchor locker so we could get the windlass installed. All went pretty well, but had to stop the installation before completion because of a social engagement. Tomorrow will finish the installation, and install the motor and see if it all works. Next will be getting the chain marked and back into the chain locker.
Today was another rainy miserable cold day!! Spent the whole day on computer stuff.
Did a fair amount of research on which batteries to install on Dream Away. I still believe I am going with the gel batteries. If I had the space and was able to build boxes, liquid acid would be the best as far as long life and cost. Where the batteries are on Dream Away, I would not be able to check the water on three of the seven without a mirror and luck. Because of that I know the batteries would not get checked very often, and that would be the death of the batteries. From what I have been able to read, the AGM batteries are not good batteries for cruisers who will not be living in a marina.
Got my taxes done, but the news is not good.
I was able to get the new version of the CAPN navigation software installed, and it seems to work. I went to install the driver for the new USB to serial converter, but it had a mini CD that would not work in the Mac. So I had to go to a PC with a real CD drive and copy and write a standard size CD that the MAC could use. Got that tack completed, then back to the Mac to install the drivers on the XP virtual machine. That went well, and the GPS antenna on top of the mizzen mast worked well. The CAPN software was able to find the GPS data, and we were pinpointed on the chart. Now I will have to get the remainder of all of the software and charts loaded on the virtual machine. I have to get the weatherfax software installed so I can see if the SSB works.
Pretty good day except for the taxes!!
Not much done today on Dream Away.
Kitty and I went to down town Houston to run the Buffalo Bayou Partnership pontoon boat, but the weather was so cold and miserable no one showed upi for the rides.
We attended a christening party for one of our neighbor's boats. It started out by thier boat and the pavilion, but because of the weather quickly moved into the clubhouse - warm and dry!!
I did move the last dive tank to the car. Kitty found out it is much cheaper to take the dive tanks to the place that does the hydro tests than to go through a dive shop. SHe will take the four tanks to the test facility so we can get them back, as they will be needed for the dinghy davit project.
Went over to the shop and put a second coat of paint on the top side of the sub-floor that will be used for the ice maker compressor.
I cut out the teak trim pieces to be used for the new printer shelf. I epoxied the trim pieces to the shelf. Since I will be varnishing the the trim pieces on the new printer shelf, I decided to varnish the screens and clear hatches for the companionway. I put paint remover on these pieces so I could varnish them all together. Once I get out all of the material to varnish, it is just as easy to varnish six pieces as it is to varnish one piece. I will be putting on five coats of varnish, so hopefully I will be getting the new printer shelf up in about a week.
I ran the teak pieces we will be using on the mid-cabin floor through the planes I borrowed from Alan.
Went back over to Dream Away and installed the new wind instrument. This was a long effort, 4 and 1/2 hours. When I finally finished the wind instrument did not work properly, and the down line instruments were not doing well either. The instruments I had in the pod were Autohelm ST50, and I replaced it with a Raymarine St60+ instrument. Ratheon purchased Autohelm and created Raymarine. Not at easy transition. Raymarine changed the size of the hole to go through the mounting face, made it larger. Raymarine changed the connectors for the private SeaTalk bus, so the in and out cables had to be changed, and Raymarine changed the way the wind instrument is connected to the windvane. So somehow in all these connector changes, I made a mistake, or one of the wires came undone before I buttoned it all back up.
When the weather gets better ( warm and Dry ), I will investigate the issue and see where the problem is.
Went over to the shop and put the first coat of paint on the top side of the sub-floor that will be used for the ice maker compressor. I also worked on the braces for the new printer shelf.
Went back to Dream Away, and then went shopping. First of all went to Home Depot to pick up a few items, then went to Johnson Paint to get some filler and Styrene. We then went to HEB to get groceries, the West Marine to get a couple of items and the bottom paint for the hull when we do the bottom job. We then went to the post office, then the ice store, then back to Dream Away.
I fixed the deck in the anchor locker so that I could get into the anchor locker with out to many problems. I put on a Tyvek protective suit and my respirator, and went into the anchor locker. The other day when I was in the anchor locker putting the backing plate on for the pad eye that will hold the pendent for the stay sail, I noticed a problem.
The problem was when I filled in some holes drilled into the deck for the very first anchor windlass, I did not do a great job, and the filler bulged out from the deck. This did not make a flat surface for the backing plate under the new anchor windlass. I was concerned this could cause a problem. So I went into the anchor locker and chipped and ground off the bulging fiberglass. This was a bunch of fun. I got the job done, and the respirator and Tyvek suit save a lot of problems with the fiberglass. Now I will have to put up some filler putty to smooth it all out, but I will be able to rest easy. Now the area is ready to drill out the holes for the new windlass.
I am going to have to write to Southwest Windpower to ask them about one of the wind generators. When we put the newly re-conditioned units on the mizzen, Jim Bates and I noticed one of the unites felt like it had a bad bearing. We commented on it, but since I had just sent then both off and had been reconditioned, we did not worry. Now I notice when the wind is blowing a few mph, the starboard wind generator does not start as soon as the port unit.
Tonight I had more fun with computers. I attempted to update my wiring list for the boat, but OpenOffice is really doing a number on it. I can not retrieve the file. It is really a problem, with just this file, I hope. I have spent a couple of hours trying to fix the problem, but to no avail. Now I will have to recreate the file and hope that OpenOffice does not screw it up. My friend Jim Bates always says, if you want to really waste time, get a computer!!
Went over to the shop and put the second coat of paint on the second side of the new printer shelf. Also put a second coat of paint on the underside of the sub-floor board that will support the ice maker compressor.
I measured all of the fiberglass parts I presently have and figured out how many pieces I will need to complete the job of removing all of the cap rail and coaming. Still need a few feet of material. I will be getting that soon, as I will be needing parts for the hatch replacement project from the same fiberglass distributer. I will be removing the caprail on the stern of the boat and installing the new life line and stanchion supports before we go cruising. Removing the forward cap rail and installing the new supports, will be a Guatemala project.
Alan Shattuck came over to the shop, and we went over to his son's garage to get Alan's planer. We then brought the planer back to my shop. I will be needing this tool to get the floor boards ready in the mid-cabin.
Went back to Dream Away after calling Robert Jones to come over and help with the final touches on the mast projects. We installed the stay sail stay, but still had a problem, so I will have to make a new stay approximately 6" longer.
Robert put the rigging tape around the spreader boots on the main mast. He sent down the spreader light bases so I could drill a hole in them to install a small screw in the base so the base would remain steady and in alignment if a halyard hit the spreader light. I sent the bases back up to Robert, and he drilled the necessary holes in the spreader, and installed the screws. He also aligned the spreader lights.
Next Robert went up the mizzen mast and installed the spreader boots with the rigging tape. He then went to the top of the mast and put some silicone where the VHF antenna cables came out of the mast extrusion. Next we put the fittings to hold the boat hook on the port side mizzen upper shroud. We then put the fittings for the Man Overboard Pole on the starboard side mizzen upper shroud. Robert also adjusted the mizzen spreader lights to better light up the aft portion of the boat.
Robert left, and I put the mizzen boom together. I got all of the pieces put on the boom, connected the mizzen sheet to the boom, and then installed the boom onto the mast.
As I was cleaning up all of the mess, tools and parts, I realized that I had two tangs that were about 8" long that were spare. I thought if I replace the 3" tangs on the upper end of the stay sail stay with the spare 8" long tangs the stay sail stay would fit. The timing was perfect. Kitty had just came home from HP, so I asked her to tail while I went up the mast in the boson's chair. I got up the main mast, hauled up the stay sail stay on the starboard spinnaker halyard and attached the stay to the main mast. Down the mast and attempt to connect the stay to the adjuster. With a bit of adjustment, it worked out just perfect.
I still have to install all of the sails, but I just want to say the main and mizzen mast projects are complete!! This is a major milestone. When I got everything all cleaned up, Kitty and I went out to the pavilion to bask in the satisfaction of two projects done. I will update the project list this coming weekend.
I checked the alignment of all of the spreader lights just before I typed in this information, and they really do a great job of lighting up the deck.
Went over to friend Alan Shattuck's boat to help him with setting up a new electrical panel. We worked through discovering where and how we were going to build a new electrical panel, and then re-wire it.
Left Alan's boat and went over to the shop. I unloaded allof the parts from the old dinghy davits that were removed from Dream Away yesterday. Wow, I had put a lot of stuff on the davits to attempt to make them sturdy. I put the first coat of paint on the new printer shelf second side. I realized yesterday I had forgotten to paint the piece of sub-floor that will be the new floor in the ice maker area.
Went back to Dream Away and put the new padeye on the pad I glassed onto the deck. It took a lot more time than I had planned. When I first went up to the fore deck, I discovered a water leak in out fresh water input hose. So I repaired that. I drilled the holes in the deck for the padeye. When I went into the anchor locker to make sure the backing plate would fit, it did not!! One of the hooks used to hang the netting to separate the two side of the anchor locker was in the way. After several trips in and out of the anchor locker, and having the deck in the anchor locker break on me, I finally got the new pad eye installed. Now I am ready to have Robert back and can complete the two mast projects.
We then went to see our friends at Sea Tech Systems to pick up my new version of the CAPN software. Now the pressure is on to install the new software on my MAC virtual XP machine, and also the backup machine.
I installed the antenna wire from the SSB antenna tuner to the insulated backstay. Now the SSB should work. I will be checking that out over the next several days.
Kitty and I did some preliminary measuring for the new dinghy davits. We will move along with that. I am probably going to talk to one of the local welders here to try and get some information concerning what I need to ask for when I order the metal for the davits.
I also did the measuring for the placement of the aft stanchions, the bases and the placement of the "T" track for the fair leads from the Genoa sail. Trying to make plans to get started on that project also.
Went over to the shop and put the second coat of paint on the underside of the sub-floor. I did this after sanding all of the pieces.
Loaded up the mizzen boom and the various pieces to put it together.
Went back to Dream Away and put the second coat of gel-coat on the stay sail pad eye pad. The area looks really good.
I then sanded the bilge area in the mid-cabin. I got the area all cleaned up and the hoses and cables lifted out of the way. Did a final vacuum job, and a wipe down, and the painted the area. The paint I am using here and on the underside of the sub-floor is a Glidden product. It is a deck and cement paint. I have had two people recommend it to me, so I am giving it a try. Will let you know how it comes out!!
I then put the hose barb on the thru-hull fitting in the deck for the mizzen mast wiring. I then ran the wires through the hose I have, and ran all of the wires into the aft cabin vanity overhead, just below the mizzen mast. I got the hose clamps put on. I got everything wired in from the mizzen mast. The wind generators work, and so do the spreader lights. I will have to check out the VHF radio, the PA system and the radar tomorrow. I am getting real close to calling the two mast projects completed.
I took off the old dinghy davits and all of the associated hardware, of which there was a bunch. I hauled all of those parts up to the Suburban. Tomorrow I hope to get time to measure and start getting parts for the new dinghy davits.
Today was another computer, although I did not get a lot accomplished. Between social activities and cooking I was pretty unproductive. Still over 150 emails to go through.
Went over to the shop and applied the first coat of paint on the underside of the new mid-cabin sub-floor. I want to get the pain on the underside of the sub-floor even before it is installed. It would be very difficult to paint after the sub-floor is installed.
I put the two outboard motors into the truck. These two motors, we will be taking into the Buffalo Bayou Partnership so the outboard mechanic can check them out and get them ready for cruising.
I then went back to Dream Away. I took the two outboards out of the truck and put them into the Altima. Later that afternoon when we went into the Buffalo Bayou Partnership I delivered the two motors to the mechanic. Hopefully it will not cost an arm and a leg to get them serviced.
Kitty and I then installed the new thru-hull fitting for the wiring from the mizzen mast to get into the boat and not allow water entry. That is now ready to get the wiring installed and check out all of the electrics. Film at 11!!
We then went into town to run the pontoon boat for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time with a great group of guests. We then met some friends in down town Houston for dinner.
Went over to the shop and put the second coat of penetrating epoxy on the second side of the mid-cabin sub-floor.
Cleaned all of the mizzen boom parts to get it ready to build. Loaded the main boom into the suburban and headed over to Dream Away.
Hauled the main boom and all of the parts to Dream Away. Built the main boom while on deck. I installed the reefing winch, the out haul mechanism and the cleats for reefing. I then attached the boom to the mast, and installed the main sheet. It really looks good. All that is left for the main mast installation is to put the stay sail stay on, and rigging tape on the spreader boots.
I gel coated the pad I am putting down for the stay sail pendant pad eye.
I connected the new new Raymarine S3G course computer for the auto pilot. I powered it up and all of the instruments came on. We will have to take Dream Away out into the bay and calibrate the new course computer. The wind instrument was not reading properly. I have installed a new wind sensor at the top of the main mast, and new wiring, so the issue could be the instrument itself. I have a new instrument that I must install.
Shannon came over and sanded all of the teak, cleaned the teak, and then taped off all of the teak in preparation to apply the new Cetol.
Went over to the shop and put the first coat of the penetrating epoxy on the second side of the sub-floor.
I made a new stay for the mizzen mast mast lower, starboard side aft. I started to make a new stay for the stay sail stay, but after looking at the jury rig I had and doing some measuring, I believe I know what happened. When I put on the new ABI stay release lever, I did not have a place to attach the stay sail pendant, so I jury rigged the stay release lever to accommodate the pendant. Since I am attaching a new pad eye for the sail pendant, I can remove the jury rig from the stay release, and attach the stay sail stay properly, I do not think it was short. I then took apart the stay release lever and cleaned up all of the parts, and put them back together cleaned and lubricated.
I then went back to Dream Away. I put up the new mizzen lower stay on the starboard side, and adjusted all of the mizzen rigging. I did not put in any cotter keys as yet. After I go out sailing a couple of times, and stretch the rigging, I will do final adjustments and apply the cotter keys.
I then applied filler putty to the port side of the area under the mid cabin deck. I also applied finishing putty on the new pad for the stay sail pad eye. When the finishing putty had dried and hardened, I sanded it all out and got it ready to apply the gel coat to the pad.
Shannon came on the boat and washed all of the teak with a product called Roll Off. This really did a great job of cleaning the teak. SHe then washed down all of the teak.
Went over to the shop and put the second coat of penetrating epoxy on the sub-floor boards and my new printer shelf.
Came back to Dream Away, and sanded the area in the mid-cabin where the new floor will be going back into. I wanted to get that area done so I could put a coat of paint on it before the sub-floor goes in. While I was sanding the area, I noticed a couple of low spots that would hold water. This was not good, as I do hope to be storing something in this new found area where there used to be cement. I decided to fill in the low spots with filler putty, and then sand it down and paint. I got the filler putty put in on the starboard side of the boat. I had to move a couple of cables and hoses out of the way to put in the putty. Tomorrow I will move the hoses and cables back to the starboard side , and fill in the port side.
I fiberglassed in a pad on the front deck for a new pad eye. This pad eye will hold the pendant for the stay sail. When I did the rigging in 2003, I had made the stay sail stay too short, and never fixed it. I built a VERY jury rig that worked, but was not the way to do it. I decided that now was the time to fix the problem. Robert Jones showed up, so he went up the main mast and disconnected the staysail stay. I fished some spare 1 X 19 3/8" cable out of the front cabin, so now will build a new stay. When I get the stay built and the pad eye down the stay sail will be rigged properly.
While Robert was on the boat, I had him go up the mizzen mast and released all of the lines I had attached for the mast raising. He also swapped around the lower stays on the mizzen so we could better adjust the stays. As it turns out, one of the stays is too short. While fishing out the new cable for the stay sail stay, I also fished out some 1/4" cable for the mizzen mast lower. I will now build a new mizzen lower, and that should solve that problem.
Went over to the shop this morning with friend Al Shattuck. He needed to bend some stainless steel tubing, so we were going to give the bender a try. We were able to bend the tubing, but it took a couple of attempts to get the hang of the unit. I am glad I bought some scrap tubing to practice with and get the hang of how the bender works. I will definitely get some pipe to test with before I do the real thing.
Did some more cleanup of the shop. I cut out the wood for the printer shelf that will be going into the mid-cabin. I purchased a small teak cabinet at the re-sale shop. This cabinet is pretty small and has three shelves in it. I am going to mount the printer on the top shelf. Then mount the small teak cabinet under it. On the three shelves I will mount the wireless router, the print server / NAS server, and the 1 terabyte back up drive. Now I have to find some power switch configuration so I can turn on one device only and leave all of the other off if I choose.
I drilled holes in the mounting brackets for the printer shelf. I had previously bent the flat bar I had for the brackets. I then bent some flat bar to make two mounting brackets to replace some really funky ones I had in the garage. I also drilled some holes in these brackets.
I took the sub-floor panels apart from the mid-cabin floor that Rick fabricated yesterday. I put the parts back together using epoxy and screws. I then put on the first coat of penetrating epoxy on the sub-floor panels. I am planning on putting two coats of the penetrating epoxy on each side of the sub-floor panels. That will equal four coats on the end grain.
Went back to Dream Away for lunch. After lunch I installed the fife rails with the belaying pins on the main mast lowers, port and starboard. I then tied off all of the halyards onto the belaying pins so that they will not bang on the mast when the wind blows.
I then did the electrical installation of the wiring on the main mast. The wires come through a hole in the deck into the mid cabin. I connected up the anchor/strobe/Tri-color light, the steaming light, the VHF radio connector, and the wind instrument sending unit. I checked out all of the wiring except the wind instrument. When I get the auto pilot installed and all of the loose wires connected to it, I will be able to power up all of the instrumentation, including the wind instrument. All of the lights work, and so does the VHF radio. The anchor/strobe/Tri-color light is one I purchased while in Marathon, Florida. If you turn on the Tri-color light it just works. If you turn on the anchor light one time, the anchor light comes on. If you turn on the anchor twice, the anchor light will come on when it gets dark and go off when the sun comes up. If you turn the anchor light on three times, you get a slow flash strobe. If you turn the anchor light on four times you get a quick flash strobe. If you turn the anchor light on five times it flashes S-O-S. Pretty cool.
Spent most of the morning putting away supplies and tools after the last week. It was getting so I could not get much work done because tools were all over the place.
Rick showed up at Dream Away, and we went over to the shop to cut all of the pieces of plywood for the sub-floor in the mod-cabin. We also cut the battens that will be the supports for the sub-floor. We then went back to Dream Away and Rick set to work on installing the plywood sub-floor. When he left at the end of the day, all of the sub-floor was cut and fitted. The holes were cut for the hatches in the mid-cabin floor, and the supports for the hatches were installed. After Rick left, I took out all of the floor parts so I can take them over to the shop and soak them with penetrating epoxy.
Shannon showed up and started the sanding of the brightwork. She will have to do some additional cleaning of the teak, then continue with the sanding. She plans to start applying the Cetol early next week.
I drilled the 2" hole in the deck next to the mizzen mast to run the electric wires through. The deck is very thick there, and the thru-dull I purchased would not fit. I had to order an extra length thru-hull for the electric wires. I did clean up the area where all the wiring comes in from the mizzen mast. I also started the installation of the core pack (computer) for the auto-pilot. It is a physically larger unit then I used to have, so some changes were necessary. I did not get the core pack completely installed
I also washed down the boat after Shannon left to wash off all of the teak dust, plus some of the residual mess I made drilling the hole in the deck.
No real Dream Away work done today. Jim Bates went home to Dallas, and Kitty and I went to downtown Houston to run the pontoon boat for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. It was a good tour and very informational, as there was a guide, but it sure was cold.
We came home, and just chilled out. This coming week will be getting all of the mast loose ends taken care of and getting ready for the dinghy davit project.
Jim and I started right on the mizzen mast after breakfast. I had planned on putting up the mast at 1300, so we were under pressure to meet the self imposed deadline.
We installed the mizzen spreaders and the new spreader lights on the spreaders. We ran the mizzen uppers, and connected them to the spreaders. Or friend Al Shattuck came over to help with the effort.
We had to mount the mizzen mast step on the back cabin deck. This meant we had to drill holes to mount the step and the new piece of aluminum the mast step sits on to spread out the load of the mast. We had to go and get an angle drill to accomplish this task. We finally got all of that completed and the new mast step installed. The new mast step and associated pieces will be a much better arrangement than before.
We got all of the standing rigging installed and ready to go. The last item was to solder on the fittings to the VHF cables. I was not looking forward to this as the wind was really blowing out of the north at about 20 knots. I had brought a big card board box over to the baot from the shop to use a a wind block. This worked out pretty well, and I was able to solder on the two connectors with out much trouble.
It looked like we were ready to go with the raising. It was approximately 1500, so I missed the dead line but not by much. I got all of my neighbors ready to assist, plus an official photographer. I put the line for the actual raising of the mast and two lines on the mast to keep the mast straight as it was being raised. We moved the mast into position over the back of Dream Away. I installed one more safety line at the base of the mast, so it would not kick out while the mast was being raised.
I put a New Zealand coin under the mizzen mast on the step. This will aid the Polynesian coin under the main mast to draw us to the South Pacific.
We ready, I had everyone in their place, and the mast went up with out a problem! Once the mast was up, we attached all of the standing rigging and got the mast secured. At approximately 1530 we were a ketch again. The mizzen mast went down on April 26th of 2008, and back up on the 28th of February.
Jim Bates, myself and Kitty went below and had a Zaya toast to the occasion.
Continued work on the mizzen mast. Started connecting all of the wiring. Installed the radar mount, the radar and the PA speaker. Got all of the wires connected, dressed and water-proofed. Next worked on installing the wind generator mount, and running the wiring through the mount. Was able to complete that task with out very many problems.
Had to go to the shop to fabricate some tips for the mizzen mast spreaders. The tips hold the upper shrouds in place on the spreaders. We finished fabricating the tips, picked up the wind generators at the shop and went back to Dream Away.
When we got back to Dream Away, we installed the wind generators. They look really sharp, being orange, and hopefully will help with the "signature" of Dream Away. We ran the running rigging in the mizzen mast, the topping lift and the mizzen halyard.
We got the mizzen mast head installed with the running rigging in the proper places, the flag halyard installed and the GPS antenna installed.We installed mounts for the VHF antennas on the mizzen mast.
I had one VHF antenna already installed on the mizzen mast. This antenna is for the VHF radio we have in the aft cabin. This radio in the aft cabin is part of our security system. If we are boarded at night, we have the aft VHF radio, completely separate from the main VHF in the Navigation area to use to call help. Of course if the main mast is lost for some reason, we have the backup antenna for the aft radio on the mizzen mast. Additionally, as part of the security system, the aft radio is connected to the PA system, and I have a second set of breakers in the aft cabin to turn on the main and mizzen spreader lights, and the strobe light at the top of the main mast. The second VHF antenna on the mizzen mast will be for the AIS, Automatic Identification System, receiver I will be installing to interface with the Captain navigation software I have.
Shannon showed up today and finished with all of the stripping of the brightwork.
We finished the day with a sundowner, and feeling like we were pretty close to being finished with the mast.
Went over to the shop first thing in the morning to look for the fittings for the radar. I knew I needed them, but could not remember seeing them in the shop and was very worried they had been misplaced. When I got there, to the shop, I really panicked because I could not find them, but finally located them in Kitty's library. When I found them there, I remembered I hung them in there to dry after painting!!
While at the shop I put a coat of orange paint on the second side of the wind generators.
Went back to the boat and started to work on the mizzen mast. When we finished today we had run the electrical conduit, and all of the wiring necessary in the mast. We also installed the exit plates for all of the halyards. We also had to go back to the shop to fix a part on the wiring "fish", so at that time I put the second coat of paint on the second side of the wind generators.
Shannon showed up to continue work on the brightwork. She is continuing with the stripping that is necessary.
Rick showed up to do the templates on the mid-cabin floor.
A good day, and lots done.
Went over to the shop this morning, and spent the whole day cleaning parts for the mizzen mast. We did all of the rigging and anything that attached to the mast. I finished painting the wind generator supports. I put the first coat of Orange paint on the wind generators. I also painted some parts with green that go on the mizzen mast rigging that hold a boat hook and the man overboard pole.
When Jim and I came home for lunch today we borrowed Troy Jones truck and took the dinghy over to the Dino store room. When we came back we brought back the wind generator support. It is a very odd shape and will not fit in the Suburban.
When we finally left the shop for the day, we loaded up all of the goodies for the mizzen mast, stopped by the storage yard and loaded the mizzen mast, and brought the mast to the boat.
The mizzen mast is laying on two saw horses on the dock. We will turn to on the mast tomorrow and also we will be working on the mizzen mast base that still needs to be finished.
Over all we are progressing very well, and I will have a good update here tomorrow.
A major milestone was reached today. The main mast was put back on Dream Away!!!! This morning we got the boat prepared and drove it over to the boatyard. They were waiting for us, so we started the process of lifting the mast up and sitting it down on the boat. All went very well, and almost with out incident. I went to so much trouble to lay out all of the lines, and shrouds when the mast was laying down, but once the mast was lifted up it seemed like a rats nest, but was easily taken care of.
Following the normal tradition, I put a coin at the mast step before the mast was raised. We put a French Polynesian coin the to join the other two coins. The new coin we hope will draw us to the South Pacific.
We got all of the shrouds where they needed to bit, and a bit tight. I paid the yard, then we took Dream Away back to her slip. It took about 45 minutes to get her into the slip. I wanted to back her into the slip, so I could put up the mizzen mast this coming weekend. The problem is, if anyone has ever driven a single screw boat, the boat will "walk" in one direction or the other before you really get going. Also the wind was really starting to come up, so I had to get the boat backed into the slip before the wind could blow the bow to one side or another. It was challenging, but after five attempts, it went right into the slip.
Robert Jones, Jim and I went to work getting the boat tied down, electricity hooked up, and water to the boat. We also took the dinghy off of Dream Away. I needed to do that as the next project is building new dinghy davits. To build the new davits, I have to remove the old ones, and that meant taking the dinghy off of the davits. We got all of the shrouds tightened up and the mast really straight. I have left all of the cotter keys out of the turnbuckles until we go sailing a time or two and can get the rigging and boat back into shape. Robert will have to come back tomorrow and put the radar reflector on the port main spreader.
We broke for lunch, and had a great meal at Skippers. After lunch Robert had another appointment, so Jim and I went back to Dream away. I had a bunch of tools and parts to put back into their place, but after that was done Jim and I tackled the next problem. Jim and I had to drill a larger hole in the deck for the 2" thru-hull fitting. This fitting is used to run all of the wiring from the mast, through the deck into the boat to the proper connections. We got that accomplished, got the wires into the boat, and stopped for the night.
We then had a celebratory toast to being a sail boat again. It was February 29th of 2008 that we took the main mast down!!
Went over to the boat yard and picked up were we left off yesterday. Robert Jones showed up about 1000 to help with getting the mast up. We got all of the electric wiring connected and checked out. Good thing we did as a problem was found with the anchor/strobe/tri-color light. We got the problem narrowed down and solved. We went through and checked out the mast and made sure everything was installed.
We did notice a possible problem with the mast head fitting I fabricated last week. We were not sure it would be a problem, but could be. At that time we only had 15 minutes to get Dream Away over to the slip to put the mast on. The yard manager, came down and asked us if we were ready. I explained the situation, and he said it was no problem. Possibly hurrying up would cause a problem. He was pretty booked up the rest of the afternoon, but said he would step the mast in the morning. This was great news for us.
We broke for lunch, then after lunch went over to the shop to try and retrofit the mast head fitting. Before we could do anything in the shop, we had to take the painted mizzen mast over to the storage yard, and then go back to the shop and clean it up. It turned out that even after we retrofitted the mast head fitting, it would still not work. We decided to build a new fitting with different measurements. We bent a new fitting from stainless steel stock, got it drilled out, cut off and polished by 1715. We then went over to the yard to test the new fitting and it fit perfectly. We installed the fitting, and then went back to Dream Away.
Headed over to the boat yard at 0700 to continue work on the mast. Was joined later by Jim and Jimmy. I will not go into all of the detail, but we did a lot of work on the mast and got very far along. Had a slight set back with the electrical conduit, and had to re-do some of that but it all moved along very well. I had to go to the boat twice to get parts. Kitty was a great help making trips to the boat, the shop and to West Marine. Jimmy lives way north of Houston, so he left about 1530, and was a great help getting things done on the mast. Jim and I left the yard about 1830. When we left we had all of the wiring installed, all of the standing rigging installed, and all of the running rigging installed, all of the winches installed, all of the hardware and lines for the whisper pole, and the re-configured spreaders installed in the new slots on the main mast.
We still have to connect up the new spreader lights, the steaming light, and to put the finishing touches on the mast head. Install the VHF antenna, and attach the wiring for the Tri-Color/Strobe/Anchor Light, and we will be ready to put the mast up.
All in All a very productive day, but a long one. I am tired and worn out, so I am going to bed.
Stated the day with myself, Jim Bates, and Jimmy Shell getting started on th re-assembly. With the yard putting the mast on Dream Away, Monday the 23rd, the most important things to get done first were all of the items that have to be done to sit the mast on the boat, then all of the things that would be so much easier done with the mast down, and last all of the things that could be done with the mast up, but would be great to get them done while the mast is down.
Jim Bates and I started out putting the conduit for the electrical wires, into the mast. Jimmy started putting on pats for the whisker pole. We continued on making good progress. We had to break for lunch so we could go to an SSCA luncheon with a very good guest speaker. When we returned from lunch, it was raining, so we did not get back to the main mast. I went over to the shop and hopefully put the finishing touches of paint on the mizzen mast.
Went over to shop and put another coat of paint on the mizzen mast.
Also did the final preparation to try and get all of the parts ready for the main mast re-assembling project this coming weekend. Also tried to get all the parts and tools ready from the shop and the boat to put into the Suburban when we start the main mast re-assembly.
Got together Jimmy Shell, Jim Bates and myself, and went to Gulf Coast Trawl Doors storage yard to get the two main mast halves. Loaded the two halves onto the Suburban, then drove them over to the South Texas Yacht Service, and off loaded them onto mast stands. We then got another friend, Rene Foree, and went back to the storage yard. I had decided to walk the roller furling forestay from the storage yard to the boat yard. It was just too much trouble to take the roller furling apart, transport it 1/3 of a mile, then have to put the roller furling back together. The four of us picked up the roller furling and walked to over to the boat yard!!
The one item I wanted to get done on the main mast before the sun went down was to get the two pieces of the mast back together. We were able to get it done, but it was a chore. Once we finally got the mast back into one piece, we called it a day.
Went over to the shop and spent the whole day working there. I was able to get the main boom painted, and finished off.
I got the mizzen boom, sanded down and cleaned up. I was able to get it completely painted and finished today. I also painted the radar mounts that go onto the mizzen mast, after sanding and cleaning them.
Next challenge was the mizzen mast. I got the mast completely sanded and cleaned up and ready to paint. Because the mast would take up so much room in the shop, and the drop cloths had to be stretched out, I decided to take all of the goodies out of the shop that would be needed to put the main mast together. I was afraid I would get all of the drop cloths up, and then would not be able to get the stuff out of the shop. Anyway, I moved all of that stuff out and into the library room.
Good friend Jim Bates showed up to help with the main mast exercise. He will be here at least all weekend. We moved the mizzen mast into the shop, and I did the final wipe down on the mast. While I put the first coat of paint on the mast, Jim was outside the shop cleaning some more parts I found that had to be cleaned.
During the day, while I was waiting for various coats of paint to dry, I worked on cleaning up parts for the mizzen mast.
Went over to the shop and spent the whole day sanding on the main boom, mizzen mast and mizzen boom. Did some re-arranging to try and make it easier to do the painting in the shop. Had some success there.
Ran an experiment on the radar mounts to see if the can of paint I was using to paint the main boom had a problem. Nothing conclusive. I was able to get two full coats of paint on 1/2 of the main boom. I got one complete coat on the remaining half.
I tried to get the mizzen mast completely sanded today, but was not successful. I spent a fair amount of time dodging rain storms, then when I had the mast completely out of the shop, a really heavy rain squall came over. It cleaned the mast, but I was not able to do anymore sanding. I did get the spreader fitting on the mizzen mast re-riveted. The fittings were a bit loose, so I drilled out the old rivets and put in new ones.
Since I could not sand as much as I wanted, I cleaned mizzen mast parts while I waited for the rain to stop.
Went over to the shop and put another 1/4 coat of paint on the main boom. Did not go well!! The paint crinkled up in many places, and I am not sure why. Put the boom outside to help it dry quickly. Later in the day sanded down the bad parts, and cleaned up the boom. Wiped down the area with mineral spirits. Painted the area again, and still had the crinkling problem, although not as bad. Tomorrow will run some experiments on some other area.
Sanded down, and ground off the welded areas on the mizzen mast. The is about 3/4's done. Will finish that tomorrow.
Did a better job of making the shop a paint booth. Moved some things around to make it easier to get work done and still have a paint booth. It is going to be fun painting the mizzen mast in the shop and still try to get work done. We shall see.
Kitty picked up a Belkin F5L009 USB print server from Fry's electronics. Started with installation, and it went as smooth as silk. I am now able to access the HP printer as a printer and a scanner from the Gateway laptop and the MacBook Pro. Plugged in one of the older back up drives and both machines saw the drive when it came up. Was able to read and write to the drive from both machines. Tomorrow we will get a 1 TB drive to do backups on, that all of our machines can access. Of course now the shelf project for all of this equipment just moved up on the project list!!
Went over to the shop and spread out drop cloths so I can start painting the main boom, mizzen boom and the mizzen mast. Got the main boom sanded down, cleaned and ready to apply paint.
Worked on the table for the drill press. Lowered some support boards, and then bolted the drill press to the table. This puts the drill press at a much better height for use, and make the whole system much more secure.
Went back to Dream Away, and applied the first coat of gel-coat on the new anchor windlass base. This went pretty well, but I will have to put a second coat of gel-coat on the base tomorrow, weather permitting.
Had lunch, then back over to the shop. Painted some more of the main boom. Because of the crowded conditions in the shop, I can only put on a 1/4 of a coat of paint at a time. A bit time consuming, but it is what it is. By the end of the day, I had two complete coats of paint on half of the boom.
Worked some more on the main mast head fitting.
Finally finished up cleaning and greasing all of the standing rigging for the main mast. Once I get the boom painted, and put together, I should be ready to go with the main mast erection. I will of course keep working on the mizzen mast. It will be very nice to have all of the mast parts out of the shop. I will finally have room to do some real work.
What a great day!! My plan was to install a print server on the boat, so we would have access to the printer/scanner from any of our computers on the boat. I also wanted to be able to plug into the print server other USB devices so we could have our back up disk on the network. I found a D-Link DPR 1260 on line that seemed to fit the bill. I know how these plans work, so I decided to buy the units locally, so if I had problems, I could return them quickly. I went to Office Depot and purchased the print server and the hard drive, Seagate 1 TB.
Well I spent several hours trying to get the print server to work. Got in contact with D-Links tech support, and after much back and forth, we concluded the unit was DOA!! Went back to Office Depot and got another unit. When I installed this unit, it came right up and I was able to print. Then I tried to print from the MacBook. That did not happen. Tried to scan from the Windows machine, but that did not happen. Called D-Links tech support again. They tried to help. Then found out the printer I have , an HP DeskJet F4180 was not supported on the print server. Of course I asked why it would print and not scan, but you guessed what the answer was, not supported. I must admit the tech support folks at D-Link were very helpful.
So after about eight hours, I accomplished nothing! Took the print server and hard drive back to Office Depot. Will try again another day.
No actual Dream Away projects worked on today. Kitty, deckhand, and I, captain, went to downtown Houston to operate the Buffalo Bayou Partnership tour boat. The boat only operates four hours, but it takes us about 50 minutes to drive to the field office, and another 45-50 minutes to take the boat to the landings where the tours start. So it ends up being a whole day. The tours run from 1000 to 1400, so we do not have time for a lunch, We typically stop for a bite on the way home. We did not get back to Dream Away until 1730.
Went over to the shop to try and get the welding done, and repair the hole I created yesterday in the mizzen boom. When I finished fabricating the patch piece of aluminum for the mizzen boom, I had to clean up the work bench to make space for the mizzen boom. As I was doing the cleaning, I picked up the welding rod I used yesterday and realized it was a stainless steel rod!!!!!!! No wonder I was having such a hard time getting the rod to flow in the puddle I was creating. That discovery made me feel pretty bad and at the same time good. Now I knew what the problem was.
I had to leave the shop to join Kitty in her Doctor's appointment. When I returned, I went back over to the shop to do the welding. When I used the correct rod, the welding went very well. I was able to get the patch welded into the mizzen boom, I also welded closed a couple of holes in the main boom. I welded up a bunch of holes in the mizzen mast, and the pipe at the lower end of the mast for the electrical wires to exit.
I ordered a new copy of the Captain navigation software. I have been running the older version for several years. Since we will be going cruising, I thought it would be good to have the latest version and to become familiar with the new features. Hopefully they kept everything pretty much the same as far as presentation and use the same.
Tomorrow I will be working on the tour boat, but Sunday, I will get the three spars sanded and ready to paint.
Went over to the shop and set up the drill press to drill a hole in the bolt, for the castle nut. This is the bolt in the fitting I had to re-make for the main mast head. I was able to get the hole drilled very easy. I also cut off the bolt to the best length. The new fitting looks very good.
Friend Allen came over to use the drill press. The drill press is pretty high, and I have it on a high table. In fact for me to use the drill press, I have to stand on a small step ladder. I plan to build another roll around table for the drill press. Alan said he had a roll around metal table in his shop I could use for the drill press. We went ot his shop and brought the table over to my shop. When we got the table to my shop we discovered that three of the five wheels did not roll very freely. We then took all of the wheels off of the table,cleaned them up and re-installed. Now the table rolls around very well. We bolted the drill press to the table, and now have a great system to use the drill press.
I then started to weld up the holes in the mizzen boom. It did not turn out very well! I had the welder set too high, and managed to put a hole in the mizzen boom. I added to the problem, by trying to fix the original problem and made the hole larger. I stopped that nonsense, and decided to cut out a patch piece of aluminum, which I did. I will weld on the patch tomorrow.
I went over to Billy's and picked up the welded main boom, and brought it back to the shop. I worked on the boom to get it ready for painting. I got the boom cleaned up, and tomorrow I will sand the boom and start painting.
I continued cleaning up and checking the main mast rigging. That consists of taking apart all of the Norseman fittings, looking for problems, cleaning up all of the pieces and then put the fittings back together with a generous filling of valve grease. I also clean up the attached turnbuckles and fittings. I still have a couple more to do, and then that job will be done.
I went to the shop today and put the new drill press together, some assembly required! When I got it together, I tested it by drilling two holes in the fitting I am fabricating for the main mast head for the back stays. Once I got the drill bit sharpened, the drill press performed wonderfully. I am very pleased with it. When I purchased it from Harbor Freight, I also purchased an an additional years replacement coverage. I did this because I will be using the unit quite heavily in the next three months. I finished cleaning up the fitting by de-burring all of the edges, and sanding the piece down so it looks really good. Kitty went and purchased a bolt that I am going to use as the pin in the fitting. I also got a castle nut for the bolt. I will drill the hole in the bolt tomorrow for the cotter key.
I mounted the new spreader lights on the main spreaders. I checked it all out, and I will need a couple of shorter bolts for the finished installation, but these new spreader lights, are a great improvement over the previous lights. These new lights are pretty high wattage, but they will really light up the deck.
I checked that I have enough new wire for the main spreader lights, the steaming light, the tri-color/anchor/strobe lighting, and the VHF radio. I had purchased a new Raymarine ST-6000+ wind instrument about a year ago, so I made sure it is with the main mast parts. It will be installed on the mast.
I prepared the mizzen mast and mizzen boom for welding. There are several holes in the mizzen mast and two in the mizzen boom that need to be filled in. I will do that tomorrow.
Called AllStart concerning the smaller pulleys for the two PowerLine alternators. They told me they cannot get any smaller pulleys without going to a serpentine belt. I find this very hard to believe. I told them I would pick up the two alternators today, which I did. I will investigate the problem in more detail in the coming days.
We went into town, Houston, on a field trip to Costco and to a rum shop. We did this with our friend Alan and our next door neighbors. We had a great time. On the way home I stopped by Harbor Freight to get a drill press. I could not get the one I wanted, but I got another one with a 3/4 HP motor. I have 30 days to take it back with no questions asked. I will test it tomorrow and see if I can drill through 1/4" stainless steel plate. If not I will take the drill press back and order the correct one on line. The one I wanted has a 1 HP motor.
Went to the shop and put the remainder of the second coat of paint on the two main mast sections, and the main and mizzen spreaders. They look pretty good, but it is difficult to be sure in a poorly lighted room.
Called the support folks at Bauer Compressors to try and get some sense out of wiring up the SCUBA Compressor. Finally talked to someone, Bill, who knew about wiring the 110 VAC version. Naturally the wiring out of the motor made no sense, and the wiring diagram on the motor itself was confusing. It turns out the wiring can be changed depending on which way you want the motor to turn, CW or CCW, and how the system you are wiring the compressor into is wired. Now I have it down, and know how to wire up the motor on the compressor. I also mentioned to Bill that the wires coming out of the motor looked very small, but he said they were to code. We shall see! I also mentioned I was concerned about the fact the compressor is guaranteed to rust because of no stainless steel hardware. He said Bauer makes a Yacht version, but it is about twice as expensive as the unit we purchased. He said I can change the steel hardware for stainless steel hardware, but if I broke something it would void the warranty. I will probably start replacing the hardware a little bit at a time, and see how it goes.
Did not do much to Dream Away today. Spent most of the day catching up on computer projects, starting taxes, and cooking. I ran the generator for a complete battery cycle.
Went to the hardware store to purchase the conduit to put inside the mast, more paint, and the electrical connector for the air compressor.
Put a half of a coat of paint on the two mast sections, and a second coat of paint on the spreaders.
Cut off the winch base on the main boom, so it could be re-welded in a better location. When I put the winch base on the main boom the last time, it ended up directly over the dodger. It was very hard to tighten up the reefing lines using the winch. Typically, when you are reefing, you do not need extra problems. When I get the main boom back from Billy, the winch will be located in an area that will make it very easy to use the winch when reefing. When I got the base cut off of the boom, I had to clean up the remaining metal, and clean the new area for the winch base. I still have to clean up the actual winch base and get it ready for Billy. I will take the boom over to Billy's shop on Monday. I did use the die grinder from the SCUBA tank to clean up the old winch base area. It really went through a tank of air really quick.
Started looking into the electrical connections for the Bauer SCUBA compressor. Unlike the Miller welder, there is no cord to connect the plug to. I purchased a plug yesterday, and already have a good piece of wire, but it is not obvious how to make the connection. I took the front cover off of the control panel on the compressor, but there are no instructions in there either. I will investigate the manual, and see what it says. The wires that are in the control panel, are very small size to be handling the load of 35 amps @ 110 VAC.
Stopped by the yard where I am storing the masts to verify that I will be able to get the mizzen mast into the shop. The shop is 28' 11' long, and the mizzen mast is 27' 10". It will just fit. All I have to do to the mizzen is weld up about a dozen holes, then sand and prep. Then it will be ready to paint.
Went to the shop and welded up the holes on the main and mizzen spreaders. Sanded the spreaders down with 120 grit, then 220 grit, then 320 grit to get the surface ready to paint.
Completed the first coat of paint on the two main mast sections. Got the first coat of paint on the spreaders.
Worked on fabricating the new fitting for the back stays on the mast head. Got it heated and bent to the correct angles. Attempted to drill holes in the fitting, but was not successful. The drill press that I purchased last year will not do the job. It does not have the power to drill a 5/8" hole in 1/4" stainless steel. I also cannot get the speed down to an acceptable speed to drill in stainless steel. This was very disappointing, as I will need this functionality to make the dinghy davits. I am going to check and see if I can get an acceptable unit, then sell the one I have.
Continued painting small part in the paint booth in the shop.
Went to Home Depot and purchased the remainder of the items necessary to use the SCUBA tanks as a supply for using air tools. Since I will be using the SCUBA tanks both to dive and to use with air tools, I checked the date of the last hydro. It was done in March of 2004. They have to be redone every five years, so I will have to get that done before we leave to go cruising. I will also get my two octopuses checked out. We will use the SCUBA shop in which stopped yesterday, as they were so helpful and friendly.
Went over to the shop and finished wiping down the two mast sections with acetone. Then used a tack rag to go over the mast sections to remove any latent dust.
When I went over to Billy's yesterday I discovered a turnbuckle and some fittings still left on the roller furling. I removed those from the roller furler and took them to the shop with the main mast section. Today I started cleaning those parts.
Went to AllStart to pick up the two alternators. They had the dyno report for each alternator, but had not gotten the new smaller pulleys for the alternators. They said they would get the pulleys and have the alternators for tomorrow.
Stopped at a SCUBA shop, and was able to purchase a used high pressure regulator, not for breathing, a used hose and an adapter to fit up my SCUBA tanks to air tools. I decided to purchase the additional regulator, so I would not have to get out my SCUBA octopus when I wanted to use an air tool. Now I will have to purchase an additional regulator, hose, and a couple of fittings to connect the tools.
The person who is doing the brightwork on the boat, Shannon, showed up today and started the brightwork.
Rick showed up today and we planned the work he is going to do for the floor in the mid-cabin. He is the person I am trading some welding work, and some minor engine work for the floor being put back into the mid-cabin.
Went back to the shop and finished the paint room we are using for a week to paint the main mast sections. Kitty was able to convince the storeroom folks to let us use an unoccupied room right next to the shop to use to paint the mast sections. I finished the paint room by putting up two powerful lights so I can do the painting any time of the day. I also put down drop cloths on the floor and two walls to keep the paint off of the floor and walls. I then started painting the mast sections with primer. I am going to primer the areas where I have sanded down to the bare metal.
I completed the heating and bending of the fitting for the back stays. Now will have to drill the holes, and do the cleanup.
Went over to the shop and sanded and cleaned up the upper mast section. Went to Billy's and picked up the lower section of the main mast that Billy welded on the winch bases. Also picked up the main boom. I have to move a winch base on the main boom. Sanded and cleaned up the lower section of the main mast. Moved the two mast sections into the storeroom I am borrowing for a week. Tomorrow will wipe down the two mast sections with acetone, then wipe them down with a tack rag, then start the painting process.
I also continued painting mizzen mast parts in the paint booth.
Stayed on the boat today after returning from the Doctor's. Sanded down the area around the mizzen mast for the new mast step. Applied one more application of the finishing putty. Hopefully will be the last one.
Went over to the shop and finished welding the port side fitting to the upper main mast fitting. Had a bit of trouble, but finally got the method ironed out to make good welds on the thick metal.
I have a couple of hole to fill in one main mast spreader, and a few holes to fill in each mizzen mast spreader, then I have to start the sanding and painting on the mast sections.
I started fabricating a fitting for the main mast head. The original fitting was just a bit small, and it allowed the upper portions of the two back stays to rub against each other. I am fabricating a new fitting, that is larger, but will also prevent the upper portion of the back stays from rubbing together.
Went over to the shop and fabricated the port side fitting to weld on the main mast to support the spreader. After fabricating the support and measuring the placement, I got it about two thirds welded on the main mast. As I mentioned before we have to preheat the mast because of the thickness of the mast. Because the welder we purchased is of a small practical size for the boat, it cannot support large welding jobs, ie, welding thick metal for long periods of time. The tip or holder get very hot after long periods of welding, so I have to stop welding for 30 to 45 minutes. After the tip cools, the mast has also cooled, so it has to be preheated again, before I can commence welding. The solution to the hot tip problem, is a water cooled tip, but of course that is another can of worms. So far the Miller Dynasty 200DX has been perfect for what we intended.
I left the shop and went back to the boat to prepare for the Super Bowl.
I did get in contact with Shannon concerning the brightwork, and she is going to start the project tomorrow.
As of now I am scheduling the main mast to go up on the 23rd of February. I should have everything ready well before the date. The plan will be to take the two mast sections to the yard on Friday evening. We will put the mast together, run the wiring, run the halyards, and all the remaining items on the Saturday and Sunday before the 23rd. Hopefully I will pretty much have the mizzen mast ready to go very soon thereafter. With any luck I will be a sail boat again before the end of February
Went over to the shop and spent the whole day welding on the main mast or fabricating and welding parts to go on the main mast. I filled all of the holes on the main mast using the welder. I fabricated the starboard side fitting to weld on the main mast to support the spreader. I then welded the fitting to the main mast.
Went to the shop this morning, and cleaned all of the parts associated with the bobstay and fitting. I filled the Norseman fittings on the bobstay with grease. I cut out a piece of PVC sheet to be used as a backing plate for the bobstay fitting.
While at the shop cleaned more of the mast parts, and continued painting parts in the paint booth.
Went to Alan's and picked up the filler putty. Cleaned the area where the bobstay fitting backing plate will go, and put in the filler putty, and used the PVC backing plate to smooth and flatten out the putty. The putty will sit up overnight.
Got into one of those projects that was not on the list, but needed to be done. Yesterday we moved the dingy to the work float. We pulled the dingy up on the dock today. We turned it over, and I ground out the dings in the hull. I used the filler putty to fill in the dings. When the putty had hardened, I sanded it all smooth, and then applied bottom paint over the repaired areas. I let the paint dry for about two hours, and then put the dingy in the water. So now the dingy is off the back of the boat, and the work float is available to be used for the brightwork and other projects, like the bobstay fitting.
The Lighthouse windlass arrived today. I took it over to the shop. I will have a look at it tomorrow to make sure it is all in good shape. They shipped the windlass back to me on a proper pallet. I am going to save this pallet, that way I will never have to send off the windlass again.
Removed the lower bobstay fitting from the boat. Will take the fitting to the shop to clean up. Will get the filler putty tomorrow from Alan to build up the area for the new backing plate.
Took all of the lettering off of Dream Away's name boards, in preparation of getting the brightwork done. Have decided to get new letters made of White plastic, as it was very difficult to see the old green plastic letters on the finished teak wood.
Removed the dinghy from the back of the boat, and put the dingy on the work float. Tomorrow during the warm weather, will repair the scratches in the bottom of the dingy. The dingy got damaged a couple of years ago when it went on an unauthorized field trip, and ended up on some rocks. It seems someone did not tie off the dingy properly while anchored out at Offatt's Bayou!!
Continued working on cleaning up the mast parts. Did some sanding on the mast. Painted some more parts in the paint booth.
Put the first coat of gel-coat on the deck box lids. I wanted to get the gel-coat on today because the weather is nice and warm. A cold front is coming tonight, so it will be a couple of days before I can get the final coat on the lids.
Went to the scrap metal yard and purchased some sheet stainless steel for the new water maker deck. Purchased some aluminum angle for high pressure pump on the water maker. Purchased additional aluminum angle for the jaws on the vice. Now when I put some work into the vice, the jaws will not harm the work.
The really big news for the day was the SCUBA compressor arrived. It appears to be in great shape. I will have to get a regulator for the SCUBA tanks to be able to use the air in the tanks to run air tools and such. It will be a great help to be able to do that. Of course now when we are cruising in a great dive area, I will have all of the air I need for my SCUBA tanks.
Went over to the shop and cleaned up the remainder of the parts that I took out of the anchor locker for the windlass.
While at the shop also continued with the process of cleaning up the mast and parts on the mast. Also did some sanding on the mast. Painted some more parts in the paint booth.
Came back to the boat and sanded down the last of the putty applied to the forward windlass deck pad. It just needs to be cleaned up and then it can be gel-coated.
It was pointed out that I seem to spend a large amount of time putting putty on parts!! With that thought in mind, I also sanded down the mizzen mast step pad, and applied another coat of finishing putty. I want to get this area done also, so I can gel-coat this area and the windlass area at the same time.
Had a friend come over today and offered to do the mid-cabin floor and wood working projects, if I would do some welding and let him do some welding on his dingy davits. I said yes, as this is a good use of the welder, and I get the mid-cabin projects done. He is working my old job, so he will be doing the work when he is on nights and his week off.
Shannon came by today and gave me a quote on the bright work on the boat. It was a good quote, and she can start next week, so I am going to go with it.
Continued cleanup of the anchor locker. When I started looking around in the anchor locker, I discovered I had not put a backing plate on the lower bobstay fitting. I had replaced the lower bobstay fitting many years ago, and I thought I had used the old fitting as the backing plate. Now I will take the bobstay fitting off, build up the area behind it with a course polyester filler. I will then put a PVC plate as a backing plate, and put the fitting back on the boat. I must get on this as the windlass will be arriving soon. I still have to clean all of the chain and re-mark the chain at 25' intervals.
Spent most of the day doing computer things! Did backups, worked on updates and also taxes. Fun and games!!
Put some more paint on the mast fittings in the paint booth. Cleaned and sanded the main mast head fitting. The fitting is now ready for the paint booth.
Started the cleanup of the anchor locker. This involves using chlorine bleach water to wipe down all of the surfaces in the anchor locker.
Installed two pieces of wood with epoxy mash mix to help shore up a bulkhead between the mid-cabin and the main salon. Next I will have to put some of the penetrating epoxy into the wood to keep in from rotting away more. Now I can get to work putting in †he floor of the compressor area, so the ice maker can be re-installed.
Worked on the upper main mast section in the shop. Took off the old fittings for the spreaders so I can weld on the new ones. Cleaned up the areas to weld and started sanding the mast to prepare it for painting.
Worked on the tops for the aft deck box yet again. I sanded them off, and I was sure this would be the last time. When the morning sun came into the shop, I saw more of those darn pin holes. I used some more Nitro-Stan putty to fill them in. Maybe tomorrow will be the final sanding and I can get to the gel-coat.
I built a small paint booth out of a large cardboard box. I am using this to paint a lot of the small items that will go back on the masts. I started painting the parts this morning.
Did some more sanding on the forward pad I put on the boat for the anchor windlass. I then put on some more of the finishing putty around the pad. I then sanded down that application of the finishing putty. It appears there is one more spot where I must put some finishing putty, sand it down, then it will be ready for the gel-coat.
Sanded down the filler putty around the base for the new mizzen mast step. I also sanded down the filler putty around the two tie-down pads next to the new mizzen mast pads. When I completed the sanding, I then did an application of the finishing putty.
Kitty went by Precision Industries and picked up the new correct pulley for the water maker. It was a special order for the shaft size and key way, but now I can get serious about getting the water maker back to working again.
Called AllStart concerning the two alternators. They did not get a chance to look at them, but hope to have progress by Monday.
Got a call from a ships carpenter today. he will be coming by early next week to look at the two projects I need toget done in the mid-cabin. Still waiting to hear from the second person to do the bright work.
My friend came over to look at the welder and see if there is a problem with the machine. He more or less came to the same conclusion that I had come to. The metal on the mast is very thick, 3/8" being welded to a 1/4" mast, and the mass of the mast is so large the heat is being dissipated before a puddle can be formed. We will test the theory tomorrow. We will take the mast to my friend Alan's sons house. He has a very large welder there, and we will see if we can do the weld on the mast there.
I continued cleaning up mast parts. I also cut and fitted the pieces of aluminum pipe that I will need for the wiring exit ports in †he mast. These pieces of pipe will have to be welded to the mast.
I went by AllStart with the two alternators. They are going to test each alternator on the dyno, and give me a print out. They are also going to get me information on smaller pulleys for the alternators.
The remaining parts from West Marine came in, so I went by and picked them up. I am pretty sure I have everything I need to get the masts back on the boat.
I worked on the deck box tops again today. Every time I look at the tops under a good sunlight, I discover more of those annoying pin-holes. Put some more Nitro-Stan putty on the tops, filling more holes. Hopefully I am getting close to the end.
Had a good news/bad news day with the welder. My practice welds on scrap pieces of aluminum were very good, and I am real happy with the machine. Today I started to weld the winch bases back onto the lower section of the main mast. I am having a difficult time getting a puddle going on the work. In fact I can not get a puddle going with which to work. I adjusted the machine to the top levels to see if it helped, but it did not. I welded two of my practice pieces together, and had no trouble with that. I even set up and did some stainless steel welding, and that went very well. I have a friend coming over tomorrow to look things over and see what the problem might be.
The pulley I purchased from Precision Industries for the water maker pump is not the correct one. I measured the shaft size with a tape measure, and it was 3/4", I thought. As it turns out the shaft is not .750 inches, it is .785 inches which is 20 mm. I looked up the size on the parts list for the pump, and then got a mike out and measured it. So now they are ordering me a new pulley, with the correct shaft size and correct key way size.
I called AllStart today concerning my thoughts about the difference of the output of the two alternators. I also mentioned about changing the pulley size. They told me to bring up the alternators, and they would check them out on the dyno, and would help me order two new pulleys of a smaller size.
I had Tony Gonzalez come by the boat this evening to have him give me a quote on the mid-cabin floor and mid-cabin drawer project. He said he was trying to leave by March 15th, so did not want to get involved in such a big project. He said he knows of a very good carpenter who is fast and reasonable. Tony is going to try and get us in touch tomorrow or Thursday.
Today I worked some more on the deck box tops. I am very close to putting on the gel-coat. That would be a great step forward.
I worked on the winch bases on the lower section of the mast. I finished cutting off the winch bases last Friday. Today I finished preparing the bases to be welded back onto the mast. I had to grind a bevel on the cut off piece and a bevel on the piece remaining on the mast. When you put the two pieces back together, there is a "V" shape that is used for the weld. The "V" shape gets a lot better penetration, and thus a lot better weld. Hopefully I will start welding the winch bases on the mast section tomorrow.
I also checked out the second alternator running on the engine. I was able to get 155 amps out of the alternator running at 1500 RPM on the engine. That is about right. I am concerned why the first alternator does not put out that much current. I am going to take the unit back to AllStart and find out what the problem is. I also think if I had a smaller diameter pulley on the alternators, I would get a higher RPM, and more current out of the alternators. Presently I have a 3.25 inch pulley on the alternator, and a 6.50 inch pulley on the main engine driving the alternator. I think a 2.5 or 2.75 inch alternator would do the trick. Another project!!
I got a call from Jordan at Lighthouse Manufacturing. The problem with the oil leak in the windlass was an "O" ring that parted. Jordan said it was a very rare occurrence. Anyway, it allowed water into the unit, so all of the main bearings had to be replaced. The rusty parts around the Kedge fitting was a lip seal. Jordan said the seal breaks down after a couple of years in the sunlight and needs to be replaced. He is shipping a couple of extra along with the unit. He said the lip seal, is not really used as a seal in this case, it is really protecting the seal under it.
I shipped out the four type 300 Core Packs for the Autohelm (Raymarine) auto pilot. I really hope that two of them are good. One of the units had a chip rattling around inside it, so who knows about that one!
Did not do anything today that could be construed as a boat project. Spent the whole day trying to get caught up on email, other computer projects, navigation software installation, and backups. Did not get near enough accomplished. Spent the usual long amount with the frustration of the computer not doing what it should, troubleshooting the problem, then after three hours, the computer just starts working!!
Also helped a friend move their boat across Clear Lake, to the Clear Lake Marine Center so they could get a bottom job and several other items fixed.
I forgot to mention yesterday about the new welding helmet I am using. It is one of the new ones that is digital. Within 1/100,000th of a second of striking an arc, the glass goes dark. I did not know if it would work or not. It did great, I love it!! That was always a problem for me when I welded with the old fashioned helmet. When I would jerk my head down so the helmet would cover my eyes, about half the time, my glasses would goforward on my nose, or sweat would get all over the glasses, I could not see to weld. Now that problem is solved.
Moved items around in the shop to get the welder in a place for easy use and access. Also moved the argon bottle next to the welder. Got all of the cables and gas lines connected to welder, and it was ready to go. Got the generator running, the welder plugged in, and working with the generic setup on aluminum. Once I got a few new items under my belt, the welder worked just great. Did a few practice welds, and they looked pretty good. Happy to see the welder works very good on single phase 115 VAC, and the generator I am using handles the load with no problem. This coming week, I will do some more practice, then get to the real welding on the main mast sections.
Went to an SSCA luncheon, where the guest speaker talked about removing bottom paint using soda blasting. A very interesting concept. Definitely a candidate for "sailor.com".
Spent the remainder of the day cleaning up the mast parts for re-installation on the mast.
Was able to get a quote from Nina to do the outside Cetol maintenance that is required. So far have not been able to get anyone to the boat to get a quote on getting the mid-cabin floor done.
Verified the marine electrical connector fitted into the generator, then attached the connector to the Miller welder. The night before, Thursday, I read through the Users Manual for the welder. A huge amount of information, but near the very end of the manual they had generic setup procedures for welding aluminum and stainless steel. These will prove to be helpful, and a useful starting point.
I cut off the last two winch bases on the lower section of the main mast. It will take a bit of grinding to get them to fit properly, but they are essentially ready to weld.
I then drove down to the Drennan Street field office to run the tour boat for the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. It was very cold, but it turned out the tour was short.
Went to Home Depot and purchased the casters for the new table. Took the casters to the shop and finished the table. I used the table to move the mast section out of the shop into the sunshine. I cut off another winch base, so now I have two more remaining. Did the measurements for the third.
Went back to the boat and put the polyester filler around the base of the new piece of fiberglass that I put into the deck for the mizzen mast step. I also put some of the polyester filler around to tie down pads I had put on the deck before we went cruising in 2004. I have never finished them off. Since I will be putting down gel-coat in the area to finish off the mizzen mast step area, I thought it would be nice to get these pads finished off.
I also put on a coat of the finishing filler on the windlass base on the fore deck. Tomorrow I will get a chance to see how that turned out. I also got a call from the Lighthouse Windlass folks in California. They have received my windlass and they will be looking at the unit and letting me know what the problem is. I hope to know something tomorrow concerning the windlass.
A good productive day, but very cold. Continued working on cleaning up the standing rigging, and filling the Norseman fittings with Dow valve grease.
Finished building the table for the chop saw and to assist in moving the main mast section around the shop. I still have to get the casters for the new table, and then I will be good to go.
On the boat I ran the engine for three hours. One of the newly rebuilt alternators did great. The batteries were not as discharged as much as I would like, so the maximum current out of the alternator was 110 amps. I will let the batteries discharge down to 12.2 volts and then run the engine again. That should get the maximum out of the alternator.
While running the engine, I also defrosted the freezer. It was in bad need of a defrost, as the compressor was running quite a lot.
I also sanded down the filler I put around the new windlass base I installed. Tomorrow if it warms up, I will put some finishing putty on the area, and get it closer to be ready for gel-coat.
I also worked on the deck box lid that I had previously put some gel-coat on. I noticed several hundred very tiny pin holes in the lid. Not a good thing. I used a fine finishing putty to fill in the holes. I went over the whole top and used this filling putty. We shall see.
Kitty went and got the filled Argon bottle today. All I need is the new grinding wheel to put a tip on the tungsten, and I will be ready to start repairing the mast.
Continued working on cleaning up the standing rigging, and filling the Norseman fittings with Dow valve grease.
Got some help from two friends on the dock and we moved the lower section of the main mast from the storage yard to my shop. Now I can start the work of cutting off the winch bases, grinding an angle on them, and welding them back on.
I installed on of the new alternators back on the main engine, but did not get a chance to check it out.
In the hole I cut for the mizzen mast step, I saturated all of the wood I could get to with Smith's Epoxy. I will let it set up until tomorrow, then I will glass in the cut piece if fiberglass into the hole.
Was able to get the pieces cut out of the fiberglass I purchased to put under the anchor windlass. This will raise the windlass off of the deck by 1 1/2". Not much, but will keep water from running all over the base of the windlass during rough seas.
I also prepared the area where the mizzen mast is stepped. I wanted to cut the area out today, but the wind was from the wrong direction. If I would have done the cutting, the dust would have floated over our neighbors boat. I am hoping the wind will be from the east or south tomorrow, so I will be able to make the cut.
I also put a first coat of gel-coat on one of the lids for the after deck box. I did some experimenting with the application, so I can can a consistent method for the future. Will be able to check that out tomorrow.
The highlight of the day was to watch the Florida Gators defeat the Oklahoma Sooners.
Did not get much work accomplished, but did get a lot of shopping done. Had to get a bunch of supplies and hardware to really get going on the mast project, and other related projects.
Went to the electrical shop and picked up my two high output alternators. They are two Powerline models, and they are rated now at 200 amps. I will be testing them over the next few days. I also picked up my DC motor that I use for the refrigeration. It is completely rebuilt and ready to go. It is a lot of work to change the motor, so I will test the motor after I get the two masts back up.
The float switch failed in our shower sump, so I had to replace that tonight. They do not last very long. I would sure like to get one that would last three or four years.
Worked more in the shop cleaning up mast parts.
Also did some work in Kitty's Library.
Took the stripped down anchor windlass to the UPS store and shipped it out to the manufacturer. I want to get the oil leak fixed, and the rusting parts around the Kedge fitting replaced.
Finally unpacked the Welder and the contractors kit. It looks great, and all of the gear is there. Tomorrow I hope to get some argon and check the unit out. Got a call from AllStart. My two alternators and motor are ready. Will pick them up tomorrow.
Went over to shop and did some re-arranging to get the shop ready to move in the mast and boom extrusions for welding and repair.
Went to the fiberglass warehouse. Purchased many pieces of fiberglass for projects on Dream Away. The cost seems high, but will save a lot of time and effort in the near future when it comes time to build blocks for the cap rail after I remove the teak cap rail.
The welding order arrived, which includes the Miller welder, cover, argon bottle and contractor's kit. I received the sanding disks. Did not get the welder or contractor's kit unpacked.
Worked more in the shop cleaning up mast parts.
Started day by going by the Watergate office and picking up the new vise, the chop saw and the carbide bits for the die grinder. Now I have the goodies to really get going on the mast.
Fitted the second top to the after deck box. We fitted the lid and drilled all of the holes, making it ready for installation. All that remains is to Gel-coat the two deck box lids, then installation.
Built the two carriers to go on top of the Suburban to carry the mast parts, should work very well.
Tried to get the Johnson pump with the pressure switch to work again. Could not get it adjusted. Wrote another email off to the tech support folks at Johnson Pump.
Cut out pieces of plywood for bulkhead support near A/C and ice maker area.
Sanded mid-cabin floor pieces. Started cutting out aluminum pieces for the main mast spreaders.