Maintenance Log - November

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. I also spent time with our two cats, Jillian and Jordan

Went over to the shop and unloaded the Black Beast. We had a lot of stuff in the Black Beast that I brought from the store room in Atlanta. Most of it is to give away, and some of it I will sell on Ebay.

The big item was on the Black Beast. When we were on the way up to Atlanta, we stopped at the Georgia welcome center. When I got out of the truck, the door handle broke off! I put off working on the problem while in Atlanta. It was fun though, having to roll down the window every time I wanted out. The weather in Atlanta was not great. Lots of cold, rain, and snow.

I started on the problem this morning. I verified the problem was in fact a broken door handle, and not a handle that just fell off. I put the door back together, and when I went back to DREAM AWAY, I ordered a new door handle on Ebay. I will replace the handle when the new one comes in, and service the lock and opening mechanism.

The remainder of the day was spent watching football and catching up!

Went on a driving trip from Delcambre, to Atlanta and back to visit with our children over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Did not get any DREAM AWAY projects done today. I saw our cruisers, Tammy and Bruce off. They were meeting family in New Orleans for Thanksgiving, so needed to get on the way. We had a great time meeting and visiting with them.

The remainder of the day was spent packing and getting ready for our trip to Atlanta. I checked all of the fluids in the Black Beast, and vacuumed it out. By evening the truck was packed and ready to go.

Went over to the shop and rolled the table saw out of the shop, and prepared it to cut the Strongwell Extren plate for the hard dodger uprights. I also set up my squirrel cage fan to blow the dust away from me while cutting the plate.

I cut the plate and matched the new pieces with the original hard dodger uprights. They looked good, but did not want to do any more cutting until I did a dry fit of the new pieces on DREAM AWAY.

New Strongwell Extren Plate Cut For Uprights

New Pieces Matched Up With Original Uprights

I loaded the box of clamps, the “Box O’ Resins”, and the uprights into the Black Beast, and went over to the marina.

When I got to the marina, I replaced the last two toilet seats in the shower trailer. So now it is ready for prime time. The digital controller is ordered for the on demand hot water heater. When it arrives and is installed, hopefully that will fix the last remaining problem with the shower trailer.

Our cruisers, Tammy and Bruce, left the marina around 1000 this morning. They went to Leblanc Fuel dock to top off their fuel tanks, and then they will be on their way east.

I brought down to DREAM AWAY, the box of clamps and the new and original hard dodger uprights. Kitty and I bolted and clamped on the original uprights, and then clamped on the two new uprights that will repair the sliding window problem. With the two new uprights clamped on the measurements are rights on.

Now “all” I have to do is cut off the piece on the original upright that was there for the sliding window, and glass on the the new piece.

Tammy and Bruce on DOS LIBRAS are back at the marina! While getting fuel, they inadvertently put diesel fuel into one of their water tanks. It was only about three gallons, but quite a problem.

I helped Bruce pump out the water tank and start the cleaning process on the water tank. Tammy and Kitty went off to the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island.

I finally got to mix up and pour the Smith’s penetrating epoxy into the holes in the cockpit seat, so I could bolt down the hatch in the cockpit. I had a bit of rot in one of the screw holes. I saturated all of the screw holes with the Smith’s penetrating epoxy just to be sure I got everything. Next I will put filler into the old rotten area, and then will be able to screw down the cockpit hatch.

Rotten Area In Cockpit Next To Hatch

When that was complete, I put three medium sized blobs of the finishing putty on the mixing board. I do this so I do not add the cream hardener to a large amount of putty, and have it go off too soon. I am using the finishing putty as a filler to level out flat surfaces, and as filler to make smooth radiuses in corners of the hard dodger base on the dog house.

Hopefully I will not have to make many applications of the finishing putty. You never get it perfect the first time. After the first application, you sand down the area, you find a few places that were not filled properly with the finishing putty. Then another application, then sanding. It seems like this could go on forever, but I use the "36” rule.

The 36” rule is, if it is perfect from 36 inches away, then it is perfect. When I do finally get all of the area looking good, I will then apply the gelcoat.

Starboard Base Before Finishing Putty Application

Starboard Base After Finishing Putty Application

Forward Base After Finishing Putty Application

After the application of the finishing putty, I cleaned up the area and all of the material back into the “Box O’ Resins”.

Kitty and Tammy returned from their outing, so I had a shower, and we went to Tammy and Bruce ’s boat for a wonderful dinner. They are heading out to the east tomorrow, so it was nice to get together.

Went over to the shop and started replacing the weather stripping on one of the companion way inserts. The old weather stripping was failing and needed to be replaced. It was a simple matter of completely removing the old weather stripping, and applying the new weather stripping.

Old Weather Stripping On Companionway Insert

New Weatherstripping Applied To Companionway Insert

Now it was back to the problem uprights on the hard dodger. Yesterday I had taken angles and measurements while the uprights were clamped to the lower and upper base of the hard dodger. Based on those angles and measurements, I cut out two templates for the new pieces of Strongwell Extren plate. One template was of thin plywood, and the other was of cardboard.

It seemed no matter how I laid them out on the bench I could not get the proper accurate measurement. Instead of frustrating myself further, I decided I would take the uprights and templates back to DREAM AWAY, and make the measurements on the hard dodger uprights.

Starboard Upright And Template On Workbench

Port Upright And Template On Workbench

In the meantime, while waiting for Kitty to awake, I finally got back to painting one of the barrels that act as a trash container, and goes on the stern of DREAM AWAY.

Paint Applied To Barrel

Went back to DREAM AWAY with all of the uprights, templates and the box of clamps, and had breakfast. Kitty left with Tammy and Bruce, and they went over to Rip van Winkle Gardens to have lunch at the Cafe Jefferson, and then to tour the Joseph Jefferson Mansion.

While they were gone I went to work on the hard dodger uprights. First on the list was to attach the two center uprights to the lower base, and clamp them to the upper base. When this was done I verified the measurements on the outside uprights to the center uprights.

When I was comfortable with these measurements, checking more than twice, I clamped the templates on the two center uprights. I then moved and measured the templates until the measurements between the two templates was the same at the top and the bottom. This will allow the plexiglas panel to slide up and down in the center of the hard dodger.

I made sure the clamps holding the templates were very tight. I then loaded the tools, clamps and uprights into the dock cart and walked over to the shop.

Measured And Clamped Uprights With Templates

When I got to the shop, I measured out the two uprights with the templates, onto the remaining piece of tall Strongwell Extren plate. I checked these measurements several times.

Tomorrow I will cut out the two pieces of plate, and also cut the channels in them.

Measured Piece Of Strongwell Extren Plate

Kitty had arrived home by now, so I walked back to DREAM AWAY, and had a welcomed shower.

Went out to the hard dodger and accurately measured and marked up the two cent forward uprights for the hard dodger. When I had completed the measuring, I removed the two uprights from the base, loaded them into the Black Beast, and drove over to the shop.

I laid out the two uprights on the workbench, as I wanted to see if the remaining piece of Strongwell Extren plate will work for the fix. I also wanted to get a piece of wood or cardboard to use as template material to make sure if the size of plate I will need.

It appears I have enough of the plate, and I did find one piece of plywood I can use as a template. That is the good news.

The bad news is I realized I did not measure the angle of each upright from the hard dodger base on DREAM AWAY. I have the distance between the uprights at the bottom and the top, but not the angle.

I will have to bring the uprights back to DREAM AWAY, bolts the bottoms to the base and clamp the tops to the stainless steel base, and then measure the angles. That will have to be tomorrow’s project.

Upright Laid out On Workbench

Upright On Workbench With Template Material

I went back to DREAM AWAY to get ready for the day’s outing. We took our new cruisers, Tammy and Bruce, out to some them some of the sights in New Iberia. We left Delcambre, and drove to the Konrico Rice Mill. We all watched the video, then Tammy and Bruce took the tour of the mill. When the tour was complete Tammy and Bruce did some shopping in the company store, purchasing some of the goodies available.

We then drove to downtown New Iberia and had lunch at Victors Cafe. It was a very tasty meal, and we all had left over to take home!

We then went to Shadows On The Teche house. Kitty and I watched the video about the house with Tammy and Bruce, and then they took the tour while Kitty and I read our books. When the tour was complete, we headed back to Delcambre, completing three errands on the way.

We had about an hours break, then it was off to Abbeville to have dinner at Shuck’s. Another great meal, then back to the marina for a well deserved bit of relaxation.

After I had breakfast, I went to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and went over to the marina.

I took the hoses, and the pressure washer out on Pier “C” to where I had washed off the dock yesterday. The dock was very clean, even though I saw birds at the end of Pier “C” where I had not washed and put up the monofilament line. So far the monofilament line seems to be working.

I finished pressure washing Pier “C”, and put up more of the monofilament line.

Pier “C” Before The Pressure Washing

Pier “C” After The Pressure Washing

As you can see from the before and after shots, the birds made quite a mess of the dock. I am VERY hopeful the monofilament line will keep the birds away, and the dock will remain clean!

The main reason Pier “C” was being cleaned up is because we have a cruising boat coming into the marina, and the end of Pier “C” is the easiest dock to tie up to and get away from.

We welcomed Tammy and Bruce from the yacht DOS LIBRAS.

Bruce, T-Boy And Tammy WIth Welcome Basket

Kitty and I worked on our problem with the forward uprights on the hard dodger. We are going to modify the two center forward uprights so the sliding window will actually work. I hope to start on that project tomorrow.

I went out on deck to measure the sizes of the plexiglas panels I will be needing. I am planning to purchase template material today as we are driving into New Iberia.

Had a major problem come up with the forward facing uprights. The two center uprights are straight, but the port and starboard outer uprights are not straight. What this means is the planned sliding windows will not slide down, because the distance between the uprights get smaller as it gets closer to the bottom!

I have Come up with a not too major of a solution. The two outer uprights are four inches wide, so I will cut them such that when they are installed, they inside edges will be straight. I will have to cut off a piece of the Strongwell Extren plate I glassed on for the window track, and glass it back on once the upright is cut. So the progress on the hard dodger has been slowed down a bit!

Kitty and I had breakfast, and then we drove to New Iberia to take care of some errands and to attend the El Festival Español de Nueva Iberia. We wanted to see the Spanish music played, watch the Flamenco Dancers, and to eat Paella! We accomplished the task, and thoroughly enjoyed the festival.

El Festival Español de Nueva Iberia

Flamenco Dancer Performing

We got back to dream away around 1630. We enjoyed an adult beverage while relaxing in the cockpit, reading and entertaining our cats.

I had breakfast and went over to the shop and unloaded all of the tools, and the “Box O’ Resins”. I then went to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and went over to the marina.

I continued pressure washing the dock on Pier “C”, picking up where I had left off yesterday. I washed off about half of the remaining “soiled” area, and the strung the monofilament line over the freshly cleaned area. I ran out of the monofilament line, so will have to pick up some more when we pick up the two remaining toilet seats for the shower trailer.

I loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and dropped them off at the Port of Delcambre’s storage room.

Went to my shop and loaded two sanders, the “Box O’ Resins”, the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw, and the Bosch jig saw into the Black Beast, and went back to the marina.

It was lunchtime, so Kitty and I had lunch, then started in on the hard dodger uprights. My goal for the day was to finish off all of the hard dodger uprights.

We did have a major disaster today. Today was the monthly running of the generator. I try to run the generator and main engine once a month for several hours. After the generator had ran for about 15 minutes, it started making a horrible noise and sounded like it was coming apart.

I checked the temperature and oil pressure guages, and they looked normal, and immediately shut the generator down. I then checked the oil and water again, but they were both good. I had checked both before I even started the generator.

I cranked the generator, and it turned over with no problem, but would not start. It is a diesel, so you need good air and good fuel for the unit to run. I will check the air supply, and verify it is good, but I suspect a fuel injector or the injector pump. Fortunately I have a spare injector pump, and injectors. Another project has risen very high on the list!

I decided to wait on the generator, as it was not a pressing matter. The day is beautiful, so I wanted to get the outside work done on the hard dodger.

We got the remaining hard dodger upright installed. It went much easier today, as I learned a little secret. This Strongwell Extren plate I am using for the uprights, is extremely hard and dull my drill bits. If I sharpen my bits before each hole in the fiberglass and the stainless steel, the drilling goes much easier.

We got all of the uprights attached to the lower fiberglass base, and to the upper stainless steel base. This is a major milestone. I still have a lot remaining. I have to cut off the tops of the uprights so the King Starboard top will fit snugly. I have to do all of the finishing work on the fiberglass base and the uprights, and then apply gelcoat. I also have to measure the plexiglas windows so I can make templates, and then purchase the plexiglas. And last I have to weld on some supports to the stainless steel top base to support the King Starboard top.

Top Bolt Details

Bottom Bolt Details

Corner Bolt Details

All Uprights From Starboard Side

Starboard Side Uprights

Port Side Uprights

Hard Dodger Uprights Center From Cockpit

This last picture will give you some idea of how the finished product will look. All of the grey fiberglass base and uprights will be white.

I took all of the tools and the “Box O’ Resins” up to the Black Beast, came back to DREAM AWAY, and cleaned up the area. It was time for a shower and an adult beverage.

Went over to the shop and went through a box of Cat Pump parts I had purchased very cheap on Ebay. It seems that none of the parts will fit my water maker Cat Pump. I may have to sell all of the parts on Ebay.

I closed up the shop and went down to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and went over to the> marina.

The wind had died down, and the day was getting warmer, so I had to get out and pressure wash Pier “C”. We have two cruising boats coming in, and one of them will be on the end of Pier “C”.

The amount of bird droppings on the end of Pier “C” is amazing! I got a fair amount of the end of Pier “C” cleaned off, when the water pressure dropped. I discovered a break in the water line on Pier “C”.

I called Kitty, and she got the plumber organized. While waiting for the plumber to show up, I ran some monofilament line between the pilings on Pier “C”. Rumor has it this will keep the birds from landing on the dock. Time will tell. When I go out to finish Pier “C” tomorrow we will see if there are any fresh droppings on the pressure washed area.

While still waiting for the plumber, I did a pressure washing job on Pier “B”. It needed cleaning as there was a lot of bird dropping on it also.

The plumber came and did the repair, and got the water back on Pier “C”. I loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and dropped them off at the Port of Delcambre’s storage room.

Went to my shop and loaded two sanders, the “Box O’ Resins”, the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw, and the Bosch jig saw into the Black Beast, and went back to the marina.

I brought the tools down to DREAM AWAY, and kitty and I worked on installing more of the hard dodger uprights. It is slow, hard work, but we are making good progress. By the time we finished at 1700, we had half of the uprights installed.

I still have to cut off the top of each upright, but I did not want to do that until I have all of the uprights installed, and there are no hidden issues.

Starboard Side And Front Uprights

Connection Point At Side And Front Upper Stainless Steel Base

Starboard Side Uprights, Kitty In Cockpit

Starboard Side From Forward

Starboard Side, Side View

Captain At Work On Uprights, Looking Forward

We are making good progress. I did get a call from Piedmont Plastics with a quote for two sheets of King Starboard. The price was very good, but the shipping charge from their warehouse in Harahan, Louisiana is $130.00.

I may pick up the King Starboard on the way to or from Atlanta, as that trip is scheduled for next week.

My plan is to replace the King Starboard on the hard Bimini with anti-skid King Starboard product, and to use the King Starboard I remove from the hard Bimini to use as the top on the hard dodger. I will have a lot of King Starboard left over that I hope to make cup holders and such to replace the teak ones I have in the cockpit. This will cut down maintenance!

Did not go to the shop today or work on any DREAM AWAY projects. Spent the day on the computer working on the web page, catching up on email and scanning in documentation.

It was way too cold and windy to be outside working or even at the shop. The shop is not temperature controlled, so it would have been very cold working there.

I went over to the shop, and worked on “adjusting” the bolts needed to install the uprights for the hard dodger. By “adjusting” (cutting off the ends) the bolts I got all of the bolts to their proper size.

Bolts That Need “Adjusting”

“Adjusting” A Bolt

I went back to DREAM AWAY and Kitty and I had breakfast. After which we drove into New Iberia to run some errands. When we returned, the weather had dropped in temperature, and the wind was blowing a steady 15 knots, and gusting higher. We decided not to work on the hard dodger today.

I did some work on the Port of Delcambre’s shower trailer. The hinge assemblies had broken on all three toilets in the shower trailer with the hard use of this past weekend. We had stopped and purchased a toilet seat at Lowe’s in New Iberia. The new seat fit perfectly, and was less than half the price of the manufacturers toilet seat. We are sure the port director will approve the purchase of two additional toilet seats.

The remainder of the day was spent on the computer, and then we went to the Port of Delcambre’s public meeting. We go to the meeting to catch up on what is happening with the Port of Delcambre’s activities, and to get our monthly pay check!

After breakfast I went over to the shop, and sanded down the two hard dodger uprights I had applied the finishing putty to yesterday.

Sanded Hard Dodger Uprights

I then loaded all of the uprights, two sanders, the “Box O’ Resins”, the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw, and the Bosch jig saw into the Black Beast, and went over to the marina.

I hauled all of these items down to DREAM AWAY, to start installing the uprights onto the base of the hard dodger. We got one upright installed. It is very time consuming, and I broke two drill bits drilling through the stainless steel pipe of the top base. But we got our start!

Stainless Steel Tab Installed On Hard Dodger Base

Top Of Installed Upright

Bottom Of Installed Upright

I decided to stop the installation after the first upright was installed. It was time consuming, and I needed time to get all of the tools and material back to the Black Beast.

We had a Marine Corps League function to attend this afternoon. It was a small parade organized by the American Legion in Abbeville. In conjunction with the parade there was a flag changing ceremony at the war memorial in Abbeville.

There was a nice service at the war memorial, and all of the service flags were changed. I assisted with the changing of the Marine Corps flag.

After the service we had complimentary refreshments at the Magdalen Place. Kitty and I then went to Chili’s for dinner as they were offering complimentary meals for all veterans.

After breakfast I went over to the shop, and sanded down the two hard dodger uprights I had glassed together this past Friday.

Sanding On The Uprights

When the sanding was complete, I moved the uprights into the shop, and prepared the finishing putty. I got out the putty, mixing board, cream hardener, and all of the mixers and spatulas used to mix and apply the finishing putty.

I put two medium sized blobs of the finishing putty on the mixing board. I do this so I do not add the cream hardener to a large amount of putty, and have it go off too soon.

Finishing Putty On Mixing Board

I then added the cream hardener to one blob of the finishing putty, and mixed well. I then applied the finishing putty to the two uprights. In some areas I use the finishing putty as a filler to level out flat surfaces, and as filler to make smooth radiuses in corners. Both uses make the finished product look close to professional.

Hard Dodger Upright Before Finishing Putty Application

Hard Dodger Upright After Finishing Putty Application

When the application of the finishing putty was finished, I cleaned up the area, and went back to DREAM AWAY. I was taking the remainder of the day off to try and catch up on email, and to relax a bit.

Today is the 238th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, so it was time to celebrate Marines past and present, and those who had made the supreme sacrifice for this nation.

Up and at em’ at 0445, and at the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds at 0515. I put the steps down and put on the railings of the shower trailer. I connected the electricity to the shower trailer, and verified lights and operation. I also double checked we had plenty of toilet paper and paper towels in each rest room.

Then I became a traffic monitor at one of the entrance gates to help the vendors get into the grounds, and find their correct spot to set up for the market. I finished that at 0750.

I picked Kitty up at the marina parking lot, and we drove to the American Legion in Abbeville. The American Legion was putting on a “typical military” breakfast for veterans and their spouses. The breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, SOS, bacon, biscuits and coffee. Can’t get much more military!

It was a great breakfast, and brought back some good and bad memories. The mayor and one city councilman from the city of Abbeville was there and each gave a short speech. There were two World War II veterans there.

We left the American Legion hall, and ran an errand to get some project parts, then it was back to the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market. We manned the front registration both off and on for the remainder of the market.

We also did some a lot of our Christmas shopping while at the market. We purchased some of the local sauces, jellies and pickled vegetables that we thought is typical of Acadiana.

The market was over at 1300, so now it was time to help with the breakdown and loading of all of the tents, tables and chairs owned by the Port of Delcambre. We did have some help from some of the local kids, so they took care of loading all of the stuff on the trailer and transporting the tents, tables and chairs back to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room.

Kitty and I did a small bit of cleanup on the shower trailer. I drained the remaining water out of the fresh water tank, and disconnected the electricity. I then removed the hand rails, and put the steps up in travel mode. We got the shower trailer hooked up to the Black Beast, and drove back to the marina. We disconnected the shower trailer, and Kitty drove into New Iberia to run an errand.

I stayed at the marina, and dropped the stairs down to gain access to the restrooms. I then cleaned out the two restrooms in the shower trailer that were used during the market. I emptied the trash cans, and then mopped the floors in each of the two restrooms.

It was a hard day for the shower trailer. The reason we only used two of the three restroom was because the toilet seat hinges were broken on the third restroom. At the end of the market, the toilet seat hinges were broken on the other two toilets. Another project!

Kitty got back to the marina at the same time I finished up, so we unloaded the Black Beast, and relaxed in the cockpit for a bit.

We were tired and were in bed by 2030!

Went over to the shop, and started sanding all of the uprights that I had glassed together yesterday. It is important to get as smooth as possible. These double uprights will be the uprights on the front of the hard dodger and will have the sliding, opening windows in them. Going through the sanding process, I could see I may have to recut some of the channels in the hard dodger uprights.

Sanding The Uprights Glassed Together

When all of the sanding was complete, I did a dry fit of two uprights that had to have another piece of the Strongwell Extren plate glassed to it. The two uprights on the front outside edge had to have a piece of plate glassed to it for the sliding opening windows. It also had to have a piece of plate glassed to it for the stationary side window.

Dry Fit Of Strongwell Extren Plate On Hard Dodger Upright

After the dry fit of the parts, I cut the fiberglass mat that I use to glass the two pieces together. I then do a dry fit of the fiberglass mat.

Dry Fit Of The Fiberglass Mat

I then mix up a batch of the polyester resin, wet out the fiberglass mat, and then clamp the two pieces together. As usual we wait for the chemical process to happen, and we magically have one pice of plate instead of two!

Two Pieces Of Plate Glassed And Clamped Together

Next it was close up the shop and back to DREAM AWAY. Kitty and I had lunch, then we went into the marina parking lot. We prepared the shower trailer to be moved over to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds for the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market. The market will be tomorrow, so we are doing ahead of time.

We hooked the shower trailer to the Black Beast, and went over to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds, maybe a third of a mile! When we got there the Port director pointed out the location, and we moved the shower trailer to that location and unhooked it from the Black Beast. We dropped down the steps on the shower trailer, and made sure all was ready in two of the restrooms. I put water in the fresh water tank to about half full. We verified we had electricity for the trailer, then put the steps back up into the travel position. This was for security.

Kitty and I then traversed the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds looking for fire ant nests. When we found a nest I applied ant poison. I ran out of the poison, so had to go to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room to get some more. I came back, and we finished the ant eradication project.

We went back to DREAM AWAY, had an adult beverage, a shower, and a great dinner of pork ribs!

Went over to the shop, and started sanding all of the uprights that I had cut channels into yesterday. I had to get edges smooth, and also to rough up the places where two pieces of the uprights had to be glassed together for the opening windows in the hard dodger.

Channelled Uprights Ready For Sanding

Channelled Uprights Ready For Sanding, Look Close For Channels

Sanding The Uprights

Two Sanded Uprights Ready For Glassing

I did not finish the sanding, but left the shop and went down to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the two remaining sets of steps for the shower trailer into the Black Beast, and drove over to the marina.

Kitty and I had breakfast, and then her and I installed the remaining two sets of steps on the shower trailer. We will be moving the shower trailer tomorrow to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds in preparation for the Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market on Saturday.

I also connected the electricity and water to the shower trailer, because we had a service coming by later this afternoon to clean the shower trailer.

Kitty and I then had lunch, we had a late breakfast, and I went back to the. I finished sanding all of the uprights for the hard dodger, and had the specific uprights sanded to be glassed together.

Sanding The Uprights

I then did a dry fit of all the uprights that were to be glassed together, to make sure they all fit together , and to make sure I had the required number of clamps. I needed to clamp the two pieces together after applying the fiberglass and polyester resin.

Dry Fit Of Uprights

I then got out my stash of fiberglass mat and cut all of the required pieces, and verified the fit. When I was satisfied with everything, I mixed up a pot of polyester resin and applied it to the uprights. Even though it was chilly out I did not make the mix too hot. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of working time to wet out the mat, put the two pieces together, then put on the clamps, and finally clean up any drips.

I did this with all four sets of uprights I glassed together.

Uprights Glassed Together And Clamped

When I finished all the glassing of the uprights, I cleaned up the uprights as best as I could. If you do too much, you end causing more problems with resin everywhere, than when you started. Besides thats why they made big grinders!

I then cleaned up the area, and my self, and went back to DREAM AWAY and a hot shower.

Later that night we watched a two hour special on PBS about Jimi Hendrix.

I had breakfast and walked over to the shop, and continued cutting the channels in the hard dodger uprights.

As I mentioned yesterday I had cut at least one channel in each hard dodger upright for the plexiglas panels to be inserted into. The channels are ½” deep by ¼” wide, and the length of the uprights are at least 38” long and there are 12 uprights with a toyal of 20 cuts! As you can tell, this is a lot of cutting.

I managed to get two fences set up on the table saw so that I cannot cut wrong. We will see how that goes in reality!

Fences Set Up On Table Saw

All Of The Uprights That Need Cutting

While I was doing the cutting on the hard dodger uprights, I taped down the start control on the SeaScooter. I ran the SeaScooter until the battery was almost out. Since I can not run the SeaScooter under a load, I decided to run in “on the bench” several time to check out the reliability of the SeaScooter and the battery. Testing continues.

SeaScooter Running On Workbench

When I finished all of the cuts in the hard dodger uprights, the morning was gone, and I needed a shower. I cleaned up the table saw and it’s table, then walked back to DREAM AWAY.

I took a shower and spent the remainder of the day working on the computer in catch up mode as usual.

I went over to the shop, and got to work on the stainless steel tabs for the hard dodger. I used the countersink to clean out all of the drilled holes in the tabs.

Countersink In Drill Press

I then got out my high speed grinder and put on a 120 grit flap disk. With this disk, I cleaned up the surfaces and the edges of all of the tabs. The tabs were now ready for bending to meet the angle of the hard dodger uprights.

I drove down to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded the lawn mower and fuel can into the Black Beast. I then went back to the marina.

Kitty and I had our small breakfast. Kitty and I are on a diet, the 5-2 diet. Good or bad, it seems to be working, and it is not that difficult to stay on. I have lost 16 pounds in the two months we have been on the diet.

Kitty and I removed the piece of Structoglas that I had put up in the back of the aft cabin. We have a leak that is showing itself by water running off the piece of Structoglas. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I am hoping I can find the source of the leak?

I really hope the source of the leak is not the davit bases. That will be a real struggle to fix, but one way or the other it will have to be done.

Kittu and I took the piece of Structoglas off of DREAM AWAY and loaded it into the Black Beast. I decided it was safer to store it in the shop.

I got the lawn mower, fuel can, grass trimmers and gloves out of the Black Beast. I went to work on weeding the gardens, trimming the grass around the trees and sidewalks, and mowing the grass. I also had to spread poison on several fire ant nests.

When the landscaping phase was finished I took the Black Beast over to the shop and unloaded the piece Structoglas. I then came back to the marina.

Kitty needed the Black Beast to run some errands, so I walked over to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room with the lawn mower and the fuel can. I locked the storage room and then walked down to my shop and went to work.

First item on the list are the stainless steel tabs for the hard dodger uprights. I had to bend all of the uprights to at least 100 degrees. I did this by putting the tab in the vice, and then getting a piece of aluminum plate to put up against the tab, then hitting the aluminum with the hammer. This method works wonderfully, and does not mark the tabs.

One Tab In the Vice Partially Bent

Bent Tabs On Workbench

The next job is going to be a dirty dusty one. I have to cut a lot of the Strongwell Extren plate that I am using for the hard dodger uprights. I rolled the table saw out of the shop onto the driveway. I set up the fence on the saw, and placed my big squirrel cage fan to blow as much dust as possible away from me.

First off I cut a 2” piece of plate into two 1” pieces for the uprights. These pieces will be glassed to another upright, so I will be able to have windows in the hard dodger facing forward that will be able to open and close. The plans is to have a fixed piece of plexiglas panel in one upright, and the upright glassed to it will have a plexiglas panel that will slide to open position or closed!

Strongwell Extren Plate Cut Into Two Pieces

The next phase of the cutting is to cut at least one channel in each hard dodger upright for the plexiglas panels to be inserted into. The channels are ½” deep by ¼” wide, and the length of the uprights are at least 38” long and there are 12 of them! As you can tell, this is a lot of cutting.

I managed to get two fences set up on the table saw so that I cannot cut wrong. We will see how that goes in reality!

Channel Cut In One Upright

Channel Cut The Full Length Of The Upright

I worked on the cutting the channels until it was too dark to see. I cleaned off me and the table saw of all of the fiberglass dust, and put the table saw back into the shop.

I gather up my sack and water glass and walked back to DREAM AWAY. I was really looking forward to getting a shower and getting the fiberglass dust off of me.

I had my breakfast and went over to the shop, and set up to finish drilling the holes into the anchor support pieces. The first piece needed just two 5/16” holes for the bolts to hold it to the adapter I have on the stanchion base. I used the original anchor support piece as the pattern to drill the holes in the new fiberglass piece.

Drilling Holes In First Anchor Support Piece

I brought over my ¾” drill bit to drill the necessary holes in the second anchor support piece.

Piece To Be Drilled And Original Anchor Support Piece

Drilling The Holes In The Anchor Support Piece

Now that I have all of the holes drilled and cuts made in the anchor support pieces, they are ready for final sanding and the the application of gelcoat. I hope to applying gelcoat to all of the uprights for the hard dodger very soon, so I will wait and do all of the pieces at the same time.

Next project is the Shop-Vac vacuum cleaner. As I mentioned yesterday, it had given up the ghost, so I was hopeful I could somehow repair the problem. Yesterday as part of the fix the vacuum cleaner, I had cleaned the filter used inside the tank, but that was not the problem. I will have to get a new cartridge filter.

I took the Shop-Vac vacuum cleaner apart, and found two problems. The first major problem was a nut and washer had come off of the shaft of the motor. I put the nut and washer back on the shaft, and tightened as much as possible. That fixed the main problem.

The next issue was shaft noise, like a bearing going bad. It turned out to be the other end of the shaft in a bushing, was not lubricated. I started the vacuum,and forced grease into the bushing and that solved the second problem. I put the unit back together, and it is working fine.

Shop-Vac Vacuum Cleaner Apart On Work Bench

I again loaded the “Box O’ Resins”, sanders, saws, a box with all of the clamps in it, and all of the hard dodger uprights into the Black Beast, and went to the marina.

I brought pretty much everything down to DREAM AWAY except for the “Box O’ Resins”. The main project on the hard dodger today was to get all of the uprights cut to line up on the hard dodger base.

My first measurement, I could not do, because I needed a small short piece of the Strongwell Extren plate. I walked over to the shop and brought back two pieces.

Needless to say after a couple of hours of work, and cutting, Kitty and I got all of the bottoms of the hard dodger up rights cut. The difficult part of the project was the bottoms all had compound angles because of the crown of the doghouse, and the angles the uprights leaned back to meet the top stainless steel base for the uprights.

Two Saws On Dock Used For Cutting The Uprights

Captain Making A Cut

Checking Uprights On Port Side

Port Center Upright With Additional Piece For Sliding Window

Now that all of the bottoms are cut, I need to cut and drill out the stainless steel tabs that are required to attach the bottoms of the uprights to the hard dodger base.

I also have to cut grooves in the sides of all of the uprights so the plexiglas panels will slide into the uprights.

I then loaded everything I had brought down to DREAM AWAY, back into the Black Beast, and then back to the shop, and unloaded it all.

I changed blades in the Bosch jig saw from the fiberglass blade to the stainless steel blade. I clamped down a “fence” on the stainless steel plate I was cutting, and cut the 1” piece of stainless steel to be used for the tabs. I used cutting fluid to help the process along. When the piece was cut, I cut it into 4” tabs.

Stainless Steel Plate Ready To Cut

I then measured all of the tabs and marked where to drill the holes in the tabs. I smacked each measurement for a hole with a center punch, then set up the drill press. I drilled out all of the holes, but forgot my countersink on DREAM AWAY.

Tomorrow I will bring the countersink with me to the shop, and finish off all of the tabs. I will also set up the table saw to cut the grooves in the hard dodger upright.

A long day, I went back to DREAM AWAY, ready for a shower and an adult beverage, not necessarily in that order! It was not to be. When I got on DREAM AWAY, Kitty told me the toilet was not flushing! This sounded like a lot of fun.

I took a few minutes to have a sip of my adult beverage while we watched the cat play on deck. A couple of birds were diving into the canal getting fish, and Jilly and Jordie were fascinated.

Jillie Watching Me

Jordie Watching The Bird

Now it was time to face the toilet issues. Because of recent events, I assumed the line or the pump was clogged. I had to remove all of the toilet and pump spare parts to gain access to the hoses.

When I finally gained access to the hoses, they were disconnected and the pump removed. Lets just say it was clogged. I took the pump outside on the dock and cleaned it all out. The pump was put back, the hoses connected, and the toilet now worked. All of the spare parts were returned to their original location and the job was finished.

Pump Back In The System

Finally at 1900 I was able to take my shower!

Went over to the shop, and started in on drilling out the two anchor support bases. One of the pieces I drilled out, but I needed a bigger bit. I will have to bring over my larger bits tomorrow and drill out the holes again.

Drilling Holes In First Anchor Support Piece

The second anchor support piece needed to be drilled out with hole saws.

Marked Up Anchor Support Piece

First Hole Being Drilled

Second Hole Drilled

Holes Drilled With Plugs And Original Piece

While making the cuts in the anchor support pieces, I was using my wet dry vac, and the motor made a funny noise, and quit. I will look into that tomorrow, but I may have to put a new wet dry vac on the shopping list.

I got out the the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw, and made the angled cuts in the two outside forward facing uprights for the hard dodger. I cleaned up the area and the saw. I put the the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw into the Black Beast along with two sanders, the jig saw, and all of the uprights for the hard dodger.

I went over to DREAM AWAY, and brought down a couple of the uprights to see how the cuts went. The cuts were not exactly on, but that will be fixed later. I realized I will have to bring a few of my clamps to DREAM AWAY from the shop. It will make working with the uprights easier and safer.

As it turned out we did not get any further work done on the hard dodger. We had a social commitment in the afternoon. We went over to our friend Bonnie’s house and watched the Saints game. She had made a wonderful lunch, which we thoroughly enjoyed, but the game’s outcome was not good for Bonnie. She is an avid Saints fan!

We came back to DREAM AWAY, and I worked on the web page update, and attempts to upload files to the web server. Very frustrating, as the program I use to upload the file, Transmit, is not working in a very unusual way. More fun with computers!!

Went over to the shop and rolled my sanding table outside, and sanded down the two anchor support pieces. These are the two pieces on which I had applied finishing putty yesterday. I just have to drill some holes in each piece, do some final sanding with 220 grit sandpaper, and they will be ready for gelcoat application.

Anchor Support Pieces Before Sanding

Anchor Support Pieces After Sanding

Next was the fun part, as I had to cut the two 4” pieces of Strongwell Extren plate. I rolled the table saw out of the shop onto the driveway. I set up the fence on the saw, and placed my big squirrel cage fan to blow as much dust as possible away from me. I then made the two cuts.

Cut Pieces Ready To Be Loaded Into The Black Beast

I cleaned up the table saw, the cut pieces, and put the table saw back into the shop. I loaded up several of the hard dodger uprights, the two new cut pieces, and the “Box O’ Resins” into the Black Beast.

I cut two more of the 1” X 4” tabs needed for the hard dodger uprights, and put them into the Black Beast, and went over to DREAM AWAY.

I spent about an hour trimming grass and weeding the gardens around the marina.

As I mentioned on the past Friday, the leak in the head was still a problem. As with most leaks, I am not sure of the source, so today I decided to remove the turning block from the deck, and reseal it.

When I removed the turning block and it’s base from the deck, it did not look like it was leaking. It also did not look like the sealant had completely covered the bottom of the base. I cleaned up the deck, and the bottom of the base of the turning block. I then applied the Ace Rope Caulk Weatherstrip to the base, and bolted it back to the deck.

Turning Block Base Removed From The deck

Deck With Turning Block Base Removed

Back Back On Deck, Caulk Squeezing Out

Under The Bolted Down Turning Block Base

After we got the base all bolted down, the next item is familiar to every boat owner looking for a source of a leak. I got out the hose and ran water all over the area. Anything that looked like it might be a source of the leak that is upstream from the area of the deck where the turning block is bolted down to the deck. I ran the hose for three hours, and of course not a drop below decks! We have some rain predicted this coming Wednesday, so maybe that will show success or not!

If by some chance this fixes the leak, I will rebed the turning block on the port side. The turning blocks were installed at the same time, so there could be a problem with the port side block in the very near future. So far, no problem on the port side.

Water Running From Hose Over Suspected Area

While I left the hose running over the turning block area, I turned to on the hard dodger base. I needed to sand down the base and all of the putty that had been applied. I got the area as smooth as seemed necessary. It is now ready for the application of the finishing putty.

Kitty and I did some more measuring of the uprights for the hard dodger. We marked the uprights, and I loaded them all back into the Black Beast. I will take them over to the shop, and make the cuts in the morning. I think the next time we do the measuring of the uprights, I will bring all of the saaws over to DREAM AWAY, and we can do the cuts and measuring right away. This will make quicker and easier progress.

Since I had done the sanding on the hard dodger base, I had to wash down DREAM AWAY. There was a fine film of fiberglass dust all over the front of the boat and the cockpit.

Now it was time for a shower and an adult beverage. Kitty had made a roast for supper. We were going to have that, and then go to Joel’s boat and watch two football games. We watched the Florida State vs Miami game and then the Texas A&M vs UTEP game.

I was 1 for 1. Very sorry Miami lost so bad to Florida State, but happy about the A&M game!

Went over to the shop and started sorting through the metal I have stashed. I was lucky, and found a piece of ⅛” plate that I can use as the anchors for the fiberglass uprights on the hard dodger. I thought I was going to have to use some of my ¼” plate as the anchors. I knew the ¼” would be very hard to work with.

I calculated I would need 10 anchors, or tabs, 1” X 3”, and 10 tabs 1” X 4”. I measured the dimensions on the plate and started cutting. For the long cuts, I used my Bosch jig saw, and the shortcuts I used my Milwaukee chop saw. I only cut two of the 1” X 3” tabs and two of the 1” X 4” tabs.

I wanted to take the tabs over to DREAM AWAY and do a check and dry fit to make sure the idea will work before I take the time and effort to cut them all out.

Plate And Cut Tabs

Chop Saw Ready To Make A Cut

When I got the four tabs cut, I cleaned them up and removed all the sharp corners. I loaded the tabs and two of the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger into the Black Beast.

I then checked the two anchor support blocks, and I had to make an adjustment on one of the supports. I was able to use my Rockwell Sonicrafter tool to make the adjustments. When I cleaned up the two supports, after the adjustment, I was ready to apply some finishing putty.

Anchor Support Piece After Adjustments

I got out my putty mixing plate and applied two separate blobs of the finishing putty on the plate. I added the cream hardener, and mixed it in quite well. I then applied the putty to the first anchor support piece.

I then added the cream hardener to the second blob, mixed it up well, and applied the putty to the second anchor support piece.

Putty On First Anchor Support Piece

Putty On Second Anchor Support Piece

I loaded up the Sonicrafter, sanders, and the “Box O’ Resins” into the Black Beast. I then went to the Port of Delcambre’s storage room and loaded one set of the steps and railings that came with the shower trailer into the Black Beast, and drove back to the marina.

I unloaded the set of steps and railings next to the shower trailer, and then took the tools and “Box O’ Resins” down to DREAM AWAY.

I got a couple of tools , and went back to the shower trailer. My project for the day on the shower trailer is to make sure the steps and railing can be installed, and to get one of the shower rooms presentable.

I got two hoses connected up, and one end of the second hose into the shower. We ran the water, and of course the shower would not drain. I went under the shower trailer and loosened the drain connection and cleared the debris.

Kitty and I got the steps installed, the first shower room presentable, and verified the steps would fold up to the sides of the trailer, and that the shower trailer could be moved with the steps folded up.

Steps and Railings Installed

Steps Folded Up On Trailer

Because of all of the time spent on the steps for the shower trailer, I did not have time to do any sanding on the hard dodger for DREAM AWAY. I did verify that the tabs I have cut will work on the bottom of the hard dodger uprights.

Kitty and I decided not to use the tabs on the top of the uprights. We will be able to cut the upright at the proper length and angle, then through bolt the upright to the stainless steel pipe that is the top support for the hard dodger. We are still working on the “how to” in the forward corners of the hard dodger, but we will come up with a solution.

Hard Dodger Upright With Stainless Steel Tab At Base

Upright Leaning Against Top Support

We also decided we needed to change the width of the outboard formars uprights of the hard dodger. To make the forward uprights and the side uprights meet properly, the outboard formars uprights need to be 4” wide. I still have some left over Strongwell Extren plate, so I will be able to cut two pieces 4” wide. I then took all of the uprights back to the Black Beast.