Maintenance Log - December

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

Checked Kitty’s computer and still no successful restore of the data from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5. I tried several things, but still could not get a successful restore.

Kitty got up early, and we drove back to the AT&T store in New Iberia. Before Kitty could use the new iPhone 5, we had to get the contacts off of the iPhone 4S. We got to the store and were helped by a nice young lady who eventually got the iPhone 5 updated to Kitty’s satisfaction.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, I got to work fixing this iPhone issue. I will not go into any details, but I am making progress.

Spent the rest of the day working on the iPhone issue, preparing cat food for the next week, and making sure we have blackeye peas for New Years Day.

Went to a friend’s New Year’s Eve party, and watched Texas A&M play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

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

Went over to the shop and started looking through all of the items I want to put on eBay. Several things need to be tested and batteries charged or purchased to see if they still work.

I started off with an old Sony video camera system. I even have an underwater housing for the camera. I got out the battery charger, and the batteries, and plugged them in. Time will tell!

Sony Video Camera On Workbench

Next I started in on fabricating the standoffs I am going to use for the main cabin grab rail. Kitty and I have decided not to use metal grab rails in the main cabin, but stainless steel pipe standoffs that will have rope threaded through them to be used as hand holds.

The plan right now is to keep the standoffs permanently mounted, and remove the rings and rope when in port. We will see how the fabrication process goes.

Stainless Steel Pipe and Plate For Main Cabin Standoffs

I then went back to DREAM AWAY and had breakfast. Kitty and I then went into New Iberia as we both had appointments with the podiatrist.

After the appointments we stopped by the AT&T store to get the new SIM card for Kitty’s iPhone 5. That was no problem, and we got the new card and had it installed very quickly.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, we needed to do the backup of the iPhone 4S, and then restore to the iphone 5. We started around 1830, and finally went to bed at 2330. Still no successful restore of the data from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5. Between AT&T and Apple, I am not a happy camper!

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

Went over to the shop and sanded the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the first coat of gelcoat. It was going to get much warmer this afternoon, so I knew I would be able to apply the second coat of gelcoat later.

I spent some time cleaning up the shop and moving items around. On the bad weather days, I will be in the shop getting some items ready to put on eBay. That will be a fun process!

I loaded the the “Box O’ Resins” and the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger into the Black Beast, then went over to DREAM AWAY and had breakfast. After breakfast Kitty and I attached the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger onto the boom gallows. We did not bolt down the three new stainless steel supports to the boom gallows as yet.

When we finished that project, I applied another application of the finishing putty to the fiberglass hard dodger base on DREAM AWAY.

I put three blobs of finishing putty on the mixing board. I added the cream hardener when it was needed. I then applied the finishing putty as needed. Fortunately I do not need warm weather to sand dome the putty areas after it has hardened, just dry weather!

Finishing Putty On Mixing Board

When I finished applying the finishing putty, I loaded the “Box O’ Resins” into the Black Beast, and went back to the shop.

I wiped the hard dodger uprights all down with a tack rag, to get all of the dust and debris off of them. I got out all of the stuff I will need to apply the gelcoat to them.

I mixed up a pot of gelcoat and applied it to all of the hard dodger uprights and the storm anchor parts. It will have a couple of days to really set up, as I have to wait for a warm day to apply the first coat of gelcoat to the opposite side of the uprights.

Second Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To The Hard Dodger Uprights

Second Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To Storm Anchor Parts

Before going over to the shop to do the gelcoating, Kitty and I discussed the plan for the handrails in the main cabin for long passages. I believe we have come up with a plan that is functional during a passage, and will be able to be removed when in port and they are not needed. I will be working on this project over the next few days.

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

Did not go over to the shop this morning because of the weather. It was cold and rainy from the time I got up until well past noon!

I spent the morning on the computer again catching up on stuff. At one rain brake, I went out to the shower trailer and turned on the heater, put some water in the on board water tank and then drained the holding tank into the sewer system.

Came back to DREAM AWAY from that project with my box of metric tools in hand. I decided today is the day I want to work on the generator.

Considering what happened when the generator failed, and it’s inability to start, I decided I was having a fuel problem. I had Kitty operate the start switch while I bled the injectors. I had verified I was getting fuel to the injector pump using the manual pump in the lift pump, but I was not getting any fuel to the injectors.

No problem, I had a spare rebuilt injector pump, which I swapped in. When I got the system all back together, and again verified I had fuel to the injector pump, I tried bleeding the injectors. Again no fuel!

I tried removing the stop switch from the injector pump, and then was able to get fuel to the injectors! I then had Kitty attempt to start the generator, and it started right up and ran normally. I quickly inserted the stop switch into the injector pump, and we were able to stop the generator. I installed the stop switch properly, and we started the generator again. It ran but not well, just like with the original problem. I surmised the problem was with the stop switch partially actuating, not allowing the injector pump to deliver the proper amount of fuel to the injectors.

I have a spare stop switch, so I installed it. By the way this stop switch is very difficult to install because of it’s location. I could slide the generator out on it’s slides, but that is very time consuming. It took about 20 minutes to get the stop switch installed into the injector pump. When I got it installed, I had Kitty start the generator. It started right up, but still was running bad.

So new injector pump, no change, new stop switch, no change. The only remaining item the the circuit in the stop relay. I have a spare, but by now it was 1730, and would take another 45 minutes just to get the spares put away, the generator buttoned up and the garage put back into shape.

I will continue with the generator on the next bad weather day.

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

Went over to the shop, and got back into sanding and polishing the stainless steel upper support for the hard dodger. Sanding and polishing stainless steel is a time consuming process, especially on a round piece of pipe.

I start out with a 120 grit flap disc to get most of the major imperfections out of the metal. After that I start sanding with 80 grit, then 100 grit, 120 grit, 220 grit and finish off with 320 grit sandpaper. On stainless steel I really want to look close to perfect, I continue with 400 grit, 600 grit, and finish off with 800 grit sand paper. I am not going to that length with this project!

Today while sanding, I took a picture after using each grit of sandpaper, but the difference was hard to discern. The pictures you will see here are of one when I started, and one when I finished. I will also show a picture of a piece of stainless steel I started with beside the finished piece of stainless steel. With that you can really see the difference.

Stainless Steel After Sanding With 80 Grit Sandpaper

Stainless Steel After Sanding With 320 Grit Sandpaper

Original Piece On The Bottom, Polished Piece On Top

I finished sanding the three pieces of flat bar and some of the pipe, but I still had more to do on the pipe.

I loaded the the “Box O’ Resins” into the Black Beast, then went to the Port of Delcambre storage room and loaded the pressure washer and fuel can into the Black Beast, and drove to the marina.

After breakfast, I pressure washed the underside of the Black Beast. Since I had done the repair on the power steering hose I wanted to be able to monitor the repair with a clean underside.

Kitty drove into New Iberia to drop off the laundry, and I took the pressure washer out to Pier “C”, and did some cleaning of pilings and started to work on getting all of Pier “C” cleaned off before the spring!

When I finished the pressure washing, I took the pressure washer and fuel can and walked back to the shop. It was just a bit too cold to apply the finishing putty to the lower base of the hard dodger on DREAM AWAY. It was also too cold to attempt another coat of gelcoat on the hard dodger uprights in the shop.

I got to work sanding and polishing the upper stainless steel base for the hard dodger. I was able to finish the polishing, so that piece is ready for installation.

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

Went over to the shop, and I am happy to report the gelcoat I had applied on the hard dodger uprights, Tuesday had kicked off! This application of gelcoat will have to be sanded with 220 grit sandpaper, and a second coat applied. The same thing will have to be done to the bottom half of the uprights, as I can only do a half at a time.

Somewhat warm sunny day, so I started in on sanding and polishing the upper stainless steel base for the hard dodger. The three additional stainless steel supports I had welded to the base needed to be sanded and polished.

Base Outside On Table Preparing For Sanding And Polishing

Welded Support On Pipe

Polished Support

Kitty called and was making breakfast, so I left the shop and went back to DREAM AWAY. After breakfast, Kitty went out to do some errands. It is a warm sunny day ( relatively speaking) so I walked over to the shop and got all of my sanders and brought them all back to DREAM AWAY.

I got busy and sanded down all of the finishing putty I had applied to the hard dodger base. The wind was out of the north, so most of the dust was blown to the bow and not back into the cockpit.

After I did all of the sanding with the power sander and hand sanding, I know I will need to make another application of the finishing putty. I hope the weather will permit the application tomorrow.

I put all of the sanders and sandpaper back into the milk crate on the cart, and then hosed down DREAM AWAY to get all of the dust washed off. I took all of the sanders back to the shop and cleaned them all off with high pressure air. I blew all of the dust off of me, and then headed back to DREAM AWAY for a welcome shower.

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

Spent the day enjoying the holiday, exchanging presents and relaxing. I caught up on some scanning, and Kitty did some baking.

Went to a friends house for Christmas dinner, which was wonderful. Stayed and watched the new Lone Ranger film. After the film they loaded us up with left overs, and we came back to DREAM AWAY.

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

I went over to the shop and started in again on the stainless steel pieces I am attaching to the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger. Let me say today is a beautiful day, but the temperature was 34 degrees when I first came to the shop.

Yesterday I had finished the first piece of stainless steel, and had cut the second piece. Now I finished the final fit on the second piece.

Fitting Finished On First Piece

Fitting Finished On Second Piece

I then set up and measured the third stainless steel piece. I made the cut with the chop saw, and this time the cut was almost perfect. All I had to do was some minor trimming, and the piece fit perfectly.

Measuring Third Piece Of Stainless Steel

Now that all three pieces of stainless steel were cut and fitted, I was ready to tack weld the pieces to the stainless steel base pipe.

Three Stainless Steel Pieces Fitted To Base Pipe

I set up the welder and made the tack weld on all three pieces.

Tack Weld On One Piece Of Stainless Steel

During the tack weld process, I realized the position of the stainless steel base was very awkward to do a very good job of welding. To actually complete the welding of the pieces, I will have to reposition the base on the workbench.

Kitty called and said she was making a nice hot breakfast, so I left the shop and headed back to DREAM AWAY for hot coffee and breakfast.

After breakfast, I went back to the shop, and it was a lot warmer. First item was to make some repairs to the Black Beast. I had noticed a drip of oil at the front of the engine, so it needed to be investigated. As it turned out, one of the power steering hoses was leaking, so I tightened up the hose clamps holding it together. That should fix the problem, but I will have to pressure the underside of the truck.

Next item was to gelcoat the fiberglass hard dodger uprights and the storm anchor parts. The temperature was in the mid 50’s, and it was bright and sunny, so I decided to give it a go. I mixed up a batch of the gelcoat and applied it to the uprights. Since I was at the lower end of the temperature scale, I added a bit more MEKP catalyst, but did not want to go overboard. We will see tomorrow if the gelcoat sets up overnight.

First Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To The Hard Dodger Uprights

First Coat Of Gelcoat Applied To Storm Anchor Parts

If the gelcoat does not set up, I will have to mix up a good hot batch to apply and complete the chemical process.

Now it was back to the stainless steel pieces to be welded onto the hard dodger upper base. I moved the stainless steel upper base on the workbench to make the welding process much more convenient. This worked out very well, and I was able to make some really good welds.

First Piece Welded On

Second Piece Welded On

Now all that remains, is to clean up the welds, and then sand and polish the stainless steel so it can be installed back on the boom gallows on DREAM AWAY.

I left the shop, and went back to DREAM AWAY for a hot shower and dinner. We had decide to have our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve. We are having a Christmas Day dinner with some friends here locally.

Kitty And Dinner Ready To Go

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

I then went over to the shop to see if it was possible to apply a coat of gelcoat, but it was too cold. No gelcoat application until later in the day.

I then started working on the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger. I had screwed down the outer frame of the base to the workbench so I would have a flat surface to work from. Trying to emulate the boom gallows where the stainless steel upper base would ultimately be attached to.

Stainless Steel Upper Base Screwed Down To The Workbench

I needed to fit and cut the three additional stainless steel pieces that would be welded onto the pipe of the stainless steel upper base. I measured, and then set up the chop saw to make the cut.

Measuring Stainless Steel Piece To Be Cut

Chop Saw Set Up For Cut

After making the cut there was still some adjustments that had to be made. I eventually got the stainless steel piece adjusted so that it fit just right, and is ready to be welded to the pipe.

Stainless Steel Piece Fitted To Pipe

I then set up and cut the second stainless steel piece. I also had to do some additional adjusting to get the piece to align properly. Thank goodness for power tools!

Second Piece During Alignment Process

By this time, Kitty was awake and had called. Because it was so cold, I immediately closed up the shop and headed back to DREAM AWAY for hot coffee and breakfast.

Right after breakfast, John stopped by to have a tour of DREAM AWAY. He brought over his locked up computer to have me take a look into and several sacks of oranges. He also brought over some old paper charts that I can look over and see if I might need any.

When John left Kitty and I went off to run a bunch of errands. We had to deliver some Christmas gifts, go by the post office, grocery shop, and get some sanding discs.

When we returned, I made a weeks worth of food for our two cats, and squeezed all of the oranges John had brought to us. Now we have fresh orange juice for Rum and OJ!

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

Another day of catching up on the computer email and scanning in documentation.

Around 1145 Kitty and I drove to John and Sharons house for lunch. They had gumbo, turkey, ham and all of the fixins! After lunch, Kitty and I went out to the “Bee House”, and changed into our Santa suits.

John and Sharon had several grandchildren at the house, and then Santa and Mrs Claus arrived with a sack of presents, it was a lot of fun. We stayed for another 30 minutes giving out presents, and the quietly left.

We both came back to DREAM AWAY and took a nap. I am mostly past the cold, but the nap was good.

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

I worked a little extra on the computer trying to catch up on emails and financial issues.

Kitty and I then got into our Santa Claus and Mrs Claus outfits, and drove over to the Creole Market in West End Park in New Iberia. We parked near the swimming pool, until the fire truck arrived. We boarded the fire truck, and the truck took us around to the area of the park they had set up specially for Santa Claus.

The kids were lined up for pictures and conversation with Santa and Mrs Claus. It was a great time, and the rainy weather held off, so the event was quite a success.

We left the park around 1300 and drove back to DREAM AWAY. Kitty went off to Lafayette with our friend Bonnie. I stayed on DREAM AWAY, to take a nap and try and get rid of the cold I have! I also did catching up on emails.

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

I then went over to the shop and got to work on the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. I wiped them all down with a tack rag, to get all of the dust and debris off of them. I got out all of the stuff I will need to apply the gelcoat to them.

I also screwed down the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger to the workbench. This will make it easier to cut and weld on the additional pieces of stainless steel.

The cold I am trying to shake, has me feeling pretty rough, so I left the shop and went back to DREAM AWAY to take a nap. Pretty much did nothing the remainder of the day.

I did help our neighbor, Joel, change the oil in his boat engine, and adjust the alternator on his boat engine. Joel is young , and this is his first boat. He asked me for my assistance on these two projects because he had never done either before. Now he knows what to do, and has the confidence to do it again on his own.

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

As soon as it was daylight, and with first cup of coffee, I walked out to the end of Pier “C” to check on CAJUN DREAM. It was still floating, and the water level in the boat had not risen at all. This was good news. The port stuffing box was the problem.

I went back to DREAM AWAY and finished off the Maintenance Log update and checked email.

Around 0800, I went back out to CAJUN DREAM to get the suction hose and the 2” pump. I returned these items to the city warehouse. The mayor was actually at the warehouse when I returned them, so I expressed our thanks to him and the city for the loan of the pump.

I then went over to the shop and started in on sanding the last two fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. When the sanding was completed, I arranged all of the hard dodger uprights, and the two pieces for the storm anchor security system to be ready for the application of gelcoat.

Hard Dodger Uprights Ready For Gelcoat Application

Storm Anchor Parts Ready For Gelcoat Application

I loaded the the “Box O’ Resins” into the Black Beast, and went to the marina. After breakfast, I applied finishing putty to the areas of the hard dodger bottom base that had not had any finishing putty applied. I am hopeful the weather will be favorable tomorrow or Saturday to be able to sand down the hard dodger bottom base in preparation for the gelcoat application.

I loaded the the “Box O’ Resins” back into the Black Beast, and went to the shop. I wanted to get the three stainless steel pieces drilled out and bent. I am hopeful to grill out steaks tomorrow night, and I need the bottle of propane I had taken to the shop back on DREAM AWAY. I just did not want to move the bottle of propane back and forth too many times.

I set up the drill press, and measured the pieces of stainless steel for the location of the holes. I center punched each spot, and then drilled the holes, and cleaned up each hole with the countersink.

Countersink Set Up On Drill Press

When all of the holes were cleaned up, I finished sanding the ends of the stainless steel pieces before starting the bending operation. I got out my Oxy-Propane torch , and connected it to my oxygen tank and the propane tank.

I measured the stainless steel pieces where the bend was to be, and inserted the stainless steel piece into the vice. I then lit the torch, and heated up the stainless steel piece, where the bend was to be, to a cherry red. When the piece was a steady cherry red, I then bent the piece of stainless steel.

Flame Applied To The Stainless Steel Piece In The Vice

Stainless Steel Piece After Bend

Bent Piece And Next Piece Ready To Bend

When I had bent all three pieces, I got out the high speed grinder with a 120 grit flap wheel, and cleaned up the heated ends of the stainless steel pieces.

Cleaned And Polished Stainless Steel Pieces

Now all I have to do is weld the three pieces of stainless steel onto the upper hard dodger stainless steel base!

I was feeling pretty tired, as I am trying to shake a cold, so I went back to DREAM AWAY, took a shower, and then took a two hour nap!!

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

Went over to the shop and started in on sanding the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. I am using power sanders with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper, and hand sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. Working on getting the uprights as smooth as possible in preparation for the application of gelcoat.

Had not finished all of the uprights by the time Kitty called and said she was awake. When she called I went back to DREAM AWAY and had breakfast.

Kitty and I drove into New Iberia with Johnal off of the newest cruising yacht in North Pier Marina, RUTHIE. Cindy and Johnal have decided to stay for a month, and they wanted to get their vehicle which was in Sabine Pass. We were taking Johnal to the Amtrak station in New Iberia, so he could catch the Sunset Limited to Beaumont.

We saw Johnal off when the train arrived at the station. We ran a couple of errands on the way back to Delcambre, arriving around 1400. That is when the fun began!

We noticed the power boat, CAJUN DREAM, at the end of Pier “C” was listing heavily to starboard. When Kitty and I walked out to the boat, sure enough, it was sinking! Then it all started, and Kitty was at her best making phone calls to contact the owner, find out where the key to the companion way was and to try and get a pump.

The owner, Bill, called back and told us where the key to the companionway hatch was. I went down into the boat, and it was not good. The water was almost up to the starboard aft bunk. In the engine room the water had come up about half way on the generator and the starboard engine.

Kitty was not having much luck getting a pump, so T-Boy and jury rigged one of my air conditioner cooling pumps. We got the electricity and hoses all connected to the pump at my shop, then brought it back to CAJUN DREAM. T-Boy had to leave, so Kitty helped me try and get the pump working. Because the pump is a centrifugal pump, I could not get the pump low enough to get it primed.

Finally, Kitty contacted the mayor of Delcambre, and she was told the city has a big 2” pump we could borrow. An employee at the city wharehouse contacted me and told me to come and get the pump. The warehouse is less than a block from the marina. Kitty was off to New Iberia on another errand, so I was walking to the warehouse just as T-Boy was returning from his physical therapy. We then drove to the warehouse and picked up the pump and brought it back to the marina.

T-Boy and I put the pump into a dock cart and took it out to CAJUN DREAM. We got the pump on deck, and the suction hose down into the bilge. We started the pump, and after a bit of priming, we were pumping out CAJUN DREAM. By this time more help had arrived because of Kitty’s phone calls.

The Delcambre police chief and one of the officers had arrived. One of the Iberia Parish Marine Patrol Officers also arrived. After about an hour, we had the boat pumped out, so we called it a day. Since we did not know what caused the problem in the first place, I resolved to go back to CAJUN DREAM later this evening.

I went back to CAJUN DREAM around 2100, and it was filling up with water again! I pumped the boat as dry as I could, then looked for a leak. I found the port stuffing box was leaking in a steady stream. I went back to DREAM AWAY to get some tools to tighten up the gland in the stuffing box. When I returned to CAJUN DREAM, I was able to get the stuffing box to quit leaking. I did a final pump down on the boat to get it as dry as possible. We will see in the morning if the stuffing box was the source of the problem.

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

Went over to the shop and worked on the Black Beast. It was finally warm enough and sunny, I felt like taking the driver’s door apart to replace the inside door handle. It was a lot of fun, but I finally got the new door handle installed and put back into service.

It was nice to be able to open the driver’s door without having to roll down the window. I went back to DREAM AWAY to have breakfast.

After breakfast it was back to the shop, and I started in on sanding the fiberglass uprights for the hard dodger. When I got all of the uprights as smooth as possible, it was time to add some more finishing putty.

I put three blobs of finishing putty on the mixing board. I added the cream hardener when it was needed. I applied the finishing putty to all of the uprights, and then put the uprights in the shop to set up.

Uprights With Finishing Putty Applied

While the finishing putty was sitting up, I cut out a piece of wood to replace the piece of wood on the stern of DREAM AWAY that hold my storage buckets.

Wood Cutout For Storage Buckets

I had a leftover piece of 2 x 6 that I used to make a cat scratch pad for our friend Bonnie’s cat Ruby. We know how a cat loves a scratch pad.

Next I started in sanding on the pieces of stainless steel flat bar I am using for supports on the stainless steel upper base of the hard dodger. It is better if I can get them polished before I do the bending and welding that is necessary.

Stainless Steel Flat Bar Being Sanded

Tomorrow, I will get back to sanding the uprights, and hopefully they will be ready for a gelcoat application.

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

This was another day with no DREAM AWAY projects. The morning was spent going to Lafayette and getting the holding tank discharge hose for the shower trailer repaired. While at the shop getting the hose repaired, I got a 90 degree fitting added to the end to make the emptying of the shower trailer holding tank much easier.

When we got back from Lafayette, I was able to drain the holding tank in the shower trailer to ¼ full. Because we are empting the holding tank via gravity flow, I can not completely empty the holding tank. I then put the shower trailer back into service.

We welcomed the owners of the transient boat MIRAGE, that came in yesterday to the marina. They fueled up MIRAGE, and are planning to leave tomorrow morning to continue their journey to Port Arthur, Texas.

Crew Of MIRAGE With Welcome Basket And Dockmaster T-Boy

We then welcomed another cruising yacht, RUTHIE, into the marina later in the afternoon. They were scheduled to come in tomorrow, but made good time and got in today. The dockmaster, T-Boy Renard, was in Lafayette when they arrived, so it was just Kitty and I to get them into the dock, and present the North Pier Marina welcome basket.

Johnal And Cindy With Welcome Basket

I spent the remainder of the day cooking and preparing cat food for our two cats, Jillian and Jordan. We are getting away from the canned food, from the pet food companies for two reasons. First and foremost, the food from the pet food companies is not very healthy, and when we are cruising, the canned food is extremely difficult to get.

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

I spent a good portion of the morning getting caught up on computer work and a bit of reading.

Our “uniforms” showed up in the mid morning, so we were ready for the Delcambre Christmas parade. I dressed up as Santa Claus, and Kitty was dressed up as Mrs Claus. The parade was supposed to be last weekend, but the weather was so bad it was put off a week.

We were ready for the parade around 1330. The mayor of Delcambre picked us up at the marina in a police car, and we rode to the parade float on which we were to ride, with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

We got on the float, and the parade started around 1410 just before the high school. As we rode down main street to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds we waved at all of the children, and threw candy to them as we progressed.

Santa And Mrs Claus On Parade Float

When we got to the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds, we got off of the float and I sat on a very large chair, with Kitty beside me on a bench. We then did photographs with Santa. We finally finished around 1615.

We went back to DREAM AWAY, and got out of our Santa rig. Kitty took a nap to try and shake the cold she has picked up, and I prepared food for the Kitties.

Around 1730 I welcomed a cruiser who came into the marina for a couple of days on their way from Florida to Texas. The boat was supposed to come in tomorrow, so was a surprise when it arrived today. They will get their Welcome Basket tomorrow.

Up and at em’ at 0445. I made a pot of coffee, and fed our two cats Jillian and Jordan. I arrived at the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds at 0515, to finish our set up and to direct vender traffic to their sites for the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market. It rained most of the night, but by 0530 the rain had stopped, and we did not see any more the remainder of the day.

At 0715 I quit my traffic directing job, and headed into the Delcambre Shrimp Festival building to get dressed into my Santa suit for the Pancakes With Santa benefit. Kitty joined me and was dressed up as Mrs Claus. We worked the Pancakes With Santa benefit from 0800 until 1015. We had many pictures taken with so many wonderful children, it was a lot of fun.

Santa At The Pancakes With Santa Benefit

Santa And Mrs Claus At The Pancakes With Santa Benefit

Santa, Elf, And The Grinch At The Pancakes With Santa Benefit

We then moved over to the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market still dressed in our outfits, and I sat in an old rocking chair and had my picture taken with several children and adults.

Santa And Miss Glo At The Farmers Market

After the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market, we changed back into our civilian clothes, and went back to DREAM AWAY. We both had a short nap, then kitty got into some baking to prepare for the night’s activities.

We were preparing for the Christmas Boat Parade. We attended several parties immediately following the boat parade and the spectacular fireworks display. The fireworks were great, it seemed like it was the grand finale during the whole show! It was a wonderful and tiring day!

One Of The Decorated Boats

Some Of The Fireworks

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

I went up to the parking lot to work on the shower trailer. A hose with quick release connector was purchased to drain the on board holding tank into the new sewer connection near the shower trailer. I had previously tested the new water outlet. It was not the best laid out but we had water next to the shower trailer.

I used the hose attached to the fresh water to fill the sewer discharge hose to verify operation. It works pretty well, but I discovered that the waste discharge hose leaks at the quick release connector. Not a good situation. I will have to return the hose and connector to the place where it was purchased, and get the leak repaired.

This hose problem has caused another situation, because the holding tank on the shower trailer is full, and cannot be pumped out until the hose is repaired, we had to shutdown the shower trailer. We will not be able to use it tomorrow for the Delcambre Seafood And Farmers Market.

I then went over to the shop and looked through my stash of stainless steel flatbar. I was able to find the three pieces I will require for the supports on the stainless steel base of the hard dodger.

I went back to DREAM AWAY, and we spent the remainder of the day running errands and grocery shopping.

December 12, Thursday, 2013

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

I then went over to the shop and got back into working on the stainless steel base for the hard dodger. I finished up the welding, and then started in on the grinding and sanding of the welds. I also sanded on the pipe to clean up as many imperfections as possible.

I also drilled out all of the holes in the pipe. I did some welding very near some of the holes, and I wanted to make sure the bolts would still go through all of the holes.

New Welds In Corner Of Pipe

New Welds In Corner Of Pipe

Sanded And Polished Corner Welds

Sanded And Polished Corner Welds

When I finished sanding and polishing the pipe, I then cleaned up the shop. Sanding and grinding on metal is very dirty work, so the shop needed a good cleaning. I headed back to the marina, but as I was locking up the shop, I realized I had more to do on the stainless steel pipe base for the hard dodger.

I had to fabricate three braces to weld onto the pipe, to support the King Starboard I will be using for the hard top on the hard dodger.

At the marina I talked with the plumber who is putting in the sewer and water pipes for the shower trailer. We are hoping the drain hose will work properly. When the plumbers finish their work, I will have to run a test of the new drain system.

Kitty and I then went off to New Iberia to run errands, no more project were done on DREAM AWAY.

December 11, Wednesday, 2013

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

Kitty and I went off to the Delcambre Elementary school again this morning, arriving around 0850. They have a Santa’s workshop at the school for all of the kids, and I dressed up as Santa Claus. Kitty was a helper with the other ladies to help the children do their Christmas shopping. We worked Santa’s Workshop until 1300, and then had lunch.

Santa With One Of The Children

Santa Catching Up On The “List”

Kitty went to Pam’s Hair Hut to have her hair done, and I walked back to DREAM AWAY. I changed into my work clothes, and walked over to the shop to get back into welding on the stainless steel base for the hard dodger.

Unlike me, I had left the shop with the welder all set up, so I got back into welding up the holes in the base that needed filled, and then cleaning up some of the previous welds.

Welded Up Hole In Hard Dodger Base

When I had finished the welding it was time to get out the high speed angle grinder with a flap disk attached. With the flap disk I am able to smooth out the welds and to smooth out minor imperfections in the pipe.

Welded Up Hole In Hard Dodger Base After Using Grinder And Flap Disk

Pipe Set Up In Shop For Welding

Kitty called and said she was finished at Pam’s Hair Hut, so I closed up the shop, and walked back to DREAM AWAY. I will finish up the welding tomorrow on the stainless steel pipe, and make some progress on the grinding and sanding.

December 10, Tuesday, 2013

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

Kitty and I went off to the Delcambre Elementary school again this morning, arriving around 0830. They have a Santa’s workshop at the school for all of the kids, and I dressed up as Santa Claus. Kitty was a helper with the other ladies to help the children do their Christmas shopping.

Jim (Santa) and Katherine (Kitty)

Santa With One Of The Children

We left the school when they had the fourth graders come in, and then we went back after lunch to be there for the pre-K and kindergarten. We will do the same thing tomorrow for four classes of 1st graders.

No DREAM AWAY projects today.

We did go to the Port of Delcambre meeting at 1800 to get out paychecks for the last month. The good news is the port Director wants to keep us both on in the coming year!

December 09, Monday, 2013

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

Went out in the parking lot at the marina. I put the three stairs on the shower trailer. I then connected the shower trailer to the Black Beast, and moved the shower trailer forward about 2.5 feet. We did this so we could utilize the third stall in the shower trailer. Previously the steps on the third stall was over a parking lot chock, and we felt it was unsafe to use it.

The plumber was coming out today to start work on the water connection and the sewer connection for the shower trailer. I wanted to make sure the shower trailer was in the proper location for the plumber to gauge size and location of the pipes.

I then went over to the shop, and was going to start sanding on the uprights, but decided it was too cold to be standing outside.

Since I had the stainless steel upper base for the hard dodger inside the shop, I decided to do some welding on it. I had some holes that needed filling on the base, and some funky welds that needed to be cleaned up a bit. I wanted the stainless steel base to look like someone with a hint of welding ability fabricated the piece. Besides I need the practice!

Filling Hole In Stainless Steel Base

Cleaning Up Funky Welds At The Corner

I then went back to DREAM AWAY, and had breakfast. Kitty and I then went off to the Delcambre Elementary school. They have a Santa’s workshop at the school for all of the kids, and I dressed up as Santa Claus and Kitty dressed up as Mrs Claus. It was great fun and all of the younger kids really enjoyed it.

Santa And Kitty Getting Ready For The Children

Santa And One Of The Elementary Classes

Kitty and I are going back again on Tuesday and Wednesday to Santa’s workshop and dressing up again!

December 08, Sunday, 2013

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

It was very cold and rainy all day, so I spent the day working on the computer getting caught up on email, computer work and scanning. It was a great day to be inside!

December 07, Saturday, 2013

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

Worked on catching up on the Maintenance Log and email. After breakfast, Kitty and I drove to the Acadiana Mall in Lafayette. We worked for three hours helping the Marine Corps League man the Toys For Tots table. It was fun and interesting.

The bad news about working the table was the table was right inside one of the main mall entrances, and the weather outside was in the 30’s! We were cold during our time at the table.

Group At Toys For Tot’s Booth Including Jim And Kitty

We drove back to Delcambre to attend the Gumbo Cook-off at the Delcambre Shrimp Festival grounds, but it was just too cold for us so we went back to DREAM AWAY.

When we got home we spent the remainder of the day relaxing and watching college football.

December 06, Friday, 2013

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

Went over to the shop, and finished cutting off the tops of the hard dodger uprights with the Bosch jig saw.

Cutting Off Tops Of Hard Dodger Uprights

When I completed the cutting, I started sanding the uprights. I want to get them smoothed out so I can apply any necessary finishing putty, but want to get them ready for the application of gelcoat.

Setting Up To Sand The Uprights

Because the weather could not make up it’s mind about raining, I decided to stop the sanding. I was getting tired of moving the table and tools in and out of the shop to miss the rain.

I decided to finish the integration of the new Ryobi table saw on my rolling saw table. I had to do some moving of supports, and also cut out the space for the table on the table saw. Overall pretty easy, and now I have an operations system again.

Table On It’s Back To Remove A Couple Of Supports

Table Back Together

Ryobi Table Saw Fitted And Installed On Table

Left the shop, and went back over to DREAM AWAY. I then got busy in the navigation station. I removed the original mount for the LINK 2000-R with the LINK 2000-R monitor attached.

LINK 2000-R Mounted In The Navigation Station

I tried and tried, but the Garmin GPSMAP 215 housing with the LINK 2000-R monitor inside would just not fit in the space available. I am disappointed as I had hoped it would work out. I am sure I could move around the electronics in the navigation station and make it work. It would just take a lot of time and resources that I do not have at this time.

I went with Kitty for her appointment with the eye doctor in Youngsville. When we returned it was late so no more DREAM AWAY projects.

December 05, Thursday, 2013

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

Went over to the shop, and got to work on the housing for the LINK 2000-R. I cut a slot out of the back of the Garmin GPSMAP 215 housing so the cable from the LINK 2000-R monitor would reach to the terminal board. I put the housing back together and checked out the installation.

Now it will be back to DREAM AWAY to see if the housing will actually fit into the navigation station.

Monitor And Terminal Board On Bench

Housing With Slot Cut In The Back

Housing With Cable Out The Back

Next on the list was to set up the new Ryobi 10” table saw. I opened the box, and verified I had all of the parts, which I did not. I was missing an allen wrench and a handle for the crank to move the saw up and down.

A minor issue and I was still able to set the saw up and see if it would fit on my table. Naturally I will have to make a couple of modifications to the table, but nothing major. I did verify the saw operated.

Box In Which The New Saw Arrived

Underside Of The Ryobi 10” Table Saw

Ryobi 10” Table Saw Sitting On Saw Table

Now I loaded the freshly painted barrell, the two sanders, the “Box O’ Resins”, the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw, and the Bosch jig saw into the Black Beast, and went to the marina. I wanted to get as much done today on the hard dodger, as there is a bad cold front coming, and outside work will not be pleasant.

I got all of the tools and the two modified uprights down to DREAM AWAY. Kitty and I got out all the remaining tools we would need to fit the two modified uprights to the hard dodger bases.

I called Ryobi about the missing parts, and they said they would send them to me and I could expect them within seven to 14 business days! I wonder where the parts are coming from? I get parts from China via China Post in seven total days!

We did a dry fit of the new starboard upright, and made sure the measurements all worked out. It did! We then clamped up the port modified upright. Then did the measurements between the two modified uprights, and then between the modified uprights, and the outboard uprights. No more that a 1/16” of an inch difference.

Dry Fit Of Starboard Modified Upright

Now all the measurements were correct so we would be able to have opening windows in the front of the hard dodger. Next we needed to drill new holes in the stainless steel upper base of the hard dodger for the two new modified uprights.

We drilled the holes for each upright, then bolted the uprights to the lower and upper base. Then we did the measuring all over again, and all of the measurements were within a 1/16” of an inch.

Port Modified Upright Bolted To Upper Base

Kitty and I measured the tops of all of the uprights on the hard dodger so they could be cut off even with the top stainless steel base. When we finished the measuring and marking the uprights for the cuts, we removed all of the uprights.

We also removed the stainless steel base, as I had to weld up the holes that were no longer needed and to clean up a couple of welds that did not look great. This will also give me the opportunity to polish the stainless steel base.

The plan is to take all of the uprights over to the shop and cut them there. While I moved all of the tools and uprights to the Black Beast, Kitty put away the tools and vacuum cleaner that stayed on DREAM AWAY.

Before leaving DREAM AWAY and heading over to the shop, I installed the second barrel on the aft deck.

Newly Painted Barrels On Aft Deck

Kitty had an errand to run, so she dropped me off at the shop with all of the tools and the uprights. I got all set up and did the cutting off of the tops of the uprights. On four of the eight uprights, I could not make the complete cut using the Evolution Rage III compound miter saw. I will have to use the Bosch jig saw to finish the cuts.

It was getting dark, so I decided to finish the cuts in the morning. I put all of the uprights and tools back into the shop. Kitty arrived at that time, so we went back to DREAM AWAY for a late dinner and showers.

Evolution Rage III Compound Miter Saw And Upright Ready For Cut

Verifying Measurement On Upright

December 04, Wednesday, 2013

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

I went to the shop, and got to work on the housing for the LINK 2000-R. I drilled the holes in the housing to bolt the monitor to the front of the housing, and the terminal board to the back of the housing.

I hope there is enough room inside the housing for both of the LINK 2000-R parts and the connecting cable. I did not have the fasteners with me at the shop. When I go back to DREAM AWAY, I have the fasteners so I will be able to verify.

LINK 2000-R Placed In Front Of Housing

LINK 2000-R Terminal Board In Back Of Housing

I then got to work on the three Hella Oval 100 spreader lights. I washed off all of the green and cleaned them up. I will be putting them on eBay for sale.

Hella Oval 100 Spreader Lights After Cleaning

Went back to DREAM AWAY and got out all of the fasteners to bolt the LINK 2000-R parts into the Garmin GPSMAP 215 housing. Once the parts were bolted in the Garmin GPSMAP 215 housing the housing would not go together. That was a bit disappointing, but not a big thing. I will just cut a hole in the rear of the housing for the cable to pass through.

Went off to Lafayette for Kitty’s doctor’s appointment. When finished with the appointment, we stopped for groceries, and then it was off to Home Depot to pick up the new Ryobi table saw.

We got home to DREAM AWAY long enough to drop off the frozen food, the it was off to Abbeville for the Marine Corps League meeting.

December 03, Tuesday, 2013

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

I went to the shop, and spent some time looking for stuff that I had left behind when we made our trip to Atlanta. It turned out the stuff was left in Kitty’s office at the Port of Delcambre office!

While looking for the stuff, I came across a Garmin GPSMAP 215 that a friend had given to me. It was defective, and I thought perhaps I could fix it. After looking at the condition, screen was burned out, I decided it would probably cost more to fix it than a new one would cost. Especially since I did not really need one anyway.

I have been looking for a housing to place my LINK 2000-R in the navigation station. I thought the Garmin GPSMAP 215 case would make a perfect housing for the LINK2000-R, if it would fit. I took the GarminGPSMAP 215 apart, and I believe it might work.

Taking Apart The Garmin GPSMAP 215

Front Of Garmin GPSMAP 215 Case

When I went back to DREAM AWAY for breakfast, I checked on the sizes. The Garmin GPSMAP 215 case will just fit into the nav station. I have a spare LINK 2000-R and the monitor terminal board, and they also just fit into the housing.

Tomorrow I will take the spares and the housing over to the shop and see if I can get them to fit together. It would certainly look a lot better in the nav station.

The remainder of the day was spent taking down the old Hella Oval 100 55 watt spreader lights, and installing the Lumateq 6 watt spreader lights.

I already had one of the Lumateq 6 watt spreader lights installed on the main port spreader. This was the experiment that made me decide to replace all of the Hella Oval 100 spreader lights. That experiment is discussed in the Maintenance Log For August.

Kitty assisted in getting me up the main mast to the spreaders, and I removed the starboard spreader light.

“Green” Hella Oval 100 Spreader Light On Starboard Main Spreader

I disconnected the light from the spreader and cut the wires leading to the mast. I went down the mast, and Kitty and I got set up to go up the mizzen mast.

I went up the mizzen mast and disconnected the starboard Hella Oval 100 spreader light. I cut the wires from the light leading to the mast.

Wires Hanging Down From Starboard Mizzen Spreader Light

I then removed the port Hella Oval 100 spreader light.

Port Hella Oval 100 Spreader Light Before Removal

When it was disconnected from the mast wiring, I went down the mast and into the”garage” to get the Lumateq spreader lights ready for installation. Kitty drove off to New Iberia to run an errand.

I stayed on DREAM AWAY and prepared the Lumateq spreader lights for installation. The mounting bolts had to be moved from the old spreader lights to the new ones, and I installed shrink wrap butt connectors on each of the wires on the new spreader light.

By the time Kitty came back from her errand, I had finished the set up of the spreader lights. It was back up the mizzen mast to install the starboard and port lights on the spreaders. The light had to be bolted onto the spreader then the wires connected from the light to the mast wiring. Then I applied heat from a heat gun to shrink the butt connectors to make a watertight connection. Last I aligned the light for maximum deck lighting.

Lumateq Spreader Light Installed On Port Mizzen Spreader

When the mizzen mast was completed, it was down the mizzen and up the main to install the port spreader light. We checked the operation of the lights, and they all worked. I came down the main mast, and then had to put everything away. When that was all finished it was the end of the day.

After dinner and when it was very dark, I checked the the mizzen and main spreader lights. I was very impressed with the amount of light produced by the Lumateq spreader lights. Now when I turn on all of the spreader lights, I am consuming 24 watts, instead of the 220 watts with the Hella Oval 100 spreader lights.

My only complaint with the new spreader lights is they are advertised as marine lights, but they do not use tinned wire. Typical for a large amount of electrical products advertised as “Marine Grade”

December 02, Monday, 2013

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

Kitty went to the doctor’s in Delcambre at 0800 to have some blood work done for her appointment on Wednesday, and I accompanied her. On our way back to DREAM AWAY, we stopped at LeBlanc Oil and picked up a couple of packages that were waiting for us. When we got back on board DREAM AWAY we had breakfast.

After breakfast, I went to the shop, and Kitty worked on some home projects. I worked on several projects during the course of the day. I did a time share of projects, worked on one, then another, then back to the first. The discussion for today will be handled like I worked on each project to completion. I started out with the hard dodger uprights.

The uprights that I had glassed together yesterday, had set up, so now it was time to sand them down, and get them ready for an application of finishing putty.

Hard Dodger Upright Ready For Sanding

Hard Dodger Upright Sanded And Ready For Finishing Putty

I brought the two uprights into the shop and got them ready to apply the finishing putty.

Hard Dodger Uprights Ready For Finishing Putty

I put two blobs of finishing putty on the mixing board. I added the cream hardener when it was needed. I applied the finishing putty to each upright to fill in some spaces and to smooth out some imperfections. While the finishing putty was sitting up I worked on other projects.

When the finishing putty had set up, I took the two uprights outside and sanded them down smooth. The uprights are now readt to be fitted to the lower and upper hard dodger base.

Next I worked on a new stainless steel tray. Last june when we were in Atlanta, my son, Stacy, told me he had a good friend who could manufacture a couple of stainless steel trays. I needed one for the spare air conditioning system and one for the generator.

Stacy was very aware of the problem with the marine generator. The generator as it comes from the factory has a very nice tray to catch any oil or water that should escape from the engine. A great idea, except the tray is made from mild steel. Just not a suitable in a salt water environment.

Stacy had seen the problem first hand when he came to Georgetown, South Carolina. That adventure is covered in the Georgetown to Delcambre passage. We had to remove the generator to repair the transmission. Since the generator was out, we checked with Northern Lights to see about getting a stainless steel tray for the generator. They had one, only $1400.00! We passed.

More or less the same issue with a tray for the air conditioner. Any way, Stacy said if I could get him the measurements his friend could make the two trays at a much cheaper price. Since I had the air conditioner tray, I sent that tray and the engineering drawings for the generator tray to Stacy.

The two fabricated trays arrived in Delcambre while we were in Atlanta on this last trip. I opened the package today. What a surprise.

The two trays looked great.

Box From UPS

Packaged Trays Out Of Box

Air Conditioner Tray

Generator Tray

Getting the new generator tray will be quite a lot of fun. I will have to pull the generator out of the engine room and then swap out the trays.

I had the spare air conditioner in the shop sitting in the old mild steel tray, so I decided to swap the trays out.

Air Conditioner In Old Tray Next To New Tray

I took the old air conditioner out of the original tray, by removing all of the bolts and screws holding it to the tray. I then turned the complete unit upside down, and removed the original tray.

Air Conditioner Upside Down, Old Tray Removed

Once I had the original tray in hand, I measured where several support screw holes were in the tray. These holes had to be replicated in the new tray. I did the set up, and then drilled the holes for the screws.

Drilling Holes In New Tray

WIth the holes drilled, all I had to do was put the new tray on top of the air conditioner, make sure all of the holes and supports were lined up, and turn the air conditioner over. Once the unit was turned over, I tightened up all of the screws and bolts, and the air conditioner is ready to go. I did not check it out today, but will do a test run on the air conditioner tomorrow.

New Tray On Spare Air Conditioner

I finished off painting the second trash bucket that I store on the stern of DREAM AWAY.

Finished Trash Bucket For DREAM AWAY

As I mentioned yesterday my table saw had died, so today I looked into the problem. I was hoping it would be something simple. I turned the saw upside down and checked that I had power going to the motor through the switch. When that checked out, I removed the motor.

Table Saw Ready For Motor Removal

When I removed the motor, I saw what the problem was. The brush housings had melted the plastic case that held them, and the brushes no longer made contact with the armature.

Melted Brush Housing In Plastic Case

Just to make sure of the problem, I took the back cover off of the motor, and sure enough, both brush housing had melted.

Brush Housing In Back Of Motor

That ended the projects for the day, but when I got back to DREAM AWAY, I did some research on the Ryobi 10” table saw. I found a new motor at $168.00, and a new table saw, the same model for $123.00 with a three year warranty!

I guess I will be purchasing a new table saw!

December 01, Sunday, 2013

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

Went over to the shop and worked on the Black Beast. The emergency light stays on when the brake is off. The problem is obviously the switch, but it is a bear to get to. Spent about 20 minutes trying to get to the switch, but no luck. Will try the Internet and see if I can find a “How To”.

Next project was to get back to work on the hard dodger uprights. I had already cut the new pieces of Strongwell Extren plate needed for the uprights. I now had to cut the channels in each piece of the plate.

I rolled the table saw out of the shop, and moved to the front door so the wind would blow the dust away from inside the shop. I then set up the “fences” to get the channels in the correct place on the ends of the plate.

“Fences” Set On Table Saw, First Channel Cut Made

“Fences” Set On Table Saw, First Plate Almost Finished

Now I had to cut off a piece of plate that I had fiberglassed to the forward center uprights. One piece of plate had to be cut off so I could glass the new cut pieces of plate to the original uprights.

Left, Cut Upright, Right Upright To Be Cut

Cut Upright With New Plate

Now that the uprights and new plates were cut, I cut some fiberglass strips, so I could glass the two pieces of plate together. These would be the new center port and starboard uprights. Once the fiberglass was cut I did a dry fit that included the clamps I would use to hold the two pieces of plate together.

Cut Fiberglass To Glass The Two Pieces Of Plate Together

Dry Fit Of Two Pieces Of Plate With Clamps

Dry Fit Of Two Pieces Of Plate With Clamps

You know the drill! Now that the dry fit was successful, it was time to mix up a batch of polyester resin. I got all of the necessary items and mixed up a small batch.

Items Needed To Mix Up A Batch Of Polyester Resin

When the resin was mixed with the MEKP hardener, I wetted out the fiberglass mat on the one piece of plate, and then put the second piece of plate on top of the wetted out fiberglass mat. When I was satisfied with the set up, I clamped both pieces of plate together. I did the same thing with the remaining two pieces of plate.

Wetted Out Plate Clamped Together

Wetted Out Plate Clamped Together

Tomorrow, after the resin set up, we will be able to install the uprights on the lower and upper base of the hard dodger and see if they have fixed the problem.

During the cutting process with the table saw, the motor on the saw quit working. I am sure it is because of the fiberglass dust that got into the motor. I will have to look into that problem tomorrow.

I went back to DREAM AWAY, to have lunch. After lunch I worked on some port projects around the marina.