SHIP'S LOG:
I can't remember when I had so much fun as I did yesterday. Through the generosity of a very dear friend, I had the 3/5 of a Marine Unit I needed to procure the three necessary batteries to get ABISHAG's heart going again. It was merely a matter of going to get the proper sized/powered/warrantied batteries up at WALMART. Yes, I know, but they do sell stuff cheap.
The batteries aboard are down below in the "In-Law" apartment, the rather large, but not quite large enough, cockpit locker. There are several different connections to the batteries linking them to chargers and monitors and the wind generator and to get them out of sequence or reconnect them wrong when installing the new batteries would be a bit of a disaster. and knowing how I view electricity anyway (it's all voodoo), there are three was of insuring or trying to insure you get it right. The first is to draw a diagram and take a "selfie." This shows how everything looked before you started to disconnect wires. The second is to tie the leads together with wire ties as they come of each individual stud. The third, and the one which I chose, is to got get the new batteries first, drag them down to the boat, haul one old battery out and replace it with a new battery, putting the proper wires on the proper studs. You have to picture doing this in a closet, squatting, unscrewing nuts off and on battery terminals, nuts that are two different sizes so you don't put them on the wrong stud, then lifting 55 to 60 pounds of dead weight out and then in and making all the proper connections. Try lifting 50 pounds onto the kitchen table while sitting on the floor, with a sixty watt bulb providing all your light. Fun, ain't it?
By the way, did I mentioned that it was raining? Not just raining rain but down-pouring in bursts. So I got soaked during the procedure. But it didn't end there. When you buy a battery, there is a "core charge," a fee for the disposal of the battery when it's time is up. By hauling the old batteries back to WALMART, I got a refund of the "core charge." In the rain. 180 pounds!
The downpour also indicated that while butyl tape might make a a good sealer for deck hardware and the like, it is no good as caulking. My carefully caulked hatches are leaking again. I am going to have to remove the lenses completely, take out all the caulk and sealer and re-bed the lenses.I think that this time, in addition to the caulking/sealer, I will also set several screws in place to hold the whole mess together. Nothing like over-kill!
Friday, June 6, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
ABISHAG's Cardiac Incident
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, the electrical system is "kaput," at least as far as the batteries go. They are as dead as dead can be!They are good for nothing at all, save as "an exchange" when I buy replacement batteries, saving me the cost of the "core fee." I will have to come up with something in the neighborhood of $350 and haul 180 pounds of batteries out of the boat and back and forth, from the store to the boat, to get everything up and running. It is the fun of boat ownership!!
Well, the electrical system is "kaput," at least as far as the batteries go. They are as dead as dead can be!They are good for nothing at all, save as "an exchange" when I buy replacement batteries, saving me the cost of the "core fee." I will have to come up with something in the neighborhood of $350 and haul 180 pounds of batteries out of the boat and back and forth, from the store to the boat, to get everything up and running. It is the fun of boat ownership!!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Some Good/ Some Bad!!!!!!
SHIP'S LOG:
As I write this, I am safely ensconced in the Club House at TYC and can look out at ABISHAG as she bobs gentle in a slip. Yes, we have made the long and arduous trip from Yankee Boatyard to TYC and have lived to tell the tale. The we is "friend Fred", his car battery, ABISHAG and I. We journeyed this past Sunday and it was a wonderful trip. The weather was perfect and considering what it could have been, it was a joy.
I went to the boatyard on Saturday after I got a call From "ABE the yard guy" who informed me that he had launched ABISHAG . . . only 3 days late. That was no big deal, they have been behind because of the winter, what has passed for a SPRING and the fact that the Connecticut River has come all over a ragin' rapid. I bent on the Genoa, the Main and the Mizzen and we were set to sail over the horizon. Truth be told, I had screwed myself. On Friday, I had mistakenly uncoiled the furling line from the drum, for some reason thinking that this was necessary before bending on the Genoa. I could not have been more wrong. Having bent on the Genoa, hoisted to the top, I discovered that to furl it properly, I either had to drop it, pull the furling line onto the drum, raise the Genoa and furl it, or laboriously wrap the furling line around the drum by had and then furl the sail. I don't need to tell which I did, just imagine the worst way to do it, and you will have your answer. Of course, since the sail is just back from the sail-maker, who had put on a new UV cover, it did not furl correctly the first time. Nor the second! Nor the third, after which I said "The hell with it" and left it.I chalked it up to the fact that it is an old furling system and that the boat needs to be dead into the wind for it to work properly and the fact that the UV Cover was new and need to "be taught" how to lay when furled. This proved to be true as it furled perfectly at the end of the journey.
I got a call from "Josh," the electrical guy at the boatyard. He said that my batteries were all "bad." Actually, it wasn't much of a surprise as he disparaged them last spring and the only thing that kept them semi-functional was the wind generator. But after a winter sitting in storage, even hooked up regularly to a charge, they wouldn't light he light you'd find inside a refrigerator.we had to take the battery out of Fred's car to jump start ABISHAG and less we get caught in a dire situation, carries the battery with us on the trip. Once the engine was going, the was no real need for electricity as a diesel engine doesn't need electricity to run, though it is nice to have to make the radios and the GPS function. The alternator "charged the batteries"during the 8 hour trip, but it was like pouring water into a bucket with a large hole it it. If you waited too long, the "juice" would all disappear ad there would be nothing to crank the engine, which on ABISHAG takes a lot of "oomph!"
We got down the river with no problems in about 4 hours, got out into Long Island Sound, set the sails and screamed along for all of 15 minutes, when the wind decided to take a holiday and go "somewhere?". We tried sailing in the zephyrs. The rolling was awful. We tried motor sail but what wind there was would not co-operate. So eventually we simply motored. Thank goodness we had enough juice in the batteries to get the engine running!
We got in about 6pm and after securing ABISHAG in a slip, jumped in the car so that i could get Fred back up to Portland where his car was. His was the second of the "Two-car-Samba," leave one car at TYC, drive the "crew" to Portland, leave the car, sail the boat to TYC, get in the car left behind, and drive back to Portland. We grabbed a couple of grinders for the trip and Fred probably got home about 9pm!
Monday for me was a day spent hauling "boat stuff" down from Roland's and Russ' ad dumping it into ABISHAG. I had hoped to spend today putting everlasting in order but I had to clean TYC . I also had to see a doctor for my knee(s). They have been seriously bugging me for two weeks now and I finally decided to get then checked out. The young Doctor who did my hip four years ago, poked and prodded and x-rayed and finally decide that there was nothing skeletal that was causing the pain. He shot me up with cortisone and scheduled an MRI to see if we are looking at a cartilage problem. I'll have to wait until then to give a definite answer. Until then, I'll hobble along. Hopefully the cortisone will kick in a day or so and I'll be right as rain. The last thing I need is surgery.
As I write this, I am safely ensconced in the Club House at TYC and can look out at ABISHAG as she bobs gentle in a slip. Yes, we have made the long and arduous trip from Yankee Boatyard to TYC and have lived to tell the tale. The we is "friend Fred", his car battery, ABISHAG and I. We journeyed this past Sunday and it was a wonderful trip. The weather was perfect and considering what it could have been, it was a joy.
I went to the boatyard on Saturday after I got a call From "ABE the yard guy" who informed me that he had launched ABISHAG . . . only 3 days late. That was no big deal, they have been behind because of the winter, what has passed for a SPRING and the fact that the Connecticut River has come all over a ragin' rapid. I bent on the Genoa, the Main and the Mizzen and we were set to sail over the horizon. Truth be told, I had screwed myself. On Friday, I had mistakenly uncoiled the furling line from the drum, for some reason thinking that this was necessary before bending on the Genoa. I could not have been more wrong. Having bent on the Genoa, hoisted to the top, I discovered that to furl it properly, I either had to drop it, pull the furling line onto the drum, raise the Genoa and furl it, or laboriously wrap the furling line around the drum by had and then furl the sail. I don't need to tell which I did, just imagine the worst way to do it, and you will have your answer. Of course, since the sail is just back from the sail-maker, who had put on a new UV cover, it did not furl correctly the first time. Nor the second! Nor the third, after which I said "The hell with it" and left it.I chalked it up to the fact that it is an old furling system and that the boat needs to be dead into the wind for it to work properly and the fact that the UV Cover was new and need to "be taught" how to lay when furled. This proved to be true as it furled perfectly at the end of the journey.
I got a call from "Josh," the electrical guy at the boatyard. He said that my batteries were all "bad." Actually, it wasn't much of a surprise as he disparaged them last spring and the only thing that kept them semi-functional was the wind generator. But after a winter sitting in storage, even hooked up regularly to a charge, they wouldn't light he light you'd find inside a refrigerator.we had to take the battery out of Fred's car to jump start ABISHAG and less we get caught in a dire situation, carries the battery with us on the trip. Once the engine was going, the was no real need for electricity as a diesel engine doesn't need electricity to run, though it is nice to have to make the radios and the GPS function. The alternator "charged the batteries"during the 8 hour trip, but it was like pouring water into a bucket with a large hole it it. If you waited too long, the "juice" would all disappear ad there would be nothing to crank the engine, which on ABISHAG takes a lot of "oomph!"
We got down the river with no problems in about 4 hours, got out into Long Island Sound, set the sails and screamed along for all of 15 minutes, when the wind decided to take a holiday and go "somewhere?". We tried sailing in the zephyrs. The rolling was awful. We tried motor sail but what wind there was would not co-operate. So eventually we simply motored. Thank goodness we had enough juice in the batteries to get the engine running!
We got in about 6pm and after securing ABISHAG in a slip, jumped in the car so that i could get Fred back up to Portland where his car was. His was the second of the "Two-car-Samba," leave one car at TYC, drive the "crew" to Portland, leave the car, sail the boat to TYC, get in the car left behind, and drive back to Portland. We grabbed a couple of grinders for the trip and Fred probably got home about 9pm!
Monday for me was a day spent hauling "boat stuff" down from Roland's and Russ' ad dumping it into ABISHAG. I had hoped to spend today putting everlasting in order but I had to clean TYC . I also had to see a doctor for my knee(s). They have been seriously bugging me for two weeks now and I finally decided to get then checked out. The young Doctor who did my hip four years ago, poked and prodded and x-rayed and finally decide that there was nothing skeletal that was causing the pain. He shot me up with cortisone and scheduled an MRI to see if we are looking at a cartilage problem. I'll have to wait until then to give a definite answer. Until then, I'll hobble along. Hopefully the cortisone will kick in a day or so and I'll be right as rain. The last thing I need is surgery.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Really, What Are The Odds?
SHIP'S LOG:
More busy work today. Russ brought down all of the Cushions and helped me hoist them into the boat. I took the afternoon to set them all in place which is a lot easier with nothing in the boat.
Fred stopped by to schmooze. He brought the Honda Generator back which he repaired. But rather than hoist it up into the boat, we decided that it would be simpler to wait until Saturday when we could simple set it aboard from the dock.
As of 4;40pm. ABISHAG wasn't in and so we await tomorrow.
I locked my car keys in the car. So I asked josh if he could help me out. It was certainly a fool's errand but lo and behold, he has a complete "Jimmy kit!" What are the odds of that? He had never used it and it took awhile but eventually , actually less than 10 minuets, the P.O.S. was open again.
I haul a load of stuff from Russ' basement tomorrow and hopefully ABISHAG will get splashed.
More busy work today. Russ brought down all of the Cushions and helped me hoist them into the boat. I took the afternoon to set them all in place which is a lot easier with nothing in the boat.
Fred stopped by to schmooze. He brought the Honda Generator back which he repaired. But rather than hoist it up into the boat, we decided that it would be simpler to wait until Saturday when we could simple set it aboard from the dock.
As of 4;40pm. ABISHAG wasn't in and so we await tomorrow.
I locked my car keys in the car. So I asked josh if he could help me out. It was certainly a fool's errand but lo and behold, he has a complete "Jimmy kit!" What are the odds of that? He had never used it and it took awhile but eventually , actually less than 10 minuets, the P.O.S. was open again.
I haul a load of stuff from Russ' basement tomorrow and hopefully ABISHAG will get splashed.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Getting Closer!
SHIP'S LOG:
Well, all the electronics re in. It was not a "plug & play" proposition as there was perhaps a hand's width of space behind the SSB meaning I hand to make all of those connections without actually seeing them, merely feeling my way along. The UHF radios were easier, cleaner and more accessible, but I had to concoct a new mount for the hatch-way radio as the old one broke off. Luckily, I had the mount from whatever device had been in place in the cockpit and with a "little" creative effort, produced a suitable mount. After both were in place, I decided that the mounts need to be switch as the "new" one was too intrusive in the hatch opening. It is a project for today. The two GPS units went in without a hitch but with no juice in the boat, there is no way to test any of this stuff.
I'll find out this morning when ABISHAG get dunked. I am hoping to take her down river on Saturday with Fred & Bob. Of course, she has to go into the water before that can happen and with all the "busy bees" hard at work this weekend in the yard, who knows what the waiting line will be like.
Well, all the electronics re in. It was not a "plug & play" proposition as there was perhaps a hand's width of space behind the SSB meaning I hand to make all of those connections without actually seeing them, merely feeling my way along. The UHF radios were easier, cleaner and more accessible, but I had to concoct a new mount for the hatch-way radio as the old one broke off. Luckily, I had the mount from whatever device had been in place in the cockpit and with a "little" creative effort, produced a suitable mount. After both were in place, I decided that the mounts need to be switch as the "new" one was too intrusive in the hatch opening. It is a project for today. The two GPS units went in without a hitch but with no juice in the boat, there is no way to test any of this stuff.
I'll find out this morning when ABISHAG get dunked. I am hoping to take her down river on Saturday with Fred & Bob. Of course, she has to go into the water before that can happen and with all the "busy bees" hard at work this weekend in the yard, who knows what the waiting line will be like.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
ABISHAG IS DONE!
SHIP'S LOG:
. . . .Well, sort of. I have done all the panels I can but despite three rolls of Velcro, I was able to put in place only 8 of the 9 panels. I simply ran out of Velcro. I also ran out of Marine Units, so the wood strips and more Velcro will have to await June and some ducats from the summer job at TYC. SIGH!
Actually, it works out pretty well. The problem is that the panels, even in their reduced state are still rather heavy. They are also warped which makes it difficult for the Velcro on the panels to make contact with the Velcro on the overhead. More had to be used but where it works it looks just fine and fulfills its intended purposes, that of making access to the underside of the deck easier.
I did paint the bottom. I hate that job and if, as old age advances, I have the yard to any of the work(at an exorbitant price I might add), it will be the first job I give them. There is no easy, simply, clean, tiring or pain-free way to do it. My back has decided to go on strike and every now and then, gives me a serious grab to remind me that i really am getting old.
Late last year, I closed the drawer that is in the saloon table and haven't been able yo get it open since. It is hung up on something but there is no way to find out what. Basically, it required dismantling the table. It turns out that the opening into which the draw slid allowed the drawer to be closed beyond the length that the builders intended. The "back wall" of the drawer slot had been knocked further back allowing the drawer to "hang up." Dismantling this back wall I found that the wood had softened a bit over the years due to the leak in the main hatch. Unscrewing the wall, re-gluing it, adding larger screws seems to have correct the problem. Evidently this was a long standing problem as there was a hole drilled into this wall. Inserting a dowel into the hole while tripping the latch allowed the drawer to be opened. Correcting the problem was not so much difficult as it was awkward. Getting out all the screws and the hardware for hold the table leaves in the open position, re-gluing the wood and screwing everything back together in the right order had to be accomplished bent like a pretzel. But it is done.
Done also was repositioning the latches that hold the table leaves in the closed position. All the slamming over the years had moved the catches and so they didn't engage. I repositioned them so that they could be adjusted from a normal sitting position and not some type of tortuous contort position. They work now which make the bungee cord arrangement no longer necessary. Huzzah!
The zinc is on, the toe rail is stained, ABISHAG has been cleaned inside and out, and she wants only a restoration of the items removed and she will be ready to got. Strangely, I have to work myself up to moving aboard and living on her again. This shift every six months or so gets to be a drag. I am tying to psyche myself up and it is not as easy as it sound. Of course, once I am there, I will wonder why I ever left.
. . . .Well, sort of. I have done all the panels I can but despite three rolls of Velcro, I was able to put in place only 8 of the 9 panels. I simply ran out of Velcro. I also ran out of Marine Units, so the wood strips and more Velcro will have to await June and some ducats from the summer job at TYC. SIGH!
Actually, it works out pretty well. The problem is that the panels, even in their reduced state are still rather heavy. They are also warped which makes it difficult for the Velcro on the panels to make contact with the Velcro on the overhead. More had to be used but where it works it looks just fine and fulfills its intended purposes, that of making access to the underside of the deck easier.
I did paint the bottom. I hate that job and if, as old age advances, I have the yard to any of the work(at an exorbitant price I might add), it will be the first job I give them. There is no easy, simply, clean, tiring or pain-free way to do it. My back has decided to go on strike and every now and then, gives me a serious grab to remind me that i really am getting old.
Late last year, I closed the drawer that is in the saloon table and haven't been able yo get it open since. It is hung up on something but there is no way to find out what. Basically, it required dismantling the table. It turns out that the opening into which the draw slid allowed the drawer to be closed beyond the length that the builders intended. The "back wall" of the drawer slot had been knocked further back allowing the drawer to "hang up." Dismantling this back wall I found that the wood had softened a bit over the years due to the leak in the main hatch. Unscrewing the wall, re-gluing it, adding larger screws seems to have correct the problem. Evidently this was a long standing problem as there was a hole drilled into this wall. Inserting a dowel into the hole while tripping the latch allowed the drawer to be opened. Correcting the problem was not so much difficult as it was awkward. Getting out all the screws and the hardware for hold the table leaves in the open position, re-gluing the wood and screwing everything back together in the right order had to be accomplished bent like a pretzel. But it is done.
Done also was repositioning the latches that hold the table leaves in the closed position. All the slamming over the years had moved the catches and so they didn't engage. I repositioned them so that they could be adjusted from a normal sitting position and not some type of tortuous contort position. They work now which make the bungee cord arrangement no longer necessary. Huzzah!
The zinc is on, the toe rail is stained, ABISHAG has been cleaned inside and out, and she wants only a restoration of the items removed and she will be ready to got. Strangely, I have to work myself up to moving aboard and living on her again. This shift every six months or so gets to be a drag. I am tying to psyche myself up and it is not as easy as it sound. Of course, once I am there, I will wonder why I ever left.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Getting close
SHIP'S LOG:
Things are progressing nicely, though I did have to reseal the main hatch again.This time, rather than sealing just the outer edge, I did the inside as well. I test with a hose indicated that all was seal and there were no leaks. Huzzah!
All of the ceiling panels are down and cut to more manageable sizes. I had to fill all the screw holes and glue all the places where the Masonite was broken. Today's project for the ceiling panels is to finish filling the holes as I ran out of wood paste and then to paint them, or at least get started on the project. I will also do all the measuring so that I can buy the wood stripes necessary to hang them in place. It will be a real joy to get them in place and off the cabin floors.
I am hoping that I will be able to paint the bottom this weekend and handle any tasks and projects that need to be done on the hard. They are all basically small, though there are some that can be done in the water. Then it will be launching time.
Things are progressing nicely, though I did have to reseal the main hatch again.This time, rather than sealing just the outer edge, I did the inside as well. I test with a hose indicated that all was seal and there were no leaks. Huzzah!
All of the ceiling panels are down and cut to more manageable sizes. I had to fill all the screw holes and glue all the places where the Masonite was broken. Today's project for the ceiling panels is to finish filling the holes as I ran out of wood paste and then to paint them, or at least get started on the project. I will also do all the measuring so that I can buy the wood stripes necessary to hang them in place. It will be a real joy to get them in place and off the cabin floors.
I am hoping that I will be able to paint the bottom this weekend and handle any tasks and projects that need to be done on the hard. They are all basically small, though there are some that can be done in the water. Then it will be launching time.
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