ANOTHER SMALL PROJECT

SHIP'S LOG:

With the prospect of having to move soon, I needed to take care of an important little project . . . .tie-downs!

I have a small gas generator that dwells in the "In-Law's Apartment " of a cockpit locker on ABISHAG. I can't have this 65lbs item sashaying around the locker when the boat is under sail. It would have too much of chance to do damage to the thru-hull for the engine and/or bilge pump or the electrical connections for the various pieces of equipment that are secured to the Nav station bulkhead. I was able to used two(2) tank tie-down kits to attach the generator to the inboard bulkhead and it should be well secured. I also had to secure the cover to the battery box which is also located in the cockpit locker. The previous owner evidently began the process but never finished, even to the point of not completely screwing in the tie-down anchors. Someone also painted over the screw heads, possibly caulked them as well, making it a real chore removing the screws and thus the anchors. Those that came out easily, I took out. Those that fought the extraction I left in place. They can serve as additional back-up tie-downs. When I can locate more of these tie-down kits, I will also use them to tie down the batteries themselves, as well as the propane tanks in the propane locker. There will be other tied down projects in the future, like the microwave, but sometimes it is difficult realizing what needs to be tied down. What would you tie down in your house? Since your house won't ever heel 30 degrees or more, or ever turnover completely, one doesn't quite tie down everything that needs it. Then again, you literally can't tied everything down. It is a learning process.

I am definitely going to install some passive ventilation on the boat. The interior really gets heated when the boat is all closed up. Since I will be heading south in the fall, it would be a real good idea.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Departure date is coming soon! Hopefully this weekend, but if not this weekend, definitely next weekend. I am getting really excited and itchy for it to happen. Still, having been "on the hard' for two years now, and having a new boat, the thought of "finally moving" is both exciting and scary. It is all jumbled up together but in the end I can't wait ! ! ! !!

JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

I have actually completed (100% complete) a project! A first! The movement of the LECTRASAN Unit from under the foreward head sink to its new location in the locker under the forward bunk.It was a tedious and frustrating and bruising and stinky but it is done. But it almost wasn't the case. I nearly hook the hoses up wrong, running the input hose to the outflow and the outflow hose to the input connection.The fact that I had to keep shifting from the foreward head to the forepeak and back again a dozen or so times, checking the run of the hoses, helped me catch this "major whoopsie" before it became a permanent problem. I am not exactly sure what the outcome of this would have been, but it would not have been a good thing, to say the least. I am just happy that I caught it in the nick of time. Correcting the problem would have been a major posterior pain.

The is an old Maine boat-building proverb that goes, "Measure twice, cut once." It makes a lot of sense when you think about it but for some reason it doesn't always seem to work. I had to cut holes thru a bulkhead, one for each hose, to connect the LECTRASAN Unit from its new location to the rest of the waste system. I put the unit in place, marked the bulkhead where the two hose made contact and marked the bulkhead. Took the unit out, scribed a 2"diameter circle on the bulkhead and replaced the unit and took notice of any change. I remarked the bulkhead, to the unit out, checked the location and everything seemed to line up. I drilled a pilot hose in the center of each circle, fitted the hose cutter and cut the two holes. I replaced the unit and lined up the hoses and neither were exactly right. It required I re-cut the holes and refit the unit. Again the holes and the hoses didn't quite line up. I had to use a dremel tool to expand each hole to allow the hoses to run fair. I still had to wrap one of the hoses with some rubber gasket material so that if there is any vibration or slight movement of the hose in the future, it won't get cut. It was really weird! But it at last all went into place and should it ever be necessary to dismantle it in the future, it can be done with not too much of a problem. I was even able to make all the electrical connections to run the unit without having to buy new wires or cables. The whole system is now up and running . . . . as far as I can tell without an actual "test." That will happen once I am on the mooring.

I got down to ABISHAG and found a not from the yard mechanic pronouncing the engine ready to go. There is nothing mechanical/ structural that is keeping the boat in place. I await only the word from the Geer brothers that the mooring is in and I am gone. I am hopeful that it will be this weekend though I expect it will not be the case . . . . . .I have to go to Maryland next week and I just know that the yard will want me gone as soon as I leave the state. I am going to have to make arrangements for that eventuality. Hey, it could be worse coming back from Maryland to find the boat on the mooring ready to go!!!!!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It was a strange feeling to go into the boat and find the note from the mechanic on the nav station. The boat is ready to go. True there are a host of little items that are still on the never-ending boat project list, but ABISHAG is incredibly more ready to go than she was on her trip up from Annapolis. Exciting doesn't quite cut it. Suddenly, all of the plans are beginning to firm up. "Someday" is getting close to being a particular day and the whole thing is becoming more and more real. It is tough to express what it feels like but it feels great! And I am ready! ! ! !

SPEND THOSE MARINE UNITS! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Went out and purchased all of the connectors and hose necessary to complete the the hook-up of the LECTROSAN from its new location. All that remains is to drill two(2) holes through the bulkhead for the hoses and make the connection. Then the forward head will be ready for to be opened for "business"!

I also purchased an in-line strainer for the hose that feeds raw water to the refrigeration compressor. As I mentioned before, the former owner lost/broke the actual strainer element rendering the refrigeration compressor un-usable. The open the seacock to allow in water would flood the boat. I can't figure out why the guy just didn't get a new element or in a pinch, a whole new strainer. It cost me all of $14 and five minutes to correct the problem. Now I can find out if the system works!

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

It was a short work day. Got started late and spent most of the day in the car driving between Marine Stores to pick up all the parts I needed. Even though we should be out of Mystic next week, I am having a little trouble getting up the energy and desire to go down and work on the boat. I suspect that it is because I have been working on it almost daily for a year and so far the only time I have sailed ABISHAG was when we brought her up from Annapolis. Most of the stuff I am doing now is "busy work," stuff that doesn't really need to be done in the Shipyard. Waiting on them is getting to be a drag.

I GOT A CALL TODAY . . .

SHIP'S LOG:

I got a call today from Tim Porter. Tim is the yard manager of the Mystic Shipyard. It seems that the person who is renting the slip I currently occupy wants his boat in the water, SOON, and Tim is suggesting that it is time to move. Unfortunately, there will be no slips available for me to hang so i must be moving on . . . . SOON . . .like next week. Actually, I have been waiting for the Yard to finish up the work on the engine. They evidently got tired of trying to find the filter element for the engine and are having a part custom fabricated so that I can get a generic NAPA filter when I need one in the future.

Washed out the bilge again and got it a little closer to being "sweet and clean." The work on the engine has dropped oil into the bilge and it does have a unique fragrance when mixed with salt water. A little Lysol(?), a little PINESOL and a little bilge cleaner poured into every part of the bilge cleaned it out fairly well I am going to have to drop some CLEANWATER tabs in the bilge. It is a type of bacteria that "eats oils and transform it into amino acids which you can pump over board and not get the EPA excited and upset. You need the boat in motion for this stuff to work best so once we get on the can, the motion of the tides, river current and waves will eventually assist the stuff in cleaning the bilge.

Pumped out and cleaned the fresh water system. Pumped out the antifreeze and filled the tank with water. Then umped it out again. Filled it again with a fresh water system cleaner and pumped it out again. Filled it up again and pumped it out and filled it up a last time. The best thing was that all the faucets worked and the fresh water pump handled all three going at once. It is nice to know that they work. Now I need only to install filters on the water lines and get the water maker installed. Always more to do but then I am not sure what I would do with myself if there weren't more things that needed doing.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Well, I am getting "booted" out of the Shipyard. I am feeling something like a baby bird being pushed out of the nest. It is exciting and frightening at the same time. ABISHAG definitely feels more like mine but there are still things that need doing and I could easily come up with reasons to delay. However, nothing that needs doing is anything that would prevent my sailing, at least on short trips. This weekend is supposed to be hot and, while I'll still be tied to the dock, the weather itself will really be pushing me to go. Surely the worst day for weather next week will end up as being the day I have to go. Doesn't it always seem to work out that way?

IT SHOULD NEVER BE THIS EASY! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

I went down to ABISHAG with the intent of spending the afternoon in the hot sun removing the masking tape from the aft deck where the deck leak was located and then carefully trimming the excess sealant from the deck. Much to my surprise, pulling up the tape left a clean edge on the sealant, much like what happens when you use masking tape when you are painting. It took 5 minutes . . .tops and it was done. And it appears that the leak got filled as well and so the boat is tight and dry ! !! ! !!

I could not find a battery tie-down. I wanted one to secure the LECTROSAN in place in the forward locker. Of course, they only come with a battery box and neither DEFENDER or WEST MARINE had one by itself. I spent a lot of time in the THINKING SEAT trying to come up with a way to secure the unit. It was tough to come up with something that didn't look like something Rube Goldberg designed. I was saved when I went to West Marine to pick up a couple of fasteners and there it was. The Solution. Not a battery tie down but an outboard motor fuel tank tie-down. Perfect! It took only a few minutes and the LECTROSAN Unit was secured in place and everything was right with the world.

I tried out the toilet in the aft head (No not like that). There is a small problem. While it will flush just fine, it doesn't draw water into the bowl for flushing. I hate to say it but since there is water coming into the seacock that supplies the water (Yes, I checked), It probably means that there is a hole somewhere in the hose that leads to the toilet bowl. Checking for the air leak requires a little soapy water and access to the hose. Pumping will reveal the leak and then it will get repaired. Of course, the hose is now 30+ years old and it just may be gone and needs replacing. Again, not a big project but a pain to execute.

Hunting through the bilge I found an in-line raw water strainer on the hose that feeds the Refrigerator compressor. Well, I found most of it. The part that connects the two pieces of the hose was there, but the actual strainer itself was gone. This means that if you open the seacock to let the water enter so you can run the compressor and so have a working refrigeration system, the water will hit the connector and flood the boat. It means another item that needs to be replaced and it needs to be replaced before I can check out the the condition of refrigeration system.

Digging around the bilge also revealed a tiny hose with a valve in it that runs under the deck. I can't remove it and I can seem to find out where it goes or what it is/was for. The next project is to clean the bilge again and perhaps, just perhaps, what it is and what it is for will be revealed.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Still waiting on the Shipyard and the divers. The Shipyard for the engine and the divers for the mooring. The dive service called last night and indicated that they will be setting the mooring within the week. Hopefully the Shipyard will follow suit and I will be underway before my next birthday!

Things are getting tight . . . financially. I had planned to use some of the money from the sale of my condo to cover the costs of getting the boat ready to go. Unfortunately, the housing market stinks and nothing is selling. I have only so much financial wherewithal and it is getting tight. That really is beginning to wear on me and it is getting important to go sailing again. I am sure that God will come through but it will be a struggle until that happens.

Still, it is exciting to know that the time to go sailing is just around the corner.

LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

Leaks! Leaks! Leaks! It turns out that the leak in the aft cabin did not come from the chainplate or the thru-hull fixture for the SSB Antenna. It appears that the leak is actually a deck leak. The nmaib reason that I didn't want a boat with a teak deck was for that very reason, that after a number of years, the teak which wis fastened to the fiberglass under deck with screws, will eventually develop leaks. There is just no way to avoid it. The seams between the teak strips are filled with sealant that over the years looses its elesticity. It shrinks, craks and pieces pop out. That leads to water getting under the teak strips and evenbtually it finds a screw hole. Freezing and thawing will eventually create a shannel for the water to enter the boat and then you wake up some night with your boat dripping on your head.

I spent part of the day dripping water all over the place, in a carefully arranged sequence, and determined that the leak was under the portion of the port side decking somewhere from the aft port back toward the end of the boat . . . . I hope.Water poured there "seemed" to drip into the boat at the troublesome spot re-sealing the seams there should do the job. It is another "simple" project. First you use masking tape to line the edges of the seems so that the sealant doesn't get all over the teak strips but stays in the seams as intended and where it will do the most good. Then one has to remove the old sealant and clean the seams. This is followed by putting in the new sealant, which is black, stinky and which, as I know from doing the job on the hatches, has a tendency to get everywhere. It is amazing that about a 6' X 2' section of deck could take about 3 hours to do. It was a hot, cloudless day and the project was made all the more fun by the people who came by and asked the same question: Resealing your deck? But it is done and now awaits the sealant to cure and then I can remove the tape and do the trimming. There was a rather nasty rain storm Saturday and when I get down to the boat, it should be clear whether or not I go the leak. Hopefully I got it and I won't have to deal with the leak anymore.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Still waiting on the Yard and the divers. Hopefully all will be moving soon, but till then patience, patience, patience.

THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

There really ought to be a law in boating that which requires that whatever you install you have to be able to remove! ! ! ! ! ! The LECTROSAN Unit, located under the sink in the forward head was wedged in the a previous owner in such a way that it was almost impossible to get out. I am still trying to figure out why he put it in that location as it was impossible to do maintenance upon it and, not be secured or tied down, it could slide all over the place. That probably wouldn't be a problem most of the time but in any type of seaway, it would slide all around. It would not necessarily be a problem except in a seaway when it had the potential to do some serious damage. It could rest upon the handle to the seacock for discharge over the side and weighing about 25 lbs, with a little momentum could snap it of or even damage the seacock itself which could sink the boat. Getting it out of there was a necessity as well as a chore.

There were two hoses (in and out) connected to the unit along with electrical cables that powered the unit and a ribbon wire that controlled its functions. The easiest disconnect were the electrical cables and the control wire. After that, it really got to be fun! The hoses were doubled clamped, as they should be, onto PVC connectors that were barbed. This design makes for a very secure and leak free connection. Over a period of time, the clmaps mold the hose to the connectors making them all but inpossible to remove them. If you can get leverage, you can usually separate them but not in this case. Due to the location of the unit, there was no get both hands through the access hatch to work the hose of the connection. I could twist it but could not disconnect it. The fact the unit was not tied down made the effort especially useless. The only choice was to cut the hoses.

This involved some interesting effects. One hose, the discharge hose, connected to the seacock had to be cut very carefully as the unit kept the handle to the seacock in the OPEN position. Cut in the wrong place or taking too long to cut it could put 600 gallon of the Mystic River a minute into the boat. In that the unit was partially filled(yup!), screwing up that cut would put less "water" into the boat but in this case less would be more, much more! Both cuts went well and there were really no problems except to the pulled muscles which came from making the cuts standing on my head in a rather awkward posiiton. Maneuvering the unit out through the cupboard door under the sink, I was able to get the unit out without much of a problem once the hoses and connection were disconnected. Good thing too as the clamps for the hoses bring the "black water" (a nautical euphemism) from the toilet bowl to the unit were loose. They were seeping and it sort made clear where the less than spring time fragrance in the head and bilge came from. The got tightened right away!

The next move was to fabricate a shelf onto which I would set the unit under the foreward port bunk . The problem is the the sides of the target locker are narrower at the bottom than at the top, the outboard side is curved, and the interior of the locker is more narrow toward the front when than the stern. In other words, another challenge!

The approach I took was to mount the LECTROSAN unit like a battery. I fabricated two rails, one on each bulkhead in the locker onto which I set a box to hold the unit. The box, a heavy plastic draw from a file cabinet, would hold the unit(and any leakage) which would be tied down to the bulked. This way the unit was easily accessible for maintenance and could be removed if necessary. It also granted access to the rest of the lock and so it can still be used for storage. The rails went in and were fiberglassed in place and work well. They require a little shimming to help the box sit flat but considering where they were placed, it is a small fix. All that is left to do is to cut holes in the bulkhead for the hoses and cables and connect them and the unit will be up and running. I will probably have to replace at least some of the hose and there is one connection on the unit that must be changed, but I don't envision any serious problems . . . . . . then again, I am either an incurable optimist or truly naive.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

Waiting is a pain!!!!!!! I found out today that the Bill of Sale, that was to be sent to me so that i can register ABISHAG here in Connecticut, was not sent. A call this morning got that all straightened out. Hopefully, ABISHAG will remain unseen by the DMV inspectors who haunt boatyards to make sure all boats have their registrations. Still having trouble getting the divers moving and the mooring set. Patience! Patience !! Patience!!!!