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After last years mad rush of 60 to 80 hours per week, working on the boat to put her back into a good, safe, cruising condition, we promised ourselves, not again! This year we're going to slow down a little and finish those items that, while still important, were lower on the to do list and therefore didn't get done before we took off last year. And this year, we're going to tackle them with minimal stress cause we've got plenty of time to get our list finished before we head back south.
Reversing Gear - On our first 4,000 miles of
cruising we found that the reversing gear was slowly
leaking
oil from the seals and there was a delay between putting the boat in
gear and the prop starting to turn. Not a grave concern, as it was only a small
leak that we easily kept topped off and the delay was only about 3
seconds, but now that we're back state-side I pulled it out and took it to a good Volvo mechanic.
He took a good look at all the pieces and parts a pronounces them all in
good condition except for the cones, internal shift arm and seals. This job was fairly easy and painless
except for the cost of the Volvo parts. The parts were $900, the
labor $200. But the gear works great now! We also replaced
the cooling system hoses running to the gear and steam cleaned the
engine and ran a gallon of salt away through the raw water side of the
cooling system.
Spring Cleats - Last year I removed the WAY too
small, improperly installed, installed in the wrong
place, leaking like a sieve cleats that the former owner installed.
I didn't have the time to install new ones last year so I just
uninstalled them and repaired the damage. As I've said before when
talking about the former owners work...
"some people have no business working on their own boat!" Anyhow,
I located the cleats amidship where I could access the
underside
through the propane selenoid panel and an access port. I drilled
oversized holes for the cleats, filled them in with epoxy. Drilled
the hardened epoxy undersized and tapped them (this might be viewed as
excessive on my part, but it
only took a few extra minutes and I sure as heck shouldn't see any leaks
there in my lifetime!) for the 4' long 5/16 bolts. I then bedded the bolts
and cleats before screwing them in and securing them with Nylocks over
fender washers. Since I was using 4" long bolts that only showed
an inch below the teak and fiberglass deck/hull joint, I figured that
adding a 1/4 aluminum backing plate was probably WAY over-kill in this
location. Hmmmm...
Cabinet
hardware - This morning I had a couple of free hours before
work so I got out the Dremel Tool to fix some of the cabinet hardware
that just wasn't closing and latching as smoothly as we would like them
too. Nice! Now they're so Smmoooooth... I get points
for that don't I Deb??
Former Owner BS - Ahhhhh... first, another couple fixes for a former idi... errr owner... install. Virtually every little project that the former owner did was done using the wrong pieces and parts or material. Usually it was stuff that he probably got out of his garage like the bathtub caulk that he used to bed the stanchions... Once again, I'm VERY thankful that he left all of the big projects in the hands of professionals as apposed to tackling them himself! I'm hoping that I'm getting close to having fixed all of the former owners nifty little projects by now. The only one that I know is left is replacing the WAY overpiched prop that he put on... but that's for a story in Sept. when I haul Fat Chance.
The
first fix, was for something that I knew all along was a screw up, the
second, I had no clue until I traced the wiring...
The first was replacing a mild steel grease fitting that was installed under the rudder packing gland. In the picture you can see the new stainless one that I got from McMasters-Carr for under $2.00. Now I only have to clean up the melted mild steel one that's stuck to the bilge in the form of 5 foot long rust streak.
The second fix was a 110V outlet in the pantry that wasn't working (no big deal, I didn't have time to fix it last year but I didn't really need it either.) I have my wireless printer in the pantry and it would be nice to have a way to power it therefore, the outlet was perfect... Now... how come this outlet isn't working? First, there were only 2 wires going to the outlet (which means no ground with AC) and they weren't tinned so I removed them and finally discovered where they were connected... can you guess??? The 12V buss bar... nice... NOT! To save $8 the former owner is using the same household style outlets and plugs for both his AC and DC! Amazing! I'm surprised that this setup didn't kill someone or at the very least start a fire. Folks, there IS a reason that you follow ABYC guidelines and there IS a reason that you use marine grade parts and pieces... If you're too cheap to do it right, you don't need to own a boat! You risk your boat and peoples lives doing crap like this! Sheeesh!
Re-bed
Port Lights - Not much to say here except that this is WAY easy!
You only have to remove the trim ring on the outside, clean out any
loose caulk and re-bed with your favorite Polyether or Life Caulk.
I used West
Marine's polyether because it flows so well that I was able
to get it WAY back in all of the gaps and cracks. As you can tell
from the picture, I didn't brighten or clean up the front of the trim
ring or the port. Maybe next year I'll tackle aesthetic
projects...
Freshwater Wash Down - While I was down in the bilge to install a new holding tank, I decided to take care of the rats nest of fresh water hoses and install a fresh water wash down system. Yes, I used hardware store parts for my fresh water manafold. It's all schedule 40 plastic. Firmly mounted there's almost no chance of it breaking BUT, if it did, it would merely be an inconvenience and not life threatening! The bottom valve drains the freshwater system for winterizing the boat. The side valves lead to the watermaker's Flushing filter and the boats pressure water system. The top valve leads to the new freshwater wash down pump and hose, mounted in the top deck forward locker. Nice!
New
Holding Tank - Now for the fun projects!
I'm replacing the holding tank as the old Stainless tank's seams have started to leak.
I first looked at all of the stock roto-molded tanks.
Nothing.
Custom roto tanks cost 2K... I don't think so! I finally found a
company in Maine that does custom welded plastic holding tanks.
The prices are reasonable.
Triple M Plastic products
made me a new tank, to my specifications, and had it in my hand in less
than a week. It looked beautiful, all white and shiny . I
finally got around to the task of installing it because I had a chunk of
time (plus we need it now!) and it fit perfectly. With all new
hoses and a new vent fitting, all I needed to do was install the Scad
ultrasonic holding tank level indicator. The Scad monitor is an
easy install and has had very high reviews. When I finished wiring
the Scad up, I calibrated the empty tank level on the display.
Then I had to fill up the tank for the first time in order to calibrate
the full tank level. While I was finishing up the wire ties and
cleaning up below, Deb was pumping the the head to fill up the holding
tank with water. All of the sudden I hear the bilge pump
come on... hmmm... I didn't notice enough water in the bilge to activate
the
pump when I first came down here... I quickly checked all the
fittings to make sure that non were leaking... nope... The vent
hose is clear and empty. I finally looked at the bilge water and
saw a what appeared to be small flow lines coming from up forward and
out from underneath the tank... I had Deb stop pumping and the flow
appeared to stop... when she started pumping again, the flow lines
reappeared.... #^%@#! The tank must have a leak coming from one of
the bottom or rear welds is all that I can figure! I'm NOT happy!
Now I have to take everything apart again, including my water manifold,
get a new tank, get new ultrasonic sensors and redo all of what I've
already done... I don't need this! Not now. We need to
be able to use this tank today! I should have done this install
earlier on, I should have also put water in the tank before I
installed it, but I assumed (along with the "should haves" this one, I
shouldn't have!) that the company pressure tested the tank for leaks
before shipping. Who would have thought... I know better, I
always bitch about the former owner doing things on the cheap and here I
am, all because I didn't want to pay for a roto-mold or metal tank.
I'm going out to price welded aluminum tanks on Monday and will make
sure that the selected company pressure tests them for leaks BEFORE
shipping so that I don't have to do this again! This is NO fun!
Sheesh...
Note - After emailing Triple M Plastic, I received this explanation from their president -
I am sorry to hear that the tank has a leak. Contrary to your claim that we do not pressure test our tanks for leaks before leaving here, we do. And we leave them full overnight.
These tanks have a weakness, and that is concussion. Should the tank be dropped during shipping it is nearly impossible to see a crack if appears along a weld.
We will build you a new tank free of charge, or refund your money, whichever makes you happier. We have no control over how that tank is treated in shipping, but I assure you that all our tanks are pressure tested before leaving here. We have successfully been building tanks since 1972, and we are truly sorry for this inconvenience. Please let us know how you wish to proceed.
Almost September- OK, thanks to one of the members on the Kadey Krogen Forum I was able to get a non custom made, roto- molded tank from Ronco Plastics. This new tank install was a pain because the tank was a few inches larger in every direction. I had to remove deadwood from 3 sides plus some glassed in wood that the old tank sat on. The total remove and replace time was 10 hours, along with much cussing, but the job is now done.
Injectors - No pictures here. I installed
new injectors and a new mechanical fuel pump as per last years mechanics
recommendation. In replacing the fuel pump I saw that the fuel
lines to and from the engines needed to be replaced. These are
both about 2 foot long, non pressurized 5/16 hoses. Guess how much
Volvo wanted for them... Can you say $150 each! I couldn't either
as I was sputtering too much... I will never own another Volvo.
Their parts are consistently 30% to 100% more than the same parts for
any other diesel manufacturer out there.
Bullet2HP
- I decided to upgrade my wifi from the 500mW Alfa client to Ubiquiti's
1000mW POE Bullet2 going down to a Linksys wireless router. I also
installed a mast extension to get the antenna a little higher and now
all is wonderful with the world. We now have strong wifi all
around the boat so were no longer required to sit at the desk with the
computer hooked to the Alfa unit. Very NICE!
The back porches' teak deck was in bad shape. The black seams and
underlayment had separated from the teak in so many areas that I was
starting to worry that water may start making it's way into the deck
core via the teak
decking
screws. While the teak looks nice and traditional, I don't have
the time nor inclination to pull up the teak, re-bed it, re-caulk the
seams, re-bung the screw holes etc. On my last trawler Gecko, I
had the Vortex bed liner people come spray Vortex Urethane in a tan
color on the decks with good results. I was thinking of going this
route again when one of my friends told me about Durabak roll on
urethane. After seeing that it had the Navy and Armies approval I
decided to give it a try. I mixed 1 gallon of nonskid textured
cream with one gallon of smooth sand (color). I was able to apply
3 coats with a little bit left over that had to be thrown away as the
stuff starts curing the moment that you open the can and expose it to
humid air. I think that I made the right choice. This is
really tough stuff! And even though we mixed half smooth, half
nonskid, the coating is excellent nonskid when wet. I'm very
impressed. While it doesn't look quite as nice as teak decking
did, it also doesn't let water through, cleans VERY easily and is
actually, a bit softer under foot.
Today
I'm working on converting this teak table to as smaller convertible
coffee/dinning table. Wish me luck!