Weeks six and seven

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

- Winston Churchill

On Saturday Ransom’s family came in for Christmas and their excitement for the boat has been refreshing.  Seeing our project through their eyes has opened ours to the amount of work we have completed.  It’s very encouraging to get oohs and aahs when we show them what we’ve done.

This week’s projects:

·     Cut front floor panel for v-berth and cut cubby hole for storage

·     Met Mark and Jim to talk about and order new Yanmar for Vitte.  

·     Prepped engine for removal.  Turns out we also need a new prop and prop shaft since the old Mercedes ran in reverse.

Prop (side view)

Exhaust pipe (rusty, dirty, nasty) 

·     Moved boat into yard for work

Prop

 Lining up the travel lift

Strapping her in

Her new home in the work yard

·     Installed v-berth panels, something was lost in translation from cardboard templates to wood panels.  We ended up with gaps and have no idea how this happened.  The plan is to install trim to hide the gaps.

Lost in translation...too bad Bill Murray and Scarlette Johansson aren't here to help us. 

  

·     Removed engine

All strapped in

Goodbye dinosaur

Ransom with the engine

·     After removing the engine we put it up for sale on Craigslist and it quickly sold to a man by the name of Buddy Greg (LOL).

Side view

Back view

Side view

Front view

Empty engine compartment

Empty engine compartment

·     Our new Yanmar came in last week.  As soon as we finish painting the engine compartment we’ll drop her in.

  

Side view

Front view

Side view

Side view

·     Removed starboard aft panels to remove exhaust pipes, clean, and paint (the hull was BLACK where the exhaust was).

  

Starboard aft cabin without exhaust pipes and with a fresh coat of primer…I forgot to get a before picture, but if you look to the right you can see an area that hasn’t been painted.

·     Cleaned engine compartment and painted with rust stop primer.

Ransom painting the engine room…isn’t he lovely?

·     Painted rust stop enamel top coat in v-berth

·     Built and installed custom electrical panel.  We haven't wired everything yet, but the nav lights are connected and in working order ^_^

The panel is hinged and has a clasp on the back for easy access

So much cleaner and organized than the old panel

·     Attached navigation lights

Stern nav light

Bow nav lights



 

Week Five

This week, like previous weeks, brought us closer to finishing larger goals.  However, all our progress towards fixing the engine hit a major road block...

I found this quote and I think it applies to week five:

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.  ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

We finally came to a halt with the engine repair.  Unfortunately the (dinosaur) Mercedes that came with the boat died on Sunday and we decided to purchase a new Yanmar.  It is possible to get the old diesel running, but she will nickel and dime us to death.  Plus, we would have to install a new engine eventually anyway, so why not put one in now and reap the benefits instead of having the Mercedes die on us inconveniently (‘cause you know that’s what will happen…Murphy’s Law).

So without further adieu, here are this week’s projects:

·     Found and repaired leak in tender, fortunately it was easily fixed with an additional rubber O-ring inserted at valve  ^_^

·     Serviced diesel filter, re-installed glow plugs and resisters…unfortunately when we tried to crank the engine (all) the oil bled out and that’s when we said eff it.

Ransom testing connections to engine

The dinosaur

·     Stripped obsolete wires and mapped electrical system

"AAAAHHHH!!!  SO MANY WIRES!!!!!!"

Much better

Stripped wires

·     Painted rust stop primer in and below head, water tank, chain locker, v-berth, and bilge

Below head

Seacock

Water tank

V-berth, 1st coat

V-berth, 1st coat

V-berth, final coat  ^_^

V-berth, final coat down and ready for new panels!!

·     Cut panels for v-berth, head, and new electrical board

Templates

"I LOVE PLAYING WITH POWER TOOLS!!!"

Little details

Week Four (Mon 11.22-Sun 11.28)

Thanksgiving was this week, so…not a lot of work was completed.

However, we did make progress on larger projects that we’ve been working on. 

This week's projects:

·    Wanted to step mast, but going to wait until boat in yard.

·    Finished removing Styrofoam from around old ice box to install a new one.

·    Removed hand pump faucet from galley and tested at home 



Pump action faucet...3 pumps = 1 cup



·     Started removing wires that aren’t connected to anything, removed batteries and battery switches, labeled wires, stripped nav station 



Battery Bank



Converters

  

Back of switchboard

 

Switchboard madness

 

More switchboard madness



·     Started testing engine wiring, found the 24V to 12V voltage regulator does diddly squat and decided to connect glow plugs (9V) directly to 12V power supply with new voltage regulators.

·     Painted rust eating primer under mast step in cabin, v-berth, stuffing box, and forward bulk head. 

Under mast step

Lauren painting under mast step

·    This rust eating (and plastic dissolving) primer is really nasty stuff (I have to wear mad scientist rubber gloves).  If you get it on your skin you have to wait for your cells to die and slough off the paint!

 

After

 

V-berth ceiling



·    Mapped wires and disconnected wires from control board

OH YEAH!!!!

It might look messy, but this is a beautiful sight



·    Tested transducer, radar, and radio antennae…all working  ^_^

·    Connected windlass to 24V, chain comes in but does not go out.  The solenoid needs to be re-wired (no biggie).