September 25, 2014

It might be a bit ironic that I would be bring back a cold from the rather sad visit to Des Moines where Carol’s father was laid to rest.  Nonetheless, I managed to get a few more coats of Cetol on the stern rail and take care of a few other little projects this week. 

I added some rub strakes to protect my newly refinished rub rails from chafing dock lines as well as added a couple of more cleats that can run along the genoa tracks.

To finish connecting up my heavy cast stainless Danforth anchor to the rode I had to get one more Crosby high-tensile galvanized shackle and have a machinist drill out the hole in the shank a couple of millimeters in order to accept the new stainless shackle.  He noted that the metal was tougher than the usual stainless, which led me to do a little research.  The anchor was obviously cast stainless steel, but it still got some surface rust and was magnetic, unlike the 316 stainless for most marine use.  I learned that for castings, more iron is used in the alloy.  This ferritic stainless prevents cracks in the casting, is less susceptible to crevice corrosion and can be as much as twice as strong as non-ferritic stainless.  This anchor might drag, but it’s never going to bend or break!

A dockmate friend who is a welder welded up a handle for a brake for the Hydrovane that allows me to set and lock the vane for a wind course.  It’s just an “L” shaped handle welded to the adjustment screw on a large hose clamp, but much simpler and less intrusive than the cable system suggested by the manufacturer.  I also got a short length of 5/8 aluminum rod to insert into the receptacle on the Hydrovane to use as a tiller so that the vane rudder can be used as an emergency rudder.  It needs a little grinding and filing yet, but that will be a small job.
The last little job I did was to add a jumper between the neutral and ground on a pigtail connector that will be used ONLY to connect my new Honda generator to the ship's shore power circuit when used in lieu of shore power.  Good practice is to to connect the ground and neutral of an ac circuit only at the source, in this case the generator.  (When connected to shore power, the two are usually joined at the breaker box on shore.)  The ground is normally not carrying any current, but if there is a fault and a tool handle or something becomes "hot," the ground will carry current and a short will be created with the neutral, saving anyone holding the handle and blowing the breaker.

August 28, 2014

Amazingly, I actually took the boat out this week...albeit briefly. Carol and I took her across the channel to Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island.  There was no wind...just a long south swell from a hurricane off Mexico, so we had to motor.  Despite the placid seas, Carol was afflicted with mal de mer, which was no fun. Fortunately, she recovered enough to enjoy the party on the mother ship (a DeFever 55) and was much better on the trip back the next day. We saw some dolphins, but only at a distance, and a lot of velella velella. There was just enough wind to try out the new lazy jacks.  They worked in that they controlled the main enough that I could wait to properly flake it until I was in the slip.  However, I added a couple of more lines to try to hold it on the boom more neatly.  I also resolved that, when I can afford it, I will replace some of the running rigging.  It's not that it's suspect, it's just that there are so many lines all alike and all terminating at the foot of the mast that it's tough to sort them out and keep them straight.  Color coded lines and labeled cleats will make it much easier.

After a day and half spent putting things away and cleaning up from the trip, it was back to stripping, sanding and refinishing the starboard cap rail.  For some reason it seems to be going a bit faster than the port side.  Might be because the sun has stripped a bit more of it.  With luck I might get it done next week.  Then I get to start on the stern cap rail.  Joy!

July 31, 2014

It was a good news/bad news week.  The good news was that I finished the port side cap rail, the overhead trim and the wood around the door to the v-berth.  I also covered an exposed screw head and scarf joint by the forward cleat with sheet bronze.  The bronze will hide the exposed screw head, protect the scarf joint and provide chafe protection for the finish.  The bad news:  I got in a fender bender and it looks like the end for my faithful truck.  While the damage doesn't look that bad, the body shop found frame damage and the repairs will likely be more than the truck is worth.  I have used the back of the truck as storage, so the next couple of weeks will likely see me spending a lot of time cleaning out, moving stuff and reorganizing.  Not what I had planned.  Not a big deal in the long run, but a major hassle in the short term.

July 24, 2014

Carol came up for the weekend and we took advantage of the perfect weather by going to an outdoor British car show and the adjacent farmers market.  We picked up some fresh cooked crab right off the boat as well as watermelon and salad makings straight from the farm.  Carol turned it all into a delicious salad that we enjoyed as the sun set.

After Carol left, I continued working on the port side cap rail and also did some finish work inside.  The cured penetrating epoxy on the cap rail was sanded with 220 grit, and three coats of Cetol Marine laid on.  It looks good already, but there’s more to go:  the Cetol Marine will be wet sanded with 220 and then two coats of Cetol Clear Gloss applied.  That will be wet sanded with 400 grit and a third coat of the Clear Gloss applied.

The inside finishing was an example of how projects cascade.  Before my next cruise, I want to try re-configuring the hawse pipe for the anchor chain to see if I can do something about the chain piling up to the point where it needs to be moved manually in order to stow all the chain when weighing anchor.  In order to test my idea, I need to remove the v-berth cushions and cut a hole.  To do that, I need to remount the cabin door which was being stored on the v-berth while I finished the overhead and related trim.  Well, before I can remount the door, I need to refinish the panels around the door and the door jamb.  Soooo…..I sanded and started refinishing all that this week as well as started finishing the few remaining pieces of overhead trim.

I also came up with a nice way to prrevent my newly refinished decks from being damaged by my cheap folding deck chairs.  I had thought about trying to cut tennis balls and sticking them on the chair feet, and happened to run into a similar purpose-made product called Chair Socks.   They look like tennis balls, but are not as well made and come with two slits cut 90 degrees apart to allow them to be slipped over the foot of a chair leg.  I had to cut the slits a little longer to fit over the large feet of my chairs, but that was easy.  Not only do they protect the deck, they are quiet and prevent the chairs from sliding around.   Anything that encourages indolence is good!