July 25, 2011

Again, I spent the week working on the house. By the time Sunday came around I was burnt out and needed to get away, so I headed for Circadian and the Delta, hauling my kayak and a few other things with me. The drive was pleasant, and there were fields of yellow flowers in bloom. Someone told me once what the crop was, but I've forgotten. So if any of you recognize it, please let me know what it is.

By the time I arrived at Hidden Harbor, I realized once again that being on the boat and in a boating community is where I'm happiest. The big project for the day was to complete the installation of the propane heater/fireplace. That entailed finishing up the wiring for the fan, mounting the old aluminum propane tank that came with the boat, and plumbing the propane supply line. Luck was with me initially, but Murphy showed up soon and it ended up being a 12-hour day. I started by connecting a length of low pressure propane hose that came with the boat to the fireplace and then seeing if I could route it neatly and securely to where I planned to mount the propane tank. It was exactly the right length, so I secured it with nylon wire clamps. To get it through the fiberglass to the tank outside, I needed to drill a hole at the base of the windshield large enough for the vapor-tight fitting I had gotten. Naturally I had every drill bit but the size required. At least the new ferry was operating for a change, so I could get into town to the hardware store. Once I got the hole drilled, I discovered that the hole was still about 1/32 inch too small and the glass was so thick (at least 1/2") that the new fitting wasn't quite long enough to allow the securing nut to thread on. Sigh. I also needed a brass reducing bushing to complete the connection to the pressure regulator and gauge. (Again, I had both the size larger and the size smaller than the one needed right at hand, but not the one I needed.) A second trip to town got me the bushing and a rotary file for the drill to enlarge the hole slightly. Grinding away a little 'glass would allow the vapor-tight fitting to be assembled. Unfortunately, by this time someone had hit a power pole, and the electricity was out all over the island. No way to power my grinder. Sigh. Okay, time to switch to mounting the tank securely in place. Because of the funky, non-standard configuration of the tank, I had to through-bolt a couple of cleats and a hold-down strap in place in addition to the two normal mounting bolts to ensure a secure installation. I did get it done without any problems, at least. By that time, the electricity was back, and I got the grinding done. With a considerable amount of trial and error, I got the vapor-tight fitting mounted. Unfortunately, the hose was a bit small to allow the fitting to clamp down on it tightly and make a good seal. So, I filled the gap with silicone and secured the hose aligned through the center of the fitting. After the silicone cures, I'll tighten down the fitting. Should make a good tight seal. It was time to check the connections for leaks, so I opened up the valve on the propane tank. Propane shot forcefully out of the vent on the regulator. I immediately closed the valve and discovered that due to lack of paying attention, I had connected the regulator backwards. Sigh. Once I got it straightened out, it held pressure fine. That was what I expected, of course, since per ABYC standards, the only connections were at the appliance (below deck) and the tank (above deck). I had also used a trick that a friend who worked on high-end RVs told me about: using non-hardening Permatex on all the joints.

Now that the propane was at least operational, if not technically in its final finished state, it was time to finish up the electrical. Although that required some contortions in the engine room, at least I had everything I needed and there were no unpleasant surprises. When I was done, I tried out the fan and it worked fine. It was time to try lighting her up and seeing how it worked.

It all functioned just fine. The fireplace puts out a lot of heat, and the fan blows it downward through the louver in the front above the flame-viewing window. But even in just the few minutes it was operating, the chimney pipe and cap in the doghouse got pretty hot, so for safety it's clear I'll need to add some more guards at some time in the future. But it will be worth it to sit in the warmth and watch the flickering flames on those cold foggy nights and mornings!

While I was happy that my fireplace installation was essentially completed, I was beat, I was running late and I still had to clean up and get the kayak and other gear on board. I did what I had to, and headed home exhausted, but content.

July 18, 2011

Sadly, I have done virtually nothing for Circadian this week. To my usual work of prepping the house, I've added hiring and supervising contractors and discussing strategy and additional needed work with my realtor. I did manage to get the dinghy outboard into the shop to be checked out and fired up, and the remaining pieces needed to complete the propane hook-up for the new fireplace have come in. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a day late in the week to get down to Circadian. Unfortunately, my schedule is no longer my own. At least I'm making good progress on the house.

July 12, 2011

I worked hard all week on preparing the house to go on the market, so Circadian had to take a back seat. I did manage to finish varnishing the berth extension side board and assemble it, though. I brought it to the boat today (Tuesday) to test fit it and do some other projects, since it finally cooled down a bit. Like everything else on a boat, the extension didn't quite fit the first time. I need to cut a little notch out of the bottom edge of the side board, and of course I had every type of saw at hand except the one I needed to make that cut. Next trip.

The new L.E.D. red and white chart table dome light arrived during the week, so I wired it up and mounted it on the new ceiling panel. Very nice and draws tiny amounts of current.

The major project of the day was working on the installation of the new Dickinson propane heater/fireplace. A lot of time was spent carefully measuring and remeasuring to make sure I had proper clearances and that the chimney holes through the ceiling and dash board would line up with the heater so that the chimney was vertical and straight. I finally cut the three-inch holes for the chimney and checked things out. Everything lined up, but I had to cut about 4 inches off the intake/chimney pipes. (The unit is a very clever design in which the hot exhaust gases exit through a smaller pipe inside a larger pipe which is the intake for combustion air. Keeps the outside of the chimney cool, and doesn't use up oxygen from the cabin.) It was a bit tricky cutting the flexible pipe, but following Dickinson's recommendations, it worked out fine. I mounted the fireplace on the bulkhead, installed the chimney and cap, and started on the wiring for the circulation fan. To complete the installation, I need to install an inline fuse and hook up the wiring to power and install the propane supply. I also anticipate adding a guard of some sort to prevent accidentally grabbing the hot chimney cap that is conveniently next to the companionway. But it's still summer, so there's lots of time and I'm happy that at least I got one big box of gear out of the aft cabin. And I didn't need to cut an opening in the front of the cabinet below the heater as I had feared; the top lid still opens enough to provide access for all but larger objects. (I rejoice in small victories!).

But I'm definitely hurting now with all this constant work on house and boat and no recovery time sitting in the office. It's gonna be a three winebuprofin night.

July 5, 2011

Because Carol was coming up for the long weekend to help me celebrate my independence day, I spent most of the week cleaning up the house for her visit. I even managed to get the last of the boat gear out of the living room and onto Circadian. Although that had the unfortunate consequence of temporarily turning the aft cabin into a store room, and therefore getting her slightly out of trim. I also squeezed in a bit more work on the plywood panel to convert one side of the v-berth into a double and started on modifying and refinishing the teak side board for it. I filled and sanded the plywood and put on a coat of stain-killing white primer.

The original teak side board for the v-berth was about a foot too long for the filler for the extended berth, and needed refinishing as well. I cut it down, rounded the corner and the edges, sanded it and got a first coat of varnish on it just before Carol arrived.

Bogle Winery in Clarksburg was having a small special event the afternoon of Carol's arrival, so we decided to meet there for a bit of a late afternoon picnic. It would give her a nice break from the long drive and be a delightful start to the weekend. The wine is good too!

Carol wanted special food for the special weekend, of course, so I took her to shop at the famous Corti Brothers Market. It's known for its variety of gourmet foods, expert advice, and, I discovered to my delight, a huge selection of beers and ales!

Because I officially retired effective July 1st, I decided to celebrate my own independence by setting off a couple of large, loud and colorful fireworks in the street in front of my house. Although a bit premature for our country's celebration, it was just right for mine, and I got no flak for jumping the gun a bit.

We completed our at-home celebration with a sushi dinner at Taka's, and the next morning headed for the Delta and a couple of nights on Circadian. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the hottest week of year, which made it a bit more challenging. With the temperatures well over 100, we were ultimately forced to fill up the air mattresses and retreat into the water repeatedly just to cool off. I ran into another problem when I topped off the the fresh water tanks. Fresh water was leaking into the hull from somewhere in the fresh water fill plumbing. After a couple of hours sponging out a locker and tracing the plumbing in the stifling heat, I gave up. It seemed the only possible places for the leaks were all hidden somewhere behind ice boxes, foam or other "permanent" obstructions. The "good" news: at least so far, it seems that it isn't the tanks themselves that are leaking, but the fill or air vent plumbing somewhere above the tanks. I'll dig a little deeper another time when cooler heads prevail.

Carol had wisely prepared a cool and delicious salad for dinner that night, and we enjoyed it on the aft deck when things cooled down a bit in the evening.

The next morning I launched the dinghy for the first time since I had acquired Circadian. Despite the fact that I couldn't find the outboard key and its gas was now at least 18 months old, I tried pulling the start cord a couple of times just on the off chance.... Not surprisingly, no luck. No biggie. I had planned to pull it off anyway, and get it checked out and tuned. (It also needs a mounting screw handle to replace a missing one.) I spent another hour or so removing old and decayed lines, lock cables, fenders and layer upon layer of dried out duct tape that were all attached to the dinghy in one way or another. (May the gods eternally curse anyone who uses duct tape on boat!) Once that was done, another 30 minutes or so of scrubbing and the old dink looked pretty good.

By then I was pretty beat from the heat. Another couple of dips in the water and some cold Bitch Creek Ale, and I was almost human again. My last little project of the day was rewiring and mounting the former chart table light (which now had only one working switch-see last week's post) for use as a white-only cockpit light. (I have a new l.e.d. white/red chart light on order that I will mount on the new ceiling panel next to the instruments.)

By now, all three of us (Carol, the dog, and I) were truly spent, and had completely succumbed to Delta Fever.
Nonetheless, we were all up early this morning so Carol could get home in time for an afternoon appointment and I could get the dog home before the back of the truck got dangerously hot for him. It had been a fun, but exhausting long weekend. At least I don't have to worry about going into the office now. Weird, but good.