Continuing the Engine Work Saga and The Bride Returns

Ann is here after her Michigan visit with her folks!   Woo hoo!   Plus, our friends Chris and Sheila (CS) arrived in St. Marys Monday after spending the weekend at Cumberland Island.  Monday, I ate dinner with them, Tuesday, the three of us went to West Marine then picked up Ann at the airport then went out for dinner and grocery shopping.

 

Ann and I were going to stay at a motel but are staying on the boat, at least for now.  Ann's parents are coming, we may go stay at the same motel to be closer to them.

 

Well, I promised the saga of continuing engine work, so here it is:

 

Saturday, I lifted the engine with a frame set in place above it and a long bungee cord (about 100 feet) wrapped around about 20 times to the engine hoist point.  Each of the 40 strands was tensioned to about 10 pounds and the engine rose.  I then was able to attempt to remove the motor mounts for replacement.   The bolts were extremely tight, I stripped one head with a bad socket, one broke because the stainless steel corroded and another busted because it would not budge.  The good news was that five came out.   Monday morning I called Island Packet and found out that there was a steel plate embedded in the fiberglass so I drilled and tapped holes next to the broken bolts and was still able to place the motor mounts in the same place.  I then undid the bungee loops and lowered the engine onto the new mounts.   By then it was Tuesday and time to pick up Ann.  Lots of angst involved in the motor mount job.

 

Today, Wednesday the 16th, I hooked up the drive shaft,  re-installed the new fuel filters, installed the lift pump, connected up the fuel lines.  I then tested the pump, by turning it on to fill up both filters.  Success, no leaks so far.   I am so tired tonight.

 

Remaining items on the "engine" agenda are to connect up the exhaust manifold (the current connection is poor, I am waiting for a new piece), to re-mount the coolant reservoir (the old mount is destroyed by corrosion) and to replace all the engine hoses.  Definitely, a couple of days more of this work, once I get all the parts.

 

The weather has been gorgeous with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s except for yesterday with hot humid weather heralding the approaching thunderstorms last night.  Today is overcast and warm just the way the noseeums love it.

 

Today may be a cleanup day plus some light work, first I need to get motivated.  Right now I am just tired.

 

Have fun,

 

Ed

Boatyard Progress Report #3

Adding it up and counting Monday, this is the sixth day in the yard.  Overall, my progress is about what I planned but I sure hope I finish two of the three engine jobs by the time Ann gets in on Tuesday!

 

I've got three things going on for our Yanmar 44HP engine:

1. Replace the motor mounts.  Tomorrow, I plan to tackle this job.   Today I picked up the bungee cord and wood frame for lifting the engine.  I also cleaned the engine and loosened the motor mount bolts.

2.  Install a new dual-fuel filter and lift pump.  I installed both today but need one new hose and an adapter which I will pick up on Monday.  I also need to provide power to the lift pump but that is merely reattaching of the old lift pump's wires.  This job is 90% complete.

3. Replace all the water hoses, hose clamps and oil cooler.  I am waiting on all the parts for the water hoses, oil cooler and hose clamps.  They will not even be ordered until Monday so I probably will not have the parts until Thursday.   I call this job at about 50% complete.

 

The weather stripping I installed around the hatches doesn't want to fully stick so I have to go to Plan B, whatever that is. 

 

I tried and failed at my attempt to radically improve the anchor hawse pipe though I made an incremental improvement just by moving things around.  Last year the chain sometimes did not go down the pipe leading to jamming but that was probably due to the links not moving slowly due to the fresh galvanic coating which bound links together.  So, I will call this done and keep my fingers crossed.

 

Ken "varnish boy" Hix has the first coat on the toe rails and they are looking good.

 

The weather continues to be sunny and mild, lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s.   

 

It is time to make dinner and clean the place up. All for now,

 

Ed

Boatyard Post 3

There are a couple of sayings that come to mind today:  Two steps forward, one step back and that boat means bring out another thousand.  I am not complaining, I chose this fate and in a month or so it will all be forgotten as we enjoy the fruits of our labor and money well-spent.  Yeah, yeah, I've said that before.  Anyway, the last couple of days have been pretty good.

 

I put the new Rocna anchor on today and found that I needed to move the roller for the secondary anchor so they would stow on the bow pulpit without the Rocna seriously pinning the Bruce.  When I assembled the anchor roller I put the bolt head on the inside which means to move the roller I had to completely remove the roller assembly from the bow pulpit so I could pull the roller bolt out.  All in all it took about three hours instead of 30 minutes.   The Bruce anchor chips the gel coat on its way in so I need to make a gel coat guard.  Add it to the job list.   It probably will not be an issue because we seldom use two anchors, maybe once per season still my baby needs protection.

 

I added the gas spring to the frig, now it stays open without a stick.  Yay, plus it gives a little assistance for opening.   I th.ought about a stronger spring but the force pushing against the hinge already push it up a little.   I am calling this one done.

 

I ordered the canvas today.   Matt from Top Stitch came out this morning,  I had a quote from his wife, Amy, by 3PM.  Now, we are on there schedule and he will be out in a week or so to take the existing bimini, dodger and sundry pieces in for repair and replacement plus they will build side curtains so my honey will stay warm and dry in our little "Florida room". 

 

Yesterday, I put up the hatch screens and they look great though I need to get some foam insulation strips to fill some gaps between the arch of the cabin ceiling and frame of the screen assembly.  The Skyshade is from Oceanair.

 

An easy job today was to install the replacement voltage regulator.  I will wait to test it until the boat is in the water.

 

The rails around the boat got their first coat of varnish over the last couple of days.  Ken is really going to town.  I need to pick up a little stain to color the epoxy of his fix for the ding from last year, the color is way too gray right now, otherwise it looks pretty good.

 

I was looking at the engine today and noticed that some water has been leaking so tomorrow I will diagnose that while planning out the fuel system improvements and motor mount replacement.  Tom is going to bring over the frame, bungee and chain that Chuck Shoemaker on Kairos (another IP38) used to lift his engine.

 

With all this going on,  my tool boxes decorate the cabin,  there are manuals and all matter of stuff not put away but the kitchen is clean and functional. 

 

The weather has been good for the last couple of days but clouds are moving in, we might get some rain and colder weather.   Anyway,  so long from the yard.

Boatyard 11/8/2011

I arrived in the boatyard November 7th after spending a 6 days in Boston with Ann visiting our eldest daughter Rachel plus our very good friends and former neighbors Sue and Bob Welna. Ann will join me November 15th after spending time in Michigan with family and friends.

First impressions upon seeing Windswept Dreams for the first time since May are good. The dehumidifier we used (first time) kept the insides mold free.

The rental car is now full of stuff that was shipped here including boxes from home. And the work has begun...

The first chore was to determine why when using shore power the onshore GFI usually tripped. This happens when unequal currents flow in the hot and neutral lines. The answer was simple, Island Packet used to tie them together at the breaker panel. That is a no-no because the current then leaks from the boat thru the engine and any other metal tied into boat ground. Also, stray current flows because the onshore ground voltage may be slightly different than in the water around the boat causing stray current. On the other hand, when using the generator or inverter then the reference ground for the neutral side must be the onboard ground. All is good now.

I called people about canvas work, one was too busy, another did not call back and the third did not show up. I'll try again tomorrow.

I took the tarp off the boat and installed one of the new hatch sunscreen/flyscreens, the big one in the main cabin. I will have to put some foam around the edges, the arch of the cabin top leaves a gap but these Oceanair SKYSCREENS look very good. The job entails taking of the old trim ring, assembling the Skyscreen and screwing it into the ceiling. The first took three hours but I think I can cut it to about an hour apiece.

As if I don't have enough jobs, I remembered that I also need to extend the chain tube in the chain locker so that it will feed the chain correctly to the wide part of the locker, last year it sometimes jammed. It is made of 3" PVC so it should be pretty easy.

That is it for today, tomorrow I plan to get started on the refrigerator lift spring. I will also install another Skyscreen.

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