Lightning strikes!

Abake is safe!  During the heavy rainstorm last night, apparently a couple of boats (the dockmaster's being one of them), and the house on shore, were hit by lightning.  The marina next to us was also hit by lightning.  But Abake, even tho she is only two slips in from the river, was untouched.  Mike checked her today and then started working on her.

We have definitely decided (after a long conversation with Elysium, also a Westsail 42) that we will be locating the stove along the starboard hull.  We are going to take advantage of the gimballing feature and orient it at a perpendicular angle to the sides of the boat.  Too much sloshing and uneven baking we're thinking could mean many ruined meals.  So Mike turned the tub for the icebox and cut off 7.5" and began re-fiberglassing it back together.  Since the tub was huge (and could hold two bodies), we're okay with losing those inches.  But the biggest concern was the low overhanging gunwale over the stove.  We're much more comfortable with this decision.  Only one burner is at the back of the stove; two are in the front.  So what are the odds that we'll be using all 3 burners at once?  Slim -- maybe only at Thanksgiving.  :-)

So Mike was anxious (and excited) to do some fiberglassing.


Removing the 6"

 

Fiberglassing

You can see the fiberglassing at the end of the tub (not the dark line -- that's from manufacturing).  It's curing now.  After that, just the inside needs some touching up.  Now, hopefully we can still use the vacuum-insulated panels that should be arriving soon.









Our pedestal guard also arrived today.  We're happy to say that it passed inspection, as we had it inspected by a very reliable source:

It's a box ... he's a cat.  What else can be said?

Working full time on the boat

Now that Mike isn't working any more, he's got another (full time) job -- the boat.  He's been down there cranking away on stuff.  We'll highlight what he's done this week:

He installed the new Rocna 25 anchor and removed one of the CQR 45s.

This deck board has been bugging him, since it was cracked and broken.  He removed two of the boards and has cut and rounded the edges of the new board and is trying to shape it to fit it into place.  He's using the anchor he removed off the boat to hang it on the board between two sawhorses in order to get it to bend.

Bad decking board



Replacing curved decking board





















He also worked on the pedestal (in the cockpit).  The existing one is made by Yacht Specialties, who is no longer in business.  The pedestal guard (which held the instruments) used 1" tubing on 12.5" centers, but everything available now uses 1.25" tubing on 12" centers.  Since we're upgrading the display, we need to mount our chart plotter.  This means that the pedestal top plate has to be modified to accommodate the pedestal guard.  (The guard is the tubing.  The housing that protects the displays mounts on the guard.  The guard is missing in both pictures below.)  The pedestal guard was removed and the compass was taken off of the pedestal; then the pedestal was painted with primer.  Then the rain came.  It's awaiting the final coats and a new pedestal guard.

Before painting

After primer

He ran the copper line for the propane to the stove.
He installed tubing for the tank gauges, water supply lines for our drinking water, and installed selector valves for our 3 drinking water tanks.
He installed bond wires for water tanks.
We checked the main and the jib for broken stitches, worn areas, patches, etc.  We found some broken stitches and will be making repairs.




Selector valves for water tanks



Oh, and the 5 winch covers were finished this weekend.  Old fabric was used for the inner sheath (we're frugal and it's Namida's red color) because it won't be seen.  All they need is the elastic on the inner sheath.  Now on to repairing the jib and genoa ...

Arrr ... 5 covers for the winches

Rigging Survey and more

Tuesday morning we had a rigging survey done (mostly for insurance purposes).  All was good except for one fitting on the inner forestay, which had a small crack.  Oh, and our halyards are a little old, but we had planned on replacing them anyway.  This was one of the surveyors checking things out:

Mike worked more on Abake this week than at work, starting with cleaning up the cabin a little and putting the table in.  He picked up the custom-made brackets for the Kubota so he could mount the alternator and the refrigeration compressor.  And then he started mounting the brackets and is still fitting them (lining up belts, etc.).  

He also cut out the ceiling for the nav station and re-installed that.  Then he removed the fiddle and the formica on the nav station and replaced it with new (brighter) formica:

 

We also cleaned the refrigeration tub and installed the brackets and mounted the cold plate.  Hooray!  We're one step closer to having a refrigerator!!!  Oh, and a shout out again to Lison Life, for teaching us about Bar Keepers Friend (oxalic acid) -- it removed red stains from the tub that nothing else was able to remove.

Finally, since it was very calm on Sunday (no waves), Mike went up the mast (first time on Abake!) to check out the fittings for the running backstays.  They're too short and we want to replace them.  The surveyor mentioned that we could use Spectra, but no decision has been made.

A Miscellaneous weekend

We noticed that one of the hawse pipes was seeping when the lines were tight during a rainstorm.  It seeped in over the nav station, so it was better to take care of it now than after we replaced the plywood ceiling and re-mounted all of our gauges and electronics!  Mike had removed and re-sealed the port aft hawse pipe, now this was the starboard aft hawse pipe.  He used exhaust hose to seal the two parts together.  He also tensioned the rig (just in time for our rigging inspection tomorrow), adjusting the stays so that the mast was raked slightly.  We're not loaded for cruising (our boot stripe is 2" above the water line because we haven't packed anything on the boat yet), so final adjustments and tensioning will wait. 

A few other miscellaneous tasks were accomplished, also.  The lids for the refrigerator were diassembled and measurements taken so we could order the VIPs (vacuum-insulated panels) from rParts.  And, Mike traced all the old wiring for the refrigerator, so we can determine how much of it we can re-use for the new system.  The old system was engine-driven or used AC power, whereas the new system will be engine-driven or use DC power.  Now once the VIPs arrive, we should be ready to insulate the refrigerator and start putting the galley back together.  Finally, the newly installed 5- and 2-loop grab rails were taped and treated with 3 coats of Semco.

We're currently working on getting the nav station back in order.  Mike managed to obtain some needed sizes of teak-faced plywood, saving us from having to buy whole sheets.  It will be used for the ceiling over the nav station, which had warped and delaminated from the prism leak, and for finishing the galley counters and around the refrigerator.  And he's working with a machinist to build brackets to mount the different components (alternator, high-pressure water pump, and refrigerator compressor) on the Kubota engine.

We'll let you know how the rigging survey goes!

Clean and Naked Winches

If we want to sail Abake, there are a few things that need to be working.  A good working winch is right near the top of the list.  We knew Abake's needed servicing, but wow.  A word of warning to anyone who needs to lube gears like this -- use a compatible (the same type of) grease with what's there.  If you don't know what it is, do it right -- clean it all off and re-grease it.  Mixing grease types causes the grease to harden and the results are not pretty.  You can see that here.  The first picture shows how dirty the grease is, which tells us how long it has been since it was last serviced.  We read that it is recommended that winches be cleaned once a year.  We're sure that next year it won't come close to looking like this!

Dirty winch bearings

Look closer now and you can see where the grease had hardened and turned gummy.  This is the product of two different types of grease.

Filthy, gummy gears

Once everything was taken apart, the old grease/gunk was cleaned using mineral spirits.  With so many parts, there was a waiting line for the mineral spirit bath.

Parts of the jigsaw puzzle

Everybody in the pool!

After re-greasing the bearings and gears, the winches were re-assembled and spin easily.  Hmmm ... now where are those sheets?

Clean (and naked) winch.  Puzzle assembled!

Final touches

We've also been waiting for the opportunity to tension the rig.   It has not been done since we stepped the mast while on the hard.  But to set it to spec, we need some cooperation from the wind and the waves.  The mast must be "raked", in other words, the top should be pulled toward the back of the boat a total of 18".  This is measured by hanging a weight (a plumb bob) from the main halyard.  Since we can't keep the boat still or the wind from blowing the weight all over, we keep looking for a calm day. 

In the meantime, the VIPs (vacuum insulation panels) have been ordered for the refrigerator.  These will go on the ends and the front of the fiberglass tub and provide an R35 rating in a 1" thick panel . (There is room for regular insulation behind the tub.)  They should arrive in a couple of weeks (custom order).  So Mike has been pulling wires and preparing to run any along the starboard side of the hull through a pvc pipe that will lie behind the refrigerator.  It will make it easier to fish lines, should it become necessary.