October 12-October 19
Brunswick, Georgia
This week we really got started in earnest on getting the boat back in seaworthy shape. After the initial excitement of getting back to the boat it began to sink in that we had a bunch of work to do on the inside and the outside. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to focus on what we do during each week to get the boat ready and what snags and/or issues we run into during this process. We promise once we are back in the water and traveling, we will go back to our normal blogging posts.
When doing boat work, you can feel busy all day long, but then feel like nothing has been accomplished. Two main reasons are that once you start one project, you notice an issue in the work area that needs to be addressed while the area is exposed. Or more often than not, the project ends up needing more work than needed, or you find that a part or tool is not available. We are going to lay this out in bullet form and if it’s in bold we will expand on that somewhat since it was probably an issue we ran into.
Rigging
Washed halyards, traveler, dinghy davit pulley, staysail sheet.
Installed traveler, dinghy davit pulley.
Discovered that three of our five halyard messenger lines (aka fishing or mouse lines) failed. When we took the halyards down, we ran messenger lines so we could easily re-install when recommissioning. Unfortunately we did not use the proper lines and they degraded during the hot summer months. Due to the difficulty and the fact we need a rig inspection anyway, we will have a professional rigger go aloft to run the halyards.
Removed mouse lines for topping lift, staysail halyard and main halyard after detangling broken lines.
Jib halyard is back in place
Unable to get Spinnaker over the pulley. Ran new mouse line with no improvement. Perhaps mousseline is offtrack? Called rigger 10/14.
Installed sheet blocks to boom.
Attempted to replace the bolt at gooseneck, discovered to have incorrect bolt. I messed up and ordered the incorrect bolt last March. I found the correct one but am having to get it shipped from the UK since it is an older boom, and I can’t find the correct bolts easily (12 x 61 mm clevis pin).
Removed coverings from reef lines, boom vang, and unstuffed end of boom.
Electronics
Tested electronics.
Installed new salon light & nav table light.
VHF install underway, partially complete. Ran into issue of connection on new ram mic will not fit through wire chase. I got the VHF installed and it is working great, but I cannot fish the cockpit ram mic through the existing holes up to the binnacle due to the size of the end of the cable. This mic is important since we want to use our radio while piloting the boat and not have to go below to the nav station. I have decided to cut and splice it back together. It is 8 very small wires that I need to solder back together so I hope it goes well next week. Wish me luck.
General cabin set up.
Wiped down cabinets in master berth.
Unpacked several clothing bags (a few bags had mold spread throughout; washing or throwing away items, need to purchase new pillows for the bed). Even though we vacuumed sealed all the cloth items some were compromised. Not sure why this was the case but overall, most items survived.
Finished waxing metal screens and re-installed.
Reset cushions.
Reinstalled mast cover in master berth
Unpacked catalogues and books
Finished unpacking clothes and linens, threw away moldy pillows.
Continued with setting up the boat, placing items back into cabinets.
Sprayed quarter berth lazarette with vinegar
Placed items back into quarter berth.
Placed an old laptop, courtesy flags under master berth.
Cleaning of forward head and repacking items in cabinets
Placed sheets onto master berth, setting up various linens on shelving.
Installed second salon light.
Finished setting up both heads
General deck set up
Removed plastic coverings from exterior electronics, outboard tiller and reef lines.
Cleaning of glue from tape in cockpit
Removed tape from deck locations.
Installed dorades.
Removed glue from tape/adhesives in cockpit.
Installed new charging unit in cockpit.
Removed tape and glue from hull.
Other projects
Kent came by and worked on fridge doors. Our wood fridge doors were rotting and falling apart last season, so we got a woodworker friend to make some new doors. They look really good.
Welding of stern pulpit (assisted welders with access to bolts). I spent a few hours in the bowels of the boat holding bolts on the backing plates while the welders tried to get the broken stainless-steel arch reseated. This is where we found that the exhaust was not double hose clamped. We fixed this too after discovered.
Purchased new & installed hose clamp for engine exhaust.
Dropped off propane tank for recertification.
Installed new anchor roller bolt.
Painted anchor chain markings
Returned two salon lights.
Took items to free pile.
Put up anchor.
The boat for the most part is ready to go back into the water and we really don’t have a lot to do that we can do prior to being in the water. Next week’s list might be smaller but there are a few items we can get done. Also, we are going to have the boat detailed right before our October 31st launch so we should have a nice shiny boat to start out with. Right now, the outside is quite dull and dirty from being in a yard (next to a paper mill no less) for the last 7 months.
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