I Have Always Relied on the Kindness of Others…

On May 16th, 2012 Published By B.J.
Blanche Dubois contemplates the technical issues confronting her autopilot installation.

or “The Second Worst Project Ever:  The Stunning Conclusion“

There is no way this autopilot installation would ever have come together relying purely on my own technical skills.  As previously stated, I’m pretty decent with electrical and electronic things – I can usually make the lights blink and the messages get from point A to B.  I’m not bad at mechanical fix-it things; swapping out a pump or replacing a hose.

I am not a machinist.

I am not a carpenter.

My fiberglass skills are rather limited in the range of my repertoire.

So to make this installation go I had to step out of my regular range of comfort and take on something new.  To which I responded with the same spunk and usual go-get-it attitude that has helped me over the years with this typical solution:  Ask around, and find someone that actually knows what the fudge they are doing and ask THEM for help.

In the case of the Hydraulic Linear Actuator (which I think makes you sound very technically intimidating if you can work it into conversation without stuttering or tripping over it) I needed to machine some parts, and permanently attach a sturdy, relatively level shelf in the bilge of the boat to rest the pump on.

Problem 1:  The wrong bits of metal in the wrong place
For a hydraulic arm to move a rudder it has to have some place to attach to it.  In most cases this involves an arm that has a slotted key that fits in a groove on the rudder post.  This arm is generally where the autopilot drive attaches, preferably out towards the end of the arm to increase leverage and decrease the work the drive has to do.  In my case, there was one of these that the old system used.  This is a REALLY strong and heavy piece of bronze, essentially two large bronze triangles screwed together around the post.

My mistake was in assuming that I could use the same hole and/or connection point for the new hydraulic ram.  Nope…while Reading The Fine Manual for the Hydraulic Linear Actuator (or HLA) I discovered that the arm on that was not supposed to move more than eleven (11) inches in and out, lest the unit hyper-extend itself and blow all the hydraulic seals or some other similarly horrible outcome which results in a dead, leaky drive.  Maybe I should guesstimate measure how far it would really swing?  Well, that seemed to be about 14″, or more than enough to destroy the expensive new drive on the first hard left turn.

Back to high school math.  Radii, circles, trig, pi…this can NOT be that complex.  Turns out I needed a new hole about two inches closer to the rudder post.  According to the manufacturer the loss in leverage by moving the connection closer in would be more than offset by the incredible power of this HLA.  A few moments of looking at the piece of precision machinery crouched in it’s box, and my hand held Ryobi cordless drill, and the half inch thick piece of bronze…and I figured out I needed to go visit my friend Tom, the machinist.

As it turns out, of course not only do we need a new hole but we need a bigger mounting pin.  And some way to screw this whole mess on the boat that wouldn’t get ripped right out again the first time we put some serious load on it.  A half hour or so of discussion, measuring and sketches and Tom had his plans.  A few days later he had manufactured for me some new mounting hardware, some heavy duty steel backing plates, and of course a couple of perfectly drilled and precise holes through the big chunk of bronze.  Later we met on the boat and put it all in.  After a few tries (having nothing to do with the precision of Tom’s work!) it all came together.

Problem 2:  Making things out of Wood and Fiberglass is not my forté
Which is kind of like saying that hitting a sinking curve-ball was never one of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s strengths.  I’m reasonably certain Barry wasn’t too good with a fastball, either.

So once again, in a state of completely flummoxed confusion I sought out someone with a clue.  In this case I started in one of my usual research sites – the Cruising forum at Sailing Anarchy, where you can usually find some really useful information wedged amongst the profanity, porn and puerility.  In this case the help came from an individual I will not name by anything but his Sailing Anarchy pseudonym:  Anomoly2.  Yeah, I know – that makes him sound like some kind of 14 year old script kiddie hacker, but we usually keep things anonymous over there.  Having met him, I can tell you he really is a grownup and he knows his stuff.

From Anomoly2 I learned the magic of Thickened Epoxy, and how to make a Fillet (which has nothing to do with fish).  I also learned how to “Scribe” which, once someone shows you how to do it makes you slap your head like a V-8 commercial and give our a Homer Simpson like “d’oh” because it really should be obvious.  After the fact, of course.

So with Anomoly2’s help we shaped some marine plywood to fit in the odd curved place, stuck a shelf to it with epoxy, and then used epoxy to stick the whole thing to the boat.  And the result was quite nice.


Learning New Things is Good
Even when it makes you feel clueless.

This wouldn’t have come together without the generosity of a couple of people – one an old family friend, and one a complete stranger I met on an internet sailing community.  For which I am very thankful.

Now if I could just figure out how to bleed the damned thing.

Posted in Electronics, maintenance, misery, projects | Comments Off on I Have Always Relied on the Kindness of Others…

Second Worst Project Ever

On May 8th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Nothing can ever possibly top the great Teak Debacle of 2009.  As much as we love Evenstar I would sell her before I ever did THAT project again.  The crippling pain and the smell and feel of teak caulk in completely inappropriate places is something I do not ever wish to repeat.

The Second Worst Project Ever is the new Autopilot installation.  Which is as complete as can be with the boat tied to the dock.  After two freaking years of sitting in a box.

What makes this project the Second Worst Ever is not it’s technical difficulty, it’s mess quotient, it’s cost, the amount of labor, the cross disciplinary skills required to execute it, or the difficult to access places that one must contort into.  All of these are a factor.  But what frosted my cake on this project was it’s seeming simplicity, coupled with my bad judgement that led it to take two years to complete.

The alert reader might remember my rant of two years ago, when I first opened the autopilot box and discovered that although I’d updated my boat with the latest and greatest in technology and boat data systems (in that it only lagged the rest of the electronics world buy a decade or two) I discovered that the very expensive autopilot I had acquired the previous fall in fact was still using a communications technology only marginally better than two tin cans and a string.

I am SO over that.

My problem was one of mistaken assumptions.  Some of those mistaken assumptions were, in no particular order…

  • A rotary autopilot drive that works with a Raymarine autopilot should work well with a Furuno autopilot too.
  • A hydraulic autopilot ram should be able to attach right on the same spot that the old mechanical linear drives did.
  • All the various bits of the new system can be screwed to existing surfaces on the boat
  • Systems will be well documented and not assume that one is a licensed engineer in the field related to that equipment and “just know” how to do things.

The original thought was that since Evenstar had two existing autopilot systems (older Raymarine systems) with two different types of drives in it I could save some serious money by simply replacing the brains of the system with a new setup, while reusing the existing functional drives. 

A Raymarine Ram

For those of you that are not boaters or are not masochists and pay professionals to install things like autpilots – an autopilot system has two major components, and several minor ones.  The major components are the “Brain” (also known as the Course Computer, CPU, APU, etc. depending on the brand you buy) and the “Drive” which is a mechanical device controlled by the “Brain” that moves the boat’s rudder.  Secondary components include a compass and a device to feed the position of the rudder back to the Brain (called a Rudder Reference Unit).  Drives come in a number of types, such as a Ram which is like a piston arm attached to the rudder, a rotary drive installed in the steering system, a chain drive that attaches to the steering system, etc. etc.  Drives can be mechanical or use hydraulics.

So I figure I can buy the brains (and compass and RRU) and install those.  I figure to put the new autopilot system on the best drive (a “rotary” drive), so I rip out the brain from that drive and sell it on E-Bay, since I will be shortly installing a new brain.  The astute reader might remember this was back in 2010.

As it turns out the old rotary drive appears to have two (2) wires that control it, and the Furuno brain does not want to work with a drive of this type.  Something to due with clutches and polarity or…something.  In the mean time operating on the other autopilot with the linear Ram drives has caused it to seize up and the drives are basically shot.  So I make the call that we would be best to keep the other old Raymarine brain and wire it up to the rotary drive, and replace the old ram drive with a new hydraulic system.

The reasons to go hydraulic are mostly to do with the size of the boat.  Most “drives” are sold by the size of boat they can handle the loads for, and when you get north of 56,000 pounds your options get severely limited.  The old linear drives were a pair of smaller units for 40,000 lb boats and we managed to strip those out, so clearly mechanical wasn’t up to the task for that job.  So hydraulic it was, and a pretty big hydraulic setup it would be.  My (clearly wrong) thinking on this was that replacing one ram drive with another should be pretty straightforward – you take one out, screw the new one in and go!

Thing I learned about hydraulic rams once I owned one:

  • They have a maximum motion range that seems rather less than the old mechanical one I replaced
  • They have a pump that must be installed on a horizontal surface (relatively…it is a boat) close by the actual drive arm.
  • Hydraulic fluid smells sort of weird and is hard to get off your hands when the boat doesn’t have a commissioned water system
  • They need to be bled.  Which is sort of nice, because at least something other than me bleeds during one of these projects for a change.

The net result of this was that I very quickly learned  that I needed to build a flat spot under my bed on the boat, I needed to get a new spot to attach the ram arm to in order to avoid hyper-extending it and still get full range of rudder motion, and that I didn’t really have the technical skills or tools to make this happen.

To keep you coming back, I’m going to have to leave you with a cliffhanger,  because I know you can not take the suspense of not knowing how we got from this:

To this:
 

Be back soon with Part Two!

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Second Worst Project Ever

In Case Anyone Asks…

On Mar 25th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Yeah…I could write a VOLUME on the autopilot project which has (or will) include various things like custom work at machine shops and fiberglass to even think about fitting in the boat.  Or on the number of cables I’ve added with the new PC & SSB.  But…I’ve got too much to do on those.

So in the interest of keeping the blog fresh, I will now address what might be the Number One Request from my friends when they find out I’m sailing off into parts unknown.  And that is:

“Before you go, you have to show us how you make Mudslides.”

Seriously.

OK, maybe we have a reputation for this on Evenstar,  but contrary to popular misconception I did NOT install 1,000+ pounds of batteries just to run the blender.
So…here it is:
3 Parts Vodka
3 Parts Kahlua
2 Parts Irish Cream
Ice

(or 1.5 : 1.5 : 1 if you are from MIT or something)

Fill a blender with ice, pour in the booze and blend. You need to get the proportions right for your blender…our boat blender it’s 3/4 cups & 1/2 cup, home blender is a bit larger and I used 1 Cup and 2/3 cup respectively for better results.

Here is the key – most people do not blend it nearly enough. If you have the amount of liquid right it will thicken up and get frozen looking fairly quickly. Most people pull it now and get a more grainy and thin beverage. DO NOT STOP.  Keep going a couple of minutes more and you can watch it go from thick to starting to get more smooth and liquid. You watch if, and when it starts to move more and look almost liquidy then you stop – you should be able to pour it out of the blender without needing a spoon.

Put a small splash of Kahlua in each glass (no chocolate or whipped cream in mine…) before you pour then pour right in the middle of the glass. The Kahlua then squishes up the side and looks nice and may form a small floater on the top (props where due – learned that from the bartender at Donovan’s Reef in Oak Bluffs). We prefer that to chocolate which makes it too sweet and is a pain in the ass anyway…people apparently think I use chocolate but it’s really more booze.

This yields a smooth and creamy mudslide without resorting to diluting your booze with unnecessary sugary gunk like ice cream, bar syrup, chocolate etc. which, after extensive scientific testing, we found really add little to the drink if made properly in the first place.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

You say tomato…

On Feb 3rd, 2012 Published By B.J.

So the boat makes a loverly greenhouse.

We opted this winter to use clear shrink wrap to cover Evenstar.  The thinking is that it would be warmer, in case we ended up living on the boat mid winter the extra comfort of a few degrees of greenhouse effect would make a difference making it livable.  Additionally any work to be done above decks would be easier if we didn’t need to wear gloves and have to keep stopping to get blood circulating again.

Frankly, with the mild winter we’ve had if I tried to grow tomatoes on the deck the would have died from the heat.  Late January and I’m working under the cover in a T-Shirt and I’m dropping sweat in my eyes.  Go figure.  Maybe I can grow bananas instead.

Progress is indeed being made getting her ready for moving on in June.  Fortunately we’ve not had to as the interior of the boat isn’t really inhabitable, what with the entire aft cabin ripped up for autopilot installations, the tool cabinet emptied all over the boat to clear a space for the SSB radio installation, tools and parts everywhere and a complete sense of disarray and disorder.

There is a comprehensive master list of projects to be done before June. It’s six pages long.  I will be thrilled if I can cross off two pages of it.  “Casting off” may be leaving the marina we are in and anchoring 200 yards off shore to keep working through the list.  Though in fairness much of the six pages is stuff we want to do (e.g. make new curtains, cosmetic work) versus those things that we absolutely do not want to leave without (e.g. a reliable autopilot installation).  There’s an awful lot we can live with, or live without until we get it sorted.  Even something like the SSB isn’t really critical while we are still in North America though I’d like to have some time to learn to use it before I really need it.

The other issue is that no battle plan (or work plan) survives contact with the enemy.  Two examples are the Single Side Band radio and the new Furuno autopilot.  Replacing the old burned out Icom SSB IC-710 with a newer IC-802 should be pretty simple, right?  I’ve got a largish unattractive SSB-sized hole gaping in the nice mahogany on my Nav Station where the old SSB used to sit.  Just slide the new one in, run the cables and turn it on.  Except…the new control face isn’t the same size as the old one, in fact it comes in two pieces instead of one – one control face, and a separate speaker.  And they are both smaller in height than the old SSB and smaller than the hole, though wider when put side by side.  So this goes from a straightforward electronics installation into a carpentry project.  In the mean time, the power that worked when the old SSB came out is now dead as a doornail, so when the new unit is wired together for testing…nothing.  So it’s time to trace back wires and look for a break.  What is in theory a day of threading wires and screwing things together turns into several days of looking for wood, performing carpentry tasks I have little aptitude for, and trying  to solder wire connectors smaller than mouse turds onto wires that are too big (don’t even ask about that…).

We’re doing the less critical SSB because the dreaded Autopilot project which I have been procrastinating on for over a year has ground to a halt and it’s not even my fault!  For once.  After doing some research I had one of those epiphany moments, where you slap your head and say to yourself “I can’t believe I was such a completely clueless dumb*%&# about this!”. 

To back up a bit – Evenstar came with two Raymarine Autopilots.  Two separate control processors, two different drive systems, and one switch to rule them all.  One drive system had a big, strong rotary drive in line with the steering system, the other had a pair of what is known as “linear drives” which are a piston with an arm that connects near the rudder post.  One linear drive unit is not strong enough for a boat this size, so two were installed to operate in tandem.

Last year when the new Furuno autopilot arrived it was my intention to wire it to the stronger rotary drive system and leave the linear drive system intact with the existing processor.  So I very wisely pulled the controller off of the rotary system and sold it on E-Bay.  Now I had room to install the Furuno system, as soon as I figured out how to wire it to the old drive.  Right-O, that never happened.  Fast forward to this past summer, and the linear units start acting up.  Our autopilot freezes up at a critical moment, so we disconnect the drives so we can drive the boat in a direction away from the breaking waves and rocks and we realize these drives are no longer reliable.  We spent the rest of the summer with no autopilot since I’d disabled one and broken the other.

This is where the astute observer says “But wait!  Why didn’t you just connect the autopilot processor from the linear system and plug it into the rotary system.”  This astute observer is smarter than me, because this didn’t occur to me until about two months ago when we got the word back it would cost over $1,500 to rebuild the linear drives.  At that point I realized that for $1,000 more maybe I should get a brand new completely compatible drive unit for the Furuno and use the old Raymarine control processor with the old rotary drive. 

With much passion and excitement I ordered a new 24V Accusteer LA100 Hydraulic Linear Actuator.  It had to be built and shipped ground from the Pacific Northwest…weeks.  Finally, it arrived.  Resolutely I piled the box in my car and headed to the boat determined to FINALLY get this thing installed, no matter what.  Got to the boat, hoofed this big heavy unit down the docks and onto the boat, ripped all the mattresses off the bed to get to the installation area, then went to pull the new Hydraulic Linear Actuator (doesn’t that sound like something out of bad SciFi, like I’m installed a new Flux Capacitor in the boat?) out of the box to see where it would fit.  It was then I noted the dreaded words LA100-12 on the outside of the box.

As in model LA-100, 12 Volt version.  Not 24 Volt like I ordered.  I didn’t even get to take it out of the box.

So now, I am waiting with baited breath for another Hydraulic Linear Actuator in the proper voltage to arrive so I can once again try to install this.

Fortunately, I have a few other things to do in the meantime so I don’t get bored.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

O Captain! My Captain!

On Jan 20th, 2012 Published By B.J.

Here’s hoping it ends better for me that for Walt Whitman’s protagonist.

So it’s official, I received my USCG Master’s License this week.  So now I’m not only morally responsible for what happens with our boat, I’m a bit more legally responsible as well.

Specifically it is a “Master – 50 Ton Inland with Auxiliary Sail Endorsement”, and “OUPV Operator, Near Shore” which conveys certain rights, privileges and legal obligations.  In theory I could skipper a commercial sail or power vessel up to 50 gross tons on Inland Waters (As defined by the USCG), or a commercial vessel with up to six passengers up to 100 miles off shore.  It also means I need to pay close attention to what I am doing on the water since the rules change somewhat if you are licensed versus and amateur/recreational operator.

No, we’re not going to charter Evenstar.

Practically speaking, the license may afford some opportunities in the future to earn some money doing things like delivering boats, operating launches or tour boats if we was in an area for a while, and might help make occasional opportunities like that happen.  With any luck it will also smooth some of the various entries into countries that demand things like “Certificates of Competency” to prove you aren’t an utter idiot with your vessel before they admit you to their country to terrorize the locals with your anchoring habits.    The ultimate goal in getting this was to hopefully make life easier and open a few doors.

However it might be time to get rid of the “Marriages Performed by the Captain of this Vessel are Valid Only for the Duration of the Trip” sign before we have any regrettable accidents.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Parts is Parts

On Nov 24th, 2011 Published By B.J.

One of the many items on the to-do list is to assemble a list of spares.  In some remote parts of the world, if you can believe this, Federal Express does not guarantee delivery by 10:00 a.m. next business day.  In fact I’ve experienced just that in the wilderness of Block Island – the mysterious impact of so-called “Island Time”, in that case it meant that all FedEx deliveries (whether you paid big bucks for “next morning” or the discounted “next afternoon”) were put on the same ferry and all arrived on island on the 4:30 ferry.

Apparently in some places even more remote and uncivilized than Block Island it can sometimes take days, even weeks to get things sent to you.  I shudder to think how Amazon.com does business there.

What this adds up to for Evenstar and her crew is that we need to float around with enough engine parts under the floor boards to be able to assemble a completely new engine if needed.

Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration  but I know for what this is costing I probably could buy a new engine.

So to minimize the costs and allow room on the boat for storing things other than engine parts (such as food, clothing, children, etc.) I need to come up with Yet Another List – in this case a list of all the things on the engine which would put is in Deep Doo-doo if they broke.  If our starter breaks when you are anchored on a remote atoll where we’ve not seen another boat for a week, or the raw water pump seizes up when we’re getting ready to leave somewhere the day before our visas expire – we need to be ready.  The boat must be able to move in order to comply with safety, legal, and other demands.

But some things, sure they can wait for parts to be shipped from the closest distributor, put on a plane, then a boat, a smaller ferry, to a skiff with an antique outboard, thrown in the back of a WWII surplus Jeep then strapped to a goat to be delivered to our remote location.  There is nothing the generator does that can’t actually be replaced with another function.  We can charge batteries, make hot water – really anything but heat and air conditioning can be done by the engine.  It just takes longer or uses more fuel.  So the generator parts we just will carry some of the more common and easy fixes, and if that is down for a week or three we will deal and FedEx will get a little richer.

But the engine, the rig, and all the safety gear that needs to be there.

So the spares list is forthcoming.  A sampling for the engine:

  • Raw water pump
  • Oil pump
  • Circulation pump
  • Starter
  • Fuel pump
  • A fuel injector
  • A set of valves
  • Oil & temperature sensors
  • Thermostats
  • Hoses
  • Belts, filters, gaskets and other consumables

Of course there will be spares for the dinghy engine, the generator, the wind generator, the electrical system, electronics,  cooking, plumbing – this list will grow over time.  I’d love to hear some suggestions!

Posted in alternator, Block Island, broken things, hard to find parts | Comments Off on Parts is Parts

To Gadget or Not To Gadget?

On Oct 14th, 2011 Published By B.J.

…that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
Without the latest electronic 
or electro-mechanical doo-dad at my ready  hand…

Apologies to the Bard…

In the past few weeks we’ve gone to a couple of Boat Shows.  Of course as a boat owner I love them, the latest and greatest of tools and technology and a wonderful chance to see some new and different solutions to a lot of vexing problems.

Mid September we went to the Newport International Boat Show.  We went by boat and anchored in Newport.  We had a wonderful time and saw some neat stuff.  My son the aspiring yacht designer managed to get on and have a look almost every sail boat in the show and my daughter collected the usual small bag of candies and plastic floating giveaways.

Last weekend, with out fall cruising declared “Over” to get an early start on boat and house projects we decided a boat related weekend was still in order.  So it was off to Annapolis for the U.S. Sailboat Show over Columbus Day weekend.

There were a lot of really, really cool things at both shows.  We spent money on things we’d been planning to get (mattress for the master cabin, a pressure cooker, SSB ground plane) but we almost slid into a wild orgy of spending on a lot of really neat looking gadgets.

The thing is, I could make a really excellent case for why we might NEED one of these things.  I’m really good at that.  But at some point common sense has to prevail and what you need versus what you should have versus what would be nice to have.  In other words if someone gave us one of these for a gift we’d be thrilled and keep it, but we don’t think we should shell out the money on it as a “need” when there is so much else.

So things like a cordless electric winch handle.  Our winches are BIG, and three of them are powered.  More importantly our hydraulic roller furling has a winch-handle shaped emergency furling control.  But on the bow it’s blocked by the pulpit so you can only use the tiny little emergency handle to furl it up.  I’ve done this.  Do you know how long it takes to furl an 800+ square foot sail in with a six inch emergency handle in pitching seas?  If this thing fit in there, it’d be ZOOM the sail is in.  Of course…it has to be charged and ready.  So we either need to continually charge it or it won’t be available for an emergency furling failure.  And our power winches can take a real handle and be operated manually – you can do it the old fashion way even though it’s work.  Ultimately we figured this is something that would never come out of the box for us, and if it did we probably would have forgotten to charge it.

Or image stabilized binoculars.  I can read the fine print on a shoe box 200 feet across the show tent while hopping on one foot.  Spotting a name on a fishing boat you are trying to hail can be a challenge and these would make it much easier.  But again, how often we we need this instead of our regular binoculars, and at what cost?  The quality environment proof ones are quite expensive.

Maybe a diving hookah – we may still come back to this.  This is an electrically powered air compressor with dive regulator’s attached that lets you work under the boat as long as you have battery power.  Or you could get the integrated floating model to add unlimited diving in water up to 30′.  But the real use would be cleaning the bottom, unfouling the prop, replacing zincs and other underwater jobs.  All of which you can do with a snorkel, it just takes a lot longer.  But it’s an excellent workout.

LED Cabin light fixtures and waterproof gear bags?  Clothing and safety Gear? Cockpit cushions and cooking gear?  Bifocal polarized sunglasses – OK, I should have bought those.  You name it and I was there salivating like a man just let out of a year on bread in water at an all you can eat buffet.

These are all great products by the way.  Good quality and well thought out for the most part.  We would enjoy owning and using them.  We just couldn’t cross the bridge from “Want” to “Need”.

Fortunately reason has mostly prevailed and we only bought what we intended to (although the price and quality may have been a bit more than expected).  We are running down research on a few things though we’ve not really expanded the list.  Much.

By the way I have an excellent list of going away presents, just in case anyone needs it.

Posted in Cool Gear | 1 Comment

Out of the closet and into the fire…

On Jul 24th, 2011 Published By B.J.

So, we’re leaving.

By June of 2012 our house will be sold, my wife’s practice will have wound to a close, the kids will be winding up their school year and we will be living on Evenstar heading for a permanent live aboard life cruising all over the world.

I said it, it’s out there.

It’s been a long time coming and a looong time not talking about it.  But for various reasons – primarily business related with regards to my wife’s practice – we had to keep fairly mum.  Which is difficult when you have a life changing decision made for years that you have been striving towards and hoping for and you can only share it with a couple of people, lest word get out and make a mess of things before all the plans are right.

Sure the astute observer could see the upgrades we’ve been doing on the boat and maybe read between the lines in some of my comments.  In many cases though the people in one part of our lives (the non sailors) and the people in the sailing part of our lives don’t always see the whole elephant and connect the dots.  Certainly we’ve shocked, surprised, and saddened a lot of people with this news.  You can’t make this big of a change without it, and we also are to a certain extent surprised, shocked and saddened because there are many parts of our lives – primarily relationships with family and friends – that will be changed as we head off shore.

Late this past January we realized that in spite our best plans certain key events that we had placed as triggers to make this happen…weren’t happening.  With our children both changing schools (elementary to middle, middle to high school) it seemed an opportune time to Just Do It as a certain shoe manufacturer is want to say.  So she sat down with her partners, explained out intentions and our plans to leave in August of 2011 (that date isn’t happening, as the astute observer will also note!).

Perfect timing?  No, but then no time is perfect to completely turn life upside down and make a monumental change like this.  There were also certain pragmatic issues, such as the timing with hiring replacement physicians and leaving behind patients.  The end result of a long series of discussions was a slightly longer exit plan with a better resolution for all parties.  We’ve waited a long time to do this; a few more months is disappointing but worth it for the cleaner exit.

Our initial thoughts are to spend the summer of 2012 kicking around the East Coast, working our way up to Maine and eventually making it down to Hampton, VA to join the Caribbean 1500 rally to the Virgin Islands in November.  From there we plan to spend most of the winter in the Caribbean, heading to the Panama Canal as spring approaches and spending much of 2013 on the West Coast, in the states and South and Central America.  When the seasons and weather are right, we point Evenstar West and head across the Pacific.

Of course that’s a rough plan; our mileage WILL vary and we know that it may all change.  As much as it changed from January of this year to June.  As much as it will change next summer.

But for now – we have a direction and a plan.  And we have a lot of work to do.  We have to pare down the contents of a house we’ve lived in for 15 years, “Stuff” we’ve accumulated in almost twenty-five years together, to fit in a small storage area and a couple of boxes in some family member’s basement.  We’ve got to finish the sale of the house and most of the stuff in it, finish the long list of boat work (though I have a bit more time now!) and adding to it once again.  We’ve got one more long winter to endure.  Then…we’re off.

Posted in Cruising, liveaboard | Comments Off on Out of the closet and into the fire…

All I’ve Got to Do

On May 17th, 2011 Published By B.J.

That seems to be the rallying cry of so many of my boat projects. 

I’ve got the propane upgrade mostly done…all I’ve got to do is drill a hole through the boat and run a wire from the solenoid to a switch and connect up the new oven. 

The new inverter/charger is pretty much installed…all I’ve got to do is figure out why the temperature sensing wire is throwing spurious readings that make lights flash.  And find a 300 amp fuse that fits in my oversize fuse posts.

The VHF is working fine, all I’ve got to do is move the remote RAM Mic to a better location.  Best to do that while I’m drilling holes for the propane since I involves me climbing into the same lazarette.

The Teak is done, looks great.  All I’ve got to do is a few lazarette covers and replace some more bung plugs.

You see where this is going.

Seems rather to be the story of so many of these.  Getting them working (or almost working) is pretty straightforwards.  Getting them perfect…not so much all the time.

“Pretty Much Done” on a boat; seems like being “a little pregnant” or “mostly dead”.

Posted in procrastination, projects | Comments Off on All I’ve Got to Do

The 2011 List From Heck – *Updates*

On May 10th, 2011 Published By B.J.

There is no doubt that all of my loyal readers have been sitting on the edge of their seats since February wondering “how the heck is he EVER going to finish that stuff in time to go sailing before September?”  The short answers is…he probably won’t.  At least I won’t do it all myself, some stuff I’ve gotten help with as planned.

Of course the list has gotten longer too.  For every item I scratch off I find two new ones.  So to the status updates!

Watermaker
This is done.  The only thing left to do is turn it on and test it.  To do this I need to completely flush out the fresh water system so it has clean water with no antifreeze in to flush itself in maintenance mode.  This one we can basically scratch off the list.


Wind Power
This is still on the list, to be done by Ferris Power Products now that the winter cover is off the boat.  That is a matter of scheduling them in.

Inverter/Charger
Done.  Well except for one nagging bit of weirdness, the temperature sensor that came with the unit doesn’t seem to be reading right.  This is important as changing charge voltage to adapt for battery temperature can make your battery last longer and/or charge more efficiently.  It works, but it causes a couple of LED’s to blink in a truly annoying fashion.  So I have to chase that down, as well as find a 300amp ANL style fuse with a slightly larger slot for the fuse block bolts.  Until then, don’t use the hairdryer and the waffle iron at the same time.

Life Raft
There is a very nice Switlik MD-2 life raft sitting in the shed.  It will get to the boat…someday.

Anchor
Some changes here.  We’ve not ordered a new Rocna anchor yet; that will be done once I have a chance to build a scaled mockup anchor out of plywood to see if it fits the bow roller.  In the meantime we also opted to add a 150 lb Luke Storm Anchor, also known as a Fisherman’s Anchor.  This is the Anchor of Last Resort, when you pull in someplace and no other anchors will stick to the bottom because it is something tough to anchor in, a beast like this is what you need.  It breaks down into three inconveniently large and heavy pieces for awkward storage…but it’s still easier than trying to move it assembled.  I’m the only one in the family that can pick it up when it is put together.  In fact, I’m the only one in the family that weighs more than this anchor.

Sea Anchor
The sea anchor is acquired, as well as my own personal 600 foot drum of New England Ropes 1″ Mega Braid.  This line will be cut into two sections, about 500′ and 100′.  The larger section will become the permanent rode for the secondary anchor – for when you just have to drop a hook in 80′ of water.  Probably with a 150′ fisherman’s anchor since you will be anchoring on a slap of granite.  This will also be as the rode for the sea anchor.  The 100′ section will be the bridle for the sea anchor.  The anchor itself is in a disappointingly small yellow bag, I figured for what this cost and the amount of line it requires it was going to be the size of a 55 gallon drum, instead it is about a medium sized kitchen garbage can.

Stove
Old one is off the boat, and the incredibly nasty and dirty area behind it has been cleaned out.  The new one is in the shed.  On top of the life raft.

On Board Computer
I know what I want to do and I’ve researched it darn near to death.  I just don’t have any more room in the shed if I go out and buy the thing right now.

Sail
Many earnest discussions have been held with sail makers and friends in the sail cloth industry.  We’re dithering still – it will get ordered.  No work there for me really except writing a check anyway.

Propane system
I’m getting closer to maybe actually doing this.  Really.  It does not make me afraid just because I might blow the boat up if I screw this up.  I did finally find all the parts I bought for this several years ago.

SSB (Single Sideband Radio)
The old SSB was no longer working.  It has been removed and a replacement ordered.  There is some chance it was not as dead as I thought and I might be able to fix it…but I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that.  The new installation will require an additional antenna, and maybe some carpentry.

Main bilge pump
Still looking for a suitable replacement pump.  24V pumps are a nuisance.

Hatch Lenses
Done!  The new lenses are back and look nice.  I have some bits of latch hardware to install, but the hatches are all in and  bedded.  So far, no leaks with some heavy rain.  Though we really will have to take her out in some snotty weather and dump a few thousand gallons of seawater on them to really test them out.


The following items I must shamefacedly admit have even less progress than the above items.

  • Davits 
  • Pumps
  • Teak.
  • Head valve replacement. 

New Stuff
Just yikes, it never, ever ends.  Some new things I either need to do, or forgot to mention before.

  • Engine raw water intake hose.  This rubs against the steering mechanism, and in fact has almost worn through.  This needs to be done before the boat leaves the harbor, a failure here could be catastrophic with sea water gushing into the engine room, the race will be to determine if the engine is drowned before it over heats.
  • Autopilot Install.  Yeah, I never finished this last year.  Still out there.
  • RD-33 Installation; a new alarm display monitor for the aft cabin.
  • Generator Exhaust hoses.  Some nasty looking hoses in the exhaust system for the genset need replacing.
  • Battery Monitors; with the replacement of the old Freedom 25 Inverter/Charger it became obvious that the Link2000 monitor (which never worked well) needs to be replaced as it is neither accurate or useful.
  • Dodger lights; there are some lights under the hard dodger which ought to be replaced.  At a minimum with LED bulbs, but preferably with some new fittings that have three way switches to allow for a red LED light after dark.  Night vision is not under rated.
  • Leak fix over the tool/SSB cabinet.  Just getting the part seems to be the biggest hassle of all, some changes in the builder’s parts department seem to have caused some confusion.  I need to patch this hole before I stick a new SSB in there, and I have a new shelf to build and install to replace a weak shelf the prior owner put in.
  • WiFi rewiring.  May also include moving the GPS antenna, this depends on the installation of the wind generator.  If the wind generator uses the old radar hole I will need to move the cables that now come through it; I expected this however.  Either way I used the wrong cable type for the WiFi antenna and it doesn’t work to well so I need to do up some new cables there.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments