Getting Back On Track

That fuel tank replacement threw me for a loop.  not only was it not "on the master plan", but it took longer than I'd expected.  Last night I was able to clean up the sawdust residue with the mini-shopvac and finish hooking up the tank, tightening hose clamps, etc.  I filled it back up, again running the fuel through the Baja Filter, and tested the engine.  She started right up without hesitation and ran flawlessly for about 30 minutes so I think I'm safe in terms of not having to bleed the lines again.

It may also be just a figment of my imagination, but it seems like the engine is running a bit more smooth after the oil change.  My entire life I've thought I could sense a change in the engine's noise right after a change though, so it might just be some kind of wishful thinking.

While the engine was running I spent a bit of time applying weatherstripping to the cockpit lockers.  I'm hoping this will reduce a bit of the vibration noise I get at certain RPMs.  Without the foam the lockers are not tight enough to pull their latches, so there is much rattling.  We'll see next time I get out for a motor up the channel.

The cockpit locker dividers are now all installed, which removes yet another big piece of cabin clutter.  It's still a complete disaster inside the boat, but I feel like I'm slowly making progress. 

Now that I'm back on track with putting things back together rather than repairing / replacing it's a good time to look at the short-term to-do list:

Wire the Sahara 1100 bilge pump
Wire the AC main panel and galvanic isolator
Install the battery charger AC circuit
Install the AC outlets circuit
Install the bow fresh water tank
Repair the delaminated plywood on the starboard window headliner panel.
Dremel work to integrate the new alcohol stove into the gimbal.
Select and purchase stereo head unit
Install aft cabin bulkhead panels, flush mounting VHF and stereo units in port coaming recess.
Secure bilge pump hoses - STOP the FLOP.
Of course there is much else to do, but this is what I'm focusing on in the immediate future.  Should keep me pretty busy in between sailing.

Fuel Tank Installation

It's amazing to me how many "gotchas" come up in a typical project.  Even when I'm confident, I still get knocked on my butt.  Case in point is the installation of my new fuel tank.  I had only a few weeks ago removed, cleaned, and reinstalled my original tank.  I was feeling pretty confident that the new one would go without a hitch since my experience was so fresh.  Nope.

The old tank ended up being a nightmare to remove.  I had to remove cockpit locker dividers, the new starter battery on the port side, and wrestle it through the new bilge pump hoses which I haven't fully secured yet.  Not only that, but for some reason it seemed that the filler hose had grown by about a half inch as I couldn't get it out without pulling the deck fill.  Ugh.  Re-bedding a butyl seam on that filler is no fun at all.

The mistake I made in selecting a new tank was only paying attention to the tank's overall dimensions, and not the fittings themselves.  As it turns out, one of the fuel pick-ups exists right where the tank mounts to the cockpit sole, requiring that I cut a notch to allow it clearance.  You gotta be kidding me!  

Of course, this meant that the mounting bolt for the strap also had less then ideal support below, so I needed to move the strap.  Is this an ideal situation?  Nope.  But given how short our sailing season are, it wasn't worth losing 2-3 weeks to have a custom tank made.  When this tank gets close to wearing out I'll go custom.  For now though, I'll go sailing.

The good news is that this tank (RDS Manufacturing) is solid as a rock, and it's ever-so-slightly smaller dimensions are a much better fit with the new larger seacocks for the cockpit drains.  I still need to do some fine tuning to the strap tension, but I'm very pleased with the tank itself.

Were I to do this over again I would purchase a custom tank from RDS based on the stock model I selected, and simply have the extra fitting left out.  I'd also have the vent fitting set up as a rear-facing elbow, but that's not as big a deal.

I still need to get the engine controls hooked back up, and clean up the mess I made during installation.  Then I can reinstall the starter battery and locker dividers.  This will be nice as the battery and dividers are taking up a TON of cabin space right now.  Not to mention that it will be nice to have the boat usable again.  With the dividers back in place I may be able to start storing some things in them, which will free up even MORE cabin space.  Sounds nice to me!

And for the grand finale, here's the tank installed in all its shiny glory:

Busy Weekend Coming Up

The last few days have been pretty exciting aboard Ravat, and the next two are likely to be as well.  I took delivery of the new interior cushions on Thursday, and they look unbelievable.  I've also been busy reinstalling interior panels in areas I'm not still pulling wires.  That makes a big difference as well.

My new aluminum fuel tank was delivered by UPS a short time ago, and it' everything I hoped it would be.  Slightly smaller, far more rigid, and most importantly, (I hope) it doesn't leak.  This will be a high priority installation to be certain.

Another project I'm excited about is the new Harken Outboard Furling Blocks which I have installed, but not yet run the line through.  I constantly trip on the furling blocks along my narrow side decks, so this one should not only reduce friction and look very cool, but it will actually be a bit of a safety gain as well.  Now watch, my furling line will be about 6" too short for the new lead.  That would be a classic situation.

I'm on the cusp of installing the VHF radio as well.  The antenna wire is in place, and just needs to be terminated.  I'm anxious to test it and verify that the antenna connectors I terminated are working as expected.  Then I can seal them up tight with the shrink tubes to make things a bit more permanent.

If I'm really ambitious I'd like to get the turnbuckles lubricated with some Tef-Gel before I tune the rig.  But most of all, I'm really looking forward to SAILING now that the week has ended.  Yeeha!

Don't Forget to Check for Cooling Water!

My boat was in the maintenance slip a few days last week for some stress crack repairs which exceeded my skill levels.  The yard did a great job on the fiberglass and gelcoat work, but they did not do a very good job in transporting my boat between slips.  They have a habit of leaving my seacock open when they move it, which I consider unsafe.

I closed the seacock while I was working once night, and it seems they didn't bother to open it when they brought the boat back to my slip.  Some of my dock friends noticed no water was coming out, and yelled to the guy driving, but by that point it was really too late.  The next two times I have started the engine it has been putting some pretty nasty black stuff into the water.  Not oil sheen, more like black dust in the water.

I started the engine again before I left last night, and the flow was almost normal.  I'm hoping that what I'm seeing is impellor residue working its way out of the engine.  I have ordered a bunch of replacement engine parts to keep on hand (belts, impellors, etc.) so I will do a proactive replacement when that order arrives.  In the mean time, the impellor is still moving water effectively and without any visible change in exhaust burping.

Ugh, it really irritates me when someone doesn't take the same care of my boat that I do.  Well, at least to such a significant degree...