120V AC Outlets. Still?

Yes, I'm still working on them.  The real problem for me is that the original box outlets didn't have a monster honking GFCI in them before, and that monster honking GFCI takes up a TON of space.  I couldn't event get the ground wire in place with a heat shrink terminal as it stuck out in a direction that wouldn't fit into the box.  I finished up the outlet in the V-berth, and eventually got the GFCI more or less in place.  I just need to tie in the grounds to the box and it will be done.  Then, I'll just need to finish up the wet locker outlet.  Very, slow, going!

The good news, however, is that I managed to get all my new halyards reeved.  I have to say, they look really nice.  The StaSet-X is definitely stiffer than the Sta-Set, but given how little I handle a halyard vs. a sheet, I don't see where it will be a problem.  I think all the talk about StaSet-X being unfriendly to handle might be awfully nit-picky.

I'm continuing to work on reassembling the shelves for the starboard outboard cabinet.  I had reassembled it, but inadvertently left the long shelf out, and the wine holder had broken way back and not been repaired.  I now have the shelf back in place, and have made a template for the wine holder.  Once I'm sure of the fit I'll cut a new one from some of my leftover teak plywood.  That stuff is so expensive I'll be measuring 10 times and cutting once.

The salon table's varnish work is coming out stunning.  It is doing exactly what I wanted and filling the pores to seal the wood.  I think the prior owners of the boat used teak cleaner one too many times, leaving the pores really eroded.   Although the going is extremely slow, after around 6 coats the surface gets to be a very smooth sheet of glass that won't let water do any further damage.  I don't plan to use varnish everywhere, but the table needed some kind of preservation or it wasn't going to look good much longer.  One sweaty glass of ice water set in the wrong spot would have been permanent damage.

I'm very anxious to get the table project finished because it has taken over my workshop, and the fumes from each coat really stink up the house.  My wife is being very patient with me, but I know it's driving her nuts.  And finally, there's just enough parts when you take the whole thing apart...  To make me wonder if I'll be able to get it back together the right way!

120V AC Outlets - More Delays

I have small pockets of time I can spend getting things done out at the Yard, and last weekend was no exception.  My plan was to get the AC 120V outlets wired up.  Not really critical to launch, but fairly easy and the aesthetics of closing up the box holes in the cabin would please me.

The first thing I did was to take a terminal screw out of the GFCI to check to see if it was a #10 or #8 terminal.  After determining that it was most definitely a #8 screw I set about crimping three #8 terminals onto the line side wire.  And then came the frustration.  I tried and tried to get the screws back into the GFCI, but couldn't do it.

It turned out that there is very little clearance for re-engaging the screw in the GFCI, and the heat shrink tubing ate up about 1/16", which was just enough to keep the threads from hitting the plate.  It looks like I have two options:  [1] Obtain longer screws for the GFCI, which will most likely risk causing other problems.  [2] Use fork terminals.

If I'd done this before or had properly researched the task I would have realized that the screws really aren't meant to come out of the outlets.  They are meant to be captive.  With that in mind, I realized I'd need to obtain a package of #8 fork terminals for 12-14AWG stranded wire.  Unfortunately, that means a trip to West Marine, and that would have eaten up about 50% of my remaining work time.  So, no luck on finishing that project.

I'm going to try to pick up the terminals this week so I'll be ready for a weekend installation.  Hopefully the second time will be a charm.

AC Mains are Live, Charger Works!

I had a very productive afternoon completing the wiring for the battery charger. I actually never needed it last year since I have a 20 minute round-trip cruise under power from the slip to the end of the channel. 40 minutes of 25amp alternator time has always completely recharged my banks. Despite this, I was anxious to get this part of the boat wired so that it was there if I need it.

I tied in the charger's chassis ground to the main ground bus, then ran all the wire for the AC outlet circuit. The original CS27 AC system was solid core 14/2 wire. This breaks a few rules. I picked up enough wire to replace it all from GenuineDealz.comusing 14/3 stranded boat wire. Next trip out I need to bring a GFCI and a two regular outlets to finish the job.

After running the wire I rigged the shore power cable up and connected it. I was a bit nervous as I flipped the AC Main on, but no problems occurred. Next I flipped on the charger circuit, and in a moment I saw my Victron Energy Battery Monitor indicate a charging current so I know everything was working. I left it to charge overnight, and will take it off tomorrow evening when it has had a nice 24 hours on float charge.

Although it is a bit of a diversion from my critical path, I brought home the folding salon table to refinish.  I've been dying to do that for a long time, and I decided it would be a nice thing to putter at in the evenings when I can't make it out to the boat yard.

This week should bring the delivery of my new running rigging, which I'm very excited about...  This season's progress and projects are going to be very exciting.  Especially the detail about not having any major structural work to delay getting on the water!

2012 Countdown Begins

I just set the timer - the 2012 launch goal is April 30, 2012.  I'm feeling pretty good about making that date since the boat is mostly ready.  She's already uncovered, and everything is in good shape from the winter.  At this point I'm in the process of replacing some running rigging.  I need to get my sails back from the loft from winter repairs, and I need to recommission the engine.  At that point I'm ready.  Bring on the early season - I'm not spending any wasted weekends in the cradle this year!

Big Sail Today

I really pushed myself today, and had what I would consider a big sail day.  I was out for about six hours in 15 knot winds and pretty rough seas.  Ravat took a bit of a beating bashing through the waves, but of course performed flawlessly.

I really got to spend some time learning sail trim on different angles to the wind because I went in a bunch of different directions rather than my usual out and back.  

By the end of the trip the winds were building and gusting hard enough to heel me past 30 degrees.  I'm not really rigged for reefing the main, so I under-trimmed it to spill some extra air and spent most of the time close-hauled and a bit too far into the wind, again to minimize its effects on me.

Some lessons I learned today:

• First time trying out a tether on my life jacket.  I really need to work on where to attach it for various activities.
• I had a lot of trouble tacking the boat through the high winds and waves.  She always stalled out just shy of the half way point because the wind would blow the bow back.  At one point I gave up on tacking and jibed instead - that seemed to work better.
• I had trouble tacking back to port.  It seemed that no matted how far past the pier I went on one tack, the return tack wold blow me just as far backwards as I came back in.  As the time was growing short, I finally gave in and motored back in.  I was pretty tired, and the winds were still building which was starting to make me uncomfortable.
• I'm still in need of optimizing my take down of the main.  I still need to crawl up to the mast to do that as the slugs won't come down the track completely on their own.

While some of that may not sound great, it was really sailing right at the edge of my abilities and gave me a lot to think about.  There were a few times I was uncomfortable with a situation, but I never panicked, and I don't believe the boat was ever in danger.  I'm starting to get some confidence in bigger wind / waves but I have to say I prefer smaller waves.  The last two times out, if I stopped paying attention for a second I stood a good chance of being launched across the cockpit - that takes some getting used to.

The other thing that takes some getting used to is how the world keeps moving under my feet 4 hours after I docked the boat!  What's up with that?  (No, I have NOT been drinking wine this evening!).

Don't Let This Happen To You

If you have a boat, and it has a leak... FIX IT!  It's hard to describe how damaging a small leak can be over time to the interior of a boat.  It's pretty easy to describe how painful the repairs can be though.  They are time consuming, and expensive.  In this case, I am slowly reassembling Ravat's interior and replacing damaged panels as I go.  I am just about ready to re-install the cabin panels which butt up against the windows.  The port side has some minor water signs (streaks in the wood) but it's mostly solid.  The starboard side is a whole different story.

The picture above shows a very large section of the panel which completely delaminated and disintegrated.  As much as I wanted to bypass this kind of thing, there wasn't enough structure left to re-hang this panel.  Not even soaking in a few layers of Epoxy could save this one.  My first task was to slowly and carefully separate the headliner material from the old panel.  For the most part it came off without problems.  The delaminated area is going to be a headache for me though as the wood chunks don't want to let go.

I happened to have a nice sheet of 1/4" birch plywood in my shop which I cut to match this damaged piece.  I couldn't get it quite right on the first try because the template panel we so damaged it didn't hold its form well.  After a few test fits I came away with new marks to cut from.  I'm concerned that I may have wasted that sheet of plywood though.  This stuff is very high quality, and fairly stiff.  That makes it very difficult to conform to the contours of the cabin top.  I'm thinking that I should have picked up a sheet of cheap luan instead.  It's a bit more thin (which helps where the panel tucks in) and a lot more flexible.  At this point I think I'm going to finish getting the plywood template to fit, and then replace it with luan.

If all goes well, I'll get the Luan test fit, and then reapply the headliner material with 3M adhesive.  All this will go smoothly and I'll relax with a glass of wine having finished the project two hours ahead of schedule.  Riiiight.

The moral of the story is, fix those leaks immediately.  Your boat can hide a lot of damage before it becomes obvious.

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.