|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogSaturday I got up very early and couldn't get back to sleep so I stayed up and worked on the PC a little. There was still so much left to do - finish installing the windlass, finish replacing the chainplates, get the vang pressure built up some more, put the boat back together from all the work, test everything, etc. I even needed to re-pickle the watermaker since it had been 6 months from when I did it. Before we leave, I wanted to take a test sail to make sure the autopilot is really working, the watermaker works OK, the alternator will charge the batteries (which have to be equalized before we leave) and make sure the engine runs well. Then of course, we need to provision for the islands, get fuel, gas and such. I rigged a line and snatch block to pull the mast forward so I could get the mast wedge back in. It was still very difficult, especially since the winch I used seemed to have a problem with the pawls but it worked and I got the mast wedges back in. Now I could put the headliners back in near the mast. While Diane played dominoes on Sunday, I got out the main chainplate on the port side. It was in good shape but I think it did have a small crack so I'm glad to be replacing it. The next day I brought the chainplate over to the yard and Daniel said it would be ready on Wednesday-we'll see. I cut out more pieces of plywood to raise the windlass even more from the bottom of the anchor well so the rope drum would clear the side of the well. I then glued them together. Tuesday I tested the windlass mounting again and saw that the rope drum would now just fit with the additional height. The clearance between the top of the windlass and the bottom of the anchor well lid was only about ¼ inch, but it would work. In the afternoon I cleaned up the deck hole where the main chainplate went. The next day we went to Plaza Mayor and I saw the new chandlery there; they had gotten tinned 1/0 cable in their first shipment, so I had a source now. The main chainplate promised for today wasn't finished - actually it wasn't even started. Luis, the owner's son, said it would be ready on Friday. Thursday I started installing the cable in the engine compartment, taking almost the entire day to run, cut the ends and install the terminals. It was a good day to work inside though since it rained almost all day. Friday Diane went shopping in the morning and we then went back to Plaza Mayor later. I bought some more cable terminals I needed to finish the windlass installation. The next day, Saturday, I worked on fairing the additional wood now fastened to the mount for the windlass. Then I tested the finished mount position inside the anchor well and marked the positions for the remaining holes. I drilled the 2 1/2 inch hole in the pad for the chain to drop into the chain locker. I also drilled the boltholes and large hole to run the electrical cables. I was now pretty much committed to that configuration but I think it will work pretty well. The next day I removed the balsa core from around the holes I drilled yesterday and filled them with epoxy, first wetting out the fiberglass and remaining balsa with straight unthickened epoxy and then filled the void between the fiberglass skins with thickened epoxy, applied with a syringe and then smoothed. I also epoxied the 3 different layers of the mounting pad together. I also finished the major cabling inside the engine compartment but didn't connect them to the positive distribution post or the existing cable running through the boat. That would wait. The next few days I worked on filling the void from removing the balsa core in the anchor well but later saw that the rear mounting holes, where they go into the v berth cabin, weren't completely filled at the bottom. So I opened them up a little more, from the bottom, and filled them in from that side. I didn't want any stray leaks to damage the varnished wood. I then redrilled for the bolts, but now the surrounding wood was protected from any water by a layer of epoxy. I also tried to finish the electrical connections in the engine compartment but when I started attaching a connector to the old cable, I saw it was corroded. I removed another inch of cable but the corrosion was still present. This presented a problem since I couldn't keep removing cable to find where the corrosion stopped - it ran under the cabin sole and the new cable I had just installed wasn't long enough anyway. I decided to replace the old cable - an expensive choice since 2/0 battery cable was very expensive. It was also going to be very difficult to replace because it ran through the middle of the boat, under the cabin sole and the port settee and then through the forward head, through the cabinetry in the v berth and then finally came out under the v berth itself, where I had already cut off the old end. The only bright spot was at least the new marine store in Plaza Mayor had the tinned cable in stock. On Wednesday, Diane went to get it for me and actually got a very good price - much better than the West Marine catalog price (we later found out that the owner had made a mistake in the pricing). The 2/0 cable was probably thicker than I needed but that was what was there (albeit not tinned and not type 3) and the length of the run, about 40 feet, was just about between the 1/0 and 2/0 sizes - better to err on the bigger side, although I was using 1/0 cable everywhere else it seemed that this particular run was better to be larger (at least I would never have to replace it again). The other project during the early part of this week was the chainplate that had been completed and I picked it up last Friday. The holes seemed to be ok but the metal plate was 'spot' welded a 3 places because of either defects in the metal or problems with punching the holes. The metal itself was also about ½ mm thinner. I didn't get a chance to test it over the weekend but then decided on Monday that I didn't want that plate anyway so I brought it back Monday morning. I had to go back again on Tuesday to talk about it and explain why I didn't want that piece and because Thursday was a holiday, a new one wouldn't be ready until Friday. Thursday was a very tough day running the new cables. I had to take out everything where the old cables were so I could remove them and then pull the new ones. The cable Diane had gotten for me, red 2/0 tinned and the 1/0 cable I had gotten from the local place, had to run in the space where I removed the old stuff. It took all day just to get at the various locations, move everything, pull out the old cable and pull the new cable. I started at about 8:30 and didn't finish until 4:30, when I finished putting back everything that I had to take out (so we could eat dinner). I still hadn't put on any terminals on the new cable and didn't support any of it yet either. That would wait until tomorrow. The next day I continued working on the new cables and put terminals on the ends of the new stuff. I straightened out the wiring in the engine compartment and cleaned the compartment a little using the small vacuum. Diane hadn't wanted me to buy it originally but both she and I use a lot. I picked up the new chainplate and it looked OK although the back wasn't as polished as the others, it was fine since that side wouldn't show. I was going to put it in but it started to rain again very hard. The next few days were also very busy, mostly with cleaning up the wiring I had just done. It took 2 full days to get the new cables straightened out although I was also cleaning the areas and moved other things around while I was working on the cables. (On a boat, one thing ALWAYS leads to another.) I put the new chainplate in on Sunday - I cleaned and polished the turnbuckles and bolts before I installed it. Before anyone thinks me completely crazy for polishing bolts, I do it to get rid of the slight surface rust to make it easier to detect any cracks and to make it more difficult for rust to start again in the future. It seemed to work last time. I couldn't polish the backing plate since it was impossible to remove it without damaging the woodwork. I installed the chainplate and bedded it using the metal primer and polysulphide caulk. Then I put on the ground wires to that chainplate and the one I installed last. I had decided to change the old stiff wire with new stuff I brought from the States but of course, since nothing is as easy as it seems, there were some minor problems getting the new connectors on since my wire crimper doesn't handle that size wire. I eventually used a small vise grip to squeeze the tin-plated copper connectors in place, replaced the boards on the underside of the deck that holds the headliner and the next day, replaced the headliners in that area, after washing them and then trimming some of the wood under the covering fabric since they wouldn't fit now because of the new layers of varnish. Diane was busy during this period doing some shopping and getting money changed. The 'parallel' market rate was dropping and we needed some Bs (Bolivars, the local currency). She managed to find someone still doing a fair rate so we changed enough dollars to hopefully last us until we leave. She also brought the laundry in as well as doing some by hand (she didn't trust the laundry lady with everything). Of course, she also played dominoes on Sunday. Other things during these few days: I upgraded the protocol on the radio modem to a fast one but after doing it, the radio wouldn't put out any data signals. I sent off an email to the modem manufacturer, using the wireless Internet connection that finally worked, to see what was the problem (I think this happened once before but the power level never dropped to almost zero before); I removed the vang (again) and brought it to Mauritzio at North Sails, where it had been repaired, so he could have it charged with more gas to the proper pressure (at no further charge) and finally I went with Geoffrey, from Panache, to a big store specializing in fasteners where I got some small bolts. Wednesday, June 30th was another busy day. I attached the port side main shrouds early in the morning while Diane went shopping. After finishing that I went with Geoffrey and Tom, from Morning Light, to EPA. I managed to catch the other large nut and bolt specialty store near there before it closed and they had what I needed but I didn't have enough money so I'll have to go back. We got back to the marina about lunchtime. After lunch, I took Diane to get the laundry from PMO and then worked on the broken flagpole. I was going to have a new one made from stainless tubing but decided to try to use the old one since it was in OK shape except for the broken off end. I sawed off the broken end, about 2 inches, and then shaped the rest to fit into the holder with the sanding attachment of the Dremel tool. After about 20 minutes, it fit nicely. Now I'll just coat the raw wood end with epoxy and call it good. I couldn't get on the Internet since the wireless connection was unavailable. I could 'see' the local server but the 20 Internet connections were either all taken or it was completely unavailable for some other reason. I would have to get on the Internet some other way to check email (I still couldn't use the radio). Here it was, the first of July and we were still stuck in PLC. Of course, there are much worse places to be 'stuck.' I tried early in the morning again to see if the wireless Internet connection was working and/or available, but had no luck. Also in the morning, I went with Geoffrey to the large screw store again and got the threaded bar and cap nuts I needed to fasten the windlass inside the anchor well. Now I (hopefully) had everything I needed for that part of the installation. I worked on the windlass installation up in the v berth today, putting on the cable terminals and connecting the positive lead to the solenoid. I also put the small lead on, with a 3-amp fuse, for the power to the foot switches. It took all day since working upside down inside the locker under the v berth isn't easy. I also measured for the remaining cable I needed. I planned to get it tomorrow so I could keep working on it over the weekend. Finally, I picked up the vang that was ready to be re-installed. Mauritzio had gotten it back from the place that charged up more gas in the3 cylinder. The next day, Friday, Diane went to pick up the remaining cable from the place at Plaza Mayor while I put the vang back on and put another coat of epoxy on the wood pad for the windlass. While I was doing the epoxy, she tried calling me but of course I couldn't hear it. Geri from Freestyle walked over to let me know that Diane was calling so I went below and called her. The store had some problems finding the cable but eventually did find it. I also asked her to get some adhesive heat shrink tubing and then we got off. Later on, another cruiser worked on the wireless Internet and added to the number of connections so now we had 250 rather than the 20 we had before. I could now get on very easily although the signal where we were in the marina still wasn't great, at least I could access it. The power in the marina had also gone off around noon - it was still off at 3:30 and it was getting pretty hot inside the boat, until I put out a query over the radio asking if anyone else had power. When people responded that they did, I called the marina who sai they would send someone over once it stopped raining - a reasonable thing to do sine you can't really work on power problems in the rain. Well, it let up a bit so I decided to check it out and found that somehow, my power cord had become slightly ajar from the connector they used to hook it up to the pedestal. I plugged it back in and we had power again. I called the marina and said it was OK, feeling a little foolish but it had never happened before. |