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Larry's LogFriday, while Diane went for her tests in the morning, I helped Andrea and Gaby mount their new solar panels over the stern davits of Midnight Stroller. It was a huge affair, with (3) three 24 volt, 120 watt panels in a stainless steel frame fabricated in Caracas. The frame included brackets custom made to fit on their davits and included an ingenious way to tilt the whole thing, using a beautifully machined square stainless bar and an offset hand clamp. The whole frame was a wonderful example of the welder's art - looking at the frame, you couldn't see where the welds were made - it looked like it was made from a solid piece of metal. When it was mounted, the electrician who was going to wire it (the same guy as worked on the radio) said that it should have a support along the middle, since the panels would flex and possibly break. I had to agree, looking at the span between the supports. Gaby was a bit disappointed but said it could be enhanced easily. Incredibly, the frame, support brackets and tilt mechanism had cost a little over $300 US. In the States, it would have cost at least several thousand dollars. My next task was to help Jim with airline tickets - since he couldn't get the SSB to transmit on HAM bands and he needed that to email from the boat, he had decided to go back to the States, buy a new one (which he was going to do at some point anyway) and meet Midnight Stroller either back in PLC or in Bonaire. We tried finding an SSB here but it would have taken too much time to import into the country so I brought him to a local travel agent via dinghy and he got a ticket to Miami for tomorrow. On the way back, I stopped to get gas - 20 liters for the equivalent of 65 cents. I then dropped Jim off back at their boat and went back to Destiny. By that time, it was almost lunch and Diane had just come back. After eating, re-bedded the chainplate as Elias had already helped me tighten it onto the bulkhead. I used the Lifecalk primer as well to try to get the polysulphide caulk to adhere better to the stainless. That done, I drove Jim over to pick up his tickets and then did some little things until about 5, when Jim and I went over to the restaurant for some beers. We might not see him again and we hadn't had a chance to get together. Diane came over and we had a nice time talking for a while. We had made arrangements with a driver to pick him up at 6am for his 8am flight to Caracas. He would be in Miami by 5pm tomorrow and home by 10. Saturday morning I re-installed the windlass motor. Andrea had picked it up for me yesterday as she had gone to the shop to drop off another motor while I was a driving Jim to get his tickets. I would have to install it and then test it under load to see if it was really OK. The motor had to be connected in reverse since they had reversed the wires but that was no problem. What was a problem was that when I made the electrical connections to the motor and turned it on, it started to smoke after running for a minute. I put the rest of the windlass back together just to get the parts in one place and went to Midnight Stroller to see if Andrea was going to the motor place again. They were closed today bit she was going again on Monday and said she would take me. If that didn't work, I think we might just get a new windlass - a new motor was $300 and would also have to be ordered from Scotland. The windlass was at least 15 years old and probably not worth putting much more money into it. The rest of the day I finished rebedding the forward shroud chainplate and connected it. I then started on the main starboard chainplate after connecting the intermediate and upper shrouds to the toerail using a strong line. I also used the spare jib halyard as a support on the starboard side. I didn't think there would be any problem with the mast falling but with the wind coming up strongly every evening, there was no sense in taking chances and it was easy enough to do. I got the cover plate off and started digging out the old caulk. There was some evidence of a leak and when I went below to take off the bolts, it seemed that one or 2 were damp but they were free of rust. I couldn't get the bottom bolt out so after struggling with it for an hour, I left it for tomorrow. I would have to use the Dremel tool to sand down the underside of the bookshelf to make room for the bolt to slide out. It was obvious that some of the woodwork had been put in after the chainplates were in place, since there was no way that the chainplate could be attached or removed without damaging the underside of the shelf. Sunday we woke up late, missing the SSB net but Diane made a nice breakfast and I started to work on the chainplate again. I sanded down the wood under the shelf to make room for the bolt head and finally got it out. I took out the rest but the chainplate still wouldn't move. Diane tried to lift it from above while I tried from below but it wouldn't budge. I finally attached the shroud and as I tightened the turnbuckle, it slowly lifted out. Then I had to remove the backing plate. That was another job in itself since the shelf was so tight against the metal that I had to slide it back and forth while trying to lift it up to remove it. I also had to be careful not to scratch the new varnish. After 40 minutes of lifting and sliding, the plate finally came out and I sanded the shelf openings and underneath so I wouldn't have the same problems getting them back in. After lunch, Diane worked on our taxes (yes, we still have to do them although we had no earned income) and I cleaned up the chainplate deck opening with the Dremel tool. I then sanded the cover plate, making a bevel on the underside of the opening, and removed some burrs around the boltholes on the backing plate. Finally, I started cleaning the cover and backing plates, bolts and the chainplate itself with the polishing wheel and compound, bringing everything out on the dock. Everything came very clean and polished except the chainplate, which was fine, but I would have to try the stainless restorer - there were still some faint rust stains that were noticeable. That took most of the afternoon though so I stopped about 5 and we both relaxed with a drink and finished the movie that Elias had brought for us, a new one, "Under The Tuscany Sun." We both enjoyed it. I went with Andrea and Gaby early the next morning to bring the windlass motor back in - he said that he would check it but I began to doubt if it could be fixed and be reliable. We got back to the marina after running some other errands. Elias came a bit late from Cumana this morning - we saw him as we were walking out to get a taxi to go to the doctor. We went to the doctor and Diane had a small benign growth removed and I had a wart frozen with liquid nitrogen. We then had lunch and while I got on the Internet, Diane went to see Emma, the seamstress we used the last time we were here. We wanted some more curtains done with the fabric we had for the new settee slipcovers. The Internet place was really a store for kids to play Internet games, and so the things I had to do were very slow, although I did manage to download the NY State tax forms. We got back to the boat about 2:30 and I got went to the mini-market in the marina to get back on the Internet to finish up. I downloaded everything and did some research on new windlasses. It's starting to get hot this time of year and the temperature reached 95 the next day. It also hasn't rained in weeks, good for us since we have so much stuff outside on deck now, but the dust is on everything. Diane went shopping with Andrea in the morning while I cleaned the chainplate and backing plate with some special stainless cleaner and 'repassivator." The metal looks better but I think I will still have to polish it again with the wheel. The forward cabin is done now but I wanted to wait another day before putting too much stuff back in there. I did though, put the doors, drawers and other little things back on. Elias did another coat on the companionway area, which we asked him to do since we hadn't made any room to do any further work. Once we could put things in the forward cabin, we could have him start the main cabin. Doing the companionway made getting in and out of the boat very tough though and once he started the main cabin, it would be tougher still. I think we'll wind up eating in the restaurant a lot. The forward cabin, by the end of the day on Wednesday, was completely finished, almost. I put the headliners back in after washing them off (they were full of the brown dust that blows here) redoing the wiring a little, put all the small pieces back on and put the large cushions back in. Unfortunately, the small center drop in piece that holds the small middle cushion was now too big because of the varnish so I will have to sand the edges and probably have Elias redo that piece. Elias continued on the companionway - now up to 6 coats on the bulkheads. I was going to continue polishing the chainplates but there was no time once the forward cabin was done. Andrea and Gaby stopped by to say they were leaving for Caracas and would be back early next week. They asked if we we would go and pick up their pump and my motor on Friday. It was another busy morning moving things around again, this time from the main cabin into the forward cabin. After doing that, we went to the dentist. Elias was almost ready to start with another area and we needed to get it ready so I also took down the clock/barometer set, the remaining headliner in the main cabin and a smaller one near the port side settee, and even the aluminum track that held the lee cloths. Now the mess was forward instead of in the main cabin. After this trip to the dentist and I was finished, but Diane still had 2 visits to go. She was having some cavities redone and the dentist also filled in a line near the gum where the gum had receded. Anyway, it was relatively painless and we got back to the boat around 5. Friday was a mixed day for us. Diane went to the public market in the morning early and got some nice things while I did some miscellaneous stuff on the boat. Elias continued with the eighth coat of varnish on the companionway. When she got back, we went to the dermatologist and waited about an hour, but we had a nice conversation with his wife (also a doctor) and other patients in the waiting room. After finishing there, we ate lunch, came back to the boat and put up the bimini. Orient Canvas had replaced almost all the zippers since they were falling apart form the effects of sunlight. The difference having the bimini up was tremendous since it also has side curtains that block the afternoon sun. I then called the electrical motor shop where the windlass motor was. I spoke to the owner, in English, but unfortunately, he said he couldn't do anything else with it. Andrea's motor was fixed and we could pick it up. I told him we would be in on Monday. Well, now I had a decision to make; buy a new motor for a 15 year-old windlass or buy a new windlass. The thought of manually lifting 50 to 60 feet of 3/8-inch chain along with a 60-pound anchor was not something I wanted to contemplate. We had a few beers with Elias before he left that evening and then had a nice time a little later sitting in the marina restaurant with Pete and Lanie from Marnel 4, having some more drinks. Saturday morning was pretty busy since I polished the chainplate again and used the metal restorer also. I wanted to get the metal as clean as possible to prevent further rust stains. Diane worked on the taxes some more while Elias worked on preparing the forward bulkhead and starboard settee for its first coat of varnish. He uses lacquer thinner to really clean the wood after sanding it and after using it for a while the fume alarm went off. We had to air out the boat a little before continuing since the smell was so strong. I couldn't install the chainplate since the varnish was now wet where I needed to work so I went to the Internet at the mini mart and did some more research on windlasses. I also set up another email account to use on the web site since I was receiving over 600 spam messages a week. It sometimes took me over 30 minutes just to delete them. I also downloaded the latest issue of Practical Sailor - I'm a long-time subscriber and since I don't get the mailed hard copy often, this was a great way to read it. Once I got back to the boat, Diane was making 'Cuba Libres' (rum and Coke) for her and Elias, so I had one as well. We talked for a while and after Elias left, we went to have dinner at the restaurant. They were very busy and it took a while to get dinner and the appetizer we ordered came cold and with the pizza. We sent it back and got a good dish finally. They were trying hard but if they got too busy, the kitchen just couldn't handle it. The next day I managed to sleep a bit late, almost 8am. Once I had my coffee, I started putting the chainplate back in after more cleaning. Before installing it though, I had to sand the openings on the shelves some more, using a long strip of sandpaper and a sawing motion. Finally, I got the backing plate in place and with Diane lowering it from above deck, the chainplate itself. With the holes lined up, I put the bolts through and tightened all of them, even the bottom one where I had to sand the underside of the shelf to just remove the bolt. I was going to start caulking it but after lunch, Diane asked me to print the taxes and it took so long to do that that I just didn't get to finish the chainplate. It took so long to print because the printer is temperamental to begin with and the ink cartridge was starting to run out. I changed the cartridge but then the printer kept complaining that the cartridge wasn't mounted correctly. I printed a test page fine but other software, like Word and Acrobat, wouldn't work. Finally, I got the old cartridge to print well enough to send in. We sent off the taxes with another cruiser's sister who was returning to the States tomorrow and said she would mail it for us. We didn't have to pay anything - no income - but a friend who was a professional tax preparer said that it was a good idea to file a return anyway to preclude audits later. |