Schooner

Schooner

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Aesthetics

We both wish so bad the teak stayed this way, but alas, no.
However here is the first section i have done that is not leaking, and just to make it look nice.











The bad news is our stuffing box.


If i cannot fix it in the water, or i have an issue, the yacht may have to come out for this...
Not good!




Wednesday, August 21, 2013

If i ask for bread, will you give me a rock? If i ask for a fish, will you give me a snake?

I spent time this weekend working on the engine and bilge pump wiring.







I have decided to use black liquid tape on all of my wires, to keep the water and moisture out, and to make the connection more secure.

Dana's water heater is hooked up and working great!





Finally we received an extra line on the yacht.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Reading and teaking.

    Today i moved a few more things onto the yacht in preparation for the move. Books mostly, but also the first hand soap, body wash, a bunch of trash bags, ECT. Got myself some reading done. Read the first 8 chapters of "A Pilgrims Regress". What a great book!




   I also worked on the water heater. It was not hooked up when we got the yacht, so step one was checking the wiring. Flipped on the breaker, testing, 107 volts! Perfect. I need a few fittings, then i can try out the soap!

   I worked on the deck, first i replaced a few screws, put in a few bungs, and did some oiling.
I hereby call this deck 50% complete!


Friday, August 16, 2013

The beast i love to hate

   Let me start by saying ferryman diesel is a joke of a company. I finally crawl into the lazarette with it,
to get the photo of the model plate the manufacturer wants so very badly. They sent me a price quote for a rebuild kit. $3900. LOL. Not sure what they think they are selling, but this is a 6HP diesel. The rebuild kit for my Dodge is only $2500, and that is 375HP. So needless to say i will not be repairing this generator. I promised photos.

   Here is the beast i hate. This ugly unit will be expensive to replace. For the long term it will be a good investment.


Here is the rest of the lazarette.For a lazarette, it is very roomy.

What you see here is:
Large grey fuel tank
White antenna tuner
My pink shoes and socks
Blue rear AC unit.

Speaking of the blue AC unit, i now have both AC units working.
This is a photo of the water leaving the rear AC unit, it actually took a lot of work, turns out i had to bleed the air out in order for this to work. Now i can run a second AC unit at port, or one small one at anchor. This unit cools and heats our room and the dogs room. However it is 6000BTU and run alone it will affect the entire yacht. It will also dehumidify the entire yacht, and that is the next issue, the drip pan is leaking. Most likely i need to replace it with a new stainless steel unit. Until next time!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Ground tackle

  Our ground tackle was quite undersized. I say was because i was offered a free swap.
Our old anchor was a QCR35, and that is a correct size for our yacht in ideal conditions.
However, in a storm it would be far too small. I decided a QCR45 would be much better. They are rated for a 46-50' yacht, weighing 30,000#. Our yacht weights 24-30,000 but most likely 27,000#. This new anchor should help a lot in a really bad storm.
  The anchor is part of the system. Right now we have 150' of chain, i am looking at 250' of chain someone is selling, taking us to 400' of pure chain rode. That is a remarkable setup. Even in the worst situations, that would allow us to anchor in a storm at a 7:1 scope in 57' of water. Being all chain, that would be completely ideal in the very worst storm!

On the left is the old anchor, on the right, the new one. I also replaced the swivel.


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Where will the baby sleep

I find myself asked by land lubbers, "where will the baby sleep?" as if boats do not have room for infants.
Well to answer the layout of the yacht, here are a few inside shots to help out.

Here is the baby's room. We will be taking 1' off the edge of the bed, where it overhangs the floor, and putting up a soft side. This was the master stateroom.
You can also add a bunk bed for boy #2.





Here is our cabin.




If you figure in the vee in the center, it is queen size. cozy.

I hope this answers any question people may have had.
The dogs room is on the starboard side, and is the same size as our bedroom.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Andteaking

Wow, this is really starting to go fast now.
Yesterday i made some real progress, the entire port side (left for you lubbers), is done to 7 caulk lines!
Its coming along great, and is still very hard work.




I hate my generator engine. Its a ferryman, and i do not know how many hours it has. If i had to guess?
A ton. Well, i continue to struggle with it. Now that the generator side is working, in fact it started the AC,
or it did until the engine died. I went to check it out, and it was smoking hot. The raw water intake is nice and clean, so all i can think is the raw water pump is shot. However, it will not start now. The joys of an engine that should be at the bottom of the river. Really this engine is the worst design i have ever seen.

Raw water flows thru the entire engine, its a disaster waiting to happen. I cant wish but to chuck it.
I do not know what i would replace it with thou. I need about 8HP or so to drive the generator. It has to be water cooled. Maybe i will take this one out and do a full rebuild. UGH. What a pain. Next time i crawl into the lazarette i will snap a photo of the beast that i hate. Until then...