Ninety Percent

Not that I am 90% done on this restoration, probably only about 85%.  The list of things left to do is still mind numbing.  This 90% seems to apply to the level of "correctness" in which the tasks are being completed.  The question being, is 90% good enough.  There is a learning curve when doing things for the first time.  Every task I have completed I know is not 100% perfect.  The hole I cut may not be perfectly smooth or square.  The tightness on each bolt may not be the same on all bolts on a fixture..  The wire may not be the "best" for the application.  It is perfectly serviceable, but not the best as in "belts and suspenders" best, not to mention all the imperfections in the paint jobs.  So is 90% good enough??  Going to have to be.  I am sure the next time around I can get that up to "95%" with everything I am learning.  Someone could criticize any part of what I have accomplished, or tell me a better way of doing it.

What I do know is that it will be a 1000% better than when I first purchased her; In appearance but more importantly in functionality.  She will not leak as much.  Her rig will be stronger, her sails newer, her electrical all new, her systems all new, her mechanical plumbing (fuel & water) all new, her ground tackle much improved.

This weekend I continued on with installing some basic plumbing for the engine compartment.  I installed the new secondary fuel filter. The primary is attached to the engine and thus has the misnomer of being primary however not the first.  I installed the fuel tank and attached the main fuel line.  I need a 5/16 line to go from the filter to the engine and a line for the return to the tank.  Lastly I need to install the fill port and vent line.  The fill port can only go in the one place it was before, directly on top of the inlet as there is only 2 inches of space available.  The vent tube used to come out behind the secondary winch mounts (stainless) which I had no planned on installing this time but appear to be in a better location for trimming than the main ones.  I still do not have any self tailing winches to put on them.

Installed the manual and automatic bilge pumps.  The manual is the lowest and the automatic is just above that.  The manual is housed in the engine compartment but you can access it if you just flip up the top step.  The auto bilge is wired to a 3-way switch on the control panel and direct feed from the house bank.  The outlet is 1-1/8" dia. but the thru-hull is a 3/4" from the old installation.  The hose I bought was a couple feet too short or I would have replaced the thru-hull.  Now I will neck it down with a reducer from 1-1/8" to 3/4", which the pump company makes.  Guess I am not the first to settle for 90%.

I also installed a secondary raw water strainer.  There is a primary at the sea-cock with a large screen so i wanted another closer and easier to clean with a smaller screen.  I need the new hose to plumb all that in but need to drain the system first.  The rest of the time was spent in cleaning up all the wiring runs, cleaning up all the parts/pieces/tolls that had collected after a month of work and then cleaning up  the work shop in the basement.  As a reward for my work Installed the VHF into the new control panel enclosure and wired it in.

Safety First

 My job this weekend was made easier by my helpers.  The little first mate was able to squeeze into the stern locker to put a wrench on some bolts that I just could not reach.  I hope we have them torqued enough to be water tight. 

 I had another friend come over in the afternoon to help with all the stanchion bolts.  This required someone on the outside preventing bolt from turning while I was on the inside setting backing plates and nuts in place.  Very hot work but we got everything ratcheted down to a point was I was comfortable with.

 All of the deck plates were heavily layered in butyl and a little extra around the bolts.  Nothing on the backing plate so I don't conceal any possible leak.  Everything is very solid.  My only disappointment was on the bow pulpit mounting plates.  3 out 4 bolts are fine.  The 4th on either side I drilled into a hollow stringer.  I plan on just setting that bolt in some epoxy with the bolt lathered up in Vaseline.  Once it kicks I should be able to extract and re-tighten the bolt which will now just be a screw.

 I celebrated all of this success by installing the new lifelines that I received from Rigging Only.  I sent in my old ones so measurements were not an issue.  The old were 1/8" SS covered in white plastic.  They were probably original and the white coating was all cracked and peeling.  The new ones are all 1/4" Stainless Steel.  Very nice and shiny and expensive.  It is a safety feature so I can't complain too much but this old boat only has a single life line at a bad height (24").  Current convention is a higher stanchion (30") with double lines.  This would have necessitated all new stanchions and modifications to the bow and stern pulpit.  Too much of an investment for this old boat.  It feels really good to have the lines back on.  More complete.

 Lots of good butyl squeezed out.

Lucky Guy (Long Story)

The 100 degree days finally broke this week and it has been rainy and very humid.  I have been occupied all week in the basement which is where the mast resides.  I received the new VHF and accompanying whip antenna with coax cable with plans on making a quick installation on Monday after work.  I planned a new hole in the bottom of the mast to make a nice clean installation.  I began drilling a 3/4" hole with a forstner bit at a slight upward angle at the base heading towards the top.  After drilling 3 inches into a 6 in wood mast and still not punching into what I perceived to be the hollow part of the mast, I knew it was not going to be a quick night.  I did not want to keep drilling so I changed tacks and decided to just widen the existing hole for the electrical wires to add the coax.  This I was able to do as my entry point.  I then took my fish tape and began to fish up from the bottom to the top.  I could only get half way up the mast and kept hitting something.  This seemed to be where the spreader plates attached to the mast on either side.  I removed the through bolt and all the screws to eliminate any obstruction.  Still no go.  Bumping against something just under half way up, right at the spreaders.

 I surmised (correctly) that there must be some blocking in the hollow mast at that point for strength and there probably is only a wire way through this that I might never luck into with my fish tape (correct).  So, I took advantage of the wires I had run in the mast about 10 years ago.  I pulled out the wires for the running masthead light and pulled in two new #14 (pos & neg).  I did this because the old wires were in a molded sleeve and I felt I would need as much room as possible for the next pulls.  With these new wires run and tapped off out of the way I prepared the next run from the mast top to the base for the anchor light and VHF coax.  Again, I used the existing wire run of two #14 in a plastic sleeve (like romex) that I had run 10 years ago reasoning that a new run of #14 wire would make it easier to pull in the coax at the same time.  More wire, but could be an easy fix to my little problem.  I attached the two new #14 wires and the new coax to the old wires at the mast top by twisting the bared wires together and taping the coax to the side a little further down the line.

My younger first mate was feeding in from the top and I was pulling out the bottom.  This went well till there was a little snag (around the spreaders) and I pulled a little harder.  The first mate informs me the black (coax) is not moving any more.  No problem I think, probably came off and I just need to pull it all out and start over.  Then she says the red and yellow wires are not moving.  Oh no.  I go up and pull the new wires out very freely.  Everything had come off as the old wire broke.  I now have no way to fish anything through the mast.  I had been at it for 3 hours so decided to call it a night before I started doing things I would regret.

The next night I decided to try to suck a pull string through with a very strong shop vac.  I taped off all the holes and made a gasket out of butyl to seal the vac hose against the mast as tight as possible.  I tried sucking that small string with all sorts of attachments, plastic, bags, fluff through that mast.  I tried top down and bottom up.  No go.  It would all suck inside based on the vacuum but never come out the other end.  It was binding up in there somewhere.  I tried for a solid hour with different degrees of failure.  Ready to quit, I decided to try going through the opening at the mast head light just a couple feet lower than the spreaders.  Eliminating a good third of the mast to suck through.  Still no go.  As I was cleaning up all that I tried using the fish tape again this time from that mast head hole thinking I could get better control with angles and pitch to find the now vacant hole through the blocking.  I twisted and bent that wire for a solid 30 minutes and was rejected at every attempt.  In disgust I rammed it in hard and walked away.  I took only two steps before I realized that I didn't feel any resistance that time.  I scrambled back and gave another tentative push on the fish wire.  It bound up for a split second then went through.  Wow.  I kept feeding till it bottomed out at the top of the mast.  Now I had a 1/4 inch hole to snag and pull out an 1/8" fish tape.  The elder first mate suggested a crotchet needle which was supplied by the younger first mate and I had my fish tape through the mast.  Well actually only halfway through the mast.  I still needed a feed from the masthead hole to the base.  But that would have to wait for another day. 

The next evening I began by trying to get the fish tape up from the bottom to the masthead hole.  I tied a piece of string on the tip so it would be easier to grab.  I snagged the string through the hole (crotchet needle again) and tied it off to the string to the top.  went back to the base and pull it out.  I now had one continuous pull string through the entire mast.  I now changed tacks again and decided to pull it up from the bottom rather than down from the top.  This should be an easier pull as the bottom hole was now larger.  Plus the other way already failed once. I would just have to redo the top thimble where the coax attached to the antennae.  I attached the 2 #14 wires and the coax at staggered intervals of one foot and attached the pull string to the lead #14 wire. I fed from the bottom while the  elder first mate pulled on the string until we got to the spreaders.  No go.  Binding up again and I was too afraid of having it break apart.  I backed it all out and decided to try just one #14 with the coax and another pull string.  If this went through then I would probably have an easier time with the new pull string and only one #14 wire on the second pull.  The first pull went through with only a little binding.  The second pull went through with no issue.  I now had all new wires and a new coax pulled through the center of the mast.  A feat they say is very uncommon.  Fortunately I found this out after I had done it or I would have probably found another way.  According to the wooden boat forum: 

Box spars often have any internal wires stapled to ensure they don't get in the wrong place during the initial glue-up... There will likely be stacked up blocking in way of the spreaders and at the butt and head, there will most likely be a dado cut in these blocks that the old wires/ tag line ran in, you have to be one spectacularly lucky guy to hit that with your fish tape, but stranger things have happened! It also would not be the first time one section of the side or front of the mast came off to put this kind of situation right...The vacuum trick works better if you tie a wad of fiberglass insulation or the like to the end of your tag line. Use very light line, and then pull your bigger, tougher actual pull line using that...Assuming you are that kind of lucky guy! Let us know how it all works out... 

Guess I am one lucky guy !!  Now all I have to do is fill and patch the holes and wire up the antennae and lights.

A little electrical

 I had a couple of hours on the boat on July 4th now that we are back at home.  I had to stop once the the temps got over 85 in the cabin.  I made the first dozen electrical connections and mapped out my next steps in wrapping up that side of the electrical.  I figured out what additional connectors I need to order and decided that I would change my mind and put the VHF at the electrical/nav station rather than at the companion way steps.  This keeps it all together.  These images are from my cell phone. Not the quality of the PowerShot.

The unit I ordered also has a GPS connection so I can show SOG, Heading, etc on the screen.  I needed a very small compact unit to fit in the small space I had allocated and settled on the Standard Horizon GX1600 Explorer.  Lots of features but a very small footprint.