|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After the holidays we worked on some of the problems with the boat. The
diesel mechanic Roy examined the engine and could not find anything wrong. He
machined a few grooves in the hose fitting to provide more bite for the hose and
put on 2 hose clamps. I drained the transmission that was leaking a little and
flattened the drain plug washer with some of dads sharpening stones. This
stopped the leak. I was still worried about the tube on the rear of the manifold
which started leaking a bit again. I ordered replacement parts from Ft.
Lauderdale just in case. Mike suggested gasket compound for leaks and I decided
to remove the tube that was leaking on the rear of the manifold and use the
gasket compound. When I removed the tube I checked the flange with a straight
edge and it was not flat, the center was high by a few hundredth. I used the
stones again to flatten this surface which took several hours of grinding. Then
I reinstalled it with gasket compound and a new gasket. So far so good.
I redid the end splices on the new jib sheets and sewed all the splices. The
old jib sheets were just heat sealed so maybe I should have saved a lot of work
and just done that. They are still good after 12 years although the lines are a
bit worn. I installed a filter on the galley foot pump because there is no way
to keep all the crud out of the water tanks. It does not seem to add any extra
resistance to pumping.
I added a new circuit breaker panel and a current meter to measure the
current in or out of the batteries and also a compartment to store the computer
and keep it hooked to power and to the GPS. I mounted the new backup GPS and
added a serial cable from it to the computer. I mounted the SSB receiver power
supply and FAX decoder also.
I mounted the barometer and tide clock we got for Christmas.
Bought a new battery to replace #1 which would not start the engine after a nights drain. It seemed to have only 20 AH capacity left. I looked all over but could not find the same battery at the other 2 which are charged at 14.4 v. All the new gel cells are rated at 14.1v so I bought the largest that would fit and readjusted the voltage to 14.1. I will use the new #1 as the reserve battery and use both #2 and #3 in parallel as the ‘house’ batteries. This seems to give plenty of capacity and leaves the new battery for emergency use.
We packed up all our presents, bought fresh provisions and prepared to depart. After waiting out a day of small craft warnings we departed on Jan 17 for the next leg of our adventure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|