and More Spring Jobs...

changing our cutlass bearings...
first pray that the previous owner did not put a permanent adhesive like 5200 !

Please budge....

Yes, it's turning...

More Spring Jobs...

1st step: Avi is at it and will be for many countless hours...sanding the hulls (to be able to paint the antifoulant which helps to prevent encrusting with foreign matter such as barnacles; lasts a season or two)

Spring Jobs

Changing our anchor, shackle, and chain-

A tight place?  no problem, send your 50-inch 50-lbs boy to get that shackle all the way at the back between the water tanks....

I am tightening that pin in the shackle well: we don't wanna lose the anchor !

And voilà: the job is done, man!

Before...

and after!

Winter Jobs...

Examples of winter works we did today:

- sanitary plumbing:

Your absolute best friends: WD40 and PB Blaster,....

and tiny screw drivers for tight places....

Lubricating valve

with Steve's help here, we are fitting our 2 new holding tanks.

- the 1336 sq ft & 168 lbs main sail: a broken batten, a batten pocket torn on the way from Florida, and a bit roughed up overall; we'll have to have it stitched up.  Replacing it is out of our budget - these babies cost $7 to $10K.

What does a sailor's to-do-list look like?

So I hear the following question a lot: what's left for you all to do on the boat before you're ready to take off?  A sailor’s boat to-do-list… if not ever growing, is at least never ending:

Here is ours as of today:

1. Changing all the 4 heads (a marine word for toilet) plumbing as all the pipes are permeated… I let you guess what that entails smell wise.
2. Check the issue with one of the holding tank (a holding tank holds waste from the heads when within 3 miles of the US Coast; offshore, you may dump everything in the sea; different countries have different rules, and enforce them more or less).
3. Change the shore power cord set up
4. Fix the bilge pump flap in port hull.
5. Set a rack on the stern for the life raft
6. Have a rain dodger made and installed  (see why here)
7. Waterproof and treat the canvas bimini (probably with Starbrite 303)
8. Fix the range-oven (issue with the thermocouples grounding)
9. New anchor : a Rocna 25 (55lbs) or 33 (73lbs)
10. New chain – at least 250 ft
11. New dinghy (maybe a secondhand one if good deal)
12. Repair trampoline (getting unglued in different parts & chaffed lines)
13. Sanding/painting/repairing the fiberglass/buffing the hulls
14. Bring back all the reefing lines to the helm (so you don’t have to go to the mast to reef in bad weather)
15. New VHF radio + handset needed
16. Change the insulation on top of the starboard engine (coming to pieces)
17. Varnish our beautiful wooden cockpit table and davits
18. Caulking the galley sink (it’s leaking)
19. Lubrication of the steering tie bar.  It seems really stiff.
20. Visual check of both fresh water tanks
21. Figuring the fuel system return and charge for the generator
22. Blinds for hatches
23. Calibrate depth sounder
24. Calibrate our autopilot
25. Remove stanchion net
26. Lubricate all winches and blocks
27. Service the windlass
28. Repairing/changing some ceiling lights in heads
29. Foot pump (optional)

….and I am forgetting a few...

Voilà - Set for the Winter 2012/13

Hauling out of Agave which weighs 40,000 lbs and measures 24 feet 3 inches wide was quite something today after having pumped out the waste tanks and flushed antifreeze in the seawater systems of both engines, generator, and A/C units... beam wise, we barely made it in the haul-out slip as you can see - all remote controlled [ media taken via cell phone so the quality is mediocre]: 

Still on the to-do lists: putting anti-freeze in the fresh water systems and removing the sails.... that's for next time.

From Solomons to Pasadena, MD

Getting ready to haul out the boat at Pleasure Cove Marina, in Pasadena, MD.  So we took the boat up the Chesapeake Bay.  It took about 10.5 hours.

 Last minute preparation for a night time departure: replacing the navigation light.

Morning navigation: feels good to feel the sun rays.

 

 Winterizing a boat starts with changing the oil of the 2 diesel engines, 2 gear boxes and the generator.