Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Polar Power Generator is Here

12/28/2010
Snow on the boat and dock
It was exciting watching the genset travel to Wilson NC with the huge snow storm not causing a delay.  I picked it up from the R+L Carrier depot and brought it to the boat.  The roads were clear, but the boat and dock were still covered with about 4" of snow, and the boat was down about an inch in the water.


 Paul and I opened the crate, and the genset looks beautiful... then I opened the box with the controllers in it -- It looks like Medusa's head.  Most of the cables were plugged in at both ends.  The few loose ends I guessed what they were for and when I spoke to Richard at Polar Power I had guesses correctly.
The back side of the rack that holds the 3 main panels

Three of the five housings are mounted on a rack that will  not fit anywhere.  The rack is designed so all the connections are behind the housing.  The housings are designed to be mounted in a rack.  I'll have to use rails or posts or something.  This is going to be as difficult as I had feared.  I'm no longer optimistic about getting this done quickly.  This is more the way I expected it but didn't want to dwell on.  I need to come up with some good ideas for tomorrow.

12/29/2010
I came up with the ideas.  I mounted plywood sides and fiberglass angles to secure them to the bulkheads.
The housings with the brackets attached and tape
protecting the sockets from shavings.

I was able to mount the control panel in the old hole from the previous panel.  Since the Polar Power panel was smaller I had to make a frame to cover the edges of the existing hole.
 Bill Richards, one of my dedicated crew showed up to help get the genset installed.  The work went much faster.  I designed and he fabricated.  We got all the brackets and the genset base done by 4pm, and then the snow had melted as much as it was going to for the day, so we slid the genset onto a dolly and hosted it onto the boat, down the companionway, through the quarterberth and into position.
Bill is steadying the genset as it it being lowered into the companionway.

This is a hard picture to figure out.  It is the genset half in the quarter berth and half in the engine room.  The black thing in the upper left is the fuel tank.  It is still fully attached to all the fuel hoses and is suspended by the main halyard so we have room to work under it.
 This is the inside of the sound shield, and unfortunately it has a long razor cut.  It was inside a plastic bag in the crate with the engine, and the plastic bag didn't have any cuts in it.

12/30/2010
This day went quite well.  I got all the housings mounted and the wires between the housing all attached.  The main thing left is to attach the genset, fuel tank, battery and muffler to the boat.  They are just sitting there now.
Here is the original rats nest of wires now mounted and attached

The genset with its sound shield on and the mounted housings tucked in the corner behind it.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

More Electrical & Clean Up

12/13/2010
I got the last of the electrical wiring (until the genset arrives) done, but while the connections are secure the wires are all over the place and need to be "wire tied" into need bundles.  I finished sewing the "windshield" for the dodger and got the "lift the dot" snaps installed.



Wow is it cold!  It is in the low 20's and the little electric heaters are doing their best to keep the interior temperature about 60 F.  Oh, yes, I got my stitches out they were really starting to itch.
I got one of those "air pots" the coffee dispensers where you push the lever to dispense the coffee.  I got the stainless interior rather than the glass vacuum because of concerns about breakage on the sailboat.  I mounted it next to the refrigerator in a location that is well protected, but really convenient and in a storage area that isn't good for much else because of the condensation on the side of the freezer.  It changes the way I drink tea in that I can get a small amount of hot tea rather than making a cup which soon cools off.
12/14/2010
I spent the morning tidying up all the electrical wires but it doesn't look like much in the picture.  Then I started cleaning up the boat.

12/15/2010
Believe it or not, I got the quarterberth cleaned up and ready to slide the genset through.  Not much else to do here until the genset arrives.  It is supposed to ship today, however yesterday they said they wouldn't ship it until it was paid in full... but the contract says I pay 10 days after delivery.  We'll see.
The quarterberth ready to slide the genset through it into the engine room.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Electrical & Fuel

12/7/2010
I did pretty well for a half day... I got all the fusees off the wall and wired the engine room & salon ceiling lights as well as the watermaker and primary DC-DC converter/battery charger.  I still have to wire the relays for the shaft seal pump and the stuff that starts with the genset.
     I also checked out the wind shield for the dodger, and it pretty much fit, so I can take it back and finish it.  Next time I'll put in the fasteners
12/8/2010
I got the relay and raw water pump wired so it can go on automatically with the autopilot or it can be turned on at the galley since it is the same pump as the raw water in the sink.  The raw water sink sprayer will have to be left off when not being used.

Then I started working on the fuel, and that was as much of a mess as I expected.  I think I got it figured out.  It turns out I bought almost nothing of what I needed.  So I need to find some different brass fittings.

Here is what the place looks like...
The starboard settee area.

The port settee.

Best of all, the quarterberth.

12/9/2010
A successful day!  I added a couple of feet to the Wabasto heater wires and got them hooked up to the fuse panel, so all the electrical is done except the stuff that goes on with the genset.
I also got all the fuel system parts and got it completely plumbed in.  I still have to hook up the electrical for it which is a bit complex because it can go on automatically with the genset or manually or be off.  
The fuel pump in in the foreground with the heater fuel filter strapped behind it.  The fuel can  be polished  through the filter with the electric pump or pumped out of the tank.
This shows the heater fuel pump located low to keep it primed.
The whole fuel system is going to be mounted on a strap that holds the tank in position.  If I have to move the tank to service the genset I can do it without disconnecting any fuel lines.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Exhaust & Fuel

12/1/2010
Well the sound shield from SoundWaves is finally finished and it is going over to PolarPower for testing.  Much of the work I wanted to save until the genset was here I'm going to do in advance based on my calculations and the pictures.  (I hope I don't have to take any of it out and re-do it.)  They should finish testing this week and should ship it next week.  We'll see...

I got another supprise from PolarPower.  Instead of the two small panels I was told to prepare for, they have combined them into one large panel that really doesn't fit anywhere!!  I spoke to Richard, the engineer, and he said he would separate the stuff  into three pieces which I hope I can shoe horn in around the wires.


Between stints on the phone with SoundWaves and PolarPower I got the old exhaust hose out and tested the fit of the new one.  Then I prepared the attachment for the raw water for the genset and then drilled the hole for the hose.  Then I mixed some epoxy and: coated the inside of the fresh hole; fixed some trim that had come loose; glued a reinforcing patch back in place (some reinforcing... it came loose when I removed the screws for one of the exhaust hose clamps); made some experimental epoxy "buttons" to hold the new engine room floor mat in place; and last but not least, epoxied a sleeve over the transom exhaust fitting so the larger hose would fit on it.  I'm hoping the restriction at the end of the run won't cause excessive back pressure.  If it does, I'll have to cut the fitting out and install a larger one.



12/2/2010
Well the epoxy buttons work!  The bimini is also done.  I got the exhaust hose installed, and wiggled the wires around so that the three panels needed for the genset will fit.
There won't be space left for much more equipment in the engine room.

I took the pattern for the dodger window that I made last time home and smoothed the curves and made it symmetrical.  There was too much change to sew up, so I brought the patterns back and set them up today.  Good thing I didn't sew it.  The curve of one of the pieces was significantly off.  I modified the patterns and made them symmetrical.  Getting the sizes exactly right around inside and outside curves is nearly impossible.  If I'm careful I can adjust it by changing the seam allowance around the curves... but it will take planning ahead.
12/3/10
Well I decided to replace an ugly hose for the shower and as I was cutting off the hose I thought for a second that I was cutting toward my hand and sure enough the knife slipped and I slit my wrist.  Everett was on the dock and he took me to the Inner Banks Urgent Care -- they were great!  I was in and out in half an hour and back to work in 90 minutes.  I got about 8 stitches.


Then I got the new fuse holder mounted along with the battery combiner switch and got the big connections for the power feed from the panel, grounds attached and the connection to the starter battery.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Bimini & Heating System

Sunday, Nov 21, 2010
I put up the almost finished bimini.  It looks pretty good.  There are two arches that aren't as tight as I would like them to be, and the front arch is about 2 inches too low.  I can't quite see over the dodger without lifting the fabric up.  Both problems can be fixed without too much difficulty.




Monday, Nov. 22, 2010
I can't believe I spent all day on a 2 hour project (I thought).  All I had to do was replace two 3/4" fitting with 5/8" fittings, drain out the water and replace it with mixed antifreeze.  Of course to get to one of the fittings I had  loosen the octopus by taking 4 screws out.  The screw with the least access was stuck and the top was worn.  When I finally got it out I had to remove two hoses to get the space I needed, so I got them off.  Finally I was able to get a pipe wrench and adjustable wrench on the fittings (I really didn't want to break the fitting off of the octopus.)  After I got them off it was noon.  Then it was four hours mixing antifreeze and pouring it in and trying to get the air out of the system.  But I think it is done.  I think all the air is out of the system.  It's all so mysterious because I can't see what is happening -- occasionally bubbles come up... the level in the expansion tank goes up, then down... doesn't seem to make any sense.
UPDATE: I've been running the pumps for several hours and it is still taking more fluid every half hour or so.  I'll run them all day tomorrow and hope that at some point it stabilizes.  I mean it can't have unlimited volume.  I keep checking for leaks and haven't found anything.

10:00 pm
Well the air finally finished coming out of the heating loops, but the old hose that connected the octopus to the overflow tank cracked.  Of course the size is different from any other hose on the boat, so now I am looking for 5/16" translucent hose that can withstand the heat from the octopus.

Wednesday, 11/24/2010
I mounted the new little pump after testing it to supply raw water to both the galley sink and the shaft seal.  A problem I have been having when sailing fast is that air gets sucked into the shaft seal and without the water it overheats.  I have tried several passive solutions, but none has worked, and some have even made it worse.  In any case this pump will come on when the "water pressure" breaker is on AND either the galley raw water switch OR the "autopilot" breaker is on.  This will be done using a relay with power supplied from the "water pressure" breaker and going either through the galley switch or a normally open relay which is closed when the "autopilot" breaker is on.  With this wiring arrangement the pump will normally be on during sailing, but if we are sailing really slowly and we don't want to hear the vary low vibration of the pump it can be turned off with the "water pressure" breaker.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Re-bed the Forward Hatch and Test it and the Plumbing

Wow, that hatch was really stuck on.  After about 45 minutes of slicing it with a thin scraper it finally came loose.  The scraper broke several time, and I sharpened it on the sidewalk.  About 40 minutes into it I thought I should have just located the leak and caulk just the leak.  And then it came loose, but it still had vast amounts of caulk stuck to it.  I was pleased to see a discolored section in the corner where it had been leaking.  I decided to be much more discriminating with the caulk, and just caulk the gasket area.  I massaged the caulk into the surface to make sure it was attaching, and then I added a bead on both surfaces and put it together.  A reasonable amount squeezed out all around, and I used most of that coating the screws.  It wasn't as messy as I was afraid it would be.  I changed gloves a lot.
Then I realized I had forgotten the interior insert.  It had also been caulked in place, even though it doesn't have anything to do with waterproofing.  Miraculously it just fit, so I screwed it in place without any caulk so I can inspect the actual waterproofing seal.

Before I did the hatch I finished silicone caulking the hoses, where they go through the bulkheads.  Unfortunately I discovered two holes that needed to be filled with epoxy that I forgot, so I epoxied them.

I also replaced the three cleats for the locking lines that attach to the hatches that open into the cockpit with one larger one.

I figured out where the fuse block could go so that it would be near the battery.  It will really reduce the confusion in the wiring.  I also examined the fittings on the octopus and found that I could replace them with 5/8" connectors.  I'll have to unscrew the octopus, and there is one problem hose that may prevent me from changing it.  In that case I will have to use a hose barb adapter, but that is a bunch more hose clamps.  We'll see.  I ordered both parts.  I studied the circuit diagram and figured out the changes I will have to make.
Original Circuit Diagram
Changes to the circuit diagram
I got the rest of the plumbing hooked up including both the hot glycol plumbing as well as the fresh water.  Strangely enough when I started adding water to the system it was full after only half a gallon -- it should have taken four.  It turned out that I had only drained the circulation lines.  There was another five gallons in the tank for a total of nine gallons in the system.  

It turns out that a circuit diagram is not a wiring diagram.  I've been going nuts trying to figure out exactly which wire goes where so I can change the "domestic hot water" switch over to the "shower glycol pump" and disconnect that pump from working with the shower switch.  I got so burned out working on it I decided to take a break and test the hatch and plumbing system.

I got a hose and sprayed around the hatch for about five minutes -- Ta Da -- No Leak.  Then I put water in one of the tanks and turned on the fresh water pump.  It was like a fountain under the sink.  I forgot to put one of the hose clamps on, but that didn't fix it.  The selection valve was leaking.  I discovered that the back screws were loose, but when I tightened them up, while it stopped the leak, it was very difficult to turn.  Fortunately there is a "sweet spot" where it doesn't leak and is easy to turn.  The only other problem was leaking from the cold water sink foot pump.  It was leaking around the adapters for the hose.  I took them out and put Teflon tape around the threads, but that didn't work completely.  It turned out that when the hose clamps were tightened it was putting lateral stress on the fittings which was causing the leak.  I re-installed it with a little more play and the leak didn't come back.
The simplified plumbing system in the engine room.  The heat exchanger is located under the shelf.  The red and black hoses are for the glycol circulation.  The silver hoses are for the fresh water.  The brass valve in the wall is the mixer.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Plumbing and Holes II

I got the air intake baffel epoxy coated and the large holes from the moved heater hoses as well as the little screw holes in the motor base filled.

PolarPower got the genset over to SoundWaves for the sound shield.  The original plan was that they would just make a pattern, I would get the genset and then after I installed it I would mark the pattern and they would make it up and send it to me.  However that can't happen because PolarPower needs the sound shield so they can test the genset inside it to see if it overheats.  So now I have to specify where all the hoses will exit the sound shield before I even see the engine let alone fit it into its space.  So I've  been analyzing the instructions and trying to diagram them over pictures of the genset from PolarPower and the instruction manual.
It turns out that because of the location of the generator to the water line and the heater circuit every hose that could need to exit the motor compartment and be mounted to a bulkhead needs to be installed.  If the genset were raised 9", then none of the hoses would need to be installed.  But of course it can't be raised the 9".  So now I somehow need to communicate with SoundWaves the locations of the openings for the hoses.
Tuesday 11/9/10
I sanded the baffle to smooth all the epoxy bumps off.  Then I cut out all the extra wood that used to support the edge of the cover (that the mattress rests on).  I used a "Multi Max" that vibrates a blade and it cuts through the wood slowly but surely.  So I sculpted some grooves for the angle bar to fit into making it much stronger than my original plan where the angle bar was only supported by being part of the 1/4" plywood baffle.

Then I screwed everything together and took my final measurements for the cut to remove a corner of the cover so it would fit snuggly next to the baffle.  Hay - it worked.  So everything fits and is very strong.







After I got all raw wood epoxy coated I started work on the plumbing.  I had to drill another hole from the galley  (behind the drawers under the sink) to implement the new plan for actually  having hot water in the galley sink.  I epoxy coated it with the other stuff.



I also finished up the plumbing under the head sink.  The fresh water comes in via a pump and then goes to a heat exchanger, thermostatic valve, and a diverter valve for the hose source.  The hot water also goes to the thermostatic valve.  From there the mixed water goes to the sprayer and the hose source valve.  Finally either mixed or cold leaves the diverter valve and goes both the the hose bib and the hose that lives under the sink.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Lots of picky stuff, but no visible progress


This trip didn't start out so well.  I was going to test the new bimini, but in the rush to finish I forgot to put the new side panels on it, effectively making a new bimini with just the old design.  It fit nicely, but I took it down and put it in the car so I wouldn't get annoyed when I saw it.
Rain was coming, so I got out the big tarp and put it over the boom covering the whole cockpit and half of the cabin.  I tied it in a new way, and it fits quite well.

The wood cleats that held the battery and fuel tank needed to be removed because the battery is moving forward and the fuel tank is moving aft 10 inches.  They were screwed and epoxied to the sole.  I used a chisel to break them loose and break them away from the screws which were epoxied into their holes.  Next I took one of those little torches and heated the screws to soften the epoxy so I could turn them out with a vice-grip.

This is before I removed the wooden cleats (on right) and realized
the hoses were in the way of the fan (left rear).
Next I started to grind the remainder with the belt sander, but the switch failed and it wouldn't turn on, so I switched to my 4" grinder which finished the job in just a few minutes - boy that tool cuts fast with a 36 grit wheel.

I plan to mount the vent fan that sucks air out of the motor compartment and blows it into the engine room in a 6" PVC elbow.  It turns out that the three heater hoses cover the exact location where the hole into the motor compartment must go (naturally).  So I detached the ends of the hoses and drained 4 gallons of old antifreeze and pulled the hoses out of the way so I could drill new holes under the sole routing the hoses under the genset instead of against the bulkhead.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the old holes, filling them with epoxy and drilling new holes for the relocated heater hoses.
Note how the holes are behind the shaft making tool access difficult.

Close up of the new holes and a filled hole.

The bad news from the day is that the brackets I made for the heat exchanger will be impossible to install without removing the "octopus" (which is the hot glycol storage tank), and  they also need to to be bent somewhat differently.  It's too bad because it could have worked nicely.
Friday:
I spent most of the morning replacing the mocked-up plumbing in the head with the real thing.  There are more than 40 hose clamps under the sink.  Next I installed the fan vent from the motor enclosure into the engine room.  I used my new cut-out tool and it burned its way slowly around most of the circle, and I finished it off with a hand saw.  Then I was looking at the heat exchanger bracket and decided that I could epoxy the ends of a rail against the underside of the shelf so that in the middle, the top of the rail is 1/8 inch below the underside of the shelf where the heat exchanger is going such that the brackets can slide in the slot between the rail and shelf.  That will hold the back ends of the brackets, and I can screw in the front easily.  Finally I designed the vent in the quarter berth.  It is simply a wall that cuts a long skinny triangle out of the bunk for an air intake chase.  It is tucked way up in the forward corner and is 24" long and tapers from 5" to nothing and rises to about an inch from the ceiling.

The boat is a mess to say the least since everything had to be pulled out of the way to do the work.  But the worst part is that all the hose holes that aren't sealed up create a situation where water can leak from the shaft compartment into the engine room and main cabin -- it's never leaked, but is the most vulnerable spot, and now it isn't isolated from the rest of the boat like it usually is.  By the time it leaked an inch into the main cabin there should be three bilge pumps going.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pleasant Surprise in the Engine Room

The plumbing goes to the left of the battery, and the genset where the tape measure is.  The black box in the foreground is the fuel tank.

The aft end of the engine room
Well I got a very pleasant surprise after I got the engine room cleaned up.  First, putting the battery against the forward bulkhead leaves enough room for a Vetus lift muffler next to the battery (shown as a paper cylinder) which is likely to make the exhaust easy to locate.  The second surprise is that the heat exchanger just (barely) fits under the shelf supporting the octopus heat storage container. (The tan cylinder barely showing on the left.)  This will make the plumbing easy to install and keep it out of the way.  The only problem is I still have to move the fuel tank about 8", which leaves me with the delima as to whether to move the fuel filler hole or curve the filler hose which will prevent me from using a stick to measure the fuel level without removing the vent hose (which isn't hard to do).  The tank monitor has been working without problems, so I haven't needed to use the stick to measure the fuel.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Out with the Glacier Bay Genset

I got the kevlar line bound to the wire to take the load and wrapped the line and wire with silicone tape and stuffed it back in the hole.  Then I started on the genset removal...

  1. Take all the attachments off the genset
  2. Remove the storage box
  3. Mostly empty the fuel tank, detach all the fuel lines and remove the fuel tank
  4. Remove the battery
  5. Take the dingy out of the quarter berth and inflate it and cover and tie to the fore deck
  6. Remove all the hurricane binding and wrapping on the boom and mast
  7. Rig the reef line to the preventer, which runs along the boom, using a caribeener so it can slide along the preventer.  Then run the main halyard through the caribeener and down into the companionway. 
  8. Remove all the bedding, sail, and other collected stuff from the quarter berth, remove the covers to the aft storage compartments and empty them completely.  Lay a carpet on the hull to slide the genset with.
  9. Remove the companionway steps.
  10. Un-bolt the genset from the plywood base and lift it off the bolts that are mounted into the base.  Then slide it up the side of the hull by the opening into the quarter bearth.  Then tip it over onto a carpet and drag it into the quarter berth.  Tilt it the other way up onto the deck of the quarter berth and slide it to the edge.
  11. Tie a lifting harness onto the genset and attach it to the main halyard
  12. Lay the fender board between the quarter berth edge and the electric motor box and slide the genset onto the board as we take some load on the halyard.
  13. Crank it up out of the companionway above the cabin.  Tighten the reef line to pull the genset out farther to the end of the boom and swing the boom out over the dock
  14. Put the genset into a wheelbarrow and put it under Paul's deck by tipping it up onto a piece of plywood with some dowels under it so we could roll it into position.
  15. Scrub all the crud out of the engine room
  16. Put the battery, fuel tank, full gerican , and storage box back into the engine room
  17. Put all the stuff back into the storage area and replace the covers, bedding, and stuff.
  18. Get all the rigging secured for the night
I am bushed...

I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that the way I finished the stress relief actually defeated the whole idea and put the stress back on the little wire.  I also thought of an easier way to use the ladder to reach the top.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Stern Light Installation

Kiwi and I came to the boat while Ruthie is in Boston at an "A" meet with Lori.  I put up my perch to work on the Utility Mast off the stern of the boat.


 I installed the new stern light up near the top of the utility mast.  Because the mast is on an angle I had to mold an epoxy wedge so the bracket could be vertical.

 That went very well.  I used "breaker tape" over some wood tabs I made.  I removed them while the epoxy was still flexible, but no longer sticky so I could trim the corners with a razor instead of sanding.  When it finished harding I drilled and tapped holes into the alum. mast for machine screws to mount the bracket.

I used a steel fish tape from the top to the opening in the bottom to pull the wire up and out the hole positioned just under the bracket.  I offset the butt connectors (heat shrinkable with glue inside) so they would fit through the hole.  Wiring under the cockpit was uncharacteristically easy.  The original stern light attached to a terminal block near the exit from the utility mast.  So I left it intact.  If I want to switch back to the lower stern light I just have to hook it up again.   By the time I got it wired it was dark.  Tomorrow I'm going to bind a kevlar line to the wire and lead it out the hole and tie it to the bracket to secure the wire without putting a load on the connectors or the small wire coming out of the fixture.

In the middle of the stern light project I motored out into the creek so Paul could move the boat he just put a new engine into out of the way so I could take that spot adjacent to the main dock so I can get the genset out.  I'm hoping to get the genset out the area cleaned out and the galley plumbing mocked up.  I'm looking forward to and dreading the the re-organizing of the engine room.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Under sink cont. Windlass & galley light

I got the heat exchanger mounted and all the proper fittings all fitted out with scrap hose -- boy do I have a lot of scrap hose.  I pulled out all the stuff I'm eliminating.  Gross!  One even had diesel contamination.  Must have been the unused one that sat open in the engine room.  I thought I would be filling the now unused holes with epoxy, but they are going to need serious cleaning, probably a little sanding to get down to bare wood.

I used the putty to seal around the wire exit from the mast and the holes in the base.  Now I need to wait for some good rain to test it.

I installed the contactor for the windlass, and it worked.  I wire brushed it a little and it is corroded all over.  I removed the bolts to try and remove it, but it is frozen tight.  No point in breaking it, I'm going to paint it in place.  I don't know how I'll clean it yet - I'd like to sand blast, but what a mess that will be.

I tried to install the 12v outlet over the sink.  I drilled the hole, but I was going to take the current from the wire going to the other deck outlet so it would be on the "Outlets" breaker.  Either I'm going to have to run the wire from the other outlet back 10' to the new  outlet, or I'll have to unbundle all that wire to trace it back where I can splice another wire into it for the new outlet.  I'll only use a foot of wire for that.  I'll need a #8 butt connector or a terminal block and some ring terminals.  Just running the wire back is looking better.

I wanted to finish something, so I installed a LED light over the sink.  I had to drill into the engine room from over the galley sink without drilling into a DC-DC converter for the motor controller or the motor controller itself, and they were only 3/4 apart.  I got it right in the center first time.

I taped all the containers in my tool bag together.  They were falling over and making a mess.  Looks good now, I'll see how it holds.

Monday, October 11, 2010

I went to the boat show and ordered ccushions for the cockpit.  I'm fitting them around the bimini support pole and attaching them with snaps on web tabs under the hatches.
In the midst of making the patterns I realized how I could make a much larger bimini using the same poles that I currently use.



The main sheet can pass between the bimini and dodger.  The boom is wrapped for hurricane season.  Here is an image from the cockpit sitting at the tiller looking 45 degrees port.


So I spent the day making patterns.    You can see more pictures at my Picassa Album.  Tomorrow I need to finish the plumbing under the sink.  It should be all put together and mounted with old hose and no clamps.  I also want to mount the new contactor for the windlass so I can see if it works.  If it does I need to brush it clean so I can evaluate how I'm going to paint it.