Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Prestissimo in the Water

April 10, 2012
Got here before noon.  At 12:30 the crew showed up and we got it in the travel lift and then tilted the boat back to rock the keel to the aft part of the keel well so we could get the plastic "bumper" for the front of the keel in.  Got it most of the way in with some 5200 hold it.  Then she went into the water.

Genset:  I checked the oil and added coolant to half way between Max and Min. Got the software connected. Added soapy water into the water pump and re-routed the hose to reduce wear.  She didn't start the first time, so I primed the fuel and she started up.

None of the fans worked.  I traced wires to figure out what was what.  There was still this wire with a ring connector connected to nothing.  It turns out that it connects to the only place in reach to connect it to - then the fans worked.

Instruments:  Everything worked.  The thru hull flap is working nicely.  I started Coastal Explorer and got the instruments talking to it.

Refer: Turned it on, and in a few minutes the plate was covered with frost.

Plumbing:  I filled the stbd tank and got the water pumping from the head sink and hose.  Turned the heat on, and had hot water.  When I turned on the recycling shower all the flakes of brown stuff came out.  I suspect it was bacteria that had dried out inside the heat exchanger.  In any case I cleaned it all out.  Got the water flowing into the sink as well and cleaned out the sprayer heads.

April 11, 2012
Got the dingy inflated and on the bow, freshened the numbers with marker and fixed a broken clip on the strap that holds the life jackets in place.

Went on a delightful check out sail with Bill.  The battens didn't catch the lazy jacks.  I had to re-tie the reef line.  I changed out the running back control lines.  The wind transducer on the front of the mast worked beautifully to adjust the boat on a beat -- that is why I put a mount there.  It is below the top of the mast so I don't have to worry as much about bridges.  When I get into an area with no bridges I'll move it to the top.

We ran on the motor to draw the batteries down and then run the genset at full power.  No problem.  Came back to Bock Marine.  It went quite well.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Putting it all together

April 3, 2012
I didn't get in until 11:30am, and I wasn't feeling well.  The first thing I did was try and fill the grooves in the keel from the missing coat of paint.  I put the paint in the grooves with a spreader, and it did a pretty good job, but of course when it dried it was still a little shallower than the groove, but better than it would have been.  If I had more time I would have given it a few more layers of paint.

Then I got busy on the mast.  I scrubbed it clean and put in the new main halyard.  When the mast track was dry I lubricated it.  Then I cleaned the bearing surfaces at the deck and at the foot, and coated them with Vaseline.  Kenny and his team came over with the crane and we set the mast in place.

Now for the keel.  I installed the keel blocks while Kenny got the giant shackle to hook up the keel and used the crane to move the keel behind the boat.  Then we picked the boat up with the travel lift and set it over the keel.  We threaded the line through the blocks and I started to lift the keel with the winch to get it started.  It jammed.  Apparently the epoxy I coated the rust spots with made it a little bigger, and there was no extra room.  I had to tighten a nut and then we ground off the bolt that was exposed so it could fit in the trunk.  We finally got the keel in, but by then I was completely wiped out.  It was a lot harder to lift the keel in the trunk than when it was out.  I don't like that, but it sure won't wiggle.  I think some of the extra width is from the paint, and when that is rubbed off in the contact areas it should move more easily.

I collapsed in the cabin, and an hour later I realized I hadn't scrubbed the spots that I needed to paint where the stands had been.  I forced myself up and scrubbed them -- then I showered and went to bed.

April 4, 2012
First I got the boom installed and untangled all the lines on the mast, and unfortunately I realized there was a cross over of the main sheet on the running back, and I was going to have to go up the mast to correct it.

Now the morning had dried out so I was able to get the first coat on the spots and the third coat on the keel bulb, rudders and along the waterline.

Then I hoisted the sail up onto the boom from the top of the van, got the lazy jacks in place to hold it and attached it to the mast track cars.  Bill came over and hoisted me up the mast where I discovered there were a bunch of crossed lines and twisted blocks.  I got everything straightened out -- it is a good thing I went up or the new lines would have been frayed in short order.

I was resting after that and got a call from the Prop Shop that my prop was in and ready for me to pick up.  I drove to the shop and talked with the owner about an anti-singing edge that was for both powering as well as charging, so he modified the trailing edge and then re-balanced the prop.  It is a rather primitive system.  They center and level it and then put it in a very free rotating stand and find the heavy blade and grind some material off of it and check it again.  The kid who was doing the work was grinding and grinding and never seemed to get it just right.  Then the owner came in and finished it in two passes.  I stopped for lunch on the way back and then got out the prop tools and unbelievably I got the old prop off and the new on one in about 10 minutes.

I spliced the new line on the MOB pole, and then I went into the engine room and wired up the fans for the new ventilation system.  I took out the speed control and secured everything.

I looked at my watch and it was already 8:30pm

April 5, 2012

It was dry first thing so I painted the final coat of paint on the spots and keel and then took off the tape.  The blue removable tape left some adhesive on the hull, but I'm not going to try and remove it.  I'm hoping it will wear off.  The paint is pretty faded.  It needs to be painted again...

I hooked up the mast wiring and safety lines on both the mast and keel.  While coiling the lines I realized the jib halyard needed replacement, and replaced it too.  I cleaned up a bunch of stuff and made room for the outboard in its locker and put on Prestissimo's registration sticker.  Then I coated the windlass gearbox with oil, put more stuff away and then it started to rain.

As it got dark I tested the navigation lights, and everything is working correctly!