Feels like Texas

Maybe I shouldn't have written that I was planning to go back to Texas. The current heat wave is making it feel like I'm there already. It's so bad that it's actually cooler around Houston right now than it is here. That's bizarre, and it's making progress on the boat a little difficult.

Zoe seems to be doing okay, but I have to keep an eye on her -- there is no air conditioning.

Freshwater and bilge watch:

Should be able to get the freshwater and bilge pumps installed today. I flushed the freshwater tank yesterday and will try to drain it today. It's not bad, but seems to have something in it. I think it's just left over from the winterizing fluid I added a couple of years ago when I put it up. I think I'll get a new, clean hose and siphon it directly out of the boat. That way I can get stuff from the bottom and not have to worry about clogging the new pump -- or running it too much. I'll probably do the same with the bilge, but don't need to worry so much about a clean hose. I've cleaned it pretty well, but it still seems to have a bunch of stuff in the bottom, mainly paint chips, fiberglass, and dirt.

Once I get the freshwater system hooked up and operational, I'll add some bleach and let it stand for a while, then flush the system a few more times before I try to drink it. At least I'll be able to wash my hands. That should get it in pretty good shape. Btw, I need to get this done now, because once I get her into the water, it will be tough to get access to that much water; I have all the water I want here in the yard.

Mast watch:

Looks like I'll have to add one more major repair job to the list. My mast is aluminum and the bottom of it has a solid aluminum foot inserted into it that fits into the step. It's deck stepped, and the step is actually an oval disk of laminated teak about 10" x 6" and an inch thick that's bolted onto the top of the coach roof. There's a really sturdy bulkhead directly under it that goes all the way down to the keel.

In order to fix the corrosion, I'll need to remove the foot, cut off the bad section, about 1 1/2 inches, clean it up, reinsert it, and add a spacer to the step to make up for what I cut off. That's so the mast head will remain at exactly the same height, otherwise the stays and shrouds won't be the length, not to mention the sails. This isn't really a hard job, but will take a couple of days. I also need to figure out exactly how I want to fix the step and add the additional height.

The purpose of the step is to transfer the load to the keel and provide lateral stability to the bottom. The weight of the mast and the tension on the stays and shrouds provide a compression force on the step, which increases the friction between it and the deck. That's in addition to it being screwed down and caulked, so it probably won't be going anywhere. I just need to make sure whatever I add to it will both take the compression and sheer loads. I was thinking about using some of the 3/4" marine plywood I'm planning to buy, but it might be better to do it out of fiberglass. But since that's the last thing I need to do before I put her in, I've got some time to think about it.

However, this also might be a good time to re-engineer the step and add some sort of ring that could be used to attach eyes and blocks. A lot of new boats come that way from the factory and it really helps to have that extra flexibility -- you can never have enough rope or eyes on a boat. Btw, rope is exactly what you think it is. It's only called line once it's actually attached to something, at which point it may be running rigging, dock lines, anchor rode, etc.

Deck watch:

Still working on the deck. I wasn't happy with the configuration of the two winches on the cabin roof at the companionway and have been thinking about what to do about them. That's one of the reasons I haven't tried to paint yet -- if I move them, I want to fill the old holes before I paint. I think I'll leave the starboard side one where it is for now, but will move the port side one forward. The problem is that you need to add a backing plate to make sure the force doesn't pull it out of the deck, but since there's a gap between the inside of the deck and the headliner (an 1/8 thick finished fiberglass shell inside the boat), and some of the old hardware had backing plates installed at the factory between the two, it makes it difficult to add anything else since the new backing plates will try to compress this space and the void isn't consistent. I'll probably have to end up cutting out a section of headliner and adding some sort of cover to hide the hole and backing plates.

But for right now, I'm just going to move the new winch to the spot where the original winch was mounted and move the 3-gang clutch forward enough that I don't crack the headliner when I tighten it. That's what happened when I mounted it before. Looks like the backing plate for the old winch was about 1/2" and the 3-gang clutch was mounted too close to it. Now I have to fill all those holes, but with the gap, I need to be careful or all my resin will just leak out. Nothing's easy on a boat, but I'm sure I'll figure out something. I just don't want to cut out the headliner yet.

Zoe watch:

Zoe didn't like the little pool I made for her. I'll see if I can find a real one somewhere else today. I want something small and if it can fit in the cockpit, that would be even better. If it's too big, I'll have to throw it away or leave it here once we leave.

I broke out the ball she likes, but that wasn't enough to tempt her into the pool. I did get her to stand in it for a little while, but she wasn't terribly happy about it.