First Sail of the Season!

We got out on Silence yesterday for our first sail of the season. We didn't go far, but it sure was a great day. The first order of business was getting the sails bent onto the furlers, and I had help from my nephew, Andrew, for that. We had about 15 knots of breeze from the south, and we saw boat speeds around 7.5 knots. Silence galloped across the bay, happy to be back in action.

Cockpit Table

Over the winter, I applied fresh varnish to the cockpit table. Today, we reinstalled it aboard, yet another sign of spring!

Free Electricity!

We just finished up the wiring for the solar panel. Look at those free amps flowing into the batteries!

Solar Panel

We mounted the new solar panel this morning! This 300 Watt panel will provide most of the power that we need to run systems on the boat, and will reduce the amount we need to run the generator during a 24 hour cycle. Less generator time means less fuel burned, and more quiet time. It's a win-win for the environment, and our quality of life aboard.

Stuffing Box Repacking

This morning is blustery and cold, so it's a good day for "inside" work. This morning's project is to repack the stuffing box. This needs to be done occasionally, when the adjustment nut seems to have more resistance than normal when tightening to control the water ingress. (If you're not familiar with what a stuffing box does, think of the drive shaft going through the hull of the boat to the propeller. The hole around the shaft needs to be filled with something soft to allow the shaft to turn without too much friction, and allow some water to come in for cooling and lubrication of the shaft. The stuffing box nut allows you to control the amount of water by compressing the stuffing around the shaft.) Above are the tools I needed to do the job: a knife to cut the new stuffing to size, a corkscrew pick to get the old stuffing out, a wrench to turn the nut on the stuffing box, and a hammer to just tap the locking nut to keep the nut from turning after it's adjusted. The piece of PVC pipe is used to help push the stuffing into the stuffing nut around the shaft.

Davit Crossbar

This week I installed a crossbar on the davits, which serves several purposes: it adds rigidity to the davits, it provides an installation point for the solar panel, and it allows me to move the stern light to a higher position to be visible even when carrying a dinghy on the davits. 

Flag

Up until now, we have flown the flag from a staff on the stern railing, however, with the installation of the solar panel, this will no longer work. So, today I added a flag halyard to the backstay.

Silence Emerges!

The winter cover came off yesterday! Now we just need to do some general cleanup, and get the sails aboard for sailing. I'm hoping for a nice day for our maiden voyage of the season.

Hand Priming Pump

Last season I had some problems with the engine fuel supply losing its prime, and the fuel flows back from the filter to the fuel tank when the engine is off. It's not a big problem if I remember to turn the fuel valve off each time I stop the engine, but if I forget, then I have to re-prime the system. I have suspected that I might have an air leak in the hand priming pump, and this week I noticed some fuel leaking around the pump diaphragm. So, today, I replaced the hand pump and I'm crossing my fingers that this solves the problem. I'll know in a few days...

You're all probably tired of seeing engine projects, and this will be the last one for a bit. This work is all part of being ready to sail, so for me it's part of the zen of the process. I hope to post some actual sailing soon!

Update: replacing the priming pump didn't fix the priming issue, so I have more investigating to do.

Liferaft

 

We just ordered a new life raft (the old one can no longer be serviced due to it's age). I hope to never see this deployed!

Sea Water Pump

Old boats need some ingenuity to keep running. This is the sea water pump for the engine, which provides cooling water to the heat exchanger. When I replaced the impeller this season, one of the bolts stripped the threads on the pump housing. (I hate it when that happens!) The impeller needs to be replaced every 100 hours of operating time, so these bolts get used a lot.

Parts for old engines become scarce and expensive. This pump can still be replaced for about $600.  I figured it was worth a try to tap new threads into the housing for an oversize bolt, and in this case it worked beautifully. Now, I'll just reinstall the pump and it should be good for another few decades.

Success!

By adapting a 7/8" hose to the 3/4" hose, I was able to easily slip the hose onto the fitting. It's not ideal to add another connection, but it solves the problem.

Disappointed!

Not all days are easy on a boat. Today's project was to replace some old coolant hoses, but the new hoses are really tough to get onto the fittings. Now I'm trying all the tricks, like soaping the fitting, and putting the end of the hose in boiling water. No luck so far.