Fun in the boatyard… 11.15.07

Monday started our stint in the boatyard. Michael & Chad brought the boat to Ventura harbor in the morning. The weather was perfect – the rainy skies from the weekend cleared to beautiful crystal clear skies and the temperature was in the 70’s. The boatyard was busy when they arrived so Michael & Chad began prepping the masts for removal. The radar cable is a ‘home run’ from the mizzen mast, up inside the ceiling panels, through the engine room, behind the kitchen cabinet, and up to the radar. So Michael had to pull down the kitchen cabinet, clip the zip ties in the engine room and get the cable ready to be pulled with the mast. Chad softened the rig, getting ready to pull the pins. After lunch, both masts were pulled with no major problems.

Once they were off, Michael & Chad began inspecting the masts, identifying the areas needing attention, removing the Windex & wind transducer, and noted the areas needing touchup paint due to corrosion. We stayed on the boat that night and noticed our drive shaft packing was dripping quite a bit more than usual, making our bilge pump go off approximately once an hour (this usually happens once a week!). We went to bed but at about 4am Michael awoke to the bilge pump on….not turning off. It turns out the float switch just got stuck on and wouldn’t shut off. Michael adjusted the float, tightened the shaft packing nut, and whalah….peace & quiet again.

Michael got up Tuesday morning and started the generator to make his coffee. For some reason, the generator kept popping it’s breaker. Then when he went to start the engine and heard a pop and….nothing. He thought something bad had happened – even calling me saying “I’m ready to trade in the boat for an RV’….haha. “Yes Dear, let’s talk about it tonight”, I replied. Long story short, the battery switch was on the wrong setting to start the boat and ended up blowing a fuse. After the electrician came on board and identified the problem…..we replaced the fuse with a bigger one and have one more item to make sure we check before starting the engine!

So the boat was hand-lined around to the sling and the boat was brought out of the water and into the boatyard. Then the fun stuff began and in the last few days:

- Chris Hancock began sanding and prepping the masts for touchup paint, which should happen on Friday.
- The bulbs on the masts were replaced with LED’s & the spreader lighbulbs were replaced.
- The transducer for the fishfinder was removed, which will need to be re-made by the boatyard. The transducer cable was removed, which included about a million zip ties in the engine room! Michael’s convinced it has to have been the 1st cable ever ran in he boat.
- The Zincs from the hull & the current prop was removed. We’re replacing the current prop with a MaxProp 3 blade prop.
- The chainlocker piece of starboard, which will help the chain fall better was fit & installed.
- Chad drilled & tapped the main mast for the Windex & wind transducer, built a new backstay, removing the isolator. The Mizzen backstay was rebuilt with a GAM split-lead SSB antennae.
- The packing from both the driveshaft and the rudder shaft was replaced.
- Chad cracked, cleaned, and applied Loc-tite to all of the Norseman fittings on the entire rig.
- The extra holes in the mast were either riveted or filled and a piece was fitted in the mast steps which will hopefully reduce the amount of water that trickles down the mast into the boat.
- Steve began prepping the boat for bottom paint and by Thursday evening, two coats had been applied, with one more remaining. We're switching from a maroon color to black.
- Removed the bobstay & whiskers to also clean & inspect the Norseman fittings.
- Cleaned & polished the radar dome

The next couple days will be completing the remaining projects. We’ll be washing & waxing the rig on Sunday and trying to clean up the boat! Look at this mess!!

And Rene has been…..working! :-) Her employer has begun interviewing for her position. But it’s work as usual for her.

During our stay in the boatyard, Jeanne & George Mitchell have been kind enough to allow us to stay on their boat, which is also berthed in Ventura Harbor. We’ve been checking out the local restaurants in Ventura Harbor, trying a new one each night. The plan is that the boat will go back into the water on Monday and the masts replaced Monday afternoon. Then comes the fun – running all of the cables back to where they should be, making sure no new leaks spring up, ensuring the packings are good, replacing the kitchen cabinets, etc. We’re heading to Palm Springs on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and when we return Saturday, should be able to finish putting the boat ‘back together’ and take it back to Channel Islands Harbor the following Monday.

I’ll keep you updated, more to be posted later!
Rene