A working head was high on my priority list so with rain in the forecast Saturday, I figured it would be a good day for that. Naturally the 10% of the project remaining took an awful lot of time; making all the bits fit together and having to fudge a few connections that weren't quite as straightforward as I expected.
I am even less enthused about using PVC tubing now. Next time I would just use hose and forget even trying to incorporate the tubing. On a small boat it has turned into more trouble than it is worth. The problem is getting everything connected. Firstly, the pipe to hose fittings never fit the hose. Its always a fight to get the hose over the fitting. I guess a tight fit will be good in the long run but there is the real risk of breakage with the force needed and in small cramped quarters getting enough force on the target area can be tricky.
The second problem is getting the bits to fit at either end. I need to slide the piping down to get the top piece connected and have to slide the piping up to get the bottom piece connected... simultaneously. The 1.5 inch waste hose doesn't bend too easily either.
After fighting for a bit I removed some sections of the PVC tubing and just used hose. Luckily for me I had a few extra lengths lying around (eye roll).
So after several hours of fussing and blood letting since I didnt have the right cutters for the wire in the reinforced hose, I nearly had the head up and working. One problem remains. When the waste tank was built, the welder asked me if 7/8 inch outlet tubing for the vent would be acceptable since he was out of stock on the 3/4 inch I had specified. I made the assumption that 7/8 inch hose was readily available and told him that would be fine. Now on several of my custom made tanks I have to figure out how to get the oddball sizes to work. My vent hose outlet is one of those oddball sizes. To make it more challenging the through hull fitting is for a 5/8 inch hose so I have some serious adapting to figure out.
Plus, another lesson I have learned is that after boat parts sit on the shelf for a few years they tend to get bored and walk away. I know I had hose set aside just for the waste tank vent line but now I can't find it anywhere. So the head is complete minus a tank vent. I will order some parts and try again next weekend. I had some more pictures but I wasn't paying attention and they came out black. The back panel is still loose to make it easier to install the vent line.
The rain never came so I finished sanding the hull repair. It looks pretty good now and is just waiting for bottom paint to make it disapear. I also got around to reinforcing the sidedeck that was improperly reinforced earlier. Its plenty stout now.
Another new item on my short list was having the stanchion tubes installed. Turns out they were all custom drilled so it took me a bit to figure out which tube went where. Then I learned that I didn't have any hardware for them. That's about where my Saturday ended.
Sunday, I picked up the stanchion tube hardware I needed and installed them. After that I ran 1/2 inch Sta-Set line in place of the old old cable. I had cut the cable a few years ago to prevent myself from trying to stretch them one more season. Getting the rigger out at this time of year to make me some nice swaged cables doesn't seem realistic so I plan on using the line for the season. I would like to replace the tubes and set up the boat for double lines with removable section at the cockpit. That means there isn't much reason to invest in the current system. The line should keep me from falling overboard this season. No lifelines make the boat look better I think but the tradeoff is a bit rough. I know for certain that my boat will happily stay on course with me on board or in the water. There is no rounding up and waiting for me with Jenny.
With the lifelines on, I dug out my mast from the storage rack and started getting that set up. I vaguely remembered when I took the upper jumpers apart last year that as I set down one of the cheesy adjusters I was thinking "I sure hope I remember where I am putting this".
Well, today I looked everywhere for it and can't find it. I have some new aluminum threaded rod on order McMaster and Carr to make a new one. Once again, McMaster's for the win. Those cheesy adjusters can only be adjusted before the mast is stepped. I thought I was being smart when I asked my rigger to add turnbuckles to the jumper stays at the lower ends so that I could adjust the tension with the rig up. What the rigger installed was some pathetic little turning things with a knurled thumbscrew. Totally inadequate and impossible to do anything with as I learned at the last launch. Earlier this year I ordered some real open turbuckles to replace the thumscrew thingies. Turns out the turnbuckles come in 10-32 and 10-24 threads. My cable has 10-32. You can guess what the turbuckles were. I found an open turnbuckle made by Hayn and I ordered a pair. And they never arrived so I ordered from somewhere else. And they never arrived. Finally, while at Hamilton Marine last weekend I picked up the only thing they had that would work; a set of closed turnbuckles.
I am not crazy about them but its an improvement. I went to install one and found out that the threaded end on the cable is quite long. Too long in fact. I will have to cut down the threaded section to make it work with the turnbuckle body. You can't see it in the picture but the threads on the cable continue under my fat little finger on the right.
I thought about setting up the furler but I couldn't find the instructions. I will have to get them from the web this week.
Basically, I uncoiled everything on the mast, re-affirmed that I want to make overhauling the mast my main priority next year and that's it.
Finally, I removed my two water impellers from the engine (raw water and coolant). They look okay but they have been sitting there for two years all crushed up and I figure I would start the season with new impellers.
I spent some time cleaning up under the boat and hauled a load of shelter bits home and that was it for the day.
With some decent weather, I hope to do some painting and varnishing next weekend as well as finishing up the rigging.
Its been six years since the boat has moved under sail. I think this could be the year that I break that streak.
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