Lift-off

The countdown has begun!
All the work is done (if you own a boat you know that is never true).
Absolutely nothing can go wrong (ditto).

Lets see, just what all have we accomplished over the last couple of months?
Just so you don't think we just sit around counting the palm trees or something:

- Stopped a leak at the base of the mast (waterproof tape that was not).

- Serviced the diesel heater.  Turned into one of those all-day sessions when it turned out that the outlet from the gravity-fed diesel tank was plugged.  Much bad language ensued.  The diesel smell is almost gone now a month later.

- Moved the wireless wind data receiver to the other side of the aft cabin.  This became necessary when the wind data became intermittent due to interference from the mast (at least that is my best guess).  Of course, this same receiver also gets information from a thru-hull triducer (for depth, speed log and temperature) and the wires were not long enough to just string them a little further across the cabin, so they had to be re-run from the base of the mast (where the transducer lives) to the aft cabin, using an entirely different route.

- Installed a new dedicated wind data instrument (might as well since I was doing all the work on the data receiver anyway).  This was actually quite easy as the Nexus NX2 system that we use allows me to just add another instrument by daisy-chaining it to the nearest other instrument.  Looks pretty good too.

- Rewired the SSB/Ham radio to now by-pass the DC control panel, and added a bunch of ferrite coils everywhere, in an effort to reduce the interference between the radio and everything else on the boat.  Partially successful as I can now get sailmail to work, although I still need to turn off the inverter so it and the radio don't both go berserk every time I press the transmit button.

- Replaced the 1st and 2nd reefing lines on the boom and added a proper reefing hook at the mast.

- Replaced the dorade vents with some solar vents, to free up some space on deck for the dinghy.

- Installed a new L.E.D. stern light so now all of our navigation lights are low-power.

- Added a tie-down for the TV in the main cabin, so it does not try an leave the boat when we are sailing.

- Fixed the prop brake.  This was broken when we bought the boat and we have now been informed that the type of transmission we have is not the type that should be left spinning when the engine is not on.  I am not real happy with the fix but only time will tell if it holds up.

- Plumbed in the hot water heater to the main engine.  Since the water heater is above the engine and maybe 10 feet away, it was not possible to just feed the hot water from the engine's water pump all that way without risking overheating the engine.  So I added a couple of tees where the temperature and temperature overheat alarm sensors are plugged into the block, running the water through a new 12-volt circulation pump that will allow the water to be pumped through the water heater completely separate from the regular engine cooling system.  The upside is that this should prevent any engine overheating problems like we had with our old engine (most likely because of the water heater connection).  The downside is that there is now a lot of complicated plumbing fittings, adapters and hose running all of the place, just begging to leak somewhere.  Had a devil of a time getting all the air out of the system but seems to be working fine now.

- During the haul out, we painted the bottom, replaced all the sacrificial zincs, cleaned the prop, and de-gunked the triducer so we may actually get a speed reading from it.  The jury is still out on this one.

- Stripped and stained almost all of the brightwork (wood work) on the boat.  Still a couple of items that need attention.

- Inflated and launched the dinghy.

- Serviced the outboard engine.  Huge success here as this is the first time I have ever managed to take any small engine apart and put it back together and have it work at all when I was done (Just ask Susanne about my record with our former lawn mower).  The last time I tried on this outboard I took a badly running engine and managed to make it completely inoperable to the point that I had to take it to the local mechanic to fix it.  But this time, after only three tries, I did it.  It runs as well as it ever has now (which by the way is not really all that well - never has idled worth a darn).

- And all the up-mast work mentioned in the last post, and other jobs too numerous to mention.

So now, we are about to leave the security of the marina for the great unknown.  We have bought and stowed enough food for a couple of months, topped up the water tanks, run the jack-lines, etc. etc. ready for lift off. Tomorrow we will venture north (probably as far as Lasqueti island).  From there, generally north, wherever the winds may take us.

I will attempt to update this blog when possible, hopefully via my spiffy new sailmail radio connection.  We will be checking for emails on the sailmail account at the same time, so if you want to contact us, send emails to CFK9012@sailmail.com .  And remember, NO attachments on those emails as we simply do not have the bandwidth to receive them.