Monday

The first order of business for the day was to install the two jib tracks.  I’d previously made all early preparations for the install, so now I just had to apply sealant and bolt down the tracks on both sides.  The only complication, as usual, was access on the port side, where the cabin liner impeded access to the bolts more than I’d hoped, so once again I had to cut away part of the liner at the outboard edge so I could install the nuts and washers, adding one more liner repair to my ongoing list.

Similarly, I had to remove some of the liner in the head, above the holding tank, but here I wouldn’t have to build a cover plate since this whole area would be hidden from view with a panel.

After installing both sides, I cleaned up the excess sealant.

I was waiting for the arrival of the track cars for these tracks, so I left the after pair of end stops loosely installed for now, but I could go ahead and install the forward ends with screws and butyl sealant.

After leaving the shop for a short while on other business, I returned and installed the compression post in the main cabin, securing it at the base with the cherry trim pieces I’d built earlier.  I accidentally split the wood on the after piece when installing a screw, so I’d have to remake that piece, but for now I left it in place.

I led up the various wires from the bilge and into the routed-out wire chase on the forward end of the pole, and as I secured them on the way up, I finished the connections to the little chart light I’d installed on the post before installation.  The remaining wires would go all the way to the top of the post, and I secured  them most of the way, but left them shy of the top set of wire mounts pending final connection details at the top, and installation of the overhead.

With the post in place, now I could finally install the overhead panels and trim, something I’d been looking forward to but hadn’t been able to complete till now because of pending hardware installations above.  I’d built the overhead panels and trim pieces, and painted/varnished them all, many months earlier during the interior phase of the project.

This brought up a minor complication or two, mainly that during the dry-fit of the trim pieces, I’d marked for length a number of the transverse pieces where they met the centerline longitudinals, but apparently I’d forgotten to actually cut them before sanding and varnishing the trims, so in a few places the trim was too long, and I had to test-fit and cut them to the proper length on the fly, such as the area shown below, over the galley.

I installed all the plywood panels with screws, then covered the seams with the varnished cherry trims secured with cosmetic bronze screws.

For now, I installed all the panels and trim except the main longitudinal center piece forward of the companionway, which would require some final fitting around the transverse pieces (which were overlong in a few instances), and also to accommodate the compression post, mast wiring, and an overhead light, none of which were in place during the original construction of the overhead long before.  I’d finish that up next time, but it sure looked nice to have the finished overhead finally in place to cover all the sins of the old liner.

Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  10°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 33°

Friday

To begin the day, I installed the little end stops for the staysail tracks.  At each location, I drilled and tapped the hole for a 1/20 x 3/4″ machine screw (not penetrating the inner skin), then installed the ends with the screws and butyl sealant.

Afterwards, I masked the inside edges of the longer Yankee tracks so the decks would be ready for their installation as soon as my new fasteners arrived.  I didn’t mask the outboard edges since these fell over the glossy painted areas of the deck; I mask to protect the nonskid from the sealant and make cleanup easier.

To help hold the modified battery box lids in place, I added some little cleats to prevent the tendency for the tops to spread outward.  At this point, I had two of the five boxes complete, and took a few minutes to mass produce all the extension pieces and cleats required for the remaining three, which I’d assemble later.

Now it was time to install and secure the house battery bank in one of the new boxes.  To secure the batteries, I installed a simple hold-down strap, which would encircle the box and hold the top in place, and a more beefy arrangement using a bolted-on ratchet strap to secure the box against any other movement,  For the house bank, the nearby structural member provided a sturdy attachment point for the strap.

I put the box in place, then installed the first pair of the 300 amp-hour 6-volt AGM batteries, then secured the ratchet strap tightly.  To hold the batteries down, I thought I might add either some firm foam blocking beneath the lid (to make up the small space between the actual tops of the batteries and the lid), or an additional strap directly over the batteries before installing the lid, but I’d assess that and plan ahead before installing the engine battery bank later.

For now, I could move on with the final wiring to hook up the house bank and its charger.  This was relatively straightforward, but I had to cut the pre-installed positive cable to length and terminate it; cut and install the negative cable leading to the inlet side of the shunt (for the battery monitor); install a small positive wire from the shunt to the battery; install the “always hot” lead to the battery; install the positive and negative cables from the charger (pre-installed to the charger and ready for connection); and, finally, install the jumper to connect the two 6-volt batteries in series, creating the desired 12-volt bank.

However many times I do this, I still find it gratifying to have the new system power up and work as intended.

Once I’d confirmed that the basic system was properly connected, I methodically tested all the circuits, lighting, and devices that I could.  As needed, I troubleshot minor problems and corrected them.

VHF:

GPS and compass light:

Running lights:

Courtesy (under-deck) lights:

Main and forward cabin lights, and dual-color head overhead:

Chainlocker and engine room lights:

Companionway and galley switched lighting:

During the initial test, I found that the companionway light didn’t work, so I removed it, tested the wiring (OK), and made up new connections, after which it worked properly.

Part of the continuing series featuring the “The Disembodied Hand”:

Cabin fans and forward vent fan:

(Sorry for the focus problems on the forward vent)

Windlass:

I found that the windlass operated backwards at first, but fixing this was a simple means of swapping two of the terminals on the contactor box.  The switch inside the forward cabin worked also, but there was no way to operate it and “film” at the same time.

I’d need to round up something with a 12-colt cigarette lighter plug and USB to test the 12-volt outlets, but otherwise I was happy with the initial tests.  I also had to troubleshoot the two bilge pumps, which weren’t getting power at the pumps themselves; this pointed to some incorrect wiring behind the switches (which operated and lit up), which was frankly no surprise since I still find automatic pump wiring to be a black art and find it confusing even after however many installations.  I planned to square this away over the next few days.

Moving on, however,  I installed the new AC shore power cord, using an adapter to plug into a normal outlet in the wall, and tested what I could of the AC system.

Starboard outlet:

Galley outlet:

House battery charger:

The engine battery charger would await testing till that battery bank was in place soon.

These tests were all exciting and positive, and I was pleased with the results. There remained ahead a couple lighting installations in the cabin (based off the compression post), so I’d test those as soon as I could.

To wrap up the day, I installed the lazarette hatch latch with bolts and sealant.

Total time billed on this job today: 7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  5°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 16°

Thursday

I spent the morning working on final preparations for the staysail track and winch installations, starting with final hole preparation in the newly epoxy-filled holes.  With the tracks and winches mocked up as needed, I drilled and tapped the 26 holes required for the tracks, and 12 holes for the pair of winches.  Then, I masked around the T-tracks to prepare for installation.

Inside the cabin, I now had a series of small holes through the old overhead liner (or, in the head for the starboard staysail winch, the finished liner).  At the track locations, I used a large holesaw to remove the liner in way of each fastener, leaving ample room for large washers and nuts that would bear directly on the underside of the deck above.  At the winch locations, I removed squares of the old liner to allow room for a backing plate beneath the winches.  In the head location, I’d have to cover the large hole with a cosmetic cover plate later, but the location above the galley would be covered by the new cosmetic plywood overhead in the near future.

With all the overhead preparations complete, I cleaned up the enormous mess created by the work.

To install the staysail tracks, I applied a good bead of sealant to the deck, then fastened the tracks with 7 stainless steel fasteners each, securing them below with large washers and nuts.  I cut off the excess bolt length, leaving the fasteners recessed below the old overhead.  Back on deck, I cleaned up the excess sealant and removed the tape to complete the installation.

I prepared two fiberglass backing plates for the winches, then installed the winches with sealant and stainless fasteners.

I installed the new lead cars for the staysail, and prepared to mount the removable track ends.  I’d forgotten to prepare the fastener holes for these ends when I did the tracks, so now I marked the fastener locations, then drilled out the core at each location before filling the void with thickened epoxy, leaving it to cure overnight.

Next, I turned to the jib/Yankee tracks.  As with the smaller staysail tracks, and working from my earlier layout, I drilled and tapped the holes at each end of the track, then temporarily secured them with screws so I could drill the remaining holes along the track.  I was pretty sure the tracks on both sides were in a solid fiberglass part of the deck, but I paid attention to the drill spoils to look for signs of core that I’d have to drill and fill.  Fortunately, all fastener locations were in solid fiberglass, so I could go ahead and tap and countersink all screw locations for the 5/16″ fasteners that would secure the tracks.

This time, I marked and drilled the holes for the track ends as well.  I didn’t have enough of the fasteners I needed to do both tracks, so with time running out anyway I’d await final installation till I received the fasteners.

Finally, I drilled and tapped the fastener holes in the poop deck for the lazarette hatch locking hasp, but the fasteners wouldn’t arrive till next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  29°, light snow.  Forecast for the day:  Snow, 3-6″ forecast, 30°

Wednesday

The slim height of the lazarette hatch required  a specific sort of latch, one that could work in the narrow inside corner formed by the hatch and the adjacent deck, securing the hatch in place as well as providing a means of locking.  I obtained just such a latch, and now went through the usual motions of installation, beginning with the hatch-mounted side of the latch, which I screwed directly to the forward side of the new hatch with four machine screws and sealant.

Once that was in place, I could lay out the deck side of the hasp and prepare the holes in the usual way.

During a couple of my normal trips up and down the ladder in the morning, I lifted two of the new batteries up on deck, and eventually into the cabin, working in stages:  each battery weighed around 90 pounds, so to lift the batteries 10′ up to the deck, then down 6′ into the cabin, and using the formula W = Fs, where W is the amount of work done in Newtons, F is the amount of force applied (1 Lackey), and s is…well, it’s been a long time since school, but it was a lot of work.  Too much, really, and I vowed to find other than human means to raise the remaining 8 batteries, but for now the two house batteries were aboard, and I looked forward to finishing up their installation so I could test the electrical installations.

For now, though, it was time to finish up the final two deadlights on the starboard side.  The lenses had had a couple days to cure in place, so I removed the wedges and protective plastic from inside, then, back outside, laid out and prepared the screwholes for the bronze trim rings before installing them and finishing them off as I’d done earlier with the other four.

Armed now with information from the sail loft about sheet leads for the new staysail arrangement, I could proceed with the layout for the new staysail sheet tracks and winches, some of the final hardware installations still required.  With a basic measurement of twelve feet aft of the inner forestay attachment point, which equated roughly to a point even with the mast step, I prepared the deck with some masking tape so I lay out the new 2′ tracks I had for the staysail sheets. I started on the port side since it was there.

The design of the coachroof required that the staysail sheet tracks be somewhere outboard of the handrails, which fit in fine with the requirements of the sail, but I had to be sure the sheet could lead fairly from the chosen point adjacent to the mast (with the center of the track at the 12′ sweet spot) aft to the winch locations, which had to be near the outboard corners of the cabin trunk on each side.

So as part of the initial layout, I placed the winch where I thought it should be, roughly centered between the handrail and the edge of the cabin trunk (3″), and in line with the aft edge of the handrail (6″).  I held the winch in place against the slope of the coachroof with some masking tape.  Then, more or less visually, I determined roughly where I thought the track should go, which I wanted as far inboard as possible while retaining clearance from the handrails for the lead car, as well as a fair lead aft to the winch.  This ended up being 5″ inboard from the edge of the nonskid.

With the tracks thusly placed, and taped in place with the lead car installed in the center of the track, I used a line to mock up the sheet lead, satisfying myself that it would be fair all the way to the winch, not only from the ideal mid-track position, but also from the forwardmost position.  With minor adjustments, the initial layout worked as I’d hoped.

A final consideration before I went ahead with installation steps was to see where the track fell in relation to the main bulkhead:  I wanted to be sure the bolts cleared the bulkhead and didn’t end up in the middle of it.  In the cabin, I measured from the port openings on each side to the bulkhead, then transferred these measurements to the exterior so I could double check the track placement.  As it happened, the forwardmost fastener was a couple or few inches aft of the bulkhead, which was ideal since it meant there’d be no more holes required through the finished overhead in the forward cabin.

With the locations finalized, I marked the holes for the staysail track, then drilled out the top skin and core in the usual way.  At the winch location, I cut away the masking tape in way of the base, then aligned the winch as I wanted it (and in accordance with the winch instructions) and marked and drilled out the core in way of those holes as well.

Laying out and preparing the fastener locations on the starboard side went more quickly, since now I could transfer measurements from the port side with no need for mockups and trials.

Afterwards, I filled all the new holes with a thickened epoxy mixture.

To round out the day, I got started on the layout for the jib/Yankee tracks, which was more straightforward since I knew where they had to go all along.  Still, I needed to do some final positioning, and, again beginning to port, eventually settled on a position 1/2″ from the toerails at each end, and centered between the winch island and the stanchion gate brace at the forward end.

With these basics, I repeated the process on the starboard side.  Here, the distance to the gate brace at the forward end was somewhat longer, a result of how I’d had to cheat the positions of the port-side braces in order to fit around the water tank fill, so this resulted in a slightly different base placement.  I kept the measurement from the winch island consistent (6-3/8″), so the tracks were the same from side to side.

For now, I was out of time, so I left final hole preparation for next time.  I hoped the tracks would be in the solid fiberglass portions of the deck on each side, but I’d find out for sure when I started the hole prep.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  29°, clear. Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 39°

Tuesday

I spent most of the morning on the deck hatches, starting with the final installation of the lazarette hatch hinges, which I bolted through the deck after drilling and tapping the screw holes through the epoxy-filled patches from last time.  I finished up for now with a gasket inside the lid, and then covered the top of the lid with more protective plastic to prevent damage during the rest of the project.

I had a couple latching options on hand that I planned to install in the near future, but I wasn’t sure which one to  choose, so for the moment I moved on to the cockpit lids.  For these, I purchased stainless steel piano hinges, which would be a stronger installation than the original shorter hinges that had long failed by the time the boat arrived here.

For each hatch, I had to cut the hinges to length, which I did with a grinder and cutoff wheel, then laid out and dry-installed the hinges with a couple screws before drilling all the remaining holes.  I installed the hinge to the locker lid with butyl tape sealant and however many screws were required by the hinge.

On deck, I positioned each hatch in the middle of its opening, and repeated the hinge installation process on the back edge of the locker gutters.

I added a gasket around the inside of the hatch opening, then covered the tops of the hatches with more of the plastic covering before installing hold-down, lockable latches to the hatch.

Though I wasn’t ready to install it just yet, I went ahead and drilled, tapped, and prepared the mounting holes for the mainsheet padeye and riser block.

The plastic molded battery boxes I’d found much earlier in the project were a near-perfect fit for the specified batteries, but weren’t quite tall enough for the cover to fit properly.  Accounting for the terminals, and space for the cables, I needed a couple more inches of height beneath the lids. I used some foam blocks that came with the batteries in their shipping boxes to simulate the final height needed for the lids.

The lids would be a protect the battery terminals, and while they would provide a minor role in overall battery securing, the overall means of preventing battery movement would come from different means, so to extend the tops for my purposes I came up with a plan to add plastic extensions to the lids, and plastic cleats on the boxes themselves to support the extensions.  I chose ABS plastic since it had good qualities for the intended purpose, and I thought it matched the original box construction as well.

As needed, I cut and bolted 3/4″ thick plastic cleats to the sides of the battery box, then cut and bolted 1/4″ x 4″ plastic extensions to the box, leaving room for the cable openings.  This essentially covered the box but left adequate clearance within for the terminals and wiring; the extensions were strong enough that I could later strap over the top of the box to help hold the batteries securely.

With the prototype built, I saw a need for some small additional cleats to help hold the extensions in place, but the basic concept was sound and strong, and I continued the process with the additional four boxes, managing to cut all the plastic for the remaining work and install it on one additional box by the end of business.  I’d continue with the additional boxes over the coming days.

Total time billed on this job today:  7 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  25°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Chance of snow and rain showers, 35°

Monday

With my days for the immediate future slightly truncated at each end as we settled in to new routines with a new puppy at home, I got a somewhat late start with the day’s work.

Four of the new deadlights had had the weekend to cure in place, so now I removed the shims from inside, leaving the acrylic lenses firmly in place.  I removed the protective plastic film from the inside surfaces.

With the wedges freed up, I could go ahead and install the remaining two lenses on the starboard side, using the same techniques as on the previous four.

The next step towards completing the installations was to lay out and drill fastener holes for the exterior bronze trim rings.  These rings performed no particular structural purpose whatsoever, but finished off the openings from the outside.  Since the bolts to secure the rings would also pass through the new lenses, the trim rings would also help secure the plastic, though in this installation that was a secondary benefit.

Not that it probably mattered, but during removal of these deadlights long ago I’d marked each trim ring for its location, and now, using the appropriate ring for each port on the port side, I dry-fit the rings, drilling and tapping for #8 machine screws at the six screw locations.  I held the ring temporarily with the two end screws while drilling and tapping the remaining four holes.  Afterwards, removing the trim ring, I milled the usual small countersinks in the cabin side.

With the three ports on this site thusly prepared, I applied sealant to the perimeter of the openings and installed the trim rings permanently, cleaning up excess sealant afterwards and finishing up my removing the exterior protective plastic film from the lenses.

I repeated the process with the starboard forward port, the last of the original four.

Inside the boat, I installed nuts and washers on the new machine screws, then finished up the installations with the interior trim rings.

In a couple days, I could repeat the final processes on the two starboard after deadlights, but for the moment I took a few minutes to finish up a couple small jobs from the list, starting with replacing the screws on the anchor windlass circuit breaker, swapping the ones I’d used originally for some black-finished stainless screws that better matched the panel.  I also removed the protective paper from the forward hatch–a small thing, but a good sign as it signaled the end of the project was nigh, and there was no longer any reason to hold off.

I’d held off installing the cockpit locker hatches and lazarette hatch as long as possible, but now it was time to start thinking about final installations, starting with the new lazarette hatch in the poop deck.    I laid out a pair of small yet hefty stainless hinges on the aft side, and pre-installed the hatch side of the hinges with sealant and small bolts before marking the hole locations on the deck and removing the core from around the four screws in the usual way.

Afterwards, I laid out and prepared the fastener locations for the mainsheet padeye and riser, even though the riser was still in primer only and awaiting its final finish.  With these holes prepared, along with the hatch holes, I filled all the holes with a thickened epoxy mixture, finishing up the day by spec’ing and ordering some materials I’d need to finish up the battery installations in the coming days.

Total time billed on this job today:  6 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  33°, light rain, 2″ snow overnight. Forecast for the day:  Rain showers, then cloudy, 39°

Friday

I got started again on the windlass installation, starting back in the forward compartment, where I finished up the wiring there–a simple sentence that belies the two or more hours required to make the final connections between the rocker switch and deck-mounted remote, run new 2AWG cable between the battery (positive distribution buss) and windlass circuit breaker and onwards to the contactor box, as well as the negative cable required.

With the wiring complete belowdecks (other than the leads from the windlass motor), I prepared the windlass itself for final installation with sealant around the base and wiring holes, after which I bolted it in place with the new backing plate and blind windlass studs.  The cables connected to the windlass were just a few inches too short to reach the contactor box, so I had to spice in additional wire in order to make the run and complete the windlass connection at the contactor box.

This took most of the morning to complete, but before lunch I had time to work more on the light near the companionway.  I realized that I could install the aftermost overhead panel on the starboard side now after all, since the staysail sheet winch would end up above the head on this side. so with that epiphany I went ahead and installed the small panel, and connected the little light fixture with removable wiring so the panel could be pulled down as needed.  I discovered belatedly that the spade connectors I had on hand weren’t fully insulated at the terminal ends, so I added some black tape to prevent contact between positive and negative wire terminals.

After lunch, and contemplating my ongoing list, I decided with some trepidation to start the work on the deadlights’ installation.  On this boat, the deadlights–i.e. the small elliptical fixed ports in the cabin sides–featured an unorthodox construction in which the port lens (acrylic plastic in this case) was secured directly to the inside of the cabin trunk behind the liner, and then independently trimmed on each side with a bronze trim ring on the exterior, and a plastic one on the interior.  It was frankly a bizarre and un-ideal setup, but we’d long ago come to terms with it, and after substantial surface preparation much earlier in the project (required to remove the gobs of silicone that had originally been used to secure and bed the ports), I felt like securing the new lenses in this way would be at least effective, if not how I would have designed it.  In any event, I knew that the new installation would exceed the quality of the installations I’d removed during the beginning of the project.

Ports and deadlights usually end up being one of my least-favorite installations on any boat:  there’s something about them that is simply un-fun and usually highly fussy, and, working alone, there are frequently many times where additional help would be useful but not forthcoming.  So with all this in mind, I was not sure why I decided to tackle this on an icy, story Friday afternoon, but apparently there was karma in the air.  I looked forward to these installations being done, but at the same time I’d continually postponed the task for some time since I didn’t really want to do the installation.

Completely unsure how this process would work out, I decided to start with cutting out the new acrylic lenses for the two deadlights in the forward cabin as a sort of test.  Using the old lenses as a guide, I cut out the new ones; the very construction of the ports meant that high accuracy was not critical here, as long as the lenses could fit through the openings in the liner, and had enough overlap to be bedded to the inside of the cabin trunk once in place.  For the task I’d procured a couple sheets of clear acrylic, which in this case was covered with a clear plastic protective wrap rather than paper.

With just the two lenses for now, I attempted a dry-fit to see how this would work.  My plan was to bed and adhere the lenses to the inside of the cabin trunk with the same lightly-adhesive polyurethane sealant I favor for deck hardware, and wedge them tightly in place while the adhesive cured.  So to start, I dry-fit the lenses, determining how to angle them into the narrow space between the cabin liner and cabin trunk beyond, and used wooden shims to hold them tightly in place.  This actually worked better and more smoothly than I thought it would, and, pleased so far, I used a pen to mark the protective plastic from outside so I could remove the plastic from the bonding surfaces where needed.

The openings on the port side, which had been affected by whatever long-ago trauma had created so many “interesting” fiberglass situations on that side,  were relatively rough on the inside, and I worried that this would make sealing tough, but as it happened the lenses fit fairly well despite that, and while the starboard side was smoother and more even, I felt that the port lenses would work just fine as well, which was a relief.

Removing the lenses to the bench, I cut along my lines to remove the outer strip of the protective plastic, exposing the acrylic for bonding.  I added a thin strip of masking tape inside the cut for extra protection, as I planned to leave the covering in place while the sealant cured, but wanted to be sure I could cleanly remove it later.

I cleaned the raw fiberglass inside the cabin trunk with acetone, then applied a bead of sealant to the outer  parts of the two lenses and carefully angled them into the openings and positioned them as needed, using shims to hold the plastic tightly against the fiberglass.  It was easy to see the sort of seal I was getting, since the sealant bead was visible from within as I pressed the ports into place.

From outside, I added an additional bead of sealant around the edges to fill any gaps, and smoothed out the bead so it was flush with the masking tape.  This was easier than I had expected it would be, which pleased me.

This went so much better and more quickly than I’d anticipated that I decided to continue, but not wanting to shake things up or risk a superstitious jinx, I continued by cutting out just two more lenses–this time for the port middle and after locations–and repeated the whole process:  dry fit, marking, masking, final preparations, and installation.

I would have liked to have completed the final two lenses on the starboard side in the main cabin, which would have given all six the full weekend to cure, but the wide gaps between the liner and cabin trunk on the port side had exhausted my supply of shims, so I cut out the final two lenses and went through the dry-fit and marking processes with some little shim remnants, but left final installation till next time when I could free up some of the wedges.  I could have made up some new wedges to get the job done, but I’d been at it long enough and didn’t want to push my good luck, so I thought it made sense to call it good for now and simply wait till next time to continue.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  29°, light freezing rain.  Forecast for the day:  Freezing rain to sleet and snow, 32°

Thursday

My first task of the day was to install the bow cleats with new 5″ machine screws.

Next, I installed the jib sheet winches, using several long lengths of 1/4″ fastener as needed for the thick winch islands.

I spent the bulk of the day on various aspects of the windlass installation, starting with confirming the position I’d laid out last time, using the windlass itself to confirm the position I’d marked on deck.  Once I was satisfied with the position, I marked the hole locations and drilled for the mounting studs, wire passage, and a large 3″ hole for the anchor rode.  This was a long process and taxed even my second-biggest corded drill.

I installed the mounting studs to the windlass and tested the fit of the new fastener holes, checking clearances below.  Clearance was tight near the wooden beam near the chainlocker bulkhead, but OK for a backing plate and washers.  I used the supplied windlass base gasket to lay out a backing plate to fit.  To seal the inside of the large anchor rode hole, I applied some epoxy resin throughout.

The owner’s choice for the main windlass control was a wired remote, which required a plug on deck.  I chose to install this well forward on the starboard side, where it would be accessible yet out of the way of normal traffic–plus it was a location where the wires would be hidden in the chainlocker.  I pre-wired the bottom of the switch and noted the wire colors and specific terminals for later reference, then installed the switch with its supplied gasket and some butyl tape around the center housing and screw locations.

The final installation of the windlass hardware would have to wait till the epoxy cured, so I moved my operation down below and led the wiring from the new deck switch down and into the little locker at the forward end of the v-berth, where I also installed the windlass control (or, as it’s called in the documentation, contactor) box.

The windlass came with a basic rocker switch for operation, which the owner foresaw as an emergency backup only, so we agreed to install the switch in the forward cabin.  I chose a location adjacent to the door into the now-windlass control locker and installed the rocker switch and little panel, installing the three wires (with the same colors as their counterparts to the deck switch) to the back of the switch before final installation.  The wires from the two control units would be conjoined later at the terminals on the contactor box.

Finally, I chose a location for and installed the supplied 70-amp dedicated circuit breaker for the windlass.  This needed to be close to the battery (or positive buss), yet accessible, and with the intricacies of the boat, this more or less dictated the position in the center of the v-berth cutout, where there was a perfectly-sized space to accept the breaker panel.

With all the core installations and basic layout complete, I hoped to complete all the windlass wiring and installation details next time.

Total time billed on this job today:  8 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  22°, snow just started.  Forecast for the day:  Snow and sleet, a few inches’ accumulation, 32°

Wednesday

To install the vent for the waste tank, I began with a small hole drilled from inside the boat in my chosen location, then went outside to enlarge the hole to fit the vent.  I installed the new vent with plenty of sealant, keeping the vent opening angled slightly back to avoid water inflow when the boat was heeled.  I wanted to install the hose and finish the vent plumbing, but I didn’t have the right hose clamps on hand for the 5/8″ hose, so that would have to wait till later.

Next, I installed the bow chocks and riser blocks with new long bronze machine screws into the already-prepared deck and holes.

I’d been in kind of a hurry to install the large port in the galley earlier, as the day was running out and I wanted to have it done then, but now I realized I should have changed the gasket in the opening port, since the old one was in bad condition.  I found it was easy to remove the opening part of the port (I should have done so before installing the spigot, which would have made life easier), and I had the 1/4″ square gasket material in stock, so replacement was quick and easy.

Preparing ahead for its eventual installation, I installed a series of wire mounts inside the channel in the forward side of the mast compression post, starting just at sole level and mounting them every so often up to the top.  Then, I measured the height of the cabin table (about 30″), and installed a little chart light with USB port on the aft side of the post about 12″ above the table top, running the wires through the post into the channel.  Afterwards, I laid out and temporarily installed the wooden cover over the wiring channel, though I planned to remove this before installing the post later.

Mike from the rigging company was here for a few hours during the morning to install the new masthead sheaves, reeve the halyards, and install the rigging on the mast, as well as measure for the new lifelines.

I spent the first part of the afternoon working on the lighting and switch wiring in the starboard aft end of the cabin, near the companionway.  The owner had requested a small overhead light here, for which I’d built a round base some time earlier, as well as a switch to operate this light along with the identical fixtures in the galley.  I hoped and planned to hide the wiring for the light and switch behind and in the gaps around the molded interior liner at the bulkhead.

There was a large hole in the original overhead here where a stove pipe had once passed, and this was the general location I planned to mount the new light, so I measured the center of the hole and transferred it to the new plywood overhead panel so I could drill a hole for the light fixture and wiring.  I had some issues trying to screw the wooden ring to the plywood, so instead I glued on the ring and would later install the small round puck fixture once the overhead panel was finally installed.

The little switch would be mounted in a wooden cover plate I made earlier–needed to allow for the depth of the switch and the blind wiring in the location–so once I determined a mounting location, near the companionway opening, I drilled an access hole and then fed in the wires intended for the switch.  I could also lead the wires for the light fixture behind the bulkhead and through the old overhead into the opening where the light would be; the wires fit nicely in the large space next to the bulkhead liner, and these gaps would be covered by the cherry trim that I’d already made for the purpose.

I’d hoped to lead the switch wires straight out through the backing block and to the switch, but I found that the design and depth of the switch, and the terminal ends, didn’t allow this, and after trying a few things I eventually turned around the mounting block and enlarged the hole in the fiberglass behind (not shown) to give some more room for the wiring and terminal connections in the hollow back side of the cherry mounting block.  I wasn’t sure which terminal on the switch was which, but it’d be easy to swap the wires later if needed once I had the boat powered up.

I’d make up the final wiring for the light fixture later, when I installed the overhead panel.  For now, I needed to keep this area open pending installation of the staysail sheet winches.

With overhead on the mind, and the day where I could finally install the fresh new panels approaching, I temporarily installed–one at a time–the forwardmost panels on each side so I could use the marks I’d made on the old overhead to mark the new overhead panels in way of the compression post.  By aligning a ruler with the marks I’d made previously, I could transfer the position of the post to the new panels.

Down on the bench, I cut out the openings in each panel, allowing an extra 1/4″ on all sides for clearance, Clarence.

With just a bit of time left in the day, I worked with the windlass  template to set up the initial layout on the bowsprit, using a line tied to the anchor roller to ensure the proper alignment for the anchor chain to the gypsy.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 33°, mainly clear.  Forecast for the day:  Mostly sunny,  30°

Tuesday

First thing, I finished up the gate braces’ installation, a straightforward task.

I’d already marked the fastener locations for the inner forestay attachment point on the bowsprit, so now I double-checked the marks, then drilled the holes slightly oversized for the 5/16″ bolts that would secure the hardware.  Then, after masking off the bare teak around the base, I installed the inner forestay with new fasteners and sealant.

At the cockpit and winch islands, I laid out the positions for the new jib sheet winches, ensuring ample clearance between the winch handles and the nearby stanchions before marking the winch island for the fastener locations.  Since the self-tailing strippers on this particular model winch were fixed in one position only, I aligned the winches according to the desired position of the strippers on each side of the cockpit.

Afterwards, I used a long bit to drill through the winch islands for all the 1/4″  fastener locations, then used the bit, inserted so it was just penetrating the underside, to measure the depth of the holes at the deepest points, which I marked with tape above.  Because the underlying (original) winch islands were an angled molding, the underside of the islands was also angled, so the fastener length required varied from inboard to outboard accordingly.   The outer depth was about 6″, and I was able to find and order  7″ long flat head fasteners to suit the bill; the shorter versions for the inner locations were easier to find.

After some final prep and fastener/tool collection, I turned to the bronze ports:  three small round ones, and the large one over the galley.  Beginning in the forward cabin, I dry-fit the ports to check their fits in the existing openings.  As expected, the clearance was extremely tight, and I needed to assess how best to seal the ports during installation.  These ports fit from the inside out, and were to be secured with four bolts from the outside.    All the fastener holes were in place, but I reamed them out a bit to ensure easy passage of the new fasteners.

For installation, I applied sealant around the inside of the round opening, so that the port spigot would push through it as I installed it from the inside.  Though I normally wouldn’t seal the inside mounting flange of a normal (i.e. trim ring) port installation, here I felt that the additional layer of protection was necessary since there was so little space for a guaranteed good seal around the spigot, though it turned out that the sealant appeared to do the job well once I’d installed the ports.

With both ports sealed and installed from the inside, and aligned with the mounting holes, I went on deck and installed the new bronze fasteners with ample sealant around their tops and heads.  Then, I secured the ports with nuts and washers within.

I finished up the installations by cutting the excess bolt length and installing the original bronze cap nuts over the exposed fastener ends, then cleaning up the excess sealant on the outside of each port.

I repeated the installation process with the similar round port in the head, though here it was a tight fit into the space from inside.

I finished up the day with the last bronze port installation over the galley.  This port was traditional in that it featured a trim ring from outside, so bedding this port was more straightforward.

Total time billed on this job today:  7.25 hours

0600 Weather Observation: 25°, mainly cloudy.  Forecast for the day: Partly sunny, slight chance of rain or snow showers after noon, 38°