Nellie's Maintenance Log

9 April 2014

Decided against planing the bottom. I didn't like the idea of pulling good glass off just to remove the gel coat. So, today Bicki and I started grinding the gel coat off. It's a dirty, tiring job. The best tool we've got is persistence. The second best tool is a 7", fiber-backed, 36 grit sanding disk mounted to an 11,000 rpm 4-1/2" angle grinder. Getting through the old bottom paint is almost as bad as removing the gel coat. It's time to switch to ablative paint. Phil Jones (P.L. Jones Boatyard, Hooper Island, MD) recommended an epoxy primer followed by an epoxy filler for the areas where the gel coat has peeled into the bootstripe. Phil also said to leave scratches in the bottom's fiberglass, it'll help the Interlux 2000 grab. Here's some good news, I haven't found a single blister.

The prop had some dings on the end of the blades. Used a 6lb hammer as a bucking bar and with a 2lb hammer hit the prop. They did an amazingly good job. I can't tell at all where the damage was.

26 December 2013

The forward looking camera (with 72 IR LEDs) camera today. It's big but a perfect color match, i.e. the same white, as the dome camera. Here's a drawing of what it will look like. I was concerned the starboard shroud would interfere with the IR camera but the drawing shows it will clear easily. We'll probably see the topping lift in the aft-looking camera but it shouldn't be too bad.

Got the Kahlenberg #116 and #117 whistles plumbed together today. The combined sound is great. I'd thought that valves at each whistle's inlet would be required to 'tune' the circuit. It turns out that leaving each ball valve wide-open is perfectly acceptable. I'm leaving the ball valves in as it allows flexibility. The next job is to pull the stack, mount the compressor and mount the whistles. With the stack off it'll be easier to clear all the silicone out of the wire chase (the one through the salon ceiling and into the stack). To keep water from leaking into the headliner a fiberglass dam will be built around the penetration.

13 December 2013

Met with Jeff, who subcontracts to PL Jones, and planes hulls. He said the fiberglass strands on the Nellie's hull were a result of hydraulization—essentially water washing away some of the surface resin. He can plane the hull with a very shallow cut and that will remove the hydraulized glass and the remaining gelcoat. This will minimize the removal of good glass. Phil will then fill, fair, and apply seven coats of interlux 2000.

Phil Jones looked at both the prop ding and the cutlass bearing. He thought a brass hammer could fix the prop in situ and that the wear on the cutlass didn't warrant replacing it.

Removed the four inspection ports from the fuel tanks. Need to cut the existing 2" fuel fill nipple out and replace it with a 2" stainless deck plate. This will make the fuel ports easier to open and the tanks easier to fill.

Removed the pencil zinc plug from the Cummins' heat exchanger. Nellie uses a 1/2" diameter pencil zinc (these zincs have a 5/16" thread to hold the pencil into the plug). Problem is the brass plug accepts zincs with a 3/8" threads. Need to find/make a brass plug (which has 3/4" thread into the heat exchanger) and accepts our 1/2" with the 5/16" thread.

Designing the mount for the rear view camera. Here's a preliminary. Aft of the mast the camera interferes with the topping lift. So this drawing shows the cameras (yea, two cameras—the second being the forward looking IR) mounted outboard and swept aft of the mast. The 1/4" stainless mounting plate is shown above the 'forward view'.

Designing the compressor system for Nellie's new Kahlenberg 117. Easiest solution is if a 120V, 1.5HP, 6 gallon, pancake compressor fits into the stack. Then only a 120V 12-2 would have to be run from the engine room. Fingers crossed.

14 September 2013
Nellie's salon headliner is made up of tongue-and-groove boards that are 1-13/16" wide and ?" thick. The wood used, Laban, is clear grained and light in color. Maple is a close grain substitute. Semigloss is the best match for the finish.

13 September 2013
Replaced 77 missing deck bungs. Several lessons learned: 60 grit on a random-orbital sander will best grind down the protruding dowel and remove the proud polysulfide caulking; sand the dowel before the epoxy dries so the wood dust will fill the gaps between the dowel and the hole.

7 July 2013
Made a plexiglass insert for the starboard, forward salon window. The insert has a 4" hole in it to receive the LG air conditioner's exhaust hose. The insert fits into the window channel and is held in place by closing the window against it.

Poor Man's Air Conditioning

22 June 2013
With my head in the lazarette I can hear a squeal from the prop shaft. It only happens at low RPMs. The cutlass bearing is at least seven years old. Need to give it a good going over when we haul.

The shaft RPM was 717.7 (as measured with the optical tachometer) x 2.57 reduction = 1844 RPM. About what the helm's electronic tach reads.

An IR thermometer on the header tank reads a 180F while the helm's engine temperature reads 190F—about 10F high. I still suspect a bad ground in the helm. Need to run a larger gauge wire.

13 June 2013
We weren't lucky enough to get factory window screens and it has been a struggle to come up with a good alternative. Particularly irksome are the little ports in the shower, head, and stateroom. An effective and inexpensive solution is to use the port's stainless ring to hold a screen in place (see picture).

The installation process is very straight forward. In fact, the hardest part of the job is removing the stainless ring. It is bedded in polysulfide but will yield with patience. I used a razor knife to cut the joint around the inside of the window. Then working around the inner circumference, with two screwdrivers and a putty knife, I gradually wedged the ring away from the cabin side. Two things to watch-out for, don't scratch the gel coat and don't bend the ring. With the ring off you'll note that the port itself is well bedded. If there are voids in the port's bedding, fix them now as I suggest the ring be reinstalled without bedding—it'll make replacing a damaged screen much easier. Use the ring as a template but cut the screen about 1/4" smaller. A thin layer of silicone caulk will secure the screen to the ring. After the caulk is dry reinstall the ring. As always, make sure to bed the screws.

I used $3 worth of aluminum screen, 18 x 16 mesh, for the four ports. At $60 a better choice might be stainless steel screening. Worth considering too is the size of the mesh. A 20 x 20 mesh will keep no-see-ums out.

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Nellie's new port screens

13 June 2013
At 5512hrs changed the oil and oil filter. With 12 quarts in her the dipstick shows on the lower of the two marks.

28 May 2013
Nozzle Masters in Orlando, Florida, rebuilt the pump in two days and charged $424. It took another 2-1/2 hours to reinstall the pump, prime the fuel system, and start the engine. In addition to the DIY dollar savings I appreciate how much I learned about the 4BT's entire fuel system—including how to bleed it.

Lessons Learned

Removing and reinstalling the fuel injection pump is well within the reach of the do-it-yourselfer.

The order of removal is: (1) the seven fuel lines; (2) the wire attached to the cutoff solenoid; (3) the throttle bracket; (4) the pump support bracket; (5) the three bolts holding the pump to the engine; and (6) the nut and lock washer holding the pump to the gear.

It's not necessary to completely remove from the engine the seven rigid fuel lines which connect to the fuel pump. They do have to be given a little play though. For the four rear-facing injector lines this is accomplished by removing the lines' two retaining clamps (mounted on top of the engine). The fuel line from the filter attaches to the pump in two locations. Simply removing this line's tee fitting will free the pump. Finally, the fuel return line is small enough to be pushed clear after it's unscrewed.

After each fuel line was unscrewed from the injection pump its end was sealed, from foreign matter intrusion, with blue tape.

After removing the big plastic cap from the front of the engine, which gives access to the nut and lock washer holding the shaft to the gear, stuff a rag inside the opening to catch any falling nuts or lock washers. Think of this as cheap insurance because if a part does drop inside the engine it'll be a lot of work to get it out.

The only special tool needed was a gear puller. I used one but I'll bet tapping on the injector pump's shaft with a brass mallet would be just as effective.

During removal there's no need to lock the pump's drive shaft, as both the Cummins and Lucas manuals call for. The guys at the rebuild shop told me, "Pump timing is guaranteed correct by aligning the shaft's key with the gear's slot."

With the engine at top-dead-center for cylinder #1 the manual lift pump works, i.e. the engine's lift pump lobe is disengaged.

Bleeding the engine was done by: (1) hand pumping the lift pump; (2) opening the two bolts on the high pressure side, with the engine cranking, until the escaping fuel had no air in it; and, then (3) loosening the fuel line connection at the injector for cylinders 1 & 4. It took about 15 seconds until the engine started.

The Nozzle Master tech said he likes to advance the pump's timing a little. For the Cummins this is done by rotating the injection pump clockwise (while facing towards the bow). I did not try this but rather used the existing factory timing marks.

26 May 2013
Last week Nellie's fuel injection pump started to leak from the auto advance assembly's gasket. Not a big deal but certainly a warning flag for things to come. After all, its gaskets and seals are 25 years old and have been operated for 5500 hours.

It took three hours today to remove the pump—but much of that was head scratching and looking for the right-sized wrench or socket.
21 May 2013
The Force 10's biggest burner isn't lighting easily. The tech at Force 10 recommended reseating the thermocouple's retaining nut as this is how it's electrically grounded. The fix worked.

14 May 2013
The clothes washer's hot water valve is not opening all the way which makes filling the washer with water a bloody long process. The washer fills fine with the cold water valve alone. Replace the hot water valve.

3 May 2013
Replaced the 16" windshield wipers with 17" ones. They fit fine. The wiper's bayonet connector is an industry standard. Lubricated the spring mechanism and now the wipers are being held more firmly on the glass. Cleaned the decks with Oxy Clean.

2 May 2013
In the midst of the worst torrential downpours Key West has seen since the 1800's, and they've had a lot of downpours in the intervening years, we get serious about finding the source of the leak(s) in the galley's headliner. We drop seven planks and discover there are actually two leaks. The most water is coming from the wire bundle penetration inside the stack. This will be an easy fix. The second, smaller leak, is just to port of the first but still under the stack. I'll caulk the stack to the pilothouse and also rebed the four stack mounting bolts. The headliner has some water damage but replacing a few planks should take care of that. The trick will be matching the color and grain. Quarter sawn maple is supposed to be a good approximation for the grain.

29 April 2013
Nozzle Masters in Orlando, Florida, rebuilt the pump in two days and charged $424. It took another 2-1/2 hours to reinstall the pump, prime the fuel system, and start the engine. In addition to the DIY dollar savings I appreciate how much I learned about the 4BT's entire fuel system—including how to bleed it.

Lessons Learned

Removing and reinstalling the fuel injection pump is well within the reach of the do-it-yourselfer.

After each fuel line was unscrewed from the injection pump its end was sealed, from foreign matter intrusion, with blue tape.

The only special tool needed was a gear puller. I used one but I'll bet tapping on the injector pump's shaft with a brass mallet would be just as effective.

With the engine at top-dead-center for cylinder #1 the manual lift pump works, i.e. the engine's lift pump lobe is disengaged.

27 April 2013
Replaced another 39 deck bungs with teak dowel. Used West 205 in lieu of 5 minute epoxy. The bungs need to be sanded down while the epoxy is wet so the saw dust fills any voids. The West is less viscous and some of the bungs rotated while being sanded. This is an atheistic problem as the bung's grain can go out of alignment with the deck's grain.

25 April 2013
Replaced the thruster isolation switch with a Blue Seas M-Series 6006. It's rated for 1,500A for 10 seconds, 775A for 60 seconds, 500A intermittent over 5 minutes, and 300A continuously. The thruster draws less than 425A. Definitely don't want to run it continuously for more than 2-1/2 minutes.

Not a flattering shot but what can you do?

Installed a 12 LED, yellow-white light in the existing fixture over the sink. The LED comes with wire leads which easily fit under the socket's retaining screws for the +12 and ground lines. The new LED's light is much warmer than that of the blue-white LED I previously installed. In fact, the yellow-white LED light is very much like that given off by the existing incandescent bulb. The only thing that keeps me from replacing all the incandescent bulbs with LEDs is their $18/each cost. Question is how to keep the incandescent bulbs working continuously, not intermittently as they're prone to now. A Google search is in order.

21 April 2013
The new wire rope in both davits has come loose from the winch drum's retaining clip. To fix the problem the retaining clip was tightened. Additionally the wire rope's bitter end, after the retaining clip, now goes all the way around the drum and then passes back into it. This extra wrap should keep the wire from slipping. The secret to putting new wire rope on the drum is to remove the three bolts holding the drum to the electric motor. With the drum and electric motor apart, it's much easier to get to the drum's wire rope retaining clip.

14 January 2013
Since replacing the impeller the pump has been dripping water. Upon inspection I found two things. First, the pump's wear plate was really worn (was doing it's job I guess). Second, there was no gasket between the wear plate and the engine. I made and installed a gasket, put the worn part of the wear plate against the gasket, put the impeller against the wear plate, and finally the pump housing over the impeller. No leaks. Nellie has a spare raw water pump aboard. When next the impeller is ready to be changed out, I should put the whole spare pump in.

Some final 'head' thoughts:

The world has changed and it was while rebuilding Nellie's sanitation system that this point was driven home in some interesting ways. The old sanitation design (see first diagram below) reflected the mores of its time. Nellie's new design (see second diagram below) reflects today's rules and maybe, even some of tomorrow's. Almost everywhere in US waters it's illegal to pump the head directly overboard. In fact, where we normally cruise, the inland waters of the east coast, even having an open head through-hull is a fineable offense. So, how does this affect Nellie's sanitation design? Surprisingly in some dramatic ways, and mostly for the better.

Nellie's old sanitation system layout. The complexity allows directly flushing the toilet overboard.

Nellie's new sanitation system layout. It's simpler and reduces the chance that noxious odors will escape.

When, by law, a normally-open through-hull becomes normally-closed, it's a game changer. There's a cascading affect on the sanitation system's design. The design used to require an anti-siphon and a three-way valve. The first kept the boat from flooding via the always-open thru-hull. The second allowed toilet waste to bypass the holding tank and go directly to the thru-hull. Now, redesign the system about a closed thru-hull and things get simpler. All toilet waste goes to the holding tank. From there the waste is either pumped overboard or vacuumed out via the foredeck fitting. Here's the up-side: by removing the anti-siphon and the three-way valve we eliminated 30' of hose, a dozen hose clamps, and myriad sources of potential 'stink'. A good trade I think against the ability to flush the head directly overboard.

This project also resulted in some interesting lessons learned:

1. The old 3/4" vent line was mostly clogged at its connection to the holding tank. The new vent line slopes upward from the tank fitting so that sloshing effluent will drain back into the tank with enough speed to scrub the line's walls.
2. Don't use brass fitting in a sanitation system—they'll dissolve. Use PVC or nylon.
3. All effluent lines slope towards where they drain to eliminate 'standing' effluent and the resultant odors.
4. The same long-moleculed plasticizer which makes PVC hose flexible also makes it more permeable to odors than solid PVC pipe.
5. A little heat from a heat gun greatly helps get stiff, white PVC hose over a barbed connector.
6. Effluent odors can permeate an inexpensive polyethylene holding tank. Test for this by first cleaning a section of the tank and then wipe the area with a cotton cloth. Take the cloth off the boat and then smell it. If head odor is present the polyethylene tank is permeable.
7. Adding some clear 1-1/2" hose at the through-hull allows you to see when you're done pumping out the holding tank.
8. Hiding the toilets water and effluent lines under the toilet's platform gives a cleaner look to the head. There's plenty of space under the platform to house the lines and it can be accessed from a hole made in either the engine room bulkhead or in the bottom of the stateroom's hanging locker.

In conclusion, new laws, and hopefully some enlightenment, motivated us to change how we operate Nellie's sanitation system. Now all head effluent goes into the holding tank. The holding tank can be emptied with either a shore based pump out or into the surrounding water via a through-hull. Looking to the future, Vermont's law may be an example of what we can expect next—there it's illegal to even have a hose connecting the holding tank to an underwater through-hull. Clearly we haven't gone that far with Nellie but that configuration is achievable by removing just a few hose clamps. Thanks got to Bob White, Renegade #72, for his review and inputs.

13 January 2013
Put new wire rope (two each 18' of 7x19, right hand lay, 5/32" (4mm), stainless steel), swages, and thimbles in both davits. The 5/32" Amsteel-Blue worked fine but i worried about it chafing. It's now a spare and stored inside the starboard davit.

10 January
At 5275 engine hours: new Racor and Cummins fuel filters; Cummins oil change and new oil filter; and transmission oil change. At 224 Onan engine hours changed the oil.

7 January 2013
Sanded and applied two coats of satin Minwax Polyurethane to the pilot houses' bench seat. Sanded and put one coat of Cetol on the Dutch door jams. Painted the two diesel deck fill plates yellow and two water deck fill plates blue. Painted the 2M and AM/FM antennas white. Wispy fiberglass strands were starting to show on each. Made new fiberglass screens for each small opening port.

30 December 2012

It appears the water being trapped on the outboard side of the port engine bed was coming from some loose fittings in the potable water line.

The water heater sits on a little platform in the engine room. It appears that the bilge pump hoses used to be routed under this platform. For some reason the hoses are now routed awkwardly next to the water heater. Need to reroute them under the platform.

Successfully test the newly plumbed anchor wash down system. Changing the operating procedures to leave the wash down's thru-hull, which is located next to the engine's raw water thru-hull closed. It will need to be opened before using the wash down pump.

29 December 2012

Replaced the port dinghy davit's magnetic cut-out switch. Ironic as it may seem the old switch was crushed by the magnet--the same magnet that supposed to stop the winch when it comes in proximity to the switch. Bottom line, nothing is more effective than a vigilant operator. Repaired the dinghy's port fuel tank tie-down; one of the screws had pulled out of the fiberglass floor.

Ran the Onan and turned it off and on several times (after a long layoff the impeller is more likely to fail the second time the Onan is run). Measured the cooling water flow rate at the expected 3 gpm.

28 December 2012

The Fireboy S2-A, mounted in the galley and used to turn on/off the propane and warn of gas leaks, has a bad sensor. The bilge mounted MS-2 sensor has been false alarming a lot. Today it quit working totally. Need a new sensor.

About 1/2 gallon of rusty water in the mid-bilge. I need to find a way to drain the water trapped around the ballast. Unless I think of something else, an exploratory hole perpendicular to the bilge may uncover something.

27 December 2012
The Cummins heat exchanger was leaking a little from it's aft-facing inspection plate. This is the same plate I'd removed several days ago to see if there were zinc bits inside the heat exchanger. Tightening the plate's attachment bolt took care of the problem.

The battery switch being used to isolate the thruster/windlass couldn't handle the bow thruster's current draw—we need a new switch that can handle at least 425A. In the mean time one of the switche's studs is connecting together the battery and the thruster/windlass power line.

26 December 2012
Cleaned the bilges. Put several coats of Cetol on the dinghy oars. TSP'd the salon walls, companionway hatch interior, and the Tommy door. Removed the wood mounts in the pilothouse that supported Peter Newman's writing table. Updated the Garmin MFDs to software V7.5. And, finally, after six weeks we put all the tools away!

25 December 2012
For the record, all of the following occurred after opening Christmas presents.

Washed the decks with Oxy. One more bung came off during the scrubbing which leaves three that need to be repaired.

Put a new impeller in the Cummins. The old impeller was in good shape.

Drained oil out of the AirSep's p-trap. Need to add this task to the Periodic Maintenance List. It probably should be checked every six months.

The dinghy tube repair seems to be holding. Yea! The repair methodology was different this time in that (1) toluene was used to scrub the patched area; (2) three coats of contact adhesive were applied with a paintbrush; and (3) the tube wasn't inflated for 24 hours.

24 December 2012
In the immortal words of John McEnroe—"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Some of the GE Silicone II used on the three starboard side salon windows didn't harden. Fortunately only the most aft window had to be redone. For the purposes of full disclosure the silicone used was beyond its expiration date, and yes, I did know it. But everyone knows that caulk goes bad by hardening in the tube. Guess I'll have to modify that heuristic:old latex and polyurethane caulks harden in the tube; old silicone may never harden.

Since I was already playing with the windows today, I reversed the opening direction of the salon's port center window. Now the sliding pane is the most forward pane and slides aft to open. This was done to better accommodate the air conditioner's exhaust hose.

There's some unexplained rust-brown water in the forward and mid bilge. In a newly painted forward bilge (the bilge from the bow to the engine room bulkhead) a little brown water worked itself up through several hairline cracks in the bilge's bottom. Wipe the water away and several hours later a little more appears. The same colored water, but in greater volume, is in the mid bilge (the bilge aft of the engine room bulkhead extending to the dam under the refrigerator). The aft bilge has nothing but clear water in it. I suspect that the water has been in proximity to the iron ballast--thus the rust brown color. Like the bulwarks, it doesn't surprise me that water got into the ballast's sealed space. The question now is, how to get it out. With the hopes of draining it I drilled two two 3/8" exploratory holes in the keel. Both went through about an inch of fiberglass before hitting dry metal. Rather than continue guessing where the water may be, the next test hole will be down through one of the hairline cracks.

Cleaned the dinghy. Sanded and epoxied the dinghy's oars. Nylon tied the dinghy's gas line and sounder wires together. Filled the dink with air. The new patch appears to be holding. Gallons of water were drained from the dink's bilge. I suspect that it's rain water that found it's way below deck. When not using the dink for extended periods it would be best to remove the plug (it's the plug on the outside of the dink and low on the transom). With the davits' falls all the way down to the dink, I could see an alarming amount of wire deformation on the port davit. The deformation was just below the turning block. This is also about where the starboard davit's wire broke. I'll bet this length of wire is usually just off the winch drum when the dink hits the water. It's then getting crushed each time the dink is raised. We need to replace the wire soonest.

Replaced the pencil zinc in the Cummins' heat exchanger. Removed the heat exchanger's end cap to make sure that none of the old zinc was blocking the tubes. Cleaned the end cap put a new o-ring around it's retaining bolt.

Removed and re-bedded the two studs which connect the Diver's Dream Zinc to Nellie's bonding wires.

Ground a slot in the port forward fuel tank's cap to receive a deck key. Didn't like the result--it's still too hard to open. A proper solution is to remove each tank's inspection plate and replace the 2" caps and receivers with real diesel deck plates. It'll have to wait until we get Nellie to Maryland.

23 December 2012
Painted the bottom with one gallon of Rust-Oleum bottom paint (47.5% copper). Since Nellie will be hauled in October there's no need to do a full bottom job now.

Tried again to fix the slow leak in the dink. The process was (1) rough sand the area; (2) wipe it down with tolulene; (3) put three layers of 2-part adhesive on the patch and the area to be covered; (4) apply the patch and rub it hard into place with a wrench. Letting the patch sit for 24 hours before belowing the dink up.

Had a hard time replacing the 4"x6" Divers Dream zinc. Its nuts were completely encrusted with marine growth. Both studs turned. Got the zinc off but will have to remove the studs and re-bed them before putting the new zinc on.

After a year since it was installed the heat exchanger's pencil zinc was completely gone. Need to check it every six months.

22 December 2012
Installed corrugated stainless steel gas line between the Force 10's 3/8" male flare fitting and Nellie's 5/16" flared cap (female fitting).

The good news is that changing out Vacuflush parts is becoming easier and easier to do. The bad news is that I was working on the head again today. I'm pretty sure that the vacuum leak is at the el under the toilet. It's a very slow leak as the vacuum pump comes on maybe once in four hours and then only for seconds. Today I took out the makeshift el and installed a proper PVC one. Had to use a heat gun on the white toilet hose to make it easier to get the connectors in.

That's why we test! After filling the holding tank with water until it overflowed from the deck plate, we found two leaks in the system. Much better to find the leaks now with clean water than later with … ;-) after fixing the leaks a re-test revealed nothing but dry joints.

Relocated all the life jackets from the top of the stateroom's hanging locker to underneath the salon's settee. Still easy access and reduces clutter. Speaking of clutter, the storage location for the the pilothouse's floor and nav table inserts is now on top of the genset. At least while at the dock this keeps the pilothouse bench foot rest clutter free.

Replaced the starboard davit's 4mm wire rope with 3/16" Amsteel-Blue. Reused the wire rope's thimble and wove it into place using a fid made from a 6mm knitting needle ($2.50/pair at Walmart). The needle is hollow and when cut to about 4" long, worked perfectly. Some nylon whipping, from the thimble up the falls 4", keeps the stainless weights from rubbing on the Amsteel-Blue.

Covered the chain-locker-side of the doors at the end of the bunk with an insulated plastic sheet. This helps keeps water spray and odors in the chain locker.

Scraped more loose gel coat from the hull. Started to put black bottom paint on just the bare spots but have decided to go ahead and put bottom paint on the entire bottom. Need more paint.

The stateroom is finished! The mattress cover was washed, air dried and sprayed with a deodorant. The new polished brass lights were re-installed. The new bedspread and new throw pillows were put fashionably in place.

Installed a new bronze Kohler sink faucet. Redid all the cable ties holding the saltwater and water tank vent lines to the back of the kitchen sink cabinet. Believe it on not, the back cabinet is made of teak.

21 December 2012
Installed a Force 10 stainless steel three burner stove. The LNVT has a very nice stainless steel lined stove recess that's 24"(w) x 22" (d) x 22" (h). The LP gas line from the stack is the same 5/16" copper tubing that is used for the diesel fuel system. The LP gas tube enters the stove recess from the top, forward, outboard side. The Force 10 is gimbaled and uses two side-mounted brackets for support. Ocean Eagle Yachts installed some nice looking teak trim between the recess and the old stove. I'll do the same when Nellie gets to the Chesapeake.

Finished painting the forward stateroom.

Replaced the screening in both ceiling hatches. Polyurethaned the screens' frames.

20 December 2012
More polishing and painting today. The stateroom is almost done, just need a few more coats of paint on the boards under the berth. Finished putting polyurethane on the refirgerator door, undersink cabinet doors and the fiddle. Polished and lacquered the refrigerator door hardware.

Replaced another 27 deck screws with teak dowels.

19 December 2012
A lot more polyurethane went into the stateroom and kitchen today. Like the pilothouse all the accent wood (frames, fiddles, etc.) is done in gloss. Everything is in semigloss. All the stateroom brass hardware was removed, polished and lacquered. I've heard the lacquer works well to keep the brass polished; we'll see.

The wire rope supporting the dinghy's bow parted today while lowering the dink to the ground. Fortunately the dink was down when it happened. My guess is that when the weight was off, the wire tangled on the winch drum. The good news is that removing the winch assembly from the Simpson 175 is as easy as removing seven screws. The 175 has 18' of 7x19, right hand lay, 5/32" (4mm), stainless wire rope. I'm going to try some 5/32" Amsteel-Blue in lieu of the stainless.

Replaced another 41 deck screws with teak dowels.

18 December 2012
More stateroom polyurethane. Finished up the last five opening windows.

17 December 2012
Got the salon's starboard forward and starboard middle windows back in. Black GE Silicon II caulk was used between the inner window retainer and the stainless frame as well as between the outer window retainer and the stainless frame. The same caulk was used between the non-movable window and its retainer (i.e. the outer retainer) to lock the window in place. If the screws holding the retainers leak, water will find its way into the void between the salon's outer fiberglass wall and the wood of the inner wall. This may be where Nellie's port side leak is. Clearly the screws which cause the most concern are the ones that water naturally pools on, i.e. those on the bottom of the window. The inner retainer has no screws on the bottom--just two on the forward side and one on the aft. The outer retainer has three screws on the bottom. Two of these can't be serviced as they're covered by the fixed pane. I caulked closed those two holes and didn't put screws back in them--I fear leaks more than I fear the loss of strength from the missing two screws.

Got the third and last coat of Helsman Spar Urethane on the outward facing edge of the teak window frames.

Cut the water drainage slots through the Trim-Lok U-channels.

16 December 2012
Used a bead of Locktite S40 (polyurethane caulk) between the window's stainless u-channel (aka the inner retainer) and the Trim-Lok rubber u-channel. The S40 works great holding the rubber u-channel inside the stainless u-channel. To get the Trim-Lok to form tightly to the window's corners I heated it with a heat gun. This relaxes the Trim-Lok so it can easily be pushed right into place. Masking tape kept the Trim-Lok firmly seated in the retainer until the S40 dried. Once dry the ends of the Trim-Lok, which had been left long, were cut even with the the ends of the inner retainer.

Got the third and final coats of Helmsman Spar Urethane on the inward facing edges of the teak window frames. I was finally able to get the urethane to flow pretty well. The trick was to dip the brush in urethane and then, starting about four inches in front of the wet edge, stroke the brush back into the wet edge.

Everything in the stateroom, except the doors, got its first coat of Minwax semigloss polyurethane.

15 December 2012
Sanded everything in the stateroom that has a polyurethane finish—which is a lot! Put the third coat of Lowes Valspar Dove white on the stateroom's port side wainscoting. Sanded the louvered doors under the galley sink.

9 December 2012
repainted the teak rubrail black.

25 October 2012
Installed a SmartPlug 30A receptacle on Nellie and converted her shore cord with a SmartPlug.

July 2012
The pilot house is refinished with Epifanes mat varnish. A gloss finish was used to accent.

31 March 2012
Bottom cleaned by Gulfshore Hull & Prop. Rudder zinc replaced (previously done 19 Oct 2011, 165 days ago). 75% left on diver's dream.

1 February 2012
Replaced the electrical panel's burned out green polarity light and confirmed that polarity test circuitry is working.

1 December 2011
Filled fastener holes in the stack with polyester putty. Put a new pencil zinc in the heat exchanger. Greased the Bomar hatches, the windlass, and the rudder shaft. Recaulked the wind instrument mount.

30 November 2011
Finished installing the Raritan 170611 6 gallon water heater. Repaired the small coolant leak at the top of the riser (above the hose which goes from the engine to the hot water heater). Finished painting the rub rail black.

29 November 2011
Removed the the old water heater. Found that coolant had been leaking from the h/w tank's heat exchanger feed point. It was running down along the tank's insulation and then dripping into the bilge. Started installing the Raritan 170611 6 gallon water heater.
Started painting the rub rail black.

28 November 2011
Fixed a nick in the wall low in the shower room. Repainted the shower room wall. Changed the transmission fluid. Made a new 'doll rod' for each fuel tank. Repaired the insulation on the floor boards over the fuel tanks.

27 November 2011
Put new rubber washers on the pilothouse ceiling hatch dogs. Replaced missing button on pilothouse bench cushion. Put the stern light back on—it had been removed when the mount for the stern light was elevated earlier this year. Epoxied a leather strip in the crotch of the boom gallows to help protect the boom's Cetol.

26 November 2011
Wash boat. Clean decks with Oxy. Clean bilges. Sealed the wall penetration, caused by the Vacuflush's 1-1/2" hose, between the engine room bilge and the forward bilge. Checked all the flashlight batteries and replaced batteries where necessary. Reconfigured fenders so they can be hung parallel to the water. Washed Phifertex window covers.

11 November 2011
Installed the new head to vacuum pump hose. Yea! No more vacuum leaks. Speaking of leaks, the coolant system leak continues to elude me. I found some coolant on the bottom of the overflow bottle. Is it possible that it's the bottle again? Started installing the Noland RS11. Got both RPM and engine voltage to appear on the Garmins. Need to do some voltage readings while underway to calibrate the pressure and temperature readings. Installed a temperature sensor on the alternator for the ARS-5 voltage regulator.

10 November 2011
Removed the 20' of white toilet hose which connects the head to the vacuum pump. I believe it is the source of some of the current head problems.

9 November 2011
Repaired the leak in the bilge dam. Completely rebuilt the Vacuflush head: all seals, o-rings and valves. Cleaned the teak decks with Oxy detergent. The Oxy does a nice job.

8 November 2011
The Vacuflush head has been making whistling noises like there's either an air or water leak. This morning the head wouldn't flush. Replaced the four duckbills on the vacuum pump. Head flushes fine again. Will have to wait until we're not under way to see if the toilet is still whistling.

6 November 2011
To help find the fuel lines' air leak, a clear length of hose was installed on the fuel supply line, just after the fuel tank selection mainfold. From the presence of air it was obvious that the starboard forward tank was the culprit. Replacing the flared 'L' fitting on the tank eliminated the problem.

The hydraulic steering fill port is now located under the steering station instruments. A simple 3/8" brass plug has replaced the old fill tube and dipstick.

30 October 2011
On the beginning of Day #11, of our trip from the Chesapeake to Naples, via Miami, Nellie's engine started occasionally changing RPM. While changing all the fuel filters I found the secondary (the one physically attached to the Cummins) filter to be half fuel. The air probably got in while priming the new tanks' fuel lines.

Changed the Cummins' oil and oil filter.

I've been fighting a Cummins coolant leak. The reservoir was losing about 1/4" per 10 hours of running. I could find no leaks around the engine. I now believe the coolant is escaping via the reservoir's cap—I just found it's cracked! The last bottle was replaced because a seam cracked, now this one's cap. We'll know in short order if this is the problem or not.

24 October 2011
I just filled three of Nellie's new tanks. The two aft tanks take 55 gallons each, the port forward 65, and starboard forward 45. The port aft was filled last month just after the tanks were installed. Nothing like a 1000 mile sea trial to see if they work--we're five days into a 20 day trip to Miami. I worried about air leaks in the supply lines and so after priming them ran the engine, underway in the Intracoastal, for one hour on each tank. I've now run all four together for 20 hours without incident. There's a 2" fill port on each inspection plate. I filled via these using a 30 gpm pump—was sure a lot faster. One retrofit will be to cut-off the neck of the fill port which extends several inches into the tank. This makes the last several inches of tank volume slow to fill because the diesel foam can't disperse beyond the fill port. Live and learn.

19 October 2011
We spent a few more hours picking at Nellie's bottom these last few days. The gel coat that now remains is sticking pretty well. The plan is to put bottom paint on and wait a few years before re-addressing the peeling gel coat. I did find one small blister (dime sized) yesterday on the port side, just aft and 10" below the four through-hulls. The rest of the hull appears to be fine. The bottom was painted with Interlux Micron CSC. The rudder's packing gland and the hose which attaches it to the hull was replaced. This required the rudder to be removed. A new Diver's Dream 6"x12" was installed.

The location of the blister in relation to the port side's most aft thru-hull

A close-up of the blister

4 October 2011
Using picks and paint scrappers we removed all the loose gel coat. As the pictures show a lot came off but there's still a lot of gel coat remaining. The yard is proposing to remove the gel coat mechanically. Unfortunately the shaving process will also take off as much as an 1/8" of fiberglass. This is a technique common in the repair of blistered bottoms. Since there are no blisters on Nellie, removing fiberglass is drastic and unwarranted. I continue to believe the best course of action is to let the gel coat fall off by itself. We could paint epoxy on the areas devoid of gel coat.

After the bottom is cleaned and the loose gel coat removed.

Nellie is doing a good job with the orca impersonation.

This is the Webasto's exhaust hose. It's made of corrugated, thin-walled, stainless steel. It's riddled with holes--not good. It appears the products of combustion ate right through it. The hose has been in place since we bought Nellie in 2006.

3 October 2011
Nellie gets a sea trail of her her new tanks and exhaust system during today's 4.5 hour ride down to Phil Jones' yard on Hopper's Island. The purpose of the haul is to check the bottom, the cutlass bearing and the rudder shaft's packing glad. Nellie's underwater gel coat has been peeling off since before we bought her. Since there are no blisters in the fiberglass the approach has been to let nature take her course. One problem is that when the gel coat falls off it takes the bottom paint with it and thus we're subject to pretty fast flora and fauna growth rates.

Hard to believe but the bottom was last cleaned in May '11. It doesn't help that when the gel coat falls off it takes the bottom paint with it leaving the exposed fiberglass undefended against growth.

This closeup shows barnacles getting under the gel coat. The barnacles are actually doing us a favor by expediting the gel coat's demise. The sooner the gel coat is all off, the sooner we can epoxy the bottom and then barrier coat (Interlux 2000) it.

27 September 2011
Houston, we have ignition! After putting 50 gallons in the port aft tank and priming the fuel lines, Nellie started right away. I looked everywhere and found no fuel or raw water leaks--this was the first test of the new exhaust hose too. The Webasto heater, which needs to pull fuel out of the new tanks, worked too.

Lowering the height of the tanks by 1/2" wasn't enough to make the existing vent system work. Same problem as before--the tanks' vents are higher than the bottom of the joists. Since the vent tube must go under the joist and then rise to the tank, this violates the rule that 'the vent tube continuously run downwards'. The pictures below show a way to mitigate the problem. The good news is that drowned vents only effect re-fueling operations, thus the vent line would only need to be cleared prior to refueling.

The vent tube attaches to the top of the tank in the bottom center of this photo. The tube then travels inboard to a 'T'. The right leg of the 'T' goes to the aft tank. The left leg, composed partially of semi-transparent tubing, goes to the cabin-side fitting. The semi-transparent tube rides in copper saddles and will be filled with diesel if the vent is flooded.

A flooded vent can be cleared by lowering the 'T' while raising the other end. Then the 'T' is raised and the fuel drains back into the tank.

What a mess. Time to clean up!

26 September 2011
Almost done!

Only the clean-up remains to be done.

The bilge is less cluttered now.

25 September 2011
Finished up installing the fuel supply and return lines.

I thought the floor joists were made of teak. However, after installing bigger fasteners in them today, I believe that the wood is what Tommy Chen calls 'Iron Wood'. We know this wood was used as coring for the fiberglassed floor joist stringer and to make the cradles in which the tugs were shipped to the U.S. Iron Wood is very dense and strong. To hold the joists together the factory used 2" #12 ss screws. Many of the screws were damaged when I removed them. To keep this from happening again, and to beef-up the joint, I re-bored and then countersunk for 2" #8 ss screws. The joists definitely feel more secure now.

The main reason the 3" exhaust hose had to be replaced was because it rotted where it sat in the lazarette-fed bilge area. Originally the factory secured the exhaust hose to the underside of the floor joists with hose clamps. Several of those clamps were missing and thus Nellie's exhaust hose had dipped down. Now the exhaust hose is supported every 20"; high, dry and protected from vibration.

24 September 2011
Began installing the fuel supply and return lines. I really do like the 5/16" copper tubing that was used. Even after 24 years it doesn't show the least bit of wear. But, because the new tanks' fittings are in different places than in the old tanks, I had to make some new lines. The factory used what looks like brass strips to hold the lines in place. I reused the brass strips and augmented it with copper strips where necessary.

It seems that industry has decided that 1/4" and 3/8" tube is adequate for most jobs, thus 5/16" fittings are hard to come by. What is available seems targeted at repairs and not new-builds. Thus I had to use two ells which are 5/16" ferrule to 1/4" male-NPT instead of 5/16 flared tube to 3/8" male-NPT. I bring this up only because I thought I preferred tube fittings. They're easy to form in the field and are reliable. The ferrule fitting however means you don't have to flare the tube, thus it's faster.

Stainless steel fittings were used to isolate the copper fittings from the aluminum tanks. Another choice could have been nylon fittings. They would sit lower than the stainless fittings and would be self-sealing. I put both nylon tape and pipe dope on all the metal fittings. The problem with nylon fittings is that the USCG doesn't approve it for a commercial vessel. So the question is would Nellie ever become a commercial vessel?

The original manifold is in place. The copper fuel supply and return lines are too.

Preparing to flare the tube. It's a good thing I paused to take this picture. Note the flared tube cap sitting on the aluminum tank? Well, it's supposed to go on the tube before it's flared.

22 September 2011

The last two tanks were put in place today. The floor joists were put back too. The new tanks each have a ball valve on the fill line. These were installed and all the new 1-1/2" fuel hose too. The USCG approved hose is expensive stuff at $9/ft. Nellie needed 17.5 feet.

Tank 3, the starboard forward, went in without problems.

Tank 4, the starboard aft, finds its home ok too.

The floor joists going back into place and the fuel filler hoses too. Note the new ball valves for each tank.

21 September 2011
The port aft tank went in a lot easier than the port forward tank. When cutting the old fuel line off the port deck fill I found evidence of water getting below decks via the fill plate. It'll have to be re-bedded. Getting the fuel tank vent line to run continuously upwards is proving to be difficult. The problem is that the line pierces the deck a long way from the tanks. It then tries to run just under and parallel to the deck until it gets to the tanks. The problem is that the vent line bobs up and down as it spans the rafters. Any fuel finding its way into one of the low spots will get trapped.

Tank 2, the port aft, getting ready to go in.

Tank 2, the port aft, just begining to be slid under all the hoses and wires before it goes under the settee.

The only way to remove the 24 year old fuel line from the fitting is to cut it off. A Dremel tool works wonders.

20 September 2011
Lots of rewiring today. Actually, it's mostly just cleaning up wires that are already there. Got the the new port forward fuel tank in. Sure glad the height of the tank was reduced by 1/2". Even so, had to use the hydraulic jack on the settee.

The new tanks are delivered to the dock. Now just installation remains …

These stainless screws were holding the bilge pump down. Note how the bilge water has eaten them away. The head of the screw was tight against the plastic pump case. The water trapped below it was probably stagnant and stainless will corrode badly in deoxygenated water.

The port forward fuel tank is back in place.

19 September 2011
The port vent line had a low point (i.e. p-trap) where it penetrated into the bilge. Drilled 3/16" holes in the floor joists and then nylon-tied the 3/4" vent hose tightly to the bottom of the joist. Had to replace the 1100 gpm main bilge pump as one of the plastic tabs which held it into the strainer had broken off.

10 September 2011
Good news. Rebedding the starboard fuel fill plate worked as no water is leaking by it. The port bulwark is getting water inside it. Probably via the hawse pipe to bulwark joint. The water is then dripping below decks via a pinhole leak in the fiberglass. The pinhole leak is 3" outboard of the port fuel fill.

18 August 2011
I replaced the 1-1/2" manual bilge pump hose today and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all that hard to get to. Also replaced the 1-1/8" aft bilge pump hose. Pulled the fuel filler hoses off too, or more accurately had to use a Dremel tool to cut through the hose where it attached to the filler neck. Tried a heat gun first without success. Those hoses have tenacious holding power. The fuel filler port on the starboard side was the source of water getting below deck. The yard couldn't have put the filler ports in a worse spot—essentially the deck's low point. Water from both the bow and stern run towards the filler port. I couldn't tell if the water was getting by the joint between the filler port and teak, or the joint between the teak and fiberglass. It was obvious when I pressed down on the area around the filler port that water was under the teak deck. Re-bedded and painted the starboard side fuel filler port.

17 August 2011
Removed the port side fuel deck fill and re-bedded it. Removed the 1-1/8" x 11' hose from the aft bilge pump. Removed the 1-1/2" x 4' hose from the manual bilge pump. Andy Bloodsworth finished building the port forward fuel tank.

15 August 2011
Third coat of Bilgekote.

14 August 2011
Second coat of Bilgekote.

13 August 2011
Started painting the bilge in salon and galley with bright white Interlux Bilgekote.

12 August 2011
Second Cetol coat on pilothouse roof trim.

11 August 2011
First Cetol coat in pilothouse roof trim.

5 August 2011
The last coat of Cetol went on the mast today. Reinstalled the hardware. Moved the halyard's cleat to the starboard side of the mast. This will make it easier to lower and raise the mast as all the hardware to do so is now on the same side.

4 August 2011
Coat two of Cetol on mast.

3 August 2011
Removed all the mast's hardware and bunged the holes for the hardware not going back on. Sanded the mast back to bare wood. Put the first coat of Cetol on.

15 July 2011
The freshly painted tiller went back in this morning with two new 3/8" stainless bolts. I'm glad I spent the time getting the tiller off because when Phil Jones' guys at the yard go to replace the rudder shaft's 3", packing gland, support hose, they won't have to spend a bunch of time breaking the tiller free—and it looks good in red ;-)

painted%252520tiller%252520July%2525202011.jpg

A freshly painted tiller.

14 July 2011
Removed the tiller so the scale (rust) could be ground off and then repainted. Clearly it had been awhile since the tiller was last removed. One of the two stainless bolts refused to budge and so had to be cut off.

12 July 2011
Got 60+ bungs into the mast. Amazing how many holes one sail track can create.

So what does support the 13/16" thick floor boards? In a nutshell, floor joists. The joists are 2" thick by 1-3/4" wide. There's a stringer, fiberglassed into the hull, upon which the joists, running athwart, rest upon. The joists are fixed to the stringer by fiberglass.

Bungs going in after all the sail track screws were removed

Looking forward and outboard on the starboard side. The stainless water tank is forward.

joist%252520to%252520stringer%252520tabbing.jpg

Looking outboard at the floor support structure. Starting at the bottom are: (1) turn of the bilge for the fiberglass hull; (2) a stringer fiberglassed to the hull; (3) a floor joist that has been fiberglassed to both the stringer and the hull; and (4) a fixed portion of the floor.

10 July 2011
Reinstall the newly painted linear actuator bracket. Cut the new exhaust hose to length and install it on the wet muffler. Put the last remaining bung into the deck. Attempt to remove the ferrous arms off the rudder shaft. Unable to move the bolts so wet them down with a penetrating oil and will try again tomorrow.

There's severe poultice corrosion occurring under this aluminum Raymarine linear actuator mount. This is happening because the wood, underneath the mount, is hygroscopic, i.e. absorbs moisture. The corrosion is easily eliminated by placing a non-hydroscopic substance between the aluminum and wood. I simply elevated the mount above the wood by using stainless washers.

In the bilge looking aft. The bellows for the PSS can be see at the top of the photo. The prop shaft's intermediary support, with the green patina, is right behind it. There appears to be nothing wrong with the hose connecting the stern tube to the intermediary support. But, with the fuel tanks out it's an easier job to replace it. As evidenced by all the muck in this area of the bilge, it's very hard to get to.

9 July 2011
Nellie's new 3" wet exhaust hose is in! Removing the Webasto exhaust line, the wet exhaust's 3" through-hull fitting, the linear actuator and its wood support, then soaping the fiberglass inside the bulwark did the trick. However, using Trident Corrugated #252 hose, which bends fairly easily, was the answer. It's interesting that the 'loop' area, which is behind the stern's bulwark, has several spots which are too narrow for the exhaust host to fit. Naturally when the hose tries to enter such an area it merely jams. I used a 1' section of the old hose to probe the route for the new hose. Knowing where the 'shallow waters' were really helped. Removing the wet exhaust's through-hull helped in two ways: (1) gave me better physical access to the 'loop' area; and (2) with the new hose in place it's easy to put 5200 on the through-hull's hull mating surface, twist the through-hull onto the hose, and then manhandle the through-hull into its hole.

Removing the wet exhaust thru-hull made it easier to get the thru-hull into the new hose. Only then was the thru-hull reinstalled into the hull.

With the wet exhaust thru-hull out, hull thickness in this part of the transom measures about 7/16".

The new hose in place on the freshly painted thru-hull

7 July 2011
Finished the deck repair. In all 150 screws were replaced with dowels. One deck board under the port forward cabin window had warped upwards. It was successfully clamped flush to the deck and its failed screw replaced with a dowel.

6 July 2011
Repaired all the missing bungs on the stern and starboard side. The process is (1) remove the stainless screw (I use a power screwdriver but will revert to doing it by hand if the screw starts to strip out. Doing it this way only 2 out of 150 screws had to be slotted with a Dremel tool before removal); (2) drill out the screw hole its entire length (about 3/4") using a 1/4" twist bit; (3) using a toothpick coat the inside and bottom of the hole with epoxy; (4) roll the dowel in epoxy to cover its sides and bottom; (5) hammer in 1/4" x 3/4" dowel; and finally (6) Using a random orbital sander with 60 or 80 grit (it's best if the sand paper doesn't have the dust pickup holes as the dowels just love to get into the holes and rip the sand paper) sand the dowel flush with the deck before the epoxy dries so that the sawdust is mixed with the wet epoxy forced into any gaps.

5 July 2011
Got a $3400 fuel tank bid from Andy Bloodsworth, using 1/8" 5250, or $137 more per tank using 3/16" 5202. He estimated 6 '4x'10 sheets of aluminum at $200/sheet. Asked him to bid with A36 14 ga mild steel too.

30 June 2011
With good reason it seems I dreaded removing the wet exhaust hose. Resorting to a to grinder with a cutoff wheel isn't exactly an elegant solution. The replacement will have to be more flexible than the old hose. 23' of Trident Corrugated #252 seems to fit the bill.

After leaving the through-hull the exhaust hose loops up into the bulwark before going forward to the wet muffler.

After 24 years the hose has become very stiff. To try and extract it I pushed up on the hose's near side while pulling down on the rope attached to the far side.

Looking up into the void. This shot was taken after the hose refused to move any farther. The fiberglass is narrower in the center section and the hose is pinched in place.

After the hose jammed at the top of the loop, a grinder made the 'extraction' easier albeit messier.

29 June 2011
Got a $3,550 quote from Luther's, Bristol, RI, for the four tanks made of 1/8" 5052 aluminum. Bud Luther, who built Sally W's tanks, redesigned them to be easier to make and also reduced each tank's height by 1/2". Some of this 1/2" space will be used by plastic strips attached to the bottom of the tanks; the idea being to keep the aluminum away from any water.

The LNVTs original mild steel tanks are 14ga or .0747" thick. Aluminum weighs 1/3 as much as steel. So, tanks made from 1/8" aluminum weigh 44% less than those made of 14ga mild steel. Similarly, a tank made of 3/16" aluminum would weigh 16% less than if made from 14ga mild steel. 3/16" aluminum is about four time the price of 14 ga mild steel.

The location of the leak became obvious after pressurizing the aft port tank to 3 psi

A tooth pick marks the hole. At the point of failure corrosion is evident both inside and outside the tank.

27 June 2011
The last fuel tank, port forward, came out today. It was the most difficult to extract for several reasons: it's under the settee and galley cabinet; the fixed-sole extends over the port tanks more than the starboard; this tank has the most floor joists bearing on it—therefore it's the tightest fit; and, the fiber-glassed-in packing gland support gets in the way. I'd been warned by Allan Seymour, Sally W. (42), that this might happen. The yard took his support out and all the fiberglass grinding left quite a mess. The tank, which must be brought aft and then slid athwart into the Starboard aft tanks old slot, jams under the settee. I used a hydraulic car jack to lift the settee. With the settee elevated a little the tank was worked aft until it's forward inboard edge cleared the bearing.

There is lots of rust on this tank but its confined to specific areas. As with the other tanks the worst spot is along the length of the fiberglass band used to hold the in. There were three rusted regions on the tank's top: under the refrig; under the galley window; and under the middle window.

3:54 hours labor today and 13:29 hours to remove the fuel tanks

25 June 2011
With a neighbor's help the aft port fuel tank is off the boat. John Olsen, S/V Daydreamer, recommends using Tide to clean out the tanks—that's what he used in the Alaskan oil patch. John also noted that if aluminum tanks are used, the LNVTs copper fuel lines and manifold can still be used but a stainless fitting will needed to be used to prevent any direct copper-to-aluminum connections. Aluminum tanks would indeed be lighter as mild steel is three times heavier than aluminum. Need to pressure check the repaired tanks (at no more than 3 psi).

1:00 hours labor today and 6:45 hours to date

24 June 2011
Fuel tank replacement project day #2. Using a vibratory cutter (like the Fein Multimaster) it took about 50 minutes to cut the fiberglass away from the tank. Once free the tank slid inboard pretty easily. The exhaust hose makes it impossible to get the tank out. Removing the exhaust hose from the muffler and then running it along the starboard cabinets means there's room to get the tank out. Noticed some small cracks along the top of the exhaust hose but underneath was some major damage. It'll have to be replaced. Things needed:

Need:

23' of 3" I.D. Marine Exhaust Hose
17.5' of 1.5" I.D. Marine Fuel Hose (from deck plates to tanks)

After a total of 2:00 hours work today, and 4:40 hours total, the starboard aft tank is out. Bicki and I were able to muscle it onto the stern and then with a friend's help we got it off the boat. So far moving the tanks off the boat has been the hardest part of the job. After another 0:55 hours, mostly to cut the fiberglass and reroute some wires, the aft port tank is free and now sits in the space once occupied by the aft starboard tank.

3:05 hours labor today and 5:45 hours to date

Just as Tommie Chen said, the tanks can be removed

With the fiberglass removed it's obvious that there was some corrosion going on here

The aft port tank after it has been moved into the already removed aft starboard tank's space. It's ready to be stood on edge and moved off the boat

23 June 2011
Fuel tank replacement project day #1. To help others in the fleet I'll keep track of the labor hours it takes to do this project. The stern two tanks are already empty of fuel. Step one is to pull up the floor boards. I've got a feeling this project will breed many others as all ready I can see that the sound dampening insulation under the floor boards can use some work. Next the floor joists are removed. The Phillips stainless screws holding the joists down strip-out easily. I used a Dremel tool with a small grinding wheel to cut a slot into several of the screws. Two of the joists couldn't be removed at all; one goes under the refrigerator while the other goes under the settee. If necessary they can be cut, but I think the tanks will slide under them. In two places wood blocks were wedged between a joist and a fuel tank. The blocks were of different thicknesses and it appears Ocean Eagle Yachts used these to level out the floor. Fuel lines were removed next.

Some thoughts: The least risk approach for tank replacement is not to start over with a new material and installation method, but to build on the 25+ year history. In fact, by repeating what worked and striving to eliminate the causes of the exterior tank corrosion, there's reason to believe the tanks will last longer than 25 years. Here's how I think our tanks are failing, water leaking by a deck fastener, because the fastener missed the deck batten, is getting beneath the tank and then pooling behind the fiberglass tab holding the tank in place.

2:40 hours labor today and 2:40 hours to date

Picture of the salon looking aft. All the floor boards are removed and a few of the joists too.

The wet exhaust hose is up tight against the aft starboard tank. It will be disconnected from the muffler and moved out of the way.

The Multimaster is the right tool to cut the fiberglass away from the tanks.

17 June 2011
Replaced the Balmar ARS-5 alternator regulator with a new one. The old one's potting had cracked and Balmar gave us an RMA for a replacement. When the replacement comes it'll be kept aboard for a spare.

14 May 2011
Installed new spreader light bulbs. Charged the dinks battery and installed new connectors for the dinks sounder to battery connection. Installed new 2 Micron Racor filters and Cummins diesel filter. Sewed up screens for the pilothouses' two opening front windows.

13 May 2011
New dodger. New impeller in both the Cummins and Onan. The Onan's impeller had completely disintegrated while the Cummins' was missing five of its vanes. Had to flush the raw water backwards to get the three pieces lodged against the oil cooler out. Rotated the downstairs AC unit. Much better air flow.

12 May 2011
Put new plexiglass on the stateroom's overhead hatch. Bedded the plexiglass in GE SSG4000 as recommended by the Piedmont Plastics, Ft Lauderdale. Time will tell if this product will work. A better and much more expensive choice would have been Sika 226 Cleaner, Sika 209 primer, Sikaflex 295UV Black. These Sika products are universally recommended but together cost $80 as compared to $15 for the SSG4000. Degreased the engine room and bilge.

11 May 2011
Relocated the stern light about 8" higher so it's not hitting the dodger.

10 May 2011
Rebuilt the Cummins turbocharger, replaced the injection elbow, and installed an Airsep.

5 May 2011
New cushions for the salon settee and chairs. New cushions for the stateroom chair.

25 April 2011
Installed new Icom MXA-5000 AIS receiver with integrated antenna splitter.
Removed Nobeltec AIS-100 and yte.com SR-161 antenna splitter.

21 April 2011
Bottom cleaned by Commercial Diver Services, Ft. Lauderdale.
Replaced rudder zinc.
Hull plate zinc OK - 95% remaining.

10 April 2011
Replaced Autohelm Type 1 Autopilot Linear Drive with new M81130 Raymarine Linear Drive - Type 1. (identical item now under Raymarine brand)

3 April 2011
Soldered new PL-259 on HF coax to ICOM-7000 in dash (used high power soldering gun - much better!)

4 March 2011
Replaced RF feed wire from the Icom AH-4 Antenna Tuner to the antenna.
Added MFJ 4416B DC power booster to insure sufficient voltage to ICOM-7000 while transmitting.

2 March 2011
Bottom cleaning at Salty Sam's Marina. Heavy growth on the running gear. Stbd. zinc is 50% gone.

16 February 2011
Compounded & waxed house (incl. top), pilot house.

5 January 2011
Re-installed nameboards, repaired faulty DC wire to stbd. running light.

4 January 2011
Removed Kahlenberg air horn from service; replaced with 12V DC horn mounted in-stack. Replaced upper controller on Magic Chef.

2 January 2011
Removed and Cetoled nameboards. Repainted saloon with white latex.

31 December 2010
Permanently removed all the hardware between the boom's goose neck and the boom's stainless end cap. Bunged all the fastener holes and then sanded the entire boom to bare wood. That's another 2 lbs of junk off Nellie!

27 December 2010
The air horn's compressor motor is bad. Here's a replacement http://cfpwarehouse.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/thomas_315cdc45_12_compressors.html or perhaps find just the motor.

26 December 2010

Installed a 1-1/2" ball valve to isolate the port-forward fuel tank. The tank will be repainted after it has been repaired.

Replaced the engine's pencil zinc.

Before

After

25 December 2010
Got all the ceiling lights working. See 25 December Blog entry. Put a bright LED light in the galley's ceiling light.

21 December 2010
The rudder shaft's packing gland is leaking liberally. Need to tighten the packing. If that doesn't work, the packing needs to be replaced.

10 December 2010
Replaced the batteries with 4 Lifeline 8D AGMs. Rated at 255 ah each. Confirmed that both Mariner and Trace charges are set for AGMs.

8 December 2010
Nellie's oven is a Magic Chef, Model #BT18MS-3Z, Serial #EL731236960. The oven's burner isn't coming on. Replaced the burner/pilot light controller. No joy. The problem is in the upper controller.

3 December 2010
Found some fuel oil in the bilge. Traced it down to a leak in the port-forward fuel tank. :-(

10 Aug 2010
Installed new engine room overhead light - 12v. 0.3a Maputo LED by Aqua Signal Corp. series 16 p/n 16530-7. Fused to 'Cabin Lights Stbd.'

9 Aug 2010
New name decal installed on ph forward name board.

6 Aug 2010
interior side of Ph doors, Saloon doors sanded, varnished.

30 July 2010
Sanded, taped everything, then three coats Cetol applied (brush) to cap rail, all door exteriors, companionway cover, cabin top handles, pilothouse door handles, trim, ph windows, ph forward name board. Still to do on exterior - eyebrow trim, port/stbd name boards, deck boxes, mast/boom.

4 June 2010
Bottom cleaned. Sections of bottom paint peeling off and revealing gelcoat. Rudder zinc should be replaced next. Diver's Dream zinc is OK. Diver suggested using "Super Ship Bottom" bottom paint - mfg'd in Ft. Myers.

4 June 2010
Updated Garmin software to v5.8

10 May 2010
Installed Garmin GXM 51 XM satellite receiver/antenna on port/forward pilothouse roof. NEMA 2000 & Audio cables are routed down port chase to glove box. NEMA 2000 cable routes up behind 5212's and T's into NEMA 2000 bus.

24 March 2010
Completed FloScan installation. Fuel flow, estimated range, etc. now displays on the Garmin 5212's. FloScan dampers and sensors mounted just forward of the manual bilge pump under the galley sink storage area floor. Reconfigured fuel lines so the generators fuel supply line is now after Racor #2.

14 March 2010
Installed new Balmar battery temperature sensor for ARS-5 regulator.
Mounted FloScan control unit below Mariner charger and ran a pair of 3wire shielded cables to port side of engine to attach to the fuel flow sensors. Connected FloScan control unit to NEMA 2k and validated that new guages for Fuel Flow (gal/hr), Fuel Economy (nm/gal), Total Fuel available and Cruising Range appear on the Garmin 5212. (no data yet as the fuel flow sensors are not installed)

10 March 2010
Extended NMEA2000 bus from pilothouse to engine room.

9 March 2010
Installed decals with name and hailing port on transom. Supplier - Fine Design Signs, Naples, FL (oracal beige/satin gold - vinyl) Removed name and hailing port from aft section of saloon.

5 March 2010
Installed new Balmar ARS-5 3-step voltage regulator. Set belt managment to B-0 and battery type to AGM (AGL). Replaced lug on yellow field wire to alternator with one that has shielding.

26 February 2010
Fried the Ample Power 3-step voltage regulator when I reattached the field line (knocked off while unscrewing the oil filter) in the wrong place and it grounded out on the alternator's body.

6 February - 18 February 2010
Strip the cetol off all the doors, companionway, port salon roof handles, ph door handles. Cetoled all surfaces but nav-light-boards and ph roof to cabin side trim. Replaced the DPDT 30A 120V coil relay with a Dayton Power Relay (1) 5x847N. Replaced about 30 deck bungs.

27 January 2010
Installed a new strainer, with screw-off lid, in the shower bilge line. De-greased our American Flag. It gets dirty from the diesel exhaust.

22 January 2010
Pulled the autopilot's linear actuator as it was operating intermittently. Found a circlip off. Replaced the clip and cleaned up the armature. All works fine now.

18 January 2010
Rewire the helm's potable-water-pump-in-use-light to work with the cutoff switches use of ground. The old configuration had the positive lead being switched.

16 January 2010
Replace the potable water Shurflow pump (4901-4212).

10 January 2010
Using the old dodger as a pattern for the new one. Start disassembling the old dodger.

2 January 2010
Checking the engine after start up found two new hose leaks: engine coolant hose fom header tank to engine and; 1-1/4" raw water hose from heat exchanger to copper "U" connector. The first was just a matter of tightening up a hose clamp. The second required a hose replacement.

1 January 2010
Found and repaired a water leak on the intake side of the potable water pump. Tightened up all the hose connections near pump too. Opened all four fuel tanks and vacuumed their bottoms. Found some sludge but nothing serious.

28 December 2009
After starting the dink today there was initially a lot of smoke but she ran well. As the Air Force says: CND (can not duplicate the problem).

28 December 2009

Sponge out the bilge. Aft of the damn the water is clear and has no oder. On the forward side it's opaque, yellowish, and has a faint smell of antifreeze. Some of the water may indeed be coming from the chain locker. However, the coolant overflow bottle seems constantly low. I found and fixed a little leak from the header tank's drain valve. I'll keep monitoring the situation.

The davits are both squealing when a load is applied. I removed the motor access paltes and lubricated the visible gears to no effect. Need to do a little research on how the davit motors work.

Made a small jumper cable to charge up the dink's battery. Put the dink's battery on top of the Onan and connect the jumper.

Bicki put waterhose clamp end protectors, which Key Stage (Titan) gave us, on each clamp in the engine room. They look nice and hopefully will help reduce our blood and clothes donations.

It's about 1.7nm between the Wappoo Creek anchorage and the Charleston City Marina. We've done this run half-a-dozen times. On the return today, and with a 20kt wind blowing, the Yamaha outboard picks the middle of the harbor to lose power. Fortunately it doesn't stop running totally. It's with a sense of relief that we make it near some docks. And, as long as the engine didn't quit, there was no need not to keep pressing on. This trip normally goes by quickly—today wasn't a normal day. After what seemed like an eternity we pulled abreast of Nellie. The engine was running smoothly but could only deliver about half power. I pulled both plugs and found them to be clean. The engine ran fine, albeit a little rough, when run on only one plug and then the other. Perhaps a high speed jet in the carb is blocked?

25 December 2009
Fuel filter naming conventions have always eluded me. So here goes: the Racor closest to the fuel tank is the 'First Primary; the next Racor in line is the "Second Primary"; and, the fuel filter mounted on the engine is the 'Secondary'. Today I replaced the First Primary with another 2 micron. It looked pretty clean.

22 December 2009
Changed the Cummins 4BT engine oil and filter.

15 December 2009
Finished installing the new window channel. The windows slide easily and the amount of air intrusion is greatly reduced.

18 October 2009
You can buff AwlCraft (acrylic urethane) paint but go slower on the polisher instead of wide open. Use 3M Finesse-It and a new, high quality pad ($30-$40).

13 October 2009
Put second coat of Cetol on the cap rail. Vicki found that by using just the sponge portion of a sponge paint brush, it worked great to apply Cetol—rather than painting the Cetol on it's sponged on. Getting into tight areas and around curves is so much easier. Put the dutch door handles back on. Made more 3/8" teak dowels. Applied a third coat of Helmsman spar urethane on the kitchen window's wood frame. The window repair was finished when the curtain was put back up.

12 October 2009
Sanded the decks and replaced several more bungs and screws with dowels. Sanded the bow pads. Washed Nellie and put ammonia on the teak decks. Installed 13/16" circlips, which fit well, on each dutch door handle.
Sanded down the bungs on the wood window frame.
Adjusted the fit of the two doors in the salon to PH steps so they slide freely.

11 October 2009
Reinstalled the wood window trim and glued in 3/8" bungs.
Put a third coat of Dove White acrylic latex paint on the Tommie Door.
Put a third coat of Dove White acrylic latex paint on the galley wall.

10 October 2009
Put two coats of paint on the galley wall.
Applied the first two coats of paint to the Tommie door.

9 October 2009
Reinstalled the salon's port forward window using silicone sealant only on the the vertical surfaces. Put the glass back in and used the new channel for the opening window. The window slides easily—success!
Filled cracks and holes in the Tommie door getting it ready to paint.
Put a new pencil zinc in the Cummins' heat exchanger.

8 October 2009
Sanded the water damaged area and applied three coats of polyester filler.

7 October 2009
Drilled lots of 1/8" holes in the water damaged area. Filled each hole three times with a slow drying polyester resin.
Enlarged the new 1/4" window channel to work with 10mm glass.
Cleaned the old polysulfide off all the stainless parts.

The new window channel

The newly painted Tommie Door

The wall repair begins

1 October 2009
Tried out the new emergency windlass handle. It takes a little to get it to work but it does work. It's mostly a matter of jamming a screwdriver in the chain to relieve the load on the capstan so when the handle is at the end of it's swing, it can be removed from the capstan and rotated back to the beginning. Greased the windlass via both the inner and outer zerk fittings.
Greased the zerk fittings on both Bomar hatches.
Greased the zerk fitting on the rudder shafts upper journal bearing.
Sprayed PTHF grease on all the steering ball joints (for the hydraulic ram, linear actuator, and both rudder angle indicators).

11 August 2009
Repaired bungs which popped after the deck sanding loosened them and the weekend's 80nm cruise finished them off. Got the third coat of Cetol on.

5 August 2009
Repaired all the remaining popped bungs on the stern deck. Used Titebond III glue. Painted the rub rail with gloss black. Removed the old Cetol from the salon's two, starboard side, cabin top hand rails and put on the first coat of Cetol. Put the second coat of Cetol on the cap rail and the two forward handrails

4 August 2009
Repaired 25 popped bungs in the stern deck by removing the existing screw, enlarging the length of the existing hole to 1/4", and installing a 3/4" l x 1/4" d bung. There was a problem with a few of the bungs because as the polyurethane glue dried, and expanded, it pushed some of the bungs up a little. The bungs were sanded down to deck level without problem. Sanding the deck too has the advantage of removing the proud poly sulfide seams. It looks like a new deck. Titebond III glue will be used for the next bungs as it doesn't expand. Removed the existing Cetol from the bow's two handrails, sanded them and then put on th e first coat of Cetol.

3 August 2009
Put caulk under stanchion mounts on cap rail. Put wood fill into bulwark door. Get first coat of Cetol on cap rail. Pull some deck screws and confirm they're 3/4" long and covered with 1/4" bungs. Make 50 bungs (3/4"lx1/4"d) to replace the screws. Put the second coat of Cetol on the salon trim.

2 August 2009
Scrape off the last of the Cetol on the cap rail. Removed the two stainless rub strakes and two step-pads for the cap rail. Removed and repaired, from the bow's cap rail, a 2" #10 stainless screw which wasn't counter sunk deep enough. The 2" #10 screws are set 12" and hold the cap rail to the bulwark. Teak bungs, held in place with polyurethane glue were put in all the legacy fastener holes. The cap rail was sanded with 80 grit followed by 120 grit. Put a quart of head conditioner in the holding tank and made sure all the head lines got a dose too.

1 August 2009
Continue scraping the cap rail.

31 July 2009
Begin scraping the cap rail. Install the new Vacuflush bellows and motor. The Vacuflush spares (duckbills, valves, gaskets, etc.) are under the main berth next to the holding tank. Sanded and put the first coat of Cetol on the salon trim.

6 June through 28 July 2009
Nellie's in P.L. Jones' Boat Yard, Hoopers Island, MD for the following:

Prop inspection -- it was removed, cleaned, filed and replaced
Freeing port repair --all the freeing ports were fiber glassed to the hull and bulwarks
Installation of a starboard side bulwark door
Fabrication and installation of a stainless stem guard
Painting the hull --every bulwark and rubrail crack was ground out and filled with 1708 fiberglass cloth then Awlcraft Jade Mist Green was applied
All the holes in the inboard side of the bulwark were repaired in a similar fashion to the hull before painting with Awlcraft Oyster White
Bottom paint — Four coats of Interlux EpoxyCop (non-ablative)

2 April 2009
Checked and replaced the heat exchanger's pencil zinc. Not much left of the one installed in July 08. Need to check it quarterly.

1 April 2009
The shower sump's pump wasn't working. The pulley's set screw had backed out. Cleaned the sump's strainer which was completely blocked. Installed a depth sounder on the dink. It beats sounding with the 8' boat hook!

25 February 2009
Continued to clear the path for the copper tape in the pilot house.

23 February 2009
Got a great deal at West Marine yesterday on a ship's bell ($28). It was a close out. Since Nellie has a bell bracket and this bell had screw holes for permanent attachment, I ground-down the bell's mount to fit in the bracket. QED. Removed Nellie's console panel and began getting ready for the new electronics install. Need to run the copper tape from the console to the Dynaplate in the bilge. That should be fun! Shortened the Comnav's remote tether to 10'.

La Belle Nellie

19 February 2009
Finished installing the new hoses from the engine to the hotwater heater. It always bothered me that there were no valves to isolate the engine (i.e. a leak in the hotwater tank's line would drain engine coolant requiring an engine shutdown). Well, now there are valves. After the valves a 'Y' sends coolant to either the hotwater tank's coil or the salon's coil. The salon's hot water coil is fed with 5/8" ID silicone hose. Since the existing hoses were too short for the new routing to the ball valves, about 6' of new 5/8" ID hose was added to each leg. Refilled the Cummins with 3 gallons of 50/50 Prestone coolant. Ran the engine for 15 minutes, no leaks ;-) Did a visual inspection of the engine mounts. Nothing anamolous. As reported earlier the galley window has a persistent leak. It's now caulked and will require monitoring. The stereo, located under the helm's instrument panel is the source of a rat's nest. I may have found the source of the loud buzz which occurs intermittently. Two wires in the rat's nest, each missing some of their insulation, were coming in contact. Tape now covers the two bare areas.

New engine coolant isolation valves

Engine mounts looked fine

Sealant for the leaking window

17 February 2009
Replaced all the things taken off to make Cetoling easier: dodger, cap rail SS bits, radar reflector. Repaired the broken door catch on the pantry. Rerouted the salon's hotwater coil (HWC) lines in the engine room. Measured the mast for a radar mount.

16 February 2009
Finally found the legacy Airmar transducer just forward of the genset. It's a very hard area to get a hand into. This will make removal of this legacy transducer very difficult. The two transducer cables are still connected. Their ends can be found coiled and in the PH's glove compartment. The thicker cable is for depth, the thinner is for speed. Finished the second coat of Cetol today. The cold weather, 40F, doesn't seem to affect drying time. Got the new shower system (support rod, hose, handle, head, and on/off valve) installed. The shower head now sits right up against the ceiling and should be very functional. The on/off valve at the base of the shower head will help us save water too. The new Cummins overflow coolant tank was installed today. While doing so I found a leak in one of the coolant hoses feeding the hotwater heater and the salon's hotwater coil. Bought replacement hose and will use this as an opportunity to install isolating valves. When closed these valves will limit the engine's cooling circuit to only the engine. Nellie's scheduled to be hauled at Jones Boat Yard Thursday.

Legacy Airmar xducer

Cetoling the mast

New shower system

Leaking coolant hose

15 February 2009
Got the second coat of Cetol on everything but the mast, PH eyebrow and cap rail. Removed the shower head and its support bar. Will use the old one to size the new one.

14 February 2009
Sanded all exterior teak and began the first Cetol coat. Trying to decide where best to install a tri-transducer (depth, water temp, and speed thru water). The existing Interphase transducer is located under the engine room's battery-shelf on the port side. While this area is easily accessible it doesn't drain to the bilge. Since the paddle wheel may need to be removed for cleaning, allowing lots of water to flood in, a 'wet' and easily accessible location in the bilge would be best. The existing hole in the hull can be glassed over. On the starboard side is a legacy transducer which I doubt will be a good location either. It is right under the genset. This unit should be removed and the hull repaired.

Probe's transducer port

Legacy transducer stbd.

13 January 2009
Order a new Cummins coolant overflow bottle (p/n 3922500) from Elliot Wilson Trucks, $53.

2 January 2009
It is very cold running down the Potomac so set up the little space heater in the PH. The inverter worked fine at first but then noticed the alternator wasn't putting out enough amps to keep the batteries from discharging. Noticed that the heaters amp draw didn't register on the electrial panels amp meter. Does it register when using shore power? Yes. So, the Trace inverter must connct to the AC bus after the amp meter. The bracket for the shower head breaks. The stereo acts up again.

30 December 2008
The sink drain is stopped again. Used a plunger on it (the plunger is stored under the shower room sink). Worked great and much easier than taking the whole line apart.

24 December 2008
The anchor wash-down pump overheated and shut down after about 45 minutes of continuous operation. Hooked the hose to the transom's hose bib to finish chain cleaning with fresh water. The wash-down pump became operable after cooling down.

22 December 2008
Woke to find a fault light blinking on the Webasto thermostat this morning. This has been a periodic problem. I believe that winds on the stern will cause the problem.

21 December 2008
The batteries were low so I turned on the Genset to charge them. However, the Trace charger refused to come on. Turned the mariner charger on and set about tracking down the problem. The Trace gets its AC power from an outlet located next to it in the engine room. The Trace's AC plug had backed out of the recptacle just enough to brake the contact. Pushed it back in and all worked fine.

17 December 2008
Stereo makes loud cracking sounds as we approach the 301 bridge over the Potomac. Seems like it's the amplifer or possibly a speaker wire grounding out. The engine room blower is being left on to eliminate the engine's hot oil smell. The odor is coming from the crankcase breather tube. I know from the kleenex-test (a stretched kleenex over the oil fill cap) that the crankcase pressure is fine.

16 December 200
Removed the Cummins overflow bottle and found hairline cracks--at last, the source of our coolant leaks!

15 December 2008
Found about 1oz of antifreeze in the bilge (port side of the engine just under the overflow bottle). Also found some pooled antifreeze on top of the overflow bottle's cap--put a hose clamp on it. Appears either the bottle or one of its lines are leaking … Removed the kitchen drain line between the sink and thruhull. Cleaned it out but did not appear to be blocked. Opened the thruhull, and while water did stream out, it seemed slower than it should be.

14 December 2008
Maybe move the davits' power line from the battery post to the Link-10 shunt--that way amps consumed will be accounted for by the Link-10 log.

13 December 2008
Refuel: 130.58 gallons (port: -9"=62.28g & stbd: -8.375=62.3g)
Use the bridge to connect into the Holiday Inn's open wifi. Works great.

10 December 2008
Put the right length bolt in bow thruster zinc.

9 December 2008
The wifi bridge has new software. IP address is 10.0.0.6, user: 'admin', and password: 'admin'. To find an available station connect to the bridge via ethernet cable and do a site survey. Make sure PC is has a 10.10.10.100 IP address. After successfully connecting to a site, disconnet the ethernet cable and connect wirelessly to ssid: 'repeater'.

24 November 2008
Put a little over 1qt. of Dextron III ATF into the Velvet Drive transmission.
Put 24 ozs of Power Services Diesel fuel supplement into each of the 4 tanks. That's a little more than a double dose for the 120g on board.
New zinc on the bow thruster but wrong bolt length.

23 November 2008
Warmed up engine in gear and drained the transmission fluid.

11 November 2008
Bought a Camp C55989 zinc (for the bow thruster) and drilled a 19/64 hole in the top for the stainless retaining bolt. Works great.

10 November 2008
Adjust the Cummins' Valves. Four of 8 needed adjustment.

23 October 2008
The stereo has what sounds like an intermittent short in the speaker wires. Only seems to happen while we're underway.

22 October 2008
Cleaned bottom and rudder. Way too cold to be in water now.

19 October 2008
Cleaned out the bilge. There was some oily water forward of the dam. The Cummins' breather tube may be the source of the oil so put the tube into a clear plastic bottle.

28 September 2008
Coolant level is a little low. May not have been the water pump ;-(

12 September 2008
Wiring in the Deka 4D AGM. The wet cells were attached to the Mariner 30 charger. Should the Deka? Yes, as it reduces line loss between port and starboard batteries. Replaced the BBQ's burner. Set the Mariner 30 charger to 'Gel Cell'.

11 September 2008
Filled the crack in smoke stack and removed the mast lowering hardware which caused it. Seems the hardware's backing washers were too small for the job. There may be a clearance problem for the Airsep: only have 10" between the turbo's inlet and the Racor fuel filter.

10 September 2008
Reassemble Nellie after hurricane Hanna goes through (life ring, dink, covers). Install the new Cummins water pump:

Remove the fan belt (Gates Micro-V k080550) with 1/2" drive and extender
Remove header tank's cap
Drain antifreeze
Remove 13mm bolts holding pump on
Clean mating surfaces
Reinstall new pump

remove belt

draining coolant

pump removal

all done

New Antifreeze @ 3495 hrs
Oil Change @ 3495 hrs

8 September 2008
Ordered an new water pump (p/n 3286278RX) for the Cummins ($140.90 + $38.00 core). The face of the engine is very wet, maybe the pump is going. The existing GPL-4DL AGM batteries are 11w x 8h x 19.5 . Best price is $560.00. Can get Deka's AGM 8A4D LTP for $355. Using the Deka AGM in lieu of the two existing wet cells (for the starting bank) will increase the number of Amps aboard and we'll have only AGMs. The Airsep (p/n kw-3866535) and conical filter (p/n kwccexxx) are available for the 4BT3.9M (150hp).

10 July 2008
Finished cleaning the bootstripe. Scrape barnacles off the rudder and bow thruster. The bottom paint works great at keeping the barnacles off fiberglass but not as well on metal surfaces. The bow thruster zinc was totally gone. The Divers Dream zinc needs to be replaced. The rudder zinc was fine. Heat exchanger pencil zinc was gone. Replaced with a new one. The zincs dimensions are as shown below.

26 June 2008
The ICom is still turning itself off when transmitting on 40m with >50W. Tried using both shore power and genset--the radio still shut down.
The genset shut itself down. Found two broken impeller blades. A new impeller (p/n 0132-0415) @ 127 hours was installed. Only 48 hours of run time since the last failure!

25 June 2008
Installed a Morad 23' vertical and an ICom autotuner. The autotuner is attached to the underside of the deck just outboard of the oven. It's only a 6" run (of GTO wire) from the autotuner to the vertical's feed point.

23 June 2008
How does the AC relay in the located in the PH glove box work? I assume it protects the inverter from shore power (but not the Onan from shore power as that's what the engine room's make-before-break switch does). Maybe it works like the picture below shows:
AC%20Solenoid.jpg

20 June 2008
Ran Nellie at 2200 rpm to clean her out. Saw 210F on thermostat but only 190F with the IR probe.

19 June 2008
Refuel: 156.3 gallons (port: -10.25"=84.6g & stbd: -9.5=71.7g) $4.60/gal
The autopilot, hereafter called E.D., for Nellie's father, is back on the job!

17 June 2008
Dismantle the LA's electric motor. Clean inside. Brushes look fine. Cleaned the commutator with 400 grit emory cloth. Reassemble and test at the dock. Seems to work fine. But, I've said that before…

16 June 2008
While in Herrington Harbor North we take the linear actuator to an electronics shop. They bench test and believe it's a motor problem. A new LA is $1600, a rebuilt LA is $500, a new LA motor is $300. Decide to do nothing on the spot.

15 June 2008
Installed a Kenwood TM-D710A radio for APRS tracking and it can be 'made' to work on marine VHF.

12 June 2008
Painted diesel deck plates yellow and water plates blue. Removed the dingy engine mount from the 02 deck rail. Polished the 02 stainless. Washed all the dock lines. Put wood filler in the helm station screw holes.
Installed new water line between (1) the strainer and thruhull and (2) strainer and impeller. The hose has a wire inside it to keep it from collapsing in high vacuum conditions.

Three minutes after starting, the engine ran rough for a few seconds and then died. She wouldn't restart. This was the first engine start since changing all the fuel filters. I used the Onan's fuel pump to fill the two Racors and filled the engine's new fuel filter before screwing it on. Regardless, the engine obviously died from fuel starvation. Ok, this as a good opportunity to learn how to bleed the injection pump ;-) First I operated the Cummins' manual fuel pump lever--could feel the resistance as the fuel went through. Next, while still operating the lever, the low pressure bleed screw was opened until fuel came out. To bleed the high pressure side I first removed the fuel cutoff solenoid so the engine wouldn't start. Then Vicki turned the engine over as I opened the two screws and let the air out. After re-connecting the cutoff solenoid she started right up. So, how did air get into the line? Perhaps while priming the Racors with the Onan's pump, fuel was drawn out of the Cummins' fuel filter. From the drawing it's easy to see how this could happen. Lesson Learned: After changing the Racor filter elements and repriming with the Onan, use the manual fuel pump lever to fill the second Racor and the Cummins' filter. QED
fuel%20filter%20diagram.jpg

**11 June 2008 **
Put a new shackle and seizing wire on the anchor. Put new seizing wire on the bridle.
Changed the oil in the windlass (used 90 weight gear oil).
Cetoled the boom and mast. Polished the stainless aft.

10 June 2008
New Cummins Impeller. Used liquid soap to lubricate the impeller housing.
New 2 micron Racor filters. Nellie's old Racor needs, and just now has, a spacer below the fuel filter. Without this spacer the new filters sit too low in the filter (allowing unfiltered fuel through).
New Cummins fuel filter (Fleetguard 5052).
Removed the raw water hoses that go between (1) the strainer and thruhull and (2) strainer and impeller. Didn't like the way they looked.
Put two coats of polyurethane on the interior of the PH doors and openning windows. Used wood filler on screw holes in the PH. Made and installed a teak base for the bow's burgee mount.

8 June 2008
Installed a matching ceiling light and teak ring in the PH, port side above the bench.
Pulled all the anchor rode out, reversed it in the chain locker, attached the bitter end via a cutable rope (in case of emergency) and repainted the length markings.

Length	Color Code
0 - 10'	white
10-20'	blue
30'	red-red-red-yellow
80'	red-red-red
120'	red-red-yellow
170'	red-red
220'	red-yellow
270'	red
320'	yellow
365'	red-yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow

Wrapped the the windlass motor with a polyethelyne sheet to keep the chain and saltwater off it.

3 thru 6 June 2008
Cetol all surfaces with two coats.

24 May 2008
Water comes out of the port inspection plate when filling the port water tank. Maybe want to fill the water tanks from inside the boat. Safer (can't accidently fill the fuel tank with water …) and this way no water goes into the bilge.

14 May 2008
Refuel: 36.091 gallons (port: -4.375"=26.691g & stbd: -3.25=9.4g)

13 May 2008
Cut and installed the new matress. There's foam eveywhere!

10 May 2008
Cetoled PH windows, upper pPH eyebrow, name boards and under PH sunshade.

8 May 2008
The new foam matress is hurting both our backs! We buy a queen size matress that's 5" of normal foam topped by 3" of memory foam. It came tighly packed in a box so we openned it in the salon and laid it out on the berth there.

7 May 2008
Moved the fuel tank tie down points in the dingy. Now the tank is right under the seat and out of the way.

5 May 2008
linear%20actuator.jpg

Test data: with autopilot in pilot, power steer, or nav there's 12V to clutch & with AP moving tiller there's 12V across motor

Checked fluid level in start bank batteries.

4 May 2008
Refuel: 116.06 gallons (port: -8.125"=63.27g & stbd: -7.375=52.79g)
Pulled autopilot's linear actuator, again! Nothing obvious wrong. I'm guessing it's something to do with its clutch mechanism (or associated gears). The LA's electromagnet must be on and holding the outer planetary gear assembly stationary, in order for the drive motor to move the actuator. Therefore the electromagnet must slide easily on its rail. Test: with the ComNav in either 'power steer', 'pilot', or 'nav' does the electromagnet energize? Yes. There's an audible clunk as the electromagnet attaches itself to the planetary gear assembly.

2 May 2008
Get some 4" foam from a fabric store in Savannah to make a new matress for the stateroom.

30 April 2008
Greased rudder bearing.

26 April 2008
Replaced the washdown pump.

22 April 2008
The Cummins' header tank seems a little low. A heavy draw on the inverter sent the Cummins water temp up to 200F. We start putting pine cleaner in the head with every flush. Really helps reduce odors.

20 April 2008
Some 30 minutes after leaving Ft. Pierce Marina the Cummins dies. The 12V line to the fuel cutoff solenid had come off. Cleaned out the stbd water tank. There's a jelly forming on the inside of the aluminum inspection lid and dripping into the water.

13 April 2008
Autopilot seems to be working. Head was clogged but Vicki cleared it. Working on the WiFi bridge.

12 April 2008
Remove linear actuator and find a loose electromagnet retaining screw. Dove on the bottom and cleaned.

11 April 2008
Nobeltec is crashing a lot. Autopilot isn't working at all.

9 April 2008
Galley's propane solenoid wasn't on. After much effort traced the problem to the breaker panel where the circuit was off, oops. Turned the circuit on and it now works great. The autopilot gives rudder error occasionally. The water pressure from the galley sink was low. On top of the spigot is a rubber gasketed switch. For a water spray press the forward part of the switch. For a steady stream press the aft part of the switch.

8 April 2008
Refuel: 97 gallons (port: -7.125"=52g & stbd: -6.75=45g)

9 February 2008
Testing linear actuator. Seems intermitent but sounds ok. Needs grease? A new one on EBay is $1305 + sh.

8 February 2008
Trouble with the autopilots linear actuator. Seems intermitent.

23 January 2008
Cummins Oil and Filter change (Delo 400) @ 3164 hours
18 Jan 2008
Hull waxed with Awlgrip wax formula by Pristine Yacht Services who also did complete deck and topsides wash.

12 Jan 2008
a%20new%20burgee%20staff.jpg

Installed bow staff for burgees.

10 Nov 2007
Installed Morad 2M antenna, new instrument panel, Textiline screens.

14 November 2007
Bilge water sitting aft of the dam is traced to the rudder packing. The gland needs to be tightend but don't have large enough wrenches onboard (Note: two large pipe wrenches are now in the engine room's port side storage area.

13 November 2007
Webasto was blinking again this morning. Adjust the alternator's voltage regulator so it 'floats' at 13.3V.

Refuel 150.44g (-10.25"=82.7g & -10.125"=67.74g)

10 November 2007
Made a new dash panel and mounted the IC7000 and an external speaker. Installed a 120V to 12V power supply in the glove compartment to provide regulated DC to the ICom. Installed the Morad 2m antenna. Made Phifertex window covers.

4 November 2007
Polyed the PH's interior fiddle rails.

29 October 2007
Even with the breaker off for the LPG solenoid the circuit was still hot. The panel's voltmeter had pinched the LPG circuit's hot leg and was injecting 12V. Nylon tied a protective plastic shield around the wire bundle. Got all the overhead lights working. Sure would like to replace the incadesent bulbs with LEDs.

20 October 2007
The raw water flow alarm is going off even when there is good raw water flow. The LPG circuit breaker light is on even with the breaker in the off position. Several of the overhead lightbulbs aren't working. I doubt they're burned out--just bad connections.

17 October 2007
Measuring the prop shaft just before the packing gland where it tapers

1.984" before the taper
1.963" aft of the taper

Did they taper a 2" shaft to 50mm? Perhaps just leave the PSS setup as it is? Appears to be working just fine. Worst case is that we have to haul and (1) extend the stern tube beyond the taper or (2) replace the old packing gland. The PSS needs to be moved about 6" forward to be on the 2" portion of the shaft. To permanetly fix the PSS, pull the SS rotor (donut) and dill & tap a setscrew hole 180 degrees from one of the existing holes. The setscrews can then be tightened equally and the o-rings will keep the water out.

11 October 2007
Put 5200 on the face of a 2" shaft zinc and afixed it just forward of the PSS' donut. The zinc will keep the donut from sliding forward while the 5200 will keep the donut from rotating. Permanent repair will be another day.

10 October 2007
Repaired the broken fender track. Replaced missing screws in the SS rubrail. Cleaned the engine room. Splash Nellie in the Chesapeake! A quick check of the bilge shows water rushing in. The o-rings between the PSS' donut and prop shaft aren't working. After a mad scramble I back out the donut's setscrews and the leak stops.

9 October 2007
Purchased Progressive Insurance. Talk to Butch at Shiver Me Timbers about air conditioning for Nellie. Estimates two AC units installed are between $7k and $11K. To add the AC need at least one 3/4" thruhull (with basket facing forward). Repainted and rewired the name boards. Put the air horn's compressor box back together. Put the dodger on. The boat stands were moved and two more coats of bottom paint were applied to the voids. Stripped Cetol off 02 deck's box tops. Cetol'd companionway and 02 box tops. Put a 2" zinc behind the PSS' rotor to act as an emergency 'stopper'. Cleaned the bilge.

8 October 2007
Painted the hull with Epoxycop Nonablative. First coat was red and the second was black. A third coat was put on the waterline and leading edges. New zincs on:

rudder -- 5" round
bow thruster -- CMPN-B with a 2" 1/4-20 SS phillips screw
hull -- 6x12 Divers Dream (used a 7/16 wrench on the nuts)

7 October 2007
More picking at loose bottom gelcoat. Cleaned and painted interior walls. Remounted the search light. Reattached the boom and working/standing rigging. Washed the hull. Sewed the dodger.

6 October 2007
Sanded hull--Ugggg! Reinstalled radar. Cetoled the mast. Reinstalled the flaf halyards. Reinstalled the GPS antenna. Glued air horn's compressor box back together. Caulked the stack to PH joint.

5 October 2007
Unbolted the transmission, inserted a spacer between it and the engine, and then with longer bolts reattached the transmission. The spacer pushed the shaft out of the transmission's flange. Backed the prop shaft as far out as the rudder would let it. Removed the packing gland's nut. There were four layers of packing--so that's why it leaked so much. Installed the PSS. It took all day but 95% was shaft removal and installation. Cetol and black paint on the name boards, flag holder, and man overboard ring.

4 October 2007
Gelcoat delamination below the waterline is extensive. A paint scraper removes the gelcoat in large chuncks and easily. The gelcoat is about the consistency of egg shell. The problem is confined to the hull's flats just out board of the keel. Washed Nellie stem to stern including the hull. Picked up the new PSS from West Marine. After removing the set screw I was unsuccessful in removing the prop shaft from the transmission flange.

3 October 2007
Ordered the PSS--2" shaft and 2-5/8" stern tube. Got the dink back on the davits. Found patches of gelcoat delam below the water line. Cetoled name boards. Got stack back in place and the LPG and air horn tanks too. To install the PSS hope to leave the prop on, decouple the shaft from the transmission, slide shaft aft and then slide PSS into place.

2 October 2007
Arrive Herrigton Harbor North, MD, to find Nellie waiting on the hard for us. The salon is completely full with two kayaks, the dink and the smokestack all vying for space. Got the kayak mounts back on PH and the kayaks in place.

14 September 2007 Depart WA for MD
Haul and load Nellie for the ride east.

13 September 2007
Get protective padding in place.

12 September 2007
Clean the dingy with an engine degreaser. Works great. Gooding thing I was wearing rubber gloves as the solution is very casutic. Stack removal. Put all the toys into the salon.

11 September 2007
Start preping Nellie for the long drive east.

10 September 2007
Repaired the leaks in both ceiling hatches.

9 September 2007
New genset fuel filter at 79 hours

8 September 2007
Put notches in PH engine room access floor board support so the floor board won't accidently slide closed. Mounted a hook on the back of the stateroom door. Cleaned shower sump (there's got to be an easier strainer to clean on the market). Checked the water levels in the start batteries. Tightened the Morse control. Put a new clamp on genset coolant overflow tank--it was leaking. Installed chafe guard on hose between the sipon break and muffler. Mounted a brass boat hook on an 8' wood pole and sanded both ends.

Cummins oil change at 2923 hours
New Cummins impeller at 2923 hours
Onan oil change at 79 hours

6 September 2007
Installed a pressure gage on the air horn's tank--got 120 psi before the motor started sputtering (i.e. it should have turned all the way off but only slowed down). Bypassing the pressure switch kepth the motor running strongly--we've got a bad pressure switch. Note: It turns on at 100psi and off at 120psi.

New Onan impeller at 79 hours

1 September 2007
The Onan kept shutting down for a lack of raw water. It's not the strainer or a blocked line to the strainer. Maybe the impeller? Yup, 4 of the 6 vanes are broken. Found two of the pieces in the heat exchanger.

31 August
Turned off the raw water alarm as it started to sound continuously.
30 August 2007
At 1000rpm it took 54 seconds to fill the red bucket. The flow rate is fine so the Aqualarm is faulty--same problem John had earlier.

29 August 2007
Raw water alarm is going off continuosly so used the switch to shut off the noise. The Interphase isn't giving good readings--maybe some kelp on transducer? Tried backing up but that didn't clear the problem either.

22 August 2007
Refuel 156.4g @ 2874 hours (-10"=82.85g & -10.25"=75.55g)

21 August 2007
Cetol and front hatch leak repair. Paint rub rail black.

20 August 2007
Cetol and paint rub rail black--then it rains :-0

19 August 2007
Cetol the handrail. Put black paint on the top part of the rub rail.

18 August 2007
An interesting over charge condition can occur if the battery switch is left in the 'start bank' position while motoring. I was alerted to the problem when the Trace inverter shut down and its red error light to illuminate. Because the regulator's sense line goes directly to the house bank (which isn't receiving any of the charge when the battery switch is 'start bank') the house bank keeps calling for power. That power is all going into overcharging the starter bank--oops. As the drawing below shows it might be better to put the sense line on the 'load' side of the battery select switch.

17 August 2007
Cetol.

16 August 2007
Cetol. Take a look at Gulf Coast Filters (GFC.com). All the commercial boys are using them for both fuel and oil filters.

13 August 2007
Partial Refuel 40g @ 2849 hours

11 August 2007
On engine check this morning I found the Cummins' coolant low and traces of coolant on the genset and stbd side of the engine. After start-up two pinhole leaks, spouting profusely, were found on the coolant hose going to the hotwater tank. Replaced the hose. Need to install ball valves to isolate the engine's cooling loop from the hot water tank and the salon's hot water coil.

10 August 2007
Cleaned the port navigation light's contacts. Works fine now.
Partial Refuel 40g @ 2819 hours (at $4/gallon, ouch)

8 August 2007
Added 1/2 cup of engine coolant. After 157 hours of engine run time I added 1 cup of oil ;-) Not buring mutch. May have had a problem with the windlass cutting out. The anchor was at the hause pipe level but was twisted on the chain--twice neither up nor down switch worked. Given a second all was fine. The windlass motor was not hot to the touch.

5 August 2008
Moved the alternator's, regulator's sense line to the house bank. This way the regulator will stay in both bulk and acceptance modes longer and thus more fully charge the house bank. Tightened the packing gland.

4 August 2008
Any value in having a batter switch position idicator at the helm? Lengthened the dipole legs but still can't tune below 20m.

3 August 2008
Interphase displays 6' when depth is rally 7.5'--the transducer is 1.5' below the water line or 2' above the keel. Nellie's aground when depth reads 2'. The genset just quit but restarted just fine …

25 July 2007
It's shower day. The sump's filter clogs again so we clean it. Everything works fine afterwards.

24 July 2007
Refuel 65.4gal @ 2724 hours (-5.25"=42.3gal & -4.5"=23.1gal)

20 July 2007
Refuel 136.036gal at 2698 hours (-10.5"=77.4gal & -9.75"=58.5gal)

18 July 2007
Greased and tightened the fasteners in the Bomar hatches

15 July 2007
As we backed the rpms down the raw water alarm came on. Shut off the alarm via the over ride switch.

14 July 2007
The low voltage alarm goes off after dropping the dink into the water. Run the 2m antenna lead from the PH console to the aft, port side of the PH roof.

11 July 2007
Trying to account for the different voltage readings, .6V when charging at 74A, between the Trace and the Link-10. Seems like a big line loss.

8 July 2007
Put chafe guard on raw water exhaust hose just under the halon extinguisher. The halon bottle rubbed a notch in the hose.

7 July 2007
Cummins Oil Change at 2647 hours (Fleetguard LF3345, Fram ph3900, WIX 51602 or Napa 1602)
The fuel filter is Fram p4102 or WIX 33358)

28 June 2007
Where do all the wires go that are on the grounding standoff?

Bonding -- thruhull stud (stbd aft side under engine)
Bonding -- thruhull stud (by shaft wiper)
Bonding -- engine ball valve thruhull
Bonding -- 4 thruhull ball valves port side in engine room
10" wire to engine bolt (another wire goes from the bolt to battery #2 negative)
heads aft to genset negative
heads aft to ground stud by switch box
14' wire heads forward to battery bank #2 negative

The rudder shaft while having no apparent bonding wires rings out fine. The bitts bonding wire (red) goes forward.

Cleaned all the contacts on the grounding standoff (stbd side of engine on the floor). Ran engine and checked voltages on the Link-10 and Trace. They were pretty close.

27 June 2007
Refuel 113.1gal at 2614 hours (-8.25"=64.5gal & -7.375"=48.6gal)

26 June 2007
Raised the dipole antenna. Looked at air horn compressor. Checked the rudder bonding wire. Positioned external speaker for ham radio.

23 June 2007
How does the Morse's engine start lock-out work? It seems to be very touchy.

22 June 2007
Seeing .6 delta V at 86A charge rate (i.e. .6V difference between the Trace and Link-10 voltage readings). This means that the house bank (bank#1) is seeing .6V, or 4% less, than the alternator. Should the regulator's sense line be moved from the alternator to bank#1?

21 June 2007
There is a difference between the Link-10 and Trace voltage readings. This was confirmed with a VTVM. With alternator putting out about 50A the engine's water temp is 197F. The water temp drops instanly to 190 when the regulator switches to float--indicates there's still an electrical problem, problem in the wiring. The delta V noted above is only .12V with a 5A charge--line loss?

20 June 2007
Refuel 94gal at 2555 hours (-6"=41gal & -8.25"=53gal)
The aft stbd dipstick was accidently left out at the last fill up. This may explain why 20% more fuel was drawn from the stbd tanks.

19 June 2007
Installed both ham radio antenna leads--2M to aft port side of PH roof and HF one into the stack with a Pl-259 connector.

18 June 2007
Appears that the engine's water temp sending unit also contains the over-temp circuit. The picture below shows the wiring.

17 June 2007
The Toshiba laptop (used for navigation) goes down and only comes back after the hard drive is removed and then reinstalled.

16 June 2007
Tested the engine's water temp sending unit. shows infinite ohms across the leads.

15 April 2007
Autopilot occasionally gives 'No Data'. Removed the checked box "check check-sum" in Nobeltec. Autopilot worked great, going from waypoint to way point without a problem.

13 April 2007
Changed the main engine's oil and filter.

11 April 2007
Had the bottom cleaned and zincs checked. Bow thruster and Diver's Dream zincs were both shot. No apparent wear on the ruder zinc. Is the rudder zinc connected into the bonding system? Need to check.

7 April 2007
b%20Kayak_Mounted.jpg

All four kayak mounts were bedded in 4200 and screwed down. The paddle and PFD are stored inside the kayak. Cleaned the pilot house roof. Running the genset increases the voltage seen by the bow thruster and windlass. We may want to make it a practice of running the genset whenever we weigh anchor.

6 April 2007
Put in two new lifting points (SS pad eyes backed by SS 1/4 x 2" x 6") for the dink's stern end. Now the dink's lifting points are directly under each davit. Picked up the kayaks from the Olympic Outdoor Center. Of course we had to sea-trial them. Mounted the port SS kayak brackets. Kayak is cradled well, is as low profile as possible, and looks cool. On the starboard side the GPS antenna was moved farther outboard and placed on top of an unused wood base. The old GPS mount holes were filled.

29 March 2007
Ralph, from Philbrooks, finished up the paint repair this morning. We probably don't have Awlgrip Jade Mist on Nellie. Jade Mist is close, but not quite it. Anyway, the repair looks fine and I got lots of good info about painting the boat ourselves--with Awlgrip!

After yesterday's experience with the heat exchanger I decided to pull the raw water lines to the transmission's heat exchanger and inspect it (the raw water goes through it and then to the engine). All the tubes looked pristine. Filled the engine's coolant system with two gallons of antifreeze and an equal amount of water.

Before starting the engine I disconnected the wire to the fuel injector pump's electric fuel shutoff valve (see Fuel Injector Pump's Shutoff Valve.wmv ). Without this wire the engine won't start. I read in the Cummins' engine manual that if the engine hasn't been started in the last seven days, it's good practice to turn the engine over (without it starting) to get oil circulating. After seeing the oil pressure go up. I reconnected the wire and Nellie started right up.

Rather than remove the Racor 445R2 I bought a spare filter for it today (C$47--ouch).

Designed and purchased the parts for the dink's lifting bridle.

28 March 2007
Many tubes in the heat exchanger's raw water intake side (where the zinc is) were blocked (see Nellie heat exchanger_0002.wmv ). The culprit appeared to be calcium which was very reluctant to give up its hold even when attacked by a screw driver and piano wire. About 4.5 gallons of antifreeze were drained before the heat exchanger was removed. The four water hoses attached to the heat exchanger are in good shape. The heat exchanger was reinstalled.

Removing the Racor 445R2 won't be a problem. Replacing the pump built into the 445R2 may be. This pump is very handy to prime the main engine loop after fuel filter changes.

Ralph, from Philbrooks, put four coats of Awlgrip on the errant hole in our stern. He'll buff it out tomorrow. The color, he believes is Jade Mist.

27 March 2007
Made the mast head antenna mount and some brackets to mount the bridge to the mast. Installed the mast head mount. Philbrook's started on the warranty paint job repair. Drained and cleaned the bilge. Confirmed Avon 3.10 RIB dingy, Yamaha 15hp engine, and Tsunami 120 Kayak pick-up for next week.

26 March 2007
Made the icebox's support brackets today out of 316 stainless (what else ;-) The Adler/Barbour is up and running! Got two carabiners, resting on thimbles, Nico pressed onto the davit's wire rope. After enlarging their holes, the weights fit nicely over the new swages. Took 8 gallons of contaminated diesel and 3 gallons of gas to Philbrook's for disposal.

Nellie's fuel filter system is strange. The fuel first goes through a Racor 445R2 (the primary filter), then through a Racor 500 (the secondary filter), and finally to the engine's Fram 4102 (the tertiary filter). My guess is that the 500 was added to the existing system and instead of taking out the 445R2 it was merely left in place. Problem is the 445R2 is positioned badly (ergonomically speaking), it's nearly impossible to check the bowl for water accumulation, the filters are expensive, the filters are hard to change and messy when doing so. The 500 conversely is positioned well, water is easy to see in it's bowl, the filters are 1/3 the cost, and they're easily changed without mess. The 445R2 does provide a third level of security, but at a high very high maintenance cost--I'd hate to change a clogged 445R2 is a rolling sea. Nigel Calder says it's a must to have a primary and secondary fuel filter--he doesn't even mention a tertiary. Bottom line, I'm going remove 445R2 (Dual Racors in parallel would be nice--but not now).

25 March 2007
Opened the access ports on the four fuel tanks and vacuumed the bottoms. Got lots of 'junk' out. Put the vacuum probe into the tanks' low points. Only the port forward tank had any water in it. Finished the installation and hook-up of the Adler/Barbour. It cooled down very quickly--nice! Tightened the steering hydraulic fittings in the shower room's chase. They'd been leaking at a slow rate.

24 March 2007
Removed the old Adler/Barbour. Got the new line set in. Removed the thimbles from the bitter end of the Simpson davits' wire-rope. New thimbles with SS carabiners will be Nico pressed on. Before doing so the diameter of lowest wire-rope weight will need to be enlarged to fit over the Nico swage. Nellie made money--we got $C159.00 for junk sold at the marine salvage shop. Vicki finished sewing the kayak harnesses and made up a retaining strap for the dink's gas tank. Picked up 200' of 3/8" 3-strand poly rope. This is used to stern tie to trees.

23 March 2007
Finished making the stainless kayak mounts and Vicki started sewing the harnesses. Made the stainless backing plates for the dink's new stern lifting points. Picked up the new Adler/Barbour refrigerator.

22 March 2007
Got the kayak mounts formed and most of the holes drilled. Picked up the mounting hardware. With luck the mounts should be done tomorrow.

21 March 2007
Let the games begin! Vicki noticed the refrigerator slowly losing its cooling ability. This morning I found a pin hole leak in the supply line. The question now becomes repair or replace? The first thing I need to find out is if R-12 is available--if not, a new refrig is in order. R-12 is not available :-(

Spent the afternoon in Philbrooks' metal shop polishing the 1/4 x 1-1/2" 316 stainless bar stock for the kayak mounts.

27 January 2007
c%20Davits.jpg

Washed down Nellie, put the mast back up and got the covers and dodger on. We're leaving the salon and pilot house window covers off to help keep condensation down. Dropped off more stuff at the second hand boat store.

The following video shows how to operate the windlass power switch: Davit Breaker Operation.AVI

26 January 2007
Kirk, Philbrooks' fiberglass, called in sick so I sanded down the gel-coat. Les Margots, chief of the fiberglass shop, told me to use a sanding block and progress from 80 to 120 grit. But to first put masking tape around the area but one inch out from the new gel-coat. After only two seconds with 80 grit I understood why Kirk had left 40 grit. I used the 40 for 45 minutes. Initially the 'air dry', a waxy substance added when putting the hardener into the gel-coat, clogged the paper. Gel-coat is a very dense material and I was making little headway. Vicki suggested I try our random orbital sander. I felt like a five year doing something wrong but I put on 100 grit and went to it. If caught but Les I was prepared to say "It's Vicki's fault!" Wow, what a difference. The random orbital cut the gel-coat quickly. Lots of dust and 30 minutes later I finished. Gloating a little I put 150 grit on the sander and polished both surfaces. A final coat of gel-coat will need to be sprayed on but the current appearance is acceptable. This picture gives an idea of how dirty Nellie was--and how good the bulwark repair looks.

25 January 2007
Re-caulked the smoke stack. Put two coats of white paint (a temporary fix) on the radar's support. stripped, and cetol'd the pilot house eyebrow (second coat).

Worked with Mark, Waypoint Marine, on and off all day. While making the lifting bridle it became apparent that the dink wasn't going to work. On to plan B. Looks like we need a fiberglass or aluminum hulled RIB.

d%20Kirk_Glassing_bulwark_back_in_%28Small%29.jpg

Kirk, Philbrooks' fiberglass, and I put the bulwark cutouts back in place with Loctite H3000 adhesive. He then ground a shallow grove 3" across (1.5" on each mating surface). In the groove went a mat, cloth, mat, cloth, mat sandwich. When dry the fiberglass was ground down to just below the finished surface height. White gel-coat, with a little mustard color added (making sure to keep the color lighter than Nellie's bulwarks) was mixed with fumed glass to a peanut butter consistency. This was applied to the bulwarks keeping in mind that gel-coat shrinks 20% when it dries.24 January 2007
e%20Mark_and_Scott_Done_%28Small%29.jpg

Worked all day with Scott and Mark, from Philbrooks' fabrication shop, to get the davits on.

23 January 2007
Philbrooks did the final polishing of the bases today. They plan to mount the bases and davits tomorrow morning.

Attacked the leaking pilot house hatch. Pulled the polycarbonate all the way out and cleaned all mating surfaces. It took an entire tube of Boat Life Seal but got the polycarbonate reset. Put Boat Life Seal in all screw holes too. The dogs for this hatch are a lot cheaper than the stateroom's. Same type of hatch though--not sure what's going on.

Tightened the shower bilge's pump shaft set screw. The shower sump's pump motor was running but since the pulley's set screw had backed out the pulley wasn't turning.

While running the engine I checked the impeller and VDO pressure sender. All looked good.

Cleaned the top of the pilot house with a citrus based cleaner. Really works well.

Started drawing the engine's salt and fresh water cooling diagram.

22 January 2007
No one from Philbrooks was on the boat today. Hopefully, today was spent welding and polishing the mounts.

The deck mounted fuel plates were painted red. Really, really bright red. Between the red color and different keying it hopefully will be harder in the future to put water in the fuel tanks. Should we be worrying now about putting fuel in the water tanks?

Attacked the leaking forward hatch this morning. There are four places water could leak in: (1) between the Plexiglas and stainless steel (SS) frame; (2) between the dog's bolt and the Plexiglas; (3) by the gasket meant to seal the opening and fixed parts of the SS frame; and (4) by the fasteners holding the hatch in place. All but the gasket can be addressed with Boat Life Seal. The existing caulk between the fixed SS plate and the deck was cut back. After taping both the deck and SS plate, Life Seal was forced into the joint. When the Life Seal skimmed, about 10 minutes, the tape was removed. All the mounting screws were removed, Life Seal was placed in the holes and then the screws replaced. Life Seal was seen to ooze out from all around the fastener. Finally tape was placed around the top of the hatch covering both the SS and the Plexiglas. Since the existing caulk joint was concave, Life Seal was placed and then forced into the joint. A putty knife was used to smooth the joint. Again, after the joint skinned the tape was removed and the SS cleaned. Masking all the surfaces is the only way to go. Without tape the mandatory clean-up may damage the integrity of the new caulk joint.

19 January 2007
Kirk came to fill the errant hole. He ground material away from around the hole in a shallow funnel shape with a max diameter of 2" and 1/4" dee. Put three layers of 1708 glass on. Each layer being a little larger in diameter than the previous. Don from the paint shop came to inspect the errant hole too. I gave him our Awlgrip Mistry Green. It looked a little darker than our hull, maybe sun fade. Kirk will paint and match. Good news is that I get to see how to patch our paint job.

Filled both water tanks--yea, the water is back on here on Van Isle's A-dock

Scrubbed the foredeck. Cleaned the new dock lines which had started to mold.

There's a lot of condensation occurring in Nellie's closed spaces (specifically in the closet and settee storage). Pulled everything out and dried. Need to make sure these areas get some heat. Will pick up some little space heaters.

Put in the new VDO transmission pressure transducer.

Removed the TV antenna. Filled the mount's holes with Marine Tex. Pushed the coax back into the hole (still reachable) and sealed the coax thru-deck fitting.

painted the stringers holding up the Simpson davit control box.

Filled the diesel cap slots with Marine Tex and then drilled two holes on each end for a deck-plate key.

Removed the two aluminum boat hooks, and their mounting hardware. from the port and starboard gunwales.
f%20aligning_mounts_%28Small%29.jpg

Mark and Scott made some progress on the davit front. They got both mounts welded to the base plate (which conforms to the hull). It looked good. Now they'll work their magic in the welding, grinding and polishing departments.

18 January 2007
Lots of grinding on the davit's bases--maybe progress.

Put putty in the refrig to seal wire/tube entrance. Traced and diagrammed the steering and autopilot systems.

16 January 2007
Dry fit the 5' o.c. mounts. To make sure the orientation on the mounts were correct relative to each other they were bolted to a 6' aluminum bar. At 5' o.c. the bulwarks curve a lot. Scott and Derek asked if the spacing could be moved to 4'6 o.c. Which is what the spacing will be. Scott drilled two holes (which will now need to be filled) for the 5' o.c. position.

Vicki and I both sat in a Tsunami 120 and 125. The 120 is more glove-like and the way to go.

Finished the Potable and salt water plumbing diagram. Started diagramming Nellie's steering systems.

15 January 2007
Put one layer of 3/4 oz mat, three layers of Nytex 1708, and one more layer of 3/4 oz mat on each gusset. Put listings (which are backing pieces) around the bulwark opening with Loctite 3000--great adhesive.

Installed 2AWG wire from the house bank to the lazaret. Put a 100A fuse/switch just inside the port lazaret (for the positive (+) lead. Put a post close to the breaker for the negative (-) lead. At the breaker/post the wire becomes 8AWG to connect to the Simpson controller box. The Simpson davits come with 8AWG motor wires.

Re-routed and nylon-tied the runs just inboard and aft of the house bank.

14 January 2007
Decided to locate the Simpson controller box on the ceiling of the lazaret; centered on the bitt and just forward of it. This places the box inside the protected area of the steering gear. Since there are no level surfaces two 2"x2"x24 lateral stringers, spanning the existing longitudinal stringers, were installed. The davit's controller box is mounted to the new lateral stringers.

Followed the transmission's pressure transducer leads back to the helm. They change colors at a butt joint (the joint is just forward and above the genset). The yellow wire became red while the green became brown. Ordered a new VDO transducer.

Went over to Mark's (Waypoint Marine) and measured the dink to see how it would fit against the davits. Looks good.

12 January 2007
Opened the raw water impeller housing. Both the impeller and o-ring looked good. Wrote up instructions on how to check/change the impeller.

Opened and checked the Cummins electrical box (located just above the engine amidships). Nylon-tied the lower bundle.

Nylon-tied the salon's hot water coil ball-valve back from the engine.

Checked the fluid level in the start bank's batteries. Added about 1/3 cup of distilled water.

Added a chafe guard to the water hose just under the header tank and aft of the alternator. It was wearing badly.

Rerouted the transmission's pressure-sending-unit wires (they winded around the exhaust manifold). While removing one of the unit's nuts the stud turned freely. The unit needs to be replaced.

Diagrammed the potable water system.

To replace impeller:

close raw water thru hull
drain about 1.5L of water using drain screw on port side of impeller housing
loosen the two hose clamps just above the impeller housing and remove the hose
with 7/16" wrench remove the 3 bolts holding the impeller housing
pull the pump housing away from the engine
work the impeller out of the housing
remove and replace the o-ring (which seals the housing to the engine) from the impeller's housing
install a new impeller on the keyed shaft
put liquid soap (lubricant) inside the housing (reduces impeller friction while dry starting)
work the housing over the impeller and bolt into place
tighten the drain screw
re-attach the hose and its clamps.
QED
Note: There's a spare raw water pump on the forward part of the house-battery shelf. Spare impellers can be found in the lowest bin on the shelf just above the house-battery.

Ground both port and stbd davit mount areas. Laid up three units (vertically) in each area. Patterned and then made the gussets for each mount area. Put the gussets, made up of 1/4" fiberglass sheet stock, in with hot-melt. Monday we'll put three layers of Nytex 1708 on each gusset to firmly lock it in place. That will finish up the planned reinforcement. Stainless steel guys (Scott and Derek) will come on Monday for a core sample and do a dry fit.

Started diagramming Nellie's raw and freshwater cooling systems. Got the trawler lamp working--nice flame.

11 January 2007
Really moved along today. Got the first 4 units in the port side, then 3 more units in stbd, then 4 more units in port. Each side now has 2 layered units (a build-up of about 5/16").

Vicki opened and cleaned both water tanks out. I finished diagramming the bow thruster system and started diagramming the raw and fresh water cooling system.

10 January 2007
Ground Nellie's stbd hull to give purchase for the layup. Dried the hull with a heat gun for 30 min. Using Nytex 1708 8" wide x 36" long strips whetted up (with 1L polyester resin and 1.5% MEKP hardener) a 5 layer sandwich (called units) of 3/4/oz mat- 17oz Nytex - 3/4oz mat - 17oz biaxial - 3/4oz mat and layered vertically in the starboard side. Got 4 strips, or the first layer of three, laid in the stbd side. It was below freezing and snowing making the work hard.

9 January 2007
Removed the port, pilot-house-bench, fixed, port light because condensation on the inside was not draining out properly. Removed lots of silicon from the glass' bottom. Re-installed and re-caulked just between the glass and it's stainless steel retainer.

Les brought Kirk (the fiberglass expert I'd previously met when he worked on Just Wright) over around 9:30. We agreed that Kirk would open two 14x10s in the bulwarks directly behind the davit mounts. After the davits are installed Kirk will replace the 10x14s. No access ports will be put in. If they're needed in the future it's easy enough to do. Once the 10x14s were cut Kirk left. He'll return tomorrow morning to start the glass reinforcement work. Vicki and I had the nasty job of getting the foam out. Scott and Derek (stainless steel fabricators) got precise measurements off Nellie's stern so the mounts would make the davits plumb.
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Pulling that foam out was quite a job.

Surprise, surprise, the topsides to hull joint is not at the rub rail. The rub rail's protrusion is merely for looks. From the bulwarks' inside the rub rail protrusion looks like a continuous cove. The lack of solid material in the cove explains why many LNVTs have gel coat stress cracks along the rub rail (and why they come right back after being fixed).

The shower is working just fine now that the water heater's temp was turned up.

8 January 2007
Removed the shower's instant hot water heater. Put all the plumbing back to original. Increased the hot water tank's temperature to just under max. It was set about mid range and seemd to cool at that.

Moved Nellie into boat house A1 at Van Isle. Bow thruster worked great as did the new LEDs. Davit work should start tomorrow morning.

Teak mount for the celing lights is 7.25" dia x 1/2" thick

7 January 2007
Drew up the head's plumbing diagram.

6 January 2007
Changed all three fuel filters. Found nothing shocking. Our first line of defense the Racor 445R2 had a really dirty bowl. I don't like where the 445R2 is mounted: hard to see; hard to drain; easy to ignore; and, the filters are $26 ea. Not sure it bugs me enough to replace with a Racor 500 though. From the Racor 445R2 the fuel goes to the Racor 500, through the engine's fuel filter and then to the injection pump. I used the generators 'prime' pump to fill the fuel lines after changing the filters--slick. Nellie started but ran a little rough while the air passed through. In a few minutes she was purring like a kitten. Ran the bow thruster. No smoke--yet ;-)

Big job of the day was rotating the Adler Barbour icebox and putting in a 12V fan. The ice box was mounted with it's opening pointing up. It was impossible to access and wasted lots of space--not to mention making ice cubes was out of the question. The box opening now faces forward. The box was elevated 8" above the refrig bottom to allow for storage underneath it. The 120V West Marine behemoth fan was replaced with a small 12V, .12A box fan connected to the same circuit breaker as the refrigerator. All the brackets supporting the fan and icebox were made from 1/4" plexiglass. Heating plexiglass in the oven at 350F for 5 minutes makes it pliable. With a litle patience some cool parts can be fabricated.

5 January 2007
Raven Marine came over today and extended the Webasto's fuel pickup tube farther into the fuel tank. It's now about 1" above the bottom of the tank.

Made a schematic of the holding tank's plumbing.

I bought 25' of wire to run between the helm and thruster. In a straight line the two are only about 10' apart. Unfortunately, following all the cable runs the 25' piece left me 4' short--nothing a splice didn't solve. As can be seen below, two samll and unobtrusive LEDs have been added to the thruster controller plate. A lighted green LED indicates that both the thruster and windlass have power (i.e. the battery switch under the berth is in the 'on' position and the fuse is not blown). During thruster operation, the yellow LED lights if the thruster motor goes over 107F. As such, it is a visual, early warning of rising thruster temperature. When the bow thruster key is placed in the locked (off) position the yellow LED will light to confirm that the LED is operational. If the thruster/windlass battery switch is placed in the off position both LEDs will go out.

4 January 2007
Successfully tested the bow thruster. Still need to add the helm's indicator lights and run the wire between thruster and helm.

Robin (Jamie's stand-in) and Les stopped by. The large access panel isn't going to work in the bulwark. Too much curvature . The inboard bulwark will be removed and then replaced. They plan to move us to a boat house sometime next week.

Melt, Raven Marine, said they'd lower the Webasto's tube farther into the fuel tank tomorrow.

3 January 2007
We received $451.20 for the sale of Good News' dingy.

Removed the bow thruster. Replaced the relays with two Cole Hersee (www.colehersee.com) PN 24059. The motor is protected with a 140F trip snapstat placed between ground and one leg of each relay's coil. A second 107F snapstat is installed on the motor and contols a yellow light located next to the thruster controler (in the pilot house). If while operating the thruster this light goes on it means that the thruster temp is rising and now exceeds 107F. Thus we get a 'heads-up' that the thruster needs to be used less (vs. just cutting out when the 140F snapstat trips). The new motor should run cooler than the old one as it has bearings (vs just bushings).

2 January 2007
Installed new bow thruster motor and relays. One relay was DOA. Can you say frustrating! On the hunt for a new one.

31 December 2006
Replaced Aqualarm rudder springs and micro switch. This high pitched alarm now sounds when there is no raw water flow and the ignition key is on (so does a low pitched alarm but that's low oil pressure). Started the engine. Nellied popped to life. The Aqualarm worked great. Opened all the fuel feed and return valves. The Racor had no water in its bowl.

30 December 2006
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Removed and polished the fuel from both port tanks. Then removed the tanks' inspection plates and cleaned the bottom of each tank. There was a lot of 'muck'. The port aft tank doesn't have a baffle and it's inspection plate is centered on the tank's top. The low point, which is where the muck and water accumulate, is inboard aft.

The aft tank was very easy to clean. The port forward tank has a baffle and it's inspection plate is located on the aft part of the tank. The low point is inboard forward. Accessing the low point is via a 'V' notched cutout in the bottom of the baffle--which makes it bloody difficult. Laying on my head, turkey baster in hand, I was able to evacuate just about all of the low point. The West Marine Filter Funnel did a good job removing about 10 gallons of a water/diesel slurry. After the first filtering about 1oz of water remained in 20 gallons of fuel. So, the second filtering should have removed nearly all of the water.

The Webasto heater's fuel pickup is only half-way down into the aft, port fuel tank. So, when the tank is less than half full the Webasto will stop working. The tube needs to be extended.

29 December 2006
Installed two low wattage heaters to eliminate winter condensation. These heaters will be left on continuously with their thermostats set at midrange.

1 November 2006
The new bow thruster motor is a real improvement--bearings vs bushings and bigger windings. I decided to replace the solenids (used to select right or left thrust) too. It appears the old snapstat trips when the the motor reaches 160F. Based on evidence from the failed motor this appears to be too high a temperature. Ordered some new snapstats for 105F, 130F and 143F.

12 October 2006
Marine Hardware (MH) wants $500 for a new bow thruster motor. That doesn't include the solenoids (but may include the snapstat (thermal overload protection switch). MH recommeded that the motor be taken to a rebuild shop as the parts are readily available. Pasco (POC: Dustin), in Easton, estimates $100 to fix our motor or $280 for a new one. The new one will be in next week. I'll put on new solenoids and a new snapstat too. It may be worthwhile to install a second snapstat, set below the cutout snapstat's temperature, that drives a steering station over-temp warning light. This way we'd get a 'heads-up' before the bowthruster overheats.

Bought West Marine's 6 gpm water separator. Our port side fuel will be pumped into the separator and then drain into temporary storage tanks (three mil, 42 gallon plastic bags inside garbage cans). After the stainless steel fuel tank has been cleaned the fuel will be pumped back in. This process will then be repeated on the other tank.

11 October 2006
Opened up the thruster motor. One of the brushes' wire leads is broken (looks like some sort of heat related fatigue as the wires are very brittle). All the brushes are well worn. The rotor they contacted is very dirty too. With new brushes and a polished rotor the motor should run cooler (and stronger).

Picked up some material to make a sack for the setee's matress.

5 October 2006
Nellie's bowthruster quit while I was docking yesterday. I checked it this morning. I could hear clicks (assume from the directional solenoids) but no motor running. Removed the thruster's motor.

Accidently put about two gallons of water in each of the port side fuel tanks. The good news is that both tanks will now be openned, drained, dried and cleaned, inspected, and refilled--with diesel.

4 October 2006
Refuel 50.59 gal @ 2219 hours
Overheated the bow thruster. Nedd to use it just in short bursts.
Put all of Nellie's covers on and prepared her for our departure.

3 October 2006
Took the Quick Silver inflatable dingy to Boater's Exchange.

Washed all teak. As an experiment used the two part TE-KA system on bow seating area, 02 ladder steps, and the 02 deck. It makes the teak look a little more tan than grey.

The Webasto thermostat is operating much better now. The dead-band (at the top of which the heater turns off while at the bottom of the dead-band it turns on) might be 5 degrees, versus 20 previously. This is much more comfortable. From a user perspective there is no change in how to operate the heater.

Called Eemax about the burnt-out heating element in the shower's instant hotwater heater. They wanted $42 for a new element. This looks like the perfect opportunity to put the shower room's sink plumbing back to its original configuration and trash the minimally effective instant hotwater heater.

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The port water tank's lid was successfully removed using the make-shift slide hammer shown in the picture below. What appeared to be calcium built up on the seal and bottom of the lid effectively welding them together. The tank was drained, cleaned and photographed. Other than a little sand in the bottom everything looked good. m%20cetol%20removal.jpg

At 1250L Vicki finished removing cetol from all teak-deck perimeter boards! Wahoo!

The manual bilge pump's hose rode up against the transmisson-shaft coupler. Nylon tied it away. There's a little groove in the hose but not deep enough to mandate replacement.

2 October 2006
On the floor board at the bottom of the stateroom steps redid the insulation so the holding tank through hull handle can remain in the open position (in the future we'll run all effluent immediately overboard).

Lubricated all the locks. Sorted the keys and threw out the usless ones.

Reinstalled the pilot house nav boards.

Removed the cetol from the port side's teak deck.

Installed a fluorescent light, like the engine room's, above the galley sink. An extra bulb can be found in the port side's spares box (which is in the engine room under the tool box).

Re-weather-stripped the top of the dutch doors. Found some 1/2" round backer insulation that works perfectly and looks good too. Icing for the cake was its cost: 48 cents for 8'(and that's canadian ;-).

1 October 2006
Repaired the holes in the 02 deck left by the grating.

Adjusted the Webasto thermostat so that it would be more sensitive. Problem was, the thermostat wouldn't turn off the heater until the temperature was unbearably warm. Inside the thermostat there is a magnet that works with a bi-metalic strip to turn the thermostat on and off. I backed the magnet off and this will make the strip quicker to act on temperature changes. Will sea trial it tonight.

30 September 2006
Finished up 99% of the cetol job today. To do a good job (i.e. remove all hardware, sand, apply two coats of cetol, and reinstall all hardware) takes about 50 hours. Glad we'll only have to do it once a year!

Used baking powder on the 02 deck fiberglass. It really gets the stains out and doesn't scratch the gelcoat.

Washed all the fenders. Some of the white ones are showing UV damage (i.e. they're sticky) on the tops.

Pulled both Nav light boards as they're impossible to cetol in place. Got two coats of cetol on them.

Removed the outboard's bracket. Got two coats of cetol on it.

Cleaned 02 boxes and repacked them.

Left the halyard off the mast. It's now in the starboard 02 box.

Left the locking latches off the 02 boxes. Filled the screw holes with polysulfide.

29 September 2006
Took apart the shower's instant hot water heater. The heating element was broken. Was able to jury-rig the element and get the heater working again. Will contact the manufacturer about getting a new element.

Applied second coat of cetol.

First coat of cetol applied: Starboard Rub Rail, companion way door, mast, boom.

28 September 2006
Pulled the starboard, pilothouse, fixed light. The silicon had separated from the glass. Cleaned all the components and reinstalled using a black polysulfide caulk. The stainless window hardware is very impressive--top notch.

Used polysulfide caulk on the stateroom's deck hatch. I used a citrus-based cleaner to clean-up the polysulfide. It did an excellent job.

Finished sanding all exterior cetoled surfaces.

Cleaned all the flaking paint off the radar support.

Removed the liferaft rack and got the inflatable dink ready to take to the second hand boat store.

Removed the 02 deck boxes (they're actually mounted on pedestals and held in place by four screws, two to port and two to starboard).

Put first coat of Cetol on: port cap rail and outboard strake; both pilot house doors; all six pilot house windows; four 02 handholds, two foredeck handholds; two pilot house handholds; both 02 deck boxes and their pedestals; port and starboard salon window water deflector; salon half round; pilot house half round; companion way hatch cover; Nellie D pilot house name board; and 02 deck compressor box.

27 September 2006
Brown's Engineering, who rebuilt our transmission, recommends Dextron III ATF. There's a bottle of the Dextron III outboard of the genset. Dexton II can be used for the power steering fluid. There's a bottle of SeaStar Steering fluid inside the steering station's access panel.

Relabeled the "Inverter" breaker on AC panel to "Trace Charger"

Relabeled the "Battery Charger" on AC Panel to "Mariner Charger"

Began sanding all exterior wood in prep for another two coats of Cetol.

Pulled all the sealant out (between ss frame and plexiglass) of the stateroom's deck hatch.

Pulled two of the deck screws (they were #6 by 3/4" long) used to secure the teak deck. Rather than keep replacing the deck bungs, the screw and bug can be pulled and replaced with a glued-in-place tapered bung. Need to find a source for the tapered bungs.

Bruce, off Limelight a Nordic Tug just up the dock from Nellie, replaces zincs once a year and has the boat hauled and the bottom done every other year. It does not seem to be a local practice to clean the bottom regularly her in the PNW.

Removed the foam strips (3/8" x 3/8" x 30") from above each of the dutch doors. Need to find a 3/8" round to replace it with.

26 September 2006
New bowthruster and rudder zincs installed.

Successfully sea-trialed the autopilot.

Observed engine going over 200F while at 1600 RPM and in calm seas. Backing to 1500 RPM saw the temperature return to ~195F. Rather than investigate while underway, elected to just slow down. At the dock I found the raw water strainer was about 1/4 full with broad leaf grasses.

25 September 2006
Put the new gears in the autopilot linear drive. Worked fine at the dock but needs to be sea-trialed.

Found several loose bolts in the steering's green support assembly. Checked and tightened all the bolts in the assembly. Checked and tightened all bolts in the steering and angle indicator assemblies.

Tried out the emergency tiller. With the hydraulics disengaged by the Comnav, and the linear actuator disconnected, turning the rudder manually was no problem.

Found two Webasto control wires simply twisted together. Put on a splice and then cable-tied all the Webasto's wires together.

Repaired a broken wire to the companion way floor light.

Repacked the stern anchor rode using Bill on Lady's technique.

Put the radar reflector back on the mast. Drilled two drain holes in the bottom of the reflector which let about 1/2 cup of water out. Plugged the two holes with stainless screws.

Used the aluminum HVAC tape to secure the insulation around the Webasto. Secured the Webasto to its supply air line with the same tape.

Cleaned out the Lazarettes. Took the two flopper stoppers, man overboard system, and EPIRB teak box to the swap shop. Picked up the hailer and will put it on Ebay.

Put an extra zinc over the side and connected it to the bitt. Read .6V across the salt water and the bitt.

17 September 2006
The shower room's instant hot water heater isn't working. The heating element is burned out.

16 September 2006
More autopilot fun ;-) The relay, mounted next to the Comnav's distribution box and drive interface (in the PH's glove box) activates when the Comnav is placed in anything other than 'standby' and 'off'. This relay may be what's activating the steering hydraulic bypass. The Comnav's compass is located under the bottom drawer of the stateroom's dressing table.

Replaced the engine room light, the old one stopped working, with a Liteline. Very bright and nice.

Put an 'Alarm on' label on the Link-10. The alarm is enabled when the switch is pushed aft.

Found the ComNav hydraulic bypass (which connects the hydraulic steering lines together when the autopilot is in any of its steering modes). It's in the shower room wire chase. The bypass is activated when a relay (located aft and a little above the ComNav's Distribution Box) is given a signal from the ComNav Distribution Box.

Moved the document files from the pilot house to under the stateroom's dressing table seat. Cleaned out the old file area and put all the cruising books in.

10 September 2006
Refuel 66.84 gal @ 2184 hours

9 September 2006
Put a dam in the bilge just under the galley. Both the manual bilge pump and the aft bilge pumps are in the same bilge section as the packing gland. This bilge will now be called the AFT BILGE. The AFT BILGE extends from the dam to the transom. The MID BILGE extends from the dam to the bulk head just forward of the engine. The FORWARD BILGE extends from the engine bulk head to the bow. The mid bilge is now dry. The foward bilge collects minor amounts of water--the source of this water is unknown although rain is a possibility.

The starter battery bank's ground was relocated from a ground terminal next to the house's battery bank switch to the grounding bolt on the starboard side of the diesel engine.

8 September 2006
Removed bookcase from starboard side. Filled holes and painted starboard side. Oily bilge water. Why?

7 September 2007
Starter Bank (Bank #2): When battery switch is placed in #2, start bank carries whole house load. Therefore, turn off all breaker panel switches before starting.

Put 3/4 quart of oil in.

Playing with the Comnav under Nobeltec (laptop) control. Which NEMA words need to be sent? The following worked: APA, APB, BOD,BWC, RMB, RMC, VTG, WPL, XTE.

5 September 2006
Wouldn't start on Bank#2 alone.

1 September 2006
Found a broken butterfly spring in the Aqualarm. Going to replace both the spring and reed switch.

Purchased a 2" memory foam topper and cut it to fit the setee's bunk. It is stored, along with the the setee's bedding, under the aft setee. What a difference it makes for sleeping comfort.

Repaired supply air duct going to shower and stateroom. Replaced the duct to the pilot house with a smaller diameter and routed it in a cleaner fashion.

Installed an AIS receiver. Installed an automatic antenna switch so the AIS receiver could share the marine VHF's antenna.

Installed a USB hub. Installed a serial-to-USB connector to the ComNav. Plugged both the ComNav and Furuno into the hub. The hub is then plugged into the a laptop Running Nobeltec.

31 August 2006
Replaced both starter bank batteries (which were going bad) with two heavy duty wet cells

30 August 2006
The raw water strainer was 1/4 full with Poulsbo jelly fish.

29 August 2006
Refuel 42.136 gal @ 2152 hours

24 August 2006
The Aqualarm 206 alarm is sounding even though raw water is flowing. Theory of operation: the 206's housing holds a spring loaded butterfly valve which is normally closed. Mounted to the top of the butterfly valve is a magnet. When raw water flows the valve opens. A reed switch is mounted axially on the top of 206's body. When the magnet on the top of the opening valve aligns itself with the reed switch, the alarm circuit opens (i.e. the alarm will turn off). The reed switch has two wires coming out of it and is attached to the 206's body with two screws.

21 August 2006
Put slots in both doors under stove so refrig compressor gets air

22 July 2006
Cleaned out the shower sump and its strainer.

Labeled the salon window covers to make then easier to get on next time.

Found that the common ground point (to the starboard side of the engine bunker just as you enter the engine room) had a loose nut. Tightened it. The engine then did start from bank 2.

Installed a new hand hold between pilot house stairs and salon.

Pulled out the sliding doors under the stove. Taking them home to put slots in them so cooling air gets to the refrigerator compressor.

Washed and cleaned Nellie.

Tightened the packing gland. Found that placing my foot on the wrench gave plenty of leverage to tighten-up the gland.

Measured the bilge for the damn. It will go just aft of the shaft grounding strap which is under the galley. The aft bilge pump's hose can easily clear the damn. The hand pump's pick-up hose can be shortened 18", putting it just forward of the damn area.

21 July 2006
The starboard Bomar hatch's mechanism was getting very stiff. It's grease fitting wasn't accepting grease but the fitting itself worked fine. While pulling the hatch apart, the top flange's three stainless steel screws broke. Cleaned the grease galley. regreased and reassembled the hatch. Asked Melt at Raven Marine to drill, tap and put new screws in. He'll also put some anti-seize lubricant in the holes.

Raven Marne will have a diver check/replace our zincs. Van Isle doesn't allow divers to scrub boat bottoms in the marina.

Asked Kelli Lilburn, of Raven Marine, 250.880.1873m to pull the canvas off and wash the boat before John and Dad arrive on 16 August.

Found the starter-bank battery fluid levels were low. Topped off with distilled water. The specific gravity of the battey acid was nominal.

Took the windlass apart and greased its two fittings.

Replaced the fuel tank dipstick gasket on all four tanks.

20 July 2006
Tried Waypoint's screen in our portlight--close but no cigar.

Picked up the fire extinguishers. The Halon one will need to be replaced in two years.

Dropped the hailer off at The Boater's Exchange. They will try to sell the liferaft (estimated sales price is $650--we get 60% of sales price).

Got the Nellie D. decals on the pilot house and nav boards.

HVAC duct in shower installed.

I used bank 2 (the starter bank) to start Nellie this morning. She barely started. I saw 10V across the battery as the engine turned over. I don't believe there's anything wrong with the starter so, we either have bad bank 2 batteries or they aren't getting charged sufficiently. To make sure it isn't the Mariner 30 charger, the batteries are now being charged with the Trace at 13.74V.

19 July 2006
Put up more insulation in the engine room.

Took our six fire extinguishers to Sidney for inspection.

Picked-up the Nellie D. decals for the pilot house board and nav boards.

Met with Mark at Waypoint who thinks he has a screen that will fit our head, shower and stateroom port lights.

Met with Jamie at Philbrooks who said the davit is on order delivery will be in 10 weeks (about the third week of September).

18 July 2006
Fixed a loose negative connection on the windlass.

Replaced the tinfoil and green tape on the back of the stateroom doors to the chain locker with bubble insulation.

Filled the extra propane tank and put it in the port 02 deck box.

17 July 2006
Continued the engine room insulation project. In the engine room space vacated by the thruster's 8D battery put in two storage containers and the tool kit. All three are bungy corded in place. Put a new light in the engine room. Relocated the port side, engine room fire extinguisher (more easily accessable now). Continued repairing the insulation under the floor boards.

16 July 2006
Sea trialed the thruster. Has more power. Overheated after about 40 minutes of steady use. It shut it self down for about 30 minutes. Maybe put in an alarm activated by the thruster's motor going over temp?

Repaired the frozen saltwater wash-down valve located next to the windlass.

Emptied the foward bilge. Emptied the aft bilge and placed a container under the packing gland. Packing gland drips overflowed the container in less than 24 hours. Need a bigger container and a bilge pump inside it.

Began the engine room insulation replacement project. Continued repairing the insulation under the floor boards.

15 July 2006
Took the liferaft to the Sidney marine junk store. They'll check to see if it has any value.

Thruster project. Removed the 8D AGM battery from the engine room through the pilot house floor board. Yup, it's heavy. The battery's old space will make for a very nice storage area. The freshly painted battery tray was fastened to the mounting block with 4 countersunk 3/8" x 1-1/2" pan head screws. Thus the tray can be removed for easier thruster access. After putting the battery in place the remaining cables were cut to length and connected. A 45 degree coupler added just aft of the chain locker's bulkhead, allowed the holding tank's pump-out line to clear the battery. With the newly located thruster/windlass switch turned 'on' the voltage across the running windlass was 10.5V. Not bad as it was 7.5V pre-battery relocation. QED more pictures

Dry Bildge project (New). Our current wet bildge is a mess. If all or most of the main bildge water comes from the packing gland, it makes sense to try to contain and eliminate the water at this point. After draining the bildge and cleaning it. A long narrow container will be placed under the packing gland. To the drain the container two options were pursued: an electric fishtank pump and a hand pump. After a chance discussion with a Vector Marine mechanic, who has experience is this very issue, a hand pump was purchased.

Engine Room Sound Proofing (New). Purchased a 4'x 75' roll of silvered, HVAC, R-3, waterproof insulation, 300' of HVAC silver tape, and 64 sf of 1-1/2" thick foam, R-8 insulation. After removing all the old material this new material should give us a much better look and maybe better sound quality. The pilot house's engine room floor board was upgraded using the above materials with favorable results A new light will be installed on the ceiling of the engine room too.

While checking the aft bildge pump the hose which connects it to the thru-hull came off in my hands. There was no hose clamp on it. A clamp was added. Recommendation: Fire the surveyor.

14 July 2006
Ordered a 2 AWG butt connector.

Put a coat of paint on the life ring. Put a coat of paint on the new battery box and support.

Took the liferaft to the car and will place it for sale at the Sidney marine junk store.

13 July 2006
Rewired the windlass' 1/0 AWG in the engine room directly to the house bank. Borrowed a cable cutter, heat gun, and huge crimping tool from Waypoint.

Removed the 1/0 AWG leads from the windlass and pulled them back into the bow thruster area. When the thruster battery is in place, these wires will connect it directly to the house bank. Installed the switch and fuse for the thruster/windlass.

While pulling the 1/0 AWG from the windlass I found the unconnected cable harness from the windlass' remote control. It might be worth hooking it up to see if it works.

Jamie hadn't heard from Simpson. He recommended that we not check Nellie into Canada for maintenance until all parts are in place. We're not allowed to cruise Nellie if she's checked in for Maintenance.

12 July 2006
Pulled all the salon's floor hatches. Cleaned and repaired the sound deadening material. Replaced all the duct tape with metal tape.

Tested the Webasto--worked as advertised.

11 July 2006
Shower curtain installed

Rethinking thruster battery installation. An experienced hand at Waypoint Marine said that inverters should have a circuit breaker. Therefor I'll leave the existing breaker in the engine room and buy a new 300A breaker to place by the thruster.

Removed the thruster/windlass on & off switch, and its associated wire, from the engine room. Found that the thruster/windlass were grounded with 1/0 AWG to the over-populated lug just inside the galley engine-room entrance. Hey that's one less wire on it!

10 July 2006
Decal: The copy shop will be sending us an email with the example of the "Nellie D." decal today. After looking at boats in the marina, the text for "NAPLES, FL" should be just the cream color. Still in a quandry rather to paint the forward name board green (rather than just cetol as it is now). I'll take a picture and digitally simulate each option.

Life Ring: Completely stripped the life ring of paint and it's Good News! name.

Thruster Battery Relocation: Chiseled the thruster's curve into the board which will be epoxied to the thruster's tube. Will relocate both the 300A fuse and battery/windlass cutout switch from the engine room to the new battery location. Currently the Bowmar inverter/charger + DC cable goes through this fuse, which according to the Bowmar manual, isn't necessary. Therefore, the inverter will be directly connected to the + DC line. Sized the wire for a 300A load having a 3% voltage drop over a 5' length: 2AWG is the answer. So, I'll use 2AWG to connect the forward battery to the thruster. Currently the thruster's power is coming from the windlass on 4AWG while the thruster's power is coming from the house battery bank switch on 2AWG. I need to size the lines 1) from the house bank to charge thruster battery, 2) from the thruster bank to the windlass line. Hopefully I can use the existing 4AWG from the thruster battery to the windlass and the existing 2AWG from the house battery switch to the thruster battery. I need to trace the existing windlass line back. I'm afraid it really does go through the houses' battery switch and we'll probably want to route the 2AWG directly from the house battery bank to the thruster battery.

9 July 2006
Stack: Cleaned then caulked the stack to both the pilot house and to its wood base. Cleaned then caulked the wood base to the 02 deck. Packing Gland: Tightened the packing gland. Outlet: Rewired the pilot house's port cigarette outlet. I believe Ralph said that one of the 12V breakers marked "spare" controlled the outlet.

8 May 2006
Melt from Raven Marine Services recommended a dedicated fuel pick-up line for the Webasto. Additionally, he's going to pull the Webasto, repair it, and put new insulation on the exhaust line.

7 May 2006
Cetol touchup all around. Added Biobore to fuel tanks. Repaired starboard fender track after one of John's no-so-successful landings ;-) Caulked pilot house dutch door windows.

Measurements of Cabin spaces

matress measurements

salon current rug: 64x42
pilot house rug: 77x21 (21 is max unless a cut around stateroom steps is mad)
bath mat: 24x17

6 May 2006
The inflated dink doesn't fit on the 02 deck. Davits anyone? The pencil zinc in the heat exchanger is fine.

5 May 2006
Cleaned refigerator's condensor grill. What a dusty mess. Should run better now.

3 May 2006
Tightened packing gland.

30 April 2006
Webasto heater isn't working—error message says burner needs to be replaced or cleaned. Pull it all apart and clean it. Still not working.

29 April 2006
Fixed leaking flared fitting on starboard fuel tank's return line.

28 April 2006
Swantown Marina, Olympia, WA. Put Nellie back together and new Zincs all around. A GPS is data communication equipment (DCE) and it's pinouts are: 2 is ground; 3 data out of GPS; 4 is data into GPS.

25 April 2006
At Marina Shipyard in Alamitos Bay, CA, getting Nellie ready for her truck ride. Sitting on the trailer, and with w/o the stack on, the highest point was the radar mount at 14'4". With the stack on she was 16'+. The trailer was very low, a good thing too. We took off the stack, radar dome, search light, TV antenna and mast. It took about 1:45 to do.

21 April 2006
Finished painting salon, stateroom, head, and shower with two coats of Latex (roll and tip method).

20 April 2006
First coat of latex paint went onto the starboard salon. The holding tank measures 17x21x14 (or about 23 gallons).

18 April 2006
Painted the quadrant with rust converter. Made a slide hammer and removed the port water tank's aluminum lid.

Lord Nelson Victory Tug (LNVT)

the story of each boat