Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
The ocean is a battery. Salt water conducts. The various metal parts of the boat conduct.
And this means some parts are being galvanized. Other parts are giving up atoms to support the galvanization.
Since it's inevitable, and unstoppable, the solution is sacrificial anodes that can give up metal and …
Let's begin with the assumption that the port-side water tank leaked. There was ample evidence to support that hypothesis. A leak means we have to replace the tank. (It's essentially impossible to make a repair through the tiny inspection ports.) Replacing the tank takes money and time.
And saw blades …
Here's the new main.
Our hull number is 188. But the sail maker felt we needed something. So the "42 W" is for Whitby 42.
I'm tying in the 3rd batten.
Since CA is taking the picture, they're not helping.
Below this batten, I have to …
How do you keep your to-do list?
Paper? iOS Reminders app? A spreadsheet?
What's on it? Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul? Anything else?
I've been using Toodledo for years. Well over 10 years now. It has an iOS app as well as a web app. It has a kajillion features with folders …
A Bladder Cleanser sounds like a special cranberry juice drink. But really, the job isn't over until the hand-washing afterwords.
Yes this is a picture of soapy water in the galley sink.
We put a little dish soap in the tank. Ran in some water. And …
It sounds so medical. It's not. It's technical.
Here's some parts.
This immensely complex T-fitting with appropriate hose barbs all around.
It's wonderfully Byzantine.
The deck filler has a bushing to narrow it from the default 1½″ to 1″. This is actually good because the tiny …
This was what we use to help fill the water bladder in the dinghy. It must weigh well over a pound. Solid bronze (mostly) with a shiny brass part.
There's a pair of bushings at the bottom to reduce a 1¼″ threaded pipe down to ¾ …
Today involves a bunch of new things.
A new year in the blog. Things are rearranged and reorganized.
No more day jobs for either of us. We're fully retired.
We started bending on sails now that winter has passed us by.
I finished fixing the outboard bracket. This involved a …
Rust never sleeps. Also. Rock and roll will never die. But that's another story.
We had two problems leading to water on the engine (and rust.) One of the deck drain fittings failed, leaking rain water over everything. This was an amazing amount of water. All the snow-melt from the …
All the supports are inside the tank, screwed into the aluminum.
They're more-or-less lined up, and they sit about as level as anything in a boat can sit. Which is to say, not level enough for billiards, but level enough that the olive doesn't get knocked out of my martini …
Here's where the forward tank bladders stand.
We've got hose and fittings.
We've got a lower shelf with some bilge paint.
I've cut the first of three parts of the upper bladder's shelf. (I'll post a picture next week.)
I've measured yet again and discovered that …
It's supposed to work like this:
You can see the white supports. Two coats of bilge paint. Heavy-duty hardened steel self-tapping screws.
The taped-together piece of cardboard is the pattern for the shelf that sits down there. It's much easier to build it with the supports …
Workarounds aren't really a good idea. We worked around a number of mainsail problems for years. We're finally past those not-to-smart compromises.
I don't really have good pictures of the new sails. They went on late last year, and then came down for the winter, unused …
Red Ranger's original mizzen setup had the mizzen sheet attached to a wire bridle that was shackled to the deck. Simple. Reliable.
But.
With shackles, it was difficult to press the bridle into service as a traveler. The mizzen, like the main, needs to he held down when off the …
The remains of the V-Berth tank can hold two bladders. This requires a shelf. Since the bottom of the tank comes to a tiny little point, it requires two shelves: a top shelf that leaves 11″ of space and another shelf, 11″ below that.
I've cut …
The usual advice is measure twice cut once. But. We're not there yet.
I've (finally) cut away enough of the top to reach inside and work. While it's taken a bunch of weekends, it's really one, long messy cutting job.
We wait for afternoons where it gets up to about …
We've learned a lot of lessons.
First, the 4″ segmented TiN coated blade for the Fein Multimaster is the secret to this job. See this from Multifit Blades. The technique of scribing the line carefully with the blade oscillating, followed by running the tool slowly back and forth works really …
For me, my day job things are rarely "finished" and "done."
There are a lot of folks who can go home knowing they filled all the orders, dropped of all the shipments, closed all the tickets, and got things completely done. All the way done — for the day. Tomorrow there …
The reciprocating saw (known to us as "Maxx Damnage") let me make four long cuts in the space of a few hours.
Sadly, once we're past the easy part, the new cuts involve less accessible places. And a less destructive saw.
The DeWalt reciprocating saw is …
See Water Tank Replacement for some back story.
We've started taking steps. This involves radical destruction.
First, get the anchor we've never used up and out of the bilge under the V-berth.
We didn't even know we had this anchor until we'd owned the boat for …