Finding Closure?

 OK, this morning (01-24-11) it was pretty chilly.  Inside the boat we've managed to keep it pretty comfortable, around 75 F.  It was 7 degrees F outside this morning.  Brrrr!  I'm pretty sure that's the coldest it's been so far this winter.  In fact, since Saturday it's been in the 20's and lower each day.  The creek froze over solid in two days with the water temperature at 32.4 degrees.  We're in the thick of Winter now.

On my walk to the gym it was so cold the decking on the dock had shrunk up and each step I took pushed the boards back down on the nails, giving off a loud "CRACK".  My first couple of steps had me thinking I was gonna go for a swim.  The things you think at 4am.

For the last two weekends Cheri and I have been working together on another project for the boat.  We're building an enclosure for the cockpit that will be similar to putting up storm windows on your screened-in porch.  We already have a Dodger/Bimini that stays in place year round (see the picture to the left).  It's made out of a canvass product called "Sunbrella" that holds up well to marine conditions and provides protection from the sun and rain.  The rear section is the Bimini and the front is the Dodger, which also has a windshield built into it.  Last Spring we had North Sails build us a screened in enclosure that ties into the Bimini and Dodger and this has made it possible to sit up in the cockpit in the Summer evenings when flies and mosquitoes would normally be forcing you down below at gunpoint.  The screens also act as a windbreak and we've used them several times to help make life bearable when we were underway in cooler weather.

Unfortunately, the screens don't keep out the cold.  We were going to have North Sails also build us a Winter enclosure that uses a clear 30 gauge vinyl called "Eisenglass".  This is the same stuff the windshield is made of but not as thick.  The guys at NS quoted us for this project and it was "out of scope" for our budget, especially after the Great Holding Tank Escapade (click here for more dirt on that). We re-prioritized our wish-list and moved on to other things, like the Espar heater (more info on that project).

In the meantime we invested in a Sailrite sewing machine so we could do some of our own canvas work and maybe even take on sail repairs some day.  This has opened up a whole new creative world for us.  The Sailrite machine is a real beast (check this out), very heavy duty, and can sew through stacks of tin cans if it needed to.  We probably won't be needing that but now there are new projects being added to the list such as winch covers, hatch covers, wind scoops for the hatches, etc, etc, etc.

We visited Sailrite in Annapolis to get some materials for our first project and the owner, Dan, introduced us to a very cool design for a cockpit enclosure.  The basic idea is to make panels of Eisenglass that will attach to our cockpit screens with a zipper across the top and snaps down the sides.  This is opposed to seperate panels requiring their own Sunbrella frames with zippers on three sides and snaps across the bottom.  Because it's a simpler design the cost for materials is considerably less, about $700 versus (approximately) $1.2 gazillion.  Instead of doing hatch covers we decided to make our cockpit enclosure for our first project.  Other than a complete Winter cover for the boat or making our own sails, this is probably the biggest canvass project we'll ever take on.  What were we thinking?

OK, so it's not really that big of a deal.  The screen enclosure is broken up into seven panels so we can just do a little at a time and not feel so overwhelmed.  We started in the center of the three panels across the back. There's a couple of tricky features here.  The top has a curve to it and the zipper follows this curve.  The panels on either end also go around the rear corners of the cockpit.  Where the zipper attaches across the top of the screen we didn't have much material to work with so Cheri added a strip of Sunbrella here and the zipper attached to that.  Down each side of the Eisenglass we sewed in pull tabs for the snaps.  These were also made with Sunbrella and are simply strips about 1" x 5" folded in half so they're about 2.5" long.  These overlap the vinyl by about an inch and this provides some extra strength for the snaps.  The socket side of the snap is inserted through the tabs and the button side goes through the frame for the screen.  Check out this short video to see our cool-man snap installation tool in action(click here).  We spaced the snaps about 10" apart down each side.  For right now we're leaving the bottom of the Isenglass unattached.  It hangs down below the cockpit coaming and is a little difficult to get at.  If we really need the extra tension we can add snaps there too.

We're averaging about one panel per day.  We could probably do more if we were really dedicated or if we didn't have laundry to do and meals to make or if we were getting paid.  Maybe.  This is a good pace for us and it looks like we could finish up next weekend.  As of now we have all three panels across the back finished and the larger ones on each side.  We have just two more to go, the ones that are the most forward and attach to the Dodger.  The one on the Port side is used as the main entrance to the boat while we're at "Home Port" so after we finish the Eisenglass panels we're going to make an extra panel for here that will replace the screen and make access easier.  This will be made of Sunbrella with maybe a window in the middle of it.  It'll be hung like an entrance to a teepee so you just have to flip it out of the way to get through.  We'll use this during the Winter while we're tied up for the duration.  We don't have the final design fully worked out yet but the idea is to keep it simple and provide easy access.

When the weather warms up we'll take down the Eisenglass panels and store them flat in a zippered pocket made with Sunbrella.  That'll be kept in the aft cabin on a narrow shelf above the foot of the bunk.  Our aft cabin doesn't get much use so we're trying to design some changes that'll make better use of the space.  It's where Bella sleeps but she doesn't take up much space.  When we have guests staying overnight this will be their room so we need to keep it useful for that.  But we're thinking it would be really nice to set it up as a workspace where the bunk will convert to a settee and have a worktable and more storage.  We're working with a cabinet dude on some ideas and we'll share them with you when we figure out what we're doing.

The cockpit enclosure has been a great project.  It gives us something we can work on together.  We found that we can do that and we don't scream or fight or anything.  It's fun.  This has also given us something we needed for the boat at a pretty hefty savings (gazillions).  I'm hoping that the enclosure will give us more time out on the water in the Spring and Fall but it'll also make life aboard more comfortable at the dock.  We got a new fondue pot that'll be great to use in the cockpit now that it's closed in.  C'mon by and check it out.

Wrap It Up!

Lately we've had quite a few projects that have piled up, all requiring some finishing touches to bring them to conclusion.  I'm talking about things like the infamous Espar heater installation, the long-winded water pump repair, the peculiar power plug escapade, and, and, and..... it just goes on and on.

Last weekend (01-08-11) we picked up some brass eye screws to finish off the power plug thing (click here for the original story, about halfway down).  I wanted to have a way to prevent the plug from coming loose and causing an arc-flash condition again.  On the end that plugs into the boat we have a twist-lock plug with a locking ring that screws down and holds the plug tight in the receptacle.  On the dock end it just plugs in and hangs there with all the weight of the cord pulling down on it.  I'm not real sure why they don't have twist locks on both ends but I suspect it's kinda like car manufacturers and planned obsolescence.  Anyway, I installed an eye screw on each side of the plug, then wrapped a bungee strap around the power cord and stretched it up to each eye.  I'm pretty sure those power cords won't be moving much now.

The next thing we took on was the never-ending water pump repair (same link as before, just a little further down).  This started out with our Jabsco water pump suffering a cracked upper plate.  We ordered replacement parts for it and went without water for 3 days waiting for them to come in.  After repairing the pump it worked fine for a week before suffering a second outage, different part.  This time we decided to order a replacement pump and use the old one as a back-up after we repaired it.  When we ordered the new pump through West Marine they told us if we had any problem at all we could bring the pump back.  Good thing, considering it cost us $480.  When we installed the pump we found the water pressure to be woefully low.  It wouldn't even make it through the water filter at the galley sink.  On closer inspection we found that the old pump was a model 36800-1000 and the new pump is a 36800-0200.  The biggest difference between the two is that the -1000 runs between 20 - 40 psi and the -0200 runs between 10 - 20 psi.  I'm not real sure what application anyone would have on a boat for a 10 psi pump.  When I talked to the folks at West Marine they said no problem, just bring in the pump and we'll order the -1000.  A week later they called to tell me the -1000 was on a six month back order because Jabsco had dropped their supplier for the diaphragms and didn't have a new supplier in place yet.  What???  That's insane!  What a way to run a business.  By this time my replacement parts shoulda been in and I could just rebuild the old pump (again) and get on with life.  I called to find out where they were and found they hadn't been shipped yet because one piece was on back-order from Jabsco.  This is ridiculous.  I went on-line and searched for pumps running 20 to 40 psi.  Found one from Shur-Flo that runs 20 to 45 psi at 4 gpm.  Perfect.  Even better, West Marine has one on the shelf and it only cost $189.  Plus they offer a 5 year warranty for an extra $20 that covers it 100%.  If anything at all goes wrong they give me a new pump.  Uhm, gee.  Why am I wasting all this time with Jabsco?  We installed the new pump and lived happily ever after.  The top picture shows the original problem, cracked plate.  Bottom picture shows the old pump (Jabsco 36800-1000) on the right and the new pump (Shur-Flo 4901-0211) on the left.  I think the Shur-Flo looks like a little mechanical bull.  Kinda cute. 

Our next project was to finish up the Espar diesel heater installation.  We'd been running for about two weeks with the return air duct disconnected to verify that this was the source of our error codes indicating a restriction and overheating.  It was.  I had originally routed the return duct from the rear wall of the aft cabin into a tight turn, about 110 degrees, to port and straight into the heater.  Since I had about 15' of spare duct laying around I re-routed this line so it now runs straight back from the aft cabin, under the cockpit, makes a broad turn around the steering gear and heads forward again with another broad turn at the aft cabin bulkhead and finally connecting to the heater.  It's now been running for a week in this configuration with no error code.  I think I'll eventually build a short bulkhead in the port side cockpit locker and mount the heater so it's facing fore and aft.  This was my original plan and if done properly would really be the best setup.  For now, we've got a working system that'll get us through the winter.

After getting the return line set up I went through the entire system and insulated all the ductwork.  From the Main Salon forward we used the cool-man bubble pack with aluminum backing.  This stuff is really great, only 1/4" thick but very effective as long as the temperatures aren't too extreme.  The other end of the ductwork, the section going from the heater up to the Main Salon is where the temperatures are pretty extreme.  I'm not exaggerating!  In the hanging locker in the aft cabin we were concerned our clothes would spontaneously combust.  In the storage locker just aft of there, closer to the heater, we had two bottles of wine that we'd forgotten about.  When we found them two days after first firing up the heater the corks had pushed out about half way.  Those babies were gonna blow!  Way too warm in there!  Probably ruined the wine too which is a major bummer.  So for this section we first wrapped 3" fiberglass and then covered it with the bubble wrap stuff.  This has worked out great.  Our clothes stay warm but not toasty.  The wine has been moved to a better location.  While we were at it we also tied down all the wiring and fuel line so this project is pretty much complete.  For now anyway.

On board La Vida Dulce we've suffered a mutiny.  The crew has recently refused to man the rails when it's necessary to move the boat for pumping out the holding tank or topping off with fuel.  I threatened 40 lashes but she just giggled.  Whatsa man supposed to do?  So now we've contracted with a company to come down the dock and pump out our holding tank.  It's not too expensive and keeps the crew happy.  For fuel we went out and bought 5 five gallon Jerry cans (yellow ones for diesel, red ones are for gas).  In town there's a gas station that they'll knock off 20 cents/gallon if you tell them it's gonna be used for "off road" only.  I guess there's a road tax that they can leave off if it's used for boats.  So we're paying $3.12/gal there, versus $3.35 down the road or even $4.51 at a fuel dock.  Yikes!  That's quite a savings so now we're hauling 25 gallons at a time by hand.  We started off with a half tank of fuel so I don't really know what kind of consumption we're dealing with on the heater yet.  I think while the return air duct was off it was going full bore the whole time trying to heat 20 degree air and was really sucking down the diesel.     It seems to be running more in coast mode now so it should be using less fuel.


So we've finished some projects up.  That's a good thing too because my list just keeps getting longer.  We survived a mutiny  with very little bloodshed.  Life on board is pretty cozy with our new heater.  Best of all, as of this past Christmas we have exactly four years to go until we retire.  Our official date is 12-25-2014 but with sick leave and time off for good behavior we might be able to cruise outa here as early as June 2014.  Hey, look there!  Do ya see it?  That's the light at the end of the tunnel!  Woohooo!