Boatyard Projects - Episode II
- True North
- Apr 30
- 4 min read
Boatyard projects continue... and continue.
We're going on a month here at the yard, but tomorrow is supposed to be Splash day!
Continuation of the previous project - Escape Hatches! We finally got the old hatches out and everything prepped for the new ones. Lots of time working on the template, carefully marking holes, carefully drilling, redrilling, drilling with bigger bits... eventually we got the new hatches to fit and set them in a lot of new 5200 sealant. If these don't work, I don't want to be around when someone has to remove them.
Next big task - Chunks & Gunk - the engine cooling system. We've had troubles with the engines running hot - especially the starboard (right) side. We knew we had to remove and clean the heat exchangers - where we found chunks, gunk, and some old impeller parts. We also dug into the transmission coolers. Didn't know we needed to, but we're glad we did - they were also full of chunks and gunk, in the form of old degraded zinc anode parts. It took a bit of work with the grabby-tool to get them out. We soaked the heat exchangers in vinegar overnight, and cleaned out a lot of chunks and gunk from the exhaust elbows. Hopefully we have a nice and cool engine after this. I'm surprised it could circulate cooling water at all!
There are a bunch of holes in our boat. Important holes, since they connect to plumbing systems - items like the engine cooling water, bilge pump discharge, A/C intake & discharge, Sink and shower drains, etc. 26 in all - many of them below the waterline, so pretty important to work right. Some of the thru-hull valves were tough to operate, some we couldn't even get to open and close without so much force that we felt we were going to break something. So, the decision was made to disassemble, clean, grease, and reassemble them all. After a test of the galley sink thru-hull (that leaked like you wouldn't believe!), we quickly ordered official (and ridiculously expensive) O-rings and gaskets, and went through the list and did the whole process over again. Apparently reusing the old deformed O-rings is a bad idea. Fun stuff. It is true that it goes faster the second time, and even faster the third time!
Oh, and there is the anchor chain. We thought that would be fine, but pulled it all out to check, add some new length markers, and maybe switch end-for-end. The idea is that the end that is used all the time gets corrosion and worn. Well, we found that the end that sits in the bottom of the chain locker in the salt water and never moves gets really rusty. Since we are trusting our new home to this chain, we opted to replace, so... off to the chain store for some shiny new chain. It is super shiny. I also got to try my hand at splicing in a connection to the 100' of new rope.
The boat also has A/C units - all of which worked fine when we bought the boat, but for some mysterious reason, all three decided to die on us. One made lots of smoke and melted wires in the control box. One flashes on / off / error on the display, and would turn on and off randomly. I think the 3rd one had similar problems. We did some basic troubleshooting, but in the end decided to replace with new.
We will need to get better about the troubleshooting and fixing things on the go, but the list of things for that is getting long. Starting new sounds pretty good right about now. Replacing these sounds easy - they make new ones specifically designed to replace old ones. It would actually be easy... unless they decided to put the A/C units under the beds where it takes some level 2+ yoga to get access. In and out of these areas 20 to 30 times and you end up having spent most of a day and get sore where you haven't been sore before. So far two of three are in place and mostly hooked up.
Some other work:
And, don't forget the outside of the boat was continuing to get worked on. We had hired the boatyard to do the bottom paint. Good choice after seeing how much work it has been to sand, prep, and paint the boat. She's looking good!
32 days here at the boatyard working every day. Whew, we could use a vacation!
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