Started on the fridge project. The space is huge for a boat this size. 7 cubic feet! I chiseled out the wood trim surrounding the cover. It is cracked in two places. I might use aluminum to replace it. The ledge supporting the top is too small. The current unit is a Adler Barbour 50. It runs off 12 volts and has a large power draw. The replacement unit is the same. I came across a NorCold replacement that I like. The SCQT-4408F. 12 /120 volt. looking into it.

 A few shots from the boat.  On the advice of a fellow boater I left the cover off this year. Downstairs is bone dry. I had some water last year which occurred because of the tarp. Snow blew under it and jammed up over the sliding hatch. It just wicked in. If you don't have one of these elongated 'tents' that you see in the photo then it ain't worth it.

Remember to visit your boat in winter. It misses you!

Nice little Christmas gift. Can't wait to use it. The Shards are giving a presentation locally through our Sail Squadron in a few weeks. looking forward to that. They sail a 49 Southerly yacht and do a TV show about their travels. Come on spring. Life is too short for Winter.  Happy 2014 all!

Well, not much going on till spring. I am trying to gather info on using a tablet as a map GPS. I bought a Bad Elf and tried it on my wife's I-Pad. It worked great but some of the sites I watch recommend the Google unit which has a built in GPS. If I can make this work then the existing unit I have (an old Garmin) will go downstairs by the nav table. If it is warm over the holidays I will size up a few projects but right now I am working on some home projects.
Merry Christmas to all.

Here it comes kids. F'ing winter. Gimme shelter is in her cradle. I changed the oil and winterized the water system and waste tank. All the sails are in the garage and we wait for the dark season to pass. Big plans for next summer.

HELP!!

I headed out on Saturday with my better half for 4 hours out on Lake St.Clair. 8 knots of wind, warm but cloudy. Hey, not bad for October.
I am getting better at this sailing stuff. I sailed into the flow of the river and tacked back and forth between Peche isle and Belle Isle on the US side.
I kept the tacks well over 130 degrees apart due to the wind coming up the channel and the fact that the two knots of current swept me along. Once clear of Peche I headed over into the secondary channel and worked my way back up against the current toward my marina (Wind astern). No motor and best of all I wasn't nervous about it. Working my way along an inclosed area with all sails up made me very uptight when I started sailing. It is one thing to motor out to the middle of a lake and raise the sails, quite another to confidently work your way along a narrow channel with huge freighters passing you.
  OH THE PHOTO?? as I headed back up the river this guy and his crew flew by. I thought "they're out of my league" They turned into the channel on the right side of the red buoy heading upstream. Then they promptly grounded Red Right Return. Red (To your)Right (When you are returning to the source of the water you are in)Return.
You have been educated.

 Last big sail of the season. We had SSE winds and followed the shoreline from Windsor to Belle River on Lake St.Clair. Another big fire over in Detroit to watch as we sailed along. Well next week I guess we will move her to the boat yard. What a drag! I hate winter. Lots to do this winter. New fridge, GPS, and maybe a dodger.$$$

Just back from two weeks in Hawaii. Some photos of sailboats and some crap that surfers live on.

sister boat

 Another 30 O'day

Westsail?

 Nice vessel. looked like he nailed something. There was a strip of stainless covering a Boo Boo.

Three guys on this boat were out for several years. Tough looking Trimaran ...but UUUgly.

Read about this old ship @......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_of_Clyde_%28ship%29

 What the He..??

 This is a surfers special. With the cost of living in Waikiki, they rent a boat slip and put a "thing" in there.

This guy had great Shrimp. They often film scenes from Hawaii 50 here.

Labor Day.  YIKES. I better get out there. man were did summer go??

DOG DAYS O' SUMMER
Not much getting done. Just sailing
.

We are planning to go up to Mackinaw Island working our way up the Michigan shore line next year
Priorities will be a new refrigeration system and a new GPS. I have an older grey scale Garmin. Sucks.

Drove up to Tobermory. Saw a couple of nice boats 46 footers.
My dog Marley a Briard.

This is a 52 Hlyas. Sweet boat!! I see the owner passed on the gun turrets . This is Bayfield marina on the Bruce peninsula .

Well we had over a week aboard GIMME SHELTER. We traveled down the Detroit river and stayed overnight in Crystal bay. Then onto Scudder marina at the north end of Pelee Island in Lake Erie. Liz and Marley pose for me.

We left Pelee and headed for Kelley's Island off the Ohio coast. No wind all day and temps in the 90's.
We planned on having a fire that night but it was too hot at 10 at night.We spent a night a PUT IN BAY before heading back home to check our lottery tickets and then go back to work.

Days like this make it all worth while.
Even if I can't get the sails up. The next day we had a great sail home keeping the boat between 5 and 6 knots for the 30 mile run across Lake Erie. Then the dreaded slog up the river against 2 knots of current. 
A 13 hour day. The microwave worked great but we realize that we need more battery power to stay on the hook. Also the toilet started acting up (hard to operate) I looked into rebuilding it but it wasn't much more to replace the thing. Did it yesterday and it is working great.

Man it is hot and humid. Marley is staying in the air-conditioning. What did Dogs do before that?
I built a screen door that sits in the slot normally reserved for the wash boards. Cool Breezes Mon.
Finally got the dingy and 4 horse on board. Don't recall if I mentioned the water heater. I probably did. Well it has a new element and thermostat. Working great. The compressor for the fridge is fried, hey it is from '83. That's next years project.

Electrical and Micro install

 Built and roughed in the shelf for the microwave. Made sure there is still room underneath to reach in and grab whatever junk we store behind the seat.
The shelf is milled from 1/2 inch mahogany that was recovered from a 100 year old house, there is a strip of black cherry biscuited through the middle. The corners are supported with aluminum angle pained black. I drilled up into the topsides oversize holes. I pulled out the balsa core around the holes and filled with west system epoxy mixed with thickening agent. let dry and re-drill for the screws on the supporting brackets.

 
Test fit the 700 watt microwave ...looks good.

This is the panel I machined up. It holds a smaller panel on the right that controls the bilge pump.
I installed a flip (float) switch next to the bilge pump and rewired the whole thing along with the wiring for the steaming and anchor lights. I added a Hubbel twist lock plug that handles both lights, allowing them to be disconnected if the mast is pulled. The center of the panel has the amp meter with a shunt that I have been trying to install for ever. To the left is a very heavy duty (overkill) DTDP switch. It allows current to flow to a plug near the microwave. If you flip it up the circuit is rerouted to the inverter. I tried it without the motor running and it is barely making it.This is because the start load of the microwave is overwhelming the inverter. With the motor revving and the increase in voltage and available amps, it works like a dream. I don't have enough battery power to run it long without the motor and that is fine. We can warm things up quickly away from the dock if we wish by just starting the little diesel. For smaller loads like charging the computer, it should be OK without starting the motor up. This was a lot of extra work but it is a better installation and I learned a few things.

Next project. A new panel for an amp meter with a shunt attached  to the battery selector switch above it. Next to that will be a panel for the bilge pump. The switch you see installed is an 8 way switch which will change the circuit going to a  dedicated plug behind the microwave oven. It will allow me to switch both hots and both neutrals with one flick from shore power to an inverter/battery source.  I cut away the ply on the bulk head behind it  in the same manner as the cut outs you see.

I painted it and located it in position. Now I need marine grade 120 volt cable to finish up.

 

Finally got out on Sunday. Liz and I sailed for 4 hours before the rain moved in. MAN, this is a crappy Summer so far. We had 10 / 15 knots of wind and practiced close hauled sailing. Our O'Day 30 will only get within 50 / 55 degrees of the wind direction. One reason is you need a tight as a drum new mainsail but even shelling out for that won't correct the fact the we have a beamy boat. I installed a 1000 watt inverter on Saturday. The plan is to buy a 700 watt microwave for it. I want to run a circuit that allows me to flip a switch. UP-( Inverter of battery). DOWN-(120 volts from shore power).

TAA DAA!

 Finally found some time to install my world famous
folding TV set. I had to search all over town for the correct length of SS screw. Too long and it would pop up on the deck!. I located and drilled, then I used a dental pick to pull out the end grain balsa. I injected a little epoxy into each hole and let it set. Then I re-drilled the holes and bolted it in place.

I think the prior owner had some kind of Dorade box here. I got the boat with one of those cheap snap in white plastic access plates here. I replaced it with a good Quality one. It has a clear cover that threads into place. It throws some light in the cabin. 
I made the bottom trim ring on a lathe from aluminum and primed and painted it white to match. Big low passing through right now. Looks bad for sailing this weekend.

 Drove up to port Dover today. This is just east of Long Point on Lake Erie. Liz and I checked out this 42 foot Niagara. Nice vessel but the price $135,000 is steep for what you get.

My other problem is with the old style of stern on this vessel. (Fan tail???) The name escapes me but basically, from the binnacle back the hull is out of the water. This may look "Yachty" but it costs you valuable space on-board and decreases your waterline. That translates to speed. We will keep looking. The name 'JULY INDIAN" is from a song up in Rainbow country. Basically it is what first nations people call tourists who turn red during their vacations up there. 

 First sail of the season. Shake down trip across Lake St.Clair to Harsons Island on the St.Clair river.
We are getting better. A few rough tacks but other than that we did OK. Liz is trimming the sails by herself . Go Liz!

This is our Marina (I took this shot from our Gulfstream jet) Yes I am BS'ing.

 Worked all week on the beast. I planned on moving it up the Detroit river to my slip on Sunday but a big front was coming in on Sunday so I got everything done on Friday while the boat was still on the stands. They dropped it on Saturday morning and after checking everything over Liz and I cruised up the river.

 The current was running at 2 knots against me but the wind was abeam so I raised the jib. We were moving at 3 knots. With the jib we hit 4.2 knots.
We passed several Homeland security boats and saw several of their cars along the US shoreline. Then a helicopter buzzed us. We saw two big coast guard RIBS with mounts at the bow for 50 caliber machine guns. The border is becoming very militarized on the American side. Sad.

 Well, three straight days of cleaning, compounding and waxing with heavy paste wax. Followed up with a lambs wool bonnet buffing. She looks great. There are a few spots at the bottom of the keel that had to be faired, thanks to the lack of water in the great lakes, but not too bad! One more coat of VC-17 tomorrow. Oil change ( I change it in the fall with cheap 10W-30. I leave the old oil filter on. In the spring I run it for a few minutes then pull the oil and filter)I pour in the good stuff and it ends up being 
much cleaner and staying clean.

 New instrument pod coming along.

There was some kind of 6 inch vent here, long gone.
I replaced it with this clear cover but plan on adding a proper vent or maybe a dorade. That hatch in the background is on death watch. Looking for a replacement. The water heater works from engine heat but no longer from an electric source. Last year it did but had to be watched because the thermostat was shot. That's going to have to be replaced. After that the refrigeration unit will be replaced. This stuff gave good service but 1984 was a long time ago.
After that I think I am good. HA HA... yeah I know.

Keith Richards Shepard's pie. Great on Wednesdays in late April when it it SNOWING!!
I can't get anything done until Friday because of the weather. They say 60 on the weekend but that could be 60 below.

This is the current set up on the O'day.
I rebuilt the drink holder then cut off the two pods which sit on both sides.
You can see at the top there is a flat plate with an arm projecting off to the right in this view. That is also gone.

The arm has the Autopilot in it. The bracket at the top supports a Map reader.

This is the replacement under construction. The autopilot goes in the large hole and the new Depth/ speed instrument goes in the smaller hole. It is made of 1/8 th aluminum.

All the cables have been pulled from the binnacle except for the compass light. This tube will be painted and a bracket will hold it securely. A flex hose will come off this up to the new instrument box. I will twist the wires and then wrap them in copper wire which twists around the bundle. the purpose is to knock down the electromagnetic flux created by live wires.
They run near the compass and I want to avoid interference.