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 Interior shots

Summer begins

Sorry, sideways pictures. Speakers mounted and wired in. custom made bracket for the throw ring

Very nice day. Cleaned up the boat and headed out for a few hours in 10 to 15 knots of wind. We hit 7.5 knots for a while with the rail almost buried.

In the water!

If I look like a gun fighter it is because my arms are sore. three days of compounding and hard wax finish. Well It was worth it, she looks great. The new exhaust was leak free and the alternator put out 13.6 volts. Saturday, we headed up to the marina and Gimme Shelter is back in her slip for summer 2015. Yippie kyee yah.
I still have to do some teak and mount the rear speakers.

Spring means work!!!

I got the exhaust finish up and installed minus the heat wrap. That can wait until it is tested.

I installed the new bilge pump. It was tricky making the 90 degree turn but I solved it with a custom made fitting that fit the different hose sizes. This unit senses the water level and eliminates the old fashioned flip switch.







The Alternator was rebuilt. It stopped working sometime last summer due to the battery switch being moved past the off position while the motor was running. That blew the diodes. The re- builder gave me a complete overhaul with windings, diodes and the rectifier / regulator as well as new bearings. They did a great job. I read up on methods of protecting the unit from a repeat problem. 
I am adding a bypass switch. This will send the charge to Battery 1 when activated. Flick it on then you rotate the battery bank switch as required and then flick the bypass off when done. 
In the bottom right corner you can see a sea strainer. The hose running from the sea cock to the pump was incorrect for below the water line. I have replaced it with heavy duty regulation hose. I refilled the antifreeze in the motor but the level has since dropped as air bleeds out. I removed the name from the stern and will put the new one on soon. I washed all the Sunbrella and will treat it with their 303 treatment this week.
I refinished the wash boards and the steps into the cabin. Onto the wax job...Uggg!

Exhaust work

 I sandblasted and painted the exhaust manifold as well as the valve cover and a few other parts. The color is not a match but I found a good quality high temp gold paint, so I hope it will hold up better than the original paint. You can see the block was painted blue by Kubota and over sprayed gold by Universal. I pulled the alternator and still can't find anyone to test it!




Here you see the test fit of the new exhaust.
Note the soot from the old leak. What a
 dogs dinner that was.

Here the unit is brazed and sandblasted, ready for a coat of high temp gold paint and installation.
I installed it today and everything went well. I have to wrap it in high temp exhaust cloth but will run it first to make sure it is sealed up. I bought a sea strainer and fabricated a bracket for it. That went in today. I found the hose running from the sea cock to the intake pump to be cracked and worn. I'm going to toss it and get another six feet.

Spring draws near!

 The brutal cold weather lifted on Sunday. The temperature rose above freezing for the first time in a month. It hit 50 degrees today and felt great. Why is that first nice day always a Wednesday? I stopped by my marina on the way home from work and took a few crappy shots through my windshield. The swans, geese and ducks seem happy. They can fly south - but don't.

I am hoping to start on the boat this weekend. Taking the exhaust apart to determine what I need in the way of stainless pipe for the rebuild. Guess we will see.

Baby it's cold outside!!

I located the exhaust gaskets for my universal 5416. It wasn't that hard ordering them through a marine supply store (Expensive though!!). I also grabbed this new bilge pump which will work great in the tight space above my keel. It senses the water level without the need for a separate float switch. We are experiencing record lows this weekend. The forecast is for the same into next week. Really looking forward to spring. 
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The bottom step on my stairs down into the cabin gives me a lot of grief. First the welds broke on the tabs that support the teak step and now the wood step split. everyone stands on it while taking to people in the cockpit so it takes a beating. I made up an aluminum plate to mount on it. I plan to make a thicker step and rout out the bottom side. Lay the teak over the aluminum for a bullet proof step.  Three weeks till daylight savings and 6 till spring.

Thought I'd check to see if the Marina was open. No it isn't. I got a few ideas at the Toronto boat show, I bought a 4 prong disconnect to mount aft in the cockpit. The plug will feed both cockpit speakers from one output, instead of one on each side. I can't order the gaskets to disassemble the exhaust. The supplier won't ship outside the US. I am seeing this more and more. It is just to much hassle with all the over the top border crap now.
Record snowfall today, UGH!  

Spent the weekend at the Toronto boat show. It is a great show for equipment suppliers, not so much for the actual boats. I heard  A few Other people said the same thing as Liz and I, the new boats feel cheap and the interiors look like particle board from IKEA! Not impressed. There was one shining light, a Polish Company called TES had a nice 28 footer. I hope they build some bigger models because the layout and workmanship is fantastic. I learned a few things about AIS, and had a great dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Good times.

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! A few shots from Sanibel Island where myself, Wife Liz and Dog Marley warmed up for 10 days over the holidays. I saw a few sailboats out in the Gulf...must be nice! Best of all, I correctly set the date on my camera, a Christmas miracle!

There are few things funnier than watching a dog who grew up on the great lakes, run to the ocean an lap up a quick drink. When her paws dried out, Marley realized they were salty and licked them all night.  We have her on a low salt diet now. Going down to the yard to check on my poor frozen vessel today. Here comes that longggg four months.