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Blue Stocking · 20-08-2012, 03:17

When the going gets tough,-------Congrats

guyfromiowa · 20-08-2012, 17:45

I've been asked about the 'things I fixed' list. It's like this, the entire interior of the main cabin had been awash with diesel fuel. When I picked up the boat in Key West I was not allowed to pump it into barrels because of 'environmental issues'. So we went to Home Depot and bought a bale of peat moss. The peat moss absorbed the fuel and kept it from sloshing around during the trip home. After we got the boat home I cleaned out the boat and burned the fuel-soaked peat moss well clear of the authorities. After trying many different methods to clean the interior I settled on two different treatments. Denatured alcohol is a great solvent for diesel fuel and also dissolves in water. Spray it on, wipe it off and follow up with Simple Green solution. Repeat almost endlessly. Eventually it got better. Much of the woodwork was ruined and had to be pulled out. I have replaced some of it already and more cabinet work is on the list for this winter. I have converted all of the lighting to LED. With a couple new batteries I can leave all of the lights on as long as I need to, since with everything on the amperage draw is less than two amps. The anchor light by itself draws about 19/1000s. One of the good reasons to buy this particular boat is that it had a Yanmar 2GM20F with less than 40 hours. Having done a repower with a new 2GM20F I knew what to expect with that engine. I've had to replace the mixing elbow because it corroded through. Other than that, everything is good in the engine neighborhood. I DID have to repair the rudder. I removed the rudder, peeled the fiberglass skin off, (in pieces), and straightened the armature. I cleaned off all of the old two-part foam and used the old skin as a mold. Poured the new foam in and then ground and sanded the old fiberglass skin back into shape. I wrapped the whole thing in epoxy/carbon fiber layup with four plies on the whole rudder and three more around the bottom. Other than that, only minor fiberglass work had to be done below the water line. Sea water had never gotten in and diesel fuel never got out.

Guy

River Cruiser · 22-08-2012, 12:32

Well done

guyfromiowa · 22-08-2012, 17:47

The lifelines and the halyards were old and tired. After a whole lotta reading and research I decided to try Dyneema. I ordered about 500 feet of Amsteel Blue, fittings from Johnson and the Selma Fid set. I learned how to do the modified Brummel eye splice and made up some soft shackles while I was at it. The forward ends of the life lines are lashed to the bow pulpit with six wraps of 550 paracord. As the lines have relaxed I just re-tied the lashings to snug everything up. The topping lift and main halyard, (which used to be wire), and the jib halyard are all new Amsteel Blue. The stuff is nearly weightless and stronger than the lines they replaced. It DOES take one more wrap around the winch than the old lines. And it IS slipperier when it's time to drop a sail. The dyneema seems to get a little bit less slippery as it ages. It also took a while to stop stretching and take a set, but that was easy.

Guy

guyfromiowa · 12-09-2012, 16:18

It's been a couple weekends since the last update. We've done a few 'boat chores' at the dock and we have been out several times, once for six hours. Things we know now; I had added some foam insulation around the icebox with the intention of converting to refrigeration some time in the near future. We picked up a 5-lb. block of ice and it lasted the whole three-day Labor Day weekend. I know now that I need to renew the gaskets around the hatches. The Newport has a large hatch in the ceiling of the main salon. Ours leaks around the edges when I wash the cabin-top with a garden hose. So when I get this thing out in the weather, well, I know I need to invent some new gaskets. We know now that we REALLY want new cushions. The originals are 30ish years old and have lost all of their springiness. I see new memory foam cushions in the winter upgrade. I am totally tickled with the Garmin GPSMap system. I will be adding things to the NMEA network as I have time and money. We find that we want time, depth, and engine information in the cockpit. For the time being we are using even a small a Windex and having no trouble at all with it. The GPSMap is accurate enough to tell me right away when a minor sail tweak gets me more boat speed, ( or not). We have a Nature's Head and so far we like it very well. The urine tank needs to be emptied a bit more often than we expected, but we have no aroma from the main holding bin. And no pumpouts is a big bonus.

Guy