The Last Seacock

With the last seacock installed for the cockpit drains, I thought I'd show what I did to get it ready.

I have a sheet of G10 Fiberglass board, I used a couple hole saws to cut to size. Drilled holes for the bolts but then drilled out a larger size on the bottom to epoxy the bolts into place. I had a small tube of LifeCaulk on hand and used it to seal the threads. I think I used 4200 or Sikaflex 291 before but it should still work just the same.

One difficulty was having to use a couple wrenches to tighten the fittings together. Having the pieces already together helped for alignment when installed on the boat.

Really not a lot to it. This is the same way I prepared the other seacocks I've installed with new G10 backing boards.

There's sitll a couple old seacocks on the boat. I'd like to get rid of the one in the starting battery compartment. There's also one in the head under the counter top. Right now, if I tried doing that work, It would further delay getting the boat ready so they're going to wait right now.

Last Cockpit Seacock

Had another good weekend. Got the last seacock installed for the cockpit drains. Trying to do it myself wasn't easy though. I used the boat hook to keep the thru-hull in place and got the seacock base started on the threads. I then used a zip-tie to attach to another seacock to keep it from spinning. Got out of the boat and tightened the thru-hull down. Epoxy squeezed out from the base, that needed cleaning up. Luckily I was able to do this early in the morning where I could wait the whole day for the epoxy to cure. Unfortunately, I didn't finish curing. The outside of the fiberglass base was solid but when I removed the thru-hull, the center was still pliable/soft. I put the blue drain hose back through the hole for rain water to drain in the meantime. Soon, I'll be able to seal this seacock, and get new hoses on the hose-barbs. The current hoses on the other three are not very secure, at best I was abe to get one hose clamp around the hose.

Other project I wanted to do was attach the anchor chain to the boat. Not sure there was ever a place to attach the chain or rode, so I got a U-bolt, drilled holes to attach it. Then I put a soft shackle I made on it and the end of the chain, so now, when I deploy the anchor, the chain is not all going to find the bottom. The chain is about 140ft, so I could probably cut some of that down and attach some rode. Not sure the rode that came with the boat had ever been used or if it's even good to use.

These two things were projects I've had on my list a long time. I'm happy I can cross off a couple things. A good part of the visit, I was working on the rudder. When I tap on the rudder, there were hollow sounding areas, I cut part of the skin out to get epoxy behind those areas. I plan to post more on this when I have more work on it completed.

Squeezed epoxy into the gap before tightening thru-hull

I may cut the extra length off the threads

Last couple weekends have been pretty productive. I've been able to cross off a few projects off my list. Every little bit helps. Thanks for stopping by.

Galley Hose

Short post.


I did some cleaning up inside the boat this past weekend. Since I wanted to replace the flat-head screws on the side paneling, like I did in the forward salon/v-berth area, I cleared out the port quarterberth and removed some screws. While I was at it, I added some of the same insulating material. Only able to do a couple parts as I ran out of what I had on hand. At the same time, I replaced a hose that went from the fresh water tank below the quarterberth to above it. I think it's for venting and to keep from the tank from being damaged from a vacuum when being used. The hose was a bit disgusting inside and it was sticky all around. I think something left over from when the boat was infested with bees.

close up of old hose

old hose in the trash

New hose in place along with some insulating material

Lastly, I got a small tube of Sikaflex 291 that was used to bed down the seacock. Once this was done, I attached a small piece of 1-1/4" ID hose. I closed the seacock, put some water in the sink until it came to the drain and waited. No loss of water, no leaks. Job well done! Still need to put the thru-hull on, but thinking to wait until I do some work on the bottom.

the other seacocks are waiting to be installed for the cockpit drains

In the meantime, I'm making plans for making an order of electrical supplies (wire, terminals) and waiting for it to warm up so I can continue on other projects. Sometimes, these small projects make a big difference in between the major projects.

Spring Launch

I'm still here!


I've been busy on some things around Rhapsody. I have been taking hardware off the mast and looking over its condition as I get things ready. While I like being able to do as much as I can myself, I'm starting to think it might be worth reaching out for help along the way. I'm looking to hire out some work with the mast, and getting the bottom sanded down by the boat yard in preparation for fixing some things and then applying the barrier coat and bottom paint. I'll at least talk with a shop and the yard to see what might happen. In order to work on the bottom, I'm thinking to have the boat moved from the trailer to boat stands as it would be easier to work around. In the following pictures, you can see where some of the old repairs had failed. Some of these low spots need to be filled and sanded.

down to the fiberglass

In the meantime, I've been working on my crazy idea with the fuel tank. It's a lot of work and getting closer to getting completed, although no idea when that will come. I've had a couple bad colds lately that prevented me from wearing a respirator mask so work slowed down a bit. I do have a blog post ready and waiting for additional updates and will be posted when the tank is completed. Once the tank is ready, fittings installed, then I'll be able to reinstall the engine, new muffler, seacocks, hoses, and reinstall the shaft and propeller.


I haven't used the dodger that came with the boat. Apparently, the little box of miscellaneous parts on the boat didn't have the bolts needed to attach even the frame. So, I got what I needed for the frame and have that ready for later. I also laid out the dodger to see what pieces I have. I didn't realize it before, but it seems there's enough pieces for the cockpit to be mostly covered, except the stern rail area. I'd like to change all the canvas to Sunbrella Linen color but what I have will work for now. Changing canvas can wait until the boat is already in the water.

While there's a lot of work left, I'm currently planning to launch Rhapsody in the Spring. I expect the refit to continue throughout winter like before and keep working on what I can until then. Hopefully it'll all work out in the end.

Looking forward to getting out on the water again.

Slow Work Day

Slow day this weekend. Not a whole lot of work on the boat. I spent more time chatting with a couple other guys who are about to head out on their boats down the ICW to Florida. Not really with the snow bird crowds but moving there.

I did some measuring of hoses to see what I may need. The cockpit drains have a white plastic hose that I'm thinking to replace with rubber wet exhaust hose. My reason is that the hose clamps can get better compression onto the seacocks. Speaking of which, I found out one of the seacocks has worked loose due to the wood backing plate getting soft. Good thing they're getting replaced anyway. The only other work I did was to drill out a couple small holes on the deck that had failed patches and filled them in with thickened epoxy. I also had a quick look at placement of the access ports for the water tanks.

Safe travels to all these coming weeks.

Seacock Project - Complete

Today was a good day.

I found out that the carpet pieces are attached with Velcro strips. I was thinking to change them out sometime so this might be easier than I expected. This project can wait but I can still look and see what's available.

I continued the work on the water strainer. I attached the fittings to the strainer then the hoses. Since I ordered 2ft of 1/2" hose, I had to cut it down. I attached it to the pump on the engine first then ran it to the strainer for measurement.

When I attached the 3/4" hose, I filled the reservoir of the strainer with water to prime it, then got a bucket full of water and ran it through the engine. Engine started up right away and sounded quite nice.

I then cleaned up the thru-hull and flange base of the seacock. I marked off the area around the fiberglass base with tape. I used Sikaflex 291 for the base and the thru hull.

The following is pictures of the work.

 

 

 

 

Once the thru-hull and the seacock was mounted, I attached the hose with two new hose clamps. All the hose clamps I used were new. On the 3/4" hose, I used two on the seacock and the strainer input and on the 1/2" side, I used one on the strainer output and one on the raw water pump.

 

 

I'm happy this project is finally completed. I really hope everything holds together when getting the boat in the water.  This was an important project. I learned a lot about this project along the way and feels good to finally be done with it.

Project Touchups

Today was a busy day. The weather was nice and cool since some rain came through the last couple days. It's been mostly cloudy today but the sun is finally showing up in the afternoon.

I started off the day working on installing a new water strainer. I bought a Groco ARG-500 from Hopkins-Carter and it got here pretty quickly. I ordered fittings for it from another source and waiting for those to come in a couple days. Then at that time, I'll add the fittings and get some hose to go with it. I had to take off the little one that was already there. I cut the hose going to the water pump, then unscrewed the bracket behind the strainer.

Up close, you can see that someone used to be able to see through this.

Here's a size comparison between the old and new strainers.

First attempt at mounting the filter, It looked like it might interfere with part of the engine...

...so I moved it down a little in hopes it will be clear of any engine shaking/vibration.

And the mount itself.

After installing the strainer, I used a dremel to grind out the threads from the epoxy when I installed the base for the new seacock. I wanted to get the thru-hull to go through and thread only into the flange base. I didn't get any pictures of this process. Since there was a lot of dust associated with this, I used the shop-vac at the same time which really helped to keep things cleaned up.

I used the little shop-vac to do some general cleanup around the boat. I also vacuumed some loose debris in the head. I vacuumed up the storage spaces around the salon/seating area. I decided to show just how much storage space there is in the Nor'sea. The white card I placed is the size of a credit card, so you can get an idea of the space available. The same space is available on both sides.

When I cleaned up to the forward storage locker, I took the sails out and decided to take the rope and chain out of it too. I only measured the chain and I planed on measuring the rope too but didn't do it just yet.

I lowered the anchor to the ground so I could stretch it out for measurement. It turns out that there is 140' of chain in this pile.

I went to a hardware store and bought some bright orange and yellow spray paint. While there are marks on the chain, I wanted to put new ones on that were a little brighter. I put the orange marks at 25', 75', 125' and yellow marks at 50' 100'

I installed the chain back on the boat once the paint dried. I didn't see any attachment points for the chain or rope and looking at installing something to keep the anchor from getting away from me.

When I look around online and see forum posts where people are looking for a boat with a lot of space because of their height, I think that you can't have everything. I'm 6'5" and I can not stand up straight while down below but I can still fit comfortably when I'm laying in a quarterberth or when the salon is converted to sleeping space. I don't feel at all cramped in my boat. I've now been in every part of my boat and don't really have any problem reaching into any part of it. Now to show that I've been IN every part of my boat, here I am sitting in the sail/anchor locker. :-)