Filter Cleaning

Today was a pretty productive day. I mainly spent time cleaning the two Racor 500FG fuel filters.

First, I want to show my idea of another project, a deck mounted vent for a new head.

I ordered a piece of teak from Buck Woodcraft that was 2" x 5" x 12". The piece I got was pretty nice too.

I cut it down to a 5" square that I will shape to the curve of the deck. I also plan to install a Vetus Mushroom vent to it. Others have mentioned I should use a dorade box, but this way I'm going will be lower profile and I think better suited for my boat. I mainly placed the block to show size and placement.

The main project was to clean the fuel filters. I found some nice instructions for the Racor fuel filters from a guy known on boating forums as Maine Sail. What was nice is the picture showing the gaskets and what they go to. I guess the seal kit was supposed to come with it but the two kits I got didn't have it. I printed the picture and placed the gaskets over it to make sure I had everything ready.

I had some junk sitting at the bottom of the port side filter. Once I had the bowl and housing apart, cleaning it wasn't too bad except for a few tight spaces near the plugs at the bottom of the bowl.

Port side filter

Everything for the starboard side filter went well too. It just had a lot more debris sitting in the bowl. The worst thing was the fuel ended up being black when it was drained as the debris was breaking up and dropping into the jar too. The fuel didn't look too bad when it was sitting in the bowl, just looked worse when it was drained.

Starboard side filter

Black fuel

It just shows the importance of regular maintenance or servicing something when it needs it. I think debris like this could have made its way into the engine causing it to stall. Definitely not a good thing if the engine is needed in a hurry. Since getting the 3gal tank, the engine has seemed to run better with cleaner fuel, so hopefully cleaner filters will help too to keep it running.

The last thing I did for the day was to mix up some epoxy with some low density filler to cover the hole left over from the old holding tank vent. I put enough on it so I can sand it down flush with the surrounding surface. Sometime in the future, I'm looking at repainting the blue stripe so this little patch will then be covered up.

Handrails Installed

I went to the boat yesterday and spend the day there. By spending the day, it was around 8hrs or so.

I've been working on a college class for the last couple months. I've ended up getting a few weeks behind and working on it at home gets old and felt a change of location would be helpful. It was a productive day and happy it turned out well. I got some school work done and even did a little work around the boat.

It was a pretty warm day too. It got almost 70F so it's a sure sign that spring/summer is right around the corner.

While at the boat, I thought that it would be a good idea to get the handrails back on the boat. The tarps that have been covering the deck were wearing down and the ties holding them in place were breaking too. I ran back to the house and got the handrails. I also went to Home Depot and bought a countersink bit.

I taped the underside of the holes on deck to keep from dust getting all over the inside. It worked out pretty good when cleaning it up afterwards.

I drilled out the hole with a countersink. I read somewhere that countersinks help when sealing the hole with butyl tape, that I used here.

I placed the bolts only slightly above the deck and placed butyl tape around each bolt.

I was able to get everything back on the boat and happy that I have varnished wood on the boat again. Even though many of the bolts were still covered with plugs, they still lined up and got tightened without any issues.

Not long after I installed the handrails, I was looking at the sky and thought they were looking a bit dark. I also remember the forecasts were expecting rain. I repacked things back in the truck leaving the tarps from the boat on the side of the deck and on the way back to the house, it started to rain.

Today, I went to check on the handrails since it was raining all night. Everything with the handrails appeared to be dry. The only wet spots I found in the boat was by a porthole where there was previous water damage and space just below the companion way. I tightened the closure on the porthole hoping it will help and left the boat.

Even with this work, I still did some reading and homework and finished some homework.

I also did a dry fit of the thru-hull and seacock to make sure I had cut enough threads off the thru-hull and it on the hull. In order to keep the thru-hull in place, I used the boat hook that came with the boat against the fitting and a camper that is next to the boat.

I tried out the seacock, everything fit fine. When I'm able, and it's warm enough again, I'll take the epoxy supplies to the boat and install it. Priority right now is the school work and I still have several weeks of this class before I start the next one.

REFIT Plan: Exterior Teak

The Plan:

With the use of a scraper, some teak cleaner and brightener, I plan to scrub any exposed exterior teak to freshen in up to get ready for varnish.

I know many people that would say to leave it go grey because of all the work involved to varnish. I like the look of varnish. The previous finish got a little worn and fell apart. I'm thinking if I can get a good base to start with, it should be easier to maintain. From how I heard what CETOL looks like, I suspected that it was used before. My suspicions were correct when I browsed through an old maintenance book. I like the look of the Epifanes varnish I'm using for the handrails and will continue with that.

The bowsprit and stern will need some more cleaning off of the old varnish more than the sides but it'll all get a good scrub.

While I did the handrails, mainly because they were leaking inside, I'm looking at doing the rest during the refit period but I could just work on it slowly over time.

There are some spots, that can be seen in pictures, where the plugs have popped out. The intention is to plug them up again and hide the screws. There is also places where it looks like caulking could be replaced as well.

This is the stern, flaking off.

Hatchboards for the companion way.

 

Calking needs replaced.



Some holes need re-plugged.

Varnish Part... (Nevermind)

I started a college class this past week, English 102, that will last until end of December. I'm not too crazy about it but if I'm ever going to get a degree, I need it. So, this leaves less time for boat related work (or anything else for that matter). But I'll fit it in some how.

Yesterday and today, I painted the starboard side handrail and I think I built enough varnish on it to be even with the port side. I started the port side before so I was working on getting them even now. To me, it looks like I got enough to build them up a few more coats without using mineral spirits to thin out the varnish, then I should be done with them. Then the tricky part of mounting them back on the boat.

Between the varnish work I did yesterday and today, I went through the same process. The weather was nice to work on it on the back deck both days. I sanded down the handrail with 220 grit sand paper then used my small shop-vac to vacuum up the dust. The varnish was still cut a little with mineral spirits, what I had left over from the other day. I applied varnish down the whole handrail. I measured it the other day while it was sitting in the living room. This rail is 11 ft long. By the time I got to the end of the handrail, I checked where I started and it was already drying. It wasn't just sticky but actually dry to the touch. I decided to apply another coat and let it dry. When this second coat dried to the touch, I moved it to the living room to dry the full 24hrs recommended on the varnish can. All of this, each day, probably didn't take more than 30 min to do.

Like I said, I did the same process yesterday and today. I'll get another few coats of straight varnish and it should be ready for the boat.

Here's pictures to show how it came out. I really like how the grain shows up on this handrail since I did use teak cleaner/brightener.

And this is showing it spread out in the living room. The wrenches hold the rails up by its bolts while it drys for the full 24hrs. The other pieces shown are the port side rails (came in two pieces) that are laying down waiting for the next coats of varnish.

Varnish Work Continues

I did a little bit of varnish work today on all the handrails today. On the handrail that I used a teak cleaner on came out nice. This first picture is after one coat of varnish.

 



On the other pieces that I already had a coat of varnish, I sanded them down a bit to smooth out the finish.

I then varnished the other pieces too. This picture below, I have one of the piece I had varnished before with the one I used a teak cleaner on. The one I used the cleaner on, did come out a little brighter then the one behind it. They still look pretty nice with fresh varnish. I think altogether, I have 2-3 coats on. The next couple coats will have less mineral spirits and more varnish as I work towards straight varnish for the finishing coats.

Almost Travel Ready

Today I was switching out the tires on the trailer. The owner/manager of the storage lot stopped by to take a look at what I was doing. He looked at the trailer fender all rolled up from the previous tire that had the tread peel off and ruined it. He happened to have an angle grinder and cut off the part of the fender that was rolled onto itself. You can see what the ruined part looked like in this post. As of today, there's still a couple tires I need to switch out that I can do later. The boat/trailer isn't moving just yet.

 

Part of the time I was working at the boat, I was putting the standing rigging that I replaced on the mast. Once everything was back on the mast, I went to the store and got some plastic wrapping. I wrapped up the rigging and lines to the mast then tied the mast higher on the trailer like it was when I bought the boat.

I also cleaned up the last piece of handrail from the top side. I bought some teak cleaner and brightener. I thought it might get the handrail to look better than the other pieces I did so far. It's hard to tell if it was working when the wood was still wet. I used the cleaner then brightener and did fresh water rinse after each part. I thought it was looking good but still hard to tell.

These next pictures show how the handrail looked once it was drying off. Now, it does look a lot better than before. I think tomorrow might be the day I start putting varnish on this piece. I'm thinking I'll be able to notice the difference in the wood once the varnish is applied. So far, it looks pretty good. Overall, everything seems to be working out pretty good. The boat/trailer is closer to getting ready to travel. I've had a few people at work express an interest in going out on the boat once it's in the water.

Clean up day

Today was a busy day.

 

I went to Rhapsody and did some cleaning up. Overall, I spent 4 hours at the boat.

 

I bought a 1000 watt inverter that I connected to the truck battery. I also bought a small 1.5 gallon shop-vac. Together, I cleaned up the inside of the boat.

  

Here's another video cleaning up other areas on the boat.

I decided to take a video of what it was like for someone my size of 6'5" tall to lay down in a quarterberth of a Nor'sea.

Afterwards, I came back to the house and started some work on putting some varnish on another piece of the port handrail. It's a first coat but it still looks pretty good to me. Hopefully, someday, I can get all the exerior wood to look as nice.

More Handrail

It's been quite some time since I've been able to do any work on Rhapsody. This weekend has been very busy doing work around the house. I've been cleaning stuff up and throwing stuff I don't need out.

Today, I made time to clean up the handrails I brought back to the house. I pulled out an electric sander to help a little. Below is a picture of what the old varnish looked like, a bare piece and a piece with a couple coats of varnish. The piece in the middle I did some hand sanding and used the electric sander a little on a couple difficult spots that had turned grey. I'd say it's ready for the first coat or two of varnish. I started, but not finished removing old varnish from the other handrail. It's still going to take some time but it's well on it's way.

So far, I think things are looking pretty good. Once I get these rails back on the boat, I can get a survey and insurance and then a trip to the marina.