Additional Setup

I went to the boat again today to check things out. I went on the boat to take a look. I was able to get on the boat from stepping over on the bowsprit. Grabbing the forestay, first thing I noticed was how loose it felt. It didn't feel loose from the furler track over it, just felt like there was a lot of slack in it. I'm new to this so I'm not sure. The shrouds were all tight. There are two full backstays. One felt more loose than the other. I could have moved the boat to the slip, but didn't want to just to make sure the yard didn't have to do anything else.

First thing I did was to setup the radar mast. I had most of the hardware needed and only had to get three nuts from the local chandlery. I also tested out the radar and seemed to work ok.

There were a bunch of lines attached to the mast. I unwound them to sort out what they all were. The lines going up the mast were the main halyard, jib halyard, and two lines that looked like one was for hank-on sails and another possibly for a topping lift but seemed just short of reaching the end of the boom. Two lines were on the wrong side of the spreaders so I had to throw a line just above the spreaders to pull them back over. It took many tries to throw the line and I'm sure anyone watching could have had a good laugh.

The line I used was from the roller furling.

The lines were cleaned up and organized better than before.

One of the lines I had to pull over looked to belong to the jib halyard. There was no shackle on the end and I tied it to the bow.

I then took the main halyard and used it as a topping lift for the boom. This helped me lift it to attach the gooseneck and boom vang to the mast.

The boom is now attached to the mast, ready for the main sail.

When I showed up at the boat, I connected the batteries for listening to some music. I also tested the motor too. Oddly, the motor seems to shake more than it did before, even when increasing the speed. I left one of the batteries connected with the bilge pump set on auto. I noticed the door to the head is easier to open and close. It is a bit odd (in a good way) to walk around the boat and feel the motion of being on the water. I guess I'm still a little used to being on the trailer but I'll get used to the water sure enough. ;-)

The last view before leaving for the day.

I'm planning to call tomorrow to see what else they're planning on doing. Personally, I think the standing rigging could be tightened. If they can do that during the day, then, I'll be able to move the boat to its slip.

She Floats!

I went to the marina right after work to check on how things were going with the boat. I showed up and saw the boat wasn't on the stands where I last saw it. I went over towards the travel lift area and saw this.

I am very happy seeing the boat floating. It was nice to see the mast in the air with the standing rigging that I replaced. It was also good to see where she was sitting at the water line.

 

 

I think the yard is still doing some final touches so I didn't want to move it yet. Since they don't work on the weekends, I'll have to check on Monday. Once I can move it from the yard area, I'll stop by to the fuel dock then to the slip.

 

They did a pretty good job on some gelcoat repairs. After a year of ownership, I will soon be able to get out on the water to test things out and enjoy some nice weekends.

She's painted

Drove up to the marina to check on how the boat is doing. It's got a fresh coat of bottom paint. It was weird seeing it off the trailer but she is pretty. Gotta love those lines.

When I got the survey, the surveyor saw there was some movement in the shaft that needed to be fixed. I checked it by shaking on the prop and there was no movement now. Looks good to get the old paint off of it.

Only one issue I saw. There was a quarter-sized hole in the port side of the rudder that wasn't there before. I sent the pictures to the guy in charge telling him it needs to be filled in before the boat goes in the water.

If it wasn't raining, I probably would have mixed up some epoxy I had in my truck and filled it in myself.

It's getting there. Not much longer, I hope.

Yanmar Parts Catalogs

While looking around for spare parts for my engine, I came across this website that has Parts Catalogs for Yanmar engines.

http://www.lsm-diesel.dk/2012/common/menugen.php?sprog=uk&kode=&umenu=500

What's nice is that there are diagrams for the engines with an exploded view and a list of parts that go to certain places. You can be sure to find the correct part knowing where it goes too. Just note that some part numbers may have been updated. Also be sure that the engine type is correct. While I have a Yanmar 2GM, the parts for a 2GM20 could be slightly different. There are separate files for each.

Torrenson Marine seems to have a large number of parts online and if doing a search for a part, their website may inform you of an updated part. So if you're like me, do the research and be sure you get the right part.

I hope this can be a useful resource for others.

Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday after work, I went to the storage place and moved the boat to another part and strapped it down for transport. I got a strap and wrapped it up over the boat attaching it to the trailer.

Today, I got up early, hitched up the boat to the truck and got on the road to the marina. The marina is called Green Turtle Bay which also has some cabins/houses for rental and lots of large motor boats, house boats and some sail boats. The marina opens up to Lake Barkley in Kentucky. The marina is about an hour away from where I live. I arrived there around 8am.

I had to wait for the overall manager to come by to talk to then they got it strapped up on the travel lift and lifted it off the trailer.

My boat is dwarfed in comparison to the other boats they had in the yard. This one is called a Sea Ray 52 Sundancer.

anyway, once it was sitting in the travel lift, it was moved out of the way and then the workers got the mast off the trailer and set it up on stands for setup.

By then, it was lunch time. I walked to the other side of the marina to the little restaurant and got a burger. I went to the dock where my boat will soon be and found a guy working on his boat that he got together with his dad and looking at going through the rivers down to the Gulf. We talked for a while then I walked back to the yard just in time to see one of the guys spraying down the bottom getting the old layers off and getting it ready for paint.

It was a beautiful day today and I spent most of it there at the marina. My arms, face and neck are not just red, they're glowing. Still, I enjoyed my time and it's exciting to see the boat getting closer to the water. The yard is also going to setup the mast and check a couple other things for me and it may be in the water in a week or two.

This will be the first time it's been in fresh water and possibly the first time it's been off the trailer in maybe a couple years.

I got to see lots of turtles floating around in the water or others, like these two, that were sun bathing. Usually, they would dive quickly when I walked nearby.

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. :-)