boat improvement & maintenance
almost ready for bottom paint
After being farrow blasted and faired, the boat’s bottom only needed a light sanding to smooth out the patches of epoxy, along with any other rough areas. Wil managed to do almost all of the sanding yesterday, and today he is going over what was missed. This morning, using borrowed wheels, we took the kids … Continue reading
cooling off
Over these past few days, we’ve been trying to cool off in more ways than one. As we are rapidly approaching full-time liveaboard status, the weather is getting warmer, and there’s no end in sight for the amount of work to be done. Although, today we were able to see a big dent in the … Continue reading
no stress
One morning this week, as I was going about my usual routine of making my breakfast, I turned to put my coffee into the microwave. It wasn’t there! Even though I knew that I’d sold it 2 days earlier, old habits die hard. As we are reaching the height of our transition to the … Continue reading
hatch covers installed
Our hatch covers from Outland Hatch Covers are complete and looking good! Steve & James Outland, returned for the final installation, adding the twist locks that will hold the covers in place. We do have the exception of the last two hatches that still need glass … Continue reading
we can carry ice cream!
Our refrigeration and freezer systems are running! It was quite exciting to see the freezer get down to temperature, and stay there. We installed a new keel-cooled Frigoboat system. There had been three separate refrigeration systems onboard. One engine driven, one air cooled, and one shore powered. We disconnected all of them, tore … Continue reading
clean diesel fuel & tanks . . . ahhh!
Our diesel tanks received their own spa treatment yesterday, and it was a good thing they did! The photos above speak a thousand words. Each tank was done one at a time. The fuel was pumped out and the tank cleaned. While each tank was empty, Wil took the opportunity to replace the ball valves … Continue reading
job done, checked off the list
After all of our hard work involved with the new parachute anchor chain plates, I had hoped for some spectacular photos for the final post on their installation. Instead, as we are swamped with chores in these final days as landlubbers, I could … Continue reading
protecting our new hatches
Thanks to Steve and James from Outland Hatch Covers, we are getting ready to have some really awesome hatch covers. The covers are made of an expanded PVC with a twist lock fastener designed and patented by both Steve and James themselves. Steve and James came by to take hatch measurements and inventory. Then they … Continue reading
lucky number 12
The parachute anchor chain plates are polished and ready for installation. Compared to the 16 hours that I was expecting, it only took 12 hours to achieve their final shine. Now they’re too pretty to use! The final two and a half hours were spent using a succession of buffing and polishing compounds. The first … Continue reading
9 1/2 hours later
The progress . . . 80 to 100 to 120 to 220 to 320. Luckily, 320 grit was as high as I needed to go before beginning the polishing process on the parachute anchor chain plates. It was into the 9th hour when I began using a buffing compound with a disc on the drill. … Continue reading
