Bad day like none other

I've been working on an Island Packet this summer and had completed electronics upgrades and finishing up some interior finish work.  I noticed that 3 USB chargers had failed and didn't think much about it - got them all replaced.  Then a week or so later I noticed that the battery charger was dead, curious but still no alarms went off.  Replaced it and everything was fine.  Next, noticed that the wind indicator was no longer on the mast but I've been busy so still no alarms.  Then the owner was onboard over night and indicated that the reefer was tripping the breaker - took a look the next day and alarm sounded.  Compressor was dead which was strange as we had used the unit when we moved the boat from Dry Storage to the Marina in July.

Thorough check of all system and wiring indicated a mess - nearly everything electronic/electrical on the boat was dead.

I went up the mast the other day to reinstall a new wind instrument and remove what was left of the VHF antenna and masthead tricolor and the damage was obvious.

Autopilot, plotter, instruments, radar, antenna switchers, engine electronics, alternator regulator, all toast!

Hope your day is better!

Lewis Agility Video

We took Lewis to practice agility on 9/16 and was able to capture this video.  He does really well when it is just us in the session!

Lewis does Agility Practice 

Land clearing

We were able to get the crew in to remove the Cedar trees that we wanted cleared on Saturday.  They started at 8:00 and by 3:30 they were finished.  We were amazed at the look of the lot when they were finished.

I called the Fire Dept to see if I needed a burn permit and they said no, the burn ban has been lifted (plenty of rain lately), told me to let the Sheriff's Dept know just in case.  So I did that yesterday and picked up the supplies I needed and set out this morning to get rid of the brush.

I eventually set fire to three different areas along the edge of the brush pile.  I used kerosene and newspaper and with the wind from the right direction at about 10mph things progressed nicely.  This photo shows the brush pile after the second fire was started.

By 12:30 most of the brush was gone, stumps were nearly gone and smoldering, and smoke had died down quite a bit.  Plan to go over about 6:00 this evening and see what's left.

546 Estates Drive

We spent the day on our property yesterday marking tress for removal and looking at the wildlife and just checking things out.

Lewis was every alert for any threats to his family.

Then chasing down anything that might get to close.

Lesley is out at the Agriculture extension office and running errands.  I'm taking it easy today!

New take on Texas!

We've been in Kerrville for almost a week now and are enjoying our stay at the Windy Hill Ranch Guest House.  Nice folks (one is in the hospital), lots of new sights and smells for Lewis, and we are getting things done for our move here next year.

One of the first things we noticed this year is that the Horses and Cattle have changed!

Horses!

Cows!!

Looking for the ranch hands now?

Reefer Rebuild

I just finished fabricating the new top for the fridge/freezer.  This final piece is actually 2 pieces so that I can get them into the compartment, made up of FRP liner, 1/4"ply and 1" of polyiso insulation.  The new lights and wiring are visible here.

The light in the lower left will be used for the freezer compartment and the light near the middle is for the fridge.  Wiring pigtails will run out the back of the box along with the evaporator plate tubing, thermostat cables and spillover fan wiring.

We are leaving the area for several weeks and I'll continue on this project when I return.

My last refrigeration rebuild (spillover freezer/fridge)

I'm working on my last reefer rebuild as we slowly transition to our new home in Texas.  The boat is an Island Packet 35 and had an old SeaFrost hold over system that was - marginal at best providing a very inefficient large "Ice Box".

After stripping out the old system and cleaning the lazarette I started removing the old top insulation in preparation for new polyisocyanurate insulation.

 The first step is to begin laying in new top insulation.  In this photo I've started with a layer of 3/4 foil backed insulation and added another layer of 1" with one additional layer of 1" and then the top made from 1/4" plywood covered with FRP liner material.  The top will include new LED lights in both the freezer a fridge compartments.

I need additional 1" insulation so I'll add additional photos and write up once the remaining insulation is installed and the top panel are complete


The next step is to lay in new bottom insulation, in part to bring the floor up so that it can be easily reached but also to reduce the volume of both new boxes and to provide drains for both.

The first layer is a 3" thick panel of insulation cut so that the new drains can be enclosed with the drain going directly out the back of the compartment into the lazarette.  Hole thru back wall is visible here.

The next step is to lay in the drain pipe made from standard PVC pipe and fiberglass pipe cut to fit the remaining layers of insulation and liner.  Space in and around the pipe is filled with spray foam.

The next layer is tapered insulation with the slope toward the drains.

The final layer is 1/2" epoxied plywood covered with an FRP liner.  Once the side insulation and liner are in place the seams will be epoxied as will the areas around the drain pipes.  The blue tape is used to make cleanup of the epoxied joints neater.

Photos and description of side and back insulation installation will be provided later.

Digital thermostats will control the compressor (freezer side) and a spillover fan (fridge side).

 

Bare Boat no more!

The boat has been painted with new boot strip and cove strip and is ready to be moved and barrier coat and bottom paint applied.  Difference in look is striking.

Work was done by WePaintBoats and this was done outside with just a parachute like cover.  These folks do great work!

I plan to take a few more pictures once the boat has been moved and reblocked.

Bare Boat

Bare boat takes on a new meaning here.

The hull below the waterline has been blasted and the hull up to the cap rail has been sanded and is being faired in preparation for new paint, barrier coat, and new bottom paint.  Swim platform will also be removed for painting and leveled on reinstallation.  Once the hull is in shape will move the mast over from the yard next door and restep with all new running and standing rigging, new mast boot, new internal mast conduits and wiring.

Much work still to go.  Will be nice to splash the boat and move it here to the marina.

Windlass installation

Installation of the replacement windlass on the IP-40 is finished.  After the old windlass was removed the owner decided to go with a stainless steel cover plate vs having the deck teak patched.

New windlass installed - bow pulpit and hull repairs are still underway.

Manatee

Yesterday afternoon I was leaving a Hatteras that I was working on when a mom and her baby swam up to a dinghy float.  They stopped and had a bite to eat so I took this picture.

Working Working

Last week I installed a new Autopilot and WiFi system on an IP-38 and this week I removing a broken windlass on an IP-40 that set anchor while underway and broke the windlass, gouged the hull and caprail teak and tore one of the bow rail vertical supports off.  Windlass is off and have patched the hole on the bowsprit getting ready to mount the new windlass once I have a top plate and backing plate fabricated.

Patch is in and template for the top mounting plate is made.  Next to get the template transferred to a stainless top trim plate and an aluminum backing plate, install the switch gear and windlass, deck switches, and DC breaker.

Gotta pay for the new house!

Then back home this afternoon and finished painting the garage door.  Have to get this place ready to sell.

Dog Day Afternoon?

Lewis took a tip from Bob Marley yesterday and was doin some "Easy Skankin"!

Who's trying to sneak up on me?

Hatteras

Steve and I have been working on a Hatteras motor yacht recently with lots of different flavors of DC.  The house/start batteries are 32v, there are many 24v add ons, and all of the electronics are 12v.  This weeks work has been replacing the fried 12 volt batteries and old ferro resonant charger with new Mastervolt AGMs.  The boat now has 3 batteries in the 12volt house supply, 1 for the genset starter, with a new Mastervolt battery charger.  THe big issue though is that unless you have shore power or run the genset underway to provide AC power, the 12volt battery banks are not kept charged.  AS the owner found out several weeks ago all the electronics - Chartplotter, Radar, Sounders, Autopilot, etc died shortly after underway.

We've neared completion on a solution using a Newmar 32v - 12 volt converter, a diode isolator and a solid state relay to turn the converter on when the engines are running.

Hope to finish up early next week - wating for a special order heat sink for the solid state relay.  Pictures to follow.

Now I have to go throw my clothes away - the 32v battery bank was a very wet configuration of Wet Cells!

Lewis the Basenji - Agility training

Lesley has been working with Lewis for awhile and doing all kinds of amazing stuff.  Wanted to post this video that I took last Friday during a training session!

Lewis the Basenji

Nuclear reactor! No, its SeaKeeper

Steve and I are getting ready to do significant electrical work on a very large Hatteras.  We surveyed the boat yesterday and I was amazed to see that the boat was equipped with 2 SeaKeeper roll stabilizers - one primary and one backup.  I'll post a picture later - these things are really amazing.  We should have had one on our IP350!

Finished another reefer rebuild

I started working on this project several months ago.  The original system used a large Grunert Compressor with two large holding plates.  The system was shot and almost a biohazard!

Added insulation to the box

Filled large voids in original insulation, built a new top with hinged doors.

 Installed dual Frigoboat Aircooled compressors and digital thermostats.

 And finished the project.

Working, Working, Working

I have been busy right up to and through the Holidays with a variety of projects on other peoples boats.  The most interesting has been an almost complete rewire on a very big Selene Trawler.

The DC System was a complete disaster, pretty much right out of the factory, and the AC system was a death trap (no neutral/safety ground connection at the inverter.

We were under the gun to finish by Christmas so that the owners wife could move aboard for Christmas (long story).  So I was able to complete the rewire of the AC panel and clean everything up by late in the day on Christmas eve.

Bills consolidated and presented to the owners wife who all of a sudden was no longer on the boat and was taking exception with the Bill.  So far she has not paid and it turn out she has also tried to stiff a nice lady here who did some boat cleaning for her.  More to follow as this story evolves.

Off this morning to complete a reefer rebuild on an IP-32 in Punta Gorda then back to continue the work on another reefer rebuild here in the marina.

Happy New Year