Repairs so far this year

[Marin]

Our fiberglass shower sump is directly under the teak grate that is the shower "stall" floor. We don't have a separate shower stall, just a curtained off area of the aft head. When the GB36 got all-new molds in 1988 the boat got a bit bigger and could then accomodate a separate shower stall.

So when we take a shower, the water goes thorugh the grate into the sump pan and the drain in the lowest corner is connected to the pump in the engine room. A previous owner had installed a float switch that would automatically activate the shower pump when the level in the sum reached a certain level but we disconnected it since it would not let the pump completely empty the sump. So you finish your shower, hit the switch, and the pump empties out all the shower water. Nice, simple system.

 

[markpierce]

Let's all say "shower sump pump" rapidly seven times!

 

[FF]

The Avatar shows it all, ripped off sagging flat Mainiac PH roof and installed one with proper camber.

This winter I will re do the main salon overhead , and re install all the vents etc.

 

[markpierce]

markpierce wrote:
Replace engine sensors

Replace engine water pump

Replace windshield wiper blades

Rebed port forward portion of stainless steel strip on rub rail

Replace bow thruster electronics

Apply primer to portions of hull bottom

To do:

Re-engineer chain-locker drain

Address "singing" propeller issue

Redo flag halyards

*Gee, it's $7000+ and counting.

 

[Larry M]

Mark:* Have you gone back to the*builder or*the individual manufacturer?* The engine sensors, engine water pump, bow thruster electronics?* Surely those are covered under warranty or it doesn't say much for the builder standing behind his product.*

 

[markpierce]

We'll see once I get an itemized bill and send it the builder..


-- Edited by markpierce on Tuesday 18th of October 2011 08:28:50 AM

 

[sunchaser]

Mark's "commissioning" list may seem daunting but I've seen longer with big name vessels. Mark, I suggest you double check options for anchor locker drain keeping in mind the previously mentioned corrosion issues including the galvanized chain lying against bare steel.*It would be nice to be set up to hose out your locker every spring and fall so any drain pump must have some muscle.

My haul out/maintenance list for next week is:

1. Clean and paint bottom
2. Install new zincs on shafts, thruster and stern plate
3. Install line cutters ( thanks to the voters on TF - but I get to pay!)
4. Install new lip seals on stabilizers (every 3 years)
5. Rebuild steering cylinder
6. Complete varnish on cap rails

And this is only next week.

 

[markpierce]

Since the locker is very deep, the current plan is to install a fiberglass tub whose bottom will be at least 10" higher than the existing floor, and thus raise the drain entrance that much higher above the waterline.

There is a heavy-duty hatch door to make sure the chain doesn't enter further into the boat's interior.

 

[Nomad Willy]

A positive fix for the anchor locker drain is to install a drain out the bottom of the anchor locker, attach a hose, run the hose approximately level w boat at rest to a discharge amidships. Note Walt's avatar pic and see that his water line drops amidships. Everybody's does. I assume the bottom of the anchor locker is above the water line. If not I'd consider draining the anchor locker into the shower drain sump and plugging the present drain hole.


-- Edited by nomadwilly on Tuesday 18th of October 2011 09:07:18 AM

 

[markpierce]

Eric, those two options were considered.* Running the drain line to midships was a runner up, but the current locker floor is too close to the waterline.* If raising the floor doesn't work, I'll probably do the midship solution.

 

[Peter B]

Mark, your idea is sound. What you describe sounds very much like my locker is set up. There is a huge space under it - far too large to fill with chain or whatever, so a reinforced fibreglass tray sits there about level with the V-berth with a stout locker door set into the for'd bulkhead to allow access. The drain is in the lowest point, and as the floor of the tray has been shaped so it is a bit higher to port, and sloping down slightly to starboard, the drain ends up then coming out on the starboard side of the bow about 2 feet above water level with a rear-facing deflector over it. It works well. How do I have all this so fresh in my mind? Let me tell you what happened as a typical weekend boat project - for me anyway.
I had decided to end for end the chain - as one does, right? It was new 9 yrs ago, and the galv is not looking its best now in the half that I use a lot, and looked quite a lot newer and nicer at the unused end. So far so good. Wrong...! First mistake was removing the anchor. Why, because then I found the swivel bolts connecting the chain to the anchor were frozen, and the stupid hexagonal allan key type undoing thing just stripped the hole in no time. Ok - no probs - took it off by cutting last chain link with angle-grinder I had at least remembered to take - anticipating probable trouble. In any case, most of you don't believe in swivels, so what the heck.
Then, when I went to do what should have been a breeze, that is feeding out the chain, swapping it end for end, then feeding back again, but I found the winch wouldn't work - in spite of all efforts to address possible corroded contacts etc from sitting for longer than usual unused when we went overseas, it refused to go. This is a winch which has never failed to work first flick of the switch the whole time I have owned her, so not expected....!
Then I thought, ok, no problem, a bit harder and longer to do, but can still do it by just man-handling the chain out on deck and reversing it. Wrong again. After 9 yrs the (new & galvanised) shackle I used to attach it to the inside mount in the locker was so frozen it was going to be a hacksaw job - in a very confined space, naturally, as with all things boating...so a real bast***d of a job to get free. (I attached that when I bought her, back in the days before I learnt about the nifty trick from this forum of attaching the bitter end of the chain with a length of rope rode long enough to clear the winch, to facilitate a quick cut and departure in an emergency and to stop the winch being damaged by coming up against rigid resistance in a long feed out.)
About this time I also discovered that near the bitter end - that is the part I could not now free easily, not only was that shackle a bit corroded and unwilling to undo, but one or two of the links not far down the track were also a bit dodgy-looking from sitting in a pool of salt water long enough for some rust to develop. Darn...! As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it made no sense to swap it around and put those dodgy links down near the anchor did it? So about there I decided I had done enough damage for one day. I was back where I started, with everything best left exactly as it had been, but with a winch not working, (something else to sort out and no doubt expensive), and the anchor cut away - unnecessarily it now became clear, although easily re-attached, sans swivel of course... ho humm..... another day enjoying this boating thing....is this making you feel any better walt...?

However, coming back to Mark's problem. I did take the opportunity, while all the chain was out on deck, to clean out the bit of mud and rubble in the locker, and wash it out with fresh water, and it all flowed out the drain beautifully - so there...something went right...a small but important point I think...?

 

[markpierce]

Thanks for the story, Peter.* As they say, misery loves company.

 

[Jay N]

Some years ago, I decided to pay a couple of hundred dollars for a large chain/wire cutter.* It has been used for cutting large cables when re-wiring, cutting the anchor cable during regular maintenance, and cutting off a few wasted anchor chain links.

A few years ago, it was used to clear the anchor of an old logging cable which was pulled to the surface.

Sure, it is pricey and must be kept oiled in addition to having a place to stow it, but when you need to have something like the above done, there are few easy alternatives.

It probably could have helped Peter with his project.

 

[Marin]

I have set of bolt-chain cutters that I bought in Hawaii so I could cut the chains that blocked off the roads entering the pineapple fields and add my own padlock to the ten or fifteen that were already there the belonged to the field foremen. This gave me access to the field roads which in turn gave me access to all the dirt roads back up in the mountains where I would take my Land Rover. I still have these cutters and they have come in very handy at times. The handles are four feet long and the leverage you can apply to cutting bolts, locks, etc. is amazing. I've not had reason to take them on the boat (other than to cut a frozen dock box lock) but I can see where they might come in handy.

 

[skipperdude]

Marin wrote:
so I could cut the chains that blocked off the roads entering the pineapple fields and add my own padlock to the ten or fifteen that were already there the belonged to the field foremen.

*Wow!!! You can do that?* I figgured a guy with a machetti would come a callin.

SD

 

[Marin]

I did my off-roading on weekends. They didn't pick or work in the fields on weekends. Hawaii had/has one of the most powerful agricutural unions in the country, hence the very high pay for pineapple and sugar workers, hence the almost total disappearance of both these industries over there today.** But during the 30 or so years I lived there, no work was done--- pineapple or sugar--- on weekends.

I would rent a plane at Honolulu Int'l Airport in the morning, fly over the fields and mountains and scope out the roads and figure out where I wanted to go that day. Then I'd go back and land, get in the Land Rover and go drive the roads I'd scoped out from the air. Problem was I had to go through the pineapple fields that in those days occcupied all the higher ground or "saddle" in the middle of the island to get to the dirt roads in the mountains. The main access roads to the fields had chains across them with a whole string of padlocks at one end. Each field foreman had his own lock on the string. So I simply cut the chain next to the last lock in line and put my own lock on so I could get through the fields whenever I wanted to.

I learned something I bet very few peole know about pineapple. The harvest crews left the big picking rigs parked in the fields where they'd stopped at the end of their day on Friday. Some of the fields were down in dips and depressions so you couldn't see them from the highway, but you could from the air. So on my road-scouting flights I could always tell which fields were ripe by the location of the picking machines. What absolutely floored me the first time this happened was that I found if I drove the Land Rover very slowly down a road beside a field of ripe pineapples, one or two of them would leap--- all on their own mind you--- through an open window into the passenger seat beside me. Absolutely amazing it was.

At the time there was a $50 fine per pineapple for picking them out of the field yourself, plus whatever the tresspassing penalty was. But the law didn't say anything about a fine if the pineapple jumped into your car on its own.


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 19th of October 2011 06:33:58 PM

 

[magicbus]

Time to add mine... rebuild of the oil change pump, new AC strainer basket, replace fresh water pump and remove filter installed before the pump to prevent it from burning out again. New battery on the wing engine because someone over-torqued the old one and cracked the post. Oh yeah, replaced the dead lift pump on the main that would cause the engine to falter if I got near a half tank of fuel over 1500 RPM. Thank goodness the head pressure from the fuel tanks kept it running at all. Lot of other small stuff the previous owners didn't know how to fix or maintain properly.

Dave

 

[Moonstruck]

Replaced and relocated the inverter.

Replaced all zippers on the enclosure.

Installed new davit system at stern.

 

[skipperdude]

Marin wrote:
***But the law didn't say anything about a fine if the pineapple jumped into your car on its own.

*something similar happens with the Tanner /snow crab. There is a 5 1/2" limit.**A lot of them are about 5" It seem one of the legs would just fall off the crabs that wern't just big enough.

I haven't figured out how this happens yet.

SD