Winter repairs

So, what are you working on. Last year this was me---- Another job started

And finally finished, come spring

The list of things to do is just growing more and more for me. Curently I do some prep task to prepare for a 1 month cruise in May/June. As weather does not allow to work on boat now, I am doing stuff like:
Refinishing outdoor table and chair
Rebuilding some plywood closet door in plain mahogany
Building a foldable saloon table
Building a new support for flybridge gas cooktop and bbq
And many othr things I can do without getting onboard.
Then March end will begin the serious part:
Install a washdown pump and deck fitting
Rebuild my forward ice box
Change 2 portlights
Rebuilt my forward sitting wall, headliner and repaint sitting
Remove,repair and reinstall my rudder cylinder that leaks
Install new propane tank, line and cooktops
Some paint job on deck
Change oil pressure senders and gauges
And many things I want to do before cruising to be able to fully enjoy!
Lot of work but when done I will be very happy!

New motor for the bow thruster.

Replacing Glendinning control motors as they originally installed 12V motors on a 24V system.

Those should be completed and sea trial by end of day tomorrow.

Next week, light sanding on the brightwork and a couple of coats of varnish.

Diver cleaned the bottom a couple of weeks ago and put on new zincs.

The dingy OB has been serviced and dingy reinstalled on the boat deck.

Added a RADAR repeater to the FB.

Added a new Cat 1 EPIRB.

Replaced the FB VHF with a top o the line model (need to update the MMSI on that his week).

Replaced the start batteries.

And bought two new rod and reel combos for Dolphin/Yellowfin fishing.

So I think we are ready to go again!

Our boat is stored inside but not heated so I can do some work but not everything I would like to do.

Done.
Install hardtop on flybridge
Modify sundeck hardtop and paint it
Add 2nd helmseat on flybridge
Replace radar arch lighting
Repair fiberglass swim platform and paint it
Polish exterior stainless steel
Added 3 10"x10" deck hatches
Fabricated starboard covers for holes from old equipment in dashboard

In progress.
Remove 4 small leaking windows and fiberglass closed
Fabricate flybridge enclosure
Fabricating fiberglass "windows" to close up old openings
Grinding cracks and old holes in flybridge surround

Still to do.
Install depth sounder transducer
Relocate A/C discharge through hull
Paint decks with Kiwigrip
Paint flybridge brow and cabin sides
Add 2 spring cleats
Replace all anodes
Redo bow rail stanchion bases to elevate above deck and secure
Reinstall 3 VHF antennas, horn and MFD
Install stern thruster

I replaced four planks topsides right after haulout last Fall. I won't be doing any additional work until April/May. Then I will be replacing the galley counter and putting in some new ceiling in the galley. Other than that I will do the usual annual stuff - paint topsides and bottom, varnish cabin house, transom and all trim, repaint decks and cabin top.

I like the Rustoleum Topside paints.
I will be doing a lot of painting this spring, deck and cabin sides flybridge, basically the entire upper half of boat.
I thin it down with paint thinner and like to use a foam brush. I have used a foam roller but it is not making as smooth a surface.
I have thinned it even 50-50. Any ideas on thinning paint? What happens if you get it to thin?

It just seems to me thinner makes the result smoother, but the cans say I think 15% reduction?.

Here comes the can of worms---

Oil based paints have been "thickened" due to Voc regs

Personally I thin common paints 20+ percent more if spraying. Generally I will use a fast evaporation thinner i.e. Toluol

To answer your question, if it's too thin it runs AND it doesn't cover.

You are modifying the ratio and trail and error are your only options. That said, have a piece of material to test your roller or brush on first, keep thinning till you reach your desired result. The beauty of it is you'll have perfected the thinking and technique at the same time.
For what it's worth, marine paints don't seem to be subject to the same Vic requirements as general consumer paints. It's a volume sales thing. ( in NY anyway)

Going solar!

I have a post in progress on this thread but the old i-pad frooze up. Nothing will move. In the past I've always lost the post and that is not only madening but a waste of time. It's snowing and we're retired so not a huge deal but I'm sure there is probably a way to save the message (post). I'm on my new i-pad now in case you're wondering. Any ideas???
I put the old i-pad down so it will go dark/turn off or? But from experience I know if I turn the old i-pad off I'll loose the post.
Just picked it up ... didn't work. The post is gone. I'll repost later

Hey Eric, write your posts in Notes or Pages then copy and paste them into the thread. They won't get lost in case of crashes. We often spend a lot of time and thought on here and it's maddening to lose our "deathless" prose.

Me: cut two large holes in the deck (top of the water tanks) and install new aluminum hatches so I can clean and sanitize the potable water tanks. It seems to be snowing today, so I'll have to wait for that a bit.

Replace my 30 kg Delta anchor with a shiny 30kg stainless (the ONLY thing on the outside of the boat that shines) Bruce (Trefoil) to see if I can get faster sets. And mark the rode again.

Replace three-strand rigging for the stabilizer poles with braided polyester because three-strand is just wrong.

Replace 4 wooden blocks with stainless blocks to complete the rigging.

Find and install a pot-hauler-capstan on the stern.

Replace all interior flooring and baseboards.

Install ceiling battens for groovy yachty appearance.

Replace the crappy Force 10 stove with another shiny (but crappy) Force 10 stove.

Maybe replace the water heater with a new Torrid...

Dcbeach said:

Here comes the can of worms---

Oil based paints have been "thickened" due to Voc regs

Personally I thin common paints 20+ percent more if spraying. Generally I will use a fast evaporation thinner i.e. Toluol

To answer your question, if it's too thin it runs AND it doesn't cover.

You are modifying the ratio and trail and error are your only options. That said, have a piece of material to test your roller or brush on first, keep thinning till you reach your desired result. The beauty of it is you'll have perfected the thinking and technique at the same time.
For what it's worth, marine paints don't seem to be subject to the same Vic requirements as general consumer paints. It's a volume sales thing. ( in NY anyway)

Click to expand...

Those EPA fiends have also hit the acrylic latex paints with VOC reduction so that they dry way too fast. I have found a solution, add in the red propylene glycol antifreeze. It works great, brush marks go away when using a foam brush. I typically add in quite a bit, like even a cup to a quart of paint.

And the red dye does not change the white paint color.

717,
"And the red dye does not change the white paint color."

In a book by R D Culler "Skiffs and Schooners" he talks of a skipper that claimed to mix black pine tar in his white paint and his white paint was well known for it's whiteness. A very excellent book if one likes old school stuff. An open minded man he was as I learned to use house paint on Willy from him. It works well in quite a number of places. My salon floor is dark green water based floor paint. It doesn't say on the can "not for marine use" haha.

Xsbank,
Yes good idea and if I use my other i-pad I can keep the other open for reference. Who said that in the last post or exactly what did he say.
I've been frequently copying parts of my post as I go but that's a little tedious. And more often than not I forget to do it as in the previous post above that of course you can't see. Just copied and pasted in notes. And copied the paste.

Turned off the pad. And turned on. Had to click up the app page and click on Safari and then go to TF via favorites and then to this thread. Yup the note is still there .. to copy and paste here.
Usually the way I learn stuff is to go for it when I wonder "what would happen if I were to ....." And then do it. This new keypad on the "pro" is giving me trouble. It's still easier to use the old pad.

Get one of these! I have the older one that needs a battery. FFF is much harder to accomplish with the keyboard!

Oops http://www.apple.com/ca/shop/produc...s-CA-kwgo-pla-cth--slid--product-MLA22LL/A-CA

I broke off my VHF antenna forgetting to put it down while entering my covered moorage stall. Got a new ant and reading the installations it said to keep the coax from the ant to the receiver away from all other RF sources. I hope my GPS manual dos'nt say the same. Afraid to look now. My radar and all else (except the GPS) ran in a bunch together so I set about swapping the GPS coax and the VHF coax on the radar arch platform. Port to stbd and stbd to port. Now my VHF coax is not near any other RF interference. Got that all done yesterday and today it snowed and also I've got some bug. It's going to be raining the next 4 or 5 days so I'll need to fix a vent leak over the head before venturing out. Hope the radio works. And I hope the GPS works as it's in w all the other wiring now. It's possible I'll have to do this all over again in reverse. The coax was just barely long enough by fudging a bit in two places. Glad my electronics is minimal.

Xsbank,
I did the above post using the notes method you suggested.
Re your #15 I don't know what "one of these" is and I don't know what FFF is either. Strike out.

Sorry I forgot to include the link - fixed!

Thinning paint has no set rules. How much thinner to use depends on - the specific paint, the temperature, the humidity, how you are applying the paint, how fast you paint, the surface you are painting, etc. I use Petit Easypoxy. Some days I have to continuously add thinner, some days I don't use it at all. If you don't get a good result, just call it a build coat and do it again.

Makes me tired just writing this....

Troll valves, both gears
New fuel pickup and plumbing, #3 tank after fuel scrub
New lower helm vhf
New B AIS
New Cockpit depth repeater
New toilets, both heads

Working on:
New countertops, galley and heads, quartz and corian respectively
New galley stove and microwave

Please let spring come soon. I want to start cruising and stop working!

Hey Bob
Solar--- big big big kudos!!!!! New life!

And Xsbank-- that's a list. Retired?-- or Re-Tired-- looks like you've got winter covered!
After 30 years of splicing 3 strand, I went on YouTube to learn to splice braided. With some lines it's easy, but it took me forever to get the yellow floating braid from Defender to work. It's done and I have a beautiful tow bridle for those limited times when I want to move without hauling the dink up on the Davits. Seems I can't get braid to loosen up enough. If anyone has tips on that----please...........help.

You guys are a total inspiration!


Me this year--
Readying my Vintage Mainship for the loop.
Cutting drawers into the head vanity.
Rebuilding the stove cabinet to encompass a proper drawer (don't ask)
Replacing and adding drawers under the vee bunk.

And pulling the transmission. The forward seal is leaking

BTW. I used IPE decking lumber for the stove cabinet and drawer in the galley instead of teak. The match was incredible, much better than the teak I had bought. The color and grain was very dark and tight, which matched the adjoining wood. It wouldn't have worked in the head---

Pics to follow upon installation

This is what we installed:

2 Sunmodule SW 300 mono panels
Trace 3230 MPPT Controller
MT50 Remote Controller
6 Trojan T105's
Xantrex 2500w MSW Inverter

Bob, why does it show multiple DC Volts?

The left number is the panel voltage and the center is the battery voltage. The inverter is providing a float charge so the MPPT controller is providing a minimal output.

Ah, so the DC Volts Column is not a multiple reading, but one reading, just showing the current level plus all below.

Chris K said:

And pulling the transmission. The forward seal is leaking

Click to expand...

Ditto for my forward seal. Decided on a complete cleaning of velvet drive. Turned out regulator piston in control valve was stuck. So instead of opening at 200psi and dumping oil to sump, it jammed and oil took the path of least resistance. The front seal. Lot of sludge from clutch plate wear in bottom.

In the early fall I had the boat hauled long enough to remove the Swimgrid, glass in and gel coat the mounting holes. I had already removed the vhf antennas, radar scanner and anchor light from the radar arch and the yard picked it off while the boat was out. I don't do any fiberglass or gel coat work, the mechanic at the marina is excellent at it. Both pieces had a wet core, he was going to replace the wood and repair the gel coat. It's going to be hauled again this spring and the arch replaced and the Swimgrid mounted about 3" higher on the transom. I had the props removed last spring when it was out and the spares put on, I've had the originals checked and tuned up and they'll put back on and the shaft logs packed while it's out this spring. I'll have a few days of mounting new vhf antennas, the radar and anchor light, running cable and making connections. I also have to do some troubleshooting on the Westerbeke 8.0 BTD, it wouldn't start at the end of the year to winterize it. I had went home earlier than normal because I screwed up my knee so the marina winterized everything.