Humble Traveller

Electrical Plans

2012-01-23T04:18:00.000-08:00

Main Cabin lighting plan. All of these will go on the Cabin Lights breaker.

Here's the key for all those symbols.

V-Berth Fan

2012-01-18T03:56:00.001-08:00

Put a fan in the V-Berth over the bed, here...

That should keep the flies off.
This is wired into the V-Berth connection block and is connected into the cabin light circuit.

V-Berth Cabin Lights

2012-01-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

There are 3 cabin lights in the V-Berth; 2 reading lights on the aft wall over the bunk, and a ceiling light just inside the cabin door.

Port-side LED reading light. This is wired across the boat to the V-Berth main connection block.
Starboard-side LED reading light and the main V-Berth connection block.
The connection block connects a single cabin light feed from a panel breaker to all 3 lights and the fan in this cabin. A spur also leaves this block and goes aft into the main cabin to power the ceiling lights there as well.

Fit and wire red floor lights (V-Berth)

2012-01-16T04:49:00.000-08:00

As part of the rewiring, new LED red lights will be fitted. These are set near the floor, are on a single breaker, and are either all on or all off. There was not one fitted in the V-Berth as-is so this is a new one.

The idea for these is that they provide enough light to stop you crashing into things but, at the same time, don't ruin your night vision.

That should do the trick. That ballast will be put back where it came from shortly.
The wiring goes up through locker walls, behind the new wooden walls and to the main V-Berth connection block. From here, it goes back to the breaker panel.

Progress 15-JAN-2012

2012-01-16T04:34:00.000-08:00

In progress:

V-Berth

Fit new anchor winch
Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights (18-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire red floor lights (14-JAN-2012)
Fit and wire fan (15-JAN-2012)
V-Berth Wiring
Re-line walls
Fit new head-liner
Service port light
Replace hatch

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant (27-DEC-2011)

Renovate bilge pump system
Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (11-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top
Renovate portlights and hatches

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch
Boarding Ladder

Attach wooden rungs
Fit extension piece

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Strip Down Anchor Winch - Externals

2012-01-08T12:34:00.001-08:00

The first service on the winch was a bit daunting and the manuals don't really give a good account of how to go about this. After a bit of investigating, I came up with the following.

Periodically... (And there's a question in itself. I have heard once a year, once every 3 months, and once a month. I think I'll go quarterly.) Periodically, dismantle the above-deck parts, clean thoroughly and apply a small amount of Marine Grade teflon grease to all bearing surfaces and reassemble - thus says the manual.

The above-deck parts.
Drop a winch handle into the clutch-nut, turn anti-clockwise and remove.
With the clutch-nut out, the drum assembly (inc. washer) can be pulled off vertically.

Unscrew the chain stripper. As you can see, I had a bit of a problem with this. Some penetrating oil and a little urging with an impact driver solved that problem. On reassembly, I will replace the screws with new and smear some anti-seize grease around them.
Once the chain stripper is off, the gypsy and distance piece can be pulled off.

The gypsy pawl just pulls out. The gypsy carrier / main shaft assembly can be raised by about 2cm. To completely remove the gearbox needs to be dropped from inside the boat.

It should be possible to clean out below the gypsy carrier with a brush & solvent before smearing grease around the shaft. The other parts can be cleaned and grease as well. Assembly is the reverse of the sequence, above.

V-Berth Wiring

2012-01-04T04:23:00.000-08:00

During renovation on the V-berth, a new hull liner was added and the head-liner was replaced. As much of the new wiring as possible was secured behind this so it's a good idea to keep a note of were all the important bits are if I ever need to get into it...

Forward-starboard side. This terminal block services the forward running lights.

Simpson And Lawrence Anchorman 700

2012-01-03T04:44:00.000-08:00

Everything I need to know about this anchor winch.

Manuals

Exploded Diagram and Parts List
(from the excellent SL Spares site)
Installation, Operation and Servicing Manual (as above)

Servicing

Externals

And it's all over...

Having stripped down and removed the winch from the boat, there were some obvious problems. The gear box leaked from both ends. The motor end was a problem because it was dripping oil into the v-berth. The other end was letting water, sand and salt into the internals - pretty clearly trashing the whole gearbox unit. Inspection of other parts revealed that some bearings needed replacing. The winch would probably keep going for another year if I kept it topped up with gearbox oil and was prepared to live with oily sheets (and I'm not!).

I got in contact with John at SL Spares who was most helpful. He could certainly supply the parts to Aus. In the end, though, it came down to cost. New parts plus delivery would cost about a third to half as much as a new winch. That replacement would certainly renew the winch. The motor, however, would remain and I am just not sure how much more life there is in it. I want a few years of trouble-free usage so I opted for the new one.

There will be a whole new post about that baby.

Progress 01-JAN-2012

2012-01-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

In progress:

V-Berth

Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights (18-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire red floor lights
Fit and wire fan
V-Berth Wiring
Re-line walls
Fit new head-liner
Service / clean / paint anchor winch
Service port lights

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant (27-DEC-2011)

Renovate bilge pump system
Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (11-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top
Renovate portlights and hatches

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch
Boarding Ladder

Attach wooden rungs
Fit extension piece

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Simpson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200

Progress 25-DEC-2011

2011-12-28T05:15:00.000-08:00

In progress:

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant (27-DEC-2011)

V-Berth

Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights (18-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire red floor lights
Fit and wire fan
Put in new wire-runs and secure so that the new walls / head-liner will cover them.
Re-line walls
Fit new head-liner
Service / clean / paint anchor winch motor

Renovate bilge pump system
Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (11-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top
Renovate portlights and hatches

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch
Boarding Ladder

Attach wooden rungs
Fit extension piece

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Simpson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200

Portlights and Hatches Renovation

2011-12-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

All of the portlights and ceiling hatches need some work, if only a clean-up. Each of them will checked out for the following:

Replace the rubber seal. Some of these have become brittle and deformed raising the possibility of leaks. Clark Rubber sell a circular cross-section foam seal that is a good replacement. This is glued in place with a shoe rubber sole adhesive.
Hinges and handles will be lubricated with silicone grease.
The frames will be cleaned with isocol.
The windows will be polished. Car-body cutting compound or Brasso on a drill-mounted polishing cloth may do the trick. The intention is to restore the transparency of the windows which seems to be badly effected by very fine surface abrasions. These can also be cleaned with isocol and a polish (car wax?) applied. A little experimentation wouldn't go amiss.
Check for leaks.

Large portlight on starboard-side above the nav table.

End of the day

2011-12-18T04:55:00.000-08:00

After a day working on the boat, we land on a nice little beach with a small patch of grass that Brandy the clinically obese sausage dog likes to roll around on. Easy to get the car in, too.

The dink, engine and bags of stuff - rubbish, mostly - after a day on Red October.

Progress 18-DEC-2011

2011-12-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

In progress:

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant

V-Berth

Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights (18-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire fan
Put in new wire-runs and secure so that the new walls / head-liner will cover them.
Re-line walls
Fit new head-liner
Service / clean / paint anchor winch motor

Renovate bilge pump system
Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (11-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top
Renovate portlights and hatches

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch
Boarding Ladder

Attach wooden rungs
Fit extension piece

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Simpson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200

Renovate Bilge Pump System

2011-12-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

The boat came with two bilge pumps:

Lazarette

This lazarette has a medium-sized pump that was a quick-and-dirty fit during the delivery. It has no float switch. Actually, there is no switch at all. It is terminated in croc-clips in the battery area. This compartment takes on some water when it rains and, although it is above the water-line, there is no drain though some people on other boats seem to have drilled an outlet here for this very purpose. One of the problems cited with a drain hole is that it allows exhaust to enter the compartment that eventually deposits soot on whatever is stored in here.

I don't consider this a critical area but like the idea of a pump and would like to add a float switch and wire it in properly.

The Lazarette. You're looking at a shaped board that both provides something of a flat floor and also lifts this above the wet bit. Below this is a pump.
Centre-Bilge

This is the upper part of the keel and any water source within the boat should end up here. As the bottom of the bilge forms the top of the holding tank, there is a lot of 'stuff' in this area. It is also cramped. The floor encroaches over part of the top and the galley sink cabinet partially covers the area. There is a high-volume pump resting at the bottom of this bilge and a recently-fitted float switch is mounted on a piece of stainless-steel about 25cm from the bottom. This switch has a depth-range of about 5cm. This pump system has a switch on the breaker panel that puts it into auto mode and another switch on the engine control panel switches the pump to manual. The hose has no non-return value so, when the pump switches off, any water in the hose returns to the bilge and so the total amount of water removed per cycle is reduced.

Existing Centre Bilge pump - probably a Rule 3700 (i.e. a monster). This is mounted in the forward section of the bilge - and its float switch is in the aft part. The hose to the left is the holding tank vent and the other one in the centre protects the wire to the holding tank level sensor (which has broken off).
This picture of the existing centre bilge should be a clue as to why I want it to be kept as dry as possible. The old engine was a leaky bugger and almost all of its old oil ended up here. I want to clean this out - which is very difficult while it is in this condition - because it stinks and because, at some point, I want to sort out the holding tank. That water is what is left just after manually running the bilge until it will pump no more. There is detergent in the water to try and break down some of the oil. The pump initially removed more than this but, as soon as I turn it off, whatever is in the hose runs back down.

This should be the last resort pump. It is too large, and the float switch is mounted too high, for this to keep the bilge very dry. However, when run, it is quite capable of shifting large volumes of water. The lack of non-return valve will remain as-is. These valves can stick and this is a real emergency system that should be kept as simple as possible. The electric switches in different parts of the boat are quite weird and should be brought to a single switch panel. Apart from the wiring, there is nothing that needs doing to this setup initially.

Hand-Pump

There is a hand-pump on the front port side of the helmsman's seat. This has never been tested and so needs to be fully serviced and checked.

Maintenance Pump (to be fitted)

The large pump in the centre bilge is there to handle significant problems, however, it could do with a helping-hand. The maintenance pump will have the following features:

A small pump will be mounted in the very bottom of the bilge. It will be able to remove almost all of the water. This will be assisted by a non-return value in the exhaust hose fitted as close to the pump as is practical.
Two float switches and a relay will be combined to allow for a large volume of water removal per cycle. The pump will switch on as the water level passes the top switch on the way up, and turn off when it passes the bottom switch on the way down.
The top float switch will be mounted below the large pump's float switch. All normal pumping from now on will be handled by the maintenance pump - the large pump only used in a real emergency where the maintenance pump is overwhelmed or if it fails. If the latter does occur, the large pump will take over normal duties until the maintenance pump can be brought back to operation.

Wiring

Overall wiring diagram.
The circuits for the Lazarette and Centre / Main bilge pumps are the standard Off/On/Auto w/Float Switch setup.

The Maintenance pump circuit is a bit more complicated. So that the pump turns on when the water level reaches the top switch and only turns off when the water level empties to the bottom switch, a relay is used to hold the pump on while it is draining between the two levels. The top switch closing latches the relay and powers the pump. The bottom switch opening releases the relay and the pump stops.

All wiring is 4mm (15amps) except for any wires carrying current to the Rule 3700. This is rated at 15.5amps so 6mm wire will be used for this (6mm is rated at 45amps).

Each of the two non-critical pumps are protected by a 5 amp fuse (the fuse holder is part of the control switch unit) and both of these are powered through the main breaker panel on a 10amp breaker. The large main pump is powered through a 20amp fuse directly from the battery and another 20amp fuse in the control switch.

Build Approach

This system needs to be built in stages. Current critical systems will be left undisturbed until auxiliary systems have been installed and tested.

Mount 3 new bilge control switches. These will go on the forward wall of the navigation table with their rear ends (where the wires come out) in the cabinet immediately behind. An hour-counter is fitted alongside these switches to be used to monitor the Centre/Main bilge pump. Inside this cabinet is mounted the maintenance-pump relay and enough terminal strips to handle the combined pumps. Local wiring can be completed at this stage such that the remaining wiring will come in from remote parts and be connected to the terminal strips.
The battery compartment rewiring is a fairly large project in itself and is slated for the future. This project will be connected into the existing wiring in a temporary fashion - though safe and secure. The following connections need to be made:

A 6mm wire from the battery positive through a 20amp fuse long enough to reach the Main bilge pump switch positive.
A 6mm wire from the battery negative long enough to reach the Main bilge pump switch negative.

Rewire the Lazarette bilge pump.

Mount a float switch in the lazarette.
Locally wire the pump / float switch to a terminal strip.
Bring wires from the terminal strip as follows:

Red from float switch through battery compartment with enough spare to reach the control switch (Auto line).
Red from float switch / pump through battery compartment with enough spare to reach the control switch (On line).
Black from pump to battery negative.

Mount through-hull discharge fitting for the Maintenance pump. This on port side just forward of the transom (see the two starboard-side outlets for position and method). Bring 3/4" hose from this fitting through to battery compartment with enough spare to reach the maintenance pump.
At this point, all connections in and aft of the battery compartment are complete. There should be a hose and 5 wires ready to be fed forward. An attempt will be made to feed these behind the galley cabinets (alongside the anchor winch cables) and then down under the galley sink by following the fuel filler hose. The first task here is to feed string along the route to be followed. This is then used to pull through the other items. It will also be useful to pull through a spare piece of string along this route, tie it off and leave it in place for any future feeds. From inside the galley sink cabinet, leave the hose near the bilge and feed the wires to the bilge control switches terminal blocks. Connect the wires to the control switch terminal blocks and use the multimeter to check that switch operation and polarity is correct.
Bring 2 x 4mm wires from breaker panel 10amp breaker to the control boxes and wire them in.
This completes the fitting and wiring of the Lazarette pump - it can be tested now.
Build and mount the bracket for the maintenance pump:

Maintenance Pump Bracket: Made from 316 stainless, this has a few adjustment points so that I can fiddle about with the positions of the various components. This is made up and pre-wired before fitting.

Bring the wires from the maintenance pump to the control box terminal strips and complete the wiring. Fit the one-way valve to the hose and then on to the pump (secured with jubilee clips). The maintenance pump installation is now complete and can be tested. The heights of the various components may need to be adjusted for optimal operation.

Coloured (red = positive, blue = negative) wires shown are the ones that need to be fed from the bracket to the control units. There are 5 labelled; A: Lower Float Power, B: Relay Latch Signal, C: Relay Power, D: Pump Power, and E: Pump Return.

At this point, no real difference has been made to what has been keeping the boat afloat all this time; the main pump is still operational and nothing about its fitting has been changed. This is a good time, then, to bed in the new systems and thoroughly check them.
Rewire the main pump. Replace the existing wire with 6mm, bring this to the control box terminal strips and complete the wiring. Test the main pump on the new control box. Tape / remove the old wiring.
Find the handle for the manual pump. Service and test this pump - making any necessary repairs.

This is the first phase of work on the bilge / holding tank. Work so far should be tested for a period before starting on the next phase. Later work includes adjusting the positions of the various bilge components so as to allow easy access for cleaning and maintenance, checking the state of the holding tank construction, and re-plumbing the waste system.

Progress 11-DEC-2011

2011-12-11T04:19:00.001-08:00

In progress:

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant

Add tee fitting and connect vacuum line to gauge

V-Berth

Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights

Connect inline sockets to existing cable (crimp)

Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire fan
Put in new wire-runs and secure so that the new walls / head-liner will cover them.
Re-line walls

Glue in battens
Fit slats

Fit new head-liner
Service/ clean / paint anchor winch motor

Renovate bilge pump system
Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (11-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Sampson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200

V-Berth Walls

2011-12-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to fully complete a part of the boat before tackling the rest. Just an early win, really - a bit of a confidence booster.

There were a number of things in the v-berth that need sorting out, some of them technical, but one thing was certain, the walls were awful. They are covered in what the Morgan 38 site refers to as "hessian" which suggests some sort of rustic idyll. Sadly, this is not the case. The "hessian" is, in fact, a textured rubber sheet that probably goes some way to temperature control and protects the inside of the hull from minor dings but looks and feels horrible. It is also a grime-magnet.

"Hessian".
My aim is to cover both walls in timber. This timber can be thin (and therefore light) ceiling slats. These would be screwed into vertical battens that are glued directly to the hessian hull covering. Nothing structural and nothing load-bearing.

As the battens are to be fixed in with epoxy resin glue, the surfaces need to be clean. I washed the area down with acetone, brushing it into the hessian to remove as much dust as I could and also to de-grease it. I then brushed on some basic epoxy resin to form a key.

Places where the battens will go have been cleaned and epoxy applied.
While that was setting, I prepared the battens. These are cut from 30x18mm Tassie oak. To fit these to the curved hull, I made a number of kerf-cuts.

Aside: Kerf-cuts are saw cuts through about 80% the thickness of the wood that allow the battens to be easily bent into the required curved shape. This was recommended by one of the guys on the Morgan site and I dismissed it because I though the curve wasn't that deep and the wood had some flexibility. It was obvious I was wrong the minute I got the wood on the boat. The kerf-cuts are great and the battens curve to the exact shape of the hull.

Kerf-cuts allow the wood to bend into shape.
I mixed up the epoxy according to the instructions (Epiglass HT9000 in a 3:1 ratio with HT120 Glue Extender) and smeared it onto the mating side of the wood. I pressed this into place and used a couple of those spring-loaded curtain rails as props to keep the batten in place which the resin set (~24 hours).

Setting batten held in place with curtain rails.
I put 4 battens along the length of the v-berth walls.

Lower battens in place.
As I want all the wiring in this area to be hidden behind the panel, this was also the time to tidy and secure this.

I'm using terminal blocks, where useful, to secure the wiring and provide convenient connection / test points. These can be epoxied into place, too. Here's the bow running lights first connection point on the forward, starboard side of the v-berth.
Work-in-progress. Some of the slats fitted - soon to cover the main V-Berth connection block.

Front Navigation Lights

2011-12-07T05:01:00.000-08:00

The delivered Morgan had an old, intermittently working forward bi-light that was held together with cable-ties. Not good. The other thing I didn't like about it was its position was right in amongst the anchors which hide part of the arc it was supposed to cover. I have also made a decision to replace pretty much every light on the boat with LEDs. These draw a fraction of the current that incandescent lights do with all the advantages that brings.

I found a place on the sides of the pulpit tubing that 2 lights (port and starboard) would bolt on to. These would not be covered by any anchors and they are low and forward enough to not interfere with the sails. The problem with this position is that the type of lights I was going to use expect to be bolted on to a flat surface parallel to the boat's centre line, and they also expect to be mounted more or less level. As this is the configuration that would put the most light into the best place, I needed to mimic this as best I could but the pulpit shape didn't really help matters.

The lights will go on the second rail down just under the wooden seat - however, these are angled with reference to the boat's centre-line...
...and they are not horizontal - both features that will need work to mitigate against.
Thus, the brackets:

Made from stainless steel, this is the port bracket. The starboard is an exact mirror-image. The arrow should be horizontal once the assembly is mounted.
Calculations suggest that the forward part of the light needed to be 3cm outboard of the rear to be parallel with the boat's centre-line. The light also need to descend by 1cm over its length to be nominally level.

Starboard light on its bracket. The wires have been extended and jointed to a plug.
Both lights mounted. They appear to be parallel.
The plate with all the holes in it is where the original light was mounted and that anchor is clearly in the way. The new position solves that problem and they shouldn't interfere with normal boat operations.
Completed wiring. This uses some of these Jointing techniques. Everything is strapped down with cable-ties including one to keep the plug/socket together.
Finally, the wiring ends up in the v-berth. This connection block was epoxied in-place before the wall slats went up. The wire feeds back to the breaker panel from here along with the other wiring.

Electrical Jointing

2011-12-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

I dislike crimped joints - a lot. Getting the Morgan hasn't really changed my mind on this point, either. The contrary, in fact. Yes, I know that many cars and aircraft are wired with crimp joints but, whenever I have had to deal with them, they are often corroded and / or loose leading to high resistances, arcing and, worst of all, intermittent faults. For example, right now (until I get around to rewiring the head) I know exactly which wire to wiggle to make the electric toilet work if I press the button and nothing happens. That's just another crimp joint and I'll be very happy to see the back of it.

An alternative, then. I have devised (well, stolen, plagiarised and adapted) a soldering system based on crimp terminals...

There are two types of joint I want to make; those that are exposed to the elements, and the others that sit inside the boat in a dry, clean environment.

The example will be to joint this LED lamp to longer 4mm tails. As this lamp will be going in the bilge, the joint will need potting.
First for the clean-environment joints. I use:

Crimp connectors of this type - with the plastic insulation removed.
Heat shrink insulation.

These are quite easy to joint:

Cut the cable to length.
Strip the end.
Feed the wire into the connector.
Clamp the connector down (or, if you want, crimp it!). You don't HAVE to do this but it helps keep the joint still while you solder it.
Solder this joint.
Push the heat shrink over the joint and heat to close it.

Soldered to crimp connectors ready for the heat shrink.

That will do for most clean applications. Cut the cable a little longer than strictly required and leave a bit of a loop near the connector - this will allow for vibration.

If the environment is more extreme (outside, bilge, etc) then, in addition to the above:

Before slipping the heat shrink over the joint, heat some glue from a 'hot glue gun' over the joint. Make sure that this covers the full length of the heat shrink.
Now when the insulation is heated, as it shrinks, the glue heats up and melts. This becomes quite liquid and it readily flows throughout the insides of the joint (try this with clear insulation, if you don't believe me) sealing the whole joint and especially the ends of the heat-shrink.

Both joints are covered in hot glue (which has cooled so that the heat shrink will slip over it without sticking). The little butane blow-torch is great for heating the insulation and re-melting the glue.
This is a little like potting the whole joint and it should easily keep the elements out and eliminate corrosion, shorts, etc.

Finished joints - completely sealed from the elements.

Mercury 3.3

2011-12-07T04:20:00.001-08:00

We recently picked up this Mercury 3.3hp outboard (S/N: 1B613419). Here it is on a great little trolley we picked up from Whitworths. Handy for carting around if you're feeling lazy.

Front.
Rear.

Dinghy

2011-12-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

This is the dink, apropos nothing at all.

Serial Number: CIN:CN:PLOKP023J910

Advantages; it's light and made of hypalon which, apparently, is good at resisting UV damage.

Fully inflated.
We have a small car and it just about fits on the roof-rack.
The wholesaler, I guess.
I've put an outboard safety clip and a pushbike lock on the transom (the lock to discourage casual scumbags when we are in a shop with the car / boat outside).
We have a storage cage. It's quite small but the dink stands up nicely.
Of course there are locks - again more to discourage casual scumbags.

Rewire Anchor Winch

2011-12-05T05:08:00.000-08:00

The anchor winch is mounted just behind the anchor locker on the underside of the v-berth roof. The delivery skipper reported a burning smell when the winch was operated and an inspection of the wiring told me that it had to go.

Here's the outside bits; the capstan and the foot switch. There is just the one switch and this rotates the capstan one way - up! Later I will investigate whether I can manually use the winch in down mode or whether it would be useful to fit a down-switch. The latter probably just needs a different relay and a foot switch with a bit of rewiring.

Externals - poking around tells me that this is a Samson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200 - and a bit of online searching leads me to the manuals.
The motor is a bit grubby but looks in good condition.
Which is more than you can say about the wiring. It's untinned copper, old, and all the crimped joints are loose.

Before rewiring, I took notes as to what went where. This circuit diagram, below, indicates two wire sizes:

The thin stuff is 4mm tinned copper stranded wire. I checked my stock against the thickness of the original and it was a little bigger. This is rated for 15 amps which should be plenty for the relay coil circuit.
The thick cable is a whole other story. The original was pretty manky stranded copper, untinned and had signs of corrosion. The strands were quite thick - not giving much by way of flexibility - and there wasn't a lot of cross-section. I replaced this with 2 B&S (2 AWG) tinned copper stranded wire. The winch documentation suggested a nominal rating of 80 amps in normal operation but you have to factor more than that in for jams, etc. This stuff will carry 230 amps. Nuff said.

Termination was by solder joint covered in heat-shrink to tinned connectors sized to the terminals they needed to fit. These were then bolted in place.

Wiring diagram.
I gave the winch a bit of a clean-up but it could do with a proper wash-down and, possibly a lick of paint (it is right over the v-berth bed and you wouldn't want bits of corrosion raining down). A job for when the v-berth is close to completion.

Finished replacement wiring.
Though the more technical aspects of this job were in the v-berth, the bigger challenge was feeding the cables back to the cockpit locker where the winch breaker lives.

The original cables go almost along the full length of the hull behind some of the most inaccessible parts of the boat (shower, galley cabinets, etc). My first instinct was to use the original cable to pull a length of twine through this space - and then use the twine to pull the new cables through the same space. Luckily, I did this one cable at a time. If the first one failed, I had a second bite. The first one failed. What happened was that as I pulled the cable out it got a little tight so I gave it a good tug and the joint between the twine and the cable parted.

The second go didn't go well at first either. Obviously, I made damn sure that the twine was tied on a lot tighter than the first one. I also taped around the joint so as to present a smooth surface for getting around corners. Still, after a few metres, this one started to jam up, too.

Right, let's think about this. I had a bit of a poke around the furniture I was trying to get behind and noticed that in a couple of the main cabin cupboards, the back-panels were screwed in. I unscrewed them and, behind one, there was the problem. The winch cable had been cable-tied to another cable providing mains power to a domestic outlet. The cable tie was loose enough that the winch cable would slide through it (just) but the thicker twine joint would not. Even if I could have persuaded the twine to go through, there was no way I could get the 2 B&S replacement cable through that loop. I cut the cable tie away and pulled the twine right through that space.

Using the twine to pull the replacement cable through was fiddly but doable. The route is a bit up-and-down so I pulled it through in sections; i.e. from the start to the first access panel, then to the next , and then through to the v-berth. Pulling, tugging and pushing finally persuaded it through. You have to get your hands in those places you can see to get the lumpy bits over ridges and round corners.

Finally, when I pulled the last cable through, I also pulled a length of twine along with it. The plan is to leave that in place and use it to pull any future stuff through without having to re-use the winch cables for that. What could I possibly want to pull through? A remote winch controller, for a start! How about power for a foredeck hose pump. You never really know, do you?

The part where I connect the new cable to power and test the winch will have to wait. Firstly, I want to tackle the wiring in the area where the winch breaker is all in one go. Secondly, I reckon the winch motor and gearbox could do with a service and that means getting the parts in.

Through-Hulls

2011-12-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

During the recent haul out, I had the chance to have a good look over the hull. While I was down there - so as to speak - I took some piccies, especially of the through-hulls and anything else that passes through the hull (and can, therefore, leak). I reckon it's quite a good idea to know where all the holes are...

Yes Kim, it's a boat.
Just forward of the keel, one of these is the depth sounder sensor and I'm not sure about the other one.
Starting at the bottom, we have; the stern-gland for the prop-shaft, another gland for the rudder shaft, and the torpedo tube. The two outlets at the top are for the bilge pumps.
The prop-shaft stern gland was replaced with a dripless / zero maintenance model during the haul-out.

The torpedo tube seems to be pretty unique for the Morgan. It is a horizontal tube that opens on both sides of the boat and drains things like scuppers, etc. The beauty of having an opening on each side is that which ever side the boat is leaning, it will still drain. Though it looks like a big fat pipe (~ 4") going right across the boat, actually, it is two short pieces joined by a flexible hose (a solid pipe would probably not be able to take the hull flexing).

From the bottom; raw water inlet for the engine, engine exhaust and, on the port side, the other end of the torpedo tube. Not sure what that small hole just below the waterline behind the exhaust is.
Close-up of the raw water inlet. This has a strainer over the valve.
A little further forward on the port side is the drain for the galley sink.
Port-side further forward still are the head through-hulls. Starting with the big one and going clockwise; head outlet, sea-water inlet (for toilet and galley sink), and head sink outlet.

Expose Fuel Tank Fittings

2011-12-04T04:55:00.000-08:00

Someone who had done a bit of work on Red during her delivery warned us that there was a fuel leak. The fuel tank (which is a part of the hull and, therefore, cannot be removed) has a metal plate on top that takes the fuel gauge and fittings for pipe connections. This is sealed with a gasket which is known to rot away and cause leaks from around the plate. Getting at this plate is not easy, certainly if you want to disturb as little as possible. The guy who had already had a look at this had cut away a small piece of floor to expose one of the screws and had been able to get the plate off, inspect it and refit it with a new gasket. This had not, apparently, fixed the whole problem and the delivery skipper reported some fuel on top of the tank.

I decided to not pussyfoot around this. I really needed to fully expose the offending area and get to the bottom of any leaks. As I was also a little concerned about a legacy of black death and what horrors might lurk in the tank I wanted to be able to completely remove the plate, inspect it and all round it, and be able to fully check the hoses. As we are doing a major renovation, that includes some sort of floor covering, major surgery in this are wasn't too much of a problem.

Screwdriver in hand, let's get too it...

This part of the bench has to come out.
The first task is to remove the central part of the bench. First remove any cushions and draws. There is, on my Morgan, a red light on the forward side that should be disconnected or removed. It's then a matter of undoing all the screws that are holding it in place. There are probably a dozen of these and they secure it to the floor, the back of the galley and the side bench in the same area. Once these are out, wiggle it about to find any bits where coverings have been glued from one part to the next. These are best dealt with by cutting with a sharp knife.

You should end up with this...

Exposed area.
That gives you full access to the top of the tank. Some of the floor here had been previously cut away in the left-hand corner of that photo. I believe that, should you not want to cut any of the floor, you can drill a hole to allow a screwdriver on to all of the screws to get the plate off.

After all that, this is what you end up with:

Fully exposed access plate.
So, what we have here is, starting with the big pipe and going around clockwise:

Filler tube (the big one)
Fuel gauge
Fuel return line (from the engine)
Fuel outlet (to engine via the fuel treatment plant)
Vent line (this vents to the outside over the transom)

Refit Rubbing Strip

2011-12-04T00:45:00.000-08:00

It was our own fault - if we had researched this guy better, we would never have hired him - but we landed ourselves with the delivery skipper from hell. At one stage he reported that the rubbing strip had taken some damage, what he called "sea action".

Forward rubbing strip damage.
As we can see, the sea in Queensland is made of rocks. If I didn't know better I would have though that this was hit by something hard rather than wet.

Sea Action!
OK, what to do?

As usual, I set about planning the Rolls Royce of repairs (epoxy, anyone). And equally as usual, I headed over to the Morgan 38 Owners Board for some actual sensible advice before getting started.

Toothpicks - whodathought?

Toothpicks - or as Kim calls them; anti-pirate spikes.
I unscrewed the rubbing strip and preserved as much of the underlying plastic support strip as possible. This was taken into the cockpit and straightened out as best I could. In the mean time, I glued in the toothpicks. First a wash-down with sea water on an old brush. This was followed by fresh water squirted into the screw-holes (I used one of those garden sprayers). This flushed out a lot of black dusty grime. I doubt this was a problem in itself but it wouldn't have helped the glue to set. The final cleanup was with Isocol squirted from the same sprayer. That should have flushed out any final grime and done some basic de-greasing. Then it was a matter of squeezing outdoor PVA into the holes and pushing as many toothpicks into the hole as it would take. I left that to set overnight.

Next day I drilled out the toothpick-laden holes and re-screwed the rubbing strip back on being careful to get as much of the plastic support strip where it needed to be.

That's it, really. Only the most forward hole wouldn't take the original screw. The "sea action" had, apparently, pulled the strip out with such energy that it was forced over the screw enlarging the hole. I used an oversize screw here and it was fine.

All back together.
My original idea to epoxy the screws in would have been fine but more expensive and, oh so, time consuming. This type of thing doesn't really need to be engineered to that degree. The rubbing strip is essentially sacrificial and is there to protect the hull. (Not from idiot delivery skippers, obviously!) As long as it is secured fairly well, it will stay put regardless of "sea action" and that's all it needs to do.

Mooring Line Anti-Chafe

2011-12-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

Red October lives on a NSW Maritime mooring. This gets inspected once a year and any deterioration corrected but still, the line can experience chafe. There is a nice easy solution for this and I would rather do this than have to chase her across the bay. It's cheap, too.

As part of sorting out the anchors and the pointy-end generally, I made the mooring line pass over one of the front-rollers. This should keep it mostly away from any sharp stuff but as added protection, I put a length of plastic hose over the line. This is about 1.2m long and is enough to reach from the cleat and over the roller. The hose came from those nice chaps - or, in this case, chapesse - at Clark Rubber.

To get it over the mooring line, I needed a calm day (so that I could slacken off the line enough to work on it). I tied some twine to the mooring line loop and pulled this through the tube.

You don't want it working its forward down the line so it is secured at each end (probably overkill). I poked some holes in the aft end and tied it up with some thin line to the mooring line loop.

Aft securing lashing.
For the forward end, I got a small piece of mooring line and whipped each end. On a calm day, given enough slack on the mooring line, it was quite easy to part some of the turns and feed this through to create a stopper.

Tube stopper on the mooring line.
This should stop the tube working its way down the mooring line and ending up uselessly on the bottom of the harbour.

Stopper.

Fuel Treatment Plant

2011-12-03T04:59:00.001-08:00

Red October and London have a similar history - they both once had the Black Death.

During the delivery from Queensland there were a number of problems, the most notable with the engine and its fuel system. This required a new filter and a high-pressure pump rebuild and this was all down to fuel contamination, the ominous Black Death.

And this is?

Diesel is hygroscopic (it attracts water) and it is quite difficult to keep this out of the fuel. There are a couple of ways that water can get into the tank. It can be in the fuel when you buy it. It is rare in Australia but it can happen. Alternatively, the air in a half-empty / full (depending on your karma) tank will expand and contract as the ambient temperature varies. There is a vent to prevent unwanted pressure build up but the movement of air in and out of this vent will draw in moisture which will build up over time. One way of minimising this is to either keep the tank full (so there is very little air above it to move around) or empty (so there is no fuel for the water to contaminate). We know that Red October has been sitting around for quite a while before we bought her and there was every chance that water got into the fuel at this time. Had we known more about this problem, its effects and treatment, things might have been a little different.

So, what happens when water gets into the fuel?

Water is denser than diesel and is immiscible with it (it doesn't dissolve) so it sinks to the bottom in a separate liquid layer with an interface with the fuel. Organisms in the water (bacteria and other little life-forms) then start to grow at this interface using the fuel as, well, fuel. After a while these die and their putrid little bodies float around, stick to each other and form a horrible slime of various thickness that blocks up fuel lines, buggers up pumps and generally makes everybody's life a misery. This sludge is what gets the name; Black Death.

And what to do?

Apart from prevention or throwing contaminated fuel away, there are a few things that can be done. There are treatments; liquids that you add to the fuel that are designed to dissolve the sludge and pass it harmlessly through the engine. We have been recommended Fuel Doctor and, as far as I know, it works fine. The other thing is filtration and this is what I decided Red October really needed.

There were a few design criteria that I wanted for the Fuel Treatment Plant:

Multistage filtration to 2 micron.
Ability to swap out a filter while the engine is running.
A manual purge-pump to displace any air in the fuel lines up to the engine.
Ability to bypass the filters if the engine seems to be starved of fuel and you really do need it to save your life.
A fuel-polishing mode whereby the fuel is passed through the filter and directly back to the tank.

Here's the schematic...

Schematic.
How does this work?

Fuel is drawn from the tank and goes through the 150 micron screen. This is a small clear chamber and is designed to catch any big lumpy bits.

Next up is the manual priming pump with a bypass valve. In normal operation, the bypass valve is open allowing the fuel to pass freely. Close the valve and all flow must go through the pump. This is just your standard large bulb priming pump and allows fuel to be pushed through the system right up to the engine.

Fuel enters the Delphi system. This has two valves to allow this filter to be bypassed if it is causing problems or the element needs changing while the engine needs to keep running. The Delphi filter is nominally 7 microns and has a water trap to pick up any moisture. These filters are cheap as chips and make excellent first stages.

The next system, the Racor, is essentially the same as the Delphi. This has a 2 micron filter and is the final stage in the plant. This can also be isolated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
An aside about buying the Racor...

Australia is a small market for a lot of this stuff and is traditionally expensive for anything imported so to you really need to shop around. Here's why. I phoned up Sydney Filters to get a quote on this unit and was told 345AUD, later grudgingly discounted to 325AUD. That is a hell of a lot to pay for a base-section, a sample filter and a plastic water bowl. I poked around a bit more and found that the same people, on their online site, had the same unit for 215AUD. I'm not sure if that disparity is incompetence or malicious. Still too high, though. Ebay then came through with 115AUD delivered from the US with a spare filter (which, themselves, cost about 40 bucks). That is a HUGE difference. Australian business usually justify mark-ups with dark mutterings about import costs and the price of bricks-and-mortar facilities. There may be a point there but this difference is massive. If more and more people are going to import their own stuff to get around this, local business will need a different business model (though, as usual, what they want is protectionism).
-----------------------------------------------------------------

I have put a vacuum gauge on the engine line. This is used to indicate when the filters are becoming blocked and the elements need changing. This reads from 0-30" Hg (essentially no vacuum to a bit of vacuum) and needs a calibration curve. Its reading and what that means depends on what filters are switched in and their condition. A graph will be made up from the experience of using the plant as to how these readings should be interpreted.

Once the fuel has passed through the filters, it gets to the circulation pump and its isolation valves. The valves either send the fuel to the engine or straight back to the fuel tank - in other words, this is the fuel polishing loop.

Fuel polishing, as far as I can tell, is a bit of a last resort for a couple of reasons. Firstly, diesel engines draw much more fuel from the tank than they actually use. The fuel return line is what sends it back. If the fuel has been through a good filtration system, this returned fuel will be in excellent condition. In other words, fuel is being continually polished while the engine is running - assuming your filters are good. The fuel would have to be in a very bad way for specific polishing to make a huge difference - though, if it is in that bad a way, a polishing setup is just what you would want. Another good reason for a polishing circuit would be if there was a lot of crud lining the tank and you could get at those surfaces. A modification to what I have here would be a jet spout option on the fuel return line. If you can get into the tank, you could use this to pressure-hose the inside, loosen any crap and let the filters take care of it.

Anyhoo, enough of the theory, here's the unit on the bench before fitting to the boat...

Finished plant on the bench.
A couple of things not on the plan:

The vacuum gauge has a light and I also fitted a LED lamp at the top so that I could see what I was doing when changing filters. The master switch for both of these is on the gauge mounting plate though the lamp has its own switch.
The switch for the polishing pump is on the same plate.

The sharp-eyed amongst you will notice that the Racor is old and has a 10 micron element. I changed this over when the new Racor turned up.

Here's the finished unit on the boat...

During installation. There's not much room back there.
Finish plant on boat - with the new Racor.
So how did the project go?

Getting parts, especially the brass fittings was a problem. There is not much by way of retail near the Sydney CBD so it's internet / phone. The guys where I eventually ended up ordering the stuff from were very good - though expensive - but their courier was crap. Yes, Couriers Please, we're talking about you. The place I wanted them delivered to is, admittedly difficult to navigate but nothing that could have been solved with a phone call on approach. This they have a policy to not do. In other words, they are crap by policy. A small box of fittings spent over 2 weeks traveling around the outer reaches of Sydney before a change of courier solved the problem. Well done Couriers Please - remind me to use you again one day.

Though I had to go offshore to get a reasonable price on the Racor, and it took about 2 1/2 weeks to arrive, I was very pleased with that service and will definitely be using eBay more to bypass the Aussie importer tax. The delay is not a problem if you plan for it.

There was a scarey period after connection where the engine would not fire up. This was down to air in the lines after fitting the plant. More purge pumping would have solved that.

Now that the beastie is in, it is just great. The 7 / 2 micron combination does not seem to slow the fuel delivery rate to the point where the engine is effected at all. I am very pleased with the engine's performance. Across all engine rev ranges and for all filter combinations the vacuum reading varies between 4 and 6 inHg. My rule of thumb, until experience tells me otherwise, will be to look at replacing the filter elements when the gauge reads around 10 inHg. That is if it ever gets to that level with annual changes anyway.

Progress 04-DEC-2011

2011-12-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

In progress:

Overhaul fuel system

Expose fuel tank fittings (03-NOV-2011)
Fix any fuel leaks
Replace perished hoses
Make and fit fuel treatment plant

V-Berth

Rewire anchor winch (03-DEC-2011)
Fit and wire new front navigation lights
Fit and wire new cabin lights
Fit and wire fan
Put in new wire-runs and secure so that the new walls / head-liner will cover them.
Re-line walls

Glue in battens
Fit slats

Fit new head-liner
Service/ clean / paint anchor winch motor

Renovate bilge pump system

Clean oil / dirt from cabin bilge - ONGOING
Put lights in bilge area
Bring electrical power from old breaker panel to new bilge control boxes
Rewire and fit control box for existing cabin bilge
Make mounting bracket and install new wide-range cabin bilge pump, float switches and control box
Fit float switch and control box for lazarette bilge pump

Replace main cabin head liner and fix any ceiling leaks

Remove old head liner (03-NOV-2011)
Re-bed hand rail (03-DEC-2011)
Re-bed dorade boxes and traveler

Secure boom off traveler
Remove and re-bed traveler assembly

Build navigation light control / monitor panel
Replace galley sink tap
Renovate galley worktop surfaces
Resurface navigation table top

Done:

Fit anti-chafe hose to mooring line (03-NOV-2011)
Refit mangled rubbing strip (03-NOV-2011)

TBD (or may never be done!):

Renovate head

Re-plumb toilet
Re-plumb shower
Renovate under-sink pipework and identify through-hull problems
Renovate sink
Investigate functioning of holding-tank system

Renovate main cabin accommodation
Renovate galley
Rewire rest of boat
Renovate mast and rigging
Hot water system
Re-bed / replace through-hulls
Add down-control to anchor winch
Add remote control to anchor winch

Maintenance Schedule Plan - each item here needs a maintenance plan and a spares kit.

Sampson And Lawrence Anchorman 1200

Building Site

2011-12-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's just a few weeks before xmas 2011 and Red October has come a long way - and has not gone very far - all at the same time.

On her mooring.
To catch up, here's what she has gone through since we bought her in Queensland...

She dodged a bullet with Hurricane Yasi.
Has suffered - and I mean suffered given the damage - at the hands of a delivery skipper who distinguished himself in several ways - not least in his utter inability to deliver a boat.
Has shined in the hands of a delivery skipper who was competent, professional and actually delivered the boat. I can thoroughly recommend this guy - he went beyond - thanks Ryan.
Has been hauled out for the following:

Anti-fouling
New Yanmar 39hp engine
Dripless stern gland

Moved to her mooring in Sydney Harbour.
We have started to renovate her.

Renovations will take more than a year but we have made a good start. First up was to remove all the stuff in the inventory - official and otherwise. We took off what must have been a tonne or more of tools, equipment and fittings. That took some sorting and we haven't finished yet. Let's not forget the half-dozen or so sails and, well, buckets of just stuff.

Once we got all that off and could finally see the boat, it was a matter of coming up with a renovation plan. That was going to be far too much work - the plan, that is. We decide to start at the pointy end and keep going backwards until we ran out of boat.

Though she looks like a building site at the moment, work is progressing. Feel free to follow the work here.

Serice Yamaha 3AMH Outboard

2011-06-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

Engine mounted on water tank ready for its service and test.
Schedule

3 Months

Propeller:

Remove prop

Remove cotter pin, block the prop to stop it rotating and unscrew.

Inspect / clean drive shaft
Inspect prop
Lubricate splines
Replace prop and put on a new cotter-pin

Reassembled.
Anode

Check for corrosion - if excessive then replace
Clean off scale
Check mounting screw is tight

Wire-brushed and remounted.
Controls:

Check throttle linkages

Twist-grip throttle needs to be free and lubricated. The cable and its linkage should be greased.

Check gear linkages

Movement needs to be smooth and positive. Grease nipple A.

Check other manual controls

A: Recoil Starter. Should be smooth.
B: Engine Shutoff. Should stop engine when pushed.
C: Choke. Should work.

Front Control Panel.
Grease Points:

Transom clamps

A: Grease nipple (one on the other side, too). B: Grease threads.

Tilt mechanism

Accessed under this cover.
Grease points.
12 Months

Remove top cover (2 clips)
Remove lower front cover

A: Upper screws.

A: Lower bolts.

Remove recoil starter (5 bolts)

Mounting points.

Drain fuel

Close fuel valve
Pull fuel line from carb filter

A: Carb filter, B: Fuel Valve, C: Removed fuel line.

Open fuel valve & vent to drain fuel
When drained, close valve and vent

Remove fuel tank / valve, inspect and clean

A: Fuel value screw.

A: Fuel tank bolts.

Check inside of tank for debris. If there are particles, flush with fresh petrol.

Replace spark plug

Plug: NGK B6HS-10
Remove plug
Clean, adjust and store as a spare
Check adjustment of new plug
Fit new plug

Remove air intake / carburetor

Remove throttle cable from carb
Dismount air intake and carb

A: 2 bolts. These are long and go right through the air intake and carb into the engine block.

A: Fuel filter. Dismounted carb.

Inspect fuel filter for dirt and damage.

Fuel filter - check for holes / debris.

A: Float chamber - clean out any debris. B: Float - check that it is free to swing. C: Main jet - remove and check its not blocked.

Re-mount carb, air filter, throttle cable.
Visual check wiring.
Remount fuel tank.
Remount recoil starter
Grease prop (see 3 month service)
Check and clean anode (see 3 month service)
Replace lower leg gearbox oil

Put a container under the prop.
Remove oil filler and level screws to drain old oil (very viscous so leave for 1/2 hour to completely drain.

A: Oil level screw. B: Oil filler screw.

Inspect oil screw washers - replace if damaged
Check colour of oil - if very cloudy then suspect a seal problem.
Add new oil:

Push end of oil bottle into oil filler hole
Squeeze oil bottle until oil is seen coming out of the oil level hole
Screw in oil level screw
Pull oil bottle out and screw in oil filler screw

Check controls (see 3 month service)
Grease points (see 3 month service)

Biennial

Replace water pump impeller

Fuel System Description

2011-06-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is the standard Morgan fuel system with a few filter additions - and before a complete overhaul.

1. Manufacturer's diagram of the Fuel System for a 382. (Note: Red October has an extra line from the engine to the tank - the Fuel Return Line)

The Fuel System consists of the following major components:

Filler Fitting
Fuel Tank
Various fuel and vent lines
Filters
Pumps

The Filler Fitting on the port deck is about half-way along the length of the boat. It has a metal screw cap with a deck-plate key fitting (requiring a deck-plate key to remove / replace).

There is a fuel line between the filler port and the tank. This hose is around 3cm dia and is fed down the back of the galley, below the kitchen sink, over the bilge and on to a fitting the top of the fuel tank access plate.

The Fuel Tank is below the floor partly under the port settee. This is glassed into the fabric of the boat and is non-removable. There is a metal access plate on top of the tank. This is screwed in place but part of the floor needs to be removed to get to all the screws. The access plate supports all of the tank fittings:

Fuel Inlet
Fuel Gauge
Fuel Outlet (to engine)
Vent Tube
Fuel Return Line

2. Manufacturer's detail of part of the Fuel Tank Access Plate for a 382. The Red October Fuel Return Line is to the right of the Fuel Outlet.

While the diagram has 3 lines to the tank, Red October has 4:

3. View through cleared-out port settee. There is no floor under part of this allowing access / inspection.

1. Fuel Inlet Hose.
2. Bundle of other hoses going astern. There are also 2 wires that connect to the Fuel Gauge - believed to be part of the earth harness.

4. Bulk of the Fuel Tank Access Plate.

1. Vent Tube
2. Fuel Gauge
3. Fuel Outlet (to engine)
4. Fuel Return Line

The Fuel Gauge is simply a dial and is read by lifting the floor access.

The 4 lines are fed aft over the bilge and into the space under the galley sink. Here they split; the Fuel Filler and Vent lines go port and through the structure of the galley. The remaining 2 lines go aft towards the engine.

5. Fuel Lines under galley sink.

1. Fuel Inlet
2. Vent Line
3. Fuel Outlet (to engine)
4. Fuel Return Line
5. Magnetic Filter

The 2 lines (Fuel and Fuel Return) enter the engine bay and split. The Fuel Line goes through a series of filters (legacy of the black death) and the Fuel Return Line goes along side the engine.

6. Fuel Lines enter the Engine Bay.

1. Fuel Line
2. Fuel Primer Bulb Pump
3. One of several Fuel Filters
4. Fuel Line (after filters) going to the engine
5. Fuel Return Line

Both lines pass down the starboard side of the engine before terminating.

7. Fuel Lines terminating on Engine.

1. Fuel Line connected to the Fuel Lift Pump
2. Fuel Return Line connected to the final Fuel Filter

Since then, the engine has been replaced and I wanted a you-beaut fuel treatment plant - here.

Thanks to the Morgan 38 Board for good info and support - especially Alan & Cheryl Shedd for clarification on this subject.

Red October Renovation

2011-06-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

Renovation:

Recent Timeline:

Plans - and Techniques:

Equipment:

Other stuff:

End of the day

Dodging Bullets

2011-02-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

Having bought the boat in Townsville on 24th Jan, we arranged for a delivery crew to bring it to Sydney. Before the crew could leave, Yasi came our way. Here's the projected track on 31st Jan:

Just south of where that line crosses the coast is where Hot Stuff is moored.
To our relief, Yasi turned a little north along the way and missed Townsville by 100km - enough to worry us somewhat and knock Townsville around - but no boats in the marina were damaged.

Wasn't as much fun at Mission Beach. Yasi crossed there at Category 5, poor sods. Then there's this:

A way up the coast.

Plans. And Elevations.

2011-02-24T03:24:00.000-08:00

It's probably as well to know what's going on behind all those panels - and, of course, where everything should be.

If you figure that you can stand upright in the main cabin (that bit behind the mast), you should get a reasonable idea about the amount of head space.
Similarly, an adult should be able to stretch out in any one of the 7 berths here (count 'em).

Here's the specs - measurements are in old money 'cos it's a yank boat and they are 100 years behind everyone else:

Length Overall (LOA): 38’ 4"
Waterline Length (LWL): 30’ 6"
Maximum Beam: 12’ 0"
Maximum Draft: 5’ 0"
Displacement: 18,000 lbs
Sail Area (100% Fore triangle): 680 Sq ft.

First Impressions

2011-02-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

We caught up with Hot Stuff on Magnetic Island and were shown around by the guy who was going to become a big part of our lives, Allan McDermott of Townsville Slipways.

Here's the first inspection...

Topsides. She's a good solid boat with oodles of inclusions. Here we can see the radar, wind generator, life-raft, inflatable, bimini, and the list goes on.
Insides are very servicable. The woodwork needs some tlc but one day this will be Kim's masterpiece.
Cockpit is just right in terms of space and layout. You can live here fairly comfortably and it will also do a good job of protecting you from the elements.
Drinks holders, lots of drinks holders.

Hot Stuff

2011-02-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Went up to Townsville to look at a couple of boats and bought this Morgan 383 'Red Herring', soon to be renamed 'Hot Stuff'. This, then, is her adventures...

Holiday 2010 - Cairns

2010-06-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Trip Home

2010-06-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Got a good window seat on the flight back and we went right over the city.

We live down there somewhere.
Coming over Cockatoo Island - something we often circumnavigate.
And a couple of days later, it did this.

Snorkelling and Diving

2010-06-07T14:54:00.001-07:00

Couldn't go this close to the reef without getting wet.

There's Kim snorkelling.
One of the reef fish.
Giant Clam.
Typical outer-reef coral garden.
Sadly, you can't eat much of what is out here.
On to the diving. This was my buddy, Oman. Oman is from Israel so we kept our eyes on the passports.
And this is me. Quite possibly doing the Macarena.
With a bit more depth, you start losing colour at the red-end.
The first reef was probably one of the best I've ever seen. Fish soup.

Green Island

2010-06-07T14:50:00.001-07:00

In Australia, things tend to be named literally. Green Island is no exception.

This is a cay (sand island) that happens to have a bit of rain-forest on it. It's the perfect desert island, really. Well, other than the fact that there is a restaurant / swimming pool / etc on it.
And a gift shop.
There's a good beach with lifeguards.
And - oh joy - a big thing. In this case a Big Tuna.

Marina

2010-06-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Can't help ourselves when it comes to looking at all things boat.

Hotel room view - you can see boats.
The super-yacht section of the marina. I would like to say that the one in the middle will be our next boat.
We're more likely to be on a swing-mooring in the river with the rest of the riffraff.
But where-ever you start, this is where you go. The channel markers leading out of Cairns to the open ocean.

Casino Zoo

2010-06-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Near the harbour, one of the biggest buildings in Cairns is the casino - and right on top of it is a roof-zoo. Be rude not to...
Have to be careful not to tread on the inmates.
This guy likes to take your specs and run off with them.
A fresh-water croc - pussycat, really.
The real deal - a fully-grown salty.
Cute, of course.
Looks harmless but will trash your garden in minutes.
I got to join in the bird-show with this little Rozella.

How Sails Work

2010-05-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

Air Flow

Imagine the air as a couple of friends holding hands. The mast gets in the way so they part hands and will reconnect at the other end. Trouble is, they have to go different distances to meet each other because the path on the outside of the sail is longer than the inside. The only way they will meet is if the outside one goes faster than the inside one.

Faster air is at a lower pressure than slower air.

Forces

The higher pressure on the inside puts a net force on the sail that pushes it perpendicular to the wind direction.

With a little bit of mathematical jiggery-pokery, this net force can be broken down into a perpendicular one and a forward one.

Effect of the Keel

...and the general longish shape of the boat it to neutralise the perpendicular force. This leaves the forward force and this drives the boat into the wind.

Points of Sail

The force breakdown is different on different points of sail.

When close hauled, the sideways force is stronger than the forward one. The boat will go forward but the sideways force causes a lot of heeling.

On a broad reach the forward force dominates. This makes the boat heel less and is also the fastest point of sail.

Bowline

2010-05-10T01:09:00.000-07:00

Used to put a secure loop on a line.

Bowline (bowlyn).

Beating to Windward

2010-05-09T15:01:00.001-07:00

As you can't go directly into the wind, and sometimes you want to somewhere that is just that, you have to use a series of tacks.

This is called 'beating to windward' and is generally to be avoided when cruising. However, sometimes...

Can't do this.

If the channel is narrow, you have to use a series of short tacks. This is work - not something we want to do.

Where there's space, you need to tack fewer times. The distance gone is exactly the same as with the shorter tacks but with less work.

Which Tack?

2010-05-09T00:59:00.001-07:00

You are always on a tack. The tack you are on is usually determined by which side of the boat the wind is coming from:

Port tack:

The wind is coming from port - and the sails are to starboard.

Starboard tack:

The wind is coming from starboard - and the sails are to port.

The only time the wind does not determine the tack is where you are running and the wind is coming over the same side as the sails. As this is a pretty dangerous place to be - you are very close to an accidental gybe - it shouldn't happen very often.

Stalled Rudder

2010-05-09T00:28:00.000-07:00

When turning, especially when tacking, the rudder can stall - or, in the case of the Bug, the rudders can stall. There needs to be a smooth flow of water across the rudder's surface for it to be effective.

Stalled:

The rudder is over too far. The flow separates from the rudder and it no longer turns the boat. In this state, it is much more likely to stop the boat by acting as a brake.

Turning:

By putting the rudder over by the right amount, the water flow is smooth and it steers the boat. Of course, you need at least some speed to be able to steer at all.

Getting out of Irons

2010-05-07T16:56:00.001-07:00

When a tack fails or you just get stuck, this is how to get sailing again.

Back the jib:

If the angle to the wind allows it, the jib can be backed. This will give some side force to the bow and the boat will fall off to a point where the sails fill.

Back the main:

Stand up and push the main over. The boat will start to reverse and the rudder can be used to help it turn.

Use the engine:

When all else fails and it's getting dangerous, get out of trouble with the engine.

April Runaround

2010-05-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Took the rellies out for a motor around the harbour and Les took the sort of piccies we can't - because we're usually on the boat.

Prepping the dinghy. Brandy is all sorted in her life-jacket.

A slow motor out to the Bug on the electric outboard. We'll probably go petrol in the near future.

That's pretty much the motoring configuration with the dinghy on a tow.
All ready for docking. This is the calm before the storm - i.e. the bit where we get really close to the dock.

Gybing

2010-05-01T22:04:00.001-07:00

In a gybe, the wind ends up on the opposite side of the boat to where it started - and the stern goes through the wind to get there.

This maneuver carries some risk because things can get out of hand if it's not done properly. If the main is given free reign, it can gybe too early - accidentally - and crash across the boat with painful results to both boat and crew.

Starting on, say, a starboard tack, the crew needs to be ready. The jib will be moved across but at leisure - the main is the most important sail here. The main will be sheeted right in and then let out all in one fluid motion. The crew needs to be prepared for this. Also, as the boom will be moving across the boat with force, everybody needs to keep their heads down.

Ask "Ready to gybe?". Once everybody has answered "Ready", we can start.

First, while maintaining the current heading, haul in the main sheet tight. As long as the wind is somewhere from directly behind to the downwind side of the sail, it will stay on the same side of the boat. Give the command "Going about.".

With the main sheeted in, turn the boat across the wind.

As the wind catches the opposite side of the sail, it will cross the boat. If it has been sheeted in tight, this movement should not be too violent. Still, best to assume the worst and keep out of the way.

As soon as the main flops across the boat, let it right out close to the spreaders. It will want to go out fast and will be pulling on the main sheet. It's best to let it - while stopping it hitting the spreaders - buy putting some friction on the sheet as it runs out. You need gloves for this or you'll get burned hands.

With the main now driving the boat, it has probably doused the jib. The crew can now haul in the opposite jib sheet to set it on the opposite side to the main (goose-winged) to get it to do some work.

Once settled into the new tack, care needs to be taken that the boat is not turned back through the wind - resulting in an accidental gybe.

Tacking

2010-04-30T23:33:00.001-07:00

In a tack, the boat ends up with the wind on the opposite side to where it started - and the bow goes through the wind to get there.

Starting on, say, a starboard tack, the crew needs to be ready. Ask "Ready to tack?". The crew should be standing by the jib sheets and the main if the helm is not operating that - though usually you shouldn't need to touch the main for this maneuver. The crew also needs to make sure their heads are away from the boom as it crosses the boat.

The answer, from everybody who will be involved, is "Ready" - then give the command "Going about."...

Push the rudders over to bring the bow towards the wind. The boat will start to turn but, especially in light winds, will slow down and possibly stall getting into irons.

To prevent a stall, keep the jib tight on the current side as the bow goes through the wind. It will turn inside-out as the wind crosses it and put a side-force on the bow to help push it though the wind - called "backing the jib".

As you come over to the opposite tack, the crew needs to let-go the jib-sheet and haul in the opposite one. This needs to be pulled in tight in the first instance. The main should simply flop to the same point on the opposite side of the boat as it was before the tack.

Once the boat settles down on the new tack the sails can be given some fine-trimming if needed.

Points of Sail

2010-04-27T14:51:00.001-07:00

The Points of Sail are the various ways that the boat sails in relation to the wind. The name of these are pretty arbitrary, really, because the whole thing is dynamic. The point is not to sail the boat on one or the other, rather to know how to move between them. Each change needs the sails to be re-trimmed.

You are always on a tack. This is determined by which side of the boat the main is on. Which tack to choose is obviously determined by the direction that you want to go and, for the most part, it doesn't matter which one you are one. For give-way rules, however, this is most important. If you are on a port tack and another boat is on a starboard, you must give way to it.

When you raise the sails, you have to be pointed directly into the wind. At that time, you are in irons - on purpose. You can't sail on that point so the next thing you have to do is get out of it. Usually, this is where the engine comes in.

It is also possible to get in irons by stalling a tack - not wanted - or even on purpose if you have to stop for a while because of traffic.

In Irons.
The first place you go once you get out of 'in irons' is a tack - close hauled. Once the boat is about 45 degrees to the wind, the sails should be hauled in tight. They should then fill with wind and the boat will start to move. Each sail can then be trimmed - jib first. If it is going to be a long tack, the sails can then be cleated and, thereafter, the whole boat trimmed from the helm as the wind shifts in strength and direction.

When done right, the boat will heal somewhat, and be moving along nicely. The problem here for cruising is that prolonged healing can start to get uncomfortable.

Close Hauled.
Healing getting you down? Well, some of that can be taken out by falling off the wind a little. The sails can then be trimmed out somewhat. Apart from when running, the angle between the sails and the wind direction is roughly the same for all points of sail.

Close Reach.
When you've fallen off to the point where the wind is coming directly from the side, you are on a broad reach. This is one of the most comfortable points of sail, the safest, and the fastest. Always choose destinations that can be got to on one long broad reach.

Beam Reach.
Falling off more and the sails are, again trimmed out to the same angle of attack, but, at some point, the sails are going to be on the spreaders / stays. Beyond this point, the same angle-of-attack trim is no longer possible, not least because the spreaders will distort the sail and disrupt airflow. Now the sails need to be trimmed back in a bit and they go from aerofoil to parachute. That's where the run comes in.

Broad Reach.
On a run, the wind is coming straight over the back of the boat. It might come from slightly to one side or the other and, when steady and predictable, this determines which side the main should go. This is a very comfortable point of sail but carries some risk - an accidental gybe. Care must be taken that the wind doesn't get on the wrong side of the main - or it will crash straight across the boat removing heads and damaging the stays on the other side. A preventer will stop this but, as it takes effort to deploy, this is only really useful on long runs downwind.

Run.

Figure of Eight Stopper

2010-04-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

Used to put a stop-knot at one end of a line.

Pull the ends to tighten.

Double Overhand Stopper

2010-04-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

Used to put a lump at one end of a line to stop it running out through a block. Good for the ends of the jib sheets.

Start with a hitch and go round one more time. Pull the ends to tighten.

Knots

2010-04-23T18:12:00.001-07:00

As the boat is held together with bits of string, we need to know how to secure them:

Transition: Motor to Sail

2010-04-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

The boat was prepped on the mooring. To start sailing, we motor off the mooring and find ourselves a bit of space.

Motor slowly into the wind with just enough power to maintain steerage.
Drop rudders and cleat off their lines.
Drop the centreboard.
Raise the mainsail, tighten halyard and cleat.
Fall off the wind on to a tack heading. Haul in mainsheet until it is trimmed for the tack.
Uncleat jib furling line and haul in jibsheet appropriate for the chosen tack.

Fall off onto either tack.

Prepare Boat for Sailing

2010-04-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

When you get on the boat on its mooring, it should be in the same state that you left it the last time you put her to bed. Now is the time to wake her up. This is about preparing her for sailing.

Jib

Uncoil the furling line but leave cleated.
Check that the jib sheets are loose around the winches and nor caught up on anything.

Main

Attach main sheet between the boom and traveler. Tighten the sheet and coil the remaining line and leave next to the traveler.
Leave the topping lift tightened.
Remove the sidelines.
Unzip the stackpack.
Unhook the main halyard ready to be hauled up.

Centreboard

Leave up.

Rudders

Leave up.

Sailing

2010-04-14T03:16:00.000-07:00

We have no intention of learning to sail well. This is not about dragging the last 1/2% of performance out of the boat - in other words, we're not going racing any time soon. Most of what we have read about cruise sailing - which is what we intend to do - is about safety and comfort. To get to that point, we have to learn how to sail but not how you see it on the telly for the Sydney - Hobart. This is about making the boat go where you want it to with no particular timetable in mind. If the weather is bad, we'll go to the pub and wait until it isn't. We want to be able to handle rough on the rare occasions we get caught out in it but we are not going looking for it.

With that in mind, we have embarked on a number of exercises to get our skills up to where they need to be and, as beginners, this can be broken down into a set of procedures. Each procedure consists of discrete steps that take you from one state to another. This makes things very simple at first. If things start going pear-shaped, it's a matter of rolling back the procedure to a state where you can deal with the problem and then moving forward again. These are intended to build experience. As that improves, they will no longer be set procedures, they will be a flow of activities that get you where you want to be. That's for later, though.

Put Sails to Bed

2010-04-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

After a day of sailing, the boat needs to be put to bed, not least so that it is all ready for the next time. This is the end - and start - state of the sailing equipment and how to get to that state.

Jib

Jib furled up.
Furling Line cleated and coiled.
Winch Handles stowed.

Furling Line.
Mainsail

Topping Lift tightened up to relieve down force on the Lazy Jacks.
Sail flaked on to the Boom.
Side lines tied.
Mainsheet detached and stowed.
Stackpack zipped and secured.
Halyard hooked away from mast and stowed.

Boom side lines.
Centreboard

Hauled to 'up' position.
Lines coiled.

Rudders

Hauled to 'up' position.
Line tightened out of the water.

Wedding

2010-04-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

This was the wedding of Lynley and Ross...

All dressed up and somewhere to go.
Likewise.
First stop, the church.
Guarded by men in skirts.
There's a couple of Rollers so we're probably in the right place.
Here's Kim doing the Motor Show model thing.
As it's a catholic church, there is no ostentatious display of wealth at all.
Here's Mary. You can pray to Mary, apparently. Though I've never quite understood how praying to someone other than an omniscient god really helps.
Me on the beach.
St Benedict. With a stick.
Right, that's over, we can go outside.
On to the reception. At Bonnie Doon golf club. Really, there is a golf club called Bonnie Doon.
Waiting for the festivities to start.
Who this is all about.
The girls between fags breaks.
There was speaches.
And cake cutting.
And dancing.
So we finished as we started.

Taronga Zoo

2010-04-12T01:14:00.001-07:00

Today we're going to the zoo. Why?
Baby elephant, that's why.
He's called Pathi Harn, a Thai expression meaning "miracle" because the vet thought he was dead. And they couldn't translate "Get me a new vet. Please.".
Cute, apparently.
Catholic?
This has to be the best tiger photo I have ever got. Usually, they're skulking at the back somewhere.
Goats.
The Meercats were their usual lively selves.
Unlike these two.
The Gorillas were being all domestic.
The big male watching the little ones.
Monkey.
The Chimps were out with the kids.
No trip to the zoo is complete without a photo of a monkey playing with himself. Except they weren't, they were playing with each other.
Giraffe.
Little Hippo. Well, relatively little.
Goat stew. Mmmm.
Went to the new seal show. This is the arena.
They come out and do little tricks.
Like waving.
And swimming around.
The new seal / penguin enclosures are great.
Had to have a ride on the cable-car.
Oh, and we found a place to moor the boat. This bay has about 8 public buoys.

Easter 2010

2010-04-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

Our first trip where we stay out on the boat. The plan was to pick up one of the public moorings in Sugarloaf Bay but it was not to be. There are 4 moorings and they were all taken. Plan B was just around the corner, in Bantry Bay. This has 8 moorings and we got the last one.

Some of our neighbours.
As it goes, there was a jetty nearby with a picnic are and toilets where we definitely didn't take the Brandy the sausage dog for a little walk around.
This bit you are not allowed to land on. Something to do with where they used to store explosives.
Might as well get stuck into the booze, then.
Coming back through the Spit Bridge. It opens every couple of hours so there's a bit of a queue.
Kim driving.
On our way back under the harbour bridge.

Terminology - Rigging

2010-04-06T14:38:00.001-07:00

Mast: The upright that the Mainsail is hauled up.
Boom: The horizontal that the foot of the Mainsail is attached to.

Jib Stay: The wire that goes from the top of the mast to the Bow. This supports the Jib. The Bug has a Jib Furler that incorporates this.
Backstay: The wire that goes from the top of the mast to the Stern. This is used to bend the mast to tune the sails. The Bug doesn't have one of these.

Shrouds: The wires that stop the Mast from falling sideways. There are Upper and Lower Shrouds. They both support the mast but the Lowers also stop it bending in the middle.
Spreaders: The Upper Shrouds make too small an angle with the mast to be effective. The spreaders increases this angle.

Terminology - Sails

2010-04-06T01:46:00.001-07:00

Main: Mainsail.
Jib.

Leach: Trailing-edge of the sail.
Luff: Leading-edge of the sail.

Foot: Bottom edge of the sail.

Tack: Front-bottom corner of the sail.

Clew: Rear-bottom corner of the sail.

Head: Top corner of the sail.

Roach: The amount that the Leach overhangs an imaginary line between the Head and Clew. This adds area to an otherwise triangular sail but you don't have a Roach in a furling Main.
Battens: Stiffen the Main and help shape it. In a furling Main, these may not be there or they may be compromised to facilitate the furler.
Reefing Points: Points on the sail that secure it to the Boom when reefed.

Solar Panel Control Unit

2010-04-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

I built this myself - I have a background in basic electronics and am a killer solderer (if such a work exists) - to save money. I'm not sure what's on the market for this but I just wanted something basic. I also enjoyed the project, so there.

This had to do the following:

Tell me the voltage produced by the Solar Panels.
Be a battery-state indicator.
Give me switching control as to which battery is being charged.
Provide isolation and protection for the high-current circuits.

Parts List (numbers refer to the circuit diagram, below)

Box to put it all in. I got a one from Jaycar - in fact most of this stuff came from Jaycar.
Voltmeter - full-scale deflection 20v (v1).
2 x Changeover switches with a central off position (s1-2).
2 x Small green LEDs with mounting grommets (l1-2).
2 x 1K ohm Resistors (r1-2).
2 x 6A 400V Bridge Rectifier - BR604 (d3-4). I used a bridge here to lower the voltage drop across the diodes - i.e. 2 diodes in parallel for each unit. You connect the lead from the solar panel to both AC pins and the barrery's positive terminal to the + pin.
Car Battery Monitor Kit - Jaycar Cat. No. KA1683 (v2).
2 x Inline 3AG Fuse Holders with 5A fuses.
Surface-Mounted cigarette lighter connection.
Various odds and sods:

Bits of plastic to mount internals on.
Araldite to stick components to the inside of the box.
Heat-shrink insulation to cover soldier joints.
Thick and thin wire - for the high and low current parts of the circuit.
A piece of clear perspex to make a window for the Battery Monitor Kit LEDs.
Silicone sealant to stick the perspex down.
Screws / Washers / Nuts / etc.
Sealing grommets where cables pass through the box.
Small cable ties.

Circuit Diagram

The labeled components not in the parts list are:

p1-2: Solar Panels
d1-2: Solar Panel protective diodes - these came with the panels (good old IN4001s, if you're interested)
b1-2: The boat's 2 batteries - the maintenance of which this project is all about.

How It Was Done

Put all the bits in the box and solder them together.

OK, a little planning won't go amiss.

First thing to do is build the Battery Monitoring Kit. There are full instructions that come with it and all components are supplied. The only thing outside the capabilities of the average yachty is the suggestion that it needs to be calibrated with an accurate adjustable voltage supply. I haven't got one of those and I wasn't about to go out and buy one. The unit uses LEDs to indicate voltage within a fairly narrow range. There is a pot (potentiometer) in the circuit that is used to set when the first LED comes on. To set this up, you really need to be able to read (as opposed to supply as is suggested) an accurate voltage and this is easily done with a cheap digital multimeter. Here's the circuit:

The components are:

b1: A fully-charged battery - this needs to be fully charged to give you the voltage range you need. A good fat car battery or any DC voltage source up to 15V. While it doesn't have to be a full-on stable voltage source something reasonably well regulated and smoothed should be fine.
p1: Potentiometer. 1000+ ohm will do it. Much less than this will probably draw too much unwanted current.
v1: A digital multimeter set to 20V full-scale.
bmk: Battery Monitor Kit.

Wire this up with bits of twisted wire and croc-clips. Go through the calibration procedure included in the kit by adjusting the pot (p1) to the various voltages required as read on the multimeter and then adjust the Battery Monitoring Kit pot as instructed.

All the control stuff I mounted on the box lid. Everything else went on the base. You need to drill, file and otherwise make the right sort of holes for anything that needs to be mounted through the box material. Planning the front panel layout obviously helps. As some of the other components can be a bit bulky, you need to mount them in such a way that the lid closes properly. The Battery Monitoring Kit has LEDs that need to be visible on the front panel. I cut a slit in the lid to accommodate them and made up a little mounting bracket that glued to the inside of the lid so that the the LEDs were flush with the surface of the lid. I then made up a window with some clear perspex and siliconed it over the slit.

Once everything is securely mounted, it can be wired up. I suggest that all solder joints are covered with heat-shrink insulation. Any parts of the circuit that takes high (> 1A) current needs to be in heavy duty cable. All the rest can be in thin wire. It helps if you wire the box and the lid separately and then form any wiring between the two into a harness kept together with small cable ties.

Once assembled, mount the unit near the hatch in such a way that the cigarette lighter socket is near the hatch slide and about half-way down the hatch travel. This is so that the flexi-connection is at its slackest when the hatch is half-closed.

Assembled / Mounted Control Unit.
For the connections to the batteries, I led long lengths of heavy duty cable through grommets in the box. These have to be long enough to be led over the inside of the hull down to the battery compartment. The negative is connected to the common earth and the positives are connected to each battery respectively through a 5A fuse holder near the battery-end. The cables are held on to the hull with screwed-down cable ties bases + ties, and I also led the cable down the cockpit ladder secured in place with more cable ties.

Testing the Battery Monitor

Flip the Battery Monitor switch to each of the batteries and the LEDs should indicate the voltage-state of that battery.

What Should Have Been Done Differently

I originally designed - and fitted - the main battery protective fuses in the box. This is a mistake. The fuses should be as physically close to the batteries as possible for full protection. Not wanting to leave two big holes in the box, I now have 2 fuses on each line. Not really something that needs fixing.
I should have added an Ammeter into the circuit. As it stands, you can't tell if the batteries are actually receiving any current from the solar panels. While I would like to get a new box and do the mod, the accountant won't sign-off on it. The inconvenient solution is to pull one of the fuses and put the multimeter in line with the battery on its current setting.

Mounting the Solar Panels

2010-04-02T02:02:00.000-07:00

We chose to locate these on the main hatch cover.

The panels are 20V/20W each - so the total rig on a good day should deliver 40W. They were quite cheap on eBay - apparently, the guy had bought a whole batch for some sort of street-furniture job for the local authority and was selling the extras off.

Complete assembly.
The idea was to mount the panels on the hatch, run the wiring through a proper plug / socket to the inside and then provide a flexible connection to the control unit.

Parts List

Solar panel mount:

2 x Solar Panel units. These consisted of 2 panels each in a hinged unit internally wired in parallel with protective diodes already in place.
Strips of angle plastic for mounting brackets - from the hardware shop. This is the sort of plastic trim that you can put on bathroom cabinets.
Screws / Nuts / Washers to mount the brackets to the panels and the hatch cover.

Take Cable through hatch:

Deck Connection Plug + Socket 2 Pin (Whitworths SKU: 33431)
Cable Ties + 2-way adhesive bases.

Flexible connection mount:

Small plastic box - the sort of thing you would put a small electronics project in.
Surface mounted cigarette lighter socket.
Small length of choc-strip.
Screws / Nuts / Washers for mounting.

How it was done

Making up mounting brackets for the panels

All the literature on the matter recommends keeping the panels as cool as possible - their efficiency drops off with temperature. I made up brackets to give a generous air-gap under the panels with angle plastic strips. These were cut to length, drilled and then bolted together with stainless fittings.

Cross Section through the mounting brackets.
Once the brackets are on the panels, mount the complete assembly on to the hatch cover - drill the holes and treat them with silicone sealant before tightening down. Make sure the cables are running the way you want them first.

Outer Wiring

The solar panels already had cables attached ending in croc-clips. They also had diodes. I left the diodes in place. When the panels generate power, they will charge the battery. When it's dark, they become a resistance across the battery and discharge it. The diodes stop this. I cut off the croc-clips.

Connect a length of cable cut off the solar panels to the Deck-mounted socket. Drill holes and mount the socket on the hatch not forgetting to drill a hole in the centre to let the length of cable pass through the hatch. Best to silicone the mounting screws. Put the plug in and lead the cable from the panels to the plug. Keep the cables permanently in place using cable-tie bases. These are self-adhesive but they really need to be screwed down.

Connect the panel wires to the plug. Make sure you get the polarity right - the positive goes to the big pin. Use a multimeter if in doubt. The panels should be wired in parallel - i.e. they produce the same voltage and, in theory, double the current.

Wiring in cable-ties connected to the plug.
Flexible Connection Mount

This part terminates the hatch-wiring and provides a connection point for the flexible connection. This connection allows the hatch to be opened and closed while everything is still connected and also keeps dangly stuff out of the way.

Assemble the connection box by mounting the cigarette lighter socket in the box and screw in a bit of choc-strip to take the wires (two connection points). Drill a hole in the top of the box to take the incoming cable from the panels. The cigarette socket I used had solder connections so I soldered a couple of pieces of wire from these into the choc-strip and then screwed the panel cable into this.

Screw the box assembly on to the hatch lid. I put this at the rear end. The problem with this is that, if anyone shoves the hatch back too hard, the box will hit the hull. You have to be careful.

Flexible Connection terminal assembly in place.
What should have been done differently

The Deck-mounted connector is very high-profile - it almost interfered with the gull-sweep and it's a great little fitting to stub your toe on. As sod's law dictates, my local supplier got a load of low-profile connectors the day after the job was finished. If I ever need to change that fitting, I'll hold out for a low-profile one.
The flexible connection mount is not in a very good place. One day, someone will give the hatch a good shove and it'll take some damage. I'm not really sure what to do about this. I guess a couple of adhesive rubber feet may help.
Cigarette lighter fittings are not really marinised. They may be OK in an out-of-the-way part of the cabin but this is a little too near the big bad world for my liking. I had a setup on a dinghy and it didn't work at all. If this fails, I will have to revisit with some proper marine fittings.
I didn't bother to silicone the hatch holes on the first attempt. A rainy night out solved that problem.

Solar Panels

2010-04-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

As we intend to go away for weekends on the boat, the extra comforts will put the power requirements up. Solar panels will not completely solve this problem but a continuous trickle charge to the batteries can only help. We didn't want to spend a lot on this setup so there is a fair bit of DIY in this mod.

This comes in two parts:

Actually, not quite 2 parts. The last part is the flexible connection between the hatch lid and the control unit. This was not easy to source. Basically, what is needed is what is known as a curly-cord - i.e. the sort of cable that (at least, used to) connect your old landline handset to the phone. But with a higher current-carrying capacity.

Why? The idea here is to have the solar panels permanently connected to the batteries through the control unit but not have cables dangling about the cabin. If set up right, the curly-cord would be taught if the hatch is in the fully-closed or fully-open position, and a bit may hang down if it is half way between the two. It had to carry a max current of about 2A.

I spoke to the manufacturers and they were happy to do it for a batch no less than 200 pieces. Hmm. Then, I thought, what about those ceiling lights that you could pull down that were so popular in the 70's? 35 years too late, apparently. It was Kim who hit on it. Electric shavers used to have such things. We found a supplier of spare parts for old shavers and, yes, they had the goods.

To cut the cable to size, it was a matter of laying it between the control unit and the solar panel terminal box, giving it a little stretch and cutting it to this length. Then I fitted a cigarette lighter plug to each end. That's it.

The final touch - the curly-cord plugged in.
What should have been done differently

Apart from the bits and pieces in the sub-projects, nothing. This turned out to be a good project.

Terminology - The Hull

2010-03-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

LOA: Length Over All. The length of the Hull excluding the bits that hang out and could be removed. In the case of the Bug this is 7.85m - without the engine and rudders. This is used to calculate the cost of a berth, etc.
LWL: Load Waterline Length. The length of the hull that sits in the water. The Bug has a vertical Stern but the Bow goes forward as it rises out of the water. This mean that the LWL is shorter than the LOA - 7.06m. This is related to the top speed of the boat - well, as a rule of thumb.

Draft: Distance between the water level and the bottom of the boat. The Bug has 2 drafts; Centreboard up = 0.30m, Centreboard down = 1.75m.
Freeboard: Distance between the water level and the lowest part of the side of the boat. An indication of how choppy it has to be before you get your feet wet. The Bug's is 0.88m.

Beam: Width of the boat at its widest point. The Bug's is 2.36m.

Hull: Body of the boat without all the fittings. This photo, from the manufacturers website, shows the newly moulded hull just coming off the production line.

Cockpit: Where all the sailing is done from. Ideally, all the controls / lines are led here.

Keel: The Keel helps turn the sideways motion of the wind into forward movement. It also acts as a counterweight to help keep the boat upright. The Bug doesn't have a keel as such. A Centreboard and the water ballast combine to provide both actions.

Rudder: The rudder allows the boat to be steered under sail. The Bug has two rudders, one each side of the engine. This is a pretty good setup because, no matter how far the boat heels, there will always be one in the water.

Tiller / Wheel: The Bug has a wheel rather than a tiller. This is connected to the rudder - and also the engine - for steering.

Terminology - Directional

2010-03-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Bow: Front of the boat - the pointy-end.
Ahead: Anything in front of the boat is ahead. The emphasis is on directly ahead rather than off to the side a bit.

Stern: Back of the boat - the blunt-end.
Astern: Anything behind the boat is astern. The emphasis is on directly behind rather than off to the side a bit.

Port: The left side of the boat. On the Port - anything on the left of the boat. To Port - the new direction you want to go.

Starboard: The right side of the boat. On the Starboard - anything on the left of the boat. To Starboard - the new direction you want to go.

Beam: On the Beam is anything off the side of the boat. The boat below is on the Starboard Beam.
Abeam: It's also Abeam of us.

Terminology

2010-03-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I learned that Defenestration is the act of executing someone by throwing them out of a window. Shame it's out of fashion - the fun we could have in Canberra. Anyhow, I got this vital piece of information because the house I was living in at the time had word of the week. A word and its definition was stuck on the wall for everyone to see. The more bloodthirsty words obviously stuck more than others.

For this section, I have made up a set of flashcards. A bit like word of the week but pictorial and they may have more than one word on them. If, like me, you have never learned a new language because it's all too hard, this may help.

Terminology falls into several areas:

Learning How to Sail

2010-03-28T00:43:00.000-07:00

When we got the Bug, neither of us had much sailing experience. Kim had precisely zero - she had never even been on a sailboat - and mine was limited to sailing dinghies when I was a kid. Clearly, we needed some help.

First up is the manual for the boat which has a few pages on how to sail her. Then there is the internet. There's everything from how-to guides to uTube vids. Part of the problem here is that, while there is general agreement on the main principles, there is divided opinion on some of the details and, because it's the internet, there is no real authority to look to when it all gets confusing. I decided early on that the best thing to do was pick an opinion and stick to it while it works. There's nothing wrong with trying something else if it doesn't.

We also got the book; Fast Track to Cruising by Steve and Doris Colgate (ISBN 978-0-07-140672-7). It's the supporting manual for a 7-day cruising course for novices and is very well written. This forms the framework for what follows. It might take us a little longer than 7 days, though.

Below is a summary of what worked for us - and specifically for our boat.

Topping Lift

2010-03-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

This very neat solution for the Topping Lift, I got from the net (here).

The Bug was previously used as a trailer-sailer so the Topping Lift was probably never used. It came as a basic line from the top of the mast to a cleat near the bottom of the mast. I wanted this to be a permanent fixture to support the boom to keep the weight off the Lazy-Jacks and the boom out of the cockpit when moored / motoring.

Parts List

16mm block
Mini Clam-Cleat
1/4" Saddle plus screws

How it was done

Drill out two holes near the rear of the boom for the saddle. This holds the block in place. That's the easy bit.

This works by feeding the line through the cam-cleat, round the block and tying it off back on the cam-cleat. The first thing to figure out is which way to pass the line through the cam-cleat. This is the running part and needs to lock when pulled down. Once the cleat is orientated, you know which end is the bottom. This is where the bitter end of the topping lift line is tied so the screw-hole at this end needs to be big enough to take the diameter of the line. Mine wasn't so I filed it out so that it was.

Where the line goes.
Pass the line through the jamming part of the cam-cleat, through the block and then tie it off back on the cam-cleat. I lashed up the spare line for the time being. I want the boom to drop to its maximum natural level when sailing and be able to haul it right up out of the way when entertaining. Finding its lowest point is something that needs to be done with the sail thus leaving the line oversize for the time being. Once I get the length right, I'll tie it off with a bowline and seize the end.

The finished job with the block on the boom and the cam-cleat holding the weight.

Stove

2010-03-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Kim wanted to be able to cook inside in grotty weather. We had a look at the options and those small camping stoves seem quite good. Clearly, it had to be fixed somewhere and the existing 'kitchen' top looked convenient. We were not going for the whole cooking under way option so gimbles are off the list. Three criteria for this; had to secure so that it didn't fly around, had to protect the kitchen top from heat, and had to be as far away from the hull as possible so that the carpeting didn't catch fire. It is also useful to have the whole thing removable for cleaning.

Parts List

2 x Offcuts of metal shower rail a bit shorter than the width of the stove.
4 x Metal tool clips with a nominal internal diameter a bit smaller than the shower rail.
1 x Stainless steel tray - the sort the staff might serve drinks on at a posh party (ahem).
Screws, nuts, bolts, etc.

How It Was Done

Underside showing the clips attached to both the tray and the stove, with securing poles in place.
Mount Clips on the Stove

Best to plan this stage. There needs to be a clip at each end of the two poles and the screws into the stove need to miss all the internals. Drill the stove and mount 4 clips with self tappers.

Mount Clips on the Tray

Marking out is the fiddly bit here. Clip the poles onto the stove mounted clips and then fit the tray-sided ones on to the same poles. Place the assembly on to the tray and then use a sharp point to mark around the base of the tray-side clips. This should allow you to drill out the tray - don't fix the clips to it yet.

Mount the tray

Drill 4 holes in the tray, use these as a guide to drilling the kitchen top mounting holes. Using the holes for the tray-side clips as a guide, drill another 4 holes in the kitchen top to recess the clip mounting screws. Screw on the tray-side clips with self-tappers, drop the protruding screw-ends into the recess holes and bolt the tray down with nuts and bolts.

Assembly

Clip the poles into the tray-side clips, align the stove-side clips on top of the poles and push the stove down until all the clips are home.

The finished article.

What should have been done differently

A sharp - i.e. good quality - drill would have been nice for drilling the stainless steel tray.

Stack-Pack / Lazy-Jacks

2010-03-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

As we're keeping the Bug on the water, I didn't want to have to pack the main away after every trip.

The finished job.
The boat came with a never-used Stack-Pack. This consists of a the sail bag with fittings for Lazy-Jacks and battons - the latter being 2 pieces of electrical conduit which are perfect for the job.

The seller was also kind enough to leave some bits and pieces on the boat for the Lazy-Jacks. Unfortunately, these would not be up to the job so I went and got my own.

Parts List

Stack-Pack sail bag + battons
6 x 9mm Sail Slugs
6 x High Profile Shackles for the sail-slugs (high-profile because they have to clear the bolt rope)
4 x Small Saddles
4 x Small Blocks
6 x Carabiner Hooks
2 x Small Horn Cleats
Enough thin, strong line for the Lazy-Jacks
Screws, etc. for the fittings.
Strips of velcro

How it was done

Fit Sail Slugs to Foot of Mainsail

The first problem was that the Stack-Pack was designed to be fitted to the boom with sail slugs but the sail only has the standard bolt-rope. For this to work, the sail would need slugs that would sit on the boom between the Stack-Pack slugs.

The idea is to make sure the foot of the sail is attached to the boom with enough strength to withstand the up-forces on it through the sail-slugs, and interleave the slugs on the Stack-Pack between these. I reckoned that alternating 1-for-1 sail slug and Stack-Pack slug would do it.

Laying both the sail and the Stack-Pack on the boom allowed me to mark the points on the foot of the sail where the slugs would be fitted. It was then a matter of slipping the slugs on to the shackles and screwing them tight through the sail with stainless self-tappers. I went through the sail a couple of mm above the bolt-rope, the idea being that the bolt-rope would lend some strength to the fitting.

Once the slugs were on the sail, it was a matter of sliding the sail on to the boom interleaved with the Stack-Pack slugs. I could then shackle in the tack and tie off the clew.

Stack-pack slug on the left, new sail slug on the right.
Once the Stack-Pack is where it's supposed to be, it's easy to slide in the battons and lock them in with the supplied velcro tabs.

Now I have a mainsail flaked down on to the boom in a Stack-Pack - which is zipped up - lashed to the deck. Ugly but a start.

Topping Lift

The boom is not ready for the Lazy-Jacks yet. The topping lift was just a line from the top of the mast to a cleat near the bottom. Just lashing it to the end of the boom would have done the job but I wanted a setup that didn't require me to be wandering about on the deck. I wanted to permanently attach the topping lift to the rear of the boom. I had a look around the net and found a very neat solution:

Mods - Topping Lift

Lazy Jacks

There is a lot of opinion as to how these should be set up - mounting points, distances, etc. I just went with what felt right - the photos here should give an idea as to this.

Geometry and Fittings.

Saddles
Blocks
Carabiner Hooks
Horn Cleat

First, I made some rough measurements and made up a number of pieces - you need two sets of (the colours referring top the diagram, above):

A line attached to a Block. This will be tied to the upper Saddle and the Block will be the upper one (blue).
A line fed through the first Block with a small Block at one end and a Carabiner Hook at the other. The Carabiner Hook attaches to the aft Stack-Pack loop and the Block will be the lower one (red).
A line with a Carabiner Hook at one end and left oversize. The hook clips to the middle Stack-Pack loop, it then passes through the lower Block and will eventually be secured to the Horn Cleat. This is used to adjust tension on the setup (green).
A smaller line with a Carabiner Hook at one end. The Carabiner attaches to the forward Stack-Pack loop, the free end to the lower Saddle (orange).

Now it's just a matter of drilling out the holes for the mast fittings and screwing them on. The line to the to lower Saddle should be tied on tight and secured - we won't be touching that from now on.

Now for the adjustments. Raise the mast, attach the boom, the topping lift and clip the Lazy-Jacks to the Stack-Pack bag. Raise the mainsail on a mooring. This gives you the lowest level that the boom needs to drop. Allow for a bit more and tie off the topping lift so that the boom can be lowered to this point with the topping lift line quite slack. Then tighten up the Lazy-Jacks by hauling in the green line and cleating off so that they have a very small amount of tension with the boom in this position.

The mast-end of the Stack-Pack bag needs a few strips of velcro sewn on to close it off from the weather.

That's it - here's some pics...

Upper and lower blocks.
Carabiner Hooks clipped to the Stack-Pack loops. That tube, just below the loops is one of the battons.
Lower Saddle (top) and Cleat.
What should have been done differently

Nothing, really. This was a good project and it worked well. The almost drops straight into the bag - it just needs a little poking to put it away completely. The only thing you have to watch for is the rotating mast when raising the main. The head-board used to get caught in the upper Lazy-Jacks lines so, to get around this, I centre the mast first.

Finally fitted out - March 2010

2010-03-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

It was a long time coming, but the Bug is finally fitted out for harbour sailing and overnight trips. Here she is on the mooring ready for the off.

A couple of minor jobs to do - but there will be those forever.
The Bug showing off her fat back-end.

I think it's a boat - Kim thinks it's a little house.
Inside the pointy-end. The V-berth at the front and Brandy's made her self at home.
The dunny - the style of which tells you that there is no holding tank.
The table.
The kitchen for what it's worth.
The steps up to the cockpit and the rear berth.
The Bug at night getting refueled.

Boat Mods

2010-03-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Boats are not just boats - they are massive DIY projects...

Bimini

2010-03-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

The first mod - requiring the first hole.

They say that to drill the first hole in your boat is the hardest. Well, it's done now.
How was it done?

This came as a flat-pack kit - I just bought the screws. Fitting was pretty easy, it just had to not get in the way of the boom when under sail.

Was it worth it?

Yes. It provides limited shade under way and when stopped.

Could it have been done better?

Not really. On very sunny days with visitors, I have a shade-cloth that ties to the bimini and fully covers the cockpit. This is good for lunch / fishing but it's difficult to see how a different setup could provide fuller coverage under way.

On The Water

2010-03-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

Some trip snaps...

First Day Trip

2010-03-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

We haven't had the boat long so it's not yet rigged for sailing but that doesn't stop us motoring around to one of the bays for lunch. The girls came with us...

Wascally Wabbits.
The boom bag is looking a little sad tied down to the deck. It ain't like that now.
Brandy - who absolutely hates water - has taken to the boat well. Lunch probably helps.
Larissa braves the sharks.

Balmain Bug

2010-03-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Late 2009 we bought the Bug - a MacGregor 26M. Here she is:

On her mooring in Five Dock Bay.

That's not the end of the story...

Emirates - Dubai

2010-03-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

These posts are about Dubai:

Egypt Menu

2010-02-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

These posts are from our 2009-2010 holiday:

Emirates - Abu Dhabi Menu

2010-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

This was a stopover on the way to Egypt:

Egypt & Emirates

2010-02-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

Holiday 2010:

Jenolan Caves

2010-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is about a trip - my birthday - to Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains:

New South Wales Menu

2010-02-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

These posts are about NSW:

Sydney

Dubai - Airport

2010-02-21T12:51:00.001-08:00

Poster in the smoking room at Dubai airport - yes, Sydney, it can be done.

One for the advertisers. See the healthy young girl basking in the smokey goodness. Now, if we can get images like this onto Australian fag-packets...

Dubai - Palms

2010-02-21T12:50:00.001-08:00

The Palms is that funny-shaped, man-made island connected to the coast. We had to check it out.

This is the hotel / entertainment complex at the end.
The breakwater. As the whole think is made of sand, you wouldn't want it all to get washed away.
Everything is new in Dubai including the metro rail back to the mainland.
From the metro.
One of the arms waiting for houses to be built. This was worth seeing but it's a lot more impressive on Google Earth than the ground. Still, gotta be done.

Dubai - City Tour

2010-02-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

I always like to get myself on a city tour when arriving somewhere new.

Though you do often end up being taken shopping. This was a small Indian craft mall and these are a couple of UAE symbols - coffee pots (all about hospitality).
Dubai bus shelters are brilliant. Fiercely air-conned and they come in pairs; smoking and non-smoking

The only mosque in the city you can go inside if you want.
Some more of those buildings.
Had my eye on this boat.
And that's us down by the water.

Dubai - Burj Khalifa

2010-02-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

As of today, the tallest building in the world. And we went up it!

Of course, you can see this from anywhere in the city. This is from the taxi on the way in.
From the bottom by day.
And by night.
The ticket office is in the mall next door.
This from the 124th floor. That's 442m of it's 828m total height.
Over the city.
Now, in front of the building is a lake. A lake, not a pond. Every night about 20min apart, the fountains and lights in the lake do a little (actually, big) dance for the public. This is what it looks like from above.
And this is what it looks like from the lakeside.
This is what the people who watch it look like.

Dubai

2010-02-18T22:44:00.001-08:00

The return stopover was Dubai - and Dubai is all about buildings and bling. Were a bunch of bedouin win the mother of all lotteries - you would get Dubai.

Kim on the beack in front of the world's only 7 star hotel. Did we have a look inside? Nope, they have security to keep people like us out.
This seems to be part of the same complex. Probably where the poor have to sleep.
One of the vast shopping malls - not long after xmas.
Me with a drinkey in front of a load of skyscrapers.
Another hotel.
The same hotel at night.
These are the guys doing the building off home for a sleep - presumably in the 7 star hotel.

Egypt - Cairo Market

2010-02-18T22:39:00.001-08:00

Last stop in Egypt. Back in Cairo before our flight and we went for a look around the old medieval market.

There's a big mosque in the square next door.
This is all the stuff you can get; trinkets, obviously.
Smells.
Silver.
Ivory - probably not but it's supposed to look like it.
Antiques - including an old AVO (the black meter).
Light shades.
And finally, islamic art.

Egypt - Luxor Temple

2010-02-18T22:37:00.001-08:00

Last temple - and at night. This is a lot smaller than Karnak but is stunning all light up.

This mosque is actuall built over part of the temple.
This pylon has its own obelisk.
The lighting really brings out the rock carving.
See what I mean.
Well, this place is just wow.
That's me lurking.
The other end of the causeway. The plan for this is for the government to buy up all the land between the temples and restore the causeway.
The pylon from the causeway.

Egypt - Karnak Temple

2010-02-17T12:58:00.001-08:00

Right, this is the big one - Karnak Temple. This is on a vast scale. It's on the opposite side of the Nile to the Valley of the Kings, i.e. the life side as opposed to the death side. This was added to over the centuries and has the mark of Rameses II and Hatsepshut.

The first pylon (there are 4). This row of status are part of a causeway that extends all the way to Luxor Temple the other side of town.
Bit of graffiti. This from Napoleon's mob when they turned up for a look-see.
Doesn't look like much but this is important. Why? Because it shows you how the temples were built. To the left is part of a mud-brick ramp that the stones were dragged up. You can see from the wall that they were stacked up rough-cut and then finished in-situ.
Everything is big here. This is the hypostyle hall.
There's even some of the original colour on the parts out of direct sunlight.
Everyone gets directed to this spot for a photo of an obelisk through the columns. Shame the colours didn't come out better.
Me. With an obelisk. And a hat.
Kim with a couple of pointy things.
One of the obelisks. There are about 5 in the complex. There were more but one is in Paris, one in London and the other in New York. These were the work of Hatsepshut.
What do you know - Rameses II's cartouch.
Kim and a few of the people from our group, including Mahmoud explaining the finer point of something.
A great big granite scarab. Rumour has it that, if you walk around it a few times, good luck will ensue. Therefore, a bugger to get a photo.
The sacred lake. It doesn't look like much of a lake or very sacred but it was important when the temple was up and running. The crane in the background is putting back together a different axis which was built by Hatsepshut.
This is such a large complex, there is always more restoration work underway.
A bloke with a stiffy.
And we'll see the other end of this lot at the next temple.

Egypt - Colossi of Memnon

2010-02-17T12:57:00.001-08:00

These are a couple of statues that used to sit at the front of a temple. The temple is no more but this is a compulsory stop on the west bank of the Nile. Apparently, when the Romans turned up, there were holes worn in the rock that whistled. It freaked them out so much, they filled the holes in.

That area at the back is what's left of the temple.
Of course there's a market.
And this is a rice-paddy just off to the side.

Egypt - Ramases III Temple

2010-02-17T12:55:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I know, another bloody temple (2 more to after this).

The tour included a number of options so we left them up to Mahmoud - because he's the MAN. He chose this for us and, as it goes, it was one of my favorites. Lesson? Listen to the man.

There's the pylon - nothing usual about that. Though, if you look carefully, you can see a dog having a poo.
The pylon carvings are really good - and happily christian-vandalism free.
Not the largest temple around but very well preserved.
Though poor Rameses has taken a bit of a beating.
All the carvings are in really good condition.
Dunno what it is but it's pretty.
Lots of animals. Fish, too.
But what was really good about this temple was the colour.
Kim found all this in a little room off to the side.
It was stunning.

Egypt - Hatshepsut's Temple

2010-02-17T12:52:00.002-08:00

This is one of the most spectacular temples in Egypt. Hatshepsut was a fiesty chick. She was Pharo when women didn't really do the job - managing to take and then secure the job. She was also a big builder, this being her biggest achievement. And she also completed and recorded a trade mission into sub-Saharan Africa. You go girl...

The whole complex. Her idea was to connect this temple to her burial chamber - the other side of that cliff is the Valley of the Queens. Geology buggered up that idea but at least she had a go.
There she is. If she looks a bit blokey, that was on purpose.
Horos keeping watch.
Kim on the ramp up to the second level.
OK, at some point - after the temple was built - the local bigwigs got hacked off with all the tomb-robbing so they go all the remaining mummies from the Valley of the Kings, put they into these Sarcophagi and reburied them here. When discovered, this was a big source of Pharo's mummies for the museums.
Hatshepsut feeding the cow god Hathor.
Some of the original colour is very well preserved.
This was to be the back entrance to her burial chamber if it had all worked out.

Egypt - Valley of the Kings

2010-02-17T12:52:00.001-08:00

We went into 3 tombs in the Valley of the Kings including Tutankhamun. No photos in the whole valey here - and that's actually enforced.

The closest the camera got. This mountain dominates the area and it's shaped a lot like a pyramid which must have helped the Pharos choose the site in the first place.