Today we’re taking things slow. The mechanic said he didn’t have time to check our installed Morse cable today, so maybe it’s the universe telling us to relax and enjoy.
So we only got two small jobs done. We’ve connected the lines for the tethers to attach to the life jackets, which keeps you attached to the boat if you fall off.
The pump to lubricate the prop shaft had also arrived. We thought it was a nice small pump, easy to stow away somewhere, but it turned out to be a humongous thing. The guy at the marine store said that it would last a lifetime. “You never have to buy one again, and you can help out everyone you encounter as well” he joked. But he had ordered this one because the special yacht version was indeed half the size, but trice the price.
So after we figured out how to get the pump connected to the nipple that lubricates the prop shaft we had lots of time for a walk and to practice flying with the drone.
Marina Noordschans with our little boat from above
Day 3 of our transmission cable episode. Nothing to be found on the internet about how it exactly works, so how to know if we’ve installed it correctly? We only found some cryptic mentions like “it needs to fold open equally on both sides.” What does it mean?? Nothing to it but to wait until the mechanic has time to check our handiwork.
Although the Morse cable project is on hold, we got lot of other chores done today. We’ve fixed the contact for the auto pilot, added the mandatory extra hose clamps on the through hole hoses and installed an extra fire extinguisher (all necessary for the insurance). We’ve already dubbed this adventure the tinkering trip…
We concluded the day with a well deserved glass of wine, some cheese and dried sausages in the cockpit. This feels like a proper vacation!
Disconnecting the morse cable and connecting new fuses.
Captain Fluffy, our helping hand.
April 9th 2019
We spend the remainder of yesterday afternoon and a good deal of this day to figure out how to pry the Morse cable loose. We found out that both ends are held in place by a split pin or cotter pin. Thing is, it looks like it isn’t supposed to by pried loose. You can reach the one that is connected to the transmission, but the end that is connected to the Morse throttle control is almost unreachable. There is only 5 mm space to reach behind with a pair of very small pliers to unfold the split pin.
After a lot of wriggling, cursing and desperation, the split pin finally came loose. Now we could determine the length of the cable and buy a new one at the marine store. We also ordered a prop shaft grease pump which they didn’t have in store anymore. According to the mechanic it was something that needed to be done as well.
The fun side of boat work -especially if you live on the boat- is that with every job you have to do, before you can even start, you have to reorganize the whole content of your boat. In this case everything had to be removed from the quarter berth for the end of the morse cable that is attached to the morse lever, and the complete cockpit locker had to be emptied to reach the end that is attached to the transmission. The space in a boat is limited, so you have to stack everything somewhere else, on the couch for instance which means you can’t sit anymore. And at the end of the day, even if you’re not finished, you have to put everything back, just to take it out again tomorrow to continue. Captain Fluffy is the only one who enjoys this daily workout…
We also test started the engine today, and it failed again. So although the day was almost over we decided to dive into the faulty wires. After a thorough inspection we concluded that not only the connector was corroded, the whole fuse it was connected to and the wire running to and from it were totally green and needed dire replacement. So we cut away the corroded wire and replaced the fuse. Turn the key and…Vroooom! It started in an instant. Success!
We always knew we had to give our engine compartment some tender love and care, especially the whole electric circuit. We have always found excuses and postponed it because the engine felt like a looming, growling, unfamiliar creature, something to keep a respectful distance from. It really helped to have an expert to examining it and that he clearly explained what he was doing. It’s still a big slightly unfamiliar creature, but less threatening now and with a lot less growl.
Busy day today. We continued with connecting the solar panels. The holes are all done but the carabiners were way to big, causing the panels to hang lower than the toe rail. Back to the shop to get smaller ones.
Next was attaching the connectors and connecting the cables. Armed with soldering iron and tin we approached the task at hand. When we were almost done, we discovered we should have connected one of the connectors differently. We tried to pry the connector loose, but turned out that once you have clamped the wire inside the connector with a metal clip, the clip is stuck inside the connector, and you can’t get it out again. The only thing that happens is that you pull the wire out of the connector and the clip stays put.
Now we need a new connector before we can continue. So the solar panel job is postponed. Again.
Another chore for today was fitting all the food we bought yesterday in the boat. Not an easy feat considering we have probably enough to eat for 3 months. We learned when we became liveaboards that spreadsheets are a necessity to keep track of your food stock. Due to the limited amount of storage space on a boat, the locker are crammed with food stuffs. When you open a locker you’re not only in danger of causing a food avalanche, but if nothing falls out it’s impossible to see what’s inside. It happened before that we bought new pasta only to find out that we already had 3 untouched packages in the back of a locker. So we’re making a list, checking it twice…Every item, where we have stored it and the expiration date. A lot of work, but you really don’t want to go through all the lockers to in search for that can of sausages only to find out that it’s past the expiration date when you have just moored the boat after a long day sailing.
We also replaced the anchor chain and anchor line. The old chain was severely rusty, so we bought 30 meters new chain and 40 meters reinforced anchor line and color coded the whole thing to see how much chain you have already put out. Feels safe to have a sturdy new chain.
Despite the chores we managed to find the time to fly with the drone today, and all the troubles were forgotten.
The moment of truth; will the new boards and the mattresses for the v-berth fit? Drumroll please…
Yes, it all fits! Pff, such a relief that we do not need to adjust them again. Bed mattresses are quite big and a pain to handle. The only thing we need to do now to successfully wrap up this project is to hand-stitch the cushions to close them. One done, three more to go.
On to the next project: the solar panels. We bought two 100 watt panels optimized for our northern latitudes where the sun is known not to make a regular appearance. We want to attach them to our life lines at the side of the cockpit, but unfortunately our panels didn’t came with holes. And it’s quite scary to drill holes in your brand new – and not exactly cheap – solar panels. Plan is to drill holes, fit them with grommets and use carabiners to hang them from the life lines. After gathering courage Jeroen finally drilled the first hole and pounded in a grommet. Looks promising!
But due to a sudden hailstorm we had to postpone the drilling exercise. More luck tomorrow.
Today is the start of a new adventure. No, this is not an April fools’ day joke. We’re about to go on a trip with our sailboat to the Baltic Sea. The idea is to visit all the 10 countries that border the Baltic Sea in 6 months. But this plan is not set in stone. If we won’t get any further than the north of the Netherlands it’s just as fine. It’s all about the journey, isn’t it?
We will start out by sailing north via the ‘Staande mast’ route (Fixed mast route) through the Netherlands. That way we can get used to travelling, fix whatever is necessary to fix along the way before we’ll get to the Baltic Sea and see a part of the Netherlands we haven’t seen before.
And it’s a good thing that we aren’t on a tight schedule because we are already delayed before we have even started. It is said that chores on a boat always take longer than anticipated. Our chores form no exception to the rule, hence the delay.
Before the big trip we had to do some necessary repairs and chores. Especially since we still have a small storage here at the marina and a place to work on bigger projects. One of those projects was a complete refit of the v-berth. Condensation is always an issue in a polyester boat, so we had to make some adjustments to keep the moisture at bay. We sawed new boards for under the mattresses with big holes in them to enable air circulation underneath. The varnish is drying nicely, tomorrow the boards will have fully cured.
The mattresses themselves needed to be replaced as well. We had done the settee and the chart table cushions a year ago, but somehow didn’t find the time to do the v-berth as well. Making cushions is not that difficult, especially if you have the old cushions for tracing the shape. The thing to keep in mind is that you need to cut the foam one centimetre bigger than you measure, and later on the fabric one centimetre smaller than the foam. And don’t forget the seam allowance when cutting the fabric of course.
Thus we ordered big blocks of foam and cut the shapes for the cushions with an electric bread knife. The perfect tool for the job. We also bought the fabric for the new upholstery and cut that out as well. No, not with the bread knife. Just regular scissors this time. It was very convenient that we were still in our marina. The central area of the sanitary space is so big -and relatively clean- that we could lay the foam and the fabric on the floor and cut everything there.
After sowing the pieces of fabric together, one of the covers wouldn’t fit so we had to redo that one today. Tomorrow we’re going to try and fit the boards and cushions into our v-berth, hopefully they’ll fit. Fingers crossed…
The final departure date is now set on Sunday the 7th at the latest.
