More Small but needed Jobs

Did a few things today that needed to get done.  First was to fix my head. No the toilet on the boat, however the wife would say they both need some wirking.  The rubber gasket in the fush pump was old and stretched over time.  I found a replacement one at Thunderbird Marine in Horseshoe Bay.  Much better than West Marine as they only had a full repair it and I only needed one thing. 

Weekend Work. Power Wash and Outboard Service.

Rain, rain, and more rain. Last weekend I come home the same day because the rain forced me not to be able to do anything of importance.  On Saturday it appeared to be of the same, however then on Sunday the clouds parted and the rain stopped. Time to work.

Project 1. Finish the lazarette covers (cockpit hatch doors)

Job well done.  We drilled holes and filled them with 3M 5200. When it was almost heard. Screwed hinges into the new doors.  We then bolted the other side into the boat. See below before and after.

Project 2. Boat wash.

Not much to say about this with the exception that WOW it is amazing what a power wash can do to a dirty boat.  Take a look below at some of the images taken.

Might be hard to see. So much better and ready for a paint job.

Project 3; Self Motor Service.

The last project of the day was a service of the outboard motor. Though I would love to have a new 9.9 HP. I need this 5HP to last a while.  It needs to get me to the the work yard in two weeks for our hall out.  Need to do four things. Change the oil. Change the gear lube oil. Need sparkplugs.  Change the oil filter.

 

The oil change was easy. Turns out that I still had half a bottle from my first oil change that I did myself.  Not much to say. Drained the oil, put in 450ml more, and that  is that.

Next was to change the gear lubricant in the foot of the motor. Step one was to drain it.  Took out the fill / drain screw and then the vent screw.  Out comes the old oil. Next problem was that Canadian Tire no longer sells the stuff that is recommended in the owners manual (that I found on the Internet). I called my father in law to see what he used in his. Figured it right and she bought some 75 W 90 synthetic gear oil. It seemed strange that you fill it from the bottom. Stuck in the end of the bottle and filled it until It came out of the vent hole. Caped the vent and them the drain plug and done.

Jean found the sparkplugs from Lordco. They were able to lookup the OLD sparkplug number and find the new one I need. When I asked Canadian Tire for the same thing they had no idea what to do. Guess that's what happens when you pay people minimum wage.

Last was the fuel filter. No one had one. Did not change it. Sill need to find one…..

Re-Doing The Companion Way

The rebuilding of the companion way was done in the summer.  I am attempting to write some back posts for project that have already been completed. 

The companion way of the boat needed to be redone.  The original hatch was removed by another owner.  A strange bubble top was added. I would have preferred to have the original top, however the bubble top has the advantage of adding head room to the galley of the boat.  Also the present companion way hatch is made from Styrofoam. It is light and offered good insulation during the winter months.  The negative part was it was ugly, its huge and hard to hind (3 to 4 feet high ), and it offered no security if you wanted to brake into the boat ( not like we keep anything of value ).


My first attempt was a complete failure. I rebuilt the same door with wood and kept the original design. I miss calculated the height and it had the same issues as the original. I trashed the concept and wanted to go back to the original style with sliders that can be put away when the boat was under way. The bubble top made it impossible to have sliders so I needed a new design or replace the bubble top. Not really an option as the original top was thrown out by one of the previous owners.

The new idea was simple. Put new rails on the side and bottom of the hatch. Have the top of them on hinges so that a slider can be placed into the hatch and pushed down one at the time. When the last one is put in the hinged rails fold back down and lock. Time to build a plan and a template.

The Template fit well. Now it is time to build the new door from real wood. Jean will stain them and i will assemble them. Working with a jigsaw is difficult and I really need a circular saw. I installed some brass hinges and locks and it looks great.

The final product a vast improvement from the original.

Building A New Cockpit Floor

Update: New blog editor. Microsoft Writer.  I can use it with my Windows Eight Tablet and it works great.

The old cockpit was soft in  some places. The previous owner painted it ( nicely ) however the damaged was still there under the paint. I could feel it. Plus it didn't look boat like. We needed a new floor.

I used a paint stripper to pull up the old paint. Being careful not to strip the gel coat or fiberglass.  Used a wire brush and paint scraper.



Exposed the damaged floor. Its not that bad. The gel coat is damaged, however the fiberglass looks ok. But ugly.


We patched it with gel coat and sanded it down. Stronger and needs a paint job. Big time. 



Rather then a paint job (  will need to still do it when we paint the top side of the boat. ) We decided to build a wood cockpit floor.

We found square flooring from a re-use supply store for 1 dollar a square.  bought the whole lot ( 11 ) for 1 dollar each and drew out a plan. What worried me was the lack of right angles. its not square so i was worried I would screw up the measurements.



Placed the tiles on the dock and drew out the plan I then put it on a picnic table and cut it to size with a jig saw. could have used a better type of saw. however the lines were good and reasonably straight.  However as I didn't number each square it took a while to put it together. Was like a puzzle.
    

dropped thee final floor into the boat. happy with the results. Before and after. Much better results.

Three small jobs. Cold winter night.

Went up for the weekend and intended not to do much of anything. It was a really cold day and an even colder night so even with the heater bar the boat was sweating. The problem with a Columbia 26 mk2 is that the hull joint is metal from the outside in. It condenses really bad.

Got to the boat late and made dinner and the bed. We use an electric bracket when its cold and even though I don't like it, it was needed as the outside temperature went to minus 9

The day my wife suggested a few jobs. Was not really keen but got into the mood as a started.

1. Make a hose run off to run the sweating water to the bilge.
2. Put a handle on a storage locker.
3. Cut a hole for a vent under a bunk.

Did the Handel first. Easy job and builds up excitement for the next one.

Next I cut the hole for the vent.  Needed a vent to help the flow of air around the boat. Plus was able to cut out an earlier mess up. No one can see it now.

I ran the hose last. The reason I did this last is because left the hose in the car and my wife went shopping. This is only temporary and looks like shut. However drilled a hold on my shelf so that pooling water can run
 to the bilge by a hose. I need a better heater for Canada.

The handel.

The vent hole newly cut.

The trim reinstalled. Needs stain.

Weekend On The Boat

Spending Saturday and Sunday on the boat.  Came to find snow all over. The electricity stayed on. No blown barkers and the new heat bar appears to have worked.   Question is, how much electricity did it use.

 

Took a photo of our electricity meter and then set to work shovelling off the snow from the deck. 

The hydrometer said plus 80 percent water in the air when we left. After six days of the heat bar and two fans ( the solar powered one stopped when it was covered in snow). The hydrometer read 63%. Looks like a successful attempt. How much did the heating bar cost us in electricity? Left the boat with a meter reading of 18391 and came to a meter of 18398. A difference of 7kw.  At 0.095 cents a kilowatt.  It cost 66.5 cents to run the bar and charge the batteries.  Will take another reading when we leave as the heater is on 24/7 to keep us warm.

 

Plan to do no real work.  Its relaxing time. Went to the pub and took some photos.

 

Update:

 

When we left the boat the electricity meter read 18428 a difference of 30 from when we arrived.  This means that the 1500 watt heater, electricity, stove electric blanket, and kettle cost $2.85 to run. Not bad I guess for the winter.... could be worse. 

Small Sunday work.

Did some work on the boat. Installed a new C cell Nicad battery in the recently installed used solar vent fan. Only needed a new battery.  Yahoo. Plus installed a Golden Rod 38 watt heater bar to keep the boat warmer then the outside. Reduce moisture, and promote air circulation.

Hpwever new problem.  The window is still leaking.  Last repair was not so good.