Crab Louie's Maintenance Log 2009

|| Crab Louie's Home Page || N6RFM Home Page ||

|| Winter Projects 2009 - 2010 ||

|| End of Log||

03/07/2009

Sunny.  63F.  Let the games begin!  Brought the homemade ladder to the boatyard.  Given the sorry state of the economy, decided to be frugal and forgo soda blasting the keel this time around.  For the sporadic cast iron pinhole rust spots, scraped the keel to bare metal in a few places and sprayed the entire surface with Rust-Loc Metal Prep.  This solution contains phosphoric acid which in principle converts red rust (ferric oxide, Fe₂O₃) into a much less soluble black iron phosphate (FePO₄).  After 30 minutes, I was under whelmed with the results.  Wiped the keel down with acetone.  Next used a small cold chisel to chip away the coating over several half dollar size slightly raised imperfections.  This confirmed Frank's earlier treatment with an epoxy as there was about 1/8" buildup.  It looked like the coatings Frank used did not adhere well in several spots or was failing.  Underneath very little rust.  Treated visible pin-holes rust spots and any newly exposed iron with three coats of Pettit RustLoc.  Except for the Rust Loc treated imperfections just created with the chisel, painted the port side and a quarter of the starboard keel with West Marine PCA Gold ablative.  (I only brought ~ a pint!)  Faired several imperfections with Marine-Tex epoxy filler.  Will finish the keel another day.  Spot sanded the bottom with 36 grit paper, including under the stands, where the paint was cracked or peeling.  Not a racing bottom, but it will do.  Will spot paint these first and then paint the entire bottom another day.  Cleared a few barnacles from inside both thru-hulls and sanded the rudder.  Estimated the tiller stock tilting forward ~35° for future reference.  Cleaned up under the boat and called it a day.

03/14/2009

Sunny.  45F; seemed a lot warmer in the sun.  Finished the first coat of paint on the keel.  Removed the lower 3 feet of shrink wrap to expose the upper hull.  Cleaned the water line and hull stains using Marykate On&Off gel.  This stuff actually worked pretty well!  A ScotchBrite pad and some elbow grease made short work of a few recalcitrant spots.  The black boot stripe needs to be touched up in a few places.  Removed the loose 7x7" aluminum plate mounted under where the outboard attaches.  Cleaned up mounting surface; will re-attach later.

03/15/2009

Sunny.  55F.  My friend Ron from Japan visiting last night.  Stopped by the marina before dropping him off at a hotel in Saugus to catch an early morning flight home.  Re-attached the aluminum plate to the stern using 3M Marine Silicone Sealant.

03/21/2009

Sunny.  45F.  Removed remainder of the shrink wrap.  Re-attached the life lines and stanchions.  Re-installed the battery.  Spot scraped and sanded the hull some more.  Applied a single coat of bottom paint to hull except for under the stands.  A few places will need a little more sanding and final touch-up.  Serviced the starboard seacock.  Lubricated it with Mercury Quicksilver anti-corrosion grease.  Checked the starboard drain hose top and bottom clamps.  Brought the four medium size bumpers home to top up air pressure.   Two of these appear to have slowly leaking valves; will try injecting flat fix to forestall replacement.

03/22/2009 [working onboard Water Music]

Cloudy.  40F.  Helping Cathy today.  Checked mast and on-board wiring for radar system.  Need to repair coax cable union.  Inspected seacocks; serviced one of three in head.  Inspected impeller; Cathy to order new paper gaskets.  Replaced anode in heat exchanger.  Removed cover behind steering quadrant; now have access to rudder shaft grease cups.

03/27/2009

Sunny. 55F.  Finished prepping and painting the bottom, including the rudder and under the stands.  Touched up the boot stripe with Interlux Brightside black polyurethane paint.  Serviced the port seacock and hose clamps.  Replaced the battery hold down strap.

03/30/2009

Rainy. 45F.  Jim helping today.  Dropped the rudder to replace the bearings and was not overjoyed with what I found.  Cleaning and inspection of the bearing surfaces revealed pitting and much more wear than I expected.  Mounted the Yamaha T9.9 on the boat.  Checked the keel bolts (15/16" nuts).  All nuts were tight to specification (70 ft*lbs) with one exception.  That one turned ~ 25° before tightening down.  Took the rudder home for further inspection. 

03/31-04/01/2009 [at home]

The rudder shaft OD measured between 2.372 - 2.380" at the unworn places.  Definitely the 2.375" OD over-sized shaft like Dan Pfeiffer's P26 Pyxis (hull # 1205).  The top bearing surface OD was 2.358".  However, the lower bearing surface wear was much worse; 2.275" OD!  That's 0.100" with ~80% of the wear on the aft facing side.  After consulting with Dan, ordered a new rudder with a stainless steel shaft from D&R Marine.  Cut through the shaft in an unworn section in the middle.  The tube was filled ~ 1/3 with a half round slab of epoxy; no evidence of water intrusion.  The wall thickness was 0.225".  However, where it enters the rudder, the thickness of most worn part of the shaft was 0.143" (~2/3 remaining). After using a Dremel tool to just grind away one of the deeper pits also under the lower bearing area, the wall thickness was 0.156".  Structurally acceptable, bearing surface repairable with epoxy and safe?  I wasn't convinced.  Pictures here.

04/04/2009

Cloudy. 45F.  Very windy.  Loaded gear into the station wagon.  After dinner at Giacomo's in the North End and cannoli to bring home from Mike's Pastry , Sheila helped unload the car.  Except for the the large cabin cushions and rug, most of the seasons gear is now back aboard.  Will use this tactic again!

04/05/2009

Sunny. 55F.  Compounded and polished the entire hull from waterline to rub rail using 3M Marine Restorer and Wax (# 09012).  Used a variable speed buffer equipped with a 3M 05703 Superbuff Polishing Pad.  Process took the better part of an 18 oz. tub to complete this first step.  Switched to a 3M 05705 Superbuff III Polishing Pad and next waxed the hull using Collinite's # 885 Fleetwax (about 1/3 can).  Big difference!!  We'll have to wait and see how it holds up this season.

04/10/2009

Sunny. 65F.  Cleaned the V berth; installed more cabin cushions.  Surprised that there was adequate legroom for me to stretch out up there.  Replaced several worn segments of cove stripe with West Marine #409361 Seafit 1" black striping tape. Touched up several pinhole rust spots on keel with Pettit Rustloc.

04/17/2009

Sunny. 67F.  Cleaned cabin; installed new rug for cabin sole and last cushion.  Checked the bedding of the plastic boot around the rudder shaft in the cockpit.  Re-bedded the stainless hold down screws with 3M 4200.  Switched to the summer hatch boards; brought the winter boards home.

04/18/2009

Sunny. 60F.  Picked up the new rudder, bearing set and SS collar at D&R Marine in Assonet, MA.  Rudy (what a nice guy!) was buffing the stainless shaft outside when I pulled in.  He was also kind enough to drill the rudder head for the tiller bracket.  Rudy suggested using a dollop of filler thickened epoxy on the exterior of the new bearings to prevent them from turning in the rudder tube.  He also hand selected the new bearings for best fit as most were a few thousands ID too small.  I did more sanding on the rudder head at home to get my bracket to fit properly.

04/19/2009

Sunny. 58F.  Christopher and I installed the new rudder.  Pre-positioned the lower bearing into the rudder tube.  The rudder head could be just inserted, but there was not enough clearance to get the shaft aligned.  Even with the boat raised ~ 1" off the blocks, there was still insufficient clearance.  Since we were on pavement, a hole could not be dug!  Drat!  After fussing about, we lowered the boat onto the blocks, slid a bearing down to the lower shaft and were then easily able to get the rudder shaft into the tube.  A balancing act to get the lower bearing started in the tube.  The two of us manhandling the rudder could not push the rudder all the way up.  Too heavy.  After a squirt of WD-40 (Thanks Paul!) at the bottom of the shaft, we attached the rudder head to the main halyard with a length of line.  Winched the rudder up the last few inches.  Managed to get the upper bearing in after some wiggling of the rudder.  Seated the upper bearing by tapping on the new stainless collar with a wooden block.  The lower bearing could still be driven up about 5/16 inch higher for the flange to fully mate with the exit of the rudder tube.  However, the rudder has no play, is very tight and the bushings do not rotate.

04/25/2009

Sunny. 88F!  Using wooden shims as wedges, drove the lower bearing up a tad higher in the rudder tube. About 3/16 inch of the outer surface remains exposed before the flange.  Sanded and painted the rudder (two coats).  Also painted under the stands and along the waterline.  Cleaned the cubby which houses the gas tank and re-connected the DC cables from the outboard.  Touched up the teak with two coats of Sikens Cetol Marine.  Disconnected the backstay and set up the main halyard as a temporary backstay so the boat could be loaded onto the marine railway.  Ready for launch!

04/26/2009 [working on Water Music]

Sunny. 83F!  Helping Cathy today.  Painted the bottom of Water Music with West Marine CPP ablative.  Installed new zincs on the shaft.  Stopped  by Bert's Boatyard in Weymouth to see Mike's Mis-Understanding.  Lots of work in progress but alas Mike was not there.

04/27/2009

Partly Cloudy. 70F.  Dropped off a case of bottled water and picked up the boatyard ladder.   Made arrangements for launch.

04/29/2009

Sunny. 60F.  Set up backstay, mounted boom on mast and LifeSling on stern.

05/2/2009

Partly Cloudy. 65F.  Installed a pair of Pyle PLMR24 stereo speakers in the cabin.  Mounted a teak magazine rack on the door to the head/V-berth.  Stowed most of the summer gear.  Rigged mainsail on boom.  More cleaning of cabin.

05/9/2009

Partly Cloudy. 60F.  Installed a Sony CDX-M50IP AM/FM/CD/iPod marine radio mounted in a Scosche underdash enclosure under the "nav" table.

05/10/2009

Sunny 65F.  Tuned the standing rigging; shrouds @ 500 lbs and forestay @ 650 lbs.  Re-bedded the galley faucet with silicone sealer.

05/16/2009

Cloudy 60F.  Installed Barton Winchers to convert the Lewmar 7's to self tailing winches.  Cleaned topsides with Simple Green.  Flushed the water tank with a few gallons of water.

05/30/2009

Partly sunny, 70F.  Began installation of the Raymarine ST1000+ tiller pilot.  Using a homemade alignment jig, marked the mounting locations and re-checked the measurements several times.  Drilled a 1/2" hole at the autopilot mounting socket location on the starboard seat and a 1/4" hole in the tiller for the mating pin.  Using a 7/8" hole saw, cut through the lower seat skin and removed the balsa filler without disturbing the topside skin.  Epoxied a 1/2 x 4 x 4" plywood block underneath the hole.  [The block was made by sandwiching two pieces 1/4" plywood together with epoxy at home, drilling a 1 inch hole in the middle and filling that with epoxy.]  After the block-seat bond had set up, filled the void between the block and the seat surface with more epoxy.  When that dried, re-drilled out the 1/2" hole leaving a ring of epoxy filler around the mounting socket position to prevent any water intrusion under the seat.  Epoxied the socket and tiller pin in place.  Located the power receptacle just forward of the starboard traveler.  Using the 7/8" hole saw, located the remote control receptacle next to the switch panel; as the hole was slightly oversized, filled the exposed gaps with white MarineTex.  The wiring to the cockpit receptacle is held by very small screws.  I stripped the first one!  Took the assembly home and soldered on the 16 gauge wiring for power and SeaTalk connections. 

05/31/2009

Partly sunny, 80F.  Completed installation of the power and remote control receptacles (re-sized the remote opening and sanded flush the MarineTex filler); tiller pilot power from the previously unused "blower" position on switch panel.  Not happy with the ground wire poorly soldered onto the ground system braid; Frank must have done this when installing the VHF circuit; will re-work later.  Both the  tiller pilot and remote control operational.  Will also add several strain relief's and dress tiller pilot cabling in future.

06/06/2009

Partly sunny, 70F.  Re-did ground wiring for radios and tiller pilot.  Drilled a pilot hole into the large aluminum lug used by Pearson to terminate the bonding circuit.  Used a self tapping screw to attach a heavy ground strap to the lug.  Attached the various ground wires to the strap.  Rigged a flag halyard to the starboard spreader for flying the BHIP burgee.  Added a 1 inch extension (Raymarine D003) to the tiller pilot.

06/20/2009

Cloudy, 75F.  Purchased an Alado A2 headsail roller furling system system from Alado USA.  Came in a few days FedEx from Rio de Janerio!  Dropped off the 120 and 150 headsails at DiMattia Sails; Ralph to modify the 120 with  #6 luff tape and a Pacific Blue sunshade and the 150 with #6 luff tape alone.  Will pick up in a few weeks.

06/26/2009

Cloudy, 85F; very humid.  With Cathy helping, installed the Alado A2 headsail furler.  Installation went smoothly and was actually very straightforward.  Rigged two halyards using 1/4" Cajun XLE line; will trim to fit when headsails come back from Ralph DiMattia.  Also installed a Harken 7404 lead block kit for the furler control line (3/8" Cajun XLE).

06/27/2009 [aboard Water Music]

Cloudy, 70F.  Helped Cathy today.  Repaired a break in the radar coax at the mast step by adding RCA jacks and bridging with an RCA plug terminated jumper.  This will make un-stepping the mast must easier in future.  Re-attached the four deck cowls Cathy had refinished.  Filled oversize dodger mounting holes with Marine Tex epoxy.  Rigged the reefing lines and boom vang.

07/04/2009

Sunny, 80F.  Two days ago, Cathy picked up the updated 120 from Ralph; Tim was kind enough to collect same from Cathy and drop off at our office.  Tightened several of the lazerette hinges.  Ralph needs usable foil length to complete the 150 hank to luff conversion.  From the top of the 150 foil side luff feeder, it is 29' 2.5" to the foil top terminal.  Approximately 2" of the foil go into the top terminal; leaving 29' of continuous foil above the luff feeder to bottom of the top foil terminal.  From the top of the luff feeder to the tack attachment on the drum, the distance is 14".  The tack feeder itself is 2.5" long.  I will send Ralph these data but suspect that the 150 will need to be cut to  to the about 28.5' after tacking stretch into account.  Raised the 120 jib on the new Alado furler.  Trimmed that halyard for the 120 and  will use the remaining 1/4" line when lowering the sail.   (The other halyard will be for the 150.)  Installed the reefing hook on the boom.  Checked the backstay tension with the Loos gauge.  Below the split, the 3/16" sections were ~ 300 lbs.  Above the split, the upper 7/32" backstay tension was ~ 500 lbs.  Flushed the T9.9 upper bypass with fresh water; no evidence of obstructed to flow.

07/05/2009

Sunny, 80F.  While at the Spectacle Island dock, finished rinsing and filled the water tank.  Removed the port V berth trim and removed several stains with bleach Soft Scrub.  As the ATN genoa sleeve has not yet arrived, removed the 120 and stored in the V berth.  Cleaned the cabin.  Flushed the T9.9 upper bypass again with fresh water.

07/06_07/2009 [aboard Water Music]

Cloudy, 70F.  Helping Cathy.  Finished repairing the dodger mounting holes and re-attached the frame to the deck.  Installed the dodger.  Using a Loos Model 90 gauge, tuned the rig; later re-adjusted tension while under sail in about 10 knots of wind (~ 35 upper, ~ 40 lower stays; ~ 40 fore and aft stays).  Filled two stripped mounting holes in head cover with Marine Tex.

07/09/2009

Sunny, 70F.  Repaired several screw holes in the companionway step with JB Weld Epoxy.  Cleaned the cockpit and engine well with Amazing Roll-Off cleaner.  A few really stubborn dirt spots cleaned up nicely with Soft Scrub with bleach.

07/11/2009

Sunny, 80F.  Tightened fasteners on lazerette hinges.

07/19/2009

Sunny, 85F.  Raised 120 on jib furler.  New 30' ATN genoa sleeve fits perfectly.  Shawn helped me scrub the waterline from Cathy's Zodiac.  Simple Green did a reasonable job removing the oily scum line.  Used acetone to remove several black fender marks on port side.  Will try double waxing the hull next year.

08/28/2009

Cloudy, 70F.  Hurricane Dan coming up the coast; 20-30 knot winds predicted with gusts to 40.  Secured mainsail cover with line; took down the head sail and stored below just in case.

08/30/2009

Sunny, 75F.  Re-installed 120 on jib furler.  Cleaned cabin.

10/13/2009

Sunny, 60F.  Sheila and I took off the sails, boom and emptied the cabin; nearly everything fit into the station wagon except for the larger cushions.  Used the main halyard to set up a temporary backstay and disconnected to permanent backstay.  Installed the winter hatch boards.

10/18/2009

Partly cloudy, 50F.  Boat on the hard.  Brought ladder and materials for a winter cover to boatyard.  Jim helping.  Removed outboard, re-secured permanent backstay, and finished emptying cabin.  Constructed frame for winter cover using strapping and 1/2" schedule 40 PVC pipe.  Flushed and winterized the water tank with non-toxic anti-freeze.  Cleaned waterline stains with Marykate On&Off gel.

10/25/2009

Sunny, 62F.  Sheila helping.  Completed frame for winter cover (pictures here).  Installed two large tarps held down using golf ball attachment points.  Will finish off covering any gaps with several smaller covers.

Season Totals;  Gas: 13 gallons;  Emptied black water: 6 times.

See Winter Projects 2009_2010 for off season activities

|| Crab Louie's Home Page || N6RFM Home Page ||