BoatBanter.com - You're all wet, and other niceties of getting ready to cruise...

I sent this to our cruising-oriented loglist a moment ago - but thought
there might be some here interested as well. If that's not you, please
excuse the bandwidth :{))

By the time you read this, we'll have been on the ground here in St.
Pete's Salt Creek Marina for two and a half years. In two weeks we'll
have had someone - or several someones - working on the boat for
exactly 2 years, not counting the many times I was unable to be here,
when, for the most part, work stopped. However, in that time,
unexpected, awesome changes have occurred to the prior Sailing Yacht
Tehamana as it became our home, the Flying Pig.

We started out expecting very simple things - a minor operation to
determine that my shoulder was never going to be better than it was, or
a few slices to unhook scar tissue preventing full movement, followed
by minimal physical therapy - and a couple of pretty simple carpentry
projects, as the boat was in fine nick when we bought it and sailed it
through extremely rough weather for 500 miles to get it here. We
expected to set sail in November, two years ago.

The shoulder turned out to be not very simple; in short, not only did
the first operation fail entirely, and the muscles not attach to the
remainder of the shoulder bone, the second operation was undone by an
infection, necessitating muscle relocation (to substitute for those now
unattached) a year later. Those operations and their associated
therapies cost me close to a year (in two different recovery times) on
(well, technically, off) the boat - but it allowed more to be done, as
the time was forced upon us (therapy) and Lydia was able to continue
her income generation, paying for the unexpected work which has been
done. In between therapies, I've been working on the boat full time
for that period.

The couple of carpentry projects turned out to be not very simple
either ...

.... An expected new countertop on both sides, replacing the sink, and
adding insulation to the refrigeration turned out to be an entire
rebuild of the galley (marine kitchen). The new sink and faucet were
improved by a new pump and plumbing for the fresh water, and a pressure
salt water wash, to preserve fresh water when we're doing the dishes.
Unexpectedly, and taking well over a month more than we'd possibly
imagined just to get to that point, the old refrigerator and gear had
to be sawed out. In the end, however, we've got a totally marvelous,
mega-insulated refrigerator and freezer, built from the ground up,
bulkheads in, and top down, with electronic thermostatic controls which
will allow us to maintain temperatures to within 1/2 degree in each of
the freezer and refrigerator compartments. Inside, air will constantly
circulate with microfans, and when the door opens, LED lighting will
show the way at the same time the fans are turned off, courtesy of a
three-way magnetic switch. All the insulation we carefully cut,
epoxied, overlaid, installed and fiberglassed will keep the exterior of
the box at room temperature, and our mechanical portion will very
efficiently work off the 12 volts system we have designed as part of
the other work. We also remedied all the rot found under the
refrigerator and in the engine room, where the other gear was removed.

.... An expected simple extension of the platform on which our bed was
placed, and a step up to it with storage built into it morphed into a
total redo of the bed. It's now the best sleeping we've ever done,
anywhere, new storage access under the bed was devised and built, and
the woodwork and paint everywhere in the aft cabin was refinished.

.... The addition of some storage in the walkthrough morphed into new
brilliant fluorescent lighting over the workbench, backed up with red
lighting on a three way switch, a mirrored panel, with red lighting
behind it coming on when opened to access the bins giving us a
hardware-store level of supplies along with the mirror reflecting light
onto the workbench when it's down, and conversion of most of the
closets to shelved storage with lighting which comes on when you open
the door.

So much for a couple of minor carpentry projects!

Those were all we expected to do (not counting all the extra
improvements made to the original concepts). However, a few other
things crept in:

An arch was designed and executed in 2" stainless steel tube.
Integrated were the davits which have the dinghy up where we can see
under it, rather than before, where it totally obscured the view to the
stern. Also integrated were the two outboard motor mounts, the barbeque
and tank mount, wind and solar power generation, satellite antenna (for
gathering images from weather satellites in real time), GPS receiver,
VHF and Ham/SSB antennas, and the emergency-related DSC antenna, along
with a place to put our fish gaffs, trolling rigs, boat poles/hooks,
life sling (overboard rescue system) and MOB (man over board) pole.
Under the arch is a swim, bathing, fishing and otherwise "patio"
platform, along with a boarding ladder reachable from the water, with
both salt and fresh water washdowns.

An entire redo of the topsides started out as checking out the
potential leaks ...

.... While we rebedded and caulked every single item and fastener which
turned or somehow otherwise went through the deck, we also completely
redid the toerail teak, rubrail (including stainless steel rub strake)
and a few other minor things.

.... Wire lifelines and 24" stanchions gave way to 30" full 1" stainless
steel railings and stanchions, electrically continuous to provide a
better ground plane for the long-distance radio and integrated to the
arch which also was altered to provide an offset aft entry so we
wouldn't have to go around the backstay when we boarded from the stern,
as was the case in the original design.

.... The stainless steel tubing stern ladder, which used to form a gate
(until the prior davits made it impossible to raise the ladder to the
deck level with the dinghy in the way, another reason for the
arch-as-davits), was moved and altered to be a side boarding ladder,
extended to allow a deeper water access, and enhanced by teak steps.

.... The prior windlass, in fine shape other than obviously not having
been serviced in many years, resisted removal for service, so it had to
be cut out. However, in the end, not only do we have a new windlass
and electronics to allow raising or lowering the anchor either on deck
at the bow or at the helm, we also have new anchors, chain and rope
rode (the line between the anchor and the boat), and a refitted and
replumbed anchor locker.

.... The semiautomatic sail storage system, "Mack Pack," was renewed and
awaits my splicing in another set of lines which guide the sail into
the cover.

.... Lydia's in the last stages of polishing all the opening ports and
hatches, allowing light below where there used to be haze at best.
She's just finished the last of the refinishing of the sides of the
boat, which had weathered badly in the years since it was repainted
some time during a prior owner's time, all before we go in the water.
Before that, she'd become a fiberglass wizard, repairing all the
grinding we'd done in chasing the blisters and wet spots mentioned in
the last Log entry. Immediately after that, she became a bottom paint
expert, applying approximately 3200 square feet of first blue (the
reveal coat, showing when the top coat wears out) and then black
ablative bottom paint. Based on reports from other cruisers, we
anticipate we may get 4 or 5 years out of this job - but we'll have to
wait to see!

Below, the nav station - my office - was also totally redesigned, with
new Ham/SSB, VHF and AM/FM radios, autopilot, GPS, and emergency
integration (flip a cover, hit the panic button, and an awful lot of
people will know that I'm in trouble, and where I am - and when they
respond, my radio immediately goes to that frequency so I can tell them
what's up).

Instead of it all being out in the open, with the accompanying rat's
nest of wiring, we've put all the electronics into a panel which can
drop for service, but otherwise present just the faces of the various
gear. The laptop computer, along with its navigation programs, has
secure storage, along with a soon-to-come storage place for the
accessories - a laser printer, three external drives (one for 500
movies, one for 300 Gigabytes of music, and the other for backups), the
Vonage router which allows us same-number-I've-had-for-30-years
telephone contact whenever we're in range of a wireless access point,
and an electrical center which allows us to power each of these
independently (so as to not use electricity, coming from our batteries,
unnecessarily). Our entertainment will be either audio or
audio-visual; there's speakers in the bulkheads for general times, and
new Bose on the side opposite where we'll sit to watch movies. The aft
cabin has separate speakers, and we've still got to figure out how to
get the sound up to the cockpit, where we'll have it in exterior
speakers.

Also below, we've totally redone the plumbing for both heads (marine
toilets and showers), so that the usual chore, every few years, of
taking out really stinky hoses and replacing them with new, very
expensive, special sanitation hose should be done forever, with, at
most, very small connectors requiring replacement. As we went, we've
been replacing and/or adding lighting, with new red and amber LED
lighting on three-way switches, for ambience and night vision
protection, as appropriate, and new fluorescent energy efficient
lighting.

In the engine room, major changes occurred as well, with the removal of
the generator, relocation of the batteries, replacing the ones which
came with the boat with an installation of double the capacity, along
with all the proper management tools for the wind and solar power
generation on the arch, and the new refrigeration works. Also in the
engine room are the new pressure salt water feed, new shelving, and
nearly complete rewiring of the entire boat (along with all the new
stuff). Bilge pumps, shower evacuation pumps, cockpit scuppers and
everything else with a hose leading to the outside has been replumbed.
Just installed are the new drive shaft and all the associated hardware
to go with it, including the self-reversing, auto-feathering propellor,
accompanying the just-reinstalled and reversed (long story; the prop
now turns clockwise for forward) transmission. Still to come are the
fuel polishing system (diesel fuel tends to get gummy and junky if not
used a lot, as would be the case with a tractor-trailer engine, or a
power boat, and our engine will be run very little), the dual
filtration for the engine supply, and the various things which will go
with the recommissioning of the diesel propulsion plant after the long
layup.

Outside, the last of many coats of ablative (wears off intentionally so
one needn't sand off the paint when it's no longer doing its job)
bottom paint has just gone on, and we're now in the slings. That means
that the Marine Travelift - the special tractor which moves boats - has
come to pick us up, so we can finish the last few places we couldn't
get to on the hull and under the keel while it sat on the ground and
the stands. Monday morning, we get wet - as close to 2.5 years since
it came out as you can get without counting hours. We'll have a wet
slip next to the yard office, where we'll wait for the hull to resume
its normal shape and we can then realign the engine and driveshaft.

While we wait, we will continue to put away all the things we'll take
with us, especially all the tools we've been using during our
improvements. We'll also do another 20 finishing-up projects,
including the final adjustments to all the electrical and electronic
stuff which we've put off until we're in the water. That's a fair
amount of work but, but it ought to go quickly.

Not mentioned are the myriad smaller projects; it would take pages to
tell you of all of them. We know that there were many who thought we'd
never see this day, including quite a few in this marina workyard.
However, here we are - and in a couple of weeks or so we'll begin our
sailing trials to prove out all we've done, as well as see what may
need fixing that wasn't on our huge list.

For those of you who have been there, done that, you know how we feel.
Sold the houses (Lydia and I had separate homes for most of our
marriage, as we lived 90 miles apart when we met; by the time we
married we knew we'd be doing this so combining households at that
point didn't make sense), sold the cars, gave away nearly everything
else, and have most of what we'll take with us already aboard. As long
and hard as this journey has been, and as much frustration and anxiety
over how it might take us forever there was, at this point, while we're
very excited, it's more of just a natural next step.

We'll hold a very smallish christening and launching ceremony Monday
morning when the yard comes to retrieve their lift, get the boat wet,
and then go right back to work. However, in a couple of weeks or so,
we'll be issuing calls for those who might like to go out on our sea
trials.

Stay tuned!!

If you'd like to see a few of the recent pictures which got us to this
point, go to the Log List photo gallery,
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/The...browse/1821?c=
- and if you'd like to see thousands of pictures, from the beginning
through today, go to our gallery and click on the refit icon; it will
take you to others of the same sort from which you can choose.

L8R

Love from Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain