Sails are on!

Main sail going up:

Main sail back in the cover:

Head sail back on!!

Much progress made today, not much to show…yet. We organized quite a bit this morning, which turned a disaster area into an almost habitable area! I finished the water maker, and made a huge dent in the generator exhaust, while Tanya sanded most of the interior wood in preperation for varnishing (huge job!!).
As I mentioned before, we relocated the watermaker panel from shin level up to this compartment. It’s so much more convenient and right next to the test station. I flushed the watermaker again this morning then pickled it (preserved until we use it on a regular basis).

We’re ready to go, the washing machine is in!!

…and secured!

If the winds are as forecast, the sails go back on tomorrow!!

As mentioned in the previous post, Tanya’s father Bob was down for about 10 days helping us get back on track. All the major projects are complete or very much back on track. Bob’s efforts through this entire evolution have been monumental!!!

 I took the generator apart to clean, inspect and replace any suspect parts. Cleaned out the exhaust chamber and heat exchanger, replaced the gaskets, changed the fuel and air filters, and replaced the zinc. This sacrificial zinc was broken off and corroded to the inside of the heat exchanger cover. New zinc ready for install:

Once the generator was back together I primed the fuel system and she fired right up. Everything mechanical and electrical worked great…until I checked the muffler. We recycled the stainless steel muffler from the old main engine for use with the generator. Although it’s stainless, it has reached the end of its useful life; it leaks and needs to be replaced. New fiberglass muffler ready to be installed:

Bob built this shelf for our large locker. It’s amazing how this shelf makes the space so much more useful!!

He also built a small shelf for our pot/pan locker!!

We have a masthead light for our navigation lighting. A masthead light is a nice thing to have 50 feet up when you’re out on the open ocean, but almost useless in a tight anchorage. Our last trip out we found very quickly that deck level navigation lights are a necessity. Bob helped me install new lights with LED bulbs (lens will cover the bulbs), they’re crazy bright at night:

The watermaker is back in and seems to function well. We replaced the motor with a higher horsepower and it seems to run better. The old motor pulled almost 14 amps, the new motor-less than 10 amps!! Higher horsepower with less electricity, love it. We also installed a better boost pump, a cooling fan, and repositioned the control panel up to eye level in an unused compartment.

In the past, while making water, I have had to wrestle with the large cover over the motor/pressure vessel compartment. We decided to cut the cover and install a piano hinge in order to simplify access, it works great. I like to keep an eye on this compartment in case of any leaks or other problems:

Now I have this great door:

When we’re done making water, just close it up!! Shelves and access doors, what a difference!!

I wanted to take full advantage of the frequency spectrum of our single sideband radio so I got my technician class Amateur Radio License last month. Today I took the exam for the general class license and aced that one as well. I should be getting my general class license in about a week!! I can’t wait to start talking on the HAM frequencies!

Working hard every day to get out of here!!

Thanks again Bob for all your help and guidance!!!