Boat Work
Sometimes
we have to fix things and sometimes we want to make changes to things. There is a “to do” list that grows, changes,
shrinks, gets re-written and gets re-prioritized. It’s actually not a list, but a “Boat
Maintenance” notebook that Malcolm fixates on from time to time (but that’s a
whole other story).
The new
solar panels took over the radar arch and left the antennas and radar dome
waiting for their new home. “Move antennas and radar to new post and connect
cables” has been written into the Boat Maintenance book. There is an “H” next to this for HIGH
priority, and an asterisk next to the “H” for “Must do before leaving Mexico”.
Last year,
we found that one of the steering cables was slightly frayed. “Replace steering
cables” has been in the Boat Maintenance book ever since. It also has an “H” and an asterisk. If we’re actually going to go to the South
Pacific, we better get these things done.
First, the
steering cables. We’re at a dock so we
probably don’t need to steer the boat much. The old cables are stainless steel and run
over some pulleys and such from the wheel to the rudder. Taking them out is pretty simple. Once they were out, we discover a second frayed
spot. It’s not like they were going to
break right away, but it was certainly time to replace them just to be sure.
Our new cables are not steel, it’s “Amsteel Blue” - a synthetic rope which is
just as strong. A bit of measuring, a
bit of splicing, a bit of running lines through hard to reach places and there
we go…job done.
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Malcolm running the steering cables (with stupid walking cast on) |
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Splicing an end of the Amsteel line |
We’re still at the dock, but the rudder turns when the wheel turns! Hmmm, time
to leave the dock and actually steer the boat!!
Good
news!!! We left the dock and the steering works. Of course it works, there was nothing to worry
about. Why wouldn’t it work? Update the Boat Maintenance book, cross off
that steering thing!! Next job, set up the antennas and radar on the new
post. That’ll be easy!
Hmmmm. How high is that antenna post? How far do the
cables have to run to get there? Oh, they are further away than they used to
be?
New antenna
cables cost how much?!!? New antenna
cables aren’t necessarily available right away!!?!
Hmmm, who
is coming down to visit us and can bring some supplies? Tim is coming down from Toronto!! Place the
order! Tim was great. He got cloudy
weather during his visit, but it was warmer than Toronto and he brought a
couple of new antenna cables for us, so it was all good.
More about
Tim and other visitors later… How are the cables getting from the post to the
inside of the boat? Make a new hole in
the boat? Where?? Let’s just start by getting
the cables from the top of the post to where the hole is going to go.
Four
antennas – four guide wires for pulling cables.
Two cables for the radar – two more guide wires. Pull guide wire one…snap – it breaks. Pull guide wire two…snap – it breaks. Pull guide wire three…snap – it breaks. Yank the others out because this isn’t
working. Arrrrgh!
Rob (from
Avant) to the rescue!
We use two magnets
to pull a thin piece of whipping twine (think dental floss), to pull a medium
size line to pull an antenna cable…repeat until done! This takes a full day at anchor. Rob is happy to help, his better half Deb is
happy to have him tinkering on someone else’s boat, Malcolm gets a nice view from
on top of the antenna post. The cables
run through the post…How are they getting into the boat?
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Malcolm attaching an antenna, Dina tidying up cables, Rob supervising |
Sure, let’s
drill a hole in the boat. It’s way above
the water. With Rob’s supervision, it
all works out well. Hmmm, maybe he
should come over more often (Deb would appreciate it).
New cables
go into the hole. Radar connections go into the hole….A bit of wiring on the
inside and the GPS works, the Radar works, the backup VHF radio works, the
satellite phone works!! Yeah!!! The antennas cast some shadows on the solar
panels but there is still a lot of power there!
Yeah!!! Update the Boat
Maintenance book, cross off that Antenna Post thing!!
Malcolm has some ideas about writing stuff in the Boat Maintenance book. If it’s a super easy task, just do it right away and don’t write anything down. If it’s super important, just do it right away and don’t write anything down. If it involves making holes in the boat, write it down in the book and then procrastinate
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Jennifer and Dina joked about the Blue and Tan crew uniforms while Malcolm and Campbell worked on a simple task |
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Malcolm up the mast for some other job |
Finally, one of the most important rules about doing boat work....If it involves going up the mast, take a camera.