Updates for The Office

Equipment and Upgrades since Jan. 2013
Garmin 741 with Radar, Radio with AIS, Speakers , Ant, Depth Sounder Transducer.  The AIS feature is nice but of limited value on the ICW. We had it on the sailboat and consider it a must have for the Bahamas crossing. The 741 has been appreciated but does not interface with a pc like I want it to.

11 ft Boston Whaler,  New Engine West Marine, Battery, Controls , Depth sounder, Anchor, safety gear, We enjoy the stability of the Whaler and the tough bottom when we are in an area with lots of oyster shell beaches. But the ride is wet when you are on plane. Runs about 18 knots with all on board. The drain is not placed  good for self draining unless under way. 



Really old impeller
Broken bolts, steel in bronze
The access on the starboard side engine was 6 inches between the fuel tank and engine. I could only see it in a mirror and touch it with left hand only. Rust is from leaking impeller. We fixed that leak and treated the rust to a phosphate bath.
Alot of the bolts were rusted and broke off .

Had to use drill and heli coils on all the bolts. I added speed seal to ease the next time for access  to the impeller.

The coolers are removed cleaned and sealed. Rusted bolt holes repaired with helicoils and new bolts.

Clean up the bilge. 
RAM installed below for VHF radio
Tanks secured topsides out in open. Added shut off solenoid wired to panel below to shut off LP when not in use. 
Add panel in salon for fog lights, camera and lp cut off.
Fire extinguisher and extra first aid box on sundeck
Off shore first aid  bag.
Solar controler in cabinet 
Replace damaged wood and rebed the windows that leaked
Prop was dinged by something we hit??? John the diver pulled it and replaced it after machine shop trued it.
All better now!


New hose clamps
Check on the bilge each week. After the fuel leak I am paranoid about leaks
New belts and hoses. A bearing in a water pump pulley was bad. Replaced it for $7.00 by buying new bearing at Carquest. Volvo wanted $55. for new bearing same part number. Go figure!









Painted and refinish the top sides during March to May. We used Rustoleum marine paint from Lowe's.
Getting the paint to lay down and learning to use a good paint brush was key. The preparation was the most time consuming. We hired a young man that was in transit to ? to help us and he did many hours of sanding, filling and painting. 

The gen set is almost new with only 531 hours. We have not used it only to test it. 
We have replaced all the receptacles as they suffered from corrosion. Almost all the connections and major wiring is now new. All the incandescent lights are now LEDs. We bought those at Frys in Atlanta.
The old battery charger made noise and is now gone. A new mastervolt charges the two house batteries and the starting batteries. Those are 8d and will be replaced with Group 31 AGMs as needed.
Watermaker installed under sink

Galvanic isolators and we have not replaced a zinc in two years!
We added three fire alarms, two Bilge alarms, and several fire extinguishers.  You do not want a fire on a boat!
Bought a sewing machine on Amazon and learning to sew. If you don't like it you are free to fix it when you have time :)
Repaired the 100 ft of chain and added a safety wire.
The fog lights came from WM and are wired in fore and aft to new panel below. In addition we have a back up camera for docking and watching the dink when underway.
Added two deck boxes for storage. Suzie likes the deck watch job.


The fuel leak repair was an unexpected work experience


We replaced the swim ladders with red oak using Rot Doctor to seal them. We repaired the swim platform with west systems glue and a piece of wood Tom gave us called Paduak. 








Impellers were in bad shape. A lot of the bolts broke off and had to be drilled, tapped and heli coil inserts installed.
Working clearance on starboard engine is about 6 inches, access by left hand only
Port engine was easy to get to. Bolts were stripped and worn away by rust. Used torques wrench and valve grinding compound to get them out.
Flushed everything out with Barnacle Buster


Used a torque driver tool and valve grinding compound to increase the friction grip of the bolt and driver


Good Night. View from The Office on Dec 21,2013

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