April 16, 2008
Location: San Diego, California

Priorities

We have been very busy this month.  There are so many projects that Jodie has made a list and we’ve prioritized it.  Well, actually she made this list of boat projects about a year ago and I have steadfastly ignored it much to her dismay.  Now we are dividing and conquering the to-do list.

The early part of the month I had completely taken apart our generator.  It had failed to start a while back and now won’t turn over.  Even when cranking on the crank shaft nut it would not turn.  So I hired a mobile mechanic to come take a look at the generator.  After a short time in the engine compartment he told me “It won’t turn over.  That will be $200.”  Genius.

I am no mechanic.  I will say that again.  Not a mechanic.  What I am is cheap.  I prefer frugal.  Jodie will say cheap.  A quick internet search will put the cost of a new genset at $7,200.  Plus tax, and shipping, then installation.  Yikes.  No way am I going to spend that kind of cash.  I quickly rule out a gas generator (exhaust issues, explosion factor).  So after consulting with my dock buddy, into the engine compartment I go with my rag-tag supply of tools.  I remove most of the exterior parts and determine that there is no sea water that has backed up into the genset through the exhaust.  That would be the worst thing that could have happened.  I manage to strip the engine down to the lower and upper end. I find some minor surface corrosion in the cylinders but things look generally fine.  Taking apart a marine generator is no fun.  Diesel, yuck.  Coolant, yuck.  Hate engines.  Not to mention dong all this work in the engine compartment.  Note the word “compartment”.  Not “room”.  It is very much like you climbing into the back of your SUV, dropping your rider mover engine into your lap and getting to work.  Except you would have way more room than me.

The engine weighs 350 lbs complete.  I had stripped it down to block and head, so it probably weighs in at 200 lbs.  Now we had to get it out of the engine compartment.  The door/lid of the engine compartment is not directly above the generator.  In fact the generator is offset from the centerline of the boat.  So we had to move it over to the opening, then up and out to the floor, then to the outside of the boat before finally placing it on the dock.  We did this by rigging a 4:1 purchase system, suspended from the main halyard, through a small hatch in the cabin top into the engine compartment.  We were able to lift up the engine, slide it over to the compartment opening (“slide” is being used very liberally here), then hoist it up the salon floor.

The access hatch we used to bring the purchase system down through was too small to bring the generator up through.  We then muscled the generator up to the forward hatch which is much larger than the salon hatch.  We then detached the purchase system from the main halyard and connected it to the spinnaker halyard which is position on the front side of the mast.  Easy up and out, then over to the dock finger where we had placed a dock cart.

I had located a machine shop that seemed knowledgeable with my model of generator and dropped it off.  They examined the engine and we only need to replace the head.  It had developed a crack and that was led to it not running properly.  So the machine shop should be done with their portion by next week.  Then we will have to reverse the process to get the generator back into the boat.  Then the fun part.  I will have to figure out what goes where and how.  I didn’t take any pictures of the darn thing before I took it all apart.  So is it the red wire or the brown one that attaches to the doohickey?  Wish me luck.

During the generator rebuild process we have added an awl grip surface to the decks.  Awl grip comes in many forms from epoxy and sand to rubber particles suspended in paint.  We went with the rubber route as our old boat had the sand and it was a knee killer.  I decided that having my surfboards dripping wax on our new decks was not very cool.  I stripped them down to a clean surface and applied the awl grip to them as well.  I won’t win any “cool board” awards, but function prevails here.

We have installed some docking lights into the front portion of the hull.  Think driving/fog lights for a boat.  It will be a lifesaver when we enter a channel or anchorage after dark.  Not something we plan on doing, but it happens.  A spotlight normally does this job, and we have one, but hands free forward lighting is gold.  I have patented my anti-knuckle buster mitt for pulling wire on fiberglass boats.

We have also fired up our old outboard motor.  We have been carrying around a 5 hp outboard for 7 years on the back of the boat.  Never run it, it just sits there under its cover.  I purchased some starting fluid and inflated our dingy, dropped it into the water and attached the outboard motor.  One reason I never ran the motor is that outboards need to be in the water to run for cooling purposes.  Well you can do it on your boat, we seen people do it, but the exhaust water leaves a nice black mess everywhere.  It looks great on your shiny white hull.  Did I mention that fiberglass gelcoat is porous?  So it was 7 years since we have run the motor.  So into the dingy and wouldn’t you now it?  It fired right up!  It was coughing and sputtering and a huge white cloud was coming out of it.  That can’t be right.  So I shut her down, took off the carburetor and used that starting fluid I purchased to blast every nook, cranny and port on the thing.  Put her back together and she ran perfect.  Fired right up, no smoke, purred like a kitten.  So I grabbed Jodie and we took a nice honeymoon cruise around the marina.  It was great seeing all our marina friends waving and smiling!  I may not be a mechanic, but I’m doing alright.

There are still many things on the list, but some we can do out in the islands.  Some we are going to see if they really need to be done.  Cruising/Sailing books are written for the masses.  So every possible thing is added into them to give them “meat” and make the author be “experts”.  We have thought things out and planned and we are ready.  A few months living on the hook will let us know what WE feel is required or not.

End of the month is our departure date.  Right after I see the new Ironman movie.  Priorities you know.

Michael