TV install

At a recent sale I splurged out and bought a marinised television for the boat.  Not big by home standards but at 22" big enough for the boat. Camille volunteered to help - here is a picture of her helping :)






The TV install was straight forward with eight screws for the wall mount into the cabin side which the tangs on the set slipped into. Feeding the antenna cable through the lazarette, under the cockpit, behind the galley and dining area to the TV was more challenging.  The end result however is quite pleasing (note that the cables still need to be cleaned up).

More pictures of the antenna to come.

Fwd cabin repaint

Some of you may remember from an earlier post about the dry rot repair in the forward bulkhead how dark the forward cabin was. As the shipwrights who carried out the repair could not exactly match the existing timber I decided to paint the bulkhead white. The effect was to lighten the cabin and rather than put off the repaint until later in the refit  decided to do it now.

I enlisted the help of my youngest son Paddy (don't call him Patrick) to remove the batons and doors in preparation for the refinish. The insulation behind the batons was in good order and except for one panel well adhered to the hull. I decided to leave it in place and give it a good clean with sugar soap prior to refinishing the cabin. With thoughts of making the cabin lighter I also decided to paint the aft bulkhead white. The remaining bright work I decided to re-varnish. The pictures below show the process in stages. even though I used a sealer on the aft bulkhead it took three coats before the oil in the teak plywood stopped bleeding through.

Primed ready for paint

Bright work after 2nd coat

Forwad bulkhead no longer the dark cave

Aft bulkhead - light and bright

Gallows crutch

One of the first things I did when I bought Crosswind home was to fit an awning to give some shade and protection from the Queensland sun and storms. I bought it at Whitworths chandlery to suit the length of the boom but wider than the boat. Stu my neighbour (a retired sailmaker) on 'Odna' fitted some reinforcing patches and eylets so it could be fitted.  Works a treat - great shade and protection from storms, reduces the deck temperature by 10 degrees and as a bonus funnels any breeze through the cockpit.

The only issue is the headroom under it when standing on the deck is minimal. This is because the awning sits over the boom and the boom rests in the gallows only a few feet above the deck. The solution is quick and neat. Buy a tread for a house step and make a crutch to lift the boom. Make it short enough so that when sailing it can be stowed in the lazzarette. I was going to put a locating plate on both the fore and aft side where it fits into the gallows, but when I trial fitted it, it was such a solid fit I don't think it is needed.

Still needs a coat of varnish/paint but that can wait until I've finished a few other jobs. For now I have full head height under the boom with no loss of shade or protection :)

Sextant service (Part 1)

There are numerous small jobs for the boat that can be done away from it, in some spare time. One of these was the cleaning and servicing of the sextant that was included in the sale of the boat. It was mounted on the cabin side above the navigation area and as can be seen from the photo (click to enlarge) on the right it was dirty and had corrosion on the brass minute arc. 

The sextant is a Simex Mariner made by Tamaya but has no correction chart, case or accessories, but as we all know that one day all the electrics will fail and I will need it to find my way home. There was a book on the boat "The Sextant Handbook: Adjustment, repair, Use and History" by Cmdr. Bruce A. Bauer, USN (ret.) Second Edition 1992 (ISBN 0-07-005219-0) which together with a "Sextant Test and Adjustment" work instruction I found on the web (click here) encouraged me to have a go at servicing it myself.

The first order of business was to get it home, easier said than done as I don't think it had been taken down for many years. Careful use of a drift and hammer eventually freed the locking arm and I wrapped it carefully in a jacket to protect it on the way home. Once home I commandeered the dining table as a worksite and began work - well almost. I must admit some trepidation at taking on this task as if I stuffed it up it would either cost me a couple of hundred to get it serviced or worse a new sextant. I spent the next few nights cruising the online forums and visiting the library before I realised that I just had to get on with it.

The sextant was so dirty that I took it outside and using a can of compressed air from my camera bag blew most of the dust off. Then using soapy water and a well wrung out cleaning cloth I wiped away the years of accumulated grime from the frame. I then removed the scope and shade and gave them a clean using the same process. Then using the lens cleaner and cloth I use for my glasses I cleaned the mirrors, shades and scope lenses. The silvering on the mirrors was in perfect condition and the shades and lenses were like new.

I tried to unscrew the cap for the battery compartment on the handle but it was corroded shut.  Fearing that there may be corroded batteries in the handle I removed the endplate the cap screwed into to check inside. No batteries, no corrosion, but I still can't remove the cap - I'll have to think some more about how to solve this problem - any suggestions?

The next step was what concerned me the most - the corrosion on the arc. The arm would not move easily when I used the clamp release and I was not game to try the vernier at this stage. I tried amonia on a cotton bud but had limited success in removing it. My daughter asked why I had not used one of the scratch free Scotchbrite pads we use on the non sick cookware to avoid damaging them. I removed one of the stop screws on the end of the arc and cleaned the area behind it as a test and it worked. Fifteen minutes later the arc was smooth, the scale was intact and readable and I could move the arm using the clamp release. To clean the teeth I used a new toothbrush (small cost for such an important job) and a weak amonia solution which seamed to work quite well. I cleaned the vernier and worm screw with soapy water and the toothbrush, followed by a rinse with clean water and a blow dry with my can of compressed air. I moved the arm to one end of the arc and applied two drops of watch oil (bought from a hobby shop) to the worm screw and wound the vernier through the full arc. The action was very smooth and there seemed to be no play which meant it could now be reassembled for testing.

Next: Testing and Adjustment

HMB Endeavour

In May this year I had the opportunity to take a tour on Her Majesty's Bark Endeavour, a full scale, Australian-built replica of Captain Cook's ship used in his epic 1768-71 world voyage. It was well worth the two hour wait to get aboard and significant for me as my plan has been to follow Cook's route up the east coast of Australia (see 'The Plan').

History:

"On 27 May 1768, Cook took command of the Lord Pembroke, valued in March at £2,307. 5s. 6d. but ultimately purchased for £2,840. 10s. 11d. and assigned for use in the Society's expedition. She was refitted at Deptford on the River Thames, the hull sheathed and caulked to protect against shipworm, and a third internal deck installed to provide cabins, a powder magazine and storerooms. The new cabins provided around 2 square metres (22 sq ft) of floorspace apiece and were allocated to Cook and the Royal Society representatives: naturalist Joseph Banks, Banks' assistants Daniel Solander and Herman Spöring, astronomer Charles Green, and artists Sydney Parkinson and Alexander Buchan. These cabins encircled the officer′s mess. The Great Cabin at the rear of the deck was designed as a workroom for Cook and the Royal Society. On the rear lower deck, cabins facing on to the mate's mess were assigned to Lieutenants Zachary Hicks and John Gore, ship's surgeon William Monkhouse, the gunner Stephen Forwood, ship's master Robert Molyneux, and the captain's clerk Richard Orton.  The adjoining open mess deck provided sleeping and living quarters for the marines and crew, and additional storage space"

Below are some images from my time on board, for more see the 'Photos' page.

Endeavour on the Brisbane River

Head - 1770s style, one each side of the bowsprit

Crew's mess

Crew quarters - a hammock each, a shared locker (box) and not a lot of headroom

Cat-o-nine tails and its bag, hence the expression 'Don't let the cat out of the bag'

Great Cabin - Officers mess and workroom

Cook's Cabin

Ship's log - Throw the triangular plate over the side, ship's speed was the number of 'knots' that played out in one turn of the glass (60 seconds)

Depth guage - The lead weight was swung over the side and the number of knots in the line were counted until it hit bottom. Each knot was one fathom (6 feet)

It started with wanting a coffee

The stove when I first saw it looked to be dirty and had corrosion around the burners. A little bit of elbow grease and it would all be working again - how wrong I was.

After I purchased the boat I found a survey report from 2007 that stated only one burner was working - now (2011) there were none! There were two pieces of tape identifying the oven and grill but all other identifying marks including the manufacturers details were gone. The stove had past its use by date, could not be economically repaired so it had to go (but I saved the baking tray).


Then there was the boat registration requirement to obtain a gas safety certificate to show that the stove and gas system complied with the latest regulations including:

• a flame fail safe system on the stove
• two gas detectors (one under the stove, the other in the lowest area of the boat)
• a gas control box that can turn off the gas via a solenoid (manually or via the gas detectors)
• the shut-off solenoid connected to the high pressure side of the regulator and by a flexible stainless hose to the gas bottle
• the regulator mounted separately to and higher than the gas bottle with its vent facing downwards
• lagged copper pipe from the low pressure side of the regulator to a manual shut-off valve adjacent to the stove
• another flexible stainless hose from the valve to the stove, and
• all work to be carried out by a licenced gas fitter. 

After researching what was available I bought a gimbled three burner Smev stove (with oven and grill) from Whitworths Marine. One of the recommendation of one of the staff I engaged Kurt from Active Gas Services (Manly West - http://www.activegas.com.au/marine.html) to do the work. But before he could install the gas fittings I needed to buy and install the gas detection system. A quick search on the net revealed there was a limited choice available and as usual with anything to do with boats expensive. I chose the Peel Electronics model 04/02/12V Sensor Survey  (http://www.peelinstruments.com.au/page10.html) for five reasons:

• the kit came with all the parts needed for installation
• it complied with the Australian Standard - AS5601
• it had clear instructions
• it was Australian made (Melbourne) and
• a local distributor (Alternate Solutions Group -  telephone 07 3474 6575 - www.alternatesolutionsgroup.com.au ) who patiently answered my endless questions and stayed open after hours so I could collect it.

Installation was straightforward and I placed the control box under the second companionway step where it was easily accessable to turn off the gas (although I will still close the valve on the bottle when I leave the boat). One detector was installed under the stove and the other in the bilge sump.

Kurt arrived at 7:00am on a wet Monday morning to install the gas fittings. I had hoped to use the existing flexible hose as it is accepted if there is only one appliance connected, but it requires that the end fittings are swaged. The ends on the boats pipe were clamped so it was out with the flexible option and in with the lagged copper pipe - at least it provided a guide for running the pipe. Three hours later with me helping (hindering) the job was done. I still need to manufacture a more permenent mount for the regulator and solinoid but it works and I have the gas certificate for the registration authorities and my insurance.

Now where did I stow the kettle?

Boom attachment - quick fix

When I bought the boat the boom was held to the gooseneck by one screw instead of three (one each side, one underneath). Although it looks like it's about to come apart (see picture below), with the sail and rigging attached it wasn't a critical fix but it needed to be done before any rough weather sailing.

The fix - replace the missing screws and add two rivets to each side for that added bit of security.