Boat Projects

It's almost time for us to leave our safe little community here at Turner Marine in Mobile, Alabama. We've had a whole lot of fun over the last four months. We've also been working on boat projects whenever time allowed. Dave's list was very long.

Installing the track for our new Storm Trysail was an easy place for him to start. Dave began the work to mount the sail track before we raised our mast but he ran out of time. He was able to complete the work but it required going up the mast in the bosun chair. He rigged a second security line in case the line I was using to lift him failed. It worked perfectly! He was high above me, eye level with the spreaders when our friend Dave from S/V Veritas walked by. He noticed me standing by the mast with a halyard in hand and offered to help me get Dave down. With newly found confidence, I said I could handle it. I wasn't sure how the descent would go but I proudly brought my captain to the deck slowly and safely. That safety line was key to my success.

Beth looking up at Dave in bosun chair

Dave has been working on hooking up the solar panels. This required connecting wires from the solar panels to the charge controller, through the shutoff switch and on to the batteries. It went smoothly but included a bit of drilling holes to run the wires and contortionist movements to reach the hatch pathways. It was not easy work.

We purchased a  new vhf radio with AIS reception from Defender Marine. Dave installed it with ease but we are still working on the cable connection to our 17 inch laptop. The software is installed but we haven't gotten the hardware bugs out. We still need to get it to work with our navigation program Open CPN.

Dave mounted hull zinc anodes. Mystic has never had anodes before because she has always been in fresh water where it's not critical to use them. Aluminum anodes are used in fresh water, zinc in salt water. They protect the metals in the boat from galvanic corrosion. Most boats have a donut shaped zinc added to the shaft of the propeller. We pulled Mystic out of the water only to learn that our shaft is too short to add the donut. We also had the option of adding a prop cap zinc. Since our prop is inside a pocket of our rudder, there isn't enough room to add this either so we added them to the hull in two places. The sacrificial zincs get eaten away before damage can be done to the bronze and stainless steel of our boat. The zinc is usually replaced every twelve months. 

No room for prop shaft zinc
Photo by Scott Joiner

During our Marine Survey in 2013 we learned that Mystic did not have a galvanic isolator which keeps stray shore power voltage from frying our boats bronze and stainless steel. Dave installed a galvanic isolator, hiding it back in the ground system of the shore electric power.

The mechanic at Turner Marine recommended that Dave clean the heat exchanger in our Kubota Nani Diesel engine. He explained what needed to be done and Dave was able to do the work with ease. We now have a clean heat exchanger with new gaskets and seals. Dave replaced the water pump impeller too. It is one of the scheduled maintenance items on his annual list.

Dave designed lazy jacks for Mystic. Basically, they are a spider web of ropes that start at the mast spreaders and run under the boom creating a net that collects the mainsail when it's dropped. Without them, the yards of canvas drop randomly and create a mess on the deck. The lazy jacks will be a wonderful addition to our sailing experience.

Our tiller rudder arm had a stress fracture. This is safety issue. If the rudder arm broke while under way or in rough weather, we'd be screwed. Dave took the rudder arm to several welding businesses including our new friend Joe here at Turner Marine. Everyone told him to buy a new rudder arm. Dave decided to build a reinforcement with stainless steel gussets instead of repairing what we have. The new rudder arm is not pretty but it sure isn't going to fail.

My list of projects is much shorter. I'm diligently working on sanding and varnishing the teak. It's a tedious, time consuming and never ending job; a task that I love, but I hate. Once I get that first coat of varnish on I realize why we do it! It just looks so good! My work is starting to get compliments and requests to do neighboring boats bright work! My response to these requests, "Yeah, no thanks!"

Before

After

I've also been sewing on my "free table" sewing machine. It's small and not very powerful but I've been able to use it for repairs to our AGLCA flag and clothes. I made a hanging bag for holding our binoculars, vhf radio and GPS while underway. It hangs from our hand rail by a strap with a quick snap. Dave is excited to have the equipment stored but available during travel.