8am is a horrid time to be up. But again I did it. Tim and I intended marking and cutting templates today. We did, but not at 8am when we intended. Nor did we manage as many as I hoped. We marked up for 10 pieces of Treadmaster and we cut 4 half pieces of MDF template, actually finishing at 9pm tonight,
We did a few runarounds too... went to King Malu to pick up the genoa and sail cover as Tim would see Charmaine later in the day and then we went to one of the electronic stores to get a push button switch and a couple of fuses.
Over lunch I went down to the boat and completed the grey and white paintwork. Now what I really wanted was some more Awlgrip T0031 brushing reducer, but I forgot to call Haris at Ocean Marine in Limassol in time before he closed. Just about had enough, but with none to spare!
I between all this Tim and I did some office work and Tim did a trip into the mountains.
So, the big question: Will we actually make it and get a sail on Tuesday?
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Engine working... sort of...
Early morning looked like the time most likely to have very low wind. So I managed to get down to King Malu by 8am. That is not really a Richard time of the day. I prefer to think there should be only one 8 o'clock in the day and that is evening. Anyhow, it was calm so I hoisted the repaired genoa and then hoisted the new sail cover which we bought from Lee Sail Covers in the USA. It looked great.
When Tim arrived we then measured out the sheets for the genoa and worked out how it will fly. I must say I am looking forward to seeing her sail.
Then Ken arrived and Tim and he set about working on getting the injectors out to take back to the workshop that repaired them in the first place. The labelled each of them, knowing that number 4 was the one that had been showing air and might therefore have been faulty.
When they got to the workshop the guy takes them and one by one puts them on the test rig: First one OK, second one OK, third one OK... by now Tim and Ken were thinking they might have been mistaken about a faulty injector. Last one... faulty. Ken asked what number it was. The technician looks at the injector and says '4'. Ken and Tim pass knowing glances.
Meanwhile I was rigging the rest of the boat: kicking straps for main and mizzen booms and sheet for the mizzen sail. Just enough left on the 'reel deal' from Mailspeed Marine. But we will have to order another 100 metres from them: The spinnaker halyard needs at least 37 metres; the genoa halyard is also slightly worn... OK, so we will not be flying the spinnaker yet, but the spinnaker halyard is what we attach the bosuns chair to in order to go up the main mast, and that I do need to fix the wind speed/direction indicator for the Raymarine navitronics.
When Ken and Tim arrive back they replace the injectors, replace the connection to the fuel lift pump and check all the timing. No luck. They slightly advance the pump and the engine leaps into life. Great. Except there is a leak in the oil lubrication system and a couple of litres is pumped out into the bilge.
While Ken and Tim are working on the engine, I get some more wood from NEK to eventually mount the cooker and then paint a second top coat of grey on the stern cabin roof. I say second top coat, but the first was matt and had not taken at all well. I now know why the instructions are severe about the humidity in the atmosphere when you are using Awlgrip paints: Today the grey top coat behaved like a totally different paint and went on like a dream... as all the other top coats had.
They have also acquired a oil extract pump from Comar Marine, with the intention of pumping out through the dip stick. They do extract this thick gunky oil eventually and replace with fresh oil.
That is the point I left them, replacing with fresh oil. I shall be interested to know is the engine started reliably again.
When Tim arrived we then measured out the sheets for the genoa and worked out how it will fly. I must say I am looking forward to seeing her sail.
Then Ken arrived and Tim and he set about working on getting the injectors out to take back to the workshop that repaired them in the first place. The labelled each of them, knowing that number 4 was the one that had been showing air and might therefore have been faulty.
When they got to the workshop the guy takes them and one by one puts them on the test rig: First one OK, second one OK, third one OK... by now Tim and Ken were thinking they might have been mistaken about a faulty injector. Last one... faulty. Ken asked what number it was. The technician looks at the injector and says '4'. Ken and Tim pass knowing glances.
Meanwhile I was rigging the rest of the boat: kicking straps for main and mizzen booms and sheet for the mizzen sail. Just enough left on the 'reel deal' from Mailspeed Marine. But we will have to order another 100 metres from them: The spinnaker halyard needs at least 37 metres; the genoa halyard is also slightly worn... OK, so we will not be flying the spinnaker yet, but the spinnaker halyard is what we attach the bosuns chair to in order to go up the main mast, and that I do need to fix the wind speed/direction indicator for the Raymarine navitronics.
When Ken and Tim arrive back they replace the injectors, replace the connection to the fuel lift pump and check all the timing. No luck. They slightly advance the pump and the engine leaps into life. Great. Except there is a leak in the oil lubrication system and a couple of litres is pumped out into the bilge.
'Did anybody bring this empty milk bottle to the boat for a reason?'
'Yes, to cut off and use for a paintbrush washing pot'
'Ah... 'cos I have just squashed it and put it in the bin'I learnt it helps to tell your partners the reason for bizarre activities like bringing empty milk containers to the boat!
While Ken and Tim are working on the engine, I get some more wood from NEK to eventually mount the cooker and then paint a second top coat of grey on the stern cabin roof. I say second top coat, but the first was matt and had not taken at all well. I now know why the instructions are severe about the humidity in the atmosphere when you are using Awlgrip paints: Today the grey top coat behaved like a totally different paint and went on like a dream... as all the other top coats had.
They have also acquired a oil extract pump from Comar Marine, with the intention of pumping out through the dip stick. They do extract this thick gunky oil eventually and replace with fresh oil.
That is the point I left them, replacing with fresh oil. I shall be interested to know is the engine started reliably again.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Engines are frustrating!
The weather was sadly still not up to getting the genoa rigged, nor was it low enough humidity to paint the deck.
Today was 'carry on getting the engine going' day. And failing again too. However I did manage to get all the electrics finished and have the LED bulbs now all working. The galley looks great with both strip lights and the strip light above the chart table is pretty bright and useful.
I had hoped to trace the electrics for the engine start, but I failed on that. It's very strange, should be straightforward. But then it seems nothing with this engine is straightforward. I don't know how many times we checked and modified the timing on the engine today. However, the biggest problem seemed to be that we were getting air coming out of number 4 cylinder injector rather than pure fuel. We traced the problem throughout and even went to gravity feeding the fuel to bypass the lift pump but still no joy.
I brought down to King Malu the new cooker. Now I need to find a way to mount it where the old one was located. Having a gas cylinder means that we should be able to get the cooker going soon.
Tim chatted with a friend and found a marine diesel engineer to speak to. He thought the engine was a good one and should be possible to get going. He suggested some of the things we had tried and a couple more to try tomorrow. Sadly he is not available to come and help for at least a week.
Oh well... tomorrow is another day.
Today was 'carry on getting the engine going' day. And failing again too. However I did manage to get all the electrics finished and have the LED bulbs now all working. The galley looks great with both strip lights and the strip light above the chart table is pretty bright and useful.
I had hoped to trace the electrics for the engine start, but I failed on that. It's very strange, should be straightforward. But then it seems nothing with this engine is straightforward. I don't know how many times we checked and modified the timing on the engine today. However, the biggest problem seemed to be that we were getting air coming out of number 4 cylinder injector rather than pure fuel. We traced the problem throughout and even went to gravity feeding the fuel to bypass the lift pump but still no joy.
I brought down to King Malu the new cooker. Now I need to find a way to mount it where the old one was located. Having a gas cylinder means that we should be able to get the cooker going soon.
Tim chatted with a friend and found a marine diesel engineer to speak to. He thought the engine was a good one and should be possible to get going. He suggested some of the things we had tried and a couple more to try tomorrow. Sadly he is not available to come and help for at least a week.
Oh well... tomorrow is another day.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
High wind produces change of plans
The plan today had been to create the MDF templates for the Treadmaster. But first things first: Normally the wind is lowest at the beginning and end of the day and so we hopes to hoist the genoa and then put the sail bag on it. However, as we arrived the wind was from the south which would have filled the sail and was stronger than we wanted, so we abandoned that idea.
Walking back to the car to go and cut the templates the wind was rising so we called ahead and realised that it would be impossible to cut templates on Tim's fifth floor balcony. So back to King Malu for some onboard work.
Tim worked on fixing a small leak from the galley tap, while I worked on changing the batteries round. We have three banks of batteries: Two 90 hour batteries for navitronics, three 90 hour batteries for domestic and a single 100 hour engine start battery. This required mounting the two navitronics batteries under the sink in the starboard galley. So I moved the batteries around and finished off the battery work. It was nice to see the top of the battery box go on!
George arrived back with Galene... and our gas bottle. So now sometime we can get the cooker fitted.
Then we both began work on finishing the electrics: We purchased a couple of DC to DC converters to ensure that the new LED bulbs get under 13 volts and have a constant voltage. So we took off all the power panels above the chart table and wired those in. We also started wiring the new chart table lighting in place. To be continued... wiring that is.
Walking back to the car to go and cut the templates the wind was rising so we called ahead and realised that it would be impossible to cut templates on Tim's fifth floor balcony. So back to King Malu for some onboard work.
Tim worked on fixing a small leak from the galley tap, while I worked on changing the batteries round. We have three banks of batteries: Two 90 hour batteries for navitronics, three 90 hour batteries for domestic and a single 100 hour engine start battery. This required mounting the two navitronics batteries under the sink in the starboard galley. So I moved the batteries around and finished off the battery work. It was nice to see the top of the battery box go on!
George arrived back with Galene... and our gas bottle. So now sometime we can get the cooker fitted.
Then we both began work on finishing the electrics: We purchased a couple of DC to DC converters to ensure that the new LED bulbs get under 13 volts and have a constant voltage. So we took off all the power panels above the chart table and wired those in. We also started wiring the new chart table lighting in place. To be continued... wiring that is.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Engine working... not!
When we arrived we put the foredeck grab rain down on the deck, upside down, as an indicator of where it will go and then tried positioning the life raft container we had borrowed for sizing from Ilias yesterday. It looks like a new cylinder life raft will just fit on the for'ard cabin roof giving maybe 5 centimetres space to the for'ard hatch. And it should fit such that it will not obscure sight line to the bow, maybe just hiding the bow fairleads, but basically we know it will now fit.
We also realised that putting the life raft there we can convert the life raft locker to have a drain to the hull side and use it for both a petrol (gasoline) locker and store the mizzen staysail above the petrol for easy deployment.
Today was get the engine going day. Tim and I had previously installed the injection pump that had been serviced and got to the point where we are confused as to how the tacho sensor fitted on the rear of the injection pump.
Ken (resident expert and teacher) met us at 8:30 and started where we had left off. The tacho sensor is supposed to have an anti-clockwise thread so that a nut with clockwise/anticlock thread would pull the sensor to the injection pump. However... the thread to mate with the injection pump was non-existant and had been gunked up with some kind of glue that had now departed the world of the living and was thus not helping. After cleaning and checking and thinking about it we will add some engine grade epoxy (Pratley's Putty) and all should be well. We left that and moved on...
We reassembled the water system, fitted the timing belt and checked the timing on the engine. All looked great. Took the engine round two revolutions to check that the timing was still in.
OK, so I glossed over 'fitted the timing belt'. There is a tensioner wheel on a swinging arm against the timing belt, which has an extremely powerful spring to tension up the belt. How do you fis this? The service manual just says something helpful like 'fit the tensioner'. Last time Ken took the spring off, used the machine vice to bring the spring together, tied it with brown string, refitted it all than then cut the string. With three off us we were sure we could find a better way... we tried levering it... we tried attacking cord and pulling it... we tried everything we could think of... after a couple of hours trying we reverted to the brown string method. When Tim used the boat safety knife to cut the string it was like launching a boat: I name this ship Brown String.
Mid morning Charmiane came by and dropped off our genoa and mizzen staysail. The genoa had been quite a lot of work, but the staysail was just one small patch. Tomorrow, if there is low wind from the right direction I will dig out the genoa cover and we will try hoisting and leaving it up. King Malu is coming back to life!
Back to the engine: The fuel goes through a separator before a filter before the lift pump. The separator was brown with gunk. So we stripped and cleaned it in paraffin (kerosene). That took quite a while, but in the end the you could see light again through the filter holes. The glass had been brown with sediment, eventually it was clear and you could see the fuel. When we'd tested the engine before servicing the injector pump we had bypassed the main fuel system, and looking at it as we cleaned it, we wondered how the engine ran at all coming into Larnaka all those years ago.
OK, now with everything fitted its ready to try it. After a couple of revolutions there was fuel pumping out of the injector pump... but only for cylinder number four. So having bled it to the injector Ken tightened that up, expecting to see it then come out for cylinders three, two and one. But nothing did. The lift pump appeared to do its job, fuel was where it should be. Ken tried this and that and eventually had to admit he was baffled. So we will all go down to the workshop that serviced the pump on Monday morning. We're all hoping it's something simple, and not that they will say 'bring the pump back, that sounds like a fault'.
The weather was strange most of the day, overcast in the morning and almost looking like rain at lunchtime so I didn't do any painting till mide afternoon when it looked obvious it wouldn't rain. My target was a layer of grey paint over the stern cabin. We had decided to change the paint over the stern cabin from white to grey to match in with the Treadmaster we are going to use there. Originally we had planned white with white Treadmaster, but we realised that we will be boarding off the stern all the time and so the white would likely as not look very tatty very quickly. I cleaned the white with a dry cloth and then cleaned it with Awlgrip reducer (as per their recommendations) but it didn't seem to take very well. I don't know why.
As I was painting one of our neighbours came by, a Russian guy who has been sailing for more than 40 years, and asked about what I was doing. He often stops to watch and pass the time of day. He's another Awlgrip paint fan. I explained just what I did in the previous paragraph... to which he asked 'Yes, but why grey?' Well, there's no answer to that really, other than we think it will look smart.
Ken and Tim meanwhile were working out how to mount the alternator. You may think this was just a case of 'put it back where it was' but when we bought the boat the alternator was not mounted on the engine and the adjustment mount was broken. We hummed and harred about it and looked and wondered... eventually Ken went home for some 8mm studding he had and we mounted it off that, with a new hole drilled in the broken adjuster bracket. It looks in exactly the position shown in the service manual, but we have no idea at all how it was mounted in the past as there are no fittings on the boat that would work.
Well, that's it for the day. We really were hoping that the engine would be running today. We could hear cylinder number four firing and the engine attempting to run, but it needs more than one cylinder firing to run.
We also realised that putting the life raft there we can convert the life raft locker to have a drain to the hull side and use it for both a petrol (gasoline) locker and store the mizzen staysail above the petrol for easy deployment.
Today was get the engine going day. Tim and I had previously installed the injection pump that had been serviced and got to the point where we are confused as to how the tacho sensor fitted on the rear of the injection pump.
Ken (resident expert and teacher) met us at 8:30 and started where we had left off. The tacho sensor is supposed to have an anti-clockwise thread so that a nut with clockwise/anticlock thread would pull the sensor to the injection pump. However... the thread to mate with the injection pump was non-existant and had been gunked up with some kind of glue that had now departed the world of the living and was thus not helping. After cleaning and checking and thinking about it we will add some engine grade epoxy (Pratley's Putty) and all should be well. We left that and moved on...
We reassembled the water system, fitted the timing belt and checked the timing on the engine. All looked great. Took the engine round two revolutions to check that the timing was still in.
OK, so I glossed over 'fitted the timing belt'. There is a tensioner wheel on a swinging arm against the timing belt, which has an extremely powerful spring to tension up the belt. How do you fis this? The service manual just says something helpful like 'fit the tensioner'. Last time Ken took the spring off, used the machine vice to bring the spring together, tied it with brown string, refitted it all than then cut the string. With three off us we were sure we could find a better way... we tried levering it... we tried attacking cord and pulling it... we tried everything we could think of... after a couple of hours trying we reverted to the brown string method. When Tim used the boat safety knife to cut the string it was like launching a boat: I name this ship Brown String.
Mid morning Charmiane came by and dropped off our genoa and mizzen staysail. The genoa had been quite a lot of work, but the staysail was just one small patch. Tomorrow, if there is low wind from the right direction I will dig out the genoa cover and we will try hoisting and leaving it up. King Malu is coming back to life!
Back to the engine: The fuel goes through a separator before a filter before the lift pump. The separator was brown with gunk. So we stripped and cleaned it in paraffin (kerosene). That took quite a while, but in the end the you could see light again through the filter holes. The glass had been brown with sediment, eventually it was clear and you could see the fuel. When we'd tested the engine before servicing the injector pump we had bypassed the main fuel system, and looking at it as we cleaned it, we wondered how the engine ran at all coming into Larnaka all those years ago.
OK, now with everything fitted its ready to try it. After a couple of revolutions there was fuel pumping out of the injector pump... but only for cylinder number four. So having bled it to the injector Ken tightened that up, expecting to see it then come out for cylinders three, two and one. But nothing did. The lift pump appeared to do its job, fuel was where it should be. Ken tried this and that and eventually had to admit he was baffled. So we will all go down to the workshop that serviced the pump on Monday morning. We're all hoping it's something simple, and not that they will say 'bring the pump back, that sounds like a fault'.
The weather was strange most of the day, overcast in the morning and almost looking like rain at lunchtime so I didn't do any painting till mide afternoon when it looked obvious it wouldn't rain. My target was a layer of grey paint over the stern cabin. We had decided to change the paint over the stern cabin from white to grey to match in with the Treadmaster we are going to use there. Originally we had planned white with white Treadmaster, but we realised that we will be boarding off the stern all the time and so the white would likely as not look very tatty very quickly. I cleaned the white with a dry cloth and then cleaned it with Awlgrip reducer (as per their recommendations) but it didn't seem to take very well. I don't know why.
As I was painting one of our neighbours came by, a Russian guy who has been sailing for more than 40 years, and asked about what I was doing. He often stops to watch and pass the time of day. He's another Awlgrip paint fan. I explained just what I did in the previous paragraph... to which he asked 'Yes, but why grey?' Well, there's no answer to that really, other than we think it will look smart.
Ken and Tim meanwhile were working out how to mount the alternator. You may think this was just a case of 'put it back where it was' but when we bought the boat the alternator was not mounted on the engine and the adjustment mount was broken. We hummed and harred about it and looked and wondered... eventually Ken went home for some 8mm studding he had and we mounted it off that, with a new hole drilled in the broken adjuster bracket. It looks in exactly the position shown in the service manual, but we have no idea at all how it was mounted in the past as there are no fittings on the boat that would work.
Well, that's it for the day. We really were hoping that the engine would be running today. We could hear cylinder number four firing and the engine attempting to run, but it needs more than one cylinder firing to run.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Life raft and Sails
Today was a trip around to try to get our sails and life raft serviced. The genoa we knew we had problems with and the life raft we were suspicious would be written off.
First stop was Charmiane in Nicosia, who is the sailmaker/repairer in Cyprus. We opened up all the sails with her and checked them all. The genoa was as we suspected needing some work along the leech of the sail. The genoa is furling and had extra material to save it from sun damage. Over the years this had rotted away and Tim had unpicked what was remaining. There was some damage to the leech, but Charmiane had seen much worse and will repair it.
The main sail was in fair condition, needing a very small amount of work. The mizzen staysail was in very good condition, needing only one patch for a very small rip less than 1cm long. The mizzen sail was patched badly, so the old patches will need to be removed and re-patched. The asymmetric spinnaker was salt laden and in desparate need of a wash. There were a couple of places this needed work.
Charmiane will work on the main, genoa and mizzen and hopefully have them ready for us by next weekend so we can sail on Easter monday.
Then on to the DIY store to look for a some tools for the boat. We still haven't found bolt cutters.
Finally down to Limassol to visit Elias Liassis who does all the safety checks for Cyprus life rafts. As he unpacked it he remarked that it was not vacuum sealed, as it should have been, and was not happy with the glue. He weighed the CO2 cylinder and found that it had not leaked. Then he inflated the life raft with dry air. Seeing it inflate I was surprised as it looked quite good and serviceable.
The build date was July 1990, approx 20 years ago. The US Coast Guard don't recommend using a life raft more than 14 years old.
Next was to check the valves. One was leaking slightly and the bungs were perished, but replacement bungs made it fine.
Then Elias put the life raft up on stands and he got inside and inspected.
The glue still troubled him and with a plastic spatula he pushed at the join between the tubes and the base. It came away. We turned the life raft over and pulled ever so gently (two fingers) at the separated base... it came right away easily. The life raft is a right off.
Elias found the relevant email update from the company that built the life raft and it said that if the glue was brown and shiny then it is likely to fail. The glue should be transparent.
So now we are faced with what to do. Two options: The cheaper option is a second hand one that will require servicing every year (at a cost) and a brand new one that can be serviced every three years. But... it's a canister life raft (which is better in some ways) and we are not sure if it will fit on the deck. We have borrowed an empty canister to test tomorrow.
Finally we discussed flares and emergency rations and grab bag.
Well, it was not entirely unexpected that the life raft was a write off, still we had been hoping not. But the moral of the story: Get your life raft checked regularly and serviced by the proper people.
First stop was Charmiane in Nicosia, who is the sailmaker/repairer in Cyprus. We opened up all the sails with her and checked them all. The genoa was as we suspected needing some work along the leech of the sail. The genoa is furling and had extra material to save it from sun damage. Over the years this had rotted away and Tim had unpicked what was remaining. There was some damage to the leech, but Charmiane had seen much worse and will repair it.
The main sail was in fair condition, needing a very small amount of work. The mizzen staysail was in very good condition, needing only one patch for a very small rip less than 1cm long. The mizzen sail was patched badly, so the old patches will need to be removed and re-patched. The asymmetric spinnaker was salt laden and in desparate need of a wash. There were a couple of places this needed work.
Charmiane will work on the main, genoa and mizzen and hopefully have them ready for us by next weekend so we can sail on Easter monday.
Then on to the DIY store to look for a some tools for the boat. We still haven't found bolt cutters.
Finally down to Limassol to visit Elias Liassis who does all the safety checks for Cyprus life rafts. As he unpacked it he remarked that it was not vacuum sealed, as it should have been, and was not happy with the glue. He weighed the CO2 cylinder and found that it had not leaked. Then he inflated the life raft with dry air. Seeing it inflate I was surprised as it looked quite good and serviceable.
The build date was July 1990, approx 20 years ago. The US Coast Guard don't recommend using a life raft more than 14 years old.
Next was to check the valves. One was leaking slightly and the bungs were perished, but replacement bungs made it fine.Then Elias put the life raft up on stands and he got inside and inspected.
The glue still troubled him and with a plastic spatula he pushed at the join between the tubes and the base. It came away. We turned the life raft over and pulled ever so gently (two fingers) at the separated base... it came right away easily. The life raft is a right off.
Elias found the relevant email update from the company that built the life raft and it said that if the glue was brown and shiny then it is likely to fail. The glue should be transparent.
So now we are faced with what to do. Two options: The cheaper option is a second hand one that will require servicing every year (at a cost) and a brand new one that can be serviced every three years. But... it's a canister life raft (which is better in some ways) and we are not sure if it will fit on the deck. We have borrowed an empty canister to test tomorrow.Finally we discussed flares and emergency rations and grab bag.
Well, it was not entirely unexpected that the life raft was a write off, still we had been hoping not. But the moral of the story: Get your life raft checked regularly and serviced by the proper people.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Ticking off the list
Today we had a list of things to do:
We chatted briefly with George who is sailing Galene to Lebanon over the next few days. Hopefully he will meet up with Mark, who is flying there tomorrow and then will pass over a gas cylinder to bring back. In Cyprus we have only one size of small gas cylinder. And it's too big to fit in the gas locker!
The templates for the Treadmaster were a bit of a pain. They seemed to have shrunk in places and stretched in others. We could not figure that really, but having complete the first Treadmaster laying we knew what we wanted from the templates and have re-jigged them to be as good as we can. On Sunday we hope to cut the wood templates.
Refitting the injector pump? Well, that was also a pain, but one we were expecting. We tried for a hour before lunch, then Tim went to take a friend to Agia Napa and I went into the office to fix a problem since I am 'on call' this week. When we came back I was ensconced in the white top coat and Tim started the battle with the injector pump.
Suddenly he realised that the four studs holding the cogwheel on the front were finger tight. This mean the studs could be removed, as could the cogwheel and then the injector pump fitted in less than 5 minutes. Now that makes it hundreds of times easier.
I then took over from Tim in refitting parts attached to the engine. First problem, it appeared that a long 8cm bolt to hold a bracket on the engine was missing. Hunted high and low and didn't find it. Then tried to fit the tacho sensor to the back of the injector pump. That didn't seem to mate and fit at all.
Final jobs: Tim went to do the Epidermix on the deck.
'Where have you painted?'
'Around the bulls-eye and back from there'
Meanwhile, Mark and I tried to fit the red light fitting. But 'little blue' had disappeared. Little blue is a tiny screw driver. We have only one of this size and its needed to undo/rescrew choc block. So we tidied up in an attempt to find it. And still failed.
'Aiiii... I stood on wet paint. I thought you said only behind the bulls-eye and this is in front of the bulls-eye?'
I suddenly remembered that when I said back I was thinking of back in the sense of working back from the stern to the foc'sle not in the sense of front and back of the boat. In other words 'not that back the other back'. And I also forgot that I had retouched around the gas locker. Ooops... so I had to retouch the paint again.
Oh well... anyhow a really good days work.
I phoned Ken in the evening and he thinks the bolt may be missing from the bracket, and that the tacho sensor should fit. We'll wait till he comes on Saturday and find out.
- Refit the injector pump on the engine
- Sand and clean stern, toilet lid and binnacle
- Modify light fitting to take new switch
- Epoxy undercoat stern, toilet lid and binnacle
- Top coat white stern, toilet lid, second toilet seat and binnacle
- Put 40 litres of diesel in the tank
- Check the deck templates
- Epidermix fill final 'dings' in the deck
- Top coat grey over stern cabin
- Varnish coat 3
- Fit new LED bulbs
- Fit new red LED switch/fitting
- Bleed the fuel system
- Replace hoses and check the water system
We chatted briefly with George who is sailing Galene to Lebanon over the next few days. Hopefully he will meet up with Mark, who is flying there tomorrow and then will pass over a gas cylinder to bring back. In Cyprus we have only one size of small gas cylinder. And it's too big to fit in the gas locker!
The templates for the Treadmaster were a bit of a pain. They seemed to have shrunk in places and stretched in others. We could not figure that really, but having complete the first Treadmaster laying we knew what we wanted from the templates and have re-jigged them to be as good as we can. On Sunday we hope to cut the wood templates.
Refitting the injector pump? Well, that was also a pain, but one we were expecting. We tried for a hour before lunch, then Tim went to take a friend to Agia Napa and I went into the office to fix a problem since I am 'on call' this week. When we came back I was ensconced in the white top coat and Tim started the battle with the injector pump.
Suddenly he realised that the four studs holding the cogwheel on the front were finger tight. This mean the studs could be removed, as could the cogwheel and then the injector pump fitted in less than 5 minutes. Now that makes it hundreds of times easier.
I then took over from Tim in refitting parts attached to the engine. First problem, it appeared that a long 8cm bolt to hold a bracket on the engine was missing. Hunted high and low and didn't find it. Then tried to fit the tacho sensor to the back of the injector pump. That didn't seem to mate and fit at all.
Final jobs: Tim went to do the Epidermix on the deck.
'Where have you painted?'
'Around the bulls-eye and back from there'
Meanwhile, Mark and I tried to fit the red light fitting. But 'little blue' had disappeared. Little blue is a tiny screw driver. We have only one of this size and its needed to undo/rescrew choc block. So we tidied up in an attempt to find it. And still failed.
'Aiiii... I stood on wet paint. I thought you said only behind the bulls-eye and this is in front of the bulls-eye?'
I suddenly remembered that when I said back I was thinking of back in the sense of working back from the stern to the foc'sle not in the sense of front and back of the boat. In other words 'not that back the other back'. And I also forgot that I had retouched around the gas locker. Ooops... so I had to retouch the paint again.
Oh well... anyhow a really good days work.
I phoned Ken in the evening and he thinks the bolt may be missing from the bracket, and that the tacho sensor should fit. We'll wait till he comes on Saturday and find out.
Monday, 22 March 2010
TJ-clamp... the warm-blooded equivalent to a G-clamp.
This is the new model TJ-clamp. It replaces the older G-clamp used to hold wood in place.
Tim and Jacob are sitting on the gangplank to hold it steady while I sand the end. Now the discussion is whether to paint or varnish... painting wins, with a Treadmaster layer to walk up.
It has had two coats of cellulose sanding sealer, followed by two coats of VA2 polyurethane varnish. A light sanding and at least one more coat of VA2.
This is teak and had been looking very weathered. We rubbed it down and coated it with cellulose sanding sealer and here's what it too looks like with two layers of VA2.
People are stopping to ask about the wood treatment...
If you look closely at the photo you will see a cat's paw print. Hmmm... not too impressed with cats leaving paw prints in white paint, but I guess getting rid of any rodents in the marina is the upside.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
More templates
Today Tim was alone, as Richard and Sue were at an Orthodox christening.
Overnight we had left blue masking tape holding together the corners of the Treadmaster. Tim removed those, took the photo and then covered the Treadmaster with plastic sheet. The aim of the plastic sheet is to protect it while we are still painting/gluing etc.
Tim also rechecked the cardboard template for the port side and made one for the stern cabin deck. Finally he filled all the dings on the port side of the deck with Epidermix. All looked good and hopefully be ready for the laying some of the Treadmaster next weekend.
Overnight we had left blue masking tape holding together the corners of the Treadmaster. Tim removed those, took the photo and then covered the Treadmaster with plastic sheet. The aim of the plastic sheet is to protect it while we are still painting/gluing etc.
Tim also rechecked the cardboard template for the port side and made one for the stern cabin deck. Finally he filled all the dings on the port side of the deck with Epidermix. All looked good and hopefully be ready for the laying some of the Treadmaster next weekend.
Laying Treadmaster
Today was the day we laid our first Treadmaster. We had been working towards this day for weeks. This is where we had got to: Removed the old Treadmaster, sanded the deck, filled the deck with Epidermix...
... and made a template out of cardboard.
Tim had suggested that we convert the cardboard template to a thin MDF template. This was a brilliant idea, based on the plastic templates shown on the Treadmaster video. We found it really helped, both in protecting cuts and in creating a smooth rounded cutting template.
Here were the steps: We had the MDF cut to be identical to the size of the Treadmaster sheets. So we laid out the cardboard on top of the MDF to work out the most efficient cutting. Then transfer the shapes with pencil to the MDF.
Next step was to cut out the transferred shapes in the MDF with a jigsaw. When you started then it went much quicker than expected and evened up some of the cardboard template. Sometimes it proved easier for the second person to move the MDF while the other person moved the jigsaw.
Then we then took the MDF templates down to King Malu to check them a final time before cutting the Treadmaster.
One of the things we found was that the circles for the dorades were tighter than we needed. So we marked up the circles on the MDF and then used a circle template to re-draw and then re-cut them with the jigsaw. When we came to fit the Treadmaster, the re-cut circles proved exactly right.
We also used the circular sander to smooth off the curves. That was also a good step to make the final cut Treadmaster look good.
Cutting the Treadmaster required a significant amount of pressure with a very sharp Stanley knife. We turned each template over, so that we were cutting from the back to the front of the Treadmaster. We changed the blade of the Stanley knife after a few cuts so we were always using an extremely sharp knife.
Then it was back down to King Malu with the cut Treadmaster and the wood templates.
Gluing down was very much more difficult that we expected. We think we perfected the technique so that the rest of the deck should be easier. The problem was that Treadmaster epoxy glue becomes solid and un-spreadable much quicker than the Epidermix we are used to using (we would probably use Epridermix instead of the Treadmaster epoxy if we did this again).
Putting the glue on the Treadmaster and laying in place and then making all the pieces match up was tricky. We could not have done it with one person. And... you need plenty of white spirit for cleaning the glue off where it shouldn't get to.
The final result. Definitely worth it.
Now we just have the rest of the deck to do, the stainless steel fittings to replace and... yes, still a way to go... BUT... the good news we had was that the injector pump for the engine is serviced with all relevant parts replaced so we are still targeting for Easter weekend for first sail.
Tim had suggested that we convert the cardboard template to a thin MDF template. This was a brilliant idea, based on the plastic templates shown on the Treadmaster video. We found it really helped, both in protecting cuts and in creating a smooth rounded cutting template.
Here were the steps: We had the MDF cut to be identical to the size of the Treadmaster sheets. So we laid out the cardboard on top of the MDF to work out the most efficient cutting. Then transfer the shapes with pencil to the MDF.
Then we then took the MDF templates down to King Malu to check them a final time before cutting the Treadmaster.
One of the things we found was that the circles for the dorades were tighter than we needed. So we marked up the circles on the MDF and then used a circle template to re-draw and then re-cut them with the jigsaw. When we came to fit the Treadmaster, the re-cut circles proved exactly right.
Cutting the Treadmaster required a significant amount of pressure with a very sharp Stanley knife. We turned each template over, so that we were cutting from the back to the front of the Treadmaster. We changed the blade of the Stanley knife after a few cuts so we were always using an extremely sharp knife.
Gluing down was very much more difficult that we expected. We think we perfected the technique so that the rest of the deck should be easier. The problem was that Treadmaster epoxy glue becomes solid and un-spreadable much quicker than the Epidermix we are used to using (we would probably use Epridermix instead of the Treadmaster epoxy if we did this again).
Putting the glue on the Treadmaster and laying in place and then making all the pieces match up was tricky. We could not have done it with one person. And... you need plenty of white spirit for cleaning the glue off where it shouldn't get to.
Now we just have the rest of the deck to do, the stainless steel fittings to replace and... yes, still a way to go... BUT... the good news we had was that the injector pump for the engine is serviced with all relevant parts replaced so we are still targeting for Easter weekend for first sail.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Paint, paint, impeller and paint...
Tim and I thought we'd start the weekend off by removing the impeller from the Jabsco raw water pump for the engine. It has sat unmoved for 8 years so we were pretty sure it should be replaced before the engine runs.
The back plate of the pump is about 4-5 cm from the oil filter. Not a sensible place for quick and easy replacement of an impeller at sea, but never mind, we're not at sea. To make things easier we removed the oil filter first. That was straightforward at least. There were only five of the six bolts in the impeller cover plate, and eventually these were removed. Of the five, one was a countersunk type, one or two were OK and at least one had been filed to be a square head to be undone with a mole wrench.
Removing the impeller was easy... with two of us... Tim rotated the pump and I levered with a screw driver. Will have to remember the technique if we have to do it in a sea way. What we need is replacement nuts. Off to Andriou Brothers to see if they have any.
They have 4mm with allen key heads, but these are imperial, approx 5/32 of an inch. Which is very close to 4mm. But is the thread the same? We'll only find out by testing. When we get back to the boat we find they do fit. The advantage of allen key heads is that we can get an allen key into the 4-5cm gap between the raw water pump and the oil filter relatively easily.
Then I find that we don't have as much paint as we need for the weekend. Yes, I know I should have checked and ordered it so that it could be delivered by courier to Larnaca, but I hadn't... so off to Limassol we go.
Actually this was a good start to the weekend. Tim and I had had tiring weeks and so a trip out was a good break and start to the weekend. At Ocean Marine in Limassol, apart from buying the paint, we also found two things: Firstly a stainless steel part that will help us attach the gangplank to the boat and secondly information about where to get the Jabsco impeller.
Finding the store for the impeller was not so easy, but we found it and it proved to be a useful place to know about. As a chandler they seemed to have some of the plumbing parts we had not found at other chandlers or plumbers merchants. I think I should produce a list of useful contacts for yachts visiting Cyprus.
Back to Larnaca... quick lunch and then the afternoon split into two: I spent the afternoon undercoating the side decks and aft deck and Tim spent the afternoon making a template for the starboard side for Treadmaster. Mark and Jacob spent their time helping us. Jacob's like a midshipman and was extremely helpful bringing this and fetching that. Like all midshipmen he is also young and impetuous, in the best possible way:
The midshipman never got it right, but it occupied him for an extended period wondering. We do actually have some masthead work to do in the future but I want to be 100% sure it's safe before going up.
Sunday morning was the start of another painting day for me and finishing the templates for Tim and Mark. No Jacob today.
The next section is PG15... in other words... not to be read by young midshipmen.
I needed to paint the hull superstructure at the stern behind the mizzen mast. To do so I needed to be alongside the hull not on the deck.
How to do it?
The bosun's chair!
Actually this would be a good test of the bosun's chair as if it failed I would just get wet not fall from a height!
It worked well and I painted the first undercoat around the stern and then did first topcoat on the stern cabin deck and halfway along the port side and touched up the grey band and the dorades and... yes a fruitful day painting.
The templates are ready so all in all a very profitable and enjoyable weekend.
The back plate of the pump is about 4-5 cm from the oil filter. Not a sensible place for quick and easy replacement of an impeller at sea, but never mind, we're not at sea. To make things easier we removed the oil filter first. That was straightforward at least. There were only five of the six bolts in the impeller cover plate, and eventually these were removed. Of the five, one was a countersunk type, one or two were OK and at least one had been filed to be a square head to be undone with a mole wrench.
Removing the impeller was easy... with two of us... Tim rotated the pump and I levered with a screw driver. Will have to remember the technique if we have to do it in a sea way. What we need is replacement nuts. Off to Andriou Brothers to see if they have any.
They have 4mm with allen key heads, but these are imperial, approx 5/32 of an inch. Which is very close to 4mm. But is the thread the same? We'll only find out by testing. When we get back to the boat we find they do fit. The advantage of allen key heads is that we can get an allen key into the 4-5cm gap between the raw water pump and the oil filter relatively easily.
Then I find that we don't have as much paint as we need for the weekend. Yes, I know I should have checked and ordered it so that it could be delivered by courier to Larnaca, but I hadn't... so off to Limassol we go.
Actually this was a good start to the weekend. Tim and I had had tiring weeks and so a trip out was a good break and start to the weekend. At Ocean Marine in Limassol, apart from buying the paint, we also found two things: Firstly a stainless steel part that will help us attach the gangplank to the boat and secondly information about where to get the Jabsco impeller.
Finding the store for the impeller was not so easy, but we found it and it proved to be a useful place to know about. As a chandler they seemed to have some of the plumbing parts we had not found at other chandlers or plumbers merchants. I think I should produce a list of useful contacts for yachts visiting Cyprus.
Back to Larnaca... quick lunch and then the afternoon split into two: I spent the afternoon undercoating the side decks and aft deck and Tim spent the afternoon making a template for the starboard side for Treadmaster. Mark and Jacob spent their time helping us. Jacob's like a midshipman and was extremely helpful bringing this and fetching that. Like all midshipmen he is also young and impetuous, in the best possible way:
'Can I climb the mast?'Try another stalling technique...
'No!'
'You said I could be the first up the mast'
'Not until I (Richard) have been up first'
'OK, you said I can be the first non-owner up the mast'
'You can be the first first non-owner up the mast, after I (Richard) have been up the mast'
'Would your mother let you climb the mast?'And so it went on... every stalling technique we could think of. Not admitting we actually knew where the bosun's chair was located, and weaving stories of where it might be... you may know the American Children's game show 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?' It is the second longest running game show in US TV history. Well this was a long running 'Where in the world is the bosun's chair?'
'Yes, if you and Tim let me she would know it was safe'
'Do you think she would go up the mast?'
'Yes, after the new baby is born but not while she is pregnant'
'Your father?'
'No'
'To be safe we need the bosun's chair'
'Where is it?'
The midshipman never got it right, but it occupied him for an extended period wondering. We do actually have some masthead work to do in the future but I want to be 100% sure it's safe before going up.
Sunday morning was the start of another painting day for me and finishing the templates for Tim and Mark. No Jacob today.
The next section is PG15... in other words... not to be read by young midshipmen.
How to do it?
The bosun's chair!
Actually this would be a good test of the bosun's chair as if it failed I would just get wet not fall from a height!
The templates are ready so all in all a very profitable and enjoyable weekend.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Gangplank and grey painting
This week in evenings/spare time we finished the gangplank. It's now very solid. The discussion went on about fixing to King Malu. One night while lying awake I thought of using a hole cutter to cut the side holes so that the gangplank would rest between the gate in the pushpit.
However, today Tim came up with a radically better idea: He found some fittings that attach to stainless steel tube that would allow the gangplank to attach to the boarding ladder. It would be both removable and easily raisable too. We need a couple of stainless steel plates made, but this will definitely be the best solution for the gangplank.
Last couple of days I went down at 4pm for a couple of hours to put a coat of grey paint around the cockpit. That is now finished.
Yesterday was a bit of a minor disaster though. Tim had lent me something valuable which I had put into the top pocket of my jacket. On the way off the boat I picked up a piece of wood and in doing so bent over. I am assuming it then dropped out of my pocket. Anyhow I found it was missing when I got to the car and went back to the boat to check. At that point the lock on the boat absolutely refused to budge. So Tim had to come down and break the lock. Today we have a nice new lock. The old one had been getting worse by the week and the new one is a pleasure to open and close.
I'm hoping tomorrow to get the final painting done so that at the weekend we can get Treadmaster down on the saloon roof at the weekend.
However, today Tim came up with a radically better idea: He found some fittings that attach to stainless steel tube that would allow the gangplank to attach to the boarding ladder. It would be both removable and easily raisable too. We need a couple of stainless steel plates made, but this will definitely be the best solution for the gangplank.
Last couple of days I went down at 4pm for a couple of hours to put a coat of grey paint around the cockpit. That is now finished.
Yesterday was a bit of a minor disaster though. Tim had lent me something valuable which I had put into the top pocket of my jacket. On the way off the boat I picked up a piece of wood and in doing so bent over. I am assuming it then dropped out of my pocket. Anyhow I found it was missing when I got to the car and went back to the boat to check. At that point the lock on the boat absolutely refused to budge. So Tim had to come down and break the lock. Today we have a nice new lock. The old one had been getting worse by the week and the new one is a pleasure to open and close.
I'm hoping tomorrow to get the final painting done so that at the weekend we can get Treadmaster down on the saloon roof at the weekend.
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