Chip & Debbie Willis on s\v Elegant'sea: May 2011

New Shroud boat hook - bungee

We mounted our new boat hook and Debbie put on the bungee chords for security against me loosing it again. They are easy to hook and unhook, get the pun : )

Stern Anchor rode removal, swapped anchor to Fortress - 2011

May 2011 - At Marina Cortez, San Diego, CA

Empty port stern lazarett.

The VHF antenna had to be removed for the dinghy davit installation. Well we thought it did, as it turned out it could have stayed.

Wheel holder

Here is the little cover we put on the wheel shaft. Debbie picked it up. It is a swimming pool stick. We can use the rest of it at the pool!

Stern steps

We were going to replace the cables on the stern steps this past weekend but it was just too much to do.

They are really life lines and they are bolted through. It will take a trip into the lazarett by Debbie to hold the nut or wrench it off so they can be removed.

Later this week or next weekend while we have the boat stern too we will get them off.

Window shade screens - Starboard - 2011

We installed the snaps for the starboard side window shade screen.

Looks good and works nice.

Drilling holes into side of the boat! Had to be careful not to go through the head liner 😊

Davits - installing

We attached the new brackets from Kato Marine to the new welded bottom of the brackets.

We got the dingy davits set in place, we did a lot of adjustments and then slept on it.

First thought

We duck taped them to the stern rail at the bottom.

The next day we decide to move them inboard some.

That way we could fit the outboard motor on. It seems a good fit so we slept on it again.

Then we decide to go ahead and drill the holes and size up the screws for purchasing.

To do this Debbie went below into the lazarett

Debbie searched out the spot for the brackets with her left arm.

Debbie was looking to see also if the backing plates would fit

The area was clear of any issues that would prevent us from drilling through.

Drilling first whole

We replaced the outboard so we could set the davits in place where the motor would fit also

And another whole

Last whole, we marked them off using the backing plate, a Debbie idea that saved us some work

Sizing for the length of the screw wholes. Need to get the screws the right length, that mean Debbie had to go back into the lazerette : )

A couple temporary screws in to hole this side in place

OK one side is set up for final install. We still need to get the real screws and then bolt them in. That will require yet another trip into the lazerette for Debbie!
The davits look straight but being nothing on the stern of the boat is straight up and down it is a bit hard to tell.
We could have moved them inboard another 1/2 inch. We had that much clearance. That so far is the only thing we wish we had done. Not a big deal but every bit of room for the outboard does matter.
Next the other side.

Power washing and Woody's Wax

We scheduled ourselves for power washing and Woody Waxing the boat.

We got the power washer all set up and Debbie was ready to start washing when the power hose popped off.

It has been stripped but we cannot remember how that became to be. Any way after trying duct tape and other means Debbie suggested using plumbers tape.

I was skeptical but will try anything. I could not find the plumbers tape so we used the propane tape. Dam if it did not work great. Now Debbie was off and power washing.

Debbie got it all done including the cockpit. We then followed the Woodys Wax instructions.

It came out fine as water beads off. I was a little disappointed that is did not make the deck shine but it does work well. We will apply another coat in a week or so. Hoping this will make it easier to keep the boat clean.

Sing along

San Diego, CA Marina Cortez 5\31\2011

My sister in law and her husband and my nephew and his girlfriend came by to visit us at our house (the boat).

First time for all to be on the boat. We talked and ate some sandwiches. To do that we put up the salon table and folded it out. We all sat around it just fine (six of us). It was the first time we ever folded out the salon table to its full length. We will probably use it that way for sewing and charting also.

Then we talked and I was coaxed into playing a couple songs.

First was a finger strumming “Blowing in the Wind”

This song has been performed by Bob Dylan and Peter Paul and Marry for example.

flat pickin “Needle and the Damage Done” by Neil Young

I need "my old" man glasses to see the string for this one.

Peter checking out our Rain Song Guitar

Next was a flat pickin “Needle and the Damage Done” by Neil Young

The first song ended up being a partial sing along as Debbie sings the chorus with me and so the others jumped in.

I did not screw up too bad and it was good practice for playing for a small audience.

Peter being Peter

Installed two more propane sensors

The new propane sensors and cable came. We got them installed but one keeps going off. The one in the bilge. We will need to figure that out.

We installed on in the bilge by the starting battery below the stove.

We installed one by where the new propane locker will go.

We already had one under the stove.

Got the 5200 BTU stateroom HVAC unit on the boat - 2011

May 2011 - At Marina Cortez Harbor Island, San Diego, CA

Here are the specs for this Mermaid Marine 5200 BTU HVAC unit

After we had the davits in place set up temporarily I could not resist putting on our new Harken 6.1 blocks and line. They looked so nice. We had polished up the davits some so were looking a bit nicer.

We installed the fuse block to protect the fuse bloc.

Now to wire it up!

That means we need to take some line and measure the wire run from the batteries to the fuse block. Not that easy as it goes under the bed through the bilge and under the settee.

Original bilge pump - assembly - 2011

One of the small screws was stripped. It is on the lower right corner.

So, we got the new fasteners and started to put the pump back together.

Chip & Debbie Willis on s\v Elegant'sea