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

Cap rail caulking

We got some cap rail caulking done with the 3M 4000 UV. The caulking started to get a little messy as my hands got messy. What we did came out good though. We need to quit early as we were off to dinner with some dock mates who are leaving this Saturday to go cruising. First they are headed up to Newport to see some friends and then to Mexico.

Debbie put the first coat of Pro-Line Paint on the propane box( locker)! - 2011

Debbie finished up painting the propane locker and one more coat will do it.

This is the two part epoxy paint we bought from Pro-Line Paint Co..

Salon Windows - current

Here are a couple more videos of our current salon windows on a sunny day.

Refer, freezer epoxy painted! - 2011

September 2011 - At Marina Cortez, San Diego, CA

Wow does the refer look good now. We spent at least three hours sanding the refer, the both of us at the same time were sanding away.

The new bilge pump arrived. Whale Gulper IC Diaphragm Bilge Pump Kit. We got it from Defender.com.

Solar panel and fasteners etc purchased - 2011

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

United fasteners in San Diego.

Air Breeze Wind Turbine Marine 160W 12V purchased - 2011

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

We purchased the Primus Air Breeze wind generator Turbine Marine 160W 12V.

Propane locker paint started - 2011

September 2011 Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

I had to do a little touch up sanding first.

Got the two new lights up over the settee and they work really nice. They light up the boat, so it is brighter and seems bigger. No dark corners.

Engine coolant to HWH

We posted a message in the beta forum about our engine coolant to the hot water heater plumbing. We were wondering if there is room by the oil hand pump for changing the oil. This fitting goes under the manifold near the hand pump. They said the custom motor mounts Phil had made may be in the way, may not.

You can see where the elbow screws into here in the underside of the ex host manifold

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From the forum:

82353.activeboard.com/

Normal installation

“This will be the return water heater fitting. It installs in the underside of the heat exchanger at the aft end.

Your last photo just shows the plug that is removed to allow a 90 deg elbow and a 5/8" hose adaptor to be installed.

If you can first turn in the 90 degree fitting you will then be able to turn in the hose adaptor which typically points aft.

You have custom mounts that obstruct this area more than is normal. The oil pump is less of an obstruction.

It is hard to judge from your photos but I think you will just have room to install the fitting as shown.”

We want to install the water heater and then the coolant tank and then plumb it. We will then have Phil put in the engine fittings and test it out.

New windows from Marks Plastics arrived , real glass - 2011

Mark of Marks Plastics making the window delivery with Debbie.

OK we finished the fiber glassing of the refer!! Now for some good sanding and paint.

Let’s move on from this long messy side of the fridge😊

Old fixture removed - guts.

J.D. from Downwind Marine gave us four florescent overhead salon lights that he removed from his boat. These lights go under the deck and over the salon seating and the settee setting. There are two on each side of the boat.

Prepared teak and holy sole added varnish today

We prepared the Teak and holy sole for some varnish today and applied one coat of “Captains Varnish” to it where I had dropped some PVC glue primer on the sole.

There were seven spots to be touched up.

These two spots are prepared for the varnish

Refer glassing! - 2011

We worked on the refer glassing last night and have come close to finishing it. We learned a trick for doing the top underside. I must say it is about time after all the grief we have had doing this underside. One part of it is the difficulty in seeing what we are doing. Working with a mirror is not pleasant.

Ordered another Kyocera Solar 135 watt panel! - 2011

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

Darn, had to order another Kyocera Solar KD-135GX 135 Watt12 Volt Solar Electric Panel!

I had thought we ordered two of these and one 85 watt. Guess I was wrong. Just cost us more cash because we thought this panel ordering was done. Oh well.

We purchased these at solar-electric.com.

Beta engine touch up paint

PlastiKote Engine Enamel 209 Universal Red is the paint that matches the Beta engine to an exact match.

plastikote.com
Matches spot on. Apply slowly in very light coats

Car Quest Carquest Auto Parts, 1277 Morena Boulevard, San Diego, CA
Marina blvd - 619 276 8141 (1277 Marina blvd, San Diego) - has four cans!

K street - 619 685 1500

Rail hinges came for bimini frame

The 1" rail hinge mounts came from marinepartdepot !
Ya!!

Loews Crown Isle Marina at the Loews Coronado Resort for R&R - 2011

September 2011 - At the Loews Crown Isle Marina in the Loews Coronado Resort San Diego, CA

We had gone to Loews Coronado Resort last weekend for some R & R.

Whale Gulper Bilge IC Pump Kit - ordered - 2011

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

We just ordered a new bilge pump from Defender.com (1156010).

It is the Whale IC Kit 12V Gulper IC Pump & Strainer IC. They have a sale going and we had this item was on our list.

We have one of these pumps as our shower sump also. This will give us the possibility of swapping one out for the other as they are interchangeable.

Gordon West Technician Class Study Manual

9\21\2011 Marina Cortez in San Diego, CA Harbor Island

Just ordered the book "Gordon West Technician Class Study Manual" from amazon.com/.

Winmor and Winlink

While looking into the ham test I found out that:

Winmor is a group on Yahoo and that group is about the Winmor software. You do need a callsign to sign up for the group, so a ham license.

Winmor software is software that runs on the PC and takes the place of the Pactor modem. The Winmor software works with Winlink and Winlink requires a cllsign also. While it is not for everyone it is an option for some.

As for the ham test, when you pass the Technicians license you then can get a callsign.

Blow up Aere fender cover - arrived - 2011

We finally got our Aere blow up fender cover. It is a color we like so any more will be ordered with this cover also “Dusky Beige”.

Hamradiolicenseexam.com

I just signed at hamradiolicenseexam.com and started studing. Looks like the March time table is getting bumped up :)

Refer - re-do-dance

We worked on the refer last night. We had decide over last weekend to work on the refer every night after work until we get burned out (reality) or until it is done. We were working on the refer every Wednesday and Saturday but things get into the way and then the work does not happen. It is lagging and we need to get this done.

We finished removing the fiberglass that was not set up and the epoxy that did not set up. It was a hard and nasty job. Re-work and time better spent on completing the project not tearing it apart. Stuff happens though and then we need to keep referring along.

Tonight we hope to apply a layer of fiberglass on the inside top and a couple other areas we had to dig out.

Wednesday we have plans and so do we for Saturday but the rest of the time it is Refer time!

Bimini hardware

9\20\2011 San Diego, CA
Update - after about two months of emails and phone calls and a dispute with PayPal over the payment (which they marinepartdepot won by proving shipment) Debbie finally got a live person on the phone. They said and have shipped or re-shipped the items. Ya!

I think after all this though that Keystone Brothers is a less expensive place to purchase the bimini hardware.

marinepartdepot.com/

Ham radio exam

I am taking on the commitment to get my ham license. I will probably will schedule a test at the end of March. This will give me time to study during for me the worst two months weather wise of the year. Hear in San Diego it is daylight savings time then and dark a lot and cool and rainy at least some times.

Wish me luck.

hamradiolicenseexam.com/

I am looking at this site for study help and will research more places.

We will be also installing a Pactor modem and ICOM SSB radio (radio and modem could change) in February I think so this will all come together and doing the installation will help me learn for the test.

http://www.eham.net/

http://qrz.com/
Also I am looking at this site for study help and will research more places

Exams in San Diego area

Palomar Amateur Radio Club

palomararc.org

The wiring for T fuse block in head and CPAP came

The new wiring for the wiring for T fuse block in head and CPAP and also the plug for the air pump came. The plug for the air pump wire is just part of the 50' of two strand #10.

Chafing fuel line

We were wiping down the engine as it gets dirty sitting at the bottom of the boat while we are sanding up on top and all the other project work falls down on it when we say this fuel line.

The fuel line is rubbing against the screw that is part of the hose clamp.

This looks like a chafe through accident on it's way to happen. We did not see any chafe yet but we have only 15 hours on the motor. This fuel line has no slack and so we cannot move it.

We chose to add chafe protection for now.

The Mermaid Condensators - arrived

The The Mermaid Condensators arrived and we placed them in the same spot as the 5200 btu unit waiting for installation. We are gathering the parts for this install.

March LC-3CP-MD Pumps - arrived

The two March LC-3CP-MD Series Magnetic Drive Pumps for the AC\Heat units arrived and we put them in the boat, just sitting there and waiting to be installed some where :)

We rebuilt the origin Jabsco bilge pump - 2011

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

We put the original bilge pump back (all re-built and working) in it’s home spot and of course dropped a screw into the deep bilge. Jabsco Model 36600 series.

Wiring up the Blue Sky 3024DIL DUO solar controller - 2011

September 2012 Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

Wiring up the Blue Sky Energy inc Solar Boost 3024iL DUO solar controller.

The "Super Wind" Generator (quiet) at Loews Crown Isle Marina - 2011

While out over the weekend at "Loews Coronado Resort " a yacht came in and tied up near us at the "Loews Crown Isle Marina" with a Super Wind Generator. It was very quiet.

Engine test at 2200 and 2600 rpms

We took this video to see if the motor was vibrating too much. We were motoring to Coronado Cal. We have a three blade prop which is new to us. It seems at 2000 rpm’s it steers nice. Then at 2200 rpm’s you notice some vibrating on the helm. At 2600 rps it is quite noticeable and we were wondering if it would affect an autopilot (we do not have an autopilot yet) by working it too hard. We at this time do not have any working instruments so we have no idea how fast we were traveling. We took another video or so we thought of the shaft and transmission but it did not come out.

No sense in wasting a video I always say, OK I do now. So here is just a video of the Beta 38 hp running at 2200 rpm’s and 2600 rpms.

Confused by all this solar panel wiring

OK I was confused by all this solar panel wiring issue. I talked to some doc mates last knight and what I found out was I bought the wrong box on the solar panels. I should have ordered the “J Box” and then we could have paralleled the three panels together. Then run a larger wire to the junction box. These panels are on top of our bimini. We will still need a junction box because we have a solar panel on top of our dodger and it needs separate wiring. Not having a “J Box” and not knowing that is what I could have gotten is what was messing me up. The box on each solar panel we have now has two wires coming from it and the cannot be paralleled.

That is OK as we just need to run six wires to the junction box instead of two big ones. It will work out fine.

Now that that is under stood I think I understand what needs to be done now.

We will run from the bimini solar panles (the three solar panels we are installing) a #10 wire (+ -) from each panel to the junction box. Each 135 watt panel is sending 7 amps to the junction box so a #10 wire for the 15 – 25 run one way would be fine. That would be at 25’ a 2.9% drop at 7 amps.

Our run from the junction box to the 30241 Duo controller and then to the batteries is just over 16’ so we will go with #4 cable. We have #6 now but we only have the one 135 watt panel hooked up.

This may turn out to be handy any way as each solar panel has plugs on the wires which in case of a hurricane can be un-plugged and removed easily. Thea are all water tight and seal nicely.

Woody Wax for non skid update - 2011

OK we washed up the boat and even waxed the nonskid on most of the top sides.

Before with hole into head (starboard white plug covering hole in head). The hole and cover were done by the previous owner. He had the whisker pole going through the hole here and in the sette area. We are removing the old light also.

Garhauer motor lift - screwing the ball bracket on

2011 San Diego, CA

We finally got around to installing the screws into the Garhauer outboard motor lift (OBML) ball that the OBML uses when it is in use. This ball attaches to the OBML bracket we attached to the stern. It took a few trips to the store to finally come up with the right size screw and length.

We put egg corn nuts on the ends of the screws in case the dingy we do not have yet would hid them when it is raised on the davits.

Now to clean off the rest of the 3M4000 UV Marine Adhesive.

Stored aluminum for the solar panels on davits - 2011

September 2012 Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

We are off to Loews Crown Isle Marina at Loews Coronado Resort for the weekend and are storing the aluminum for the solar panel mounts onto the dingy Kato Marine Island Davits. We have now four pieces cut to size for the two Kyocera Solar KD-135GX 135 Watt 12 Volt Solar Electric panels.

Re-thinking Solar controller box - 2011

September 2011 Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

We are re-thinking the solar controller box that we just purchased. We have been disusing this with the Salinet forum and the common consensus is that a simple junction box would work fine. That the breakers are not marine and will rust and overkill.

Stateroom Imtra reading lights\fan completed - 2011

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

It was just too much and so I had to install the other Imtra light and the Caframo "Ultimate" 2-Speed Fan.