Chip & Debbie Willis on s\v Elegant'sea

Engine gauge panel painting - first coat

Debbie the first coat of bilge paint on the engine control panel. We could not find the other paint so the bilge paint will do fine.

Engine gauge panel painting

The engine control panel got sanded and is about ready to paint. Debbie had taped it up yet again (last time the tape was on too long as we never got to it).

We are hoping to knock off this little but important project. It is important because we see it a lot and want it tidy!

Refer auto detect box re-wired - 2012

The refer got wired directly to the 110-volt shore power buses. Now the refer will not get powered by the inverter by accident.

Fuse is under shelf for protection.

We did some work on the Mermaid Marine 5200 btu HVAC unit. It is out for service, so we installed a 30-amp fuse which Mermaid recommends.

Mermaid 12000 btu unit got some mock ducking done etc

We pulled the 110 volt 10\3 wire through to the nav station where it will be connected to the buses.

We also pulled through the thermostat wire to the thermostat from the magic box in the salon. Now the thermostat is connected.

Debbie made a 4.5 inch template which we used for hole placement.

Not so easy of places.

By the engine exhaust hose.

We then did a dry run of the routing of the ducking. A 6” trunk line and three 4” ducks and one 6” ducks off the trunk line. Of course this means cutting holes and finding places for ducks.

Now it is time to do the cutting. This may take purchasing a 4.5 inch hole saw as the spots are not that easy to get at with a saws-all.

Water maker dry fitting

We did some dry fitting of the Spectra Water maker.

We put the components in place and decided we could use an existing through hull for the water maker. It is ½ inch and if it is within 15 feet of the pump then we can use it. It was for the old engine refrigeration.

Any further away than that then through hull needs to be ¾ inch.

Forward eye brow done

We put the last three coats of Cetol on the forward eye brow. It now has five.

One coat of Natural Teak.

Four coats of Gloss.

The eyebrow sure looks good now. We can hardly wait till we do the cap rail.

Starting battery shelf cut for PSS access - 2012

September 2012 - Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

We took the shelf out of the engine room that the starting battery and new Whale Gulper IC Diaphragm Bilge Pump is sitting on so we could cut it. You can see the cut shelf.

Debbie decided it was time for the engine room hatches to get the sound heat insulation. Debbie first made patterns of the all the hatches where the insulation will go.

We are doing another try at the vessel sink for the head. You can see the sink all the way from the cockpit. We want a decent looking sink.

We put in a new BASE SEAL KIT (385310677) in our 5000 series VacuFlush toilet with house hold size bowl (bragging here :).

It should have no play. Ours has about a 1/4 to 1/8 inch play.

This may have been caused by the old BASE SEAL KIT before we replaced it.

This could be the SPRING CARTRIDGE KIT (385310683) also.

We called Dometic Sanitation support (1-800-321-9886 ).

We are deciding on a BALL/SHAFT/CARTRIDGE KIT (385310681).

Plastic flush ball will not close
completely.

a. Too much friction between flush ball and ball seal.
b. Water valve screws are too tight.
c. Defective spring cartridge.

5200 btu unit is on the bench

We just called Mermaid support (800.330.3553) and they said the 5200 btu unit was on the bench. It has a very small leak and was low on Freon. They have not been able to find the leak yet but will and will ship it out soon.

When it was mounted in the boat.

Ooops 4.0 is not 4.5 -More Mermaid 5200 BTU HVAC grills - 2012

I just discovered that the 4" holes we drilled for the supply grills(SG) should have been 4.5" holes. That way the 4"ducking can slide over the grill back all the way to the grill face.

We got the vessel sink but we did not like the color of the copper. We will ether get a lighter copper or find a 12" stainless steel vessel sink. The size seems to fit good. Trial and error here on this stuff.
August - 2012 - Currently at Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

Whale IC bilge pump backwards wiring but working now - 2012

August 2012 - Marina Kona Kai Shelter Island San Diego, CA

The Whale Gulper IC Diaphragm Bilge Pump got some more attention as Debbie re-wired it so the negative was the power course to the switch and the rest of the wires were wired up backwards.

12,000 BTU HVAC unit - Installed magic box

We put one 4” grill in the salon for the 12,000 BTU HVAC unit there.

Nice looking Oak and good spot for HVAC grill.

A pilot hole and a little\lot of sawing and a hole!

This give you an idea but a brown grill will go in here not a white one.

We now have now one 4” grill in the salon for the 12,000 BTU unite. It still needs one 6” grill and two more 4” grills. One of which is of the teak type with a transition box which are a lot more difficult to install.

Where O where to put the magic box. You can see we already decide and we drilled a hole for screw access. Another hole will be needed for another bottom screw access and then some more holes for the wires to get up to the magic box(MB).

As you can see we snaked up the 110 volt 10/3 wire to the MB and drilled the holes needed for the pump and 12000 unit electrical connection.

Some good progress made here on this unit.

More 5200 BTU HVAC grills for the stateroom - 2012

This grill went on top of the forward hanging locker.

We are now calling the Mermaid Marine Air Conditioning AC\heat system HVAC for ease of distinguished the AC from the AC electrical.

Ordered last two of the four fenders and covers

The last two of the four fenders (12x29) and covers were ordered from praktek. They did not have the white which we have ordered before and they would not be in for at least a month, Pertck offered 20% off the same fender in gray. Debbie and I talked it over and decided we could put two white on one side and two gray on the other and with the beige fender covers it would be fine and at this point we can use the 20% off for other cruising items. I only have two pay checks left before retiring :).

Cruise the Mexican Riviera - hurricane season 2012

8\13\2012 Cruise the Mexican Riviera :

Go as far south as time allows before heading to a hurricane hole or sailing up the Sea of Cortés

We do not know nor do we want to know how far we will get down the Mexican Riviera coast before it is time to head to a hurricane hole. It is a new life and we are not in any hurry. What we do not see the first time we can go back again, and again if we want. For now we are trying to decide on a plan for hurricane season. If we decide and make reservations in a marina we can save some serous cash if we do this in advance.

We have looked at sailing across the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California) to La Paz for hurricane season. This seems fun but La Paz seems expensive.

Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta seems like a good choice for us. And then there is always the music :).

We are still considering where this part of the year will lead us.

We got diesel fuel - topped off 80 gal fuel tank

And yes we are ready now to clean up all the wiring :)

When we went out to test the auto pilot we got fuel. We got 50 gal of diesel fuel. Imagine a 55 gal drum of diesel fuel and that is almost what we got. It cost over $260.76 and filled up our 80 gal fuel tank. Initially the gauge read just over 3/4 of a tank but as the day went on, the gauge read "full".

The fuel also weighs about 400 lbs so our stern sank down even further.

We have 41.8 hours on the engine.