Work Progresses and Things Look Up Until . . .
Dawn paints the trim
Saturday February 2nd 2013 through Wednesday February 6th – Ensenada
Back to the Iberian salt mines.
I got up at the crack of mid-day (8 am) and wrote for a couple of hours before heading to the boat.
On board, I went back to work on the electrical system. This is an unending project. While we were in San Diego, Dawn suggested that I should replace the battery selector switches. Since they were underwater they were suspect.
Besides, it took three men and a boy to turn them from one battery to the other or to shut them off.
I hate it when she’s right.
So, I bought an on/off switch and a battery selector switch. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks. I spent the whole day removing the old ones, installing the new ones and trying to figure out what I did wrong. When I selected either the bank of house batteries or the starter batteries, nothing worked. But when I selected “All” batteries, we had juice.
At the same time, the new receptacles I installed in the 110 system didn’t work. Not one of them. Finally I broke down and asked Guillermo to send his electrician over. The guy plugged in his volt meter and started tracing the current. I was so busy that I paid him little attention.
After about fifteen minutes he told me “ees done. She all work now.”
What had he done so quickly? The outlets I installed have a little breaker switch built into them. It seems that they come from the factory with the breaker tripped so some ham handed home (or boat) owner won’t wire them in incorrectly, then turn on the juice and electrocute themselves or burn down the house.
Well, this ham handed boat owner just forgot to set the breakers. He punched the buttons and viola! We had electricity.
A small victory, but I hated having to pay someone to show me how dumb I was.
Back to the 12-volt system. It was getting late and I still couldn’t figure out how to attach the wires. And I thought I had memorized where each wire went before I took them off.
Meanwhile, Dawn spent her day removing masking tape from the cabin and sanding the trim around the top of the hull.
Where the top of the hull meets the deck, there is a piece of wood trim that was once painted black. With all of the other work we’ve had to do on the boat, we’ve never brought a paint brush within an inch of the trim. It looks like hell.
Since the boat is out of the water, Dawn decided that this trim MUST be painted.
Back to the Iberian salt mines.
I got up at the crack of mid-day (8 am) and wrote for a couple of hours before heading to the boat.
On board, I went back to work on the electrical system. This is an unending project. While we were in San Diego, Dawn suggested that I should replace the battery selector switches. Since they were underwater they were suspect.
Besides, it took three men and a boy to turn them from one battery to the other or to shut them off.
I hate it when she’s right.
So, I bought an on/off switch and a battery selector switch. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks. I spent the whole day removing the old ones, installing the new ones and trying to figure out what I did wrong. When I selected either the bank of house batteries or the starter batteries, nothing worked. But when I selected “All” batteries, we had juice.
At the same time, the new receptacles I installed in the 110 system didn’t work. Not one of them. Finally I broke down and asked Guillermo to send his electrician over. The guy plugged in his volt meter and started tracing the current. I was so busy that I paid him little attention.
After about fifteen minutes he told me “ees done. She all work now.”
What had he done so quickly? The outlets I installed have a little breaker switch built into them. It seems that they come from the factory with the breaker tripped so some ham handed home (or boat) owner won’t wire them in incorrectly, then turn on the juice and electrocute themselves or burn down the house.
Well, this ham handed boat owner just forgot to set the breakers. He punched the buttons and viola! We had electricity.
A small victory, but I hated having to pay someone to show me how dumb I was.
Back to the 12-volt system. It was getting late and I still couldn’t figure out how to attach the wires. And I thought I had memorized where each wire went before I took them off.
Meanwhile, Dawn spent her day removing masking tape from the cabin and sanding the trim around the top of the hull.
Where the top of the hull meets the deck, there is a piece of wood trim that was once painted black. With all of the other work we’ve had to do on the boat, we’ve never brought a paint brush within an inch of the trim. It looks like hell.
Since the boat is out of the water, Dawn decided that this trim MUST be painted.
The Mexican patch
Her little mouse sander (also called a corner sander) would have been perfect for the job, but it died in Seattle. While we were at the farmers market last week, there were some guys selling tools. I picked up a new (used) corner sander there for less than $10.
Dawn took the new sander and attacked. By the end of the day, she had the trim all sanded and ready for a coat of paint. She also sanded down the gouges in the hull left over from the accident.
By the time we got home, all of my good intentions were gone. I had a pile of mail and paperwork I brought back from San Diego sitting on the counter, but my poor little brain was so exhausted I couldn’t think enough to tackle them.
As usual, I just sat in the big leather chair and vegged the night away.
Tuesday morning dawned with fresh hope. After a good night’s rest, I was able to look at the battery switches and figure out what I had done wrong.
It took about an hour of thinking and working, but when I turned the power on again, it worked. We have 12-volt electricity throughout the boat. Any switch or receptacle that was under water had been replaced. I feel very confident in it.
Then I turned my efforts to the 110 system. I tested system by system, every switch and every outlet.
The electrician discovered that I had one receptacle which had been underwater that I failed to replace. That was the key to the problem. If a receptacle is bad, none of the electricity downstream from it works. I put the new receptacle in and we got juice. Everything except the hot water heater works.
I tested and we have current going into the hot water heater. The little electric panel on the tank was under water and it and the heating element both show corrosion. I think I’m going to have to buy replacements for them the next time we go to San Diego.
Next I turned my attention to the pump under the galley sink. After seeing what the electrician had done to help me with the 12-volt system, I knew where to look. Sure enough, the fuse blew when the pump was submerged.
Once upon a time, in a happier land, I had a box full of spare fuses. Alas, they all got wet and I tossed them. No problem, I’ll just run to the store for a new fuse.
The Paint Queen spent her day with a brush and rag in hand. She started at the stern and worked her way as far forward as she could while staying out of the workmen’s way. She put a bright shinny coat of black on the trim and repainted the scratches on the hull with bright white. Then she taped off and painted the spindles on the taff rail. I think the taping took more time than the painting. Give her a can of paint and a brush and she’s a happy woman.
Wait a minute, workmen? That’s right. The concrete has dried and work is progressing on the hull. We had a guy chipping away all of the broken concrete from the keel and another one drilling out the holes where the bolts had sheared off on the rudder pintle. (That’s the fitting that holds the rudder in place.)
When we arrived at the boat, there was a piece of ¼ inch plywood glued to the hull over the hole. “Do you think that will hold the water out?” I asked Dawn.
This piece of plywood will serve as a mold when they re-plaster it. They’ll apply the concrete from the inside and the plywood will give it shape on the outside.
I talked to Guillermo and he said that they should start the concrete work this week. It’s still going to take a while. The concrete must dry, then they have to put an epoxy-concrete sealer over it to keep the concrete from absorbing water. After the sealer, they will put five coats of primer on it before the bottom paint. I see this process taking a couple of weeks.
My days are all running together, but the work progresses. I spent half the day on Thursday looking for a 10 volt bus fuse. It sounds easy, but the first three stores I went to didn’t carry them. The hardware store suggested an electrical store. The electrical store suggested an auto parts store. We hit five or six stores in our quest.
At the auto parts store, the counterman said, “Ah, un fasil. Lo tango.” (Oh, a fuse. I have them.) He brought out a box of fuses and proceeded to match them. No luck. His bus fuses are ¼ inch shorter than mine. I can’t believe it, but I’m going to have to drive to San Diego to get a bloomin’ fuse.
At the boat we kept at it. I put aside the pump and moved on to another project I’ve wanted to do for over a year.
The deck on top of the aft cabin is de-laminating in places. It’s made of marine plywood, but water got trapped on the deck and couldn’t get off, then it worked its way down into the plywood. I put drains on the forward end of the cabin (actually, Bob did this for me) and now the water drains. But the damage had been done. There are several places where water worked its way under the top layer of plywood and did damage. The plywood bubbles up, then eventually, the wood ruptures as the water expands and contracts.
To solve this problem, I started peeling back all the de-laminated places. Then I sanded them out smooth. Next I will cover them in epoxy to build the depth back up and make them level. This will also seal the plywood so no more water can get in.
Dawn has continued work on the trim and hull. Late in the afternoon she called me over to show me a problem.
Aye Dios Mio. Just when I think we’re getting ahead of the game, something else pops up. I hadn’t noticed before, but the cap rail on the forward starboard side has been pushed up about a half inch from the hull/deck joint.
This rail, which is the pretty piece of varnished teak that runs all around the boat, must have been hit hard during the accident. It has been separated from the hull and presents a problem. If I don’t fix it, water will work its way through the joint and down the hull on the inside. Even worse, it will make its way through the end of the concrete, which I suspect has not been sealed, and rust the steel reinforcement. Then we can kiss the hull good bye.
This is not a project I want to take on myself. I asked Guillermo to come over and take a look. I want to get an estimate on what it will cost to have his guys repair this.
It was a bitter way to end the day, but we’ve been making remarkable progress. I can now envision the day when we will refloat the Victory. I can’t wait to take her back out on the ocean and charge through the waves, ploughing them out of our way.
Carnaval starts tomorrow. Already the streets have been blocked off and it’s next to impossible to get to the boat. They’re expecting 600,000 guests in the city for Carnaval, so I expect that it will be very difficult to get any work done for the next few days. But what the hell, I’ve always wanted to go to a Carnaval.
Dawn took the new sander and attacked. By the end of the day, she had the trim all sanded and ready for a coat of paint. She also sanded down the gouges in the hull left over from the accident.
By the time we got home, all of my good intentions were gone. I had a pile of mail and paperwork I brought back from San Diego sitting on the counter, but my poor little brain was so exhausted I couldn’t think enough to tackle them.
As usual, I just sat in the big leather chair and vegged the night away.
Tuesday morning dawned with fresh hope. After a good night’s rest, I was able to look at the battery switches and figure out what I had done wrong.
It took about an hour of thinking and working, but when I turned the power on again, it worked. We have 12-volt electricity throughout the boat. Any switch or receptacle that was under water had been replaced. I feel very confident in it.
Then I turned my efforts to the 110 system. I tested system by system, every switch and every outlet.
The electrician discovered that I had one receptacle which had been underwater that I failed to replace. That was the key to the problem. If a receptacle is bad, none of the electricity downstream from it works. I put the new receptacle in and we got juice. Everything except the hot water heater works.
I tested and we have current going into the hot water heater. The little electric panel on the tank was under water and it and the heating element both show corrosion. I think I’m going to have to buy replacements for them the next time we go to San Diego.
Next I turned my attention to the pump under the galley sink. After seeing what the electrician had done to help me with the 12-volt system, I knew where to look. Sure enough, the fuse blew when the pump was submerged.
Once upon a time, in a happier land, I had a box full of spare fuses. Alas, they all got wet and I tossed them. No problem, I’ll just run to the store for a new fuse.
The Paint Queen spent her day with a brush and rag in hand. She started at the stern and worked her way as far forward as she could while staying out of the workmen’s way. She put a bright shinny coat of black on the trim and repainted the scratches on the hull with bright white. Then she taped off and painted the spindles on the taff rail. I think the taping took more time than the painting. Give her a can of paint and a brush and she’s a happy woman.
Wait a minute, workmen? That’s right. The concrete has dried and work is progressing on the hull. We had a guy chipping away all of the broken concrete from the keel and another one drilling out the holes where the bolts had sheared off on the rudder pintle. (That’s the fitting that holds the rudder in place.)
When we arrived at the boat, there was a piece of ¼ inch plywood glued to the hull over the hole. “Do you think that will hold the water out?” I asked Dawn.
This piece of plywood will serve as a mold when they re-plaster it. They’ll apply the concrete from the inside and the plywood will give it shape on the outside.
I talked to Guillermo and he said that they should start the concrete work this week. It’s still going to take a while. The concrete must dry, then they have to put an epoxy-concrete sealer over it to keep the concrete from absorbing water. After the sealer, they will put five coats of primer on it before the bottom paint. I see this process taking a couple of weeks.
My days are all running together, but the work progresses. I spent half the day on Thursday looking for a 10 volt bus fuse. It sounds easy, but the first three stores I went to didn’t carry them. The hardware store suggested an electrical store. The electrical store suggested an auto parts store. We hit five or six stores in our quest.
At the auto parts store, the counterman said, “Ah, un fasil. Lo tango.” (Oh, a fuse. I have them.) He brought out a box of fuses and proceeded to match them. No luck. His bus fuses are ¼ inch shorter than mine. I can’t believe it, but I’m going to have to drive to San Diego to get a bloomin’ fuse.
At the boat we kept at it. I put aside the pump and moved on to another project I’ve wanted to do for over a year.
The deck on top of the aft cabin is de-laminating in places. It’s made of marine plywood, but water got trapped on the deck and couldn’t get off, then it worked its way down into the plywood. I put drains on the forward end of the cabin (actually, Bob did this for me) and now the water drains. But the damage had been done. There are several places where water worked its way under the top layer of plywood and did damage. The plywood bubbles up, then eventually, the wood ruptures as the water expands and contracts.
To solve this problem, I started peeling back all the de-laminated places. Then I sanded them out smooth. Next I will cover them in epoxy to build the depth back up and make them level. This will also seal the plywood so no more water can get in.
Dawn has continued work on the trim and hull. Late in the afternoon she called me over to show me a problem.
Aye Dios Mio. Just when I think we’re getting ahead of the game, something else pops up. I hadn’t noticed before, but the cap rail on the forward starboard side has been pushed up about a half inch from the hull/deck joint.
This rail, which is the pretty piece of varnished teak that runs all around the boat, must have been hit hard during the accident. It has been separated from the hull and presents a problem. If I don’t fix it, water will work its way through the joint and down the hull on the inside. Even worse, it will make its way through the end of the concrete, which I suspect has not been sealed, and rust the steel reinforcement. Then we can kiss the hull good bye.
This is not a project I want to take on myself. I asked Guillermo to come over and take a look. I want to get an estimate on what it will cost to have his guys repair this.
It was a bitter way to end the day, but we’ve been making remarkable progress. I can now envision the day when we will refloat the Victory. I can’t wait to take her back out on the ocean and charge through the waves, ploughing them out of our way.
Carnaval starts tomorrow. Already the streets have been blocked off and it’s next to impossible to get to the boat. They’re expecting 600,000 guests in the city for Carnaval, so I expect that it will be very difficult to get any work done for the next few days. But what the hell, I’ve always wanted to go to a Carnaval.