| Falcon's Log 19 |
| I got the windlass motor all rebuilt and the top of the windlass re-assembled. The motor was a particular pain and if I ever do one again, I'll pull the field pieces out to make the job easier. It's ten to 6 in the early evening and I'm beginning to show signs of slowing down. I haven't seen Jim and Cynthia all day, but they might be down in Sarasota for the big powerboat races. It's been a perfect day for it and the big thunder boats keep going past us here at the Seafood Shack, with accompanying helicopters and spectator sedan cruisers who have been throwing huge wakes all day long. Randy went out with a friend on Moondream and Joe went out with his Arabesque. They probably went to the spectator fleet to anchor and get too buzzed to make it back, so they'll spend the night there and watch the main features tomorrow. I got a lot done today and I'm not done yet. I'll make up the added features for the Ideal gear case - the vent and the water trap - and install the motor and wire it up. It's all inside and I need light in the bow anyway, so It really doesn't matter if it's dark outside or not. I think I'll go put the motor on now. Well, that sucks. After everything, it looks like the motor has a problem. I'm going to have to take it apart again and see what I can figure out. The motor slows down in up and little puffs of smoke kick out the back. The advantage of my remote control is that I can climb right into the bow and watch the windlass from below. I surely hope I don't need a new $600 or $700 dollar motor. I'll figure it out. It's 7:40 PM now and I'm thinking I'm almost done for the day. I've still got tools to pick up on the dock, though. Rats. Damn motor. Holy crap!! I think I just figured it out!! Never mind. See you tommorrow. |
| September 6, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Okay, on with the show. I was a bit discouraged by the lack of success with the windlass last evening, but I'm all better now. If there is a short due to my less than stellar work in attaching two of the new brushes to the field windings, then I will correct that. If it is the field windings themselves, then I just haven't reached the critical cause of the failure, but I'm hot on it's trail. I have other stuff to do while I drain the oil back out of the gearbox so I can take the motor back off and work on it outside. Espin came by yesterday and picked up his mail and mailbox key. His boat is gone and he has the cash and is scouring Florida for a new boat. He had the 31 foot Southern Cross 'Ajax' for 16 years and 'kept' the name - basically striking an agreement with the new owner that he would rename the boat. That's not a hard sell to a new boat owner with a boat named 'Ajax', you know, when he really wants to name it, 'At last! At last! I finally got my boat at last!' Yeah, you laugh. I've seen worse names on boats. Boats that shudder, creak and groan whenever they hear their name over the radio. Espin will probably only be in the area until today or tomorrow, then he's off to Miami to check on some boats over that way. Jim and Cynthia were away at 'Moore's' restaurant yesterday and I finally caught up with Jim last night and we went over the whole proposition to see if his neighbor would be interested in taking on the project and finding out how much it would cost. I think I should also send along one of my homemade apple pies - no, I mean, one of my homemade business cards with the website - in case he's interested in seeing the entire project. I've lost track of the list. Where was I? 1.) Make patterns for fiberglass panels. Working again 2.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 3.) Install 'dryer' bilge pump. Working again 4.) Make and install engine bilge catch-net. Stalled 5.) Install shower sump pump. 6.) Tighten alternator pulley and make new belt tensioner. Stalled 7.) Dig mastic out of truck to attach first fiberglass wall panel. Done 8.) Cut out and hang wall panel. 9.) Mount and connect Inverter, battery charger and ST6000 Autopilot. 10.) Use Eddie's ( borrowed ) Sawzall to trim cabin side boards. Oh, yeah, that's right. I remember now. Well, that panel needs to be done, and while we're on that subject, I re-checked the prices on that stuff at Home Depot and got a mild shock - $32+! - 3 sheets for $100, less tax and awkward stumbling dealing with the wobbly stuff. I've got the windlass motor off and ready for me to have at it, and I took a run out to Walmart and Advance Discount Auto and Home Depot and Ace Hardware and got a bunch of little things that I need for the windlass repair ( that I tried to do without yesterday ) and a few other jobs on the boat. I made up the water trap feature for the windlass and that's ready to go on and I came THIS ( --->l l<--- ) close to buying three more sheets of that FRP paneling, but I'll wait until the head is empty again. I also dug that mastic out of the truck and I'm about to try a touch of it on a scrap piece of the FRP panel to see how well it works. It's 2:25 PM and the day is racing by. I cleaned up outside and attended to a lot of little things, then watched TMZ and some golf before taking the windlass motor apart. I could not get the field pieces loose at all and know when to fold my hand in those situations. It's possible that I spotted the problem, but there was only tiny evidence because I wasn't willing to overdo the initial testing. My experience with these things is that if something is wrong, forcing the issue is double wrong. I'm going to use some gasoline to clean out the inside of the motor housing and then some acetone. After that, I'll take apart the connections I made yesterday and do them over in better style, insulating them completely. Then I'll take care to insulate all the exposed field contacts inside with some high-temp stuff I picked up today. One more assembly and a test - and if that doesn't do it, I'll give Ideal a call and talk to them about repairing the motor. |
| September 5, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Wow, I started working on the prints for the pulleys this morning and haven't stopped to do anything else - except go outside and chit-chat with Geoff and Paul for a while. I DID notice that Jim and Cynthia are here and I want to have a set of prints ready for him so he can show them to his neighbor and see what the story is. Will he do them? How much money? Etc. I'll show you the first one. This was done on CorelDraw. The more you use it, the easier it gets. But it's still hard. |
| September 7, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida 1.) Make patterns for fiberglass panels. Done 2.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 3.) Install 'dryer' bilge pump. Working 4.) Install engine bilge catch-net. 5.) Install shower sump pump. 6.) Install new raw water pump. Done 7.) Cut out and hang wall panel. Done 8.) Mount and connect Inverter, battery charger and ST6000 Autopilot. 9.) Use Eddie's ( borrowed ) Sawzall to trim cabin side boards. I really have to wait to see what happens with Jim's neighbor on the pulley job before I can get too carried away making the alternator belt tensioner, so I pulled it off the list for now and inserted installing the new raw water pump in it's place. I need to get that done so I can adjust the raw water pump inlet hose to make clearance for the dryer pump. Then I can install and wire that, then the bilge net. The FRP pebble panel is waiting on the dock for me to tape the paper pattern onto and cut. If the wind gives me a break today, that will be among the first orders of business. I also have to replace the wire on my windlass remote. It needs to be about 6 feet longer. Originally, I ran it through the cabintop hatch, but running it from the battery switch box makes it a tad short. I dug an extra ( almost new 100 foot ) extension cord I was scrapping out of the bag of Scrap All wire and cut the ends off it. I'll cut what I need from it and send the rest and the old remote wire back into the bag. I copied the backups of my writing onto two of the 500 Gig hard drives this morning. I lost A LOT of stuff when the old 80 gig committed seppuku and spilled it's guts on my desktop. Rats. So, I'll write it again, better this time. The sun is beginning to rise so I went out and took some shots. I will now make a mess of patching them together. |
| And there you have it. Someday, secret ninja agents from Kodak are going to bum-rush me, knock me down and snatch my camera, then warn me to never take pictures again. I'm sure there's a way to blend those things nicely, but I somehow can't be bothered trying to learn it. The no-see-um's are out in force on the dock, so I'll do a little work on the electrical panel before venturing out there. I made the 'make patterns' job strictly for the aft port cabin bulkhead so I can move along on that. I mounted the new raw water pump and had to make a completely new mounting system because it is larger than the old pump. I have the mastic drying outside right now as a test to see how well it's going to work, but my feeling is, 'it'll be fine - just do it'. I'm going to have to shut down the computer and all boat power to disconnect shore power and install that panel. I also have that small area of rot at the bottom of the companionway door hinge that I'm going to take care of as well. |
| And there it is - Frankenwall - what a mess. I opened up the mastic and had to cut a solid 1/2 inch hardened skin off the top. It was VERY difficult to work with and got all over everything ( include 'Ben' in 'everything' ) and was a nightmare all the way through. I had just enough FRP to complete the wall and I had to borrow a little paint thinner off RJ to do the clean up. That is IT with the FRP. It is too much trouble and surely not worth the cost and effort. I will do something else in the head. I really don't mind all the ugly on this particular wall because It will be crowded with devices. Ham came down the dock and blasted everyone for having too much crap on the dock again, then sent Paul out laughing to tell me I had too much stuff on the dock again. I know, I know, I'll clean it off. Nothing in my situation has changed since the last time I had to clean it off. I'm still building a boat and I'm still going to push the envelope around me as hard as I can for as long as I can until I get it done. No secret and no apologies. I have no options. I'm taking a ride to Sarasota with Geoff in the morning to get his sail back from the loft. We were going to load all the Scrap All stuff in his truck and do that, too, but it's too much work and I'd rather do it later. I might need to dig out a little more of the shore power cabling to connect the shore power connector and the inverter to the electric panel. |
| September 8, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Today, after we get back from Sarasota, I will reveal to the world Geoff's new invention ideas - no, just kidding. He reads this and I couldn't resist the opportunity to make his eyebrows pop up. Okay, anyway, when I get back to the boat I'll be installing the battery charger, inverter, inverter selector switch, modifying the output of the inverter, and installing new cabling for both the inverter and the shore power, as well as all the heavy DC cabling for all these devices. I also need to pick up some solvent to clean the windlass motor field windings with. Probably mineral spirits. And a chip brush to work it with. I'm also still involved with getting things ready for the dryer pump and the edge pieces for the ceiling. 1.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 2.) Install 'dryer' bilge pump. Working 3.) Install engine bilge catch-net. 4.) Install shower sump pump. 5.) Mount and connect Inverter, battery charger and ST6000 Autopilot. Working 6.) Use Eddie's ( borrowed ) Sawzall to trim cabin side boards. Done Today is also the first day that I can realistically start waiting to hear from Jim about his neighbors response to the work request. I'm trying to get my head around an acceptable price and the break point where I just have to say 'no, thanks' and start looking in other places. This is not an easy project if you can't just toss a thousand dollars at it - it's pure custom work that requires expensive machinery and talented, skilled people. I can do the machine work, but I can't go so far as saying that I could produce an acceptable result if I just had the lathe. The specific problems of where to start and how to hold it to get to where to finish are things a good machinist already knows and I would have to blunder through. I've also been working on the electrical panel design and associated problems and need to touch base with something there this morning. So, before the sun comes up, I need to get into CorelDraw and make a parts diagram and sort out some wiring so I know which switches to order to facilitate a solution there. It's noon and I just got back from Sarasota. We also stopped at Petrik's Discount Groceries and got food and Home Depot, where I got the bucket, chip brushes and paint thinner to carry on with the windlass motor. Now, I have to go out to the truck to get the extra shore power cable to modify the shore power onboard circuit and the inverter output circuit. Next I come back I'll have more things done. The special 'Smart Switch' battery switch I've been saving for something unique is repaired and installed to select which bank the inverter will be powered from. I can use either, or both, busses and see the voltage right on the switch. I also got the inverter modified and mounted and the battery charger installed. I still have to make up the 2/0 battery cables and install them, as well as the battery charger AC cable and the two 12 volt charging cables and ground cable. |
| It was in the 90's again today and I ran out of gas for a while at 3:30 PM. I got back at it by about 5:00 and allowed the stator section of the windlass motor to drip dry after soaking in the paint thinner for five hours, with occasional bouts of brushing and shifting positions. Once it was dry, I placed it in a bucket of water with plenty of Dawn dish washing detergent and occasionally did the same thing there. Meanwhile, I began making the 2/0 battery cables and connecting the inverter. Tomorrow I will wire in the Battery charger, on the right, and run the two ten gauge 115 volt 10/3 cables to the electrical box location. It's getting closer! Pretty soon, I'll be laying out and making the big electrical panel. Oh, yeah! Talk about the home stretch! Well, it's been a long day. It's 8 PM now and I'm done for the day. See you tomorrow. |
| September 9, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Eddie and Sandy left early this morning to go somewhere and do something with Tarquin to celebrate Sandy's birthday. Happy Birthday Sandy. I slept late this morning and feel great, so I'm going to get right to work and be back later. Meanwhile, the list. 1.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 2.) Install 'dryer' bilge pump. Done 3.) Install engine bilge catch-net. 4.) Install shower sump pump. 5.) Mount and connect Inverter and battery charger. Done (pulled ST6000 for now) It's 10 AM and I just finished the arthroscopic surgery on the windlass field section to properly install the two brushes. I began by trying to solder them, but the hear just drew out residual oil in the braided leads. So I removed the plastic coating from two 10 gauge butt splices and made a solid crimp connection, which I covered with 2 layers of shrink tubing. It was during this process that I believe I found the original problem. I hope so anyway. I fixed it. We won't know until I re-assemble the thing later on. The dryer pump is now installed - as much of a pain as I imagined, but it's good. I need to install a small thru-hull and run some 5/8 inch hose to it to complete the plumbing. It also needs to be wired to the electrical panel. I also bored two 3/4inch holes to feed the shore power and inverter output cables to the electrical panel through the hidden wire chases. Which reminds me - I have to label those two. Ham brought his new boat to the marina today. I think the wind and the current made it a little hard to maneuver and he needed a bit of help. By the way, if I ever start talking like Frasier or Niles Crane, it's because I'm also writing dialogue for a Regency era novel in England. Though I am not actually IN England, there are times when my mind is. And it drools onto the log. I'm really not a pretentious, overbearing boor - well, not USUALLY - and I certainly have no reason to be, but some of my characters are and they rub off. It's like hanging with a bad crowd in my head. It's almost 1:30 and I need to eat and continue on the list. The battery charger is done. It's quarter til three (Gary US Bonds) and I have a headache. I need to go pick up some stuff at Walgreen's and coffee at Publix for tomorrow morning. When I get back, I'll put grommets in the corners of the bilge net, vacuum out the bilge one last time, and install the much ballyhooed net. Two hours later and I got the stuff I needed, plus the fittings to finish the dryer pump plumbing and that system is now complete - thru-hull and all. I'm about ready to pick up around the boat and vacuum. The boat needs it badly. All the sawing and drilling and grinding have the entire vessel in a coat of sawdust and splinters and chunks of wood. I got a lot done so far today. I have a lot to catch up on, though, but some of it can wait for Marathon. Some can't. I need to cable-tie some of the huge bundles of wires around the boat and secure a few things, like the bottoms of the aft water tanks. There are a lot of little odds and ends, some of which I'm doing every day, but I should just make a short list of those items and do a blast-through pass at them all. No Geoff today. He usually walks Sam every morning and evening down here, but he didn't come today. I think he put his new sail on Lex Sea and went for a couple of days to try it out. Jim just called and told me his neighbor, Bill, will make the Pulleys. (YYAAAYY!!) Jim asked me what I thought I should pay for them and I had to say, "What I SHOULD pay and what I COULD pay are two different things. I have a cap in my head and it's the number where I have to say, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' That's $200, so I'll offer $150 for the work because the material will cost about $50. Is it enough?" He said it was, but that Bill asked for a little more metal than the bar minimum, because they would be hard to hold in the chuck without some extra metal. I increased each piece a full inch and made the order. It came to just under $80, so, with luck, I'll have a brand new set of fabulous engine pulleys for only (sigh) $230, but at least I'll be able to get maximum access to the high-output alternator. Oh, well. Boy, that YAY wore off pretty quick. I got a lot of the boat cleaned up and vacuumed and I'll finish it up tomorrow. I got a lot done today. I'm going to have to sit down with the windlass motor and get that back together, too. Oh, by the way, it will be at least a month before I see those pulleys. Jim and Cynthia won't be here until the weekend after next, and Bill is retired and wants the 'challenge' of making these items, so he'll be taking his time and doing them right. It's nine o'clock and the president is making a speech on TV, so there's nothing to watch, so I'll play some music and get ready for bed. G'nite. |
| September 10, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida It occurred to me last night, after my girlish glee faded over getting a promise that the pulleys would be made, that the possibility of an October first departure was now certainly impossible. To tell the truth, I didn't see any possibility of having sails made by then anyway. I'll be lucky to have the electrical panel in and a floor in the boat. That's only 20 days away. Things like the engine pulleys and windlass problem have a way of making the brakes screech once in a while. Still, we're only a week into those roadblocks and already there is light at the end of the tunnel. I LOVE being able to use multiple clichés in a single sentence. Don't worry - I don't do that in the novels. Todays list: 1.) Put grommets on bilge net and install. Done 2.) Re-assemble windlass motor. Done 3.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 4.) Install shower sump pump. 5.) Mix up some epoxy and start filling small voids in bulkheads. Done 6.) Finish cleaning and vacuuming boat. Working 7.) Begin separating and wrapping tools to ship to kids. 8.) Wire in Dryer pump. Done 9.) Secure bottom corners of aft water tanks. Done 10.) Secure top outboard ends of aft tank fill pipes. Done 11.) Cable-tie big wire bundles in Fuel tank lockers. Done 12.) Go through dock boxes and truck and toss out a ton of extra crap. Done x 2 Okay, looks like a full day to me. I sure won't run out of things to do and I may end up make a posting here every 30 or 40 minutes if I get tired enough to have to sit down that much. That IS why I post a lot on some days - I need to rest or clear my head. |
| The bilge net is in place and done. It's strung fairly tight because I can't have it loose enough to get involved with the engine pulleys and belts at a critical time. The dryer pump is the black unit in the upper left of the picture. It is partially obstructed ( view only ) by the black pulley on the new Raw water pump. The crankshaft and water pump pulleys are off the engine right now and, yes, yes, I will clean up the old rubber belt dust off the engine before buttoning everything up. Maybe. I'm busy. I just made up the thickened epoxy and did a good fill on all the spots. Now I have to wait for it to cure to see how much more I have to do. I'm going to do the windlass motor next. I just need a short break and some water. I just took a second load of extra crap to the dumpster. To someone who needs the stuff, I'm tossing a lot of good stock, but after carrying it around for almost 25 years, the extra is just so much crap to me. |
| I just finished the windlass motor and noticed a small thing I didn't like seeing. It looked like a bare wire that was almost touching the underside of the brush carrier. Since I had to use a special sealer to connect the stator assembly to the bell housing, I'm going to give that a day or two to cure before opening the back of the unit and testing that circuit. I have a cure it the unit needs it, and at this point, I'm more than willing to be sure before putting the motor back on and having another disappointment. My hands are now black with grease and black sealer and dirt. It's no wonder my keyboards run away from home. It's 2:45 and the dryer pump is wired and some of the big wire bundles are getting tied. I may crawl into the two fuel tank lockers next and secure those water tanks and the plumbing and wire bundles there. Okay, that's done. Now I'm getting seriously tired and in need of R&R. Espin just showed up. He bought a 27 foot Vega in Ft. Lauderdale with no engine. It's set up for an outboard but the one on it didn't work, so he told the owner to keep it. He just headed over to the Cortez Kitchen with Geoff to do some drinking. I don't drink so I rarely attend such gatherings. I used to drink, but I used up all my party chips at a young age and had to stop by order of God - or die. I stopped. The last thing I did for the day was to lightly sand both sides of the aluminum panel I'll be making the electrical panel from and lightly painted one side with some old silver metallic spray paint. It was just to give me a clean surface to lay out the holes and opening I'll need to cut out to start building it - and to get rid of the last of that paint. |
| September 11, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida This is an important anniversary. It will forever live in history beside December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day. I wonder what they will call September 11, 2001? World Trade Center Day? Or something more ominous, so later generations will know how to feel when they hear it? I got a lot done yesterday and will be doing the same today. I have decided what to do in the head - for now. I'll do the walls in Interprotect 2000, an Interlux moisture barrier product that is the most tenacious primer I've ever found, and a couple of coats of the medium blue that I already have mixed. I'll use the FRP for the ceiling and the under deck area and make the countertop white as well to balance the medium blue. It's the best I can do right now. I have everything except the FRP and this is the best way to move forward and get things done. 1.) Make and install all remaining border pieces in ceiling. 2.) Install shower sump pump. 3.) Finish cleaning and vacuuming boat. Working 4.) Begin separating and wrapping tools to ship to kids. 5.) Run power for shower sump pump. Done 6. Install 2" bilge conduit under main stringer and box in. 7.) Check out inside of windlass motor again. Done The predictions are for rain today so I have to keep on my toes about that of get caught with tools outside. I am also working ( in my head ) on the woodwork surrounding the electrical panel and the chart table. I will be constructing the chart table/drawer assembly so it will hinge up off the electrical panel and expose the ice box beneath. Oh, yeah, that's right, I'm going to have to make electrical accommodations for the refrigeration system. I completely forgot about that. Back to the DC panel. Well, Jim just called and said that Bill backed out of the deal to make the pulleys. He was all upset and I did what I could to calm him down and reassure him that I do not hold him responsible in any way. He tried several times to pay me for the material and it was a job to get him to accept that would allow him to pay for materials that would ultimately go onto my boat. I will now have to start looking for a machine shop in the area that can do the job and will do it for a reasonable price. The search goes on. The field windings on the windlass motor are shorted. Rats. That was the problem all along. Here comes the kick in the wallet: I paid $108 for the parts I already bought. The field barrel comes as one part for $395, for a total of $503. I could have bought a whole motor for $565. I'll go to the bank and deposit the money from my 'haulout fund' and be done with it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ( dramatic pause - - - - - - - - Okay, I'm back from the bank and I just ordered the part. They gave me a 10% discount just because they knew the cost was hurting me. Great guys. Thanks. I can't complain about the expenses of keeping this windlass working. It's replacement value is around $4000 and so far, everything included, I'll have a total of about $600 into it. I got the power run for the shower sump. What a pain. I ran it through the same conduit I put in place for the water pump and there was JUST BARELY enough room for all 4 wires. Got a little sidetracked today because of both big items spinning out - the pulleys and the windlass - but, what can you do? Just deal with it and carry on. I also couldn't find the mild Benadryl/Antihistimine tablets I usually take for the sinus headaches, so I bought something else that I thought would be the same. It wasn't. It made be drowsy any time I slowed down a little and I found it impossible to concentrate effectively. Tomorrow is another day and the pulley blanks are on the way. The new stator will be shipped Monday. I did spend a lot of time thinking about and working on the plans for the electric panel. I just changed it around some to accommodate the extra angle reinforcement I'm putting on the back to make it super-rigid. And, I've been working out exactly how I'll mount it and all the cabinetry around it. That's all for now. It's been raining during the late afternoon and early evening. I'm going to relax for the evening if I can. |
| September 12, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Was awakened by torrential rains this morning at about 4:30 AM. I went to bed early last night, so I got up at 5 and started the day. I closely examined all the recent penetrations where wires were fed through the deck and found just one leaking slightly. It is the difficult to reach cabin-face location where the foremast wiring is led in. I had it sealed once but tore it out to lead in the TV antenna that I mounted at the foremast masthead. Man, those two words shouldn't be used together. Anyway, now that I know, as soon as it stops raining and has enough time to dry out, I'll use a special tool to seal it. It's a huge plunger/syringe thing a vet uses to squirt medicine down a dogs throat so they can't tongue it up and spit it out. I've had it for years waiting for a purpose. I'm in a habit now of getting lost ( What was I doing? ) and referring to the list to get redirected. It works good and I like it, but it makes me wonder if I should add more things to the list instead of waiting until I'm ready to do them. I seem to forget some things by doing that and suddenly remembering when I crawl into that place to do something else. I'll have to think about it. Maybe I need to make a master list somewhere else and refer to it during the day. We have had about 8 inches of rain here so far today and it looks like it's going to keep up until late tomorrow or early Monday. I'm so glad I put that bilge pump in the dinghy. It has almost filled twice and I've just plugged it in inside the boat and pumped it out. So cool. I've spent a lot of time making drawings and figuring out some of the more complex wiring issues today. There will come a time when I have to order a bunch of switches and fuse holders. I would like to be able to do the whole thing with sweet circuit breakers, but the cost is fairly prohibitive. Yeah. That pause was me double checking with a new online supplier I'm shopping right now. $28 each and up. Too much, and since some of my applications require 4 pole double throw switches, that definitely leaves circuit breakers out of the picture. It's after 9 PM and, yes, those sinus headache pills make me goofy. I have to go back and get the others and toss these Roofey brain spankers. |
| September 13, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida I have been up since 6:30 but have not done anything on this site. I have 'THE' headache again and have mostly worked on electrical schematics and adjusting the layout of the electrical panel. It appears I will have to spend about $230 plus tax and shipping for all the switches and fuse holders I still need. I still have to adjust the door layout on the DC side as some of the switches I'm using are 4-pole units that are almost 1 1/2 inches wide. I'll have to double check the exact location of each switch so there are no interference problems once I've ( shudder ) drilled all the holes. I'm not sure how much I'll do today. It depends on how I end up feeling. |
| September 14, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Okay, I just tossed the pills out. They did little to nothing for the headache and actually created a sort of clinical depression in me. I'd forgotten that. I found that out in my first year of sobriety in the winter of 1986, when I used 12 hour cold capsules for one of my - then, typical - winter colds. They turned me into a mental mess. When I was talking to a girl in the program about it, she said, "Are you using those 12 hour cold capsules? I can't use them because they put me into a depression that takes a month to get out of." Bingo. I haven't used them since. It turns out what I picked up at Walgreen's was a mild version of the same. So, they are in the trash. They were antihistamine and not Benadryl. I'm all better now. I'm going to have more wiring to do. I had to get bilge pumps working to finish the bilge work and 'hot-wired' them to the Engine buss. They have to be fused to be safe and they have to have control from the electrical panel. It's a small thing, but it has to be done. The rain has stopped and the world is drying out. I have to use the engineering drawing for the switches I'm buying and go over the layout on the DC panel so I don't drill holes in places where the switches won't fit. I went out and deposited another $300, then filled the truck with diesel - the thing gets 15 MPG in this 'around town' putting with at least 3000-4000 pounds of stuff in it and never able to get up to temperature because I can't be bothered installing the new thermostat. ( It's a HUGE pain in the ass to install. ) I also went to two Walgreen's to get the 'right' pills, only to discover that they are discontinued and I never should have been taking them anyway because they have the same stuff in them as Tylenol, which mugs my liver like a dog on a chew toy. Okay, so I know better now and I'll stick with aspirin and search for other cures that aren't trying to kill me. Don Morgan, who's mast I repaired in Naples, stopped by with his wife and said 'Hi'. He has a 45 foot ketch that they just replaced the engine in and are preparing for his retirement and cruising. He is a bona fide preacher and not one of the guys that mailed off an application from an add in the back of Rolling Stone Magazine so they could marry hippies at Woodstock. Anyway, they are planning to start cruising the same time and direction that I'm heading. So is Bill, from Regatta Point Marina. Small world. Rachel from Seafood Shack just came and said 'Hi', checking to see if I was coming out of my funk or sinking deeper into it. I'm coming out - way out. |
| September 15, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida Do you know how, you know, you're sitting at the keyboard, happy in your relationship with your computer, and suddenly, without warning, and for no reason, it says something harsh to you? It says like, 'Hey, we're Microsoft and you don't give us enough money, so we're gonna trash your software and make you buy new stuff from us.' Has that ever happened to you? Well, it's been happening to me. I have all legal software and have spent thousands of dollars on it and one of Microsoft's online filters ( which I ALWAYS use to test my software for bugs or whatever ) has decided to stamp my Office "NOT GENUINE", and will start doing this on every document starting in two weeks. That's very naughty of them and I am not amused. So, yesterday at some time in the afternoon I tried several things to correct it and have taken the only alternative that I find reasonable, because Microsoft certainly isn't reasonable. I formatted another 250 Gig hard drive and started from scratch. It needed doing anyway. I'm finishing up now, only this time, there will be no Microsoft ( or any other company ) automatic updates and no extras from Microsoft. They are Pirates and I don't think I'll be buying anything from them any more. I'm almost done. I have to keep going. It's 10:20 AM and I'm doing well with the upgrade on the computer. We're having a little bit of spotty drizzle today, but nothing nasty. I always like to get the computer cleaned of things like the shards and remnants of old programs I tried and didn't like. They always leave stuff behind, as well as the million or so cookies that you always pick up while surfing. Most of them aren't hostile, but they still clog the arteries like Los Angeles at rush hour. I'm about done with the computer. All that's left is a little tuning up. After about 8 straight hours of loading programs, registering items, optimizing and adjusting, I had something to eat and laid back for a while. I laid there thinking about where all the money went this past 3 weeks. Well, I'm just grateful I had it to spend and got the stuff done - so far - I still have a couple of huge hurdles to cross in this particular set of skirmishes. Number one is getting that windlass back together and tight and right. Two is getting those pulleys made and on and the engine purring nicely. Three is getting the electrical panel made, installed and wired, AND have all the systems working and operational. After all that, I still have to make that damned holding tank, finish the water system and head, and coat the inside of this entire boat with epoxy, primer, fabric, naugahide and paint, AND get the floor in and finished. Well, okay - I KNEW all this a long time ago - I just didn't want to tell anyone so they wouldn't get discouraged and lose interest. I found a very interesting website that is made and run by Geoff's son-in-law, who seems like a great guy, and I'm having a lot of fun on it. I go by 'Hawkeye' and if you're looking for some light entertainment for a few minutes a day, stop in and look around. You get points for everything and I'm getting lots of points. Here is the link: http://www.dailymission.com/ |
| September 16, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida I think it's almost time for me to start putting lists up so I get back to forward momentum. I am hoping to see the aluminum come in today and Eddie is going to take a ride with me over to Dean Johnson's machine shop and see if I can get these pulleys made. I also just remembered another circuit I have to provide a switch for that I've overlooked - the gallows lantern circuit. I ran a 3 conductor cable from there to the electrical panel, but didn't place a switch anywhere on the panel or order a switch for it. That part is fine - I have a switch I can use - but, now I have to include it in the panel drawings. Be right back. Okay, that worked out perfectly. There was one spot left in exactly the right place. I also printed out another print and stapled the package together - hoping to be able to get to Dean Johnson's today. Right now, I have to regroup and see where I'm going next on Falcon. I've spent most of the day outside talking with Eddie, then Geoff, then Eddie, and then went to the office and got the aluminum that GOT DELIVERED!! Eddie and I will head over at 1 PM because Dean eats from 12 till 1. I SO hope this works out. It will feel like getting over a huge hump in the road. And the windlass, and the raw water pump - all done and behind me. I did a little research over the past month to account for the money I've spent and it comes to $1800, not counting fuel for the truck, rent, phone bill, food and all normal monthly expenditures. It can't be helped. Push has come to shove and the boat has to be finished for cruising and I mean NOW. It's 2:30 PM and I just got back from Dean Johnson's machine shop. He seems like a great guy and he has taken the job. All I have to do now is wait for him to call for me to pick them up. All in all, I'm pretty psyched. Of course, I'm also jaded enough to have a reserve of acceptance for a phone call that says he's changed his mind. Like Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'till it's over." Now, I'll be needing a nice, new stator assembly from Ideal Windlass, please. |
| We had a pleasant gathering on the dock for wine and cheese and crackers. Since I don't drink, I had to develop my own whines. "It's too buggy. This repellent stinks. I wish we were in Miami." Sandy used her new 9.0 megapixel Canon camera and I used my sweet Kodak that Matt steered me to a couple of years ago, and we got a few sunset shots. I know the logs have been pretty thin for pictures lately and I'll try to do more in the future. There really hasn't been much to show. I'm hoping to put up a couple of sweet shots of some awesome new aluminum pulleys soon. Either that or I'll have another tragic tale about how the new aluminum was ruined and I'm out another $180 and have to start from scratch all over again. Either way it will be another wonderful adventure in Paradise. |
| September 17, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida The mornings are slightly cooler right now. Like, 77 degrees or so. It really is better than the typical 84. Still, some recent complaints from the joints on my right hand whisper in my ear that I might not want to see what 40 degrees of morning coolness feels like on these old bones. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. All I can think about are the pulleys and the windlass motor. I have pushed so hard for so long on these two stumbling blocks that I'm having difficulty leaving them to wait while I concentrate on other things. I got my renewed Documentation yesterday and downloaded and printed out all the forms and instructions for Eddie to Document Tarquin. Okay, let's Google Tarquin and see what we come up with. . . . . . . . . . . Well, it is the name of two ancient Roman kings. I will now begin my campaign to have Eddie change that obscure, pretentious name before he documents the boat. I never liked it and the previous owner, Lon, was a liar and two bit con man who told me some ridiculous story about it being something like Teddy Roosevelt's first Teddy bears name - or some other such tripe - but the man was so shady I never listened to him much anyway. This morning I'll start trouble by telling Sandy she should get to rename the boat anything she likes. Eddie came back laughing and asked what I was doing telling Sandy to rename the boat, so we had a good laugh over it and he got into a long explanation about how Tarquin was some little WWI or II teddy bear in a flight jacket that was supposed to be good luck and whatever. I still think any name that requires a five minute explanation comes from right field anyway. I spent a few hours trying to get the 500 Gig Sata hard drive to accept the 'C' drive position to speed up the computer and streamline it some, but there was no way for me to force it to work. I finally gave up and just stripped out the 'D' drive and fit it in there, and dropped one of my two DVD drives. It makes the inside of the case less crowded and cooler and absorbs less power. |
| September 18, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida It's Friday morning and we got up today to the frosty cool temperature of 79 degrees. It's once again expected to be in the low 90's today and it makes you wonder why they even call it 'fall' or 'winter' in Florida. Now, mind you, I'm not in SOUTHERN Florida - I'm halfway to Georgia, where I'm told folks actually have what they refer to as 'Winter Coats'. I wonder why I even bother to store long-legged 'big boy' pants any more, or socks. I have a leather jacket that I haven't worn in ten years. I'm expecting to get some use out of it in the not too distant future. I'm not sure if I'm still crawling slowly out of the depression the heavy doses of antihistamine put me in, or if I'm too busy sorting out files and computer problems to get work done on the boat. I am still moving HUGE ( 350 Gig ) files around and going through giant piles of stored back-ups ( none of them NEARLY as important as the stuff I lost when the 80 Gig drive tanked ) and trying to assemble a single, organized resource of all my important back-ups and research volumes. It's a little mind-boggling and it can sometimes be exhausting - or boring - whatever. Of course, the other thing is, I'm waiting for the Allied Electronics shipment, the Ideal Windlass order, and the engine parts from Dean Johnson. We also have a regular daily problem with rain. It has been a real pain in the ass this year. Probably just 'one of those years' where you have a really suck pattern of semi-bad weather without the real threat of hurricanes ( so far, knock on wood ), but I may tend toward cocking an eyebrow in the 'Global Warming' direction from time to time. When I updated the log an hour ago, then pulled up the website to make sure it was OK, it turned up completely shot right in the ass. I tried a few things to save it, but couldn't fix it at all. Finally, I got on the phone to Yahoo Small Business and tried to figure out what happened. They guy told me the website was fine on his end and asked what browser I was using. Well, I loaded Google Chrome 2 days ago and was trying it out - and was not particularly happy with it. He told me to try out Microsoft Internet Explorer again and see what happened. Website was perfect. So much for Google Chrome. I asked what he thought and he said that 'Everyone here uses Firefox'. Firefox it is. I've already downloaded and installed it. I really want to get away from all things Microsoft because of their arrangement with the government to install and upgrade Spyware in all their systems and make every detail of everything you do on line free for the twisted rats in Washington. The real weakness in that is who is guarding your information - liars and thieves, who have a long history of incompetence in protecting the information they gather. I'd rather not participate. Okay, then. After some years of trying and not much success to speak of, I finally have a smoking hot version of Linux Ubuntu 9.04 up and running on this computer. I'm running it on the "D" drive and have the entire drive dedicated to it and will be working with it a little at a time to get my web work transferred over to it and start to have some real fun with it. So far, I like it a lot. |
| September 19, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida It's a little bit late on Saturday morning for me to be starting the log, but I've been real busy this morning and have gotten a lot done. Naturally, I've been out on the docks talking with Paul and Randy and Geoff and Joe, but I've also gotten a lot done on the preparation for making the electrical panel. The delays have been very beneficial so far, as I have changed things considerably from where I first started - layout-wise - and I'm liking the developing panel better all the time. I've just tried printing out color sections, all marked with center-punch positions and circuit names. I'll have a chance to try out various colors for the final versions on photo paper before settling on the final colors. I've also decided to give some more thought to the final color of the electrical panel itself. I kind of really have an open palette there as it really doesn't have to be anything but whatever I want. I'm thinking of using the new Krylon Spray paint in the 'tag' cans. It's pretty darn impressive when you come right down to it and there is a huge selection of colors. I guess once I settle on the main panel color, it will be easier to work out the switch group colors. I have to do the 'switch group' blocks because it's the only rational way for me to get the circuits all named my way in a common font and appearance. Professional engraving is financially unavailable and all other 'homespun' methods are more tacky than I'm willing to suffer. I'll post some examples later in the day. |
| I'm starting to think something like this. I got carried away with colors until it was clownish. I'm over that. |
| September 19, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida (Cont.) Believe it or not, all the computer work is well worth doing. I feel much better about the electrical panel now and could start making it at any time. I still might change the colors a little, but I'm thinking that sticking with two colors and the individual faces of the instruments will be plenty of diversity. There are times when deviating too far from the norm is just not a good idea. Still, I have to think that way because it's how I'm wired. I just had a fantastic steak out on the dock, courtesy of Randy, with Drew, Heather and Frank. It is a perfect evening with slightly cool breezes and no bugs and a fairly cool sunset, though I waited too long to get a picture of it. I got Internet and set up music on Ubuntu, so things are moving along. It will be HUGE if I can avoid going on the Internet as much as possible with Windows. The less, the better. It turns out that I'm using the Firefox browser on both programs. The next move is to see if I can write and develop my manuscripts in Linux instead of Word. I CAN NOT WAIT to hear from Dean Johnson and get those pulleys so I can move ahead on the boat! And the windlass motor! Where is the windlass motor? Oh, did I mention that I got the stuff from Allied Electronics and the Linux Ubuntu through the mail? I might have forgotten to mention that. My belly is full and I need to watch a bit of CSI and get to sleep. It's almost 9:30. See you tomorrow. |
| September 20, 2009 - Seafood Shack Marina - Cortez, Florida I slept like an Anaconda with a bellyfull of slow native. I'm going to start laying out and cutting the electrical panel today, beginning with digging out the metals, fasteners, sealers and tools I'll be needing. I already have the Interlux 2000 primer and Largo Blue paint, so that will work for the panel, and I'll work with the printer to produce, as close as possible, either the Ice Blue deck color or Medium Blue bilge color, and use it for the lettering panels. I have also decided to use my last battery switch to select which buss for the panels DC supply. For a while, I considered placing it on the bottom of the AC door, but it's too 'goiter-ish' there, so it's going on the wall beside the panel instead. Which reminds me - I have to get the wood out of the truck that I've been saving in case I ever needed a piece of wood. I'll be needing to panel the hull behind the electrical panel - and beside it - so I can mount stuff there. I will probably squirt in some 'Great Stuff' foam behind the panels to prevent little 'outdoor' critters from finding a home there. I just have to be careful there's room for the expanding foam to escape where I can trim it smooth, rather than have it bust the panels off the hull. I've made good progress with the Linux - for the first time ever - so I'll keep tinkering with it and get it into shape for what I want. The single biggest advantage is that it is a secure operating system that excludes the vast majority of hackers. I have always been nervous about having my writing on hard drives that were connected live while I was on line. My writing was plagiarized before and I'm hoping to avoid it in the future. In a weird situation that I can not explain, I had Randy, Frank, Heather and Joe all sitting under the dock shade with me for about 3 hours this morning. I finally left them and started getting stuff from the truck. It's nice to have folks visit, you know, but it kind of sucks when it's a work day for me but a party day for them and I'm not getting any work done. I finally got to do some work and got some stuff done on the electrical panel. Donny called today and they're thinking about heading back soon. They got as far as Georgetown, South Carolina, but now have to think about heading back to sell of a bunch of stuff in storage and get a much smaller storage room. They have a HUGE one now and it's costing them more than they want to keep spending. Tomorrow starts another series of days where I wait for a call from Dean Johnson and wonder why he hasn't called yet. It's a good thing it ain't a fire extinguisher and I'm burning. I also made more headway on Ubuntu and am getting more familiar with it. Tomorrow I hope to make serious progress on the panel and have some pictures to post. |