Maerin is still at Stansbury, and we’ve gone separate ways in a manner of speaking. Barb is spending the bulk of her time in York looking after her mother who had the misfortune of taking a fall down a flight of stairs at her home. No permanent damage, but she spent some time in the hospital recovering and then in rehab to regain some strength. It has become evident that a three level home is no longer manageable, so their house is for sale and plans are in the works to move her parents into a single level cottage at the Lutheran Home in a month or so.
We spend time alternately at the house or aboard as needs dictate. While Barb focuses on immediate family demands not requiring the both of us, I have been busy aboard with numerous refit, repair, upgrade and maintenance tasks. The list is about 50 items, some of which are detailed below:
COMPLETE | IN PROCESS |
Rebuild steering ram cylinder (Hynautic K-2) | Buff/wax hull |
Add sense wire from alt. regulator to battery fuse | Replace thruster zincs, confirm spares |
R&R/Repair Splendide, clean vent | Replace cooler zincs get spares |
Install new inverter/charger, remote, monitor, change wiring | Check/correct wiring at LP monitor panel |
Replace Engenius wifi bridge with Bullet 2HP | Re-stitch upper helm cover, winch covers |
Add AIS transponder | Have cover made for spare fuel tank |
Raymarine S1000 wireless remote | Replace O/B start battery |
Add 2nd VHF antenna- port side | Mount spare outboard on boat deck |
Add NDS-4 Multiplexer, add terminal blocks, modify NMEA cabling | Stow spare dinghy |
Replace O/B clamp plate on Caribe | Strip & refinish cap rails |
Rebuild guest head pump | Kahlenberg horns- plating, mounting angle |
Repair ship’s computer (RAID RE-4 HDD Array, +1GB ram, OS clean reinstall) | Print additional log pages; create bound archive |
Install new HD main battery disconnect, cabling alterations |
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Replace watermaker pressure vessel | |
Stabilizer seawater pump- replace | |
Genset seawater pump repipe, add TD control & relay | |
Holding tank vent filter rebuild/repl carbon media (X2) | |
Add PB-150 weather sensor to masthead |
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Add Furuno RD-30 display | |
Order VHF-SWR meter | |
Video display for rear view CCTV | |
Replace gasket on lazarette hatch | |
New US ensign | |
Replace boom block (Harken#308 2″x2 plus #314) | |
Inspect/Modify masthead lift block & findings | |
Repair outboard steering friction assy, repl brass zerk ftg |
The current focus is refinishing the caprail which has not been looking its best, so time for a refinish job. The varnish has been showing signs that it is due to be “wooded”, or stripped down to bare wood and start fresh. The preferred method of stripping is a heat gun and sharp scraper. It’s tedious work; it’s important to be very careful in removing the old varnish so the underlying wood is not cut or gouged. Four days to strip and prep, two days to apply CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) as a sealer/primer, and then as many coats of varnish as I can tolerate. I’m shooting for 12 or so. At this writing, the sealer is complete and if the weather is suitable, the first coat of varnish will be applied in the morning. The objective is to apply the first coat of varnish before the epoxy sealer is completely cured, effectively “gluing” the varnish to the epoxy. In ideal conditions, a coat of varnish can be applied every 24 hours, but as we’ve learned before, the varnish must be nearly cured before sunset or dew can cause the surface to “blush”, requiring the removal of the coat by sanding. Most unpleasant. So another week and the finish should be starting to look good!
That’s the latest from here in Middle River, where it’s been hot, hot, hot! the past few days. Great weather to be dockside and plugged into shore power… (read: A/C ! ) Our cruising plans are for the moment, on hold. We have shelved our earlier plan to return to Nova Scotia this summer so Barb can support her parents. Circumstances in that regard will dictate our movements for the time being.
Laura & Mark on 27 Jul 2011 at 12:27 PM #
Wow! Sounds like a lot of work being done on the boat! Let us know when you’re ready to sell, we’ll be happy to take Maerin as our second home and cruising boat when you are done with her. And of course, AFTER you all finished with your upgrades and repairs. 🙂