Project Weekend

We had a great weekend of getting projects done on the boat.

The biggest project was the new VHF.  The new VHF integrates with the GPS and knows where we are, it shows the location of nearby boats with AIS transmitters.  It has a remote microphone option, which we got and installed on the flybridge.  It also hooks into our existing loudhailer and replaces the separate (semi-functioning) loud hailer controller.  The loudhailer is cool-it is a loud speaker at the front of the boat which also picks up and amplifies sounds up there.  So say you are trying to set the anchor or something, you can talk back and forth from the bow to the person on the VHF at either the lower or upper helm.  NICE. 

In order to install the new VHF, we had to take the old one down and wire up the new one, including wiring it to the loudhailer speaker and the GPS.  Of course this was a big production that involved taking down all sorts of panels and feeding wires and all sorts of fun stuff.  Installing the remote mic on the flybridge involved drilling a hole through the fiberglass, which is always kind of scary since there isn't really room to make mistakes!  While we were at it, Matt decided to change how the power worked and wire the VHF to the same switch as the GPS instead of the switch that controls all the other navigation and communication equipment.  That way if we want to listen to the VHF while we are sitting in port we won't have to power up all our nav equipment, like the radar.  We SHOULD be able to turn the radar off even when the power to it is on but the power button on it doesn't work! At least it is stuck on and not off! 

One thing we did find out is that the previous owner was correct in saying the GPS works, just the display doesn't work.  The instructions were simple enough that we were able to set the GPS to output in a format the VHF could understand without there being a display, and bingo, there was our position displayed on the VHF!  Nice.

Of course this project involved a few trips to the store.  We had to stop by West Marine on our way to the boat yesterday to pick up the radio and remote mic (mid day we had another West Marine trip for another project) then today we had to pick up some bits and pieces and ended up going to OSH, Home Depot and Radio Shack.  But we were able to find everything.  We still need to go to Tap plastics for a face plate to cover the fact that the hole for the previous VHF is wider than we need and we also are waiting on a flush mount kit to come into the local West Marine from one of their Florida stores.

The other project we did yesterday that required a West Marine run was replacing the flax packing in our stuffing box on our starboard prop shaft.  What in the blazes is that, you ask?  So the engine spins the propeller by spinning the shaft, which the propeller is attached to.  This generates heat.  The stuffing box helps keep the shaft cool by allowing sea water in (at least I think this is how it works, but anyway).  One adjusts a big nut on the shaft to control how much water is seeping in.  Ideally there should be no or very little water dripping out of the stuffing box while the boat is sitting in the slip.  Our stuffing box was dripping like mad and that little bit of water adds up to a lot of water in the bilge.  We tried adjusting it tighter with no success.  We prefer to keep the water on the OUTSIDE of the boat, so we decided it was time for some new packing.  The packing comes in all different sizes but lucky for us the previous owner had left us a package of 5/16 flax packing.  We had picked up a big box of it at West Marine the other day so we had PLENTY for our project.  We backed the nut all the way off and set about picking out the old, greasy, nasty, blackened packing.  It seemed a bit larger than the new stuff, but hey, maybe it was compressed, right?  So meanwhile the water is dripping in at a fairly fast pace and we really want to get the whole thing put back together ASAP.  It takes me some trial and error to get the new pieces of packing cut to the right length (you use three separate pieces, each wrapped around once) so good thing we had bought that great big box!  So we had all three pieces cut and Matt started to put them into the nut (I think it might be officially called a "gland" but whatever).  Not happening.  No way, no how.  Too big.  So we drove up to West Marine for the correct size packing!  It slipped right in and we got the thing all tightened back together.  It seems to not be dripping but we'll have to adjust it next time we go out--If it is too tight, not enough water gets in to cool the shaft and that causes something bad to happen.  I'm not really sure WHAT but anyway, you want it to be cool.  Lesson, just because it is on the boat does not mean it is the part we need.

Ok, what else, lets see, we put a new sprayer thing on the kitchen sink.  I am not sure what you call this.  All you do is unscrew the screen thing at the end of the faucet and screw this thing in instead.  It can either be a spray or a stream and it swivels.  Anyway, it is very handy to have since we do not have a pull out sprayer.

We also rerouted the cables from the TV antenna so we do not have to pull the cable from the aft cabin into the saloon.  There is now a splitter in the engine room and one cable still comes up in the aft cabin and another cable comes out the hole where there used to be some sort of phone/ DSL box.  We got a nice face plate for it, too.  This sounds really simple but there was some trial and error involving drilling holes in the back of the closet which did not work out at all.  What we ended up with worked out better anyhow so no worries there.  We also tried to replace the antenna (which is inside the front of the flybridge) with a new one I got the other day which has a longer range but we weren't able to disconnect the cable from the old one.  We will have to cut it but we wanted to have an end to put on it first so we could hook it to the new antenna.  We got some ends at OSH so we can take care of that next weekend.  I spent quite a bit of time inside the flybridge front working on taking the thing apart.  It is a very large space but I have to crawl through kind of a small door to get in there.  Not super fun but you do what you have to do.  At least there is access!

Next weekend we hope to finish up the VHF installation and the new TV antenna, plus complete our shower project--a new faucet and hand held shower head!  We are waiting on the shower head, hopefully it will come this week.  We THINK we have all the other pieces and parts we need.

New Years in Sausalito

We headed up to Schoonmakers Marina in Sausalito on Friday the 31st for New Years.  On the way up I made a Chipotle Remoulade sauce and got the flank steak marinated with rosemary and garlic.  When we got up there we headed toward our assigned slip.  It looked REALLY small and it was really tight as it was way down to the end of the fairway, a fairway that got narrower and narrower towards the end.  I was seriously afraid we were wider than the slip.  Let's just say we didn't have to worry about which side of the boat we wanted to get on and off the boat from!  Anyway, we headed up to the harbormaster to check in, then went to Le Garage for a late lunch.  Le Garage makes good food but the service is a little on the Slooooooow side.  Matt says it is just like really being in France. After lunch we walked the docks for awhile and checked out all the nice boats up there, then headed back to Pineapple Girl II relax for awhile before making dinner.  We had crab cakes with the remoulade sauce made earlier and then grilled up the flank steak.  We watched "PS I Love You" and were in bed before ten.  Happy New Year!

Saturday we slept in, then made bacon and eggs.  It was raining but we set off for West Marine and picked up a few items we needed for projects.  Then we tried to find somewhere for lunch but the two restaurants near West Marine were closed.  We picked up twice baked potatoes at Molly Stones then went back to the boat and ate them with left over flank steak and remoulade sauce on french rolls.  We didn't have enough pieces and parts to finish our many projects, though we were able to install a soap dispenser in the counter by the galley sink.  Later we headed over to the Sausalito Cruising Club to warm up and we had a few drinks.  They convinced us to stay for the buffet dinner and we watched a steady stream of ladies come in.  The bartender had told us that they were having a band that night that had a bit of an "alternative" following.  Being from the Bay Area, lesbians don't seem all that alternative but I guess he wanted to let us know in case that would make us uncomfortable.  We didn't last long enough for the band to come on.  We went back to the boat and watched two episodes of Saving the Bay.

Sunday we decided to walk down to the Sausalito Yacht Club for brunch.  It was really good, particularly Matt's Fried Egg BLT on croissant.  On the way back we stopped at Paradise Bay restaurant for a drink so we could use the bathroom and while we were there we noticed they had the 49ers game on and we ended up staying until the end of the game.  The niners finally won one!  We went back to the boat afterwards and grilled some chicken breasts we'd been marinating in a Tequila concoction (a Barefoot Contessa recipe).  We watched "The Changeling."

Monday dawned bright and cold.  We made bacon and eggs with biscuits and headed for home.  We had a great trip back after a lovely weekend.  When we got back to Coyote Point we got some diesel and pumped out the holding tank, then headed to our slip.  Gotta love this yachting stuff.    

Good Luck / Bad Luck

The Good Luck thing that happened was... we went to the boat Sunday to make sure she was still floating and it just so happened some friends on our dock had their diver out cleaning their bottom and replacing their zincs so he kindly got the line off our prop!  He said everything looked fine but of course we'll have to see how things seem with the motor running.  A Sunday, the day after Christmas, and there was a diver all suited up ready to go.  THAT was good luck.

The Bad Luck continues with trying to get a hitch so we can launch and retrieve our dinghy without having to make arrangements with friends.  The first time we tried to get a hitch we ended up with a totalled car (you may recall Matt was on his way to U Haul to see about getting a hitch on the Honda when he was rear ended by the hummer...).  I had ordered a hitch from U Haul for Matt's new car and I had an appointment today to have it installed at our local U Haul location.  The very nice guy there called a short time later and said it was the most complicated hitch installation he had ever seen and he was not comfortable doing it.  He referred me to the U Haul in San Francisco as they have installed hitches on this type of car before and are comfortable doing it.  Now I just have to make an appt with them and take the car up there.  Sigh.  I do respect the person at the local store for not plowing ahead with something he was not comfortable with. 

We plan to stay on the boat tonight... There is supposed to be another storm blowing through so it might get interesting...

Christmas on the boat

We went down to the boat Thursday afternoon and stayed there until this morning.  We completed a few small projects.  We replaced the burned out light bulb in the small halogen light over the galley sink and BOY what a difference that makes.  We didn't even realize there was a light there until recently and now that it actually WORKS it is so much brighter down there.  We also got some new black non-skid shelf lining stuff and replace that in several spots around the galley.  We did not realize how disgusting the old stuff was until we peeeeeeeeled it up...  UGH.

We started on the shower--it was gel coated a few years back and the gel coat has chipped off in a couple of places on the wood trim at the bottom that holds the teak grate up a bit off the sole of the shower.  So we went to the hardware store to look for caulk, etc to deal with that and in general recaulk. So we started by cleaning.  What we discovered that the shower is actually WHITE.  We thought it was kind of a cream color but in the course of cleaning it we found that the yellowish hue came off to reveal WHITE!  it is going to take some more cleaner to get all the "yellow" off.  I can only assume this is more cigarette tar.  bluck.  So anyway, this is going to take some more work before we can get to the caulking part...

Yesterday we took the boat over to pump out our new holding tank for the first time and decided on the spur of the moment to take a quick spin around the bay.  Unfortunately we did not think about the docklines casually tossed onto the boat for the "quick" trip and with the roughness out in the bay the bow line got washed into the water and of course it ended up around one of the props.  We have to wait for the diver to come next week to get it off and find out if there is any damage.  It is kind of ironic as we were practicing driving with only one engine while we were out there, just to see how the boat handled. We actually got into the slip pretty cleanly. 

Last night we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner (I think we went there Christmas Eve last year) and then hung out with our friends across the dock on their boat for a bit for some holiday cheer.  We slept in late and the same friends gave us some giant cinnamon rolls as we headed off to visit with family for the afternoon.

Year in Review

As the year winds down and we plan our trip to Sausalito for New Year's weekend (on Pineapple Girl, of course), I have been reflecting on 2010. What a year it has been...

Most of the first half of the year was consumed with getting Tiki J ready for the 2000+ mile Pacific Cup race.  Boat projects, racing, boat projects, provisioning...

Ocean race highlights included
+ my second trip around the Farallones--I was very lucky both times as the weather was nice and the smell was not too strong.  I think this was the day we wrapped a spinnaker sheet around the prop during some practice jibes after the finish.  D'oh!
+ The Duxship race where it was VERY rough out, super windy, big wells with short periods. Just miserable.  All the agony of the day was rewarded by surfing in through the gate.  As much as a boat that size / weight can surf, but still.  The conditions that day really showed us what the boat was capable of.

Pac Cup prep highlights included
+ the refrigeration system croaked a few weeks before the race and sent us into a tizzy over whether to replace it or change our food plans (we replaced it)
+ the new forward water tank burst when it was filled two days before the race.   Glad I wasn't there that day.

Provisioning highlights included
+ driving all over the bay area trying to find fresh, never refrigerated eggs as the supposedly last a lot longer

Pac Cup highlights included
+ seeing the stars from the middle of the Pacific.  Wow, doesn't get much better than that.

Pretty shortly after we got back we got Pineapple Girl 2.  Highlights with the new boat:
+ Our dear friend Mike Murphy came to our first cruise out (labor day weekend) and told us he wanted us to have his dinghy.  Mike died October 28.  I am so grateful to him for his generosity to us as he was battling for his life, but that is the kind of guy he was.  There aren't many like him.
+ Waiting out a storm at Angel Island in October--just hanging out in the saloon, listening to the niners game on the radio, waiting for the 30-40 knot winds and the rain to subside.  they did, and we had a great trip home
+ Thanksgiving at Angel Island
+ basically all the time we get to spend on the boat, whether at the marina or on a trip, whether hanging out or working on it.  There is so much to learn about it and it is so much fun doing it!

Other things:
+ well of course the car crash and Matt's new car fall into the "what a year it has been" category, though not necessarily a highlight.  though Matt's new car is pretty cool.  Adaptive cruise control is awesome!
+ A definite highlight is all the good friends and great people we have in our lives!  Thanks!

Boating Updates

We spent Thursday through Sunday on the boat.  We had to work on Friday but I had a work party Thursday night 10 minutes from the boat so we decided to stay on the boat.  Saturday we got one of our friends to come by and give us some pointers on engine maintenance, changing filters and various other mechanical things.  Matt put all the cupboard handles back on (he took them off to paint them as the faux woodgrain was wearing off) and we did a few other minor maintenance items.

We had dinner at the club Friday and went to the club Christmas party Saturday.  I am not sure if I mentioned, when we were in San Francisco for Matt's company Christmas party we stayed at the Argonaut Hotel and the bartender there gave us all a round of shots he called "Whoa Nellie."  We googled that and came up with a different drink from what he was making us.  He said it had Vodka, Whiskey, Amarreto and Pineapple Juice.  Let me tell you, they went down easy.  We told the bartender at the club how to make them on Friday, then Saturday we gave him a "holiday tip."  I guess he really appreciated the tip as every time we turned around he had made us another round of "Whoa Nellies".  Sunday morning I was in the WORST mood and I can only figure I was hung over from all the whiskey.  BLUCK.  They sure taste good though.  Luckily we had no plans for the day and we packed up all of our stuff (laundry and such) and headed home to watch some football. 

We put the name and logo on the back of the boat the other day.  The old name and hailing port still show but oh well.

ARGH

totally off topic. Matt was taking our Honda to get a hitch put on it so we can tow our dinghy.  Now we have to get a friend to bring his truck to the marina so we can launch / retrieve it... so anyway, Matt stopped at a red light and the unlicensed driver in the Hummer behind him didn't stop...

Here is the hummer. That little bit of silver paint on the bumper and the bent metal under his bumper (not really visible in the photo) is the extent of the damage to the hummer.  The car was impounded and towed, though, since the driver had no license. He had borrowed the car from his boss, supposedly.

and here is what is left of our 1997 Honda Civic.  I bought this car new in July of 1997.  The crumple zone certainly did its job of absorbing shock.  It is crumpled between the doors and rear tires as well.

Matt is fine, the crumple zone did its job!  Now we have to figure out what car to get.  We weren't planning on getting him another car anytime soon.  Sigh.