Spring is finally here....

.... so I am in a race to the finish to get my boat wired, finished, and ready to go in the water!

Portland Boat Builder's Show 2014

To start, I went to the Portland Boat Builder's show again this year.  I was somewhat disappointed with the turn out by vendors, but was still quite happy to walk around and see all the shiny new things, as well as some beautiful old things as well.  While most of the vendors I had talked to last year, there were a few new ones that I had not seen.

I am pretty sure this artist was not here last year.  The birch bark over wood frame canoe that he built (left) was absolutely stunning!  I overheard him telling someone about how all of the seams are sealed, how the bark gets treated, and the number of hours that went into the boat.  While I would never buy a canoe like this, i can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship and hundreds of hours that go into a project on this scale and detail.

 The level of craftsmanship was not just limited to the boat builders.  This vendor was working in composites, and had a number of creations on display.  This trunk top was one, with the compass rose done all in carbon fiber in the original molding of the piece.  They also had a full carbon fiber cello that someone had commissioned them to make.  What a stunning instrument it was too.  Absolutely flawless.  I only wish they had someone there playing it.  

This winter, since it has been a long and cold one, I have been looking into electric propulsion.  Mostly I have been looking at people building DIY electric cars, motorcycles, and go carts.  I had forgotten about electric propulsion for boats.  I was reminded today of talking with a number of vendors at last year's boat show about electric propulsion, and that I was interested, but it was not the time for me to invest in the tech, as I had to get Lady Lucile ready for the water before beginning to try to be a relatively early adopter for all electric propulsion.  When I saw this boat (photo right) at the boat show, I was impressed by their "sail drive".  While I did not get the details about this, I am pretty sure the electric motor is in the pod with the propeller.  While this would make maintenance of the motor hard if there was a problem, I still find it to be a very neat set up.

Weekend Work

 I've been very lucky to have a dad that loves projects, and more importantly boats, as much as I do!  Because my knowledge of electronics and wiring are limited (but ever expanding), I have been relying on my dad for a lot of advice and straight up help.  He always seems to have an answer, or at least is willing to go look for one when he doesn't.  I only hope I can be as great a dad as my dad is to me!




Before we get into the wiring of the boat, I finally got the new main sheet block set up and ready for use.  I also got the quick release hook set up for recovery operations, although I hope to never have to use the main block for that purpose.  I think because I have grown up as a sailor, and spent my life around a lot of sailors, I know how valuable it is to be prepared, to think outside the box, and be prepared to wing it when all your plans to go shit.  With plans to sail a lot this summer, and to teach my girlfriend to sail my boat, I need a system for her to bring me back onto the boat should I become incapacitated in the water.  While I have not worked out the flaws in this system (aka- still an untested system) at least I am working on something.

Wiring!

Some of you my remember the home brew AC electrical system that was on the boat when I bought it.  It is gone now.  However, when I was tearing out junction boxes connected by extension cords, I noticed that some of the 12v DC wiring was of dubious quality also.  Note left that the wires are connected with wire nuts (the black things).  While this is okay for home wiring, this is just asking for trouble in marine wiring.  Not only is it an invitation for corrosion, but it is also an invitation for sparks, which lead to explosions if you have a gasoline inboard engine.

Fortunately, this particular boat does not because I knew from looking around that most all of the boat of this vintage need new engines.  To protect the boat from explosion hazards, as well as corrosion of the electrical system, I opted to maybe go a little beyond what is required and use crimp connectors with heat shrink, adhesive lined tubing (the blue things, left).  The adhesive in the shrink tubing seals the connections from the outside world, so it makes it very difficult for corrosion to take place.  Hopefully this wiring job will last another 50 years for this boat!  Unfortunately, there is still much wiring to be done inside the boat, which will hopefully be fully (or mostly) done by weeks end.

Probably the most important job to be done was to get the mast rewired and the lights replaced before the rig is put up.  The lights on the mast were both broken, with the steaming light (the light used for navigation when the boat is under engine power, rather than under sail, right) had been repaired with a screw on bottle cap.  While I appreciate the ingenuity and resourcefulness, I decided to get a new steaming light (black unit, far right) that has a fore-deck light built in.  This meant running new wiring (triplex), although I was going to run new wiring anyway, because I did not want to get the mast up and rigged only to find out that the wiring was bad, and the lights did not work, meaning either the rig would have to come back down, or I would have to go up the mast to run the new wires.  Neither option really seemed like a good idea, so rewire the mast dad and I did.

We also rewired the anchor light (or mast head light).  There was no lens left on the previous unit, and it was a chance to upgrade to an LED unit to conserve some power.  There is a little controversy about LED lights and if they are as visible as incandesent light bulbs, but I figure if the US Coast Guard has approved them for 2 mile visual range, then they must be just fine.


 Originally the mast also had a coax cable run for the VHF radio.  It was in terrible condition, so it was also removed from the mast.  While I do not have any coax cable to go in for a replacement yet, I do have a runner (aka- a string) in place to pull the new cable through when I get it and a new antenna.  The old antenna looked to be in great shape until I accidentally dropped an anchor on it and the fiberglass shattered into many many pieces.  I will be buying a metal whip antenna to replace the shattered one.  Of note also in the picture to the right is the loop of wire at the top.  I though it might be prudent to have extra wire at the top of the mast should I decide I want to replace the mast head light at some juncture down the road, and have to cut away the old light.

The Plan of Attack

 This week I will be working to get the breaker panel mounted and wired, build the 5th and final hatch for the rear lazarette,  re-register the boat, as well as get the chart table finished and mountable.  I am hoping to get all of this done, but I have been at this project long enough to know that these projects take a lot longer than I want them to.  Take wiring the mast for example: with two of us working, it took us all day to run 2 wires and a runner for the coax.  Obviously we ran into snags that we were not anticipating, as well as problems that could have been avoided had we done a bit of measuring before fully diving into the project.  Sometimes in your eagerness to get started on the project, you forget some of the basic things that can really save you headaches down the road.

The plan for next week is to get the boat surveyed so that I can finally get insurance, and get the boat in the water for the first weekend in May!  This year, no dirt bikes til the boat is in the water!!!!!