All work and no play?

Having grandkids along on a boat work trip is a good thing, it turns out. By the end of the previous half dozen trips to the boat for Work Week we've been so tired that passing things like Pilot Mountain State Park on the drive home elicited a vague "We really need to stop there sometime and see what it's like." With the help of the boys on this trip (see Tj's previous post) we finished a day early and had time to go visit the maritime museum in Beaufort, NC and an amazingly cool wooden boat shop there. After leaving there and a night spent in a hotel with a wonderful outdoor pool, we happened to be passing Pilot Mountain State Park with a few extra hours to spare so we all voted to stop.

Pilot Mountain is a geological wonder of quartzite monadnock formed millions of years ago. The surrounding mountains eroded over the years and left the knobby formation intact. While you're not allowed to climb the knob itself, there is an easy .8 mile hike around the base of it that yields very rewarding views along the way. We have plans to return again with more time to explore. 

This is the parking lot at the visitor's center, but you can drive up to the parking lot near the top which we did. There were actually people walking all the way up the road and a few bicyclists tackling the climb on their road bikes. My grandson assures me that his dad could do it "in about 20 minutes." (The gauntlet has been thrown Dad...) There's also shuttles that go up to the parking lot if you don't want to take your car.

 

 

The elevation here is about 2400 feet.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are visible along the horizon.

Later that evening after arriving at the hotel we found this amazing park, Legacy Grove Park in Wincester, KY. The boys had a blast climbing on everything and land surfing on the artificial turf hill. They even provided cardboard box bits to surf on.

 

 

 

 

There was a running water feature with a play area that was a creek as well as several water tables with pots, pans, pitchers, collanders, and a pumping well to get more water to play with. Another part of the park had a music feature with all sorts of drums and bells. It was an incredibly well thought out park and I wish we had one in St. Louis. The boys agreed it was the most awesome park they'd ever been to. And it was a great nudge for me to remember to balance out the work/play ratio to something just a bit more reasonable. Thanks boys!

You have to appreciate beauty no matter where you find it. This was the sunset from the hotel window last night.

Water Ready

After a slightly longer than normal break we were back working on First Light. The timing put us in the boat yard in the midst of a heat wave, with daily temperatures deep into the 90s. The day I started this post it was 1817 local time. Our little weather station had the air temperature at 96, a heat index of 115, and showed the barest hint of a breeze. I was reminded of the months I spent working in the boat yard trying to earn enough to keep cruising. Days that were not among the highlights of our years on Kintala. Yet here we were again, toughing it out while trying to get First Light ready to splash.

We had two major jobs on the list for this trip; both pressing due to insurance concerns that I don't completely understand. What I did understand is not getting them done in a timely manner was going to cost us. The first was replacing the starboard engine thru-hull. The new one is a proper sea cock complete with backing plate and anti-rotation screws. The install went smooth for a boat project, aided by the fact that Grandsons M (12) & G (10) joined us for this trip. Both regularly work with me on home projects and they have been a real help during this trip. Their young bones are far better suited for climbing in and out of engine room hatches and fetching necessary tools than are mine. They got their hands dirty as well or, in the case of the thru-hull, got a proper coating of sealant. They were rightly proud of the work they did helping me fill the hole that was in the bottom of the boat.

The second job required adding over-voltage protection to five different power feeds. Two 100 amp breakers were needed in the engine emergency start system, with three 50 ampers required in the battery charger circuit. The engine starting circuit I kind of understand as those lines were basically unprotected. On the other hand the boat has survived four decades without said protection, and now it is a hazard that must  be dealt with before the insurance company will let the boat get wet? The battery charging circuit is already protected by two different circuit breakers; each of which will likely open long before those 50 amps pop. But that's what the survey says, that's what the insurance company demands and that, as they say, is that.

The morning of the wiring task was spent at the parts and tool store. I got me a new toy, a hydraulic crimper that will easily handle the 6 AWG task at hand. Expensive, but still far less than it would have cost to contract the job out. And, well, I got me a new toy. We found the terminals needed for the 100 amp job. Those for the 50 amp job had to be ordered and would be a day behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first glance the 100 amp breakers in the emer-start circuit looked an easy install. Cut the wires, add terminals to the cut ends, install the breakers, zip-tie as necessary, finished. A schematic etched into the faceplate of a box marked "Starting Switches" with 3 switches mounted, suggested that simply turning them to "OFF" would drain the wires of any spark-making capability. But I am a skeptic when it comes to many things, with boat wiring being near the the top of that list. My little volt meter showed both lines full of spark-making potential. It didn't appear that any combination of switches removed said potential. The day was wearing on and my heat fuzzed brain was giving up on the puzzle. Time to head for a cold shower and tackle the puzzle anew in the morning. 

Sleeping on a problem is often a good way to solve a problem. The next morning I just pulled the ground wire off of the emergency start battery. A quick look at the voltmeter affirmed that the lines were dead and the dikes were brought to bear. An hour or two later and that half of the insurance electric mods were done. I know the engine starting circuits, both normal and emergency, were tested during the sea trial. But that was nearly a year ago now and I have simply forgotten which switch does what. The first time we go back in the water the engine contractor will be along to check the work he did for us. I will get a refresher course on switches when that happens. 

With nothing else to do to until the electrical system until parts arrived, I went back to working on the cockpit roof / solar panel mount.  An earlier project that is mostly finished, it still needed some edge work done. Ninety plus degrees in blazing sunshine? No hill for a climber. But it was a slow climb, with many breaks to fill the water jug and squirt down with a hose. Did I mention that it reminded me of some hard days I had hoped to never see again? By the time the parts showed for the second half of the electric job I was as nearly spent as the day.

The next morning brought an enthusiastic start at getting the last wiring mod finished, and all went well for oh, 20 minutes or so. With battery charger powered down and all the boat battery switches open, there was no chance of making sparks, right? The volt meter suggested no spark potential. But First Light has solar power charger circuit laid on top of inverters coupled with AC charging systems riding piggy back engine alternators backed up with a gen-set. Not all of that was installed at the same time. With revised and up-to-date schematics for old boats being non-existent, what were the chances of some kind of sneak circuit of which I had no clue?  I disconnected the ship's battery bank ground cables. Also, the work area in question was directly above that same battery bank. Moving slow and being careful was the watchword for the mod. And a good lesson for the two young mechanics working with me.

Breakers installed and original wiring rerouted to them; it came time to fabricate new wiring back to the charger. And...the parts that had shown up the day before were wrong. Yep, who would have guessed that? The boys and I headed off to find the right ones, wiring connectors for 6 AWG wire with 1/4 inch mount holes. After more than an hour of fruitless searches through 4 different stores, we returned to the boat with tails tucked and anticipating another day's delay for the right parts to arrive. Deb took over the search and drove off. A half hour later she sent me a text. She was on the way with the right parts. If you need parts, send one of the world's best parts department managers to find them. (That is why she ran my aircraft parts department for many years!) Good mechanics might be rare. But Part's experts? One in a million among good mechanics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of hours after she returned with the needed bits, wires from the breakers to the charger were fabricated and installed. Zip-ties were were placed to make for "happy" wiring, battery ground cables connected, breakers and switches were closed. The charger came on line, and our little electrical world was up to insurance standards. After a bit of clean-up work, and so far as we know at the moment, First Light is water ready once again.

With the project targets met, and a little extra, Deb changed the getting home plan. Instead of a two day trip she changed it to three. Day one would include a ferry ride across the Neuse River to Beaufort, NC to visit a maritime museum along with a boat shop dedicated to working on wooden boats. Then we would head west for a couple of hours to a hotel with air conditioning and a pool.

The trip across the Neuse was just a 20 minute ride but, the moment the ferry dropped the mooring lines and began to back away from the loading dock, my heart took a little lurch. This was the first time we had been on near-to-big water in over three years on any kind of a boat. Standing on the upper deck, looking across the expanse, smelling the salt air, and watching a couple of cruising boats work their way along the river... For just a moment it seemed like a good idea to ride the ferry right back, head to the boat yard, have them fire up the travel lift, drop First Light into the water, and motor off somewhere, anywhere, that we could drop the hook and hope for a few dolphins to swim by and welcome us back. But heart tugs aside, there are considerations to consider and plans to be made before that can happen.

I am pleased with the progress we made and the chance to spend some quality time with the grandsons. But, short of a life-threatening catastrophe, this is the last time I work on a boat during the Summer months while south of the Mason-Dixon line. Which may be the biggest consideration to consider to setting a splash date. So, as is normal with all life, we will just have to see how it all unfolds while trying to muster up the necessary patience and garnering what little wisdom can be found so as to make the best decisions we can.