Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Blank . . .

One more week has come and gone and I find that I have nothing to say. More of the same. No progress on the generator, the electronics or the sails.
Yet, I have learned something about the genset which makes me feel less mad at myself. At first, I thougth that the breakdown of the set had been caused by my own clumsiness and I was assuming that the water leak had been caused by a poorly tighten water hose. But after the new part was installed and upon starting the generator, it turned out that it was the seal in the raw water pump that had failed. I could not have seen it coming. So, we are going to rebuild the pump which I will keep as a spare and install a new pump which is on order.
After riding on Saturday, I sat down with my neighbours for some food and drinks without showering and/or stretching. As the evening progressed, my back started to tighten up and by Sunday morning, I could not move at all and had to spend the whole day lying down.
So, not an exciting finish for the week.
Hopefully this coming week will see the installation of the transponder, the rest of the electronics done, the generator working with the new pump in place, and so on.....
Meanwhile, I am following Albinoni very closely. They should be right now crossing the Panama canal and I hope to learn a lot from their experience.
By next week-end, I should have a lot more to say.

Monday, April 20, 2009

26 days to go . . .

This morning, I woke up very wary of the time going by. Today is my birthday, 69 years gone, and I wonder where some of it has disappeared.
Anyway, up to now, I was thinking that I had plenty of time to prepare Papy Jovial. Today, I have changed my mood, and I am now thinking that there is no more time to waste.
Not that nothing has happened during the past week, but for stuff that I strike off the list, new items show up. Like the saga of the broken dog on the hatch in the main cabin. I took off the left dog on the forward hatch, thinking that this might give me an idea on how to modify them to fit the other hatches, as those dogs are available on Internet. This is when I discover two small cracks in the plexigass, under the cover of the bolt going through the hatch. Obviously, I have to take care of those craks.
But there is hope. After the Bomar distributor in Florida had told me that those Nibo hatches were made 25 years ago and parts for them are no longer available, I think I found a source in Canada. I have ordered them but it may take two week before I get them and I know for sure that they fit.
Then, there was the saga of the part for the generator. There was a mix-up between Northern Lights in Massachussett and those in Florida, and I was given the roundaround about the whereabouts of the part. This morning, I am told that it is in Norfolk and should arrive today.
On the safey side, I now feel quite comfortable. Extinguishers, Halon system, flares, EPIRB, Life Raft, emergency rudder, ditch bag, have all been checked, certified or replaced and everything is working and up to date.
For the freezer, I am expecting a new Thermostat, as the technician who checked it had replaced the old one (which worked fine) with a generic one, which turned out to be a refrigerator and not a freezer thermostat, and then discarded the old one. It comes from California, so I suppose another week to wait and make sure that everything works the way it should.
Among the many things that happened, on the one hand, I got a new neighbour, a ferro-cement ketch with an old-fashion rigging and a very nice couple on her (Mick and Bee).
On the other hand, for my birthday, someone backed into my car and destroyed the rear light on the left side. I did not need this additional headache, but that's life. Shit happens and you deal wiht it.
Hopefully, this coming week will be the week where the genset is repaired, and the lazy bag with openings for the three reef lines on both sides is back. With luck, I might even get some work done on the electronics (installing the Advance Tracking transponder).
I managed to put in two rides last week. I will go for 3 or 4 this week.

Monday, April 13, 2009

5 weeks to go

A second week has gone by and I feel that I an not making a lot of progress. The part for the genset which was supposed to have arrived Wednesday or Thursday is still nowhere to be seen. Sailmaker and electronician came and gave their first coat of "looking at", but nothing specific has yet been achieved.
On the mechanical part, alternator wiring and electric wiring have been reviewed and cleaned up. With lots of doubts and questions, both blowers (one pushing fresh air in the bottom of the engine room, the other sucking air from the top and pushing it out) are installed and working, but I will have to monitor air temperature in the engine room and electrical consumption before being satisfied.
The freezer is still under review. I found the sensor for the thermostat outside of the sleeve which is alongside the cold plate and the manual says it should be inside. But, if I put it inside, it cans of cuts off too early and does not restart until it is too warm in there. We will call the manufacturer this afternoon and find out.
Today, I also plan on reviewing the Halon system. The manual says that when the ignition key is on, the light in the cockpit should also be on, but it is not. We will check and take it to recertification.
On Saturday, my bike ride was cut short but rain, wind and cold. And on Sunday, Mike cancelled the ride and instead of riding on my own, which I should have done, I watched the end of the Masters on Internet.
I start this third week with more energy than I have had the last two and I hope to make good progress. Time will tell . . . .

Monday, April 6, 2009

One week gone !

More than a week since I arrived back in Portsmouth, and my list of lists is not getting much shorter. In fact, since I am adding more stuff everyday faster than I can strike items out, it is getting longer.
Last Monday, I moved out of Scotts Creek Marina  and took a mooring just outside Cary's and Don's shops, at the Portsmouth Boating Center, which makes it a lot easier for them to work on the boat, with their shops and tools just there.
On Saturday, I was even able to do a short ride with Mike. For a first ride after almost three months of doing nothing, in terms of cardiovascular exercise, we only did 20 miles, but it felt very good to 
be riding again. I will try and ride tuesday and thursday so that I can do a little longer one next Saturday.
This week, the repairs on the genset should be completed and the list for the sailmaker should be out of the way. On Wednesday, we should also go a long way on the electronics. I can't wait to try and check the Tracking Transponder.
We are 41 days away from departure, including today.