Even after the busy 7 weeks we spent working in the boatyard, a LOT of things have to be done before we leave on July 1st.
Highlights – the overview
The list is long and we can’t get everything done in the month we have left before departure. If you think you want to wait until everything is done, you’ll never get off the dock! So June was a month of prioritizing the “list” and deciding which projects are urgent and what would be much easier to do with resources at the dock (and with a car available). The rest will be done along the way.
A quick overview of projects begins with the very urgent and important fixing of the toilet pump, then on to priming, foaming, woodwork around the windows, and finishing up the interior of the bow thruster. This included foam around the tube and battery management system. The bow thruster gets its own lithium battery and management system! That’s what happens when the captain is an energy system expert!
Then some projects outside… servicing winches, reinstalling the electric winch – see Captain’s Log below to see it in action – and designing of the new sun shade for the cockpit (not an easy task with a mizzen mast and boom in the cockpit). Then back inside, we design a new table for the upper salon (pilot house). And what a fantastic table it is!!!! Not only is it bigger, stronger and more beautiful than the last, but it’s got electricity!!! Wim incorporated a dual USB-C charging plug so we don’t have cables all over to trip on!
Then finally it’s time to load everything into the boat. We are utilizing every bit of space and storing more than you can imagine! Here, about a ton or maybe two, of battery cable under the floor! Everything else is getting organized, compressed, and rearranged (for access and weight distribution). For more on that, see the “Nesting Project” post!
Captain’s Log (T- 30, 29,… 1) – the complete story
May 29 – Prioritizing and the Toilet Pump
A lot of things have to be done before we leave on July 1st. We realize it’s too much for a month so we prioritize the things that MUST be done and the things that are EASIER to do while we’re here. Other things will be done after we’ve left. They are of low priority and we can do ‘m at any time when we’re anchored and have to wait for a weather window or such. We take with us the materials that we need for that.
One of the first things is repairing or replacing the electric pump from the toilet. It makes strange noises and it is leaking a bit since we’re back in the water. It’s peculiar how things break down from NOT using them for a while: our seawater pump leaks, the GPS antenna from the AIS transponder doesn’t work any more, and a couple of other small things we had to fix.
Anyway, after ordering a new macerator pump (to be sure that we can fix the toilet after we take it apart), we dismantle the toilet.
Then, take the old pump apart. The seal has been leaking and water entered the motor. There was a massive amount of chalk in the pump and that made the ceramic seal go leaking. After cleaning everything, replacing the rusted springs from the carbon brushes in the motor and mounting everything back together with some propeller-shaft grease we think it should be good again.
And indeed, it works like a charm! That’s good because we can keep the new pump as a spare!
May 30 – Primer
Paint some layers of primer on the welded spots of the bow thruster and some primer on some spots around the windows before we put the timber back.
May 31 – Window Woodwork
Putting the cut pieces of timber back, around the windows. First, we spray foam (for insolation) and then we glue the pieces back.
Sometimes, it takes quick and creative solutions to hold things in place when the foam expands 🙂
We have to separate for about 2 weeks. Sher flies to the US to collect her Portuguese visa and to help her mom moving and Wim flies to Phuket, Thailand for work.
Jun 7 – Wim is back…
Wim has returned and continues with the last window, in the aft cabin.
Jun 8 – Electric Winch
Putting the motor of the electric winch back and making a small cabinet for it.
Jun 9 – Electric Winch, cont.
Connecting the cables from the motor to the boat’s DC distribution. It functions!
This is the only (and the first) electric winch on Dione IV. It is (amongst others) used for the main sail halyard. The main sail is heavy. Wim can hoist it, using maximum muscle force on the winch. But Sher, with less muscle power, can’t. And this is against our idea that the boat must be able to solo-sail. Although we’ll be sailing together always, something might happen to one of us and the other one must be able to solo-sail the boat to a safe place. So, if Wim should be ‘out of order’, Sher must be able to hoist the main. And this where the electric winch is going to help her!
Foaming the space under the bow thruster tunnel. The bilge under the tunnel is impossible to reach and therefore, it must be conserved very good. We use liquid PU foam for that. It is a 2-component liquid than expands 35 times in a few minutes after mixing. We pour that liquid in the deep bilge and it thus fills all areas and it expands.
We pour 1/4 liter every time, continuously filling all holes. After about 20 cups, the area is almost filled. To create a flat surface, we cover the expanding foam with pre-prepared pieces of wood, covered with agricultural plastic foil (the foam doesn’t stick to this foil).
After the foam cures we remove the pieces of wood and we have a nice flat surface.
June 10 – Final Step Compound Over Foam
We pour a PU compound over the foam. This 2-component compound spreads out equally and makes a watertight and smooth floor.
Battery management system and DC-DC converters mounted. Because the bow thruster is 24v and the boat’s system is 12v we have to transform 12v into 24v to charge the bow thruster battery.
The other DC-DC converter steps down the 24v into 12v. That will be an emergency system. If the boat’s batteries should run empty or fail, we have a spare 7.2 kWh from the bow thruster battery.
The electric motor mounted.
Testing if the lithium battery fits. We have to make an extra hatch for that. Next step is welding a frame for the battery.
Jun 11 – Final Step… Hatch Modification Over Bow Thruster
Hatches modified to fit the motor and the battery.
Jun 12 – Sun Shade Design
We start thinking about a construction for sun shade in the cockpit. We make stainless steel frames on which a fabric will be fastened.
Jun 13 – Welding
Welding a stainless steel frame for the bow thruster battery. The 7,2 kWh lithium battery has to be firmly fixed.
Ramses, the sailmaker who’s going to make the sail for the sunshade comes by and we discuss all kinds of ideas and things to think about. It is a pretty complex thing: 6 stays are in the way, we have to be able to use the mizzen when the sun shade is there, we have to be able to stow the mizzen sail when the sunshade is up, it has to be strong to resist serious wind, etcetera, etc. Many issues to think about! We have to make up our minds and rethink…
Jun 14 and 15 – Installing Cables for the Bow Thruster
We test it and it works perfectly! It has a lot of power and the proportional control is really great.
For a while now, we have been trying to get the fabric on our cockpit cushions replaced. But these cushion guys seem too busy. So, we decide to do it ourselves. Buy the Sunbrella fabric (the best for outdoor cushions) and buy a sewing machine. That must be a heavy duty machine. And it will also be suitable for repairing our sails. The ‘Sailrite’ sewing machine is the best but it appears difficult to get and very expensive. So, we do some more research on the internet to try to find another option.
We have ordered and received the beautiful fabric, though.
We find another option for sewing machine, but maybe not quite up to doing sails. But our new heavy-duty Pfaff 6091 will definitely handle all the upholstery!
A high-priority job to be done is modifying the front side of the hatch of the companionway. Because this wasn’t bend to fit the curve of the deck salon roof, it leaked. Well, not leaking in the rain, but leaking when we get severe waves over the boat, which happened once in an extreme situation.
So, we take the hatch to a stainless steel welder (Wim’s friend Jan Boorsma) and he modifies the curve of the hatch.
Jun 17-23 – Reconstruction of the table in the deck salon
The table top needed a re-paint and the aluminum truss construction that supports it was actually a temporary thing (that has been there for 18 years so, not so temporary… 😁).
We would like to have it match the other 2 white poles in the deck salon.
So, we buy some steel from a nearby steel construction company and weld a new stand. It is such a luxury freedom to be able to that grinding and welding here on the shore! Don’t try this in any other marina! 😂
In the meantime, we start servicing the winches. Our great Andersen winches have been in use for almost 10 years now, without any maintenance and without any issues! But now, it’s really time to clean them. We order spare parts and winch grease and Sher starts to take ‘m apart, clean all parts thoroughly, grease everything, and put ‘m together again.
We glue a new rubber seal on the modified companionway hatch. The new laundry clips that Sher has ordered from Amazon turn out to be really handy for this job!
Installing a new GPS antenna for the AIS transponder. Since the original puck antenna started malfunctioning and recently gave up completely, we mount a new one. Replacing one of the old exhaust units from the former diesel cookers.
Now that it’s still easy to receive packages, we order lots of stuff from online shops. Once we’re underway, that will not be so easy any more. Sometimes Wim carries a cart full of packages on board 🙂
Jun 22 – Under the Floor Hatches
Since we need all available space in the boat to store things, we open up floor hatches that weren’t opened for a long time. This is a forward bilge. It appeared to be somewhat rusty and dirty. So, a few layers of new paint make it bright and shiny again!
Since we have our beautiful new gennaker, we put the spinnaker for sale. Sold within a day for the asking price!
Some layers of white primer on the new table stand.e have beautiful summer weather so we can paint outside on the quay.
Jun 24 – The Deck-Salon Table
Determining the right size and shape for our new deck salon table…
The smallest one of us has to climb in the small areas to store stuff 🙂
We can use our “private” quay to works on things, store and sort things temporary, without everything lying in the way on the boat. So convenient!
Like building the table top. Made out of 3 layers of 10mm marine-grade plywood glued together. A nice strong and chunky piece of wood all together!
Say goodbye to Wim’s car. A last bit of maintenance before it get’s sold.
The dinghy will be our “car” from now on!
Jun 25 – Yummy!
Pancakes. On the old table. The new table is waiting (left side on the photo) to be painted.
Opening floor hatches that never were used.
This is how it looks under the floor. a 2×1.5m space, 30cm’s high.
We are going to stuff some cable in there. Wim takes a lot of his stock of working materials from the storage room.
But the spools don’t fit under the floor. So, we unwind them and put ‘m in strong plastic bags.
An amazing amount of cables fits 🙂
And on the shore, “some” more stuff is waiting to be stored…
Jun 26 – New Towels!
One of the recent additions on board… New towels in just the right shade of teal for us! Thanks to the discount store, Action. 🙂
Jun 30 – Engine Maintenance
We run into a little problem after replacing the fuel filters: some air gets into the high pressure pump and the engine won’t run. In the engine’s manual, nothing is written about how to bleed the pump and the injectors. Wim tries the old-fashioned way of releasing the injector tubes while Sher engages the starter but we can’t get all air out. Then, we search on the internet for advice and we run into a manual of a Mitsubishi forklift that has the same engine. There, a little screw is pointed out for air vent. We release this screw, air blows out and the engine starts!
This is so nice about this industrial Mitsubishi engine: the exact same engine block is used in many applications: agriculture machines, trucks, generatorsets, and (as we have discovered now), in forklift trucks! This means that parts and knowledge can be found in many areas, all over the world. A really great advantage!
Lessons learned today!
There is a sudden issue with the revs counter. It suddenly stops working. We’ll have to look into that.
And today, we stow a lot stuff in all kinds of places…
And by the end of the day, the boat looks neat and tidy again. As if nothing happened. We are amazed how much stuff Dione IV can store. And her waterline sinks just a little. And we are able to keep her balance very well.
Cheers to that! (with a kitty beer 🙂
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