The Winter Work List
While the big ticket item was certainly the diesel tank escapade, we’ve taken advantage of Moment’s “work mode” to check off some other items this past winter so our upcoming summer sailing is as spectacular as ever. Here we go!
In the Galley, we decided our oven and microwave were due for upgrade. While the oven was not producing high enough quality flame causing pots to char, our microwave looked a little … let’s say … dated. Very magically we found the identical dimension oven and had very close to a direct swap out with the old one. The hard part: getting them in and out of the boat when the entrance to the boat is out of the water and 10-15′ in the air! Thanks to the friendly yard workers with a tractor lift, we got the old oven down and the new oven in with only a few back-aches from the maneuvering.
The microwave was a classic scenario where the new one wasn’t quite the same size as the old one. This required a lot of sawing / shimmying and finagling to get it to mount correctly. Both new appliances required adjusting trim pieces, which then in-turn means a few fresh coats of varnish to bring them up to Moment’s standard of quality!
Towards the end of the season and on our trip south, Moment’s Autohelm (an automatic steering device) was giving up sooner than it should. When you are in big waves and there is too much sail up, we expect our trusty friend, “Auto Von Helm” to give up and quit steering, but he was doing it way too prematurely. After some research and two months of waiting for a very tiny part from the manufacturer, we performed boat yoga by going into aft compartment where it is located and removed it to bring to a shop. With a workbench available, we took good ol’ Auto apart, replaced some contacts, cleaned him up and reinstalled. We have to wait to be under sail to see if it worked, but our fingers are crossed!
Over the past couple years of sailing, we’ve been craving and upgrade to our on-deck water system. Originally there was a functioning saltwater wash for the anchor and a fresh water wash to rinse salt off the decks or a swimmer. These systems went defunct over time and we were left with a make-shift way to get pressurized freshwater on the deck. It was time for a makeover. In the bow, we replaced the salt water pump with a high-speed 6 gallon-per-minute pump that will hopefully blow all the nasty mud and goop that the anchor chain pulls up from the bottom and a new deck fitting to get a solid connection to a hose. In the stern, we installed the same fitting, but for freshwater, and then a hot and cold deck shower for the pleasure of a post swimming fresh water rinse. Each time you drill through the deck, you have to take extra precautions to protect the balsa-cored deck from rotting. We take away some of the balsa and replace with resin to ensure there is no water intrusion.
At the end of the season we noticed that one of our through-hulls was leaking. This is a fitting that allows water on deck to drain down a pipe and out the bottom of the boat. Fortunately after inspecting, it was only an elbow fitting that connects to the actual through-hull so we had to pull it apart, clean it up and reseal it. Of course this can only truly be tested when we are back in the water, but out of the water is a much better place to do the repair!
We have two weeks to launch, then two additional weeks until we sail north. The next items on the list include installing a new bimini, repainting Moment’s transom, fresh bottom and propeller paint, dinghy preparation, and much more!