Category Archives: Boat Work Projects

I Sugru, and You Should, Too

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A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought myself a new immersible blender. My old one bit the dust and I used it frequently. Replacing it was a no-brainer. Know what else should have been a no-brainer? Keeping the box and the receipt until I was sure the thing would continue to work well. Because that’s what I usually do. But this time I threw the box away. What could possibly go wrong?

This side got repaired with glue.

Well, actually I don’t know what went wrong, but something sure did. All I know is that the next time I took the blender out of the cabinet, where it had been sitting for at least a week, part of the plastic piece that holds the blender part onto the motor fell off into my hand.  What the what? I didn’t break it, but still, broken it was. I’m kind of used to weird things happening in our house without apparent cause, so I didn’t miss a beat. Swearing, out came the Gorilla Glue, which is pretty good stuff. I glued the piece on and waited.

How the heck? Who knows?

When the glue was cured I tried putting the pieces together again. This time the thing was split along the other side.  Huh. Curiouser and curiouser. Maybe I got a lemon? Maybe there were cracks I didn’t see? Maybe the plastic was somehow compromised? Or maybe a ghostly hand had reached through the ether and given it a whack. Crap. I had a choice of fixing this thing, or trying to buy a replacement part. I decided to fix that thing. sugru I remembered seeing this stuff called Sugru that is meant to repair all kinds of objects. It’s billed as ‘mouldable glue’ and their marketing (which is ultraslick and kicky) includes the words ‘this is going to be great’. What the hell? Why not, then? I thought it sounded like just the trick and I knew they carried it at Target. So I got some and gave it a go.  It’s kind of like playdough in consistency, but then it hardens like a flexible epoxy. The result is very nice.

It’s even blue.

We’ll be carrying a small supply on board Galapagos when we go. This stuff is not cheap, about 13$ for that little package of three, but it is quick and easy to use, is not messy, and it can be used for many small things that would be hard to fix otherwise. You also get the thrill of playing with playdough again. So that’s a bonus. I will certainly carry Sugru on board and maybe you should, too.

Aft Cabin Re-Model: Making Patterns

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We’re making progress on that aft cabin.  I spent a great deal of time making a template out of heavy cardboard and playing with all the different combinations that would make the sleeping space larger without using up too much floor space.  We finally settled on expanding the port side and the middle, and leaving the starboard side as it is. Decision made, I set about making a template for Mike to cut a piece of wood to fit in the space we’re enlarging.

Red magic marker defines the shape.

To make the pattern for the piece, I took a marker and ran it along the edge of the existing berth from underneath the cardboard, marking the shape on the cardboard. Then I flopped the cardboard over and, using heavy brown paper from a couple of grocery bags, I was able to fold and cut until I got the right size and shape.

Paper pattern

Naturally, because we don’t want to waste furniture grade plywood, we wanted to cut it from something cheap first to check fit and fine tune the whole thing. Mike bought some cheap, thin plywood and cut the pattern piece at home, then we went down to the marina to see if it would fit. On the way we took a little detour to the other side of the water way to see this:

It's the Saucy Sue! She lives down Foss Waterway from us.

It’s the Saucy Sue! She lives down Foss Waterway from us.

The is the sweet boat formerly known as Saucy Sue. She was our first sailboat and we truly enjoyed her. We felt so nostalgic seeing this little boat who taught us to love sailing so much. She was a lot of fun, easy to sail, and encouraged us to go further and longer. Some of our most ‘exciting’ times were aboard the Sue. We’d love to meet her new owners. She is called Finn du Monde now, which is the name she was given by the woman we sold her to 8 years ago. I love it that she is so close by, still sailing Commencement Bay.

Back at Galapagos after our detour we tried the piece on for size. With only a minor correction here and there, it was good to go. 

Turned out Mike had cut one side a little short, likely because my pattern got folded back or something, but that was fine as we needed to eyeball that corner on the port side and decide how to do it anyhow. That could be a thigh killer if it isn’t done right.  After a little discussion, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit, and we measured, trimmed again, and taped in place.

When we install the final piece of 3/4″ plywood, that  corner will be trimmed off so there are no sharp areas to create bruises. If you are a sailor, you know what I mean.

With the aft cabin cleaned up and the pattern in place, I wanted a visual of how this space might look when finished so I threw a blanket on it and we tried it out. We think this is going to be great and that we’ll be quite happy with it.

Read the next episode here.

 

 

Cheap Boat Tricks (but will they last?)

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During our Christmas break  I had a chance to undertake a few small projects around the boat.  One such project was to try out these nifty LED Strip lights.

Definitely not waterproof

Definitely not waterproof

Two places in particular called out for more lighting; the Nav station and the work shop.  While both locations have nice Alpenglow fluorescent fixtures, sometimes more light is needed for the fine detail on charts or when working with small parts in the shop.

At seven dollars for 300 LEDs on three meters of adhesive film, these lights are incredibly inexpensive. They are not particularly rugged and they certainly are not waterproof but did I mention they were only seven dollars?  For relatively protected interior lighting, I can hardly imagine a more cost effective solution.Cut lines every three LEDs provides great flexibility in installation

Cut lines every three LEDs provides great flexibility in installation

The lights come in a number of colors, red, blue, and both warm and cool white.  I ordered the warm white as it is closest to the incandescent lighting we are used to.  The kit comes with a few connectors for joining multiple strips and there are short leads soldered to both ends to make hookup very easy.  I had hoped that I could solder my own leads to the pads but I think I will need smaller wire and some sacrificial strips to practice with.  As you can see in the photo above, there are marks for cutting the strip every three inches or so. this makes creating the five foot lengths I used in the Nav station and shop easy.

NAV_Dark

Our NAV station without the lights

NAV_Light

And with light. I would have preferred to place the lights just behind the teak trim piece to hide the lights a bit better but the adhesive backing would not stick to the rubber liner. The adhesive sticks well to the teak trim though.

The before and after photos are a little misleading since the camera flash is filling in the unlit areas rather well. Shop_Ahead_Dark

The shop without the LED lighting

Shop Ahead Light

And with the lighting. The difference is less dramatic because of the camera flash.

The light strips come with a 3M adhesive backing which did not want to stick to our rubbery textured headliner.  It did stick well to the teak trim piece however and so that is where it went.  That means the lights are more exposed to damage and I don’t care for the look as much.  I would prefer that they be a bit more hidden, especially at the nav station.  Again some experimentation may be in order to see if I can attach them to the headliner securely.

for seven dollars and a few hours of time, this appears to be the perfect cheap boat trick.  Time will tell if they hold up to the abuse of being on a boat.  Corrosion may slowly do them in but I bet it will be a few years before that happens. In the shop, I am more concerned about physical damage  from my manly exertions with hammers, saws and vices.