Category Archives: Boat Work Projects

Four Day Weekend

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If you are not old enough to remember Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, a common theme involved a walrus mustachioed Marlin Perkins narrating as his intrepid assistant, Jim Fowler wrestled with the show’s latest demonic man eater. Jim was routinely thrown into some far flung corner of the earth to capture and tag  a tiger, crocodile or carnivorous hedgehog while Marlin coolly narrated for the audience just how dangerous a cornered hedgehog can be. Marlin never seems to get too near the action lest Jim’s screams of terror ruin the narration.

Melissa. Taming the dangerous feral sander in the engine room.

So this weekend, Melissa played a passably good Jim to my Marlin. While Melissa wrestled the wild Andromeda from one to slip to another without an engine, I remained safely at home raking leaves and cleaning the chicken coop. I hauled tree branches, downed after our latest wind storm,  while she got to figure out how to fill the water tanks, use the diesel heater, and witness Andromeda in her natural environment away from a slip. I kept my cell handy just in case she needed to confer with me on which valve empties what. In other words, she got to have all the fun while I stayed home.

To hear her tell it though, she barely escaped with her life. Whether it was being crushed tying off  Andromeda in her new berth or being asphyxiated by BilgeKote, her life was in mortal danger all weekend as she beat that bilge into submission. Some people have all the luck.

That’s right. That’s Andromeda’s bilge now.

Here’s another action shot of that bilge.

See how it gleams after 2 coats?

Between my domestic chores I did manage to complete some boat jobs. Our garage contains enough boat parts to actually build another boat so there were plenty of projects at hand. One engine related project was to clean and paint the oil pan that will sit beneath the engine.

Two coats of BilgeKote took this

Oil Pan Before

To this

Oil Pan After

Oil Pan After

Another small project was to clean up some corrosion on the steering pedestal. We figure that once we get an engine in the boat, it would a nice feature to actually be able to steer the boat. With the steering pedestal off, we have an opportunity to sand and paint the base.

Steering Pedestal Before

Steering Pedestal Before

Sorry, I don’t have a photo of the completed project yet. Please enjoy this photo of Marlin Perkins and his friend while I find some aluminum primer.

Marlin, but not Jim.

Finally, I took on a project to rehabilitate the boat’s Dickinson BarBQue. It’s obviously been well loved but if you’ve seen the prices for new ones, you’ll understand why I wanted to see if this one could be salvaged.  I found a new burner and ignitor at Lowes that will replace the old parts and have cleaned up the body with a product called Spotless Stainless. So, after we get an engine and can steer the boat maybe we can grill a couple of burgers to celebrate.

Dickinson Sea-B-Que Not new, but shiny

Dickinson Sea-B-Que.  Not new, but shiny

Never content to work on only one boat project at a time, Melissa also tackled the quarter berth area. The ‘wall’ in that area had seen better days and she couldn’t take the stress of looking at it anymore. Once again, cleaning the area and putting a couple of coats of BilgeKote on it saved the day. Got to love the clean fresh look of paint.

This wall became…

this wall.

Maybe next time I can be Jim and Melissa can stay home and hold chimpanzees.  I have several electrical projects that will require a good weekends worth of work without AC to the boat. I think Jim Fowler would approve.

 

 

Divide and Conquer

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“The boat is okay, don’t worry.”.  When my husband starts a phone conversation with this kind of thing, what is the first thing you believe I will do? Worry. That’s right. I was driving down to Astoria by myself to attack that engine room for, hopefully, the last time before being able to sand and paint several areas. Mike stayed home this weekend to clean up after the last wind storm. We figured we would get more done this way. Divide and conquer, right?

No, this is not the La Brea tar pits. It’s our bilge. But it wouldn’t surprise me if I discovered mastodon bones buried in the primordial ooze down there.

I was just approaching our usual Starbucks in Longview when my phone rang and I saw it was Mike. “Did I call you or did you call me?”,  he said. “You called me. What’s up?”, I replied, eyes scanning the road for cops as I held the phone to my ear and made the turn into the parking lot. “Oh,” he said, sounding flustered. That’s what happens to the man when he thinks his boat is at risk.

” I thought I was texting you. Okay. Well the boat’s okay, but I just got a call from the Port of Astoria. The piling at the end of our dock fell over and they need to move us to a different slip. I told them you were on your way down there and would check in with them as soon as you arrive.”
“Wow! Amazing that I am actually driving down today. And also, Yay! This means I get to ride Andromeda out of her slip for the first time! Woo hoo! Being towed for the first time ever!” You’d have thought someone had surprised me with a pony for Christmas.

Yes, I know, it’s pitiful. I can hear all the head shaking going on out there in blog-reader land. But I had been dead worried about how we were going to get Andromeda out of her slip and around the corner to the haulout facility. I went to sleep on many nights with visions of her dashed against the wicked rocks in the old ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’. Shudder. Yes, I know we’ve dingy-towed our boat before. But that was Moonrise, and that’s about 25,000 pounds of difference, not including windage. Plus we know Moonrise like the back of our hand. It’s different towing a boat you are not yet familiar with. So I saw this as a great opportunity for a trial run, regardless of the fact that we still have no one to get us to the travel lift. All in good time.  I was excited to see how this boat behaved under tow.

Thankfully, the day was calm as far as wind was concerned, but I quickly realized that regardless of wind, it’s never calm as far as current is concerned. It’s one thing to know this academically, but another to feel it on a boat. Juan and Glen from the port released Andromeda from her dock lines little by little, inching her out of the slip just enough so that Juan could pull the port’s skiff along side and tie up. I could see they had done this before.

The crew form the Port of Astoria made sure Andromeda was securely tied to their skiff.

Juan backed us out of the slip with Glen giving directions from the bow of our boat. Our boat was finally under way! I guess it hardly counts, but I’ll take anything at this point. We were not moving far, but Juan could not see where he was going, and couldn’t tell how close to the dock the boat was. In addition, the skiff has better steering in one direction than in the other, so I could see he was getting anxious about getting us close enough to the dock for us to toss the dock lines. He handled the boat like a pro, but I would feel better next time we tow her if we had one ‘tug’ boat on each side and a way to communicate between them.  There were sighs of relief all around (well, mostly from me) when the lines were handled and she was tied off. Then I got my first true realization that tying this boat off against current, wind, and waves takes longer than 5 minutes. I imagine I can get that down over time.

Safe and secured on a much nicer but much more exposed dock. This photo taken before the port crew installed another large cleat close to her bow.

After getting Andromeda settled in her new digs, the day was getting away from me and I had not even started on that dratted engine room. Where is that magic wand when I need it? Plus I had not brought food to the boat, planning to go to Costco in Warrenton when I arrived. After stocking the boat,  I got as far as I could before giving in to fatigue, then called it a day.

On Saturday my sister came to visit and see the boat. With her cheering me on I got a bit further, mining for ‘gold’ in the dark recesses of the oily pit with my little earth magnet on a string. I am easily amused.  I came up with a number of tools, most of which have seen better days, and a lot of metal filings and general disgusting filth. But I did manage to find Mike’s wrench. At the end of today I have two 5 gallon buckets of gross.

Just mining for gold here.

I’ve decided to give myself another entire day here in Astoria to get further with this thing. Instead of going home tomorrow, I’ll go on Monday.  I can see that my eye for detail is getting in the way of getting the job done, as I have a vision in my mind that this engine room will never match. I see a pristine white room in my mind’s eye. I’m going to have to settle for a little less or I will never be done. But progress is being made. I am almost ready to paint some places! Perhaps tomorrow.

 

 

The Zen of the Engine Room

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Ahh, another successful getaway weekend to Astoria. We’re beginning to develop little habits that make us feel right at home there. We drive down on Saturday morning and work the rest of the day on Andromeda. On Sunday we walk down to the Three Cups coffee shop for a little Thundermuck coffee, some Wifi, and the local newspaper. They are getting used to seeing us there. While the baristas don’t exactly know our names yet, they refer to us as the couple who ‘bought John’s boat’ and say ‘see you next weekend’ when we leave. Soon they will have our order ready when we arrive. We’ll be ‘regulars’. I’ve always wanted to be a regular somewhere. After coffee we might do a little sight seeing before returning to the boat to work a few more hours, then driving home.

Next time there will be coffee on the boat. And I also bought this nifty bamboo cutting board to replace the one that was totaled by years of use. It stores several of these great flexible cutting surfaces. Starting to feel like home away from home!

Today we saw sights that made us feel right at home: Home Depot and Costco. At Home Depot Mike purchased new outlets and wiring, primer for the aluminum oil pan, and tiny paint rollers and pans for the day we actually get to paint that engine room. At Costco we purchased a new coffee maker for the boat because it looks like we’ll want one of these for all the time we are spending at the dock. We can’t spend all our time at Three Cups or we won’t get anything done, although after my first day doing the cleaning in the engine room that idea was starting to sound pretty good.

Yes, that’s right. Mike and I thought we’d mix it up a bit this weekend and divide the pink/blue jobs differently. I got to work in the engine room. Ok, so it’s true I was cleaning. Don’t burst my bubble. I got to touch the room! I got to BE in the room! All. Day. Long. And I didn’t fall into the bilge even once. (Because, hello! That would be completely disgusting!)

Ah, the meditation that is deep cleaning. I could probably use at least a week in this little space, such is the amount of sheer filth. As seen in the photo, all hoses run to this bilge.

After trying a number of cleaners, Krud Cutter saved the day and did the best job. Good thing I have a gallon of the stuff. One day in the engine room completely ruined all the scrub brushes I bought, and I will need to go to the restaurant supply to buy the ‘fun pack’ of green scrubbies for next time. On my wish list is a cleaner that I can spray on the deep walls of the bilge where I can’t reach. It would dissolve the grease and I could rinse it off and remove it with the shop vac. Know anything like that? Or how about some of that bacteria they use to help control oil spills. Can’t consumers buy some of that somewhere?

Still, I made a ton of progress and can sort of see the end of the project of cleaning, sanding, and painting. Today Mike couldn’t stand watching me in the engine room for one more minute, so he took off for Englund’s Marine Supply, right down the street, and bought a gallon of Bilgecoat. I think that should do it.

We got to check off two systems on the list this weekend, making us feel like we are slowly becoming knowledgeable about this boat. The propane system is up and running so we fired up the Force 10 and boiled our first pot of water. Luxury! We’re going to love this stove. It needs some maintenance: Only one of the automatic lighters works, and one of the knobs broke when Mike tried to turn it, but we think these are easy fixes and overall it’s in great condition and very clean inside and out.

Even better than home!

While Mike fiddled with the on switch for the propane, he discovered what turned out to be a great vent fan for the galley, just to the left of the stove. That thing could suck up a dishtowel, as Mike demonstrated by holding a dishtowel up to the thing. Apart from the occasional lost finger, due to the spinning metal thingy inside, this is going to be dead useful. We also have a hatch over the stove, which I think is a grand idea to keep heat and steam from staying on the boat.

This silver knob was one of many things we are still curious about on the boat. Pull it out and the vent fan turns on. Cool!

As we had a bit of a storm on Saturday night (read: wind literally howling, boat trying its best to sail away from the dock), the boat was getting cold so Mike checked out the diesel furnace. It works brilliantly! The boat was toasty warm. It’s like having a little fireplace on the boat, only better because I don’t get along with wood smoke. We are so glad this stove works perfectly. I know our readers in more southern climes can’t relate, but believe me when I say that this kind of heat makes the difference between a cozy boat and bone chilling cold and wet.

Pretty and functional, too.

Here’s what engine room progress looks like:

Not too bad considering the amount of grime I am up against.

And, for easy comparison:

I have to put this in here so I’ll know it’s worth all this effort. This bilge is seriously greasy. Seriously.

It’s hard to work around all the systems still in place, and next time Mike will get in there and remove more hoses. We want to be careful about removing things at this stage, as we still are learning what does what and why. The good news is that I determined that most of the engine room insulation is actually in pretty good condition, even if unsightly. The stuff that was disintegrating was a layer of foam insulation that had been added most recently, and only here and there. It literally turned to powder when I touched it so I was able to use the shop vac to remove it.  Mike is researching what else to put in, and we’ll likely find a product that is lightweight and flexible to go over the older stuff, just to make everything look brighter.

Since my forays into the man cave will take a few more trips, Mike is free to do things like work on a long range Wifi antennae for the boat. Once that is hooked up and working, three and four day weekends can’t be too far off. Then you’ll really see some progress!

A parting shot.