Pimping or pumping is a fine line, and today we did both. We are now in the stage of taking delivery of the spare parts for “the” trip we may take in the future.
After working for a month with Joe at Depco Pump Company, who was patient beyond belief. We finally got a complete inventory of pumps, you always find a new one you forget. For the two majors one (fridge and pressure water) we got a replacement, for the rest of them just rebuild kits. Here they go under the master bed, hopefully we will remember we have them when the time come.
Part of the order was some Groco raw water strainer, this installation needed to be done and as the sun was with me I got right into it!
One day when we resell Letitgo, somebody will be able to retrace every modification that was made to it. No more what did the Previous Owner think when he/she did that? So the “fragile” plastic strainers have been replaced by some sturdy one.
Not one to waste anything, we recycled one of those for the watermaker intake. The electrical cable (grey one) left in there, is the one that was used for the fridge pump. You will find the other extremity next to the compressor.
It indeed looks more serious to pre-filter the sea water, what do you think? One less minor project to do, and with less than 150 days left before we show our faces. Why not try to get the most done before everybody recognize us and work stops to a grind.
During this past week, a friend of ours generously offered us to come join in a race on his boat. Saddly *V* had to stay behind to take care of the *rest*, and of course was a bit disappointed… But not very often you get the opportunity to race as crew on a multihull, and as the skipper is very experienced in racing and cruising I simply couldn’t pass the offer. As always around this time of the year, the weather was wet and cold to say the least, the winds were not cooperating for a lively race. Nonetheless I still learned a lot, and got reconfirmed some of the principals we know and I got to enjoy a day on the water.
We only were able to set the spinnaker once and for a short period, this confirmed again that we have the right sail now we just need to get it out and start learning how to use it.
On another subject, one thing I had never heard of is a one hand bowline technique. Very useful on a boat or for survival situation, such as when you are in a bar with no money and you need a beer! Ahh… Those good old university reflexes are never far behind, and we thought they didn’t teach us anything, frame of mind people frame of mind.
Not much excitement around here, which leads us to live vicariously through “you tube”. Have a look at those images now that’s crazy racing for you. Thank goodness, we are laid back cruiser…
Because we are done with the big project doesn’t mean we are entirely done. And I had to solve this water evacuation problem if I didn’t want anything to rot in this locker. So this morning was a perfect opportunity, since we had to be out of the house for some visits, if you know what I mean…
The locker in question is the anchor locker, not designed to be a water tight compartment so minimal risk of water damage. Off I go, dinghy in the water, a short rowing around the boat and light poking in the hole. Pffew… got the left over from my multiple jobs in there out with the water. This made me smile and I felt a lot better. The rain was light but stopped for a minute, so I decided to turn “our venerable 380″ into a geriatric catamaran. This is the way the kids named it, when I explained what this metal bar was for. By the end of the summer we may have more, watch out.
Because of this new “add-on” getting in and out of the dinghy will be a little easier and safer. By the way, darling children : we don’t call it getting old just more comfortable.
Surprisingly enough the rain made another appearance! So it was time for me to find something inside. And I know that this job was most awaited by *V*, though I was not really looking forward to this one… Head works are never fun! But we simply have had a problem in the past few month, some air and water is making its way back into the bowl. But come on, I changed the entire apparatus last year, so I completed, dismantled and cleaned then put it back together with no luck! So it was time to turn to the internet two corporates were identified. It seems that the back pressure from the vent was blocked (not luckily after the wash down of the holding tank) a test with the pump out open showed that it was not the problem. The second was that if the joker valve is over tightened you could damage it, worth a trial $10 got me one in my hand. Two screws nice and easy tightening, 5 minutes and the hero status is back on!
On another note, for your information 380s do not have stanchion that take conform to the standard T shape format. A little drill exercise and we were in business, same for the 12 volt receptacle. When I think, that I used to be scared of drilling holes in the fibreglass….ahhh the good old days.
Another day in paradise, another day closer to the goal, the list is updated half a page. We now need a warm day with no wind and up the mast we go.
The combination of having a boat in one piece and sunshine gave us the desire to renew with the salty water. Three kids joined us for a night sleep and a fun day on the water. The following photos are courtesy of *E*. All credits to *E* for her photographic eye!
The wind was perfect for a first time out, blowing at 15knots gusting 20 making for a lively but manageable first outing after a long absence without practicing our set of skills. Breakfast and lunch were served on the water, vitamin D was absorbed and the family was again together with no mobile or internet service…. enough said, it was just a great day.
After docking in a manner that made us look like we knew what we were doing, *E* mentioned that we had something orange around the propeller. A very well trained crew we have! Thank you for telling us, and this is when *B* sensed a way to make money and offered quickly his diving service. Though with a bit of determenation we were able to remove the polypropylene cupid in 15 minutes! Phew… It was still rather loose so we shouldn’t have any consequences. From there we decided to re-organize the anchor locker to fit the spare propane cylinders we just purchases (Let me reassure you, yes, it’s vented at the bottom) and we discovered that we had forgotten to punch a hole at the bottom of the plastic tub for the spare anchor line. Again, *B* offered graciously to help, (no sarcasm intended!) and removed a 100 ft of chain, clean the inside of the locker with fresh water.
Being in tune with Letitgo, I realized that it was still not draining properly. But we were doned with our quick spring cleaning, dinner was getting ready and a Pacifico was waiting. It will have to wait a few days…
After two days on my own, *V* couldn’t take it anymore she had to see with her own eyes what I had been up to! And on this day the 3/22/2012, we are officially done with ALL major projects on our “to do list” aboard Letitgo. My legal counsel advised me to add this disclaimer “All of our project that we were aware and the one we decided to tackle which are valuable to our cruising ground style are at this point completed”.
Yes you read it well, we are done on the most important outfitting of our Letitgo. As all cruisers would agree a long list of small project is still on paper, but nothing requiring multiple days of dedication with large outlay of money. We still have a couple of notable expenses (life raft, charts, hookah and battery) although these are time sensitive in their own way. So to give you a time frame idea, let’s review the notable date.
2008 : A seed is planted in our head, by an unscrupulous friend! Thanks JP & L
Spring 2009 : The idea is starting to take place, we are vividly reading blogs
Summer 2009 : Our first official boat show leading to a lot of research and questions
Winter 2009/beginning 2010 : We wrote our first post here!
Spring 2010 : We decided on the type of boat we were looking for
Summer 2010: We are avidly researching our future boat
September 2010 : Purchase – a bit sooner than anticipated -
Spring 2011 : Small projects, organization for everyday use
Early summer 2011 : Solar panel install
Summer 2011 : extensive usage and optimization of option
Summer 2011 : What are we doing now?
Fall 2011 the list is drawn decisions are made (non stop research)
Winter 2011-12 Accomplishment of our projects (2-3 days week 4-8 hours)
We feel this time frame is a good representation on average for any owner who is willing to work for himself, rather than writing the big cheque to the yard! Note, that it still requires a heavy investment of time and focus in order to make it happen.
Now as I am writing this post, I feel we deserve a celebration *V* lunch is on me! That is, once we get a few errands of course.
In the end what did we do today? *V* fitted the last hatch cover, cleaned the bilge and she also admired and dreamed in front of her new pressure cooker. On the other side I finished the installation of the Isolator transformer and zap strapped everything in sight (discovered that the fuel line had never been done in the original process! oops). The battery cabling is a mess due to the fact that we will change them in a few months, and will re-design the installation all together then, same for the white cable running over head (solar input).
Did a check up of the engine after our last small run to make water, the alternator looks good and we gave them a good warm up. I then turn my attention to a detail only our sharp eyed readers can catch and this is when you realize that sharing is good! Indeed….
A high pressure line with a love for oscillating would eat this tender line over time.
Easy fix, thank you so much for that advice.
Now only one thing left to do, use the boat shake it down. And repair whatever breaks…..
Today, on my way to the boat I wondered if *V* thought “what is he doing all day alone? Does he have a mistress? Why does he leave so early?” or is it perhaps that we have a different watch at the moment, she does the night shift…
There are a few hints for those who are pondering : one of the clue is that I don’t shower before I leave, I wear the dirtiest clothes I find and then prepare my lunch, indeed not very sexy! But what can I say, I love Letitgo, and I devote a good chunk of my free time to her preparation and today was no exception. Quickly after arriving, I re-installed the partition next to the compressor and set the fridge to work. No leak, no excessive banding, I was happy. One locker re-organized and closed. Check!
On my list was a task that we all know is needed but we rarely take the time to do it. One of my dock neighbors who lives aboard said to me “Yes I think I know where they are…” Good and simple enough when you are living in a marina or not far from the dock, but not so good in case of emergency!
So from now on, every single through hull has a wooden plug attached with a string. In a moment of panic this should save a few precious minutes. I deposited one more good luck ball in my black box. I oiled the hard wood plank for the watermaker, and fixed one small leak on the over-loader (Easy connect elbow was not tight to the max). Then I admired your Valentine’s present *V* : You see even if you are not here I think of you…
At this time, I couldn’t push the next project any further, I had to remove my perfect navigation panel work of art and try to figure what was wrong with the GPS and AIS. I was not looking forward to put my nose in all those cables. I have bad memories of the 144 possible ways to put those together. Fortunately, the solution jumped at me quickly, one connection was loose for the GPS, as for the AIS it worked once I cycled it. With my spare time, I reworked the cable rat nest into something much more viable. I have to say, I am quite proud of this one and then closed everything before anything else went wrong.
Finally *V*, I think you will recognize the boat, our future home sweet home… Actually maybe not for very long; surely there is another project on the way since I started investigated : The isolator transformer, however it will be for another day.
At last, I went to visit our friends who are also getting ready for a longer boat trip. I have only one thing to say : “I thought we had lots of work… LOL” It is undoubtedly reassuring to see someone else going through a similar process. Though his wife is ingenious, her brother is with him onboard, lending a hand! No messing around Mister R.
Today on the agenda was a sailing trip and if weather permitted a short overnight stay to our local favorite spot. For that matter, I was up early working on business and such, and also reading my regular blogs. As I was doing so, I heard the distinct sound of hail on our skylight! Then looking out, I discovered frost on the roof of the adjacent building.
Say no more! That in conjunction with snow/squall with increasing winds to 35 knots for the morning led to an easy abortion of the plan. I let everybody sleep until 10am and we spent the rest of our day working… Fun, fun, fun…
Back to reading my blogs I guess : There, someone who will remain anonymous (well… because we like them) was “complaining” of the sea state! Too irregular and hard for the morale of the crew. Needless to say, we completely understand this feeling of exhaustion and frustration. But I couldn’t resist, an e-mail was fired to them quickly! My theory being : either they need a reality check or they are trying to discourage followers (in that matter -us-) and that way keep the anchorage to themselves.
Life could be worse. You could be ready to leave but can’t quite yet due to business etc… Be stuck at work in a cubicle, or just having trouble saving because the economy is tough at the moment! So please if we ever complain in the future about :
The air temperature is too hot outside
The sea state is not comfortable
The fridge is too small or any small detail of the boat
Lack of facility on shore
Or any “why are we doing this again?”
Please feel free to call us on it, and remind us of our past work obligations. Because we have a team to take care of, customers to answer to, and the pressure of financial obligations. Please, it will be a service to us and our sanity.
And for our friends out there in this rough sea-state, Thank you, we love reading about your voyage, it keeps us dreaming!
When you feel overwhelmed by a big project, my theory is simple : put it in perspective and understand that your task is nothing compare to others. This was the case today for me, after a cleaning day on board Letitgo, which didn’t go according to plan.
After re-organizing all my tools and supplies, in the anal retentive way that is my speciality… And by the way *V* be the first one to know that we now have a new box for Plumbing! I promise it’s a small one and fits snuggly with the others. Now to make you forget about it, your pressure cooker has arrived! A simple beauty….
So, I decided to re-install the protection wood for the compressor, all was good until I checked my work. And discovered that the tubing radius on the exit of the pump for the fridge, was a little tight and not to my standard. Easy, I was able to put my “new box” into use already : a piece of hose a few parts from the chandlery and we are in business. I was even forward thinking, placing a tub to grab the residual water in the line once disconnected. All was good until the water wouldn’t stop running, and my brain didn’t foresee that the water tank being higher was not going to stop anytime soon. So with one hand and some sense of urgency I operated and got the situation under control. Not of course until some water was spill. So all came out of the storage locker, and the boat looked like a mess again.
Well not entirely, all the panels are back in place, all my tools are stored, the boat is swept, you can open the navigation table, in that case we are ready to go.*L* have a look on your left side, that long list of small details need to be fix first, ok ok front the voice on my right shoulder.
How did I put my life in perspective? Easy have a look at the passionate French man Thierry Dubois, an experience around the word racer. Who decided in 2002 to build a goelette called La Louise. You can see the 10 years labor of love via a 15 episode series. And that will make you feel instantly better.
We braved the element today, indeed on our way to the marina a squall hit us and brought hale. Winter wonderland on 13th March, who said you need incentive in life, you just need to live in the right part of the country.
After our last post, I asked Rich from Cruise Ro to review our post with the pictures and he kindly offered some feedback. There is no doubt in our mind that Cruise Ro delivers great service, his recommendation were to add some chaffing protection on one of the HP hose. So today *B* and I went to Letitgo with the mission to finish the installation. Running the line for the sample output to the starboard bathroom, sounds easy enough doesn’t it?… well let me tell you it was not! Thankfully I had *B*, because it took us two hours to find the perfect solution and most discreet routing.
Here is the final product after those pictures. All tabs are screwed in and siflex was generously applied on all bulkhead perforations.
Here you have it, I spent some quality time with my teenage son, who even declared that it was less boring that what he had anticipated. Or may be, it was that we were just pulling into Mc Donald, and was afraid I may change my mind… (Since we mostly eat vegetarian…)
