Dear Diary - Weebles will splash soon.

[mvweebles]

Tuesday, Feb 7th 2023. 4-days in the water. And I'm back at the yard (but still in the water).

So Saturday's launch went okay but there's a long punch list, and frankly much of it is simply inattentiveness. I believe I mentioned that some of the mechanical and electrical stuff is Team Orlando. Orlando is pretty solid and knowledgeable. His team however is not. I don't mean to sound crabby, but just seems like unforced errors - long list of non-op stuff that should have been tested long before I came aboard: propane solenoid; engine gauges; bilge pump switches only work on Manual; ventilation fan for head; and so on (quite a bit more as a matter of fact).

This morning when I left to make the 1-mile run from Marina to Yard I did something stupid. Weebles' slip is a shared slip - I have a port tie, boat next to me a starboard tie. I'm bow-in so I had two bow lines down, one of which I forgot about until I was rudely reminded. No problem - no one around so not even a bruised ego. Something didn't feel quite right but figured I was rusty.

Something was not quite right....when I went to depart, I had no reverse. So I re-tied Weebles (again) and figured the transmission linkage must have dropped off. Nope - shaft had backed-out of the transmission coupling!!!! Orlando came over - set screws had not been tightened.

PICTURES:

1. Headed back to Yard. Beautiful morning.


2. Coupling. This is a frame from a video so blurry. Barely visible is the Woodruff key that should be buried in the coupling. Second pic is when Orlando came over to repair.



3. Rafted 6-deep to commercial boats.

 

[Comodave]

I certainly can understand your frustration, but with a project with the scope of yours it seems likely that there will be countless small things that got overlooked. Just take some deep breaths and tell yourself that you will get through it. And then just knock them out one by one. Good luck and keep posting. I love reading about your boat.

 

[rpackard]

Hi Peter,

I am very happy to see Weebles' bottom is wet.

You may recall that Lilliana has the some windlass as Weebles. After 40+ years, the interior gears stripped with no warning. It took about a week of fast shipping to get a new set. Lilliana now carries a spare gear set for ..just in case.... While these parts are still available you night want to consider purchasing a spare set. Also a pair of new clutch plates. Ideal was bought out by Lewmar , so who knows how long the parts will be available.

Rchard

 

[ofer]

Something was not quite right....when I went to depart, I had no reverse. So I re-tied Weebles (again) and figured the transmission linkage must have dropped off. Nope - shaft had backed-out of the transmission coupling!!!! Orlando came over - set screws had not been tightened.
View attachment 135791

between this and the fuel in water tank not sure which one i would be more upset about.

you got to keep your cool i would do the same specially when in Mexico

 

[mvweebles]

Hi Peter,

I am very happy to see Weebles' bottom is wet.

You may recall that Lilliana has the some windlass as Weebles. After 40+ years, the interior gears stripped with no warning. It took about a week of fast shipping to get a new set. Lilliana now carries a spare gear set for ..just in case.... While these parts are still available you night want to consider purchasing a spare set. Also a pair of new clutch plates. Ideal was bought out by Lewmar , so who knows how long the parts will be available.

Rchard

Thanks so much Richard. I just had my windlass apart (Ideal) to re-wire the motor, a repair brought on by the Hack Team not using two wrenches to loosen one of the cable studs.

QUESTION FOR YOU ON YOUR FAILURE: Did you have oil in the gearbox? Mine was dry and frankly, I'm not sure it ever had oil in it. My clutch plates were a bit glazed so I hit them with 60-grit from my 6-inch sander.

Was Schaefer Marine that bought Ideal. Several folks have said they've received good service from the guy at Idea/Schaefer. My experience has been only okay - have to ping them a couple times and sometimes the answer is not really helpful.

I certainly can understand your frustration, but with a project with the scope of yours it seems likely that there will be countless small things that got overlooked. Just take some deep breaths and tell yourself that you will get through it. And then just knock them out one by one. Good luck and keep posting. I love reading about your boat.

Thanks for the encouragement. I just feel like I'm not getting the "A" team. I fully understand mistakes will happen, failure to check stuff before finishing is a bit bush-league.

between this and the fuel in water tank not sure which one i would be more upset about. You got to keep your cool i would do the same specially when in Mexico

The shaft was an easy fix. The water tank screw-up remains unresolved after 2-days of rinsing with various concoctions. Because the diesel floats, you can see the sheen (very slight - but it's there). So there comes a point where you cannot evacuate it by draining it from the bottom. Either skim the surface or overflow the tank (or both - overflowing tank is an option as geometry of install and bilge pump beneath works for this). That was also on Orlando, though Guillermo is taking lead on fixing this.

But to your point, I walk a cultural tightrope in Mexico. Yelling and pounding tables does not have much effect and can be counter productive. In the end, I need this fixed - I can't have them give-up.

BTW - some good news today. Guillermo found some lead ingots for ballast here in Ensenada - $1/lb.

Peter

 

[Insequent]

I used to have an Ideal windlass, a vertical one. It worked great when there was oil in the gearbox, but keeping oil in there was difficult! It had a thrust bearing on the spindle, and without oil that bearing had a lot of friction. I didi have some contact with Schaefer, and they were great. Note also that a lot of components in the windlass are common sizes and readily available from third party suppliers.

 

[SteveK]

Peter, I do believe the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Hang in there.
I must remind you that it is Mexico and things move slower, you know that. But I do recall that after a full month delay after the initial launch date Jan 5th, you reminded everyone that it must launch on Saturday, the day before you lost your residence.
Just saying! Maybe if you had a few more weeks.

 

[mvweebles]

Peter, I do believe the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Hang in there.
I must remind you that it is Mexico and things move slower, you know that. But I do recall that after a full month delay after the initial launch date Jan 5th, you reminded everyone that it must launch on Saturday, the day before you lost your residence.
Just saying! Maybe if you had a few more weeks.

Before December was October 15th. Before then I don't remember - but there was more than a 1-month delay. Heck, when I first engaged Guillermo, he was thinking something in the range of 3-months (I knew he was wrong - he had not fully appreciated how much prior work had to be re-done).

The reason for the delays are what's frustrating. One of the items on my "Orlando" list was the horn - the moment I flicked-on the breaker, it turned on the horn. With the breaker off, depress the horn button and the horn works. Required a new wire be run to fix. What this tells me is Orlando's guys are installing stuff without basic testing. Similar issue with two of the three Bilge Pump panels - would not operate on automatic, only on/off manual. This was well observed by them because one of the bilge pumps is the one beneath the water tanks that was used extensively to evacuate rinse water from cleansing process. Same guys.

Other items I totally understand. I fired-up the reverse cycle units last night to see if I'd have heat. I have two units now - one in the saloon, one in the stateroom forward. One of the waterlines in the forward one leaks pretty badly when operating, but since this can't be tested until the boat's in the water, I get it. HOWEVER.....I think they flip-flopped the two 120VAC A/C water pumps: the forward A/C is 6kw Btu, the saloon is 12k Btu - the pumps are different sizes. I'll look again later today, but I think the larger pump is feeding the smaller A/C unit.

I like Orlando a lot. He's not quite an "A-Team" guy, but he's pretty good and more than enough for what I am trying to achieve. However his team are quite a ways down the grade ladder. They are probably above-average handymen for standard mechanical/residential stuff, but below average for recreational marine. Might be fine on the tuna boats.

For those still reading, thanks for hanging with me. It's almost 6am here and I'm just killing time before I head back to the yard for 8am arrival. Today will be in the ways-well where the TravelLift picks-up vs rafted at end of workboats. Getting to the dock at low-tide was a bit more acrobatic than my 61-years is accustomed to - see pic below. There is another tractor tire out of view to the right so a mountain goat maneuver. Plus timing - waiting for the 6-vessel raft to close the gap.

Peter

 

[Hippocampus]

Would give thought to rigging a shop vac to a length of semi rigid hose. Put a plastic 90 degree fitting at the end. Or cap end and poke hole on the side. Empty tank. Put in small amount of water with one/two drops of Dawn. Suck out. Make up same solution and put in the shop vac. Blow it out into tank trying to hit the walls. Repeat until no sheen. Final risk with alcohol. Would make up apparatus small enough to go through deck fill. Should be able to spray side walls and bottom.

Put carbon filter immediately after pressure water pump. Use bottled water for now

 

[ofer]

For those still reading, thanks for hanging with me. It's almost 6am here and I'm just killing time before I head back to the yard for 8am arrival.
View attachment 135817

What do you mean? i can't start my day without your updates. if you reduce your posting i may have to come to Ensenada for a visit to make sure all is well.

 

[mvweebles]

Would give thought to rigging a shop vac to a length of semi rigid hose. Put a plastic 90 degree fitting at the end. Or cap end and poke hole on the side. Empty tank. Put in small amount of water with one/two drops of Dawn. Suck out. Make up same solution and put in the shop vac. Blow it out into tank trying to hit the walls. Repeat until no sheen. Final risk with alcohol. Would make up apparatus small enough to go through deck fill. Should be able to spray side walls and bottom.

Put carbon filter immediately after pressure water pump. Use bottled water for now

Thanks so much Hippocampus - your comment several days ago about alcohol definitely piqued my interest.

QUESTIONS:
1. Dawn???? I am about 2-1/2 hour drive from the nearest Dawn: does not seem to exist here in Ensenada. Do you really think there is magic in Dawn, or is just marketing stuff showing oily birds being washed after an oil spill? Is the magic more deteregent-oriented as a floculant?

2. Alcohol. My chemistry is rusty - I think I understood your earlier note to say ethyl alchohol would bond/absorb with hydrocarbon. My question is would a dilute solution of alcohol in water absorb similarly? Food grade ethyl alcohol is $75/gal in bulk so not really practical - thoughts on dilution to get more contact area? Anyone know if Everclear is still made?

Have not circulated any water through the system yet - it's still virgin Pex. Will definitely add carbon filter; and test water before consumption.

Many thanks - Peter

 

[rslifkin]

A good filtration setup is a good idea regardless of the tank issues. Since I added a filtration setup to our boat, the water from the taps tastes great, even if we've filled the tank somewhere with less than perfect tasting (but safe) water. And even if I add a little extra chlorine to the tank to help keep the water fresh, you can't taste or smell it at the tap (fiberglass tank, so no risk of chlorine damage).

At this point, I've taken to filling the tank through one of the extra-large Camco hose end filters. It'll strip some excess chlorine and tastes (it's a carbon filter). And if we're taking on funky tasting water, there's the option to fill more slowly to give more contact time with the carbon in the filter. It also acts as a 20 micron sediment filter to help keep the water tank cleaner.

For onboard filtration, after the water leaves the pump and accumulator tank, it goes through a set of three 4.5x10 filter housings. The first contains a 1 micron sediment filter (Pentek DGD-2501), the second has a granular carbon and KDF filter (Pentek DBC-10EX2), the third has a 0.5 micron carbon block (Pentek Floplus-10BB). There's some flow restriction from these, but with our water pump cycling off at 60 psi and on at 40 there's still plenty of flow. And realistically, no single faucet on board will flow more than 1.5 gpm at 60 psi (except for showers which can flow a little more), so when filling a container to drink or make coffee, there's decent contact time with the carbon. Enough that I've never tasted a hint of chlorine or anything else in the water.

 

[twistedtree]

Is there any way to get an oilsorb pad in the tank? They are made to absorb oil and not water. Of course you would need to get it out of the tank as well...

 

[Hippocampus]

Ideally would want the highest %age of etoh. In the past have bought the cheapest vodka or gin to clean small parts.

If you can put up with it the idea of going through a lot of fills/refills of the tank will eventually clean it. Especially if you run it to empty. Only then would mess with alcohol. Not just for the tank but also every fresh water line. Would use bottled water for drinking/cooking. But for showers and cleaning should be fine. Water in the Caribbean was as high as 35 cents/g. So we made all our water. There’s a cost there as well.
Is water where you are free? If so just fill and rinse off their water. Even with sterile RO water had a whole boat fresh water filter and a second one at the galley sink.

 

[rgano]

Testing engines:

In the six ships I served in while in the Navy, we never took in mooring lines without first testing the engines in forward and astern. Now I don't do that religiously in my boat, but I will do that while still hanging in the straps coming out of a boatyard. I do perform a short astern gear test before getting in close to a marina or pier. If you are rusty, well, there are checklists.

 

[Cold Duck]

2. "Gotta be there all the time."



Just 2 points, we had a 1 1/2" SS shaft that needed to be cut and a "square notch" cut for a quadrant to be installed. This was a rudder shaft. In the heat of Matzatlan, the worker cut that shaft with a hacksaw. Needless to say took forever. And you have to be there to make sure the notch was put in the right place otherwise quadrant would not align correctly. Just have to accept the limitations they have to work with and work with them. Ended up we became friends with the shop owner, they visited us back in Ca years later. That's the unsaid joy of having work done in Mexico.

 

[Cold Duck]

Testing engines:

In the six ships I served in while in the Navy, we never took in mooring lines without first testing the engines in forward and astern. Now I don't do that religiously in my boat, but I will do that while still hanging in the straps coming out of a boatyard. I do perform a short astern gear test before getting in close to a marina or pier. If you are rusty, well, there are checklists.

Incredibly good advice. I plead guilty to failure to test reverse. Nothing like pulling into your slip, putting in reverse and there's nothing there! Luckily I adhere to going slow when docking. Just rode up the dock a little, no damage, but could be a different story if being a throttle jockey coming to the dock.

 

[mvweebles]

I did test. What I didn't do is bring-up the RPMs enough to pull the shaft out of the coupling.

BTW - having a thruster is pretty cool. Nice to be able to move roughly sideways (well sort of an angle but parallel)

I'm rusty. Some things are like riding a bike. But I gotta admit, gear/throttle lever are not intuitive anymore. Will be soon, but some deterioration of muscle memory.

Off to buy lead ingots.

Peter

 

[slowgoesit]

Is there any way to get an oilsorb pad in the tank? They are made to absorb oil and not water. Of course you would need to get it out of the tank as well...

TT beat me to it! Also, if your fill is at the very top of the tank, consider filling the tank with a hose stuffed all the way to the bottom and let the water overflow out the fill hole for awhile. Just a thought.

 

[Delta Riverat]

Shaft backed out of coupling...

Not good. Good thing it did it close to dock eh? Might have been just "half tight" out in the ocean...

Yeah.

But you're probably not paying the $130/hr that my guy in Alameda was charging me either. He makes no mistakes. But it's $130/hr parts plus time.

 

[Kit_L]

Re. engine testing: on a night exercise with Marine Rescue a year or so ago, an experienced skipper took off from the dock without "testing propulsion", as we say. We were tied on starboard to, and only his port engine engaged when he went ahead idle on both... Not pretty; a few tense moments. This came about because a trainee had been pushing buttons on the engine levers, and one press disengaged the starboard engine (this allows the throttle to increase the engine RPMs for warming up, etc.).

So as a result, I religiously "test propulsion" before casting off, every time.

Slowgoesit's idea re. deliberately overflowing the tank could work, I think.

Peter, hang in there. We are all hoping that the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train! I'm sure it's not.

 

[mvweebles]

Thursday, February 9th 2023. Yesterday was ballast day.

I brought Weebles to the yard yesterday morning for Orlando and team to work their list. Big event was fetching lead bricks for ballast. A local scrap metal guy scrounged twelve 25kg bricks, around 775 lbs. Amazingly, it fit in an oversized milk crate. It’s hard for even me to fathom just how much weight Weebles will absorb without much effect – she swallowed nine of the ingots in her forward bilge which barely took-out 4-inches of lift in the bow, maybe 5-inches. The remaining three went beneath the starboard side deck, roughly equal to the amount taken-off that was there from her launch in 1970. I should not have messed with it in the first place.

Right now, trim is not perfect, but it’s much better. I will leave it alone until I put another 100g of diesel aboard to give me half-load, and probably take-off half the 200g of water that is aboard to get a half-load trim measurement.
Today I’ll return to yard – two big items: the hydraulic pump for the stabilizers is turning the wrong direction compared to the engine. I guess a decent hydraulic person can make a change pretty quickly. Second, cleaning the water tanks. Not exactly sure what the plan is here, but I have an arsenal of good suggestions and will work through them all.

BTW – here is the remaining punch-list

1. Generator will not start. May be Peter needs instruction /NEW
2. Moderate amount of salt water beneath engine /NEW
3. Moderate amount of salt water near rudder /NEW
4. Confirmed – A/C pumps are swapped – large pump should be for saloon, smaller pump for forward. This may have been due to mis-labeling. /NEW
5. Forward A/C:
a. Unit was not mounted. Peter has ordered new mounting brackets. /NEW
b. Unit is not cooling or heating. Peter has asked manufacturer for information /NEW
6. Generator – sound enclosure missing screws and latch turn-bar –
7. Bilge Pump switches – only the center one operates correctly. The other two turn-on always when set on auto. Fix may be to elevate switches. Has not been completed as of Wednesday OPEN
8. Generator did not shut down – breaker turned off? Wed Night – would not start. Added to list OPEN/NEW
9. On/off switches as discussed to turn-off red back-lighting for panel above helm; and main breaker panel beneath helm seat. Complete for overhead. Not complete for main panel.
10. Slight leak beneath A/C pump on port side, beneath generator OPEN
11. Forward A/C in chain locker Leak in waterline – still leaking OPEN
12. Switch and power for fan to head/toilet Also, vent hose is 8-feet too long and bunched in engine room. I bought a set of spare cuffs to shorten this – are there any extras? – Could not find the switch if it has been installed. OPEN
13. How are Engine Room blowers wired? Breaker? Switch? OPEN​

PICTURES:

Scrap metal guy was kind enough to deliver the lead ballast. Twelve 25kg ingots are in the red milk crate - over 750 lbs.


Guillermo weighed a couple of the ingots to assure I was getting my money's worth. I had a flashback to Monty Python's Holy Grail where they weigh a woman suspected of being a witch (recall, if she's made of wood, she should be burned - wood floats, ducks float, ergo if she weighs the same as a duck....)


There are people to do everything. Even someone to clean the lead ingots before being loaded


Alberto loading the ingots onto aft deck. Alberto is strong as an Oxen Team.


Result is a distinct reduction in the height of bow. It's still a bit proud, but since I'm light on fuel, and I now know where to easily get more ballast, I'll pause putting on more ballast until tanks are half-full.


No project would be complete without a watchful eye. I'm told Pelicans do not have eyelids and cannot cover their eyes even when diving.


OTHER BOAT - The Regal.
This 40-ish foot Regal came in by trailer a few days ago. I guess a guy bought it to re-sell. Sounds nuts, but I guess there are a few guys out there who manage to find diamonds in the rough. The bolts hanging the swim platform are corroded and have to be removed. Unfortunately, that means removing the generator which was pulled in about 45-minutes. I am constantly amazed at stuff that would make me shrink 6-inches in frustration is just another task for a knowledgeable yard. The owner of this Regal found the right place (not his first project with Guillermo).

 

[rslifkin]

OTHER BOAT - The Regal.
This 40-ish foot Regal came in by trailer a few days ago. I guess a guy bought it to re-sell. Sounds nuts, but I guess there are a few guys out there who manage to find diamonds in the rough. The bolts hanging the swim platform are corroded and have to be removed. Unfortunately, that means removing the generator which was pulled in about 45-minutes. I am constantly amazed at stuff that would make me shrink 6-inches in frustration is just another task for a knowledgeable yard. The owner of this Regal found the right place (not his first project with Guillermo).

Sometimes it's also the design of the boat. I've seen it with cars and other equipment where what sounds like a horrific disassembly to access something is really not that big a deal. It turns out that the instructions are just "unplug this, disconnect this, unbolt that and move this whole huge thing out of the way" because they expected it to be removed for maintenance and designed for that. As compared to components that were clearly designed as "that should outlast the boat around it, so nobody will ever want to remove it".

 

[Hippocampus]

Just be real careful where you put that milkcrate and make sure it’s well secured. Had experience of a thru hull shearing at the flange from a milk crate filled with chain. Almost lost the boat.

 

[mvweebles]

Just be real careful where you put that milkcrate and make sure it’s well secured. Had experience of a thru hull shearing at the flange from a milk crate filled with chain. Almost lost the boat.

Milk crate was just for transport. Ingots were placed deep in the vee of the forward hull between the two stringers to limit side/side movement, and restrained fore/aft between two mini-bulkheads. I may put a couple squirts of spray-foam insulation in the gaps to keep them from jostling any.

But you bring up a good point about vulnerability of thru-hulls in general. The new hydraulic oil cooler that came with my Wesmar fins is in essence a piece of 2-inch pipe with a heat exchanger in it that has the engine's raw water feed through it. It's massive compared to my old one for the Vospers - raw water intake for my little Perkins' is spec'd at 3/4" tough I run 1". I opted to run a full 2-inch sea-cock and strainer and form a manifold. It's a bit sea strainer but at least everything is easily identified and serviced. I have one additional below-water thru-hull for the generator: it is 1-1/2" with strainer and also has some take-offs for deck-washdown.

Peter

 

[Hippocampus]

Anywhere you can put in a sea chest or manifold to get rid of thru hulls is an excellent thing to do. People don’t realize thru hulls create significant drag beyond all the safety and maintenance hassles. If I was doing a one off would even try for standpipes to get rid of as many thru hulls as possible.
Current boat has multiple thru hulls. Exercising them is a PIA. Already replaced a few as PO didn’t exercise them adequately. Prior boat had three all right next to each other. All other supply came off a manifold. No reason for the multiplicity of thru hulls you see on the average boat.

 

[guy with a boat]

Anywhere you can put in a sea chest or manifold to get rid of thru hulls is an excellent thing to do. People don’t realize thru hulls create significant drag beyond all the safety and maintenance hassles. If I was doing a one off would even try for standpipes to get rid of as many thru hulls as possible.
Current boat has multiple thru hulls. Exercising them is a PIA. Already replaced a few as PO didn’t exercise them adequately. Prior boat had three all right next to each other. All other supply came off a manifold. No reason for the multiplicity of thru hulls you see on the average boat.

I like the idea of sea chests but you do end up with longer runs of hose than with individual intakes near the equipment. Longer runs can reduce flow and are more hose to either trip over or hide and hope they stay in good condition. Also its possible to clog all of your water intakes with one plastic bag or fat jellyfish.

Pros and cons like everything else.

 

[guy with a boat]

Peter, you might get your guys to put some 4200/5200 under and between the lead bars while they are clean and you have the manpower. The last thing you need is those things flying around if you get surprised in really crappy conditions.

 

[mvweebles]

Anywhere you can put in a sea chest or manifold to get rid of thru hulls is an excellent thing to do.
Current boat has multiple thru hulls. Exercising them is a PIA. Already replaced a few as PO didn’t exercise them adequately. Prior boat had three all right next to each other. All other supply came off a manifold. No reason for the multiplicity of thru hulls you see on the average boat.

I like the idea of sea chests but you do end up with longer runs of hose than with individual intakes near the equipment. Longer runs can reduce flow and are more hose to either trip over or hide and hope they stay in good condition. Also its possible to clog all of your water intakes with one plastic bag or fat jellyfish.

Pros and cons like everything else.

When I was delivering, as part of my check-list, I'd map the thru-hulls. The sheer number and hidden locations was astonishing. Now, I'm getting a bit long in the tooth and my memory ain't what it used to be so for this time around, I decided to aggregate thru-hulls ----- down to two below waterline, each oversized with a corresponding sea strainer.

Here's a picture of my main manifold. The big white pipe is the oil cooler for Wesmar fins - note the stainless bracket fabricated to support it. It's about 10x the size of the old Vosper cooler. Guessing they make one size for all system so my tiny one gets an oversized cooler. The seacock at the far end and the sea strainer are both 2-inch Grocos. These have a surface area of 3.14 sq in. There are three outlets: 1-inch for engine; a 3/4" for A/C (with inline check valve); and 3/4" for deck washdown. Sum of these is around 1.5 sq in, or less than half the inflow. But still, there is some risk of starving the engine. I am told new engine manufacturers will void warranty if there is a shared raw water source.

Peter, you might get your guys to put some 4200/5200 under and between the lead bars while they are clean and you have the manpower. The last thing you need is those things flying around if you get surprised in really crappy conditions.

Good idea - will do that today. Thanks -

Peter

 

[Hippocampus]

Excellent design and execution.