March 1, 2013 Update

I have been busy this past month with some visible progress towards completing the fridge, battery relocation, engine instrument panel renovation, navigation lights update and companionway door re-finishing. I plan to complete the fridge and battery installation during the next week and then move immediately to installation of a stereo so that I can listen to music while I work on the next system renewal and installation.  So my report for February.....

Yuck!  The condition of throttle and gear selector is showing the results of pure salt water exposure and lack of regular maintenance so when I removed the instrument panel for a rework this was the first item that I was able to quickly remedy.

Here she is part way through the renovation, a Dremel tool (thanks Steve) helped remove the heavy corrosion.

Here is the final result with the appropriate RED knob on the throttle.

The cabinet design and construction has taken the lions share of my time this past month, first up
is the PLAN, the picture is a little fuzzy but so is the plan!

Next up is the concept...

 So now we need a book to keep the plan and the sketches safe and sound..

 and of course, more sketches...

So now, the full scale cardboard model to prove we can get the box through the companionway and into place so I built...

 So I have constructed a plethora of panels to build the new cabinetry to support the 100 pound fridge and restrain the 440 amp house bank of batteries to keep this puppy running and the beer cold!

here is the shelf for the fridge to sit on...

here is where three of the batteries will sit...

the lid to cover the batteries is shown with two finger holes for lifting it out.

 one battery will live on the panel at left and the fridge compressor will sit on the shelf to the right

Look for the finished product in the blog update later this month.

While getting the mock up of the fridge through the companionway I removed the door and took it to Raul's shop for a refinish, the two pictures below show the condition of the existing varnish and cabinet fit, not quite up to my standard.

Navigation lights, yes, these too needed and upgrade. This is one of the side lights, it is covered in corrosion and the other one was missing...

so I will upgrade to some nice solid bronze lights manufactured in Italy for Peters and Bey

The main running light is a nice bronze number that needs some reconditioning but at the end of the day it is a bit small for this boat

 And the stern light and anchor light were mix of stuff, some nice, some no so nice

So I will replace these with one running light that will double as and anchor light, a nice big solid bronze number from Perko with an LED bulb for low power draw and long life.

I have started the model for the holding tank using a part of a styrofoam box, shown here in a cabinet right next to the head and directly under the side deck where the pump out will be located so short easy runs for the hoses. The tank is on order from Holland so it may be a month or so before this installation is complete. In the meantime there always is the good old cedar bucket!

New wipers for the windscreen are on order so that too will be for next month. In the meantime I will need to do a bit of house keeping on wiring for the power distribution panel. This was installed five years ago but not a very neat job? I do lose sleep over this stuff, not really sure why.

Okay kids, that is all for now. Next update this time next month. Cheers to all.