It’s been quite some time since our last post. Some are curious where our boat has been, others have seen it the yard for so long you think we have made a planter out of her!
Since our last trip to Barkley Sound, we have been busy and it has not involved hauling dirt!
initially we hauled out to repair a thru hull for the generator and have the rest of them checked and bonded. We also had barrier coat applied to the keel and the bottom painted. We changed the zincs. We were close to heading back to the water When this little voice kept repeating “as long as were here, we might as well”…….. and so it began……
We pulled wire for our new SSB, got it mounted and Tom’s crew finished up the final wiring.
We purchased a Nautilus NS800 water maker and Tom’s Marine Electric installed it, along with the new electronics and a gobb of other stuff! It is a modular system so we could fit it into the various nooks and crannies of a sail boat.
We needed to replace the windows in our canvas as we noticed on the way to Barkley Sound we could not see out. It was also a bit short for (some of) our crew. Roger from Port Gardner Yacht Sales recommended Christiane from In Canvas LLC. What a huge blessing she turned out to be! She transformed our cockpit with new canvas and large, clear windows. What a huge difference in our outlook! As long as we were here…..
We added water cooling to the fridge. We removed a couple of extra thru hulls. I added a Raycore dual fuel filter. Mainly as a safety precaution but the cartridges are much cheaper than those spin on elements and less messy to change.
Then the boat show. As long as we are here we might as well upgrade the electronics.
I went with Raymarine simply because I wanted a choice in charting software. We replaced the sailing instruments, radar and chart plotter. Bob Doyle spent the majority of a day up the mast mounting the new wind speed indicator and getting the wire snaked back down the mast. This time I only got him stuck up there for a short time while I had to switch out a block that decided to have issues. He is a very good sport… like he had a choice!
We did not replace the autopilot but I have a feeling that will need to be replaced as well. I don’t believe the two are speaking right now.
We’ve installed cooling fans throughout the boat.
We upgraded the rest of the lights to LED and expanded the 12 volt panel. Bob Doyle identified and I hope, fixed a water leak that has been plaguing us since we bought the boat. A couple of the drain holes for the mast were plugged (someone put screws in where hollow rivets should be) and thus allowing it to fill up with water and spill over into the salon. We were getting water all the way back into the galley at times.
out with the old…. 
In with the new….
The expansion to the 12 volt panel, replaced the single 110 outlet with dual 110 with dual USB ports.
Water damage to our mast cover
With the cold weather we’ve been spending more days in the shop repairing the mast cover and doing some of the bright work we put off last year.
Mark from Railmakers is creating an arch so we can mount (3) 40″ x 66″ solar panels. We have 3 panels of 300 watts each totaling 900 watts. We will couple those to a Midnight Classic controller. That should at least brew us a good cup of coffee!
As long as we are here….. We have been struggling with oxidation on the dark hull since we purchased the boat. It is pretty but had I known the issues that come with a dark hull we may have chosen different. (Probably not, we love our boat) We would get it buffed but it did not seem to last long. Enter Daman and his crew from The Moblile Boat Guys, LLC. They wet sanded the entire hull then buffed and waxed. (And buffed and waxed again) She came out looking amazing. Look quick, not sure how long it’s going to last but I hope along time!
Once we get the boat buttoned back up, It won’t be long before we are back out sailing and testing systems. Early this summer we plan on spending some time in the San Juan / Gulf Islands. We hope you will follow along.
As long as we’re here……
Walt & Linda
S/V Pellucidar
SV Pellucidar 