This week, we finished painting the bottom with anti-rust primer and the ablative anti-fouling. The bottom looks so good, it makes the topsides look shabby now - haha (We'll have to do something about that...)
There are still a couple of hull-related issues to deal with before we splash in - we have to install the sacrificial anodes (ordered), and I will have to fab up some strainers for the sea water intakes, as the old fiberglass ones have eroded off over time. These are coarse strainers on the outside of the boat to prevent sucking fish or debris into the engine or genset. I also need to polish the prop. But these issues are minor; the hull is just about ready.
In addition, I was able to patch and paint the leaks on the boat deck that were dripping into the salon. We'll see next week (during the next big soak) if the patch works...
And Baruch Hashem (thank G-d) for it - the weather has been unseasonably mild and dry, giving us the time to complete the exterior work. You can't help feel that Hashem is really looking after us, guiding us on our path.
The Holy Place: this week also saw major progress in the engine room, starting with major cleaning, organizing of tools, etc.
Last week, you'll recall that I hand cranked the motor. This week I was able to connect the cranking batteries, figure out how they're linked and connected to the house batteries (and why), and crank the starter. Without firing up the engine. And lo and behold! It cranked.
I don't want to actually start the engine for reals until I make sure that she has a clean, water-free supply of fuel. This is a big issue that I will tackling on Sunday. You see, the boat's been sitting for eight years with fuel tanks only partially full of diesel. As temperatures fluctuate, the moist air above the fuel condenses on the empty part of the steel fuel tank walls, resulting (over time) in a lot of water in the fuel. (In order to prevent this problem, many boat owners keep their tanks topped off even if their not going anywhere.)
The other issue is that there are five fuel tanks on the boat, but it appears from the tangle of ad-hoc fuel lines running everywhere that the previous owners drew fuel from only one tank. In fact, the main fuel filter/water separator, fuel transfer pump and fuel manifold are completely bypassed. I had a similar situation on my old boat, but in that case it was because there were integrity issues with the tanks themselves. Not sure what's going on here yet. But the port and starboard midships tanks hold about 1000 gallons of fuel, which is more than enough to get us down the Inside Passage to Seattle, so I'll close off the other tanks for now and deal with them later.
Thus my major task next week is to pump the fuel out of each tank, open the inspection ports and suck out any water or debris living in the bottom of the tanks. After that, fresh filters and water separators, and then we can start the main engine. With the hull finished and the engine running, we can then schedule the boat launch.
I also replaced the air filter and air intake strainer, ripped apart the raw water side of the cooling system, cleaned the fine raw water strainer, fixed a few potential problems and buttoned it back up. They don't sell a replacement raw water impeller big enough for the Sephina here in Hoonah, but the old one looks to be in good shape, so again, it will get us to Seattle.
I also got the depth sounder to fire up. This is an important piece of equipment that tells the pilot, in real time, the amount of water under the keel. This is a critical piece of data as the Sephina draws 9.5 feet of water, so we don't dare run the Inside Passage without a functioning depth sounder. Whats funny is that it is an OLD Raytheon unit, a huge box with an oscillating light that spins around and indicated your depth. 1960's technology. But hey - 1960s tech got us to the moon, and the depth sounder works, so off we go...
The other item to report is that we saw the Aurora Borealis one night this week. Spectacular!!
Shabbat Shalom from Hoonah, Alaska, the Last Frontier.
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