Let the Plumbing Begin!

The tanks are in and the tanks are in... now let the plumbing begin!

The tanks arrived via FedEx and during my lunch hour, I ran them to the boat and plopped them down into their new home, (a nice clean painted bilge). Perfect fit! I still have to run to Walmart to pick up my Pool Noodles to cut and mold and place on the sides of the tanks, but they are in.

The accumulator tank, water strainer, check valve, and water filter are on order from Amazon and will arrive on Monday, (I already have the 12 volt pressure pump - came new with the boat). The PEX lines and fittings along with two single faucets will be picked up at Home Depot tomorrow and I will begin working my way from both sinks to the tanks. Actually, the pump, accumulator tank, strainer, and filter will all be mounted in the engine room so all lines will run there... then to the tanks. I would love to come up with a deck fill for the tanks but that will be another project for another day.

The tanks will be strapped in place tomorrow and the plumbing will begin. Say a prayer...LOL.

Fair seas and God bless!

Waiting on The Tanks

My water tanks have made it from California to Florida via FedEx. Westsail Parts Company shipped the tanks on Friday, (thanks Bud), and they have arrived in Orlando at 3:18 PM today. Hopefully, FedEx will get them the rest of the way, (two hours), by tomorrow. 

The bilge is clean and painted waiting on the tanks. I think I am going to use pool noodles on the sides of the tanks to keep them from shifting side to side.

Once they are in place, then comes the hard part...plumbing! I'd like to devise a deck fill of some type. Has anyone done a deck fill on a W32? If so, please share!

Fair seas and God bless!

"Out with the Old..."

When it comes to my leaky water tanks, "Out with the old and in with the new."

I recently discovered that one of my aluminum water tanks has a leak. How did I discover such a thing? Easy, I filled both tanks to the brim and within 24 hours, one tank was empty... hence, leak! 

So, instead of taking out the thirty-two year old leaky tank, locating the leak, having it welded, replacing the tank, and hoping it doesn't spring any other leaks, I ordered two new polyethylene tanks from Bud Talpin at Westsail Parts Company. 

Surprisingly, removing the old tanks was a breeze. After siphoning out the water from the good tank, removing a few retaining straps and fittings, Jesse and Don (thanks guys), and I simply lifted them from their long-time home, loaded them into Jesse's truck and we were finished. It was amazing how much dirt and crud was under the tanks!

I cleaned up all the crud, pressure washed the bilge, and tomorrow, I will paint the bilge and prepare it for the new tanks. 

I will install a pressure pump, accumulator tank, filter system, PEX Plumbing lines and fittings, and two single spigots (one in the head and one in the galley), and Annie will have pressure water. Hooray! 

Fair seas and God bless!

Dorades Done!

The dorade boxes/vents are installed. The job ended up being a two part job due to a mistake on my part, but... it is finished. Now, I can move on to the headliner install mid-ship and finish the head. From there, I move to the V-berth which will be an very involved job.

The deck will eventually be sanded, resurfaced, and painted. The sails and running rigging needs to be installed along with the boom which needs to be configured. Those jobs will be completed after the inside of the boat is finished.

Stay tuned as we restart the refit...

Fair seas and God bless!

The wind was blowing so hard that Fuji's ears kept standing up...lol

Long Time, No Sea...

I realize it has been a few weeks since my last post but I needed a break. After driving fifty miles a day to work on Annie when she was on the hard... (four to five days a week for nine months), I was a little burned out. But now I'm back.

Today, I tackled the dorade boxes. I was able to mount the starboard box with no issues. I used screws from below and butyl tape to seal the four attachment points. Everything went great on the first box... the second box... no so good. I was distracted by a two phone conversations and mismeasured. Due the the error, I had to fill the holes with an epoxy paste and bring the box back to my work trailer to fix a small crack my mistake caused.

The new dorade boxes are well made but are smaller than the originals. I plan on repainting the deck and at that time, the mounting marks from the previous boxes will be erased..

Fuji enjoyed the deck and the many marina sights. He getting used to the boat.

Fair seas and God bless!

Fuji Steps & The Flu...

Well, a lot has happened since I moved aboard and relocated the boat to a liveaboard marina.

First, if you followed my previous refit blog, http://dominamari.blogspot.com/, you know I have a "best friend". His name is Fuji.

After a good roll on the beach

He has been staying with my mother, (thanks mom...you're the best), while I refit Annie enough to get her in the water and move aboard. Now it's time to bring him home. The companionway ladder was way too steep for him to negotiate and since he weighs 108 lbs., lifting him up and down would be too much of a strain on him and me, (He's 10 years old and I'm just old). So, the ladder had to be modified.

I decreased the angle of the ladder and converted the ladder into something more like stairs. The angle is manageable for Fuji and makes for easier egress and ingress. Plus, the stairs individually slide in and out so they can offer more footing for my old friend. I still have to install the no skid indoor/outdoor carpet for step traction and stain the steps to match the interior boat stain. The only disadvantage to the new stairs is when I want to use the galley - then the ladder has to be put back to its original position allowing for galley usage but making the steps somewhat unusable.

In the down position

In the up position allowing Galley use

Of course all of this work took place at the end of last week - this week I caught the flu. It's amazing how you don't feel like refitting when you have the flu.

The boat is very comfortable... my contract with DISH is still in effect so they came out and mounted a dish on a dock pylon, and walla... I have TV, DVD, DVR, and HD.

My real Pirate Sword came in and is hanging on the bulkhead over the TV for decoration and if necessary, protection from Scallywags... ARRRRRRR!

I love living on the boat in the marina. When I do go cruising, these creature comforts will be whittled down considerably, but for now, plugged into shore power,... why not?

Fair seas and God bless!

New Home...New Head!

Well, now that we are in our new marina, our new home, the most necessary job was to install a new head. Yeah, not really a cool post but it's part of the refit process, so it gets blogged.

Remember, Annie has been on the hard for five plus years and I guess the installed head just dried out and gave up the stinky ghost sometime in those five years. Of course, I did not know the head was bad until she splashed and then there was no time to replace the existing head before the trip to our new marina.

Today, I tackled the job. I had to build a new platform due to the height of the old head verses the new head. Once that was complete, everything was hooked up and she is functional... sorta...

The Y-valve that directs waste overboard or to the holding tank is leaking. (That's not good and could be very unpleasant but I have flushed the system with clean water numerous times, so there's little or no smell).

Fortunately, I have a good friend who also owns a Westsail 32 and he has a Y-valve he wants to give me, (thanks Denis - you're the best). I'm not looking forward to replacing the leaky Y-valve but "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", (pun intended). So tomorrow evening I will finish this nasty but necessary job and move on the the troubled bilge pump situation, (more on that in the near future).

Fair seas and God bless!

The water on the floor is from verifying the thru-hull wasn't clogged... Not what you thought...lol