Interesting projects this year?

[DougSea]

Hey all,

Does anyone have any new and exciting projects going on this year? I've always enjoyed reading, and learning from, the "stuff" others do to their boats. In the past (Sonny III, 28TE) this has led to things such as my fancy mast/masthead light project, the rebuilt helm, cabin lighting, air conditioning, stereo / HDTV install and more. (Maybe I SHOULDN'T be asking for ideas...)

Sonny IV came much better equipped when we got her but there's ALWAYS something to do!

So far there was the generator install (by the yard where we bought her), new Fusion stereo and HDTV, boarding ladder, oil change system, and my latest, a high end inverter (Prosine 400) that let's me use the Blu-ray and HDTV without needing to use the generator. Just finished most of that one last night. Guess I should take some pictures!

Anyway, if you're working on something, or have any interesting ideas, please share them here or start a new thread.

Looking forward to a great season!

[jleonard]

You saw my bow pulpit project in the classic thread. Almost done with that which includes a tear down of the old windlass with a complete rebuilt motor ($318, gulp). Fortunately the guts of the windlass are in great shape.
I also have installed a dual water system filter which should allow us to be able to drink the tank water. The system came with a seperate faucet that will be used only for the filtered water.
New exhaust wet elbow, and that meant removing the 4000# pound (it felt that heavy I swear) exhaust manifold because I couldn't get the one of the bolts out. That is almost ready to go back in, waiting on a gasket. While all the antifreeze was out I decided to install a new fresh water circulation pump since the original has almost 4000 hours on it.
Next major on the docket is an house battery system upgrade from 2 6v golf carts to 4, including adding a "Link Lite" battery monitor.

[RobS]

End of last season I added a 6” stainless power tower mast for my radome which greatly improved the radar performance.

This winter I built a new dash panel and relocated all dash mounted switches into 2 new switch panels off the dash to gain dash space and make the switches more user friendly.

Finally said goodbye to Yanmar factory gauge cluster with metric engine gauges and inaccurate and non-adjustable tach.

Installed all new VDO gauges and senders and an Aetna LCD Tach.

Built new dash to accommodate new gauges and new 10.4” Furuno screen which is part of my NavNet2 all Furuno network with 7” display, autopilot and sounder.

Changed all lighting to LED to include:
7 new cabin dome light stainless LED fixtures
LED bulbs for pilothouse dome light
New Hella red/green LED running lights
New Perko mast light with LED festoons
New clear lens and LED bulb for stern/transom light

Added a 110V outlet on the cabinet wall to the left of the microwave on the microwave circuit to be used with the table flipped up.

Made a starboard wedge to mount under the radar plate on the arch for the horn to pitch it slightly downward as it would hold water and not function properly.

And, believe it or not, the most rewarding:
Removed the rubber flappers from the check valves in the deck drain lines that flow the water from the gutters around the floor hatches and out the transom. The flappers are too thick of a rubber and would restrict the flow so much that any considerable water would overflow in the gutters and run down into the bilge. I will try backing down hard with some weight in the boat (I know a few fat arses and they come cheaper than a full tank of fuel) to see if some sort of a rubber flapper is needed to keep seawater from running back in. If so, a thinner rubber, like bicycle inner tube, should do the trick. For now they flow free and the gutters stay nice and clean and everything below them stays nice and dry with no more rain water in the bilge after heavy rains.

[joe.baar]

This winter was sort of light-weight. I installed a grab-handle on the transom, stayed through the lazarette to the after cockpit bulkhead so the handle can be used as a tow-bar for the dinghy. Haven't tested this yet as I only just finished this project. Keeping the lazarette's watertight integrity with a hatch for access to the grab-handle's backing plate and 4 holes in the lazarette was an engineering project in itself. At the same time I believe the appearance of the cockpit bulkhead fastenings is clean enough to pass. Photos are still on the boat, I'll post them when I get the camera back.

Off and on I've been puzzling through Standard Horizon's wiring diagram for hooking up their SmartGPS sensor to my (new) GX2000 VHF but haven't quite managed to get that finished yet. I'm way better at carpentry than electricity - I know, there's an important safety issue with getting the radio to understand where I am so it can tell the Coasties.

I have not yet been able to pull the far end of the main bilge suction hose out from under the fuel tank so I can clean the crud off. It still sucks just fine but I'd like to see it.

Hot water and degreaser works really well with a semi-spherical "Quickie" spider-web duster on a telescoping handle to clean almost any bilge area. The Quickie's bristles are very springy, soft on the ends and generally pliable so they get into places easily and agitate and clean without damaging anything.

Finally I pulled the tranny's filter, cleaned it, inspected the fluid, dried the filter, and replaced it without changing the fluid. There's 265.5 hours on the engine and the tranny fluid looks like new.

Careful out there.

[DougSea]

Good stuff guys!

I'm definitely on a convert to LED kick as well. Probably not as much on the nav. lights, since the power consumption is irrelevant with the engines running, but the vast number of interior halogens can suck the house battery dry when on the hook. (The longevity of the nav lights would be nice, but lower on the list) I prefer to run the generator only for cooking / hot water and such, and then shut it down for the quiet.

Don't have the same deck drain issue any more since my deck sits higher but I can see why you'd change those Rob, I remember them being a problem.

No big engine projects right now. Seems like a lot of elbows are being replaced, hoping mine are ok. Did do some temp checks this weekend and all looked good. Did the oil change system last fall. Massive PITA to get it installed but made up for it with an effortless oil change. Both engines and the generator.

And the "winner" so far (IMHO) is the "Quickie" spider web duster! I have a good friend doing a MAJOR bilge cleanup and I'm calling him with that recommendation!

Again though, I really do enjoy hearing about other people's projects. Thanks for sharing. Let's see who else chimes in!

Best,

[RobS]

Probably not as much on the nav. lights, since the power consumption is irrelevant with the engines running.

I agree 100%. The cabin lights and all around light were the initial intent. In the cabin I had the cheap looking plastic fixtures, so the upgrade to the stainless fixture w/ LED was a win win. And the mast light lens was yellowed. We spend our share of nights on the hook so these two upgrades were important.

BUT, my starboard running light fixture was cracked since I owned the boat and was held together with shrinkwrap tape. So it was about time I replaced it so no reason not to go with the LED. Hope to never have to touch it again. And it's a much more streamlined fixture and now I can clean around it

[RobS]

...Finally I pulled the tranny's filter, cleaned it, inspected the fluid, dried the filter, and replaced it without changing the fluid. There's 265.5 hours on the engine and the tranny fluid looks like new.

265 hrs on engine but how many hours on the tranny fluid? How were you able to inspect the fluid? The tranny fluid runs through the cooler cooled by salt water. You want to make sure the two fluids remain seperate. The money is in the filter, but you have tackled that already. For the $25 in fluid I would change it. Just my 2 cents worth..

[joe.baar]

Two more "projects".

I wanted 7 1/2' oars for the dinghy but couldn't find anywhere under cover to store them. I put a 6" diameter PVC drain pipe with end caps on the cabin top, using some miscellaneous stainless hardware and ABS pipe. The clamps are your standard 6" exhaust system clamps, slightly modified to accept standoffs from the housetop and grab rail, as shown.

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My deck crew often has difficulty boarding the last person on the pier as we pull out, and putting the first one ashore when we're tying up. WestMarine has an inexpensive solution, which would be easy to fabricate if I weren't so lazy. The crew has not tested this yet but it looks workable and not too dangerous. The brand name is "Quick Step".

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[Legacy]

A few minor projects like removing and rebedding the railing, removing and rebedding the swim platform, repairing some of the cockpit deck that had some water intrusion, touch up every scratch and ding in the hull and, oh yeah, repaint!

[RobS]

Imron, way to go, the guys I know that do this work swear by it. Staying with the Flag Blue?

[DougSea]

I like your "oar locker" project Joe.

And Rick! I can't wait to see pictures of the new and improved Legacy!

A question for you - how hard was it to get to the handrail mounts? Mine bolt up from underneath and I think one of them is leaking, I'd love to reseal it.

[Legacy]

My painter swears by Imron, said it's better, less expensive and repairable than awlgrip. And yes, went with a traditional flag blue. Here she is between coats.

Doug, my rail was a pain in the ass and had the same bolts. We found a new fixture that clamped around the post and then through-bolted with back plates. I'll take some pics this weekend.

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