First Week of 2010 Engine and Electrical with Urm

Benny Urmston came down for 3 days right after new-years to help me get started on rewiring.  Thanks Benny!  The boat has 2 electrical systems 120v AC like your house and 12v DC like your car.  In an attempt to simplify and reduce our energy use we are removing all the AC lighting.  we will leave several AC plugs so that we can plug in tools etc when we have an AC power source.  The DC system, which powers the radios, GPS, pumps, and lights will be overhauled with a new distribution panel and new wires where necessary.

Above is the existing electrical fuse panel.  It was rusty to the point that you could just pull terminals from their bars in a little rust explosion! Benny and I spent hours with our heads in every little nook and cranny to identify all the wires.

We carefully labeled all the wires that run to every corner of the boat.  Many thanks to Benny for his methodical tactics and company!

Above is the beginning of a new DC bus-bar that will distribute power from the batteries to the various lights etc. throughout the boat.  
Above is the engine finally out and in the workshop area of the boat.  Look in the lower right corner of the picture for a hole in the crank-case!  It seems the engine spent a long time either sitting in salt water or flooded with salt water.

A close-up shot of the hole in the engine.  Because the engine is so rusty throughout we are now shopping around for replacements.  Benny also helped hoist the engine out through the hatch in the bow and down to the ground where we hauled it over to his truck and took it up to Plymouth.  That sucker is heavy!

Also some great news!  NOLS awarded us a Instructor Development Grant.  Nadine, Benny and I applied to a fund for instructor expeditions and they awarded us the maximum grant amount!  This will help offset the cost of a new engine.  We are considering naming the new engine Twinkie in honor of Evan Horn who is NOLS training manager in charge of the IDF grants.  Thanks NOLS!

Happy New Year Engine Work

Here are some pictures of the engine work I have been doing over the holidays

Hoisting the partially disassembled engine out of the bilge.  It is rustier than we expected!  It looks like salt water has gotten in to the transmission and caused a lot of internal rusting.  The engine turns over but there is a lot of carbon build up in the cylinders.

Here is the engine sitting on the floorboards.  You can see the bilge that I pulled it out of just to the right.  I used some straps and a come along to hoist it up out and swing it over to the floorboards.

Dirty bilge grease hands.

Meggie and I folding folding sails in the backyard at Plymouth. There are lots of oldish sails that we will have to sort through carefully, repair and clean.

Fish In the Water

Just a quick couple pictures of Fishers Hornpipe in the water.  Note the genoa jib tied down to the lifelines (no roller furling).  The inner stay'sl, which is in a blue sail cover, is what makes her a cutter rig. The main'sl is further aft behind the mast. You can also see the three forward portholes which provide light and ventilation to the v-berth, workshop area, and crew bunks.

                We are considering painting the hull the original dark blue.  The builder Reuel Parker recommends going back to a darker hull color.  Below is a picture from the cover of the book The Voyages of Fishers Hornpipe which shows the original blue paint.  What do you prefer?

More Pictures

Galley salon area.

View of deck from aloft.  Note solar panel and R Mac

60 HP Isuzu diesel engine.  We are going to rebuild it. 

Some rotten wood in the toe rail which we will replace. 

Rusty dings in the keel which we will clean up, patch and paint.

First Post! Just bought a sailboat...

Hi from Rob and Nadine,

This blog is to share pictures and info about our new sailboat, Fishers Hornpipe.  We competed the sale December 3 and are excited to start working on the many projects required to get her seaworthy again.  The Hornpipe is 40' long on deck 55' including the bowsprit and davits.  She was designed by Patrick Cotten and built by boat builder/designer Reuel Parker (http://www.parker-marine.com)

The hull is made of Ferro-cement.  The Decks are marine-grade plywood coated with fiberglass.  The mast is a solid chunk of don douglas fir.  More Pictures to come...