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 Post subject: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 24 Mar 2022 21:18 
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Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
We're currently in the Virgin Islands in our house (rental, since the year 2000). We sold everything in Maine, bought a lobster boat and moved it down here. Next step, in May, is to finish off the T37 and start it down this way. I have to have one foot on the boat, one foot on the rock - just in case.

We know all about hurricanes, so that's always in the back of the mind for delivery and life.

We'll probably be living on the boat in Maine after I put the engine back together and splash it. Work out the bugs over the summer and begin moving it South for good. Maybe ditch and Bahamas trip down to the DR, maybe just bust off from NC or SC go out to Route 65 and head for the barn.

Let's talk about ideas and outfitting. I've got a new Cap Horn vane and a bunch of new gear. Fingers crossed on the old(er) Raymarine gear. I put on a new masthead transducer. I'll start a rundown of what's on and what's not. I need ideas and suggestions. Let me know what you think. Why do my photos always post upside down and flip when you click on them?

I still have a bunch of work to do. I haven't pressure tested the fuel tank yet, I need all new plumbing, some electrical, put the cabin overhead liner back up (after a few elec. runs) and generally fluff the whole thing out. She's solid.


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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 26 Mar 2022 09:39 
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Midshipman

Joined: 24 Feb 2014 00:12
Posts: 51
Just wonderful! Keep use posted on your adventures.

John


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 28 Mar 2022 22:02 
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Skipper

Joined: 29 Dec 2006 09:38
Posts: 656
Perhaps I will see you this summer in Maine. I will be relaunching from Seal Cove in late May (with luck) and I have a mooring in Castine. If you actually want to get down South the ditch takes time. I have only tried once, but gave up and went outside for large sections. Impossible to make time if that is you interest because of bridges, unmarked shoals, and night danger from drunken motor boat dudes.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 29 Mar 2022 05:07 
Offline
Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
Yeah. The ditch. We'll see. Thing is, last Oct. 26th or so I had my Dyer 29 trucked to Newport to load on a freighter bound for St. Thomas. For some reason I checked the weather and calculated it was going to blow like snot and might even make hurricane force the day after the boat was launched for loading. It was in a mooring field off Portsmouth RI. I texted my boat guy down there and told him bury it somewhere and fender the shit out of it. He said "already done, stuffed behind Goat Island on the docks." The mooring field was devastated. A lot of people never saw it coming. But not a scratch. Really got me thinking about careful planning and hidey holes.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 25 May 2022 12:01 
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Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
Well, it looks like we won't get back to Maine until mid-July. Got stuff to do down here, and it's absolutely beautiful with the reduction in Caribbean tourists. Love the Caribbean in the summer. Yeah, its hot, but you can see bottom at noontime in a 140' of water. Grandkids are coming down after school gets out for a month.
Humpbacks are gone but the mahi are here. Lobster boat is almost done and I'll be able to "summerize" it and go work on the Tartan for awhile. Need to re-assemble the W50 with all new gaskets, lift pump, rebuilt injection pump, rebuilt injectors, etc. and start moving on all the other little items (like welding the lower stbd corner of the fuel tank, I believe) that need to be done - install the windlass and see where my electronics stand, install a couple of solar panels and controller, new AGM's and get everything appropriately (and safely) organized. Should be entertaining. Float, float, go forward go forward.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 28 Jul 2022 12:46 
Offline
Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
We're back in Maine for awhile. I decided to book the boat onboard a freighter out of Newport, R.I., for the Oct.-Nov. trip to St. Thomas. Sevenstar Yacht Transport from the Netherlands. I figure I'll just work my ass off and pay for the cost rather than tax the boat with either offshore or ditch rides. I really don't have the time anyway. It worked well getting the Dyer 29 down to St. Thomas.

I'm putting the W50 back together and crossing my fingers, gasket replacements, new primary fuel pump, installing a windlass, dumping tons of "new" and used items, replacing thru hull valves (what a hokey setup from the factory) and deciding whether I actually need the new Cap Horn gear or not.

There's wiring, adding a real house bank, new charger, plumbing, etc. For now, I'm just running down to the Cape Cod Canal and banging a right into Newport.

I guess I'll redo the interior (I figure mostly Cetol) and think about what I'm going to do with a couple bad spots in the (not teak and holly) cabin sole when I get to STT.

Oh, I also have a new pair of aft lower chainplates - I see no reason (yet) to replace the ones I've got. These are the funky "Tartan" chains with the welded angle on them.

She'll be S of 12N for hurricane season next year, Grenada, Carriacou or Tobago.

Hope to get the boat in the water up here by labor day.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 17 Aug 2022 06:36 
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Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
Sooo, float float go forward go forward. I still have innumerable projects that could be done before launching, but I'm focused on engine running, solid rig, centerboard perfection, hull integrity (new thru hulls and valves), engine mounts, prop reman, rudder rebuild and basic accoutrements. And dark blue LP on the transom to get the lettering done. I just need to move it 300 miles to Rhode Island for shipping. Things that probably won't get done are:

Refrigeration installed
Plumbing fully installed
Windlass installed
rewiring every damn thing
interior finishes
hull paint (old blue gelcoat . . . eh)

I really hope all the hype about this W50 is true. Finishing the engine is next. I've replaced gaskets, rebuilt injectors, rebuilt injector pump, replaced impellers, replaced hoses, replaced exhaust riser with stainless pipe, etc. Going with new fuel lines from tank and dropping the copper lines on the low pressure side. I'm also going to add an electric pump between the tank and (new) lift pump. Need to slap it back together and get it started and running for a couple hours. Fingers crossed. Crap, I just realized I want to yank the fuel tank and have the inside fwd corner cut and welded. I sincerely suspect pinholing in that low point.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 17 Aug 2022 17:29 
Offline
Rail Meat

Joined: 11 Apr 2022 10:25
Posts: 21
I got hit with the leaking tank problem last week. Fortunately I'm aboard so very little fuel leaked out. The boat had no diesel smell before, so I noticed it right away.

Thanks to the posts from others, I had no difficulty getting the tank out - especially since a friend just happened to stop by to say hi after seeing my car in the parking lot. Timing was perfect. With two people it is possible to remove lift the tank up and over the nav station and then out to the cockpit.

I'm looking for a shop that can repair the corner. Attached is an image of the corner cleaned up showing pits. With air blowing a shopvac, the leak from a pin hole can be felt.


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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 18 Aug 2022 06:02 
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Skipper

Joined: 09 Aug 2017 15:35
Posts: 725
Location: Maine/USVI
I can't tell if my tank is leaking but I emptied it last year in any event. There is almost imperceptible staining in the area under the nav and under the bottom drawer. No smell, but my fingertips sense something different than just the cabin sole wood. I've popped all the bungs painted in, but was your plywood tied down by the hull edge with glass tabbing? I think I'll need to multitool that whole edge to get the plywood out. Then, of course, there's fuel lines and all kinds of wiring. I also think replacing the fuel fill line and vent line that's 44 years old might be in order.

Will you go back to copper feed/return for the low pressure side or A-1? I'm thinking run A-1 from the lift pump to the fuel filter assembly and likewise back to the tank on the return. From the tank I'll install a double Y-bypass setup with electric pump on one side with a switch for "just in case" priming to the Racor and the other side direct to the new Racor then to the engine lift pump. I'm making this stuff up as I go along, so feel free to correct me when I do something that may require adult supervision.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Forced Liveaboard
PostPosted: 18 Aug 2022 15:41 
Offline
Rail Meat

Joined: 11 Apr 2022 10:25
Posts: 21
There were about 8 or so screws with a puddy like fill and paint over them on 3 sides of the plywood over the tank enclosure. The edge along the hull has about a 1.5" glass tab - sounds like yours is the same. I removed the screws, then the teak bungs and screws on the two teak trim pieces on the bulkhead and nav. The half round teak dowel was cut with the osc. saw, I don't think the line will show when put back. (image attached). The shelf over the cabinet is enclosed on my boat so you may not have that part.
I also had to remove a 1x1 piece the runs along the tank well inside and inside forward edge to create more space to pull the tank - the extra space was needed.

The tank needs to be pulled back about 6" to get it out from under the cabinet forward. The back end of the tank needs to be lifted while pulling back. I had several blocks of wood to slip under the tank so it stayed up. After it is aft enough, it is handy to have a second person to lift the fore end while a smaller person lifts the aft end. We carried it over the nav station and then out the companionway.

I cut the along the inside edge of the glass tab with the osc. saw. It provides an easy to follow edge and leaves enough to reattach the plywood later. I got a new Diablo blade and the cut went fast and smooth. The fill hose came off after warming it with a heat gun. Access to it under the cabinet is by removing the cabinet bottom inside the small door left of nav station table. The bottom was not screwed in, just set there. The hose clamp for the vent could not be accessed until pulling the tank aft a few inches. I removed the wires for the fuel level sending unit but everything else had enough slack to push aside and clear the corner of the tank - including the copper fuel lines.

I'll probably put everything back as before and whenever I need to change a fuel filter and bleed the engine I'll wish I had an electric lift pump in the circuit instead of manual pumping. I bought one to empty the tank into jugs, so I guess I should install it.


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