Voyager restoration project

[captran]

Hi all,
I won't bore you with too many details but some interesting things I have discovered that you all might find interesting.  The autohelm speed and depth that were mounted on the white board just above the chart table:  I still don't know if they are repeaters or the main instruments.  I forgot (well, ran out of time) to check the Nav pod at the helm to see if those are the repeaters and the ones down below are main.  They are held on with plastic nuts on long screws.  Getting to them is interesting.  You have to remove the hanging locker panel adjacent to the chart table, have climb in the locker and reach your arm around.  No easy task when you're 6'4".  But they are off and ready to be shipped to the factory for evaluation.  Their customer service has been very responsive to me so far and said they'll eval and if not fixable will "give me a deal" on new, so I'll have my research ready.  They did say the ST60's would be compatible with the ST50 plus that were installed.

Replaced the West Bilge pump switches.  Voyager has three pumps: the main on the panel, as well as one in the forward and aft sections of the bilge.  All are now working perfectly.

I hooked up the Link 20 monitor and ran the new wiring to the battery compartment, snaking it through as I pulled out the old wiring,  but have not hooked up the new shunt yet.  I wanted to get the batteries fully charged and there was enough else to do in the 20 hours that I worked on the boat.

An electrician evaluated the wiring and gave a good report.  Suggested going through all the connections and taking each apart and using "dialectric?" grease as a precaution, but no rust or corrosion detected.  I replaced the water pump.  It's the Shurflo 2.8GPM. I had a spare which I kept  down low by the holding tank, but it didn't work either so have now installed the new but don't have a spare yet.  Fortunately most of my spare electrical parts were on the starboard side.   Have any of you installed a larger pump?  Also got a new macerator.  I was bummed when I found the Seaward water heater inoperable.  Probably too much moisture in the air, but there were no visible signs that water ever entered that area.  The boat yard is preparing an estimate to submit to the insurance to replace.  If it gets approved I'll have them do the work.  But they mentioned that there is a new hot water heater out that is alot more efficient, so they'll let me know more later.

Removed both panels inside the hanging closet by the chart table.  On the surface they look like such nice cedar.  They're not.  It is a very thin cedar veneer over fiber board.  I think I'll replace it with something nicer.  It is a tight fit getting them out of the closet!  Cleaned alot, but there is still more to clean.  Ultimately I'll remove every floor board and clean the inside of the hull.

Insurance has authorized the yard to check the engine and shaft alignment and fix anything found, although I have looked at the oil and mountings and all looks good.

They did find two areas where the tabbing pulled away from the hull when she went down which they will fix when they do the gel coat repairs.  NW rigging took the stays back to the shop to dye test.  Since the boat is 7 years old I may end up going ahead and replacing the rigging since it's accessible.  Even though it was expensive (about $900) to have them wrap the mast, they did an excellent job and came across country without a scratch.  They did, however, cut the VHF wire very short, at the base of the mast, and I'll need to replace it.  (B.O.A.T.=break out another thousand)

The wood is looking very good.  A light sanding of the settee bulkhead cleaned it right up. (it was only the bottom 5 inches that had any discoloration from the water.)  I wiped it with a damp cloth only and was amazed how good it matched, so I'll experiment with a number of varnishes and stains that you all have recommended to see if I can get a close match on the piece at the foot of the V berth that I am replacing.  The two port cabinets are savable according to a teak expert.  She recommended taking off all the varnish of the entire cabin to that it will match perfectly.  That seems a bit extreme to me given that it is just the two cabinets that might not match the rest that has aged, especially given what I thing the bulkhead looks like, but I always have the option later of expanding the project.

I have brought back the upper  companionway step to refinish.  There was no new water damage but they were showing signs of wear.  I thought I would  use what some have recommended they use on the floor, unless any of you have other recommendations.  Will do that, the V berth foot panel, finish the link 20 wiring and hopefully have instruments to reinstall on next visit.

Probably more than you all wanted to know.

Randy
capran@yahoo.com

[Mike Vaccaro]

Randy,

Any electrical connection can benefit from dilectric silicone.  It's a silicone product that won't conduct electricity and won't harden.  It can be purchased at a hardware store or chandelry.  It works best if parts are coated before assembly.  There are other products available that work well including Boeing T-9, which is a spray that can be used on any electrical component (including circuit boards).  It is a chemical product that displaces water and then leaves behind a "wax" coating.  It can be applied to connections before or after assembly.

As far as maintenance of electrical components ANY protection is better than NO protection in a salt water environment, even vasoline or motor oil will work!  If proper marnine grade components are used, soldered and sealed, they will last for years with an occasional spray of a product like T-9.  If inexpensive components are used and they aren't soldered after crimping, they will begin to corrode almost immediately.  Corrision of connections (usually a ground) is the root cause of almost all electrical problems in boats like ours.  A little preventative maintenance goes a long way!

Glad to hear that you're making progress.  You're going to end up with a better boat than when you started!

Best of luck,

Mike

[captran]

Mike, Where does one get T-9?   The electrician recommended even though things look good now to pull all the clips and coat with the dielectric grease, but it sounds like the T 9 could be applied while the connections are still in place.    He estimated it would take about 5 hours.  Once I have the big stuff done I will do one or the other.  Thanks for the alternative.  As to "better than new", well, I doubt that, and believe me, I would have rather been sailing as it was.  We had a great cruise this past summer and everything was working perfectly.  This summer we'll likely not stray too far, maybe only the San Juan and Gulf Islands as we test out all systems.  When I got up Friday morning and looked out toward Rosario Straight it made me all the more anxious to be done.  Cruising is a great thing and I'm looking forward to seeing how Voyager likes the NW.

[Stu Jackson]

Randy

You can get Boeshield T9 at any West Marine.  I keep it stored with my WD40, oil, PB Blaster, liquid wrench, Lanacote, lock tight, and all the other mini-toxic-waste dump stuff.  It works very well, especially on the electrical terminal strips behind the electric panel.

Funny how they seemed to install those gauges with Mini Me's.  Whew.

Good luck on your work, sounds like you're making great progress.

We're coming up to British Columbia in December by car to visit our folks on the Island.  Where are you located?

[captran]

hi Stu,
Thanks for the "where".  I'm surprised that West Marine didn't steer me in that direction.  I'll add that to the list.  We are dry at Skyline Marina at Fidalgo Bay, W of Anacortes.  I am hoping to be in the water the second or third week of June at the latest.  I'll e mail you my cell phone number as it would be nice to meet you.  Randy Davison keeps his C 34 in Anacortes and he and Mary stopped by the first weekend we were working on the boat and got to see a "before" view.  I am so looking forward to cruising the NW.  Maybe not as glamorous as the Exumas and the Abacos but just the thought of not having to fret about tropical systems makes my day.  Who knows, maybe after a year or two I'll add radar and start planning that trip around Vancouver Island.

You would have been impressed with yesterdays project.  I took apart one of the Shur flo water pumps (the unused spare that was down by the holding tank).  It was corroded pretty bad so I disassembled and cleaned it all up, and it works!  I might do that with the main water pump that also stopped working.  Interesting to see how it was all put together.  At least I have a spare now.  But I sure have alot to do.  I'll feel alot better after the yard puts her inside to do the gel coat repair and then in the water to get the mast back up and engine checked out.

[Jack Hutteball]

Randy,

Have been watching reading your reports with interest.  Looks like a lot of work but seems like you are well into it.  We have our C34 on B dock in skyline.  Will look you up the next time we up at the boat.  We live in Redmond but still get to the boat every couple of weeks in the winter.  It will be nice to have another C34 in the neighborhood.  Maybe we can start our own fleet!

We sail the San Juans regularly and are planning a trip to Desolation Sound next summer.  We have the best cruising grounds in the world, you just have to get used to the cold water.

Jack