Anytime the boat goes back in the water it feels like you’re going home again. You get back to the dock and socialize with fellow cruisers, you’re able to simply step off the boat instead of go up and down a dangerous latter, you can actually use the toilet and the refrigerator….it feels like luxury. My friend Dru from S/V Alchemy helped me bring the boat over to the dock from the travel lift and just like that, things started to feel more civilized.
I continued working on the foredeck repair and started by sanding flat any high areas that were left after epoxying in the new plywood core and fiberglass skin. I hooked my Ryobi 5” orbital sander up to my shop vac to try and avoid making a bad first impression on my boat neighbors by smothering their boats in fiberglass dust. The next day I laid down an additional 3 layers of 1708 biaxle fiberglass to further strengthen the area.
That same night, after working until 11pm to fix the toilet and get the boat presentable, my crew members Simon and Amy finally arrived. It felt like no time had passed since Simon and I parted ways back in July of 2022, and it was really good to see him. Amy is a Romania / United Kingdom dual citizen and an experienced sailor who just finished crossing the Atlantic on a catamaran. In the next coming days there was an exciting energy that existed about us being on the verge of going through the Panama Canal and making the long journey to the South Pacific. But there was still work to do.
I sanded and faired the foredeck area once more to prepare it for nonskid paint. Simon measured and ordered new reefing lines and jib sheets. I spent a few hours up the mast installing new thru-bolts, compression sleeves, tangs, and spreader link plates. Why? Back in November, I was skeptical about the bolt that goes through the mast and holds the cap shroud tangs in place. I believed that it was most likely original and probably needed to be replaced. Alana sent me up the mast and when I pulled the bolt out I couldn’t believe that it was worn through about 40%. Glad I checked that!
Feeling confident in the rigging we moved on to wrapping up the foredeck project. After applying the Kiwigrip nonskid deck paint and servicing the windlass at the cruisers workshop that they have here at the marina, we were ready to begin cutting and drilling holes to replace all the deck hardware that had to be removed for the project. Once everything was bedded in with 3M 4200 it was time to slide on the windlass clamps, break pads, wildcat, etc. But there was one problem, we couldn’t find the small keys for the keyway that lock the clamps onto the motor shaft. We looked everywhere for them, we couldn’t find them. We assumed they must have fallen out of our bag when walking back and fourth to the cruiser workshop area. It was time to play machinist and try and machine new keys using a 5/16” bolt, a vice, and an angle grinder. We spend 2-3 hours fitting and adjusting new keys until they both finally fit. We put the windlass together, tested it, and everything worked fine. Just when we were putting our tools away I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the two keys that we were looking for, settled at the bottom of an old 3/4” nut that was laying around after removing it with the old rigging thru-bolt. We had wasted most of the day making new ones, only to find the correct ones after finishing the entire project. Lovely.
To finish off that same day, I decided to service the raw water cooling system on Fanny (my diesel engine). I borrowed a circulation pump from our neighbor and disconnected the intake and discharge hoses to and from the engine. I hooked up the intake hose to the pump, and put the pump in a 5 gallon bucket with the discharge hose in it as well. I filled the bucket up halfway with water and turned on the pump, but there was one problem. I forgot to remove the impeller, which in this case, would block the water from completely circulating and build pressure in the system. The hose that I had connected to the pump aggressively came flying off and the pump blasted me in my face and body with what felt like the water pressure of a fire hydrant.
Luckily I had not yet added the descaler (Barnacle Buster) but i was still in shock when it happened. I was instantly drenched, like I had just jumped in the ocean. The entire engine room got blasted with water. Simon was on the other side and watched it all happen, we laughed pretty hard after I was able to turn the pump off.
I removed the impeller and voila, it worked.
The next day we had to “dock” tune the standing rigging and replace the masthead wind transducer. We smashed that out in the morning then did a gear old change on Fanny and finished up the water maker install. In November, I installed about 90% of our new Spectra Ventura 200T 12 volt water maker, but I had been waiting on some plumbing fittings to fully finished the installation.
At this point it seems like all I write about is boat projects, and that’s not what I want, but writing about it has forced me to look back on my week and realize that fixing things is basically all I fucking do, and I’m ready for it to be over! We just got our Panama Canal Admeasurement Inspection and should have our transit date scheduled tomorrow. Alana gets back tomorrow as well and our crew of 4 will be complete. My project list is getting smaller, and the energy around the sailing community here in Panama is electric.
Talk to you guys next week.
Safe travels and BTW Brent’s work is never done on our out island 51…..and he’s always misplacing keys bolts etc….only to find right where he left them🤣 he says where I moved them🤔 Boat in SXM and after bottom job headed back through BVI and home to Bimini where we are thinking about alittle sailing again around Bahamas…..calm seas and fair winds….hope ur mom doing well say hello for me 😘
You are doing a great job! So proud of you. Love ya , Uncle Laymar.
Hey Rick, Never a dull day
On a ⛵. I would feel sooo safe sailing on her. Pamana is a beautiful place. going Thur the canal is a long but
Awesome adventure.
I look forward to more posts and pictures of your journey
Maybe see you in Bimini
Take extra good care smooth seas and full sails.
Sherry
Que clase traqueteo!!! Now it’s time for the fruit of your labor to flourish! Safe travels love all the pictures. Ps I didn’t think you owned sneakers lol
Love you stay safe!