Pensacola FL Sailing Blog - sailingnightwatch

This was one of those weekends where drawing a matrix with different weather conditions and then throwing a dart at it would have been better then the forecasts. They got the no rain right. Saturday was to be light wind, and it turned out to be a great sailing day. Sunday was to be the great sailing day. Well, Saturday the wife did a good cleaning job below and grocery shopping. I detailed both cars. All the projects were needed. We also invited friends for a sail Sunday, which could have been done Saturday.Sunday starts with a nice dry 10-15 knots out of the north. Even had that little hint of fall in it. By noon, it was 5-10 and dying. We got a couple hours in and then it was back to motoring. The plus was that the motor did not die. The friends we had on board were sailors who currently are without a sailboat. They have a 9-year-old son who has taken sailing lessons and is ready to sail. The father is a sail twinker. The crew you want for 25 knots. Well, at least it did not rain. We will have to try that another day.

The major projects for the saloon included a large amount of sanding and the large amount of strips that had to be made and installed. The paneling on the aft bulkhead was a continuation of the galley and one of those projects that you spend more time in preparation then in actually installing. It also gave you some degree of instant gratification in that when done you had finished a large area, quickly.

The galley was completed in early February with the exception of the counter top that is our eating area. It is an excellent work bench and I wanted to finish putting up the strips over the hull before giving up the space for my miter saw.The original design of the galley was good. There could be better lighting over the counter were we eat, but so far, we have not come up with a good solution. The upright frig is very convenient, but uses more electricity then anything else on the boat. We have thought of taking our storage area below our eating counter and moving that stuff to where the frig is after we build draws and cabinets. The problem is that the cabinet under the counter measures 48”Lx16”Wx35”H. After putting in substantial insulation, the cold plates and dividing it into a freezer/refrigerator, it would be very small. We are always open to suggestions.The cord hanging across the sink is a cord going from a plug under the cabinets going to a construction lamp I use during work on the boat.

We have wind!!! 10-15. Perfect. Saturday was Perfect. We went out for a day sail and ended up staying out all night. Stars were out and I lay on the deck with binoculars being ever amazed. It also got cool. Had to add a light blanket about 4 in the morning. Fall is coming. Sunday was light and variable under 5 knots and mostly out of the east.Motored towards home and got about 2-1/2 hours into traveling and the engine died. Not Good!!! The new fuel pump was pumping its little heart out but little fuel was getting through the filter. The filter is still clean and white. About 3 years ago I was in heavy seas left over from a tropical storm. After a few hours the engine died and the fuel pump could not get the fuel up to the filter. I had copper fuel lines and they had in 25 years become so plugged you could not get fuel through it. I replaced the line with fuel hose. Yesterday I thought this was acting the same. When I replaced the fuel pump I noticed the fuel line was as clean as when installed. I had never pulled the lift tube in the tank. The bottom was clouged solid. I used a hanger to knock the crud out of the line. Now, the output of my new fuel pump is now amazing. Now I need to stock plenty of filters for the Racor. As clean as I got that line, I know there will be some of that stuff that will have been broke lose and will be filtered out. Hopefully this is the end of this problem for a while.

I found a new fuel pump and the salesman ask how much it was lifting and how far it had to suck the fuel. 5 feet up and 15 feet total distance. He then tells me what I already knew about the pump was made to push and not suck. I did not bother to tell him it also had to suck through the Racor filter. So last night I installed the pump close to the shut off valve on top of the tank. I still have to wire it up. All is fine untill about 4:30 A.M. I do my best worrying at that time. The pump is now in a tray that has the fuel line, a water line, wire to the knot meter and mastand navagation lighting. It is in a tray that is virtually sealed off from air. It is under the main saloon deck and when closed has carpeting and carpet mat over the hatch. I know the pump is cooled by the flow of fuel. Big deal, I burn a gallon an hour at cruise. That is not much cooling. Maybe more like preheating.I am going to wire it up and get the engine running again. I will leave the hatch and carpeting off the pump and see how hot it gets. Where it had resided before, it was always hot because it is within 6 inches of the alternator which blew heat directly on the pump. The engine room probably get 110+ degrees during long engine runs. Yes, all the batteries are also in that space. I did not design it.Got the pump wired, (have you priced wire lately) engine primed, by myself including breaking #1 & #3 injectors loose and wrapping them in paper towels during starting. It is down a ladder and 5 feet down a passageway to the injector side of the engine from the ignition key. It fired after a few seconds of cranking and I got to the injectors before they cover the place in fuel. While priming the system, the pump got to 100 degrees. I ran the engine for an hour, and the pump temp dropped to 85 degrees. That is about what the outside water temp is and therefore the fuel in the tank, which are below the water line. I closed it all up with the thermometer for the last half hour and checked it 3 times. The temp remained steady. No problem. I hope. Now I can get back to my normal list of things to keep the boat afloat.

Also our anniversary. Saturday was suppose to be stormy, so we did projects, had a nice breakfast Sunday morning and left for our favorite anchorage. First we made a little detour. We went over to the Boardwalk at Pensacola Beach and went Parasailing. We have been talking about doing that for our anniversary for 10 years. It was one of those things you will remember. We really enjoyed it. I mean, anybody can go out for a nice dinner, but an adventure is better.After our little foray into the air, we headed to our anchorage. There was little to no wind so we tied the sails down and motored all the way. We were fortune enough to get as close to the island as one can in a sail boat. We set the Bruce extra good because of the threat of thunderstorms. Lots of thunder and lightning, but the rain went about 5 miles west of us. The rain did cool down the area and brought some wind. It was still a warm night.Being so close to the beach I was looking forward to a short row to the island and a quick swim in the Gulf before heading home. No such luck. We awoke to thunder, but the rain held off long enough for a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit. Then the breeze died and it rained for about an hour. The rain stopped and it was time to head home. When the rain stopped, so did the wind. About 3 hours and ¾ the way, the motor died. Had to be towed in after trying several fixes.Changed primary filter, but it was not that dirty. Hand primed the filter full, but the electric fuel pump did not seem to be pumping. Tried hand priming the pump and only got a hissing sound. Found a cut in the fuel hose by the clamp at the entrance side of the pump. Fixed, but still hisses. Will go buy a new fuel pump and try that. It is 10 years old, but only has about 800 hours on it. Had to give up for the night, had to go to friends for dinner. This story will continue.

The laminate was put on with contact cement. Again well cured, but removable. My wife was in charge of laminate removal. She made a discovery that was wonderful and also a major pain at the same time. Behind the galley sink, laminate was used to cover the bulkhead from the counter top to the underside of the cabinets. While she was removing the old laminate, her progress was noticeably slowed. One does not hassle the help when, one, you are married to her and more importantly, she just gave up her nest and all its furnishing to follow your dream.She did ask if I had any ideas on removal of the remaining laminate that extended along the bulkhead about 2 feet from the intersection with the hull. I think I recall making some comment about the quality of her effort and let it go at that. She got a bigger hammer. After a few minutes of her grunting as she hit the long flat scraper with renewed vigor, I went into observe. All that was happening was small pieces of laminate were breaking off and ricocheting around the area. I tried with no better success. Out comes the trusty belt sander with 30 grit paper to grind off a section of laminate to see what the problem was. When they built the boat, the bulkheads, which are ¾ inch marine plywood were taped to the hull with at least 3 increasingly long layers of fiberglass cloth. They used resin to adhere the laminate to the cloth. Did not know you could do that. I am proud to say part of it is still there, although the surface was roughed up in order for the new laminate to adhere using normal installation methods. As an aside, the builder used the same method on the pecan plywood. That was a whole lot easier to remove than laminate.