Slowly brushing forward on the interior brightwork

Nearly one month has passed since my last post.  I made steady progress on the interior wood in the first couple weeks of February.

Before and After...  four coats of Bristol Finish

Work commitments and rainy days have slowed down the progress in late February.  

I have chosen to use Bristol Finish on the interior wood.  We use Bristol Finish on the exterior wood and are typically pleased with the outcome.  Using the same product on all C'est la Vie's wood reduces the number various chemicals we need to carry aboard when traveling.   For the interior wood I am applying three coats wet on wet, allowing the finish to dry completely, sanding with  220 to 400 grit paper, and then applying a final top coat.

A galley cabinet door with the final coat drying.

I prefer to work on trim, drawers, and cabinet doors that are easily removed outside the boat.  Since we have quite a few bugs here in the Everglades, I typically set up a large screen tent as an outside work space.

Starboard salon cabinetry and trim ready for the first three coats.

 Much of the trim work either refuses to budge or is simply easier to refinish in place.  

I hope to commit a few full days to the trim and cabin sole in early March. 

Refinishing C'est la Vie's Cabin Sole.

Our winter work schedules have finally relaxed and now provide time to pick up the pace on boat projects.  We purchased the material for replacing the veneer on the cabin sole nearly one year ago.  No more procrastination. Time to quit hauling the roll of laminate around and actually install it.  

First a bit of history.

August 2005 - Our first glimpse of C'est la Vie on the hard in Titusville, FL

Prior to our purchase of C'est la Vie in December 2005, she weathered the epic 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season on the hard in Titusville, FL.  Debris from TS Charlie plugged the cockpit scuppers while the rains filled the cockpit.  A few weeks later TS Francis transited the area and dumped additional rains.  The accumulated water cascaded down C'est la Vie's companionway and flooded the interior to a depth of approximately six inches over the cabin sole in the galley.  

We repaired or replaced most victims of the flooding immediately after purchasing C'est la Vie.     The cabin sole remains one of the few items that bears evidence of the flooding.

The cabin sole looking forward from the galley.  Dark stains on trim upper right note high water mark  from 2004 flooding.

The removable sections of the sole were successfully refinished by the previous owner in 2005.  The non-removable sections of the sole have continued to deteriorate. Last spring veneer began to peel away in front of the stove and became a nasty source for splinters in bare feet.

Sole in galley area.  Note dark  high water mark on corner  trim on right side of image.

While pulling all the floor and corner trim in preparation of creating templates, project creep set inn as a realized now is the time to refinish wooden trim surrounding the cabin sole.

While make a mess atop the new sole?  Break out the sandpaper!  I have created a new photo album for this project... Refinishing Cabin Sole - Winter 2013.  A link is also available in the Projects Side Bar on the blog page.   More to come...

New Companionway Screen (a.k.a Reuse/Recycle)

Our existing companionway screen was ill fitting along the sides and bottom of the opening.  When a day off presented the opportunity for some project time I collected an unused dive weight, a retired Outward Bound tent, old tubular webbing, and sunbrella scraps left from previous projects and set about creating a new companionway cover.  Using our well fitting cloth companion way cover as a template, I began by creating the weights for the top and bottom.   Filling tubular webbing with the lead shot from the dive weight was my initial plan.

But once full of lead I felt the tube's stiffness along its length would inhibit it from conforming well to the irregular topography of the top of the cabin.

Using the light weight fabric from the retired tent body, I sewed a larger diameter tube for the upper weight.

Despite receiving more lead the thin nylon and larger cross section served to create a much more supple weight for the top.

Cutting the no-see-um proof mesh screen proved to be much more challenging than anticipated.  After a few failed attempts at straight cuts, I resorted to marking out the proper dimensions out on a sheet of plywood; tacking the mesh out on the plywood atop the lines; and then using a razor blade to cut the mesh to size.  This system worked well.  The relative stiffness of the sunbrella as compared to the screen was easy to lay out and cut to the correct dimensions.

I  do realize many people lay out sewing projects with pins, but for me two sided basting tape is my go to product.  Using the basting tape I assembled the screen one side at a time with the tape and then sewed it together.

The sewing order went vertical sides, the bottom, and then the top.  I added a sunbrella wear patch at the location that the companionway latch contacts the screen.

I gave our old screen covers to a fellow sailor in exchange for some lead shot.  Once he delivers the lead I begin replacing the screen covers on our two cabin hatches.

WOW - 2013 Already.

The Outward Bound Season here in the Everglades finally feels like it is gaining internal inertia.  Starting up down here in the 'Glades is akin to cranking up a cold, long idle engine.  Some years it seems to simply turn right over purring smoothly with little maintenance required.  Other seasons hours of TLC, grimy maintenance, and busted knuckles yield a blue smoke belching steel hulk that requires a constant hand on the throttle.  Yep, this season was the latter.

The Everglades Outward Bound Program is in full swing through the first week of February and then begins the slow taper down to its conclusion late March.  Hopefully this post will mark the beginning of a uptick in frequency of some free time for Anne and I, progress on boat projects, and and increase in the frequency of C'est la Vie blog posts.

Time to smell the roses and head out for a evening paddle board session.

Thanks to Shane A. for capturing and sharing these images of paddling boarding off the Sunset Island Docks.

Dinner Day 13

We are finally in the warm temps. Phew, shed a layer I am so happy but... with the warm weather comes the bugs with the bugs comes the fear of opening hatches. If the hatches are not open the cabin gets stuffy if I want to cook using the stove that adds another layer of heat and stuffiness. I forgot about that. So, we ate appetizers prior to the sun going down it was lovely in the cockpit. I was in no hurry at all then all of a sudden the bugs came out as if they had not been fed in a very long time. Swarms of them, oh my! We were on a dock in Moorehaven,  FL No where to escape to. So we let the sun go down, bug hour, then decided to have a lovely cold salad with leftover bread. It was a really good meal! Happy accidents.

Day 12

We were on our way to the St Lucie Lock from Ft Pierce. We thought we would fight tide the whole way but lucky us it was with us and we could sail. Its getting warmer. I am not a fan of chilly weather so this makes me happy. We had till about 12:30 of sunny warm weather then these crazy rain/thunder storms came through. We made it to the lock by 13:00, but they had us circle in the rain till almost 16:00! Poor
Jeff he was out there in the thick of it. I made him tea and kept him abreast of when the rain might stop using my phones raindar app. We got to the St Lucie Lock campground on the other side of the lock and pulled in for the night.

I cut up some cheeses and salami and served it with these new Triscuits that have black pepper on them, yum! I made a green salad since we had to have ports closed due to the rain. Simple but satisfying.

Ding Dong the Gremlin Is Dead!

I’ve been unusually silent, not posting updates, during our travels south.  Frustration silenced my desire to post updates.  During our first day out, Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach, we discovered that our engine was running hot.   If we ran the engine over 2200 RPM it would overheat.  Our typical operating range is 2200 to 2400 RPM.  The issue was particularly irritating due to the energy I put into engine repairs and maintenance during our summer haul out.

 So began my search for the engine gremlin causing the overheating.  Each evening, I worked to eliminate possible causes... blockage in the raw water intake; failing impeller; blockage in the heat exchanger;  low coolant level.  After a few days I exhausted possible suspects and then called Stan at Beta Marine.  Stan proved amazingly helpful and willing to assist me with the overheating.  I lowered the hot water bypass lines; filled the coolant from the high point in the system; restricted flow to the hot water tank; checked the orientation of the heat exchanger tube stack, etc.  None of these experiments proved fruitful.  According to Stan this left only two possible causes… the thermostat is functioning partially or the heat exchanger tube stack is damaged. 

We purchased a new thermostat and a refurbished tube stack.  Stan sent the parts ahead to the Fort Pierce City Marina and we picked them up upon our arrival days later.  The second I inspected the new tube stack I knew we snared the engine gremlin.  

One of these things is not like the other...

For those of you unfamiliar with a marine engine a quick explanation of the heat exchanger and tube stack I’ll do my best to pen a simple explanation.   If you are familiar with the system feel free to skip the next paragraph.

 Most marine engines intended for use in salt water circulate cool salt water through a heat exchanger and back out of the boat via the engine exhaust.   The fresh water that circulates through the engine block is cooled by the salt water in the heat exchanger, but the two fluids do not mix.  The salt water passes through small tubes in the heat exchanger tube stack (see image).  The engine coolant flows around the cool salt water filled tubes, transfer’s the heat to cool salt water, and then returns to the engine block.

The Beta Marine engine’s use a metal shield around the tube stack to direct the hot coolant around the cool water in the tubes.  In the image the hot water flows into the heat exchanger and floods around the tube stack.  The water then flows along the stack directed by the copper casing and exits the opening at the lower end.  Our old tube stack, on the right in the image, was damaged when the mechanic removed it during our maintenance this summer.  It is obvious that the shield slid down the tube and would not allow the coolant water to exit and return to the engine block.  I am surprised the mechanic did not realize this would cause over heating once it was re-installed.

Ding dong the gremlin is dead!

Planning

Some folks have asked me how I have all of the things on board to be able to make the things I do. Well, because of my job as a kitchen manager for the last nearly 20 years I have had the unique training to think a month in advance. When I make my grocery shopping list at home or on board it is nor to simply replace what I have used up but to project what will I need for the next "x" amount of time. I know I can't always do what I want to do because things happen, fruit ripens quicker or not at all, the fridge accidentally freezes the lettuce. So I have back ups. I am not anti processed food so, I have some on board but I enjoy cooking. I enjoy the process of combining ingredients adding heat and creating something totally new. When working with dairy ingredients making yogurts or cheese I feel like a chemist. It awakens something in me, another way to express creativity. I also don't follow recipes very well. I like to look at about 6 different ones and then combine or alter due to allergies or what I have available. But again, I like that it keeps my brain active.
So, here was my proposed menu plan for this trip. 17 days or so was the plan, no need to really stock up on too much as we are travelling domestically. I do have a tenancy to over purchase!

Dinner options:
Mushroom/spinach enchiladas
Sweet potato black bean Burritos
Boboli pizza veggie
Red curry with tofu
Green curry with tofu
Bean chili with corn sticks
Pasta with red sauce and homemade bread x 2
Ceasar salad with salmon
Chicken marsala broccoli with potatoes
Lindsay green tofu potatoes and broccoli
Fajitas

So far on this trip we have had our lettuce freeze, tangerines rot, green peppers disintegrate  Our cauliflower  spinach and carrots also froze but I just plan on using them that way. Its hard for lettuce to recover from a freeze.

We did just do a quick resupply more spinach and more lettuce. So we shall see how that goes.
Enjoy!