Category Archives: Improvements

Off to New Jersey

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I’ve never been entirely confident in the trailer’s wheel bearings so I decided to take a look at them in preparation for a 750 mile trip and I’m glad I did. The tapered bearing surfaces on the hubs were full of pits and dings and both rear grease seals were shredded. I bought some new hubs (4 on 4 that fit L44649 bearings plus a pair of 1.983″ x 1.249″ grease seals) and changed them out. It’s a messy job but I’m pleased to say that after 3 hours at 60+ mph the hubs were barely warm to the touch.

I thought my great idea of running individual ground wires to the tail lights would solve my wiring problems forever, but that was not the case. Lately I’ve noticed the right rear light was intermittent or really dim, so after a brief search I found the ground wire had basically turned to powder. Everything was wrapped tightly in electrical tape and I used solder shrink fittings so I have no idea where the corrosion came from. The insulation was crumbly for nearly a foot but curiously the two wires beside it in the same run were unaffected. I soldered on a new section of wire and that solved the problem.

With the trailer sorted I got all the sailing stuff packed into the boat plus the camping stuff I’ve been working on lately. I haven’t been sailing yet this year, but the rig has had all the bugs worked out that I can think of. Hopefully setting up at the ramp won’t take too long.

Last year I bought a boat cover to keep the road grime out of the boat. I finally got around to cutting the straps to the right size and melting the ends so I don’t have a mile of excess to tie up. Driving home there were periods of torrential rain and the inside was completely dry when I arrived.

We took off for my in-laws in New Jersey with an overnight stop at a friend’s place in Maryland. I’m not sure I get the appeal of townhouses… maneuvering an F250 around the narrow parking lot, parking a ways away because the nearby visitor spots were taken, no yard, no garage… Not for me! I much prefer not being able to see my neighbor’s houses for the woods.

Unfortunately it was a washout the entire time we were in New Jersey. I really wanted to do an overnight trip continuing on from my trip last year on Barnegat Bay and while Tuesday was marginal, I really didn’t want to be out there on Wednesday. We’ll probably go back towards the end of summer and I’ll try again.

Trolling motor and New Jersey

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Lately I’ve been experimenting with a trolling motor setup so I don’t have to use my British Seagull which, to be honest, isn’t all that great for the environment.

Also my wife and I are heading up to New Jersey for about 10 days to help her parents move. I’ve got some ideas for a few sailing adventures so here’s how to bring two trailers! I seriously wanted to weld a hitch receiver onto the utility trailer so I could pull doubles, but apparently it would only be legal through Maryland.

Spring Modifications

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Here’s some modifications I’ve been doing lately. My first child, Henry, was born in April so things have been happening much slower than usual! We’re going up to New Jersey in July to visit my wife’s family and I plan to take the boat along… I’m thinking I’d like to get a long daysail in on Barnegate Bay.

Changed out the leaf springs on my trailer for a pair of 500 pounders. This has made the ride much smoother.

Fabricated some aluminum fenders to replace the broken sheet metal ones. I slipped them into a batch of metalwork I made to be powder coated, so I should get them back soon.

Rigged up a pulley system under my sunroom so I could touch up the paint on the hull that I scraped off going across the sandbar at Ocracoke Island last year. I also got around to getting the boat registered so I can use a motor! I hand painted the letters which was a lot more difficult than it seems.

Mast and bilge pump

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It’s been too cold lately to varnish in the garage, so I set up the mast in the spare bedroom. I put on five coats of Helmsman spar urethane, probably not as good as real spar varnish but I’ll give it a try this season. I can’t imagine it’ll be a problem for a garage kept boat. The fiberglassed section is a little noticeable, but not too bad.

A few times I’ve buried the rail while trying to bail out water in a blow, so I thought a diaphragm pump might be a more sedate way of keeping my feet dry. I’m thinking I’ll have a pipe go to each side of the boat where the water collects, a diverter valve in the middle so I can select which side to pump, and a check valve on the ends of the tubes to keep water from draining back in. Pumping the water into the centerboard case seems like a tidy way to do it. I’d like the pump to be centrally located so I can work it on either tack, but this option looks like it’ll take up too much floor space and the plumbing might be awkward.

Back here on the sternsheets looks pretty convenient, although the handle would need to be lowered to accommodate the sleeping platform. Looks like there’d be a lot of awkward plumbing for this option too.

Underneath the main thwart with the handle just sticking through is high on the list. It’ll be mostly tucked away and the plumbing runs will be short.

I think I’m leaning towards something like this. The handle should be a little easier to work and it’s still out of the way. Next I need to figure out what plumbing parts I need. The threads on the pump aren’t NPT and I have no idea what standard they are other than 1-7/16″ – 6, so I might see if I can 3d print some custom adapters. Failing that I could machine some.

Now that I’ve typed all that out about the bilge pump, I’m wondering if a single flexible hose and check valve would be better. Since I’d need to lean down to work the diverter valve I might as well just clip a hose onto the frame where the water collects.

Improvements

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Here’s a few improvements I’ve been working on lately.

Got the area around the new hatch painted and the hatch installed with butyl tape. The #10 screws on the sides fasten to the new stiffeners I added underneath and on the ends are machine screws through the 1/4″ plywood sternsheets. This will really improve access and keep the bilge water out. I faired the front well enough you’d never know there used to be a hatch there.

I epoxied an oak peg onto the top of the mast when I was experimenting with my topsail, but it ended up not working very well. It was too hard to slip a loop of line on the topmast around it, and using it to route a halyard didn’t work either. Plus it also tended to mess with the set of the jib halyard turning block.

I chiseled off most of the peg and sanded the rest smooth. I need to figure out something for the topmast halyard, there might be just enough room for another beehole in the middle.

The boom jaws have been gouging the mast a bit so I sanded back the varnish and will epoxy some left over 6oz fiberglass around once it warms up. I knew keeping the scraps from fiberglassing the hull would come in useful someday!

I also plan to touch up the paint and varnish, but that’ll have to wait for warmer weather. It’s been freezing here in Virginia lately and it doesn’t look like it’ll let up any time soon. The topsides are in fairly decent shape, but there’s a few spots underneath that got worn off when I dragged the boat across a sandbar at Ocracoke last summer.