Over the refit hump

I titled this a couple of months ago as I was drafting the list of items tended to since the previous post and the title isn't as good a fit now as it was then but who cares anyway. Here's the deal. It takes about as much time to write a blog entry as it does to knock one or two items off of the todo list and the todo list has been long. Usually I set some kind of goal regarding what I'd like to have accomplished by the next planned cruise. For the very first cruise back in April or May I wanted to have propulsion, heat, refrigeration and a working toilet. Before a long cruise to Beacon Rock I wanted the serious engine maintenance items done which consisted of fluid changes and after cooler servicing along with the sanitation hoses replaced. For this trip down to Astoria where I sit right now typing this out I wanted the engine fuel filters and house batteries replaced. I've pretty much made all of the goals and yes, it is quite satisfying. But that leaves no time for posting other than between one set of goals and the next which is right where I sit. So here is what I remember doing since the last post.

By the way the captioned pictures are all at the end of the post. Normally I would carefully arrange them to follow the story but hey, I'm on vacation.

When the boat was prepared for transport the rigger (Rick) decided to pull the tan Astroturf carpet Flybridge carpet. Why I don't know but he did. Bernie really liked that in the pictures and wanted carpet reinstalled. I am not a fan but after trying to remove the adhesive that had held the carpet in place it became clear right away that a new carpet would cover all of that up at least for the time being. We found some really tough and stiff gray outdoor carpet at Lowe's for $30. That is in place

One of the nice things about Caspian is all of the windows around the salon. You can see all around. The bad thing about that is the green house effect. We met a guy named Don McColley at Steamboat Landing. Dan is the former Harbor Master in the marina and is now retired living aboard an 84 Bayliner 3818. Don does canvas work and we hired him to make UV screening for our forward windows. They lower the interior temperature by at least 10 degrees making it possible for the Air Conditioner to keep up on days in the 90s.

The sanitation system has been completely redone. This started as a hose and macerator replacement project. The only way to remove and reconnect new hoses on the holding tank was to remove the holding tank. That required removing a wall in the guest cabin and half of the bunk. I decided that some day I would like to install a Purasan EX treatment system highly recommended by those who own them so I decided to route hoses in a way that would be amenable to a future install. 30 hours into the project I decided this was the time as Bernie and I both agreed it would be well worth the expense.

The entire job took 60 hours. I don't usually track my time but this time I did as part of a health and wellness challenge. I converted hours working on the boat into step counts and then recorded every minute spent on the job. So now we are odor free. New hoses, macerator, rebuilt toilet and Purasan EX treatment system in place! 

While we were at it Bernie recovered the guest cabin headboard and it is beautiful. We hated the mauve paisley or whatever one might call it pattern that was in there when we got the boat. 

I installed SeeLevel tank level monitor which isn't really needed now that we have the Purasan. The holding tank is now used as a ballast tank to counter the boats natural list to port.

Speaking of doing things that weren't really needed I replaced the potable water pump. This was part of a trial and error to determine I had filled the holding tank instead of the water tank and that is the reason for no pressure at the tap. Oh well.

I replaced the 4d house battery that came with the boat with 4 6v cart batteries increasing our storage from 160 amps to 502 amps. Gaining access to the get the old out and the new in was no joy. I had to disconnect the starboard exhaust hose at the elbow on the turbo charger in order to drop the 6" diameter hose low enough to hoist the batteries up and over. The 4d battery I removed weighed close to 100 pounds! I made a makeshift gantry using two car jack stands, blocks of wood, a piece of angle iron and two cargo straps. 

When the exhaust was disconnected for the battery replacement I noticed that exhaust was leaking at the joint. I managed to seal that leak up eliminating the diesel smell we always noticed when we turned on the Air Conditioning at the end of a cruise.

The hailing port is in place along with new registration tags for 2019.

While on this cruise I spliced the wiring to the radar. It turned out to be a fairly simple task.

We moved the boat from Steamboat Landing to the Port of Camas Washougal marina where we have become spider ranchers. We haven't found the market yet for domestic spiders but we would never have any trouble keeping up with demand once the secret is out.

There have been a few smaller items. Water filter, Bluetooth for radio. Flybridge radio. Fan in the Master Stateroom.

Carpet cut out and ready for the flybrige

Wall removed from the guest cabin to allow removal of the bunk over the holding tank.

Before picture of the guest cabin headboard. (yuck)

This is the bunk that covered the holding tank

The holding tank secured in place by glued and stapled in place boards  (there must be a better technical term)

This photo shows why the tank had to come out. See the hoses at the bottom, the black ones? No way to remove them or put new ones out because nobody with a hand small enough would be strong enough.

The sanitation topology. The distance from the foreground to the background is several feet. 40 feet of 1-1/2 inch hardwall sanitation hose. 

A majority of the old hose and macerator headed for the dumpster

This is called cribbageing. The process is to do anything possible to lift the heavy thing and then wedge something under it to keep from loosing the ground gained. Go to another side and repeat. Continue nursing the weight upward while wedging more and more stuff underneath to maintain the gain. I think it was a 2 hour process for me to get the thing out. The tank was 1/4 full and quite heavy.

Makeshift gantry.

Holding tank standing on end. This is 36 gallon tank. You can see the level of sewage still being held.

Providing scale in this picture. I took the tank home for cleaning. Don't ask.

UV Screen side view.

UV Screen front view.

During the sanitation work I found this baggie of badges. Bernie located the guy on FB. Working for Bayliner was his first job out of high school. We sent the badges to him.

Another view of the UV Screening

The Purasan Ex 1/2 way installed.

New hoses on toilet. Nice and white clean look.

Caspian in his new slip

Sometimes its the little things. Where the gray diamond pattern material Foam EVA pad is now there was once a deteriorated black rubber pad that oozed black every time it got wet.

Exhaust gasket where the Turbo is connected to the exhaust elbow / coolant mixer leading to the 6" exhaust hose. The gasket didn't crimp due to bolts bottoming out and exhaust suit coats almost the entire surface.

House batteries located behind the exhaust hose. This space is 3 feet by 3 feet and 2 feet high.

Old 100 lb battery about to be slid over the exhaust hose and out.

New batteries and battery boxes in place along with wiring and watering system. IF you know anything about the watering systems see if you can spot the missing cap on one of the pipe fittings. I forgot one.

New batteries in their boxes as viewed from the engine room 

New batteries in their boxes as viewed from the engine room 

New water filter on the cold water to the galley faucet.

Two speed fan in the master stateroom. I mounted it on a small articulated TV mount allowing us to position it facing anywhere we like.