Engine Installation on the Far Reach

[John Stone]

I was able to get to the boat late yesterday afternoon to test fit the rails. I gently and incrementally shortened the rails till I could just slip them between the bulkheads. There are two techniques to a tight fit. The first is to wedge the bulkheads apart. I can just do that here. The rails slip in ever so lightly then release and bam, they are held tight. I have a clamp that reverses and allows you to drive two surfaces apart. Very helpful sometimes. The second technique is to bevel cut the back side that you can’t see so only the front edge is tight. Did not use the latter for this project.

With the rails temporarily in place and held by SS fasteners (will be replaced with bronze) I was able to cut some doorskin ply as a sliding door template. The upper dado is more than twice as deep as in the lower dado so the door can be lifted up and dropped down into the lower slot.

Lastly, I miscalculated how far forward the downward hinged panel door could be positioned and still clear that upper rail for the sliding doors. It just barely contacted the rail when opened. So, I brought the work bench top home and repositioned the mortises bottom trim that captures the brass butt hinges. I repositioned it 1/2” further back and filled the holes with standard 3/8” walnut wood plugs.

This looks like it will be a good design though it’s not perfect. I can see a few changes I could have made to the design to improve it a bit and allow the hinges door and sliding doors to be located more closely together. But, it would have required the electrical panel to be smaller and would therefore have eliminated an opportunity in the future to add anything else to the panel. It’s a compromise. Still, so far, so good.

[John Stone]

I test fit the sliding doors. Very satisfied. Finishing up some walnut trim around the electric panel. Start varnishing. Can wire up at the same time.

It was 98° in the boat.

Keep moving....

[John Stone]

Working at home. Cut a small walnut trim piece for the electrical panel door from measurements I took yesterday. Then I can attach the trim with brass escutcheon pins.

Cut an extension for the walnut work bench top. Used simple biscuit joints and then epoxied (T-88) it to top as it will have to extend further forward with the cut down ladder landing on the top of the bench. This is all part of the mods necessary to accommodate the engine. Sigh. I may have to add some more as I may have got the measurement mixed up in my head. LOL. Will know tomorrow. Either way it’s a small thing to correct.

Applied the first varnish sealing coal to the mahogany sliding doors—50-50 mix of varnish with mineral spirits. I’ll come back in an hour and apply a second near full strength coat. It’s the only coat you can essentially hot coat. All others you have to wait a day between coats.

Keep moving....

[Jim Walsh]

Nice work. It’s amazing the way that grain came out.

[John Stone]

Nice work. It’s amazing the way that grain came out.

Thanks Jim. It’s coming along. Applied 6th or 7th coat this morning. I lost count. But I think it’s complete.

Spent the last few days working on some trim to cover navlight wiring. Made a cover box for the fuel hose between the deck fill and fuel tank. Applied first coat of varnish to it this morning.

It was 104° in the boat this past week. Just ridiculous.... so needless to say I’m not getting a lot done there right now. Spent four hours there yesterday and was on the verge of heat exhaustion. I should be going in the morning. You’d think I could figure that out.

Hauled the 100ah Lifeline AGM home yesterday. Has had not been charged since last September I think since the boat has been under cover. Still at 12.45 v or 70 percent SOC. Put it on a trickle charger over night.

Been researching and thinking about battery plan. Do I switch to wet cell and go with T105s or just add another AGM for the engine and keep relying on the 100ah for the house? Have almost no power requirements. The only thing that’s changed is I added the LED nav lights. I might add another semi-flex solar panel though. Still thinking about it.

Visited Beta Marine the other day to look at my engine. Looks good. Not ready to install but getting close. Better to keep it there than in my garage...for now anyway. Temporarily fit the deeper work bench in place to see how it would fit over the engine. Looks good.

About to pull the trigger on a Raymarine i50 depth sounder. Corresponded with a boatyard owner and certified Raymarine tech in Canada that installs standard transducer inside in shoot-through-the-hull mode with perfect results. Very similar to method Steve L describes. That’s my plan. The Hummingbird depth sounder does not have a long enough data cord for me. The i50 comes with 45’.

Keep moving....

[Steve Laume]

"Applied the first varnish sealing coal to the mahogany sliding doors—50-50 mix of varnish with mineral spirits. I’ll come back in an hour and apply a second near full strength coat. It’s the only coat you can essentially hot coat. All others you have to wait a day between coats".

I used to spray a lot of finishes on trim and cabinetry that I had built. The finish was always thinned a bit to facilitate spraying so the coats were not heavy. I would pretty much, double coat every time. Lay down a coat, let it tack or stiffen up a little and then put another one right on top. You couldn't do this if you were applying with a brush as it would pull and make a mess. I don't even know if this is recommended but it certainly helped to build up the finish and I never noticed any problems down the line.

Varnish flows out very nicely when brushed but I am still surprised that it is not applied by spraying more often, Steve.

[John Stone]

"Applied the first varnish sealing coal to the mahogany sliding doors—50-50 mix of varnish with mineral spirits. I’ll come back in an hour and apply a second near full strength coat. It’s the only coat you can essentially hot coat. All others you have to wait a day between coats".

I used to spray a lot of finishes on trim and cabinetry that I had built. The finish was always thinned a bit to facilitate spraying so the coats were not heavy. I would pretty much, double coat every time. Lay down a coat, let it tack or stiffen up a little and then put another one right on top. You couldn't do this if you were applying with a brush as it would pull and make a mess. I don't even know if this is recommended but it certainly helped to build up the finish and I never noticed any problems down the line.

Varnish flows out very nicely when brushed but I am still surprised that it is not applied by spraying more often, Steve.

I think spraying would be a great way to apply varnish. I have read some of the big yacht builders do that. Has to be a huge time saver. But for me it would take more equipment and probably a spray booth I’d have to construct in the garage. And it wouldn’t help me for recoats on coming and bowsprit.

If your are competent sprayer I’d think you could lay a mirror finish.

[John Stone]

I ordered the Raymarine i50 depth sounder. The bronze round head bolts for the battery switch arrived. My Alpinglow Catalina NV LED light arrived. Same as we put over the galley two years ago. This one goes over the chart table/icebox. That should complete the interior LED lights. We have three Alpinglow LED bunk lights and now two Catalina overhead lights positioned under the side decks. We use the LEDs more for task lighting. General lighting still provided by interior gimbaled kerosene lights.

Completed the varnishing of the sliding doors to hide the electrical panel and engine gauges. I thought I was finished two days ago. But there were a lot of dust bubbles in the final coat. It was my own fault. I got lazy. Though I did move the panels to a more sterile environment (upstairs guest bathroom on a folding table) I took short cuts. I didn’t apply freshly stained varnish in a new cup. I didn’t change my shirt or really attempt to eliminate as much contamination as possible. There are no short cuts when it comes to varnish. So, I had to sand the finish flat with an RO sander and then go through my normal final coat protocol—upstairs head with folding table, vacuum the panels, wipe down with mineral spirts with lint free cloth, Strain varnish in fresh cup, thin and swirl to mix, wait 30 min, then tac cloth, put on a fresh T shirt, no hat, etc. Pictures below show the difference between three coats and seven coats of varnish. Not flawless...a few specs of dust...but pretty darn good. I’m satisfied. Move on.

Heat advisory again today.

[wikakaru]

Changing my shirt is something I've never thought of doing before varnishing. I'll have to try that. Maybe even a shower is in order to get the dust out of my hair/beard? I always get too much dust in the varnish.

[John Stone]

Changing my shirt is something I've never thought of doing before varnishing. I'll have to try that. Maybe even a shower is in order to get the dust out of my hair/beard? I always get too much dust in the varnish.

Absolutely. I wash my arms and vacuum my beard, etc. It makes a difference. Lin Pardey tells a funny story about a professional varnisher she knew in SOCAL that wiped the boat interior down, closed it up, stripped naked, put on classical music, and varnished while getting high on the fumes. LOL. Too extreme for her but apparently his varnish results were legendary.

[Steve Laume]

You sure do put down a pretty finish. The flair in that wood is amazing. That first picture looked like there might have been some oil in the pores of the wood. I once tried to spray a gun stock for my dad. We had it all prepped up nice and wiped it down with solvent but we kept getting these fish eye spots. We finally figured out it was from gun oil that had soaked into the stock. After a lot of coats we finally got rid of them.

Those are some very pretty doors, Steve.

[John Stone]

You sure do put down a pretty finish. The flair in that wood is amazing. That first picture looked like there might have been some oil in the pores of the wood. I once tried to spray a gun stock for my dad. We had it all prepped up nice and wiped it down with solvent but we kept getting these fish eye spots. We finally figured out it was from gun oil that had soaked into the stock. After a lot of coats we finally got rid of them.

Those are some very pretty doors, Steve.

Thanks Steve. Much appreciated.

I reinstalled the sliding door rail above the hinged door with three bronze FH screws. That shelf holds the drop boards. I don’t varnish either. Bare teak drop boards are easy to store...just stack them and slide them into the shelf. Quick and easy. I have been keeping them there for five years. Perfect. But, I needed to add the top rail. Done.

Then I added the walnut door stop to the underside of the shelf so the door would not over-travel when closed. Done.

Next, I installed the walnut trim around the panel door frame. That was fussy work getting everything right and aligned just so. Secured them with brass escutcheon pins. Done.

Last, I played with the wiring. I removed all the little plastic wire keepers that hold the duplex in place from the old location. I spent time lying on my back looking up at that space—I only snoozed a little—to figure out how the wire would be routed to the new breaker panel location. I thought about the wiring harness for the Beta 25hp and how it would be routed to the instrument panel. I thought about the chafe guards and tried to envision the wire plan to include the battery cables and the relay box location for the Blue Seas Add A Battery switch. I thought about that darn water lock muffler and where it might go and what could interfere later with this or that. I have never installed an engine before so my thinking has to be careful and methodical—make the unknowns, known...as it were. I sketched a few things out and made some notes. I sent an email to one of my long time mentors.

I gathered two hole saws. I drilled one larger 1.5” hole—on the right—which will just allow the fat multipin connector on the Beta harness to pass through to the instrument cluster. Next, I drilled a smaller 1.25” hole for the duplex wiring. Both chafe guards fit snug. Good to go.

But wait...what about future growth? What about the #2 battery cables? Once that panel gets wired up
drilling additional holes will be very tough. So, let’s think about it some more. Ok, drill two more holes. That should do it. There were some obstacles to dodge behind the mahogany—framing cleats and the scupper and hose that supports it. I couldn’t get perfect alignment. I had to compromise a wee bit.

I’ll apply some epoxy to seal the end grain next time I am at the boat. Then start rerouting the wiring. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

A long day. Only a little to show for it. More brain work than physical work. But that’s the way it goes some days.

[John Stone]

One more picture. The completed varnished sliding doors final test fit. I’m pleased with how they turned out.

[John Stone]

We are more or less dead in the water, pun intended. Inbound tropical storm. Have left the cover on the Far Reach so far as it’s looking like Isaias might come ashore south of Wilmington and track NNE inland along the coast passing to the west of us. If so, it would be less wind and rain for us. But these things have a mind of their own so we are prepared to remove the cover pretty quickly if need be.

The Raymarine depth sounder arrived and looks like a nice piece of equipment though it will never be as accurate or reliable as my lead line. Just saying.

I am using the downtime to work on the icebox lid/plug improving it a bit. It’s solid teak and ash and gave me a little trouble during the last voyage but I think I have it figured out now.

I’m varnishing the cover box I built from mahogany for the diesel fuel hose behind the stove. I also worked on the cabinet knob for the electrical panel. This is the same kind of bullet proof brass turn-knob I used on all my cabinet doors. It’s non ferrous solid brass except the steel latch. The latch is too long for this particular door frame so I replaced the latch with a short 1/8” thick silicon bronze one I fabricated yesterday. The hose is from a piece of fuel line and serves as a spacer to position the keeper so it catches behind the door stop. Sounds complicated but very simple.

I’ll check on the boat tomorrow and again during the storm. In the meantime I’ll work in the home shop. As soon as the storm passes I’ll go back to work inside the boat on the electrical wiring.

[John Stone]

I have spent the last couple days—these are short days to be sure—pulling and rerouting wires. I think I have nine total wires now, LOL. Which is nine times more than I had when I launched her in the summer of 2015.

I removed the overhead panel over the chart table/icebox today to run the wire for the Alpinglow Catalina light. Ran some slightly larger irrigation PVC conduit under the Q berth since there wasn’t enough room for the wire in the old conduit. That took me most of the day.

Last week I finished varnishing the cover box for the diesel fuel hose that passes through the bridge deck behind the stove to the new fuel tank. I temporarily installed it the other day without fasteners to see how it looks. I cut V grooves in to match the staving so it would blend in to the back ground. The wood will darken over time

I have also been sketching out an electrical schematic diagram so I don’t get lost relocating the panel or installing additions to the current system. The only thing new is adding a dedicated AGM engine battery and a new battery switch. Of course the engine is new and I am adding one more LED light and the Raymarine depth sounder. That seems like enough change to last awhile. Still trying to keep it simple. Put a lot of thought into going to Trojan T105 6v lead acid batteries. They have a lot going for them. But, I think I am going to stay with the single 100ah AGM For the house and add another for the engine.

Of course it’s the relocating of the distribution panel and the engine that’s really the focus of the work.

Keep going...