My Winter Projects

[Keith]

I've been working on many projects simultaneously this winter so I thought that I would share them. The first project is to take apart the steering system to investigate the rust in the steering subframe. The rust has been there since I bought MOONDANCE 9 years ago and I decided that this was the year to take care of it. It does not look good as you can see in the pics but structurally it was still quite strong. I took it to a local welder to cut out the cancer and weld in new plate and tube. They charged me for 2 hours @ $75/hr for a total of $150. I had it back in 1 day, now that is service! I primed and painted with rustolium.

Rusted steering system1.jpg (93.27 KiB) Viewed 1055 times

Repaired sterring system1.jpg (94.03 KiB) Viewed 1055 times

Repaired sterring system2.jpg (91.17 KiB) Viewed 1055 times

[Keith]

Her's the painted subframe.

Painted steering system.JPG (76.14 KiB) Viewed 1054 times

More to come!!!

Keith

[ghockaday]

Thats a good looking repair. Dennis

[John Stone]

Great job.

[Keith]

While disassembling the subframe I was shocked to find that one of the four brass or bronze pins on the idler pulleys was worn almost half way through. The other three were all fine. I'll be replacing all four with SS as is now recommended by Edson. The bushings and wheels are all in perfect shape. I oiled them every year and they all turned very freely. My mistake was never taking them apart to inspect or at least checking the pulleys for side play. So this is a warning for all of you that have never pulled the cotters pins to remove and inspect the idler shafts. In the picture you can see the worn pin and debris on the pulley. The debris was all on the back side so I could not see it when I was oiling.

Idler pin.jpg (116.2 KiB) Viewed 987 times

While I had the pedestal off I decided to free up the throttle and shift leavers which have gotten progressively more difficult to actuate over the years. I could not find the root cause of the binding so I'm attributing it to the hydroscopic nature of the plastic bushings and assuming that they simply swelled a bit over the years. I used emery paper to smooth out the SS shafts and reduced the diameter by ~0.001". I also used 220 grit sand paper to smooth out the ID of the plastic bushings. Reassembled with a bit of liquid soap and they now actuate freely with just the right amount of friction. I also sanded, primed (2 coats 2 part poly) and painted (3 coats 2 part poly) the pedestal and all pedestal components.

I almost forgot to mention that last summer I cut down the pedestal wings to give move clearance for moving around in the cockpit. You can see in the pics the material that I removed and how I simply swing the chart plotter and autopilot forward to get them out of the way. It has made move around the pedestal much easier.

Pedestal wings removed.jpg (82.48 KiB) Viewed 987 times

Autopilot and chart plotter folded back.jpg (83.73 KiB) Viewed 987 times

Still more to come.

Keith

[Jim Walsh]

Good catch, a bound sheave would not be a fun experience. When I refurbished my replacement pedestal I used Superlube on all the hardware and the axles for the sheaves. If I ever have to dismantle anything in the future it will be much easier. Your paint job looks great. Should be easy to touch up the inevitable scratch. Now is also the best time to replace the steering cables since everything is dismantled.

[jbenagh]

That looks good! You don't want that to fail!
When I did mine a few years back I replaced all the cables also. I had no wear on the bushings but I can't remember if they were bronze or stainless.
Jeff

[Keith]

Next up was a lot of varnish maintenance work. The first pic shows the hatch boards, wheel, flag staff and pedestal mount cup holder. They are all exterior parts finished in clear with the exception of the inside of the companion way boards which are finished with rubbed effect. Pic two shows the companionway steps, top step and ice box cover. Pic three shows the dinette parts which I designed and converted from the starboard settee. The table top, foot boards and kick panels are shown. I'll show the completed dinette in the spring when I get it back together. The beauty of the dinette is that you always have a table to sit down at that is not in the way or has to be setup and broken down. If needed the table top can drop down to make a full length berth just like it was with the settee.

Winter varnish project 1.jpg (85.44 KiB) Viewed 919 times

Winter varnish project 2.jpg (85.39 KiB) Viewed 919 times

Winter varnish project 3.jpg (80.33 KiB) Viewed 919 times

Keith

[Keith]

Last November before it got to cold I removed an old analog depth sounder transducer. It was very bulbous, looked ugly and I'm sure added a bit of resistance. Maybe I'll get another tenth of a knot in speed. I forgot to take a pic before I removed it. I ground a tapper both the inside and out then applied 8 layers of the 1708 biaxial, 3 on the inside 5 on the outside. Sanded both inside and outside smooth. Then applied barrier coat to the outside, I know I didn't really need it because it is epoxy but wanted it to match the rest of the barrier coated hull. Finally added a layer of bottom paint. The entire bottom will of course get a coat in the spring before launch. The inside with get painted when I put the dinette back together.

interior tappered.jpg (74.04 KiB) Viewed 916 times

patches and material.jpg (83.37 KiB) Viewed 916 times

completed patch.jpg (74.1 KiB) Viewed 916 times

Keith

[Keith]

Now the ultimate project! I'm replacing the workhorse MD7A with a 10KW electric motor. The MD7A has run great for me for 8 seasons and 41 years overall and raw water cooled to boot. Last summer I started to get sea water in the oil and after eliminating the easy to fix leak areas like the water pump seal and the head gasket I determined that the water jacket must have finally rusted through. After much investigation and analysis of my needs I decided to go green. I day sail, almost 3000 Km last year and 95% of the time that I ran the diesel was to charge the batteries. Most of the time I can sail off and onto my mooring. So the motor is truly an auxillary.

The cost of a new engine and V-dive is around $14K (with me installing) and the Electric motor, batteries, cables, controllers and solar panels will be around $8K depending on what batteries and how mush solar power I decide on. Also no smelly diesel to fill up, no diesel and oil filter changes, one less through hull for raw water cooling and let's not for get the no rattling of the MD7A. I just place the order for the 10KW motor from Electric Yachts. I know of one other CD30 owner that has converted to Electric and one other that just placed an order last week. Maybe we will start a subgroup called The Green CD owners. Electric Yachts also said that they have converted 8 Alberg 30's to Electric.

Here are a few pics of the start of the process with the shift and throttle cables, V-drive and train removed. I tacked a block inlace under the prop shaft to hold the alignment and position of the shaft and flange but did not take a picture. I will start a new thread just for the Green conversion.

MD7A and Walters V-drive.jpg (116.89 KiB) Viewed 913 times

Trani and v-drive removed.jpg (118.83 KiB) Viewed 913 times

[jbenagh]

Keith, looking good! I'm looking forward to seeing the dinette; it's tough to use the full size fold down table for extended periods.
Jeff

[Keith]

Keith, looking good! I'm looking forward to seeing the dinette; it's tough to use the full size fold down table for extended periods.
Jeff

I will post pictures of the dinette after the electric motor install is complete. The boat is more of a work shop at the moment.

Here is a pic of my final winter project, the dodger remake. I used the pieces from the old dodger (lots of seam ripping) with some minor mods for the pattern. It is on the frame attached to a 2x4 in my basement. Nothing is tight and the protective material is still on the windows. I still have to put in the snaps but that will have to wait until I have the cover off the boat. It's warming up hear on Cape Cod so maybe next week. We will see.

New Dodger.jpg (85.78 KiB) Viewed 844 times

Keith

PS I will start a new thread on the electric motor install.

[Keith]

Keith, looking good! I'm looking forward to seeing the dinette; it's tough to use the full size fold down table for extended periods.
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Now that MOONDANCE has been turned from a work shop back int a boat I finally got around to taking some pics of the dinette. It is still a work in progress and my joinery skills and tools are sorely lacking but I'm still very pleased with it. I'm trying to figure out how to make the table top an opening top so that I can store the chart book and other things in there. The table top is sized so that it can drop down to make a full berth I just haven't put the support in yet. I only day sail at this this time so it is kinda moot. I gave up one 25 gallon water tank but gained a lot more storage.

Dinette looking forward.jpg (86.79 KiB) Viewed 778 times

Dinette looking aft.jpg (82.37 KiB) Viewed 778 times

dinette storage.jpg (117.16 KiB) Viewed 778 times

[tjr818]

Very nice Keith. Keep going, and keep posting.

[ghockaday]

You have been busy! Dee