Back in California, Re-Fit Aug 2005

After installing the engine and doing the minimum required to ensure Blue Sky could return to California, we sailed her north to Redondo Beach, where we had a slip at Port Royal for just a month. On September 16, 2005, we moved Blue Sky to Los Angeles Harbor, which is conveniently close to marine suppliers, fabricators and craftsmen. The boat will stay in the harbor until the last remaining projects are finished. This is a very industrial marina in the heart of LA Harbor, ideal for the re-fit and preparing Blue Sky for our circumnavigation. The marina in Wilmington has some interesting neighbors. Across the channel is the Dow Chemical Company marine terminal, along with a scrap metal yard featuring a magnetic crane. The Henry Ford Draw Bridge, shown below, is complete with 24-hour trucks and trains crossing it.

The image below shows the view beneath our floorboards. On the left, you can see the new Perkins M90 engine. At the top of the right image, there is the Kohler generator, followed by the Force 10 water heater, and a secondary electric bilge pump along with a fresh water pump. These two pumps will be relocated vertically opposite the dual Racor fuel filters, which are located at the bottom of the photo on the port side. The eight Trojan T-125 brown batteries lined up on either side will be replaced with six absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries for the house bank. Additionally, there will be two group 24 starter batteries for the Perkins engine and the Kohler generator.

One of the major projects involved completely re-wiring the boat, including both the main and mizzen mast. All interior lighting, as well as the exterior navigation and anchor lights, will be upgraded with new fixtures and LED bulbs. RJ Marine Repair was contracted to handle this task. The photos below will illustrate why we decided to undertake this extensive project. We disposed of numerous buckets of old wiring and discovered behind the bulkhead a purple 14-gauge wire spliced to a green 8-gauge wire, which was then butt spliced to a red 12-gauge wire leading to a terminal ground on the engine. Some of the wiring was labeled "Brand Rex," which is not marine grade, and it’s surprising that Blue Sky didn't burn to the waterline! "How many butt splices can you put on 4" of house wire?" See below, blue butt splices, located behind a foam/vinyl headliner, which is not flame resistant.

Duane & Dave (Boat Electricians) are in the process of installing and connecting all the new equipment. Carlos (epoxy) is completing the installation of the new scuppers and repairing the deck holes. Previously, the old scuppers were connected to 1" hoses that routed water into and then out of the boat via 1" bronze scuppers. Initially, I assumed the purpose was to prevent water from entering the boat. Additionally, how much water can 1-inch hoses actually handle? The new scuppers allow water to flow directly from the deck overboard. Ramon (painter) follows Carlos, ensuring all the paint matches perfectly.

Below, you can see Dave at the Nav Station and Duane inside the electrical cabinet, working their magic. The difference is evident between the old panel on the left and the new Blue Seas AC/DC electrical panel on the right. The top panel is for DC with AC below it. Every wire in the boat is labeled and numbered at both ends to correspond with the switch on the panel, and the terminal block is coded and labeled. They have transformed chaos into a professional piece of "electrical" art.

A new back-up battery charger was installed to supplement the existing Link 2000, Xantrex inverter/charger. The back-up is a PT-14 three stage 12 volt from NewMar.

The old chain driven auto pilot motor is getting removed and replaced with a new Raymarine. See below left. All the instruments were removed in the cockpit, as they were attached to the boat with painted plywood. After cutting out the plywood and re-fiber glassing the entire area, new holes will be drilled to replace the wind/depth/speed displays and add the STY7001+ Raymarine autopilot display. On the right is the new windlass circuit breaker, house batteries, generator starter battery and engine starter battery selector switch.

A section of the engine room bulkhead—originally separating the engine from the machine room—had been removed by the previous owner. In addition, the machine room itself had no floor. Located directly aft of the engine, this space houses the prop shaft, and leaving it exposed posed a clear safety risk.

To address this, we rebuilt the bulkhead and installed a proper floor using marine-grade Starboard, an ideal material for the job. The upgrade not only improves safety by enclosing the shaft area, but also significantly reduces engine noise throughout the boat and creates a solid, stable platform for working in the machine room.

Starboard is especially well-suited for marine use: it’s durable, won’t rust, rot, chip, or flake, and can be cut, drilled, and tapped much like wood. Refitting the boat in Los Angeles also proved advantageous, with easy access to both skilled labor and the materials needed to get the job done right.

On the left is a photo of the engine exhaust hose assembly, which carries both hot seawater from the engine heat exchanger and hot diesel exhaust gases, including carbon dioxide. What immediately stands out is the use of galvanized metal in a critical exhaust system. In a harsh marine environment, galvanized fittings are simply not suitable for long-term service. In the image, corrosion is clearly visible at the Y-hose connector, a warning sign of what was likely well on its way to failure.

Fortunately, this issue was uncovered while re-wiring the boat. The component was hidden behind a teak panel at the back of the aft starboard hanging locker, which had to be removed to run new wiring. Without that work, it may have remained out of sight.

The moment of discovery brought a sobering realization: when, not if, the galvanized fitting eventually failed, the consequences could have been severe. Would carbon monoxide have entered the vessel first, or would seawater flooding have begun to sink her? Or perhaps the cedar plug in the “Y” connector would have dislodged and changed the outcome entirely.

By that point, I had believed I had seen every inch of Blue Sky, from climbing both the mizzen and main masts, to crawling through bilges beneath the generator and water heater.

Grandpa, Bill Mather, came down from Reno, NV to lend a helping hand on some projects. He helped scrap out all the old 3M 5200 from the toe rail and re-caulked it with the 3M fast cure, 4000UV in addition the lifeline stantions were re-bedded. I think dad's most memorable event was my dive into and through the bilge. I could only think of the movie, Shawshank Redemption. The bilge is a foul place. Dad and I removed two dead diesel hoses that should have left the boat years ago. When I emerged from below, every bit of clothing went into a garbage bag and into the dumpster with the decomposing diesel hoses. When I drove Dad back to LAX he said that the next time he visits the boat it better be near palm trees and blue seas. I promised him that I would make that happen.

The original windlass, which was nonoperational, was replaced with a new Lewmar. Carrying 300' of chain, we needed a solid, reliable windlass. Above left, Jim is removing the large, heavy old one.

After much deliberation we decided to get rid of the Monitor Windvane. Many cruisers swear by these self-steering devices, however, we decided it would be more prudent to have the hard bottom dinghy stored on a dinghy davit system, than over the life raft. In addition, we purchased a new Raymarine Autopilot to steer us. Left photo the windvane, middle is the dinghy being stored over the life raft and to the right is the stainless steel, combination, dinghy davit and mizzen boom traveler. The davits are strong enough to hold the hard bottom dinghy, with the 15hp Yamaha engine left on. No hoisting the engine off the dinghy first and storing it and then hoisting the dinghy. We also had them build a bench seat in the back to add to our living space.

It is now October, and we are getting closer to our departure date. Once again, it was, "Shawshank Redemtion" time. I had to tunnel through the bilge to remove the last four remaining diesel hoses. The hoses were first class, but they had a fire resistant sleeve that had seen too much time in the sludge of the bilge. They had turned into a sticky goo and really smelled. I will have to go into the bilge once more to install two ABS pipes that I will run the new diesel hoses through. There are two "hose runs" up and off the floor, on either side of the bilge, this will keep them clean and they will last longer. When the previous owner replaced the originals, they went the easy way and just wire tied them and threw them on the bilge floor. Now that most of the chaos is out of the bilge, it is slightly easier to work in there. The bilge is just big enough to lie down flat, I can roll over onto my back, but I have to go in with my arms forward, above my head as there is not enough room to reposition yourself once you're in. There is about 28 years' worth of previous owner's pet hairs and workmen detritus, with the added luxury of fiberglass slivers and the odor of diesel and sludge. Good thing we still had some of Drake's old diapers on board, those things wipe up and absorb anything. You can now appreciate that it is not the most pleasant place. On the same day I also went below the water line and up about 60+ feet above it. I climbed the main mast and lubricated the top roller for the roller furling main.

A new fiberglass hose connection for the engine exhaust was installed, replacing the galvanized steel. The stainless steel all thread still has not arrived, so the windlass project is on hold. The sailmaker is off to Florida for vacation, so replacing the vertical battens in the main and getting a quote to replace it, has been postponed. The rigger, who will swage new terminals and insulators on the stainless-steel backstay has not returned my call. I hope there is better progress next week. It seems one step forward and two back!

In the bilge I found the old shunt, on the right. A shunt tells the Xantrex inverter/charger exactly where the batteries are in terms of charge. The Xantrex can then tell us:

-How many hours of power we have left at this rate of consumption.

-Current rate of power consumption.

-Total consumption from the installation.

Seeing how important this information is, the shunt does not deserve to be thrown into the bilge. The new shunt will be located under the floor boards, just under the electric panel off the floor on a starboard panel.

In addition, we are busy installing the new equipment, water tank gauges, windlass remote switches and a light switch in the aft berth. This switch will light up all of the exterior lights on the boat. This way we can blind anyone if they board the boat at night unannounced. Hopefully we never have to use this "non-lethal" tool.

The rigger still hasn’t shown up, so the remaining standing rigging with the radio isolators will be completed personally. We are also still waiting on the sailmaker to submit a quote for a new mainsail. After a close inspection of all the sails yesterday, we decided they will all need to be removed, cleaned, and re-stitched. (We still have our sights set on making Christmas in Puerto Vallarta.)

Thor, our refrigeration specialist, is scheduled to arrive today to begin reworking the refrigerator and freezer system. His plan is to install a wishbone mount on the front of the Perkins, tying into both forward engine mounts so he can drive the refrigeration compressor and re-plumb the copper lines. Time will tell how long that project takes.

On a positive note, the stainless 10 mm all-thread finally arrived, allowing the new windlass installation to be completed yesterday. The life raft still needs to be repacked, and the membranes in the water maker will also need replacing.

Meanwhile, Emma is managing an equally demanding workload ashore packing up the entire house at 317 S Maria in Redondo Beach, organizing everything destined for the boat, coordinating the children’s school schedules, and still managing meals and homework.

At this point, Blue Sky has close to ten people directly working on her, not including suppliers, fabrication shops, shippers, and friends all helping in the background to get us underway.

The next few days are shaping up to be even more intense, hopefully no more surprises are waiting behind hidden panels.