Multi-Colour Monday

Having rolled our eyes watching the less enlightened members of the populace engaged in the annual charade of Mindless Materialism over the weekend (aka Black Friday etc.), we decided that we would initiate our own, less stressful, celebration......Multicolour Monday!

We got a bit smarter this year with our Christmas lights, we zip tied them to a couple of lengths of 5/16" line before hoisting them to the masthead on a spare halyard. The lines allowed us to tension the light strings without putting undue strain on them. 

RC Cockpit Lights

The clocks have changed and another winter is descending upon us, our third year living aboard full time. As a result we find ourselves returning to the boat in darkness more often so the issue of safe boarding raises its head for Old Matelots. 

The ugly truth is that our night vision and dexterity ain't what they used to be! Either at the slip or, more specifically, on the hook, making an elegant arrival into the cockpit (usually loaded down with 'stuff'), finding the right key, getting it into the lock, safely negotiating the companionway steps and turning on the interior lights is a lot more challenging in darkness! Headlamps and flashlights are helpful but limited in their capabilities. Several times in the past we had considered a more permanent solution to our cockpit/companionway lighting issues but, somehow, we never got around to actually doing anything. So, co-incident with the recent time change, we put the project on the top of 'The List' and started looking for solutions. 

First we put together and prioritised a short list of cockpit lighting 'wants and needs'......
  - LED fixtures for longevity and battery economy. No floodlights.

  - Subdued light level, adequate for safe boarding as well as evening 'socialising'.

  - Small unobtrusive fixtures, (Headlamps are fine if we need  more 'lumens' once aboard).

  - Means for remote activation/deactivation.

Next we spent a lot of time browsing the web for suitable fixtures and controls and were amazed at the wealth of choices in fixtures, suppliers and prices. All, very confusing. 

Wait a sec......are we over-thinking all this? We had good luck with the compact fixtures we used for the LED Courtesy Light upgrade that we did back in 2010. They are small, quite powerful for their size and seem to be very durable (we've had no failures since the conversion). They aren't too pretty but they aren't too ugly either....why not use them again on this project?

The compact LED license plate/utility lamp from Superbright LEDs.....under $6 a copy.

Having decided on the lamp fixture the next thing was to find a simple, 12v wireless controller. After some more web surfing we found this nice little one channel unit on eBay for around $35.

OK, next step, how many lights and where to locate them? After a bit of fussing with some jumper cables and duct tape one night, trying different locations, we settled on two lamps, one directly above the companionway in the fascia under the hatch and a second in the centre of the top tube of the dodger frame. 

Here is a shot, in the pitch dark, of the companionway lit by a single utility lamp taped to the hatch fascia.....impressive for a small 25 lumen unit!

Again in the pitch dark (and slightly out of focus), here is one of the companionway, with a single lamp taped to the top tube of the dodger frame. Despite the small size of the lamp the reflection from the white doors helps give an overall brightness to the whole cockpit area.

OK then, all we have to do is install everything. Here we are fishing the power cable for the companionway lamp from the hatch fascia, under the headliner and out to the  zippered access flap. It was very fiddly trying to get the fishing wire past the foam and took many attempts! 

Here is a close up. Even after measuring four or five times, to make absolutely sure we would break through exactly between the cabin roof and the headliner, we still sweated a little while drilling the hole. 

Here is the first lamp mounted in place. We couldn't decide between black or chrome and finally went with black. It seems to blend in well with the teak fascia.  

To mount the second lamp on the dodger rail we needed a mounting pad profiled to match the 1" dia. stainless tube. We used a scrap block of teak, cut a hole with a 1" hole saw then cut the block in half to get the radiused form.....it turned out quite well!  

We drilled clearance holes through the block so that the mounting screws could be tapped directly into the dodger rail.

Two chipped cobalt drill bits later.....the second lamp was mounted on the dodger rail! This shot was taken after the first mounting hole had been drilled and tapped. Hand drilling, overhead, into the stainless tube was hard work.  

Here is the finish mounted lamp. We had to partially unzip the dodger to access the tube and we will cut and bind a suitable slot in the Sunbrella flap so it can be zipped back in place.

This one shows the #20-2 power cable exiting the dodger rail and going into the cabin through a compression fitting. Surprisingly, fishing the power cable through the tube for the second lamp was a lot easier than the first lamp, even though it was double the distance.

The control box was feather light so we just used self adhesive velcro pads to secure it to the cabin roof under the headliner for optimum antenna performance.

Because there is no manual switch in the circuit, and because there was limited space for wiring between the headliner and the cabin roof  the wiring was simply Gorilla taped to the cabin roof. Not the prettiest thing we ever did but it is secure. We had bought a terminal strip to connect this wiring together but there really wasn't  enough room for it.

Moment of truth.....

It works......! We tested it off the boat and got good response from nearly 100 feet away, more than enough for any forseable conditions we may run into.

Here we have cut a small aperture in the dodger flap to allow the zipper to close. As (bad) luck would have it the aperture fell almost exactly on the dodger manufacturers label so there was a lot of old thread and adhesive to clean off.

In this one the aperture has been edged with leather binding. After cleaning off the label it almost looks like a pro job. No more banged knees or ebows and groceries on the cockpit floor!

On to the next project!

Propane Tank

In a 2011 Post describing the Propane System upgrade, we gave all our reasons for choosing the small (10 LB) capacity tank. We have never regretted that decision. True, the Worthington horizontal aluminium tank was a bit expensive but it is feather light when empty and very easily handled and carried when full, a big consideration for Old Matelot backs! It drops right into the unmodified original propane locker and routinely gives us 2 - 3 months of full time liveaboard use....longer in summer, shorter in winter due to the propane heater. 

Having said all that, we also realised that having some reserve propane capacity would be smart as we aren't always able to immediately refill an empty tank. So, we went ahead and purchased a second tank.......and were immediately faced with the challenge of where to store it. While we were at the slip it could sit on the cockpit floor, and it did for many months, but under way we needed something more secure than a short piece of line restraining it (sort of)! It needed a permanent home.

New Worthington tank sitting on cockpit floor.

While looking for a permanent home for the spare tank we considered several different locations. There are off-the shelf brackets that would have made it easy to mount the tank somewhere on the stern rail, but that meant muscling the tank up and over the rail, our backs creaked at the prospect. It could have been secured on the cabin top somewhere but that wouldn't have been very convenient. Then we suddenly realised that we had been living with the tank in the corner of the cockpit for months, without a real problem, so why not secure it there? We had experienced no difficulty using the starboard sheet winch or the stern seat and being right next to the propane locker, the tank couldn't be more conveniently situated. Decision made, all we needed was a suitable bracket.

We've had good luck with King Starboard for similar projects so we sketched up a simple bracket using 1/2" and 3/4" thick pieces.

A quick trip to TAP Plastics with a cut list and $19 later we had all our parts.  

Here we are positioning the parts for the base foot. We used #8 and #10 pan head screws, recessed for looks, to fix everything together. 

Here we've fitted the top hook bar and are checking clearances with the tank. 

The finished base assembly. As can be seen, we had to relieve the top hook bar as it was interfering slightly with the tank body. It didn't need as much relief as we cut, but 2" radius was the smallest we could swing the router.

Here we are positioning the bracket on the cockpit wall. The two pad eyes are for the 2" securing strap.

The finished bracket, a bit closer to the shore power plug than we would have liked, but it all works.  

We were a little puzzled by this decal on the tank. It must be filled vertically, used horizontally and stored 'upright'..........Go figure! 

Side Deck Trim

The last part of our cabin re-trimming project was finishing under the side deck areas and around the chain-plate supports. We had ripped out all the naugahyde under the side decks at the same time we pulled it off the cabin sides. As we liked the look of the rigid painted panels we built to trim out the Bomon Windows , and because we particularly wanted better access to the genoa track fasteners (almost non-existent with the zippered vinyl) we went the same route for the side deck area. 

Building rigid enclosures for the chain-plate supports was way above our pay grade so, once again, we called on the services of Art Kleiner at The Boatsmith to help fabricate some of the necessary parts. 

Here are a couple of shots of the under deck area after the naugahyde had been removed.

This shows one of the clunky original incandescent light fixtures. We will install some more modern looking LED lights when we re-assemble. Four LED fixtures will use less power than one of these puppies!

This shot gives an idea of the condition of the original vinyl. All of the zip sliders were like this one, pulls broken off and bodies corroded to destruction......evidently Zamak doesn't do well in the marine environment. The vinyl itself had been sagging in various places due to the rusty, disintegrating staples.

To support the outboard edges of the new trim panels Art made a grooved ledger board. It had 'kerfs' cut along it so that it would bend to match the contours of the hull and could be aligned with the inboard edge of the panels at the turn of the deck under the windows.









To support the inboard edges of the panels, Art made a custom, 100 degree angled trim strip to run the full length of the cabin sides.

Art made some very attractive, rugged enclosures.They were quite intricate and 'Work of Art' took on a whole new meaning when we saw them. 

Here is the chain-plate cover having a trial fit.

In this one the inboard trim strip is in place. 











The ends of the panels are captured by  separate trim strips.

The strips also camouflage  the mess left by all the rusty staples!

Here we've re-mounted the hand rails and we're putting Reflectix insulation on the under deck area to help reduce some of the wintertime 'sweating' that we've seen in the past.

We glued the insulation to the deck with contact cement, stopping the adhesive at the genoa track fasteners, leaving a flap of material free to fold back for access to the fasteners as needed. 

Here we've got some paint on the panels, fitted some LED Fixtures and re-assembled everything.

As a side bar here, we were so impressed with the LED fixtures from PPL, price and lumens per milliamp etc., that we put a double unit in the galley. It lights up the whole cabin.

Looks OK huh? The last step will be replacing the vinyl trim welt and refinishing the original woodwork. 

Here is a look from the other direction. Keen eyed viewers will see the sagging vinyl above the inside of the hutch. Both port and starboard hutches have the same problem due to corroded and disintegrated zippers. Replacement panels for both sides are on 'The List'.

Cabin Fans

With the new Bomon Windows installed and the original curtains replaced with OceanAire shades, we had no further need for the six decorative blocks that had carried the curtain rods. We realised that with the blocks removed we would have space for several small ceiling mounted fans, for both the galley as well as the rest of the cabin. 

We had always planned for a galley fan, mounted over the stove, to work with the new Bomon opening window, as an extractor and also to keep the 'chef' cool. Beyond that, until we removed the blocks, we really hadn't decided how to positively ventilate the rest of the main cabin. 

Here is a shot of two of the decorative blocks that had supported the original curtain rods. In addition to becoming redundant when the new shades were installed, we also thought the blocks looked very dated, so we decided to take them down and......voila....we suddenly had space for some Caframo fans.

Examining the blocks, we were surprised at how solid and complex they were. Having seen all the other efforts made by Islander to pull cost out of the Freeport, it was surprising that these obviously expensive pieces had survived the 'axe'. Something a lot cheaper and simpler could have worked equally well while still looking presentable?

We bought four Caframo 757 fans. They are both economical, compact and can be rotated and tilted in any direction to cover all areas of the main cabin, galley and nav. station. To validate the locations we temporarily put them up where the forward and aft curtain rail blocks had been, and hid the fan wiring behind the trim strips installed during the Window Trim  upgrade.  

The fans all worked worked very well in the selected locations but looked a bit tacky, sitting on the raw vinyl with the ceiling strips stopping short of the cabin walls.

So, we decided to replace all the ceiling strips and extend them to run all the way out to the cabin walls. Once again we used Art Kleiner at The Boatsmith to make us three new, longer strips. The original strip design was replicated but the width was increased from 1 3/4" to 2 1/2" to match the bases of the Caframo fans. We cut the strips to the correct length and installed them. Here we're using the telescopic boat hook as an adjustable prop while we drill some fixing holes.

The aft and central ceiling strips were replaced quite easily but the replacement of the forward strip was more interesting. Somehow, the fasteners for the turning block to the vang control line on the cabin roof had been drilled straight down through the roof and bolted right through the trim strip!!! When questioned about it during the pre-purchase survey the PO had told us it had been that way when he got the boat!

Shot of the (Harken) vang control line turning block. We noticed it was a different make and model to the mainsheet (Schaefer) turning block. Whoever had installed the vang had done a really crappy job. There were no holes suggesting any other block had ever been fitted so the block must have been installed after the headliner and teak trim was in...........an incompetent PO or another Islander QA snafu.....we'll never know. 





The block was free-running and in generally good shape, so it didn't need to be replaced, but we certainly weren't going to drill through our shiny new trim strip to re-mount it. We came up with a plan to secure it under the headliner using Flange Nuts. We've had good luck using these fasteners in other places where there is restricted access.

Here are the stainless 10 - 24 Flange Nuts we used. Because two of the securing bolts on the block are very close together we had to shave two flanges down to get the necessary clearance.

This shot shows the clearance problem on the block fasteners.

After removing the old trim strip we made an incision in the headliner, opened up the fastener hole slightly and installed the Flange Nuts. 

(If you sniggered at this shot you are BAD!)

Here we've re-installed the block and closed up the headliner with some stainless staples. The marks on the vinyl made by the old trim strip are clearly visible and while this isn't the prettiest thing we ever did the 'incision' will be completely hidden under the new, wider, trim strip.

So, after all that heartburn we were finally able to mount the new forward trim strip and start mounting the fans. Here is the forward stbd corner after the fix.

Here is the  galley fan opposite the opening window. The combination of the two keeps smells and steam out of the cabin, stops the cabin fogging up while cooking and has made the galley a lot more comfortable in hot conditions.

This shot shows the new trim and fans on the starboard side.

And here is the new port side trim and fans. All that remains is to beg, borrow or steal an extended nose staple gun and replace the short pieces of trim welting in the four corners of the cabin to blend the old and the new.




Onward to the next project!


Update 08-01-15

Although we've been happy with the performance and economy of the two-speed Caframo fans, we were a bit irritated that they had a tendency to vibrate slightly when running in high speed mode. The vibration was caused by the molded polyethylene blades being out of balance and resulted in slight 'chatter' at the serrated teeth of the stand-off post. All four fans had the same problem and while the chatter was almost imperceptible on the low speed setting, it was quite noticeable in high speed. What to do? 

The stand-off post has a central, adjustable clamp that holds the upper and lower segments together under spring tension. We fussed with the clamp and found that by fully tightening it the vibration was eliminated, but then the two segments of the post were locked together and there was no longer any way to rotate the fan. By using washers above and below the spring we tried different levels of tension on the clamp bolt but the result was always the same, the vibration persisted until we fully tightened the clamp. Another approach was needed.   

Plan B was to try and improve the balance of the fan blades. By trial and error we found that a small piece of Gorilla tape strategically stuck on a fan blade improved things significantly. Sadly we soon found that the tape wouldn't hold for more than a few minutes in high speed operation. On a hot day the adhesive softened to the point where centrifugal force caused the tape to fly off! What next?    

A light finally appeared at the end of the tunnel when we tried wedging things between the teeth of the stand-off. By jamming a piece of thin felt between the two segments we discovered the fan quieted down completely, even at high speed. 

Plan C was to come up with a clean way to get some felt between the two halves of the stand-off. We used some 1/16" adhesive backed felt and cut some washers from it.

We took the stand-off apart and slipped the felt washers over the clamp bolt, between the   teeth. 

When we reassembled the stand-off the teeth were held apart slightly, just enough to stop the vibration while still allowing the fan to be rotated. Problem finally solved.

It seems we weren't the only ones suffering from this problem as the whole stand-off assembly for the Model 747 has been redesigned. New owners don't have to worry about chattering teeth.....who'd have thought!