Sailing "Thanks Dad"

On Saturday the forecast was for severe thunderstorms so we didn’t go sailing. I did however go to the boat to do a couple projects.

The previous couple weeks the starter for the engine was acting up so I ordered a new one (on eBay) and installed it. Unlike most projects this one went very smoothly. The old starter come off without any drama (2 bolts and 2 wires) and the new one went on just as easy as the old one came off.

New starter / Old Starter

Easy install

I also got around to wiring the new “ProMariner ProIsoCharge Advanced Digital Charge Distribution and Battery Isolation System” I bought and mounted prior to launching the boat this year. Again this project went very smoothly as well. Easy install and no drama.

ProMariner all wired up and operational

On Sunday my wife, brother and I went out for a great sail on a beautiful day. We spent most of the day sailing at a speed greater than 5 knots and got to a high speed of 6.8 knots. Shortly after getting the sails up we were on a broad reach doing a nice 6.2 knots. My wife doesn’t mind the speed, but sailing with the “rail in the water” is not her idea of fun, so 6.2 knots on a broad reach was perfect for her.

6.2 knots on a broad reach

My wife and me

Sailing like my wife likes it

Though we did sail close hauled for a while

Coming in at the end of the day

Winds were 10-15 knots, waves were 1-2 feet with mostly sunny skies for a good part of the day.

We redesigned and rebuilt the galley.

On the Saturday before Christmas, my brother and I disassembled & removed the galley from the boat. We also removed the bulkhead that separates the cabin from all areas aft.

Original galley with new “King Starboard” counter we put in, in 2012.

In the middle of disassembly & Removal

Old galley is gone. Need to clean up 47 years of crud that had accumulated behind and under the old galley.

I used the original sections of the galley and bulkhead as templates and documented their dimensions. I then rebuilt the original galley using cheap plywood in my basement as a start to the redesign process. Once we settled on a new design I bought special ordered marine grade plywood from the local Menards.

Tracing the original bulkhead onto the cheap plywood

The original ICE-box was not a really effective use of space.

We are planning to add a stove, but don’t like the idea of it sitting on top of the counter and being so close to the cabin top so I redesigned the counter with a recess so that the stove will sit 4 inches below the countertop.

The area under the stove was the original icebox and was redesigned as storage shelves.

Also moved the sink to the corner of the counter top, were the ice storage top was located.

The area where the sink was located is now another storage area.

We cleaned up the area and fiber glassed pieces of mahogany on the hull to mount the new bulkhead to.

Dry fitting the new bulkhead

New galley is installed

We are planning to cap the new galley with a stainless steel counter top and back splash.

My brother and I decided to give the sails a cleaning.

We setup a cleaning process that started with a 32 gallon trash can with water and Oxyclean. We let the sails soak for 30 minutes then pulled them out of the can onto a table a small section at a time and brushed them with a soft brush. Once one side was done we turned them over and put them back into the can and repeated the process.


We spread the sails on the driveway to rinse them with a hose and then setup a drying rack using several ladders.



We have 3 sails (main, genoa, work jib) and cleaned all three. It took a total of 6 hours to clean/rinse/dry them.

The first 2 sailing seasons we didn’t have any cushions as the original cushions were dry rotted when we got the boat and we tossed them out.

A new set of cushions just isn’t in the budget, so I have been looking into various options. In the spring of 2013 I saw 4” patio chaise lounge cushions at the local Home Depot that were the right size for the settee, a good color and weren’t too expensive at $44.00 each. Each settee includes the cushion bottom and a back.

I did not move forward though with the patio chaise lounge cushions in the spring/summer, but in October Home Depot was having a patio close-out sale and the same cushions were on sale for $10 each. So, I bought 6. 3 for the Settees and three for the v-berth cushions.

The foam in the cushions is not high density foam, but more like polyester batting. So I decided to add 2” high density foam on top of the 4” polyester.

I had read that the best and least expensive way to cut HD foam is to use an electric carving knife. So I bought one at the local resale shop for $5.00. I made a jig to attach it to a folding table we have so I could set the cut width. It worked perfectly.

Foam Cutting System


Polyester batting onto of 2″ HD foam

Original patio cushion sitting on top of new boat cushion

New boat cushion

The back cushion is 8” wide, so I had to cut one of the Home Depot patio cushions in half, length wise. My electrical knife setup worked great. I cut the whole thing foam and fabric in one cut.

I “hired” my oldest daughter to sew the two halves into the cushion backs and to sew Velcro on the bottom of each cushion.

New cushions in place on the boat.

I decided to rebuild the electrical panel.

The original one had an old “Automac II” alternator controller that didn’t work any longer and a solar panel controller that was no longer needed since we had removed the panels. There were also unused holes in the panel from long ago previously removed components.

I had some left over marine grade plywood from the galley rebuild that I used for the new panel.

I also “went shopping” on ebay and bought some new electrical components. I bought 2 , 12volt cigarette lighter panel outlets, 2 dual panel usb chargers, 2 digital volt meters (1 for each battery), 2 battery capacity meters (1 for each battery), 1 digital volt/amp meter (to monitor the alternator output), a digital thermometer (to monitor engine temps), and a couple sheets of 12’ x 12” x 1/8” ABS (to trim out everything).

I also decided to mount the VHF radio and AM/FM/Cassette radio in the panel which meant I needed to bring the panel out further away from the hull than the original one was mounted. I mounted the new panel on a hinge.

I bought a new alternator controller (a ProMariner ProIsoCharge).

(New Panel / Old Panel)

When I installed the new holding tank last year when the boat was on the cradle everything looked good and level for the vent line, hose from the toilet to the holding tank and the discharge hose used for pump out which were located on the forward side of the tank. Once in the water with the boat was sitting with the bow riding higher, the tank was not level and tilted away from the discharge hose. We were not able to completely pump out the tank.

Original hose locations

So I bought a relocation kit from the tank manufacturer and moved the discharge hose to the opposite side of the tank.

New discharge hose location

New access hole needed to install new discharge hose connector

All done