Time Flies...

Just realized that I haven't posted anything in over a month. Time flies when you're busy I guess.
I've been completing a few little loose ends before delving into the aft mast project. More on that in the next post.

The final install of our forepeak and aft cabin bilge level sensors and bilge pump/switch assemblies went pretty well. It was a bit more complicated than the other bilge spaces due to the restricted space and interferences in these areas. Especially vexing was the aft cabin bilge where the access was restricted by the shaft tube, plumbing, and the black-water tank. I ended up installing just the bilge level alarm sensor at the forward (low point) of the bilge, with the pump/switch located a little further aft. This means that the electric bilge pump will probably leave 5-10 gallons of water in the bottom of the bilge. I will be plumbing in pick-ups in each void at some point for the future engine driven bilge pump. The suction for this system will go to the bottom of each bilge so that could take care of any left over water here if necessary. I also had to do some surgery on the cabinet above the aft cabin bilge to install an access hatch in the bottom shelf. This makes for much easier direct access to the aft void versus unscrewing and moving the entire cabinet.

In the engine room, I relocated the gear oil pressure gauge so it is now next to the other engine room gauges instead of it's prior location mounted on the gear. This makes it readable at a glance through the engine room hatch port. I also tee'd off and ran hose up to the wheelhouse to hook up to the mechanical gauge in the dash cluster. This gives two easy ways to watch the gear oil pressure, which is a critical indicator of proper gearbox operation.

While the pathway from the engine room to the wheelhouse was open, I routed the manual activation cable for the engine room fire suppression and hooked up the auto shut-down for the main engine. As it is arranged now, there is an auto discharge that will blow the fire system in the event of high temperature rise in the engine room. You can now also manually discharge the system from the wheelhouse. Either one of these operations will automatically shut down the main engine. This keeps the engine from sucking up all the fire suppression compound. There is a manual bypass switch in the wheelhouse that will allow you to restart the engine after the fire system has discharged. I will probably wire in the diesel furnace into one of the remaining shut off relays in the fire system so the furnace will shut down along with engine in the event that the fire system is activated.

Handrails, Vise for the Engine Room, Bookshelf for the Aft Cabin, and Final Plumbing

Been working on adding handrails in some strategic locations. With a relatively open interior like ours, you need handholds so you don't get thrown across the cabin when things start rolling. This is a good start, but we have a lot more sea-proofing to do before we take the boat outside the Gate. Added a vise to the Engine Room, which I should have done a long time ago - makes so many jobs easier. The aft cabin got one more cabinet for books and videos, which will need some bungees to keep stuff in place when away from the dock. We also finished the final plumbing (I think), which included running the last of the up the salt water wash down plumbing (pex) and finishing the wiring to make it operational. This is a big pump - 30 amps - with a big output. I plumbed it to the bow for washing mud off the anchor, to the swim step for cleaning fish, and midships outside the wheelhouse for whatever else comes up... putting out fires? I ran out of room for switches on the existing helm panels so I made one more matching faceplate that has switches for the hydraulic pump clutch (which runs the anchor winch), the salt water wash down pump, and a dimmer for the instrument lights. 

Forepeak Ladder

Some Pics of the forepeak ladder that I finally got around to building. This leads from the forepeak storage area up to the bow deck where the anchor gear is located - a handy shortcut to the deck from down below. I used 2x6 clear Douglas Fir and notched for the steps to provide strength without relying on fasteners to hold it all together. This was my first attempt at building a ladder like this. I think it came out pretty good...