Need to build a sea chest......

Later Whitby 42s came with a sea chest. This is a great idea as it cuts down on thru-hulls. I am having the usual problems deciding whether I contract this out or try and build one myself. Should it be solid fiberglass or cored? Any other options, Stainless Steel for example?

Proper thru-deck chainplate installation...

As most sailboat decks are cored with balsa or some other material any area which is load bearing, or where items such as chain-plates pass through the deck, should have the core removed and the void filled with epoxy or similar. Whitby Boat Works seem to have done the job right . This is a photo of the area where the mizzen chain-plates passed through the deck. Absolutely no water in the core, because there is no core.



The bulkhead which the chain-plate was bolted to did not fare as well. Two chain-plates were secured between a grp panel and the plywood bulkhead of the heads. The plywood suffered considerable water damage where the bolts went through. As I will not be using this area as to support chain plates git-rot or similar will solve the problem. Anyone who is replacing the chain-plates on a Whitby should pay a little attention to this bulkhead.

Chain-plate rot....

I'm always secretly happy when my neurosis about chain-plates pays off.



This is the chain-plate for the Mizzen lower shroud and well past its sell by date.

Engine bed pan is glassed in

While I was goofing off at the Boat Show, Jim E was busy. He was also responsible for Casper's new coat of paint. The conversation went as follows;

Jim E.: What color do you plan to paint your engine?
Me: I hadn't given in much thought but I was considering white Awlgrip.
Jim E.: Good because that's the color I've painted it.
Me: What would you have done if I had said red.
Jim E.: I'd have told you that you made a bad decision.
Me: OK.

Behold!!!!, Casper the friendly engine......

hopefully he will never scare anyone (especially me).





A lot of cruisers tend to give names to the individual items on the boat. I won't even try to explain it.

Electrical Stuff.....

Wiring of TIH is one of the next projects. As I have mentioned previously, I am investigating so called "smart systems". Two companies have caught my attention at the Miami Boat Show. The first one has developed a smart but simple upgrade to the standard shore power connection; The Smart Plug




Any who has struggled with the old connections and later found them with fried pins due to a short must surely believe that this is an idea whose time has come.

The second company is Mastervolt whose power distribution and management system is very impressive.

I have no vested interest interest in the above companies etc. etc. but plan to investigate further.

Working the Miami Boat Show for West Marine.

Its like being a Chocoholic in "Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory". The only problem is that I'm one of the Oompa-Loompas and too busy to look at all the chocolate.

Dragging people kicking and screaming into the ...

new media.

There is a "bun fight" on a sailing website that I frequent, complaining about its move to a new format. The previous site (a yahoo discussion group) was disorganized and hard to index, the new format is excellent. The whole discussion reminded me of this video;

Help Desk

Fuel Tank secured......

The aft keel tank has been secured (finally) and the fiberglass pan is about to be glassed back in. The securing system is as follows;

1. 5200 between the chocks and the haysite glued to the bottom of the tank.
2. Blue 2" water hose vertically along the sides filled with epoxy.
3. 4 chocks of coosa board glued to the top of the tank and epoxied to the hull, these in turn will be epoxied to and covered by the fiberglass pan.

Houston - we have lift-off

This is the first run of the recently purchased Perkins Sabre M65. The previously mentioned Jim E is the guy you want to have around if you are even marooned on a desert island.

Bilge Pump system...

The bilge pump system is completed and surprise, surprise it works. The small lower pump monitors water level in the sump and pumps it up into the upper chamber. When the float is activated the Rule 2000 then pumps any water overboard. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice the non return valve on the outlet hose (see my absolute statement in a previous post!!!!). I had hoped to avoid this but with any deep bilge the water in the hose drains back down when the pump shuts off and reactivates the float switch. This results in cycling of the pump. This valve will reduce the pump capacity but as this is only a secondary pump it should not matter much. I replaced the original Rule 3700 with a Rule 2000 and will use the 3700 in another location.

Support for Mizzen Mast...

This is posted as part of a discussion on the Whitby / Brewer Owners web site;