Only a few weeks to departure

We’re getting close to our anticipated departure and making headway in getting some last minute projects completed. In March we were hauled at Eau Gallie Boat Works, our first haul out in two years. The yard applied three coats of bottom paint (5.5 gallons of Micron CSC) to the hull, stripped and epoxied the running gear, replaced the holding block (had worked its way loose two years ago in Canada) for the spurs, added ball valves in the fuel lines from each fuel tank, fixed a ground problem, lubricated all the thru-hulls, and buffed and waxed the hull. The crew did a great job. We were back in the water 10 days after haul-out.

Since then, I’ve installed a Vesper Marine XB-8000 AIS Transponder with a dedicated VHF and GPS antenna, installed a raw water alarm from Borel Manufacturing, and built a new forward hatch seat/cover that will provide a much needed conversation area on the bow as well as allow us to keep the forward Bomar hatch open for ventilation while at anchor without worrying about rain soaking the V-berth area.

This weekend I cleaned the raw water heat exchanger and replaced the end cap gaskets, and replaced the raw water impeller with a new one from American Diesel.

Here are some pictures of some of the growth, the cutlass bearing housing where the old holding block was attached (three empty holes), the new spurs and holding block, the raw water alarm mounted in the engine instrument panel and the new hatch cover.