McMaster-Carr discovered: the on-line Aladdin’s Cave

Tuesday 3 Nov, HHN, boat winterizing day 34:
Not a very productive day but certainly a varied one. It’s a beautiful sunny day, so I first take a cycle ride to the post office to get some birthday cards sent off. Then a visit to Stephen at East Coast rigging with bits of a dismantled spreader in hand. Where the stainless end fittings have caused corrosion on the aluminum spreader struts he recommends cleaning out the corrosion, then rebuild with a very thick grease called Lanocote, which is specifically designed to protect metals from corrosion and is viscous enough not be washed out over time. Looks like a very interesting product. And while enquiring what is the best plastic to use when putting stainless fitting back against aluminum (to prevent cathodic corrosion) Stephen introduces me to a supplier called McMaster-Carr. More on this later – it turns out to be another brilliant tip from Stephen.

At 2pm Mario arrives. He has an appointment to view 2 HR43s presented for sale at Free State Yachts and he has asked me to join him. I’m quite excited. I haven’t had a good rummage around a yacht since we were looking for Cloudy Bay over 4 years ago.
The first we inspect is from 2003. Lots of cruising equipment and obviously extensively used. And she looks it. A bit tired inside and rather unloved. You can clean up a lot in a boat, but removing dents and dings in almost every piece of internal woodwork is almost impossible. That said, the price tag of $345k reflects the condition.
By comparison, the 2nd HR43 from 2008 at $390k looks almost like it just came out the factory. Little extra equipment (no AC, generator or watermaker) but obviously very low usage. This is the same year Cloudy Bay was build and it’s very interesting to see the similarities in fitting all over the boat. We look into every corner of the boats and discuss at length what would need to be done to make each one ready for Mario’s planned liveaboard seasonal cruising on the US eastern seaboard and Caribbean. Mario is smitten by the 2008 model and I sense there will be an offer made in the coming days.

In the evening I replace the light fittings in the box fridge, do some more cleaning on the Inmarsat, then remove the ceiling in the aft shower. When I returned to the boat I had spotted a brown water mark down the shower wall, originating from the ceiling. But with panel off I cannot see any sign of a leak overhead.
While in there, I start thinking again about putting a shower extractor fan in this ceiling void where the genoa winch electric motor lives. So I head off to the laptop to look on Defender.com for what I would need to buy. I did all this before. Even bought a fan in Martinique, but decided not to install it for fear of having a large hole in the side of the coach roof. I can fit a cowling yes, but on a capsize or a rollover (heaven forbid!) a 4’ vent hole will let a lot of water in. But now I have the thought to plumb the outlet into one of the spare vents fitted by Hallberg Rassy in the adjacent cockpit locker. These fancy vents are specifically designed to get an airlock in the event they get submerged. And after our experience in the Gulf Stream back in May, we know the side decks can and do get submerged in a bad sea.

Anyway, once on the PC I get TOTALLY distracted when I take a quick look at McMaster-Carr.com webpage that Stephen had recommended. OMG …. It’s an Aladin’s Cave of hardware items, all beautifully presented, each with every dimension you could possibly want to see. 3 full hours later I have 11 very useful items in my shopping basket, including several that will cover parts needed for rebuilding the furling motors. I now have my first prices from Selden on that one, via a UK dealer.
Taking just one part as an example, a large roller bearing, Selden price: GBP 164; McMaster price: U$ 63. One-third the price! Knowing I can return items, I ordered several that had the exact specs I need. I’ll compare when they arrive. And …. at long last, I found a place that sells stainless steel ball bearings for the hydraulic quick connects. These beautiful but expensive little beasts are all made from stainless steel EXCEPT the quick-connect latching balls which are of plain steel. And guess what happens after the first seawater wave goes into them? Utter corrosion to the point you cannot un-connect them. Just what are some of these design engineers smokin’ ?

Last job of the day: After the usual days and days tussle with GoPro support, they have finally agreed to replace the Hero8 camera whose date and time has become frozen. This will be the 3rd of 3 GoPro we have had replaced under warranty. Up until Hero5 model they were robust little cameras. But since then we have gradually lost confidence in them. I’d hope to get money back on this one, not a replacement camera, but GoPro seems to be conveniently deaf on that request. Never ever again will we buy another GoPro. And for those with shares in the company, I suggest you sell them, because I’m sure they are on the way down now that I’m out!

Thanks to McMast-Carr and GoPro, my planned early night ends at passed midnight. Oh, and it was US election day today. But in the boat yard you wouldn’t know it. It will be interesting to see the results tomorrow.