Mon 3 May, HHN day 20: Outhaul piston conquered! Preparing to rebuild spreaders. Started flooring project. Reinstalled vang and gooseneck fittings onto the mast.
Feels like it’s going to be a good day today. Temperature is perfect. I even slept with the hatch open last night.
Want the good news or bad news first? Let’s start with the negative. The ONLY problem I had today was with my home-made bicycle trolly. While bringing ice blocks back to the boat (for the fridge) I heard a sudden grouching noise behind me. As I turned to look, one of the small trolly wheels overtook me …. we had thrown a wheel! Back to the design board on trolly wheel security, I think. Good job I had decided not to commercialize my design yet 😊
After my usual hearty breakfast of fruit, yogurt and granola, washed down with Yorkshire tea, I’m out borrowing Ray’s pick up again (what would I do without Ray??) to transport the spreader pieces to East Coast Marine Rigging, where they will kindly set up a space for me and give me use of their powerful rivet gun. May sound like a “nothing” task, but the logistics and manpower to get all those parts from the deck, down the 10ft ladder to the pickup, and off load at the other end is not a normal pre-morning-coffee exercise for the average retiree!
I love the East Coast Marine Rigging guys and their workshop. It’s like an Aladin’s cave for anyone interested in yacht rigging. All the tools, all the machines and so much to goggle at. I plan to come back during the next hot day and rivet all the spreaders back together in the cool.
Next task (après coffee) is to start my floorboard project. Or I should say re-start it. Like all Hallberg-Rassy’s, each floor section is secured in place with good sized wood screws. All good, unless you are a Captain like me who seems to have a passion with constantly lifting and resecuring various flooring.
With increased use, each screw gradually needs to be longer for it to still get a bite into the wooden joist below. So enough of that, I need bolts not wood screws. But bolts need nuts. How to get nuts into wooden joists?
Answer: threaded screw inserts, and I just received delivery of 100 from UK. These are screwed and glued into the joists and act as a nut, allowing bolts to secure the floor panels instead of screws.
I say re-start the project because I had previously tried with M4 size. Only to find the insert simply pulled out the joists. Today I received a new package, this time M5. Only one size up, but they are a lot meatier.
First, I drill-out the original screw hole with a 7mm bit, then apply epoxy to the threaded insert and screw it into place. With the epoxy dry, and after a quick pass with an M5 tap to clear out any excess epoxy, I manage to bolt the first test floor panel down. And down it stays, this time! Ok, looks like we have a working plan… just another ~20 floor panels and about 100 screw inserts to go, before the finish is complete!
It will be done over several evenings. Or even later, when we are cruising. But at last, I can go to sleep without nightmares of Cloudy Bay sinking and all the floorboards floating in the cabin! (if she does sink, I want her to go down with dignity, with all her flooring still secured in place).
On his lunch break, Ray comes to help me with breaking open the boom outhaul piston. I need to get into it, so I can replace all the hydraulic oil seals. So far, all attempts to remove the end of the cylinder have failed, miserably. Yesterday I got close, with my new invention to grip the cylinder end, but I needed more manpower.
This time, with Ray securing the other end of the cylinder with a big wrench and cheater-bar, what do you know… it finally yields! You could have heard me a mile away squealing with joy, like a girl 😊. As my Dad used to preach to me: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”. He used to annoy me saying that because he rarely did what he preached. But as an adult I have used his advice many times and I could hug him right now. Dad, hope you can hear me up there!
So very glad we finally triumphed over this damned thing, because the next option was to take it to Eric’s mechanic shop. While I’m certain Eirk would have managed to open it OK, I’m not sure the piston would have retained its integrity during the process. He’s a great guy, but he favors the “let’s find a bigger hammer” method. I now have a feeling the piston knew all along that Erik would be the final solution, but had been holding out till the last, just to frustrate me. I’ll show it who’s the boss tomorrow, when I rip all its seals out.
While at East Coast Marine Rigging this morning, the owner Stephen, with his usual somber wisdom, had suggested me to use a roofing material instead of HDPE plastic, as a barrier between dissimilar metals. He says the HDPE is good, but UV does affect it eventually. And I can see that. Most of the original Selden plastic (I assume HDPE) had disintegrated around the edges where it has been exposed to sunlight.
Stephen, as kind as ever, gives me some of his supply to allow me to re-secure the vang and gooseneck fittings onto the mast. It turns out to be very easy material to work with. A little bit like applying vinyl wrap, except it is thicker and more rubbery. Anyway, If Stephen says its good, he has my vote, as always. I really respect everything he says and suggests. One of those true rare professionals who always has time for you.
So, in the afternoon I apply this material to the back of the fittings and set about re-installing the fittings on the mast. Over the last days I had painted (with zinc chromate) the corrosion that I had found under the fittings, but I still add a generous layer of Lanocote on top to ensure moisture cannot get at the aluminum.
After very carefully putting the 40 M8 bolts into the 2 fittings, they are at last installed and looking like new again. Quite an upgrade from what I discovered taking them off last November. And, it’s great to actually be putting things back on the mast again – feels like I’m really over the hump on this refit.