Day 105 Out with the old, but we don't have the new

Today, they took out the old transmission.  Took all morning to get it leveraged out a long with four big guys.  Out she came and over came the "cherry picker" and over she went.  The new one "should" be here in about ten days.  Sure hope so.  Meanwhile, they will be changing the water lines as vibration has caused a severe amount of chafe in them.  The diesel line to our heater is being replaced as it isn't up to "code".  Not really sure what code is but they sure are finding a lot that isn't up to it.  As always--better safe than sunk.  A broken water hose to the engine would let in enough water to quickly achieve that and a broken diesel line could quickly make us a charred hull in nothing flat.

The second alternator has been rebuilt.  They both go in tomorrow.  With the transmission men taking up most of the morning, our electrician only had a few hours to work this afternoon.  More wires and connections.   He is making progress but has revised his "job estimate" by several days.  He doesn't have a "finish" date yet.  He just keeps on working and 

muttering "why did they do that?"

The last thru hull(the wrong one they cut out) got installed today.  A beautiful piece of bronze.  It will work just fine.

The woodworker that is replacing the teak at the bow reinforced the fiberglass area that had taken a beating with lots of epoxy until it is nice and flat and hard as a rock.  The teak has arrived so he will start milling it and getting it finished so it matches the existing teak that is up there.  If you look closely at the photo, you can see a hole just below the teak.  This hole is for one of the bolts that keeps the "stem fitting" (holds the anchor as well as the genoa sail to the boat) attached to the boat.  It is now an oval and no longer round like most holes.  The stresses on the rigging as the boat was sailed caused it to enlarge so it will be filled with epoxy and re-drilled when the rigging is ready.  It's amazing what gets found when you take off hardware.

Our dodger(canvas that covers the cockpit) came back this afternoon.  All re-stitched with new zippers and seams.  Now we have a nice tight enclosure to protect us when we stick ourselves where we shouldn't be--like our trip up the coast to get here.  It was strange not having it over the past few days.

Now that most of the extra workers are done and we are back to just the electrician, I can get the last winch done.  I have already done it's twin sister so on the starboard side so there won't be any surprises.  At least I hope not.  The small bearing I ordered to replace the one I just happened to drop and brake came yesterday.  In true fashion--it is the wrong one.  I called Lewmar again and she emailed me a schematic of the winch--circa 1982.  I found the right number and place another order with one of their retailers.  Hey guess what, they don't have it in stock and will have to check with Lewmar to see if it's available(yep, it is--at least according to Lewmar when I called them) and how much it will cost.  Not like I can say no, I don't want it.

The mast is at Sea Marine for repainting.  The new set of spreaders(holds the wires off the mast when it is vertical on the boat) should be in in a few days.  They had cracks in the aluminum so they needed replacing.

Now, I know that Zephyr will be a better boat when all these men are done with her, but as for her new and improved sailing ability.  Heck how would we know.  In the year we have owned her, we have only sailed her maybe 5 miles and that was with Bill and Susan Gardner when we were on a test sail to Point Roberts.  Other than that, we have motored the heck out of her.  Either there was no wind, or it was coming from the wrong direction.  We have nothing to compare her new abilities to.  All this new rigging will make sailing her a dream and so much easier for Tracy to handle, but it is a shame we never got to experience Zephyr in her original condition.  I would have loved to see what she felt like then.  Neither of us can wait till the day we get to launch her and put her thru her paces.  I can hardly wait to push that macerator button in the forward head and not have it shut off the radar and chartplotter.  I still don't think it is supposed to do that.;-)

We worked on the propeller today.  Lots of sandpaper to get all the marine growth off her.  We started with 100 grit, then 150, then 220, the 300 and finished with 400 grit paper.  Tomorrow, we will use a special polish made for bronze.  She will be back to her beautiful self again.  Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.

We ordered new vinyl letters for Zephyr today.  The old ones kept fading as we polished her hull.  They should be here in about a week.  By then, I should have the glue residue off the stern.  I've used rubbing compound, acetone, 3M adhesive remover, goo gone and a razor blade.  All with out much success.  Tomorrow, I will try another liquid I found tonight at the hardware store.  Eventually, I'll get rid of it.

Tomorrow is another day.