Day 450, 451 & 452 Projects, projects, projects.

Where to start.  The last three days have been pretty much a blur running here and there and working on Zephyr.

The bottom paint is just about on.  We finally hired a company(Bottoms Up Marine Services-BUMS) to scrap and clean the hull as far down as possible (without hitting the fiberglass) and seal it and put on two additional coats of Interlux Micron Extra paint.  It took them several hours(even with big muscled guys) to get the paint off.  Tracy followed them around with a broom to get all the chipped paint cleaned up.  The EPA has a fit if that stuff is allowed to blow or migrate off the plastic tarp under the boat.  

The bad news is that once they took it down, we found some small blisters in the hull.   These are called "osmotic blisters".  Water seeps over time under the fiberglass and make a small or in some cases large blister in the surface.  It's not bad(no boat has ever sunk from it) but you never like to see them on your hull.  In the past, we had seen blisters but they had been between the layers of paint.  I consulted with the fiberglass men on the yard and they all said to just leave them alone.  They were very small and not that deep and "might" cause some problems in 10 to 15 years but not a big deal.  So we sealed them and painted over them and that is that.

The picture is of the Hydrovane steering assembly we're installing.  It will steer the boat while we are out sailing.  The red vane at the top is aligned with the wind and if it changes direction, it moves a rudder at the base and keeps the boat on it course.  Of course, that is as long as the wind stays in the direction you want the boat to go in.  I'll add some pictures once we get it all installed for a better idea how it is set up.  I had a backing plate made yesterday for the bottom rod.  Today, we will start drilling through the transom(stern of the boat) to install part of it and measure for the installation of the rest.

Here's a  picture is of a Max Prop--our propeller.  At the end of the prop is a "zinc".  A soft chunk of metal that the sea water erodes to stop it from attaching all the other metal on the boat.  I found on the internet, an adapter that holds a different, heavier zinc.  The brass part

screws into the same holes as the original but with a bigger zinc, it will last a lot longer and it.  The original zinc screws on with three screws.  Unfortunately, at the thinnest area of the zinc so it gets eaten through quite quickly.  The last one we installed in in Prince Rupert on our way up to Alaska after the last one fell off.  I read an article on Google about covering the thin zinc area with nail polish to stop the salt water from attacking it so quickly.  As I still have 4 more of these expensive zincs on board, I'm going to try the nail polish before I attach the new fitting.  At least if the new nail polished zincs die, we'll be in warmer water where I can dive down and replace them.  Up here, it's either haul out or hire a diver to replace them as were forced to do in Prince Rupert.  We are trying to get an electrician(not with Sea Marine) to come to Zephyr for an over all look see at her wiring.  We are still facing the reverse polarity problem that cropped up after the quick blackout last Saturday.  Better to have it done now while we have time then later. 

Brion Toss and Gordon came by and started working on the rigging to see why we still have so much problem hoisting the main sail.  They hoisted a 5 gallon water can to see how it reacts under stress with the use of the sail track(see if it is binding in the track) and with out(see if the sheave at the top of the mast is binding).  The reran the main halyard inside the mast to make it as clear a path for it as possible.  They planned to come back yesterday and go up the mast to take a look. While Tracy and I were putting the sail back in the slide on the mast, I looked at the slugs that hold the sail to the track and found that the ones that work in unison with the battens(long fiberglass rods that hold the sail out horizontally) were binding up.  The are made to slide in the track and move from side to side as well as up and down as the sail is pulled up or shifts once it is up.  Three of the four would move from side to side but not in an up and down motion.  We don't know if that may contribute to the  problem but I ordered four more--this time in stainless steel--to replace the originals.  We'll see in a few days if it makes a difference.  If not, up goes Brion or Gordon to look at the top of the mast and it's sheaves.

The kids are still having fun watching all the activity around the yard.  There is a small dog on the boat next door that yaps at them from time to time.  They just stare back and continue wandering along the deck to find a shady spot to relax in.  

I've got more parts to order and more projects to get going on so I'll quit now but be back with more later.  The work continues.