Maintenance Log for Syzygy

Our engine overheats after we run it for a while (not right away), indicating reduced (not absent) cooling capacity.  The sea water strainer is clean, we scrubbed the bottom to make sure the strainer mounted over the through-hull is clear, and replaced the impeller.  The next step for us is to replace clogged hoses and clean the transmission oil cooler, engine oil cooler, and heat exchanger.  I purchased muriatic acid at a local hardware store and jon did the deed of removing the heat exchanger, flushing with water, then soaking in acid, and flushing with water.  He could tell that it made a difference just by looking at it.  He is currently working on the hoses and other elements, so I can’t report on the result yet.

On the starboard side, the back of the port settee forms a short retaining wall in front of the bottom row of books, and this piece is hinged to fold down in order to access the books.  The port side was not constructed this way, and we have spent the past year being annoyed whenever we try to pull our bins in and out of that storage spot.  So jonny took the jig saw to it and used our remaining two sections of hinge scavenged from the old table to hinge it.  A barrel latch will be installed on each end to secure it.  Eventually I think we will build some shelves up in that space to better utilize it.

This was a problem of our own making.  First we painted the bilge, including the edges against which the cabin sole board edges rest, which reduced the clearance enough to make it difficult to get the boards in and out.  Then we sanded the edges down to make them fit.  Then the raw wood on the edges, which we didn’t treat with anything, absorbed water and swelled, making it even harder to get them in and out.

Finally yesterday, using our latest fantastic new tool toy (Ryobi 3×21 belt sander–flat topped so you can flip it upside down and use it as a grinder) we sanded down the edges properly, and also the bottoms while we were at it, and coated all of those surfaces with penetrating epoxy.  (we used Smiths Penetrating Epoxy, purchased at our local chandlery Svendsens in Alameda–for those who don’t know, the penetrating epoxy is as far as I can tell just epoxy extremely thinned down with volatile solvents, so that it is thin enough to soak into things, the solvent evaporates off and the epoxy cures over the course of a day or so).

Eventually, we will add latches to these boards so they won’t fall out when we’re upside down.

It is unforgiveable that I didn’t do this long ago–all it would have taken would be to drop a wrench onto the batteries just once and some really bad shit would have gone down–and I’m constantly working with screwdrivers and wrenches over the batteries.

I made covers out of an extra sheet of 3/8″ clear acrylic that we had.  I cut out the pieces of acrylic with the cutoff blade on the grinder, and it is DEFINITELY the best way to do it among the tools we have.  I’ve tried using the jig saw and the fein tool, and both are annoying and inferior.  I glued a few tabs around the edges to seat the cover on properly with methylene chloride–TAP plastics sells it for just this purpose.

It is a convenient feature for the covers to be clear so we can what’s going on with the batteries.  Also,  the covers now form a great table for placing tools while working in the engine room .

The covers remain unfinished–I stopped messing with them when I realized that when we put the new batteries in they will need to be modified.

Due diligence.  Found a battery (2 AAs) operated one for $20 from Ace hardware.  Jonny mounted it up underneath the nav table in the corner where our knees don’t reach.  We briefly looked into whether CO rises or falls–mount at the ceiling or floor–and discovered that it is the same density, so it will rise if it’s hotter, fall if it’s cooler, so it doesn’t matter where you mount the detector.  We chose to mount it under the nav table, up in the corner.

I had already remounted the furnace outboard and forward of its old spot a few extra inches to gain us additional space in the engine room (this happened while it already was removed to access the jib car track and stanchions to rebed them).  While I was at it, I partially dismantled the furnace, satisfying myself that it was in pristine condition (how rare!) and needed no immediate attention from me.

Some short lengths of ductwork were missing: the piece through the wet locker and the piece underneath the nav seat.  I replaced the one in the wet locker with the common, expanding type available at home depot.  I wasn’t excited about the durability of it, but I wrapped it with a ton of foam insulation and then taped it all over with the metal duct tape to strengthen it.  The section underneath the seat had to be stronger (tools get dumped on it) so I found a double wall scrap piece from Urban Ore down the street from us (a great source for obtaining other people’s garbage). The fitting that joined the duct to the vent was missing, so I fabricated one out of a section of single wall metal duct that was flexible enough to bend into the shape I wanted with pliers (and extensive shaping with the cutoff blade).

The section through the wet locker still gets too hot to touch and scares me, but I don’t think it’s dangerous.  I wrapped the entire exhaust section with fiberglass tape designed for the purpose (previously just the last two feet were wrapped with it) and secured it with stainless seizing wire so it wouldn’t work loose.

The last thing I have to do is install a tiny little fuel filter in the fuel line–I found one that is meant for this purpose in the spares bin and I think it’s a good idea.  Not to mention I’d rather store it in usage in the fuel line than in a bucket in our locker.

First we moved the bar for hanging clothes a few inches inboard and up, in order to maximize the empty space behind and below.  Then Jonny built a box/shelf for the bottom and a few shelves above that, designed at a height that will accomodate our favorite brand of rubbermaid storage bin.

To install the forward portlight, the dorade box had to be removed.  After taking out the four screws that secure the box onto two mounting strips, we were able to clearly note that the mounting strips were completely rotten and soggy.  The heads of all the screws securing the mounting strips to the deck broke right off, and the mounting strip pulled right off of the screws.  We drilled all new holes in the deck and filled them all with thickened epoxy to serve as sealed mounting points for the new strips, which will be teak treated with multiple coats of penetrating epoxy.

My god there is so much through the deck that needs to be rebedded.  Just another few to add to the list.  Jonny had a great time climbing down and through the lazarette to reach all of the nuts on the starboard side (we haven’t attacked the lazarette locker redo as of yet).

In the process of removing the pushpit the nav lights got drilled through, so there is an extra splice right beneath the deck, the purpose of which will probably confuse future owners.

When dinghying back to the boat in the dark after a day on land, it is difficult to figure out which boat is yours in a crowded anchorage.  With these reflective strips two-thirds of the way up the mast, one of our headlamps will be able to illuminate it from some distance.

Credit goes to another for this brilliant idea–I just wish I could remember which book I read it in.  Bud Budworth also did it on Tara, Valiant 40 hull #117; I was fortunate enough to hang out with him on his boat in ventura and talk shop a few months ago.

This is an unconventional one!  No one does this!  It’s a terrible place for a portlight!

But it’s also a fantastic place for a portlight.  Conventional wisdom says that it’s a bad location because waves washing over the bow will pummel the window, either breaking it or causing it to leak at the least.  But we are so confident in our portlight design (1/2″ thick acrylic 6″ x 16″ hole, through-bolted with 12 bolts and thoroughly sealed with silicon) that we went ahead and did it.

Not only does it let in a significant amount of light, but it lets us see up onto the foredeck to check out what’s going on.  I’m convinced that it’s bombproof and I’m glad for our choice.

Be sure to check out the post about our original post about added portlights, where I detail the whole process.

A combination wind/tow generator came with the boat.  It was unmarked and I had some difficulty in finding out what it was.  It is a "Redwing" generator made by Downwind Marine in San Diego circa 2001.  A guy named Chris at Downwind Marine was enormously helpful in providing detailed answers to my most detailed questions–I believe he may have been the one who designed and built them.  (They aren’t building them anymore, he said, because the guy who made the blades stopped, and the increasing difficulty of permanent magnet DC generators). The generator is super heavy, and super overbuilt, to my immense enjoyment.  I dismantled it in order to check the brushes and potentially rewire it (the cord was looking manky).  I called Chris in order to figure out a detail of dismantling it: the cylindrical fitting was corroded to the shaft and I needed to know whether the fitting was threaded onto the shaft.  Chris told me that it is not threaded onto the shaft and moreover that a 1/2" bolt can be threaded into the end of the fitting in order to conveniently press it off the shaft.  Even with this aid, I still needed to put a long extension pipe on the socket wrench in order to get the torque to remove it.  This removed, I could access the interior of the generator to check the brushes (fine for now) and to clean the commutator, etc. The only thing that remains is finding the other parts that are necessary to rig it up as a tow generator–I know they’re on the boat somewhere but I sure as hell don’t know where.

Jonny built a plywood platform that slides out in tracks mounted on the bulkheads.  It slides out to the mast, and greatly increases the area of the port settee for sleeping.  The plywood is 3/4″ thick and the tracks are pieces of 1″x1″, above and below the plywood, and secured with screws every ~3″.  The most important aspect is the trim piece on the leading edge.  We used the same piece that was on the settee.  It needs to be strong, in order to provide rigidity to that edge.  Ours is still a little wobbly, but I think that if we put a half dozen more screws up into the trim from the bottom (right now it is only screwed in through the front) it will fix it.

The design was based on notes gleaned from the Valiant Owner’s Group, and a huge thanks to all who gave advice on that topic.  It was a reasonably easy job and is a HUGE improvement in the sleeping comfort in the salon.

There is only one type of faucet that is available for use with manual water pumps, so far as I can tell.  And that faucet was too short to extend into our sink in a convenient way–it barely hung over the edge, making it frustrating to wash pots, fill pots, etc.  So we made our own out of pieces of copper tubing which was easy to bend, and painstakingly figured out a way to seal and mount it in the countertop in a way that would allow them to swivel. The result is not pretty, I’m not going to lie.  But it is a big improvement in function, and seems to work perfectly well so far.  We made one for both our fresh and salt water pumps.

Notice the extremely convenient soap dispenser that we also added.

We already had a foot pump for freshwater, we wanted a second one for pumping seawater while on passage (i.e. when the seawater is clean enough to use for something–we won’t be using marina water for anything!) in order to conserve freshwater.  There wasn’t enough room in the base of the cabinet, so we had to move the freshwater pump (which we had already replaced previously) over a few inches. The pumps come in left and right handed versions (hoses come off either the right or the left side)–we chose the very common Gusher Mk3 model.  I purchased one of each, so that the hoses can come off of each pump towards the center of the cabinet–otherwise there’s no way in hell we would have been able to get the hoses on or off. The faucet for the seawater pump replaced the pressure water faucet (a common household type).  We don’t plan on using the pressure water at all, so instead of drilling another hole through the countertop and creating a forest of faucets, we used the existing hole and cleared some space while we were at it.

The original salon table was a 40lb monstrosity that was permanently attached between the mast and the forward bulkhead of the salon.  It had leaves on each side that would fold up; in this fully activated postion the table was so large that one couldn’t walk around it, and even sliding in the seat to be at the table was challenging.  Even with the leaves down, the large wooden box in the middle of the boat took up all the space.

Jonny removed the old table and salvaged pieces of it to fabricate a folding table that stows upright against the bulkhead.  This was not an entirely original idea: most Valiants shipped with tables like this.  Our situation was slightly complicated by the fact that the distance between the mast and bulkhead is about 7″ greater than the distance available to stow it vertically against the wall, so Jonny constructed a solid platform mounted on the bulkhead that extends into the cabin sufficiently to allow the table to fold up.  The resulting table is extremely solid, and the greatly increased space and convenience have made this one of our favorite improvements.

I drew up a pattern and had TAP plastic (we are very fortunate to have one right down the road from us in El Cerrito) make us four 8" x 18" portlights out of 1/2" acrylic, with 2" radius rounded corners, a half-bevel edge all around, and a ton of screw holes.  The portlights overlapped the cabintop by an inch all around, so the actual size of the cutout was 6" x 16".  We cut the holes in the cabintop using a hole saw followed by the cutoff blade on the grinder followed by the Fein tool.  We dug out the balsa core to a 1" depth all around the cutout, then filled it with thickened epoxy.  I stopped by a local lumber yard and collected a brown paper bag of sawdust from under one of their saws, and I used this sawdust as filler for the epoxy–it was a hell of a lot cheaper than the West System stuff.  Although I did have to resort to the West System filler for the top gap, because the sawdust stuff wasn’t sticky enough, it would fall out of the top. After the epoxy cured, I ground it off fair, then used Quik Fair to fair it smooth.  After the quik fair cured I sanded it smooth, then we put a couple layers of paint on it.  We mounted the portlights with #10 machine screws, through-bolted.  I had TAP plastics drill the holes in the acrylic oversized, so that there is room for expansion without the acrylic cracking.  We mounted the acrylic with a washer (one each bolt) between the acrylic and the cabintop, to leave room for the silicon so it wouldn’t all squeeze out. Finishing the inside–keeping it pretty-was the hardest part.  The layers of our coachroof were as follows, from the outside in: fiberglass-balsa core-fiberglass-airgap-veneered trim plywood.  The whole thickness was ~2-1/4".  I did the trim in two pieces: first a ring made out of 18" wide 5/16" thick plank of white oak that is usually used for flooring.  Some great guys at the set building studio at work cut the frame out of it for me, and I never would have been able to keep it looking good myself, so I owe them big time.  Then I used 2" wide mahogany veneer that I bought from MacBeath’s hardwood nearby for the inside surface.  I put a pretty dark stain followed by three coats of polyurethane on all of it.  The trim ring was glued in place with wood glue, clamped with about 10 a-clamps from home depot.  The veneer has glue on the back already; you use an iron to iron the veneer on. The resulting portlights are completely bomber, and still look pretty good on the inside.  We could have used fewer bolts, but I don’t regret our design.  I would do the same thing again. Jonny has some GREAT videos (1, 2, 3) of the process.