Maintenance Log, 2004

Maintained by James Williams and Deborah Stern, third owners.

Biweekly - Perkins 4-108 engine, run in gear at 2200 RPM, 15-30 minutes, sailing or not.

Monthly - Bottom cleaning and zinc inspection (and renewal if necessary), by Fastbottoms, Alameda, CA.

1/4 – Lightly sanded teak cap-rail and applied one coat of Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss thinned to about a 40% consistency as a protective coating until we can completely sand and apply fresh varnish when warm weather returns.

1/10-1/11 – Maintenance weekend:

Engine. 1) Changed oil and filter twice, running engine about 40 minutes between changes. Cleaned oil up considerably, but will do a third change soon. 2) Traced minor fuel leak to sleeve nut connection from fuel line to high-pressure pump, tightened sleeve nut and leak seems to have stopped. Will keep an eye on it over the next few weeks. 3) Checked and cleaned raw water intake strainer. Replaced raw water intake impeller – appear to have done this just in time, as almost all the blades were cracked, a couple quite badly.

Batteries. Topped off – only a couple of cells seemed to have lost water.

Rigging. At the pulpit, added a new guide block to roller furling system so that furling line enters furling drum at a ninety-degree angle – hope this will stop overlapping of the furling line. Cleaned up and whipped line ends on three halyards and roller furling line. Checked and adjusted cotter pins on shrouds.

Plumbing. Pumped and rinsed out head holding tank. Most of the head smells built up during use by previous owners is gone. Still have to clean macerator.


1/18 – One of four bolts supporting a mid-ship stanchion on the starboard side broke loose, rusted through. Removed and re-bedded the stanchion, replacing the two outside bolts. Removed docking marks from hull, thoroughly scrubbed non-skid, and removed some debris from deep in the bilge.

2/15 – Waxed hull with Starbrite Marine Teflon Polish (1st coat – second to be applied within 60 days).

3/2 – New UK Silver Tape Mainsail and UK 95% Silver Tape Jib installed (see UK Sailmaker invoice #1923, dated 2/25/04).

3/6 – Replaced insulation and added weather stripping on icebox doors. Fit icebox with a blanket made of bubble-wrap insulation, which covers the ice in the bottom half of box. Discovered that drain hose leaks, probably at fitting. We’ll have to either remove the galley counters to lift out the icebox for repair or cut a door into the counter wall to gain access.

3/7 – Pumped 10 gallons of clean water with Raritan K.O. through macerator and overboard to clean the macerator. Seems to have worked, as lingering smells disappeared.

3/13 – Replaced tensioning bolt and nut on alternator; old one was stripped and the nut had worked its way off the bolt. Tightened bolts on forward starboard motor mount bracket to block – only one of three was tight.

3/14 – Discovered what appears to be leaking of “rusty” water from raw water intake impeller unit after sail on Saturday; leaking was only from the one day. Tightened bolts on plate bolting unit to block – three of four were up to a turn loose. After sailing and motoring approximately two hours today, the leak continued but not as badly as the day before. Will check out with a couple of sources before proceeding to fix. Topped off fuel, which was down to about a half a tank; added bio-guard and diesel additive and filled with 25+ gallons of diesel.

3/19 – Removed raw water intake pump and took into Brian Lowe at British Marine to have the seals replaced. Raw water strainer: disassembled, cleaned, and installed new gaskets.

3/20-21 – Miscellaneous maintenance weekend:

Determined that leakage from icebox was probably coming through old caulking at drain plug in bottom of the box, then running down the outside of the drain hose. Removed drain plug on icebox, and cleaned away old caulking using acetone for final cleaning. Lost hose temporarily, but finally used a coat hanger as a guide (from the icebox drain hole to the hose entry hole at the bottom of the icebox insulation box) to push drain hose back up through the drain hole. Then reinserted plug end and caulked in place using Life Caulk.

Installed hook and eye to hold open head door.

Applied second wax coat to hull using Starbrite Marine Teflon Polish. Applied initial coat to topside and cockpit fiberglass (second coat to be applied within 60 days).

3/24 – Picked up rebuilt Sherwood G65 raw water pump (new bearings, cam, seal, and gasket) from British Marine and installed on engine. Noticed tiny amount of water coming through weep holes in pump shaft. Called British Marine, and Brian Lowe recommended running it for two hours or so, which should cause the seal to seat properly thereby ending the leaking. If it still has water coming through the weep holes after this, we’ll have to remove the pump again and take it in to determine why the leak is occurring.

3/28 – Changed oil and filter after observing oil pressure was a bit elevated (about 70 psi).

3/29 – After running engine for two hours over the weekend and still having water leaking through the weep holes on the raw water pump, we removed the pump and took it into British Marine. Brian Lowe decided we should put in a new shaft – scoring on the old one may be contributing to the leaking – and we discovered a small nick in the pump wall where the seal sits. Lowe is going to put in the new shaft, another new seal (inserted past the nick in the wall), and then test it. Will have it back in a week.

4/9 – Picked up water pump and installed. Second time, it went very easily – Deb managed to line up the spline and shaft in two tries! In checking slight dripping from the water strainer, we discovered the drain plug bolt was badly corroded. Removed the strainer and discovered the 5/16” screw threads had worn away. Tapped new 3/8” screw threads and installed a new stainless bolt with o-ring. Reinstalled strainer and tested water system for leaks – problem solved.

4/16 – Test sail with UK sail maker Sylvain Barrielle. Went over sail tuning and agreed that a protective patch had to be added to genoa to protect it from the bow pulpit.

4/30-5/2 and 5/4 – Scraped, sanded, and spot varnished worn sections of teak handrails, companion way trim, and starboard cap-rail. Put on first and second coats of varnish to handrails and companion way teak.

5/7-5/9, 5/11, and 5/14-5/16 – Scraped, sanded, and spot varnished worn sections of port cap-rail. Applied third, fourth, fifth, and sixth coats of varnish to handrails and companion way teak, and put on second and third coats on starboard cap-rail and first and second coats on port cap-rail.

5/29 – Spot scraped, sanded and varnished portions of the aft port and stern cap-railss.

6/1 – After mishap with the reefing system on 5/31, in which the reefing cringle came loose from the reefing hook and the main sail tore at a reefing tie off point, we decided to take the sail to Rooster Sails for repair. Since the sail was off the boom, we disconnected the boom from the mast and took the gooseneck swivel (toggle) to Svendsen’s Metal Shop for repair or replacement. We realized one of the problems was that the reefing hooks welded to the swivel were not positioned correctly, which made the cringle slipping off a real continuing threat. After discussion with Chris at the metal shop and doing some careful measuring of the swivel piece, we decided to just rebuild the piece with new hooks, but we also decided that we could try reefing with our existing Cunningham (a bit of tackle in storage that we had been ignoring). We also got a general price on a new boom: about $2,200 from the mast back, including a slab reefing system. We’ll be considering this in the future, but for now it’s just getting the basic repairs done.

Also, discovered that we had pumped just a bit too much into the head, and messy and very smelly ooze seeped out through the holding tank inspection hole and into the holding tank compartment. We spent a couple of hours cleaning up the mess, pumping out the tank and running clean water through it, spraying out the holding tank compartment, putting Lysol almost everywhere, and then cleaning the bilge. A terrible mess, indeed, but we now know for sure how much our holding tank will take: 10 gallons of water for flushing and the equivalent amount of waste. Anymore and it would probably overflow.

6/4 – Picked up gooseneck toggle from Svendsen’s Metal Shop. They did a super job with it, taking off the old hooks and welding on new ones in the proper position, and polishing out the entire piece – like a mirror, you could comb your hair in it. Although our sail wasn’t ready, we returned to the boat and remounted the boom with the new gooseneck toggle. .... No telltale signs of the head problems of a week before. She cleaned up beautifully.

6/6 – Deb measured out some curtains for the V-berth side compartments. Mock-ups looked nice, so we’re going ahead with the final curtains.

6/11-12 – Picked up repaired sail from Rooster Sails, washed off some dirt smudges on it, and installed on boat. Tested reefing in the slip and decided that we’d use the Cunningham for the second reef so we won’t have to remove the sail track stopper. Installed curtains in V-berth side compartments.

7/12 – Replaced rubber tips on swim ladder.

7/17 – Got fuel (a little over a half-tank) and added biograde and diesel fuel jet cleaner, and pumped head.

7/23-25 – Met with Rob Bastress, Marine Outfitters, and planned installation of windlass. In preparation this month we’ve purchased 35 lb. Delta anchor, Lofrans Project 1000 windlass, and 150 ft. 5/16” HT anchor chain (see entries for 8/27, 9/22, and 12/1/04).

Also worked on where we want to install hardware for portable Forespar engine hoist and Edson outboard motor holder. Changed oil and filter and added Engine Protector from Art. Polished stainless steel and interior brass, and did some other miscellaneous clean-up maintenance.

7/31 – Pumped head – it looks as though we’ve finally gotten it really clean. Perhaps need to pump some cleaner through the macerator one more time to eliminate any lingering odors, but it’s as good as it’s ever been. Removed the Danforth anchor, chain, and rode from locker in preparation for remodeling the anchor locker and installing the windlass.

8/27 – We had hoped to return from travels to find the windlass project completed. Alas, this is a boat, and it has its own schedule. The anchor locker was deepened by twelve inches. In doing so the empty void beneath the old locker was opened, only to discover that water had been leaking down in to it along the waste pump hose and head holding tank vent line. Because the waste pump hose and vent line both reached the tank under the V-berth through a hole drilled in the bulkhead that was four or five inches above the bottom of the bulkhead itself, a rancid build up of water had been sloshing about there for perhaps fifteen years – since the holding tank had been installed. Since the boat was built in 1980, before holding tanks were required, the whole holding tank set-up was a retrofit. And, it was a poor one. So, with this unearthed, we cleaned up the rotting bulkhead wood as good as possible, applied resin over it, and decided to replace the holding tank as well as the vent line and discharge hose. We also discovered that the macerator was at the end of its life, which we also decided to replace along with related hoses. Estimate three more weeks before the job is done.

9/22 – Revised estimate to complete work on windlass/holding tank project to early October. We don’t expect it to be completed before the end of November!

10/12-11/17 – Removed old varnish finish on cap-rails with heat gun and removed and cleaned hardware (28 hours). Drilled out six plugs, reset screws, and fitted new plugs. Filled gap on both sides at the top of the cap-rails. Removed broken screw and plugged. Taped and sanded with #80, #120, and #180 paper. Applied two coats of sealer – first coat 100% Penetrol; sanded and applied second coat 50% Penetrol and 50% Epifanes High Gloss Varnish – and untapped (18 hours). Retaped, sanded, and applied 1st coat of Epifanes High Gloss Varnish (2 ½ hours). Sanded with #320 paper and applied 2nd coat of varnish (3 ½ hours); applied four more coats of varnish, sanding between each coat. Removed tape and reinstalled hardware; sealed gap between hull and cap rail at starboard stern corner. Materials purchased: 20 pieces #80, 15 pieces #120, 15 pieces #180, and 65 pieces #320 sandpaper; 1½ quarts varnish, 1 quart Penetrol, 1 small can paint thinner, 7 tack clothes, and brush cleaner. Work performed by Any Neuvecelle-Buckles (invoices dated 10/30/04 and 11/30/04).

11/8-12 – Removed old leather wheel covering and stitched on new one.

12/1 – Installation of the new holding tank, macerator, and windlass completed. The quality of Rob’s work is superb; in the end, the wait, though frustrating, was worth it. Windlass required cutting out and lowering anchor locker floor, building and glassing in shelf to hold windlass, running cables, installing and wiring control box and deck switches, designing and constructing stainless steel chain guide with roller, modifying and glassing anchor locker lid, and installing Lofrans Project 1000 windlass. New holding tank and macerator project required removing old waste hoses, and, while anchor locker was under construction, repairing and cutting away bulkhead for drainage and re-cutting passages for head vent hose and waste pump out hose and building standpipe to guide waste hose up through anchor locker; building frame to hold new 20 gallon holding tank, attaching hoses to new holding tank, replacing old macerator with new, wiring up macerator and install BP switch. (See invoice dated 12/4/04.)

Also removed forward spinnaker pole bracket from deck, and arranged to store spinnaker pole indefinitely at Encinal Yacht Club. Pole is now hung on hooks in the EYC boat storage facility.