Let the games commence

So, given my window trim setback, as mentioned in a separate post, I will be working around that particular job, but more of that anon. In the meantime, while awaiting my next delivery of "oily parts" I turned my attention to the trailer. I won't be trailering the boat very much at all and when I do, it will only be over a short distance, maybe 5km.

Having said that, I was interested in reinstating the brakes on it. The trailer, like the boat, is American and so, the ball hitch is a slightly larger size than we use here in Europe. I got around this when I bought the boat, by swapping the ball on my tow bar with the "American" ball, given to me by the PO. The bolt fixings are standard, so it was just a case of undoing them and swapping the balls over. This allowed me to tow the trailer with no issues.

This was just a temporary fix as I needed the original ball fitted on my tow bar to tow my car trailer etc. So, I changed the hitch and fitted a spring loaded version, with a view to reinstating the brakes on the trailer. It's a four wheel trailer, with brakes on the front wheels.

With the spring loaded hitch, as per the original, when you brake and the car slows/stops, the trailer will want to continue forward, which pushes it against the hitch. Being spring loaded, the hitch will absorb this movement and push a rod backwards against the trailer. This rod operates a piston in the brake fluid reservoir, and so, operates the brakes, just like in your car. For reversing, a small locking tab is engaged on the hitch, to prevent the brakes from applying when you push backwards on the hitch, which would replicate the braking action.

I've included pics of how the original set up would have looked, along with my proposed set up. Importantly, I want to incorporate a hand brake of sorts into the set up, allowing the brakes on the trailer to be applied manually.

I figure that this would be a useful addition when launching. Having the ability to stop the trailer independently, without relying totally on the traction/weight/brakes of the launch vehicle. It would just need someone standing on the trailer to operate it. The trailer platform at the hitch is very stable with lots of room for this to work without any safety issues.

I might also look at a spring loaded mechanism, that would apply the brakes in the event that the trailer parted company with the towing vehicle. Another bit of head scratching to do on that one.

I'm pretty good to go, having removed the brake drums and cleaned and painted everything up. The brake cylinders on each side were in very good condition and look as though they were replaced in the not too distant past. Bearings and shafts were well greased and moving freely with no wear or rumble. I dismantled and cleaned the master cylinder, removing a lot of old crud, dried brake fluid and have it all freed up and operating freely, with no apparent leaks.

Putting it all back together may have to wait until Ophelia passes by. Here in Kerry we're bracing ourselves!

Very little left to do after that, apart from the window trim issue, but it's doable!

If the "storm season" permits, she may be getting wet before too long!!!

Thanks for that. As I've already bought and fitted the hitch, which cost a few bob being quite heavy duty, I'll work with what I have. I only have to make up a bracket to mount the reservoir to the trailer, and incorporate the "handbrake" lever in between the hitch and the piston on the reservoir. It's pretty much how the original hitch operated and I may salvage some useable parts from it.

It's just a little side job and as I won't be trailering or launching too often, I don't need anything too high tech. Just something that works.

I have a similar hitch arrangement on a towing A frame, but the actual hitch, like the one shown in your picture is much lighter.

Thanks again.

Just a little update. In between storms and hurricanes and life in general,I got a bit more done. I was happy to see that the cover I made stayed put during all the high winds. It's only held on with snap fasteners, but I had added straps at intervals around the edges, to allow it to be tied down also. Belt and braces!

I hadn't gotten around to fitting the hardware to hook the line onto, but the fasteners did the job very well.

I got my new oil pressure sender on and now the oil pressure is as it should be, and sitting steady with no fluctuations. I also got my replacement steering actuator fitted and now my steering is leak free and much smoother, with no stiffness or shudder. Having a job getting the one fixing screw out of the old choke mechanism. Still soaking in WD40 and tried it after running the engine up to operating temperature, just to see if a little heat might have helped, given that it's mounted right on top of the engine. Still no joy. Not the end of the world as the old one is working, just a bit crusty. It's something I can do at my leisure.

I started work on my windows, repairing the seals on the front cabin windows. They had shrunk over time, leaving the mitred joints at the corners open somewhat. So, not wishing to spend the $453 plus shipping I was quoted fro replacements, out came the black sikaflex.

I injected it into the joints at the bottom corners of the windows and then pushed the joints together. I wanted the best repair to be at the bottom corners, where the water tends to lodge. I filled the gaps on the top joints which need a little more filling and finishing.

I also fitted the glass to the side upper deck window. It's bedded in, held in place with clamps and some pieces of trim that I had. I just need to devise an alternative to finish them off properly. It's an outdoors type of window, so doesn't have to be totally watertight. I think maybe a visit to my nearest PVC window manufacturer will be called for.

Also did a few minor odds and ends, screwing things down, dressing things off etc. Happy enough that I wasn't in the water, despite the harbour being very sheltered. On that subject, I wondered what the general consensus is regarding fixing to a mooring buoy. Some opinions suggest using two lines, with one being connected to each cleat at each side of the bow. I was going to tie off at the eye on the bow. This is the new, heavier one that I fitted, higher up than the existing trailer/winch eye, which is down nearer the waterline. The one I fitted is a proper stainless steel one with a metal plate reinforcing plate on the inside of the hull. Any thoughts welcome.

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

I'm not a fan of using sealant type stuff on windows, it creates too much hassle in the future.
On the mooring question, I have a cleat centrally mounted on the foredeck, with a roller fairlead on the bow. I have a short-ish warp with an eye that I place on the cleat, then out through the fairlead, through the mooring and back, then tied-off on the cleat. That would work with your two cleats. If you use the new eye you fitted on the bow, how accessible is it? (Pedro, with visions of all sorts of stuff falling out of pockets while prostrate on foredeck and leaning over bow fidgeting with lines.)

Thanks for the response, although I don't know my warp from my fairlead, I'm getting there. I've included a picture of the set up on my foredeck/bow, which I think is similar to what you describe. I think I could easily sort out two mooring lines/pennants. These would be fixed individually to the buoy and would come up through either gunwale cleat and onto the cleat on the deck. I'd probably fit a small pick up buoy to them for easy retrieval/pick up.

Another picture shows my original bow eye along with the new one that I fitted higher up, which would be about 14"- 16" below the gunwale. It would be accessible for me, for the moment. So, I suppose I would have two options, but imagine that two lines would be preferable to one?

Thanks again for the input.

So, apart from mooring conundrums, I'm still working through what I feel are the last of the jobs on the boat. Back in the distant past I bought a solar panel to help keep my cranking battery sufficiently charged. Yes, I know this is Ireland and I'm being very optimistic on the sunshine front, but I don't think it can do any harm.
Anyway, back during the refitting and wiring process, I ran in the various cables and connected up the charge regulator and it has all sat redundant until now. I recycled some aluminium angle that I had and made up a mounting bracket for the solar panel and fitted it up on deck, as much out of harms way as possible. It sits at an angle to help prevent dirt etc. from building up on it. I hooked everything up and when I put my voltmeter on the output from the panel, it showed almost 18 volts, and this was on a grey overcast day! I don't know if I should believe this or not!

Anyway, the regulator itself does just that, regulating the power to/at the battery and switches off the supply from the panel, to prevent the battery from being overcharged, without interfering with the charge being supplied from the alternator.

I also revisited my window trim issue and got it sorted, thanks to reverting to "Plan A" which was to look into the possibility of using UPVC window trim. I called in to Senator Windows in Killarney and explained what I was looking for and why. A very helpful gentleman named Aron took me out back to where they had a load of old windows, which were being scrapped and dumped. He pulled some slips from them and suggested I go home and try them out to see if they'd work.

So, armed with my samples I did a bit of modifying and fettling and I'm happy to say it worked out really well. The trim in question is white which I actually prefer as opposed to the original black, and has the advantage of having a small rubber sealing strip attached. I will be returning to Killarney to collect enough trim to refit both windows. And the big bonus is the cost. It's free!!!

So, a few pics to show what I'm talking about.

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Hi Sogood,
A few reasons.
The primary one is that my method arguably is easier and much faster to secure and to cast off.

I’m not convinced from the photo that you would have sufficient room on that cleat to properly secure two mooring lines, if each had an appropriate diameter.

Under the method you are considering, both lines would have to be exactly the same length for the boat to lie easily to the mooring. If they are not the same length the pressure will be placed on one line, the boat will lie at an angle until the next gust and it will yaw.

The method that allows you sleep at night is the best one.

Many thanks for that. Much clearer now. ðŸ‘

So, got my handbrake mechanism made up and have it up and running. Just have to adjust the brake pads, but all is good. Not a lot left to do. Waiting on the window trims to finish that off and my bimini top has to be finished too. I can do that now that I have the snap fasteners that I needed.

The hull is "original" and seems to have never been antifouled. I'm thinking of getting a season out of it and then antifoul it at the end of next Summer when I'm sure it will need to be pulled out for maintenance, tweaking etc. Thoughts? While she's in the water I want to do some work on the trailer.

I also want to hook up my VHF to my chartplotter. And after that I cant think of too much that needs to be done.

Getting close to the big splash, which is a bit daunting. The Microplus was a little runabout by comparison, but slow and sure. Anyway, that's for another post.

Long time no post, but I keep surprising myself with all the little fiddly jobs I'm doing on the boat. I had a few things in mind that could easily have been done when she was actually in the water, but as the winter dragged on and on, I just kept pottering.

I finally got some old PVC window trim to dress off my windows and for the most part, it worked, but not well enough. Thanks to the fact that the internal "locking" part of the trims had to be modified to suit the profile of my window frames and the fact that the frame sections have different internal shapes/profiles, it was hard to get the same type of trim to work properly on all three sides. this meant mixing the type of trim, which messed with the angles and joints in the corners. Some parts of the trim were under constant strain and tended to pop out with vibrations from the engine .

So...........I decided this just wasn't good enough. A different approach was needed and I came up with the notion of using aluminium strips, bent at a 45 degree angle and pop riveted to the flat outside edge of the frame. I just needed something to dress off the window and to help keep the glass in situ, although it's bedded in using sikaflex.

I got the strips cut and bent at 1 and 3/4" wide, bent along the length with a 1" flat and a 3/4 angle. Measuring and cutting took a bit of fiddling, but I'm very happy with the look and functionality. I also got a piece of aluminium plate to help strengthen the swim platform at the boarding ladder. even under my scrawny frame, there was too much flexing of the platform every time I hauled myself up onto the ladder. Now it's as solid as a rock. And another little metal fabrication job was to make up a new cover for the flame arrestor. The original was scruffy and somewhat mis-shapen, so I made up a new one. I may see about removing the graphics from the original or get new ones made up. The jury's out on that.

I fitted the little cabinet on the fuse board in the head and also got my table fitted in place and is removable in seconds.

I also did some improvements to my little punt, which is ready to go back into the water.

There are lots of other tiny bits and bobs being marked off the to do list and I'm basically just waiting for the weather to settle a bit with an eye on the big splash. I have my helpers lined up and my biggest issue is to be free when the tide suits, as I'm away a fair bit during the summer with work. I can't launch here in Kenmare as the slip is inaccessible for the size of the boat, so I will be putting her in the water a little further down the Beara peninsula at Star Marine, where the slip and surrounding area is enormous. I want to get it into the water about 2-3 hours before high tide, which will give me plenty of water as well as plenty of time to do my "sea trials" before heading back up the bay to Kenmare and onto my mooring, where I'll need to have enough water, as the harbour drains almost totally at low tide.

It won't be very long now and hopefully there won't be any big surprises when she finally gets wet! Watch this space.

So, I'm still killing time, pottering about with the boat prior to the big splash. That won't happen for at least a fortnight as work will take me away from home for that long, but hey ho. Still ticking off those little jobs that seem to keep coming out of nowhere and giving myself extra work to do while I'm at it.

My latest "experiment" is what I think is properly called an "anchor pulpit". I didn't like the idea of having the anchor banging about up on the prow, apart from being a trip hazard. The prow is a big area, ideal for fishing from, away from the usual madness on deck, so the anchor had to be sorted. So I got myself a piece of scaffolding board, about 1 1/2" thick and cut it to shape, with a slot for the anchor to pass through. Then a few layers of chopped mat and today I started filling and rubbing on one side. I don't have to be too fussy around the slot, as I'll be dressing that off with aluminium, to protect it against the chain etc. I may mount a small roller on it too. I'd like to fit a small rub rail around the outside edge, still working on that. It's often a problem when you only want a very small amount of anything.........

I intend to hang the front of the anchor from the front of the pulpit, where it's out of the way and doesn't swing about. After all the filling and rubbing is done, the plan is to paint it with 2 pack.

Looks a bit like summer is finally on its way, woo hoo........................

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

If those screws are stainless, I'd first use an acrylic sealer in the holes and then screw them in - that would minimise the risk of electrolysis between the two metals. The weather locally has been awful, I have not even considered antifouling, cheered by the fact that it was F4-6 from Thursday - Sunday with a full gale on Thursday night!:mad:

Yes, I intend to do so. The pic is just a dry fit and it will be painted etc. before the trim is fitted. And yes, the weather hasn't been too kind, but it just meant that I got more finishing done than was intended! I'm looking at possibly launching around the 24th/ 25th but work may yet decide otherwise! Thanks for the input.

I gave up on posting estimated splash dates, as everything, as in life, work, tide times etc.kept conspiring against me. Last Sunday was perfect, I was finished work on Saturday, tide was perfect, friends/helpers were available, sea was calm and weather was warm. I was almost tempted to post my launch plans, but something said "no". My instincts must be getting sharper, because the weekend went totally pear shaped. Long story...……..


But this weekend it finally happened!! Not without some teething problems once out on the water, but nothing insurmountable. The important thing is, she's on her mooring in Kenmare!! Happy days. Some tweaking and I'm good to go.


A little pic to show her in her new home, and my good woman appreciates being able to see the front garden again.