Our initial plan to work through the winter was not as productive as we thought it would be. The boat is dry docked in Portland, ME so it is pretty hard for me to get up there. We probably only had 4 or 5 solid days of work. Finally, this past weekend we had a few good days to dedicate to the boat and make some solid forward progress.
We have still been dismantling more than creating, but we are starting to wrap up things that need to be taken apart. Here are some of the big projects that are happening right now:
Making Pamplemousse seaworthy ——————–
We need to get her in the water soon, here are the things that need to happen to do that: track/close through-hulls, fix the broken trim on the prow, rewire, redo standing rigging, put up mast, put up mizzen mast, wire and test engine, charge batteries, fix the bilge pump situation.
Electronics ——————————————–
This part is my forte. I am an electrical engineer, and I have been dreaming of doing an off grid/homestead-y power system for years. We want to do solar, 115V AC, air conditioning, refrigerator, the whole nine yards. The whole plans might justify a whole separate post soon. For now my time has been spent undoing the rats nest of wires from 30 years of misunderstandings, neglect, and technical advancements. I am tracking each and every wire that runs through the boat, labeling them, and pulling out the fossils of decades-old subsystems that don’t exist any more. As much as possible I am leaving in wires that are in good condition. The “taking stuff out” phase is almost done, and we are just about ready to start putting stuff in! The first things are running some wires for new strip lighting in the shelves and around the ceiling, and plentiful AC outlets. Once I get these done Jono can really get cooking on the interior. I still left the bilge and engine hooked up so she can go in the water.
Plumbing ———————————————–
This one is still a little bit of a mystery in some regards. We have two 35 gal. freshwater tanks, one under each bench in the cabin. Each has a filling hose directly above it on the deck. There is another filling hose on the starboard side of the bow that is not used for anything. Don’t fill this!! It just goes to and empty hose that splits into the V-berth and the head. We can’t figure out what this was used for. The water tanks connect to a single water pump under the sink, the other side of which connects to the faucets in the galley and the head. There should also be a pump in the bow (perhaps under the V-berth) from a saltwater intake to the washdown hose on the bow. Currently, however, this through hull is used as a shower drain, which doesn’t make sense as it is under the water line. Our current plan is to drain the shower into the bilge (risky, but we’ll be careful and have a good drain filter), and use the through-hull for a saltwater intake as we believe it was intended. Perhaps we will also add a freshwater hose on the deck for some outdoor showers etc. We have a hot water heater, that we are deciding to pretend does not exist for the time being.
Bilge —————————————————–
The float switch is broken, and the manual bilge is disconnected. These should be easy fixes, but just more things on the list. We spent an hour or so cleaning out the bilge too, with some bilge cleaner and a brush.
Interior —————————————————
Jono is redoing the ceiling with some beadboard, and has also taken out a lot of trim and refinished it, assuredly there were plenty of challenges here that I will let him write about! We are also slightly reconfiguring the galley to make space for my electronics panel and inverter — moving the kitchen drawers to the other side of the cabinet.
Trim ——————————————————
The deck rails, as well as the prow trim under the anchor guard need to be replaced. Everything has been sealed and caulked so many times that taking things off is a massive headache.
Winches ————————————————–
The self tailing winches are absolutely gorgeous but were not functional when we bought the boat. Jono cleaned, greased, and rebuilt them! Perhaps he has some photos I can attach. (added!)
Pamplemousse 