We've come a long way

I moved aboard Eolian in December of 1997, while Jane stayed in Spokane, as our youngest son had not yet graduated from high school. She joined me at the end of the summer of 1998 after he was settled in at the University of Washington. Between those two times, I was a boat bachelor. It was an ideal time to be a bachelor, as there was more than plenty to do to get Eolian up to snuff. You can even see the way I innocuously reported the Hot Diesel incident - I didn't want to spook Jane away from moving aboard.

We got a decent price for Eolian, but that was because I was willing to invest a lot of time in bringing her up to where we wanted her. So, during that time period, I kept myself busy, and lived in a complete mess while I worked. Here are some of the notes I made then:

Mon, 8 Dec 1997

• All but one fluorescent lite now work. There were spare bulbs under the sink in the fwd head. I had to replace 3 switches. The one which could not be resurrected is the one in the office. It had failed due to a water leak in the porthole directly above it.
• The deck leak at the Nav station has been fixed - it was the window, where the silicone rubber caulk had cracked (!).
• The water leak at the office has been temporarily repaired. The porthole needs to be replaced. In fact, the 4 forward portlights need to be replaced (apparently the 4 aft ones already have been).
• I started with the bilge blower, but ran out of daylight and dry weather. The blower is now securely mounted, but still needs to be wired in its new position. The inlet hose needs to be hooked up to the other deck vent on the other side of the stern too. Not sure how big a job this will be, or why it has failed.
• Discovered the actual presence of diesel in the starboard water tank. I put some dish soap into the tank and refilled it to try to wash down all the walls of the tank. I will use this tank only for washing dishes (natch!) and for showering. The port tank is clean and fine (it is the one we had been using since buying the boat).
• Checked out the water and holding tank capacity gauges. They are pneumatic, and it may be possible to resurrect them. I need some small-bore tubing to test this hypothesis...
• Pulled apart the starboard running light. Gooped up with some kind of cement (??!?), and victim of corrosion. Will try to resurrect using WD40. Found spare parts for running lites under dinette.
• Found a broken wire going into the mast at the mast step. Don't know what it is for...

Fri, Dec 12, 1997

• Removed the old, non-functional burglar alarm and all associated wiring
• Discovered that one of the floor timbers requires shimming. This will eliminate a lot of the floor squeaking, once it is done.
• Still getting "pre-soaped" water out of the starboard tank. All cooking water is currently being brought on board in either pans or the tea kettle
• Discovered that the boat has a galvanic isolator. This is a device which keeps our zincs from trying to protect all boats on the common AC ground at the dock.
• Determined that the problem with the hard-closing refer door can probably be cured by shimming of the hinge mount points
• Our next-door neighbor has moved, taking his water hose with him. I must now get a water hose in order to be able to fill the tanks. Luckily, I had just refilled them.
• Discovered that the powerline noise filter wired into the satnav power feed wiring was just put in by twisting the (bare!) wires together. This became visible as I slowly removed abandoned wiring from outboard of the nav station. I will mount (!) the isolator in the wiring cabinet under the nav station, and wire it properly.
• Discovered that the wiring to the fuel tank senders is simply disconnected. Now, the 64 dollar question... should I just reconnect it? Was it disconnected for a purpose?
• Discovered that virtually all of the battery hold-down straps need to be either replaced or re-anchored or both.

Fri, Dec 19, 1997

• Completed installation of the telephone wiring. The outlet is in the office.
• Completed installation of the bilge blower. Once started, it seemed to not be moving much air. My initial thought was that something was in the hose. When I started tracing the hose in the bilge, however, I found a big ball of duct tape on its end which had essentiall sealed itself to a smooth section of the bilge. When I pulled it away, big-time air movement began! I removed the duct tape and routed the hose differently so that it won't attach itself to anything. I need to permanently attach it to something so that can't flop around while under way.
  
  By the way, running it has made a significant difference in the interior odor.
• Discovered that the 12V breaker labeled "Battery Charger" does not control anything associated with the battery charger. There is a wire attached to it tho...
  
  This makes the third "mystery circuit" on board. The first is the (now detached) 110v inlet at the stern, and the second is the circuit labeled "Comb." with its own funky switch on the panel. Each of these needs to be traced out and disconnected, labeled, re-used, or whatever is appropriate.
• Repaired the Port side running light. Will have to replace the starboard side - too far gone into corrosion. Replacement parts are on board.
• Cured another deck leak at one of the deck scuppers directly above the galley. I suspect at least two more of these, but need rain (!) to confirm.
• Replaced the spring hold-opens on the main salon butterfly hatch. Tried leaving it uncovered in the rain for additional light, but too much of the wood in it is uncoated, so water seeps through it too much. Needs varnish.
• Repaired the broken wooden edges on several drawers/cabinet doors. Amazingly, the owner had saved almost all of the pieces which had broken off.
• Purchased and installed a telephone. Followed Erica's recommendation and made it a radio phone (for only $29!). It is on the salon side of the opening dividing the office from the salon. Called US West for service.

Jan 5, 1998

• Removed the funky switch labeled "Comb." from the power panel. It was apparently associated with the air conditioner.
• Pulled tha AC ammeter. It had begun to fail (dangerous condition!!!) and was actually melting! I currently have the two wires bolted together so as to continue to have AC power. A new ammeter is on order from Fisheries Supply.
• Installed a 1 gallon accumulator tank for the water supply. This keeps the water pump from running all the time when a faucet is opened. It fills the same function that a pressure tank on a water well system does. It is immediately above the water heater under the aft dinette seat. I thought that this was a good place, since the space was unused and unusable.
• Disassembled the port center hawser pipe and found yet another leak site. Rebedded it in silicone. Now I should check the starboard side.
• I need to put in a switch bank to cover the heater, the heater fan, the heater oil pump, and the washdown pump. BTW, all of these things are powered from the port lighting circuit, via an 18 gauge wire which is fused at 15 amps (!). The wire should be replaced, and perhaps a different breaker used. With the removal of the abandoned circuits, there are now some spares...

We've come a long way