Finally some progress is made

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We spent the weekend as usual doing work on the boat. Dirk took Monday off so that we would have as much time to finish up some of the projects that seem to be going on forever. Let's see, last post I talked about how the old pedestal guard would not accommodate the new nav pod. Well we got the new angled guard in and Saturday it took all day to tear out the old one and install the new one. We also had to put in a new top plate to account for the new pole width. Finally the new nav pod was put on and after wiring it up, believe it or not everything works. Not that I don't have faith in Dirk's work, it's just that luck seems to be working against us lately. Notice the spot on the bottom left of the nav pod is empty. This is where Dirk is planning on installing his switch for the new windless purchased a couple weeks ago.

Here is the view from the front. All that's missing is adding the cockpit table and drink holder which I am working on now. Kudos to Dirk on this one. Saturday while Dirk was busy in the cockpit I was busy taping and varnishing the teak. It was absolutely beautiful on Saturday and Sunday so I felt I got a lot accomplished. Several coats with sanding done in between. In between I got some organizing and some what I call piddle stuff done. Sunday evening I guess winter wanted it's last fling. The wind was whipping and it got downright cold. Monday's agenda consisted of taking the radar off the bracket we had modified, and installing it on the new one. When we stepped outside we wished we had done this the day before. It was cold with the wind blowing horribly. I felt sorry for Dirk seeing him up the mast hanging on as the gust were blowing. The new bracket of course did not line up with the old, so new holes had to be drilled. Not an enticing idea putting holes in your mast but that's what had to be done.

So here is the new radar and bracket installed. Kudos again to Dirk. For the most part it was a very productive weekend. We can now in fact take Tybee Time out of her slip now that we have the helm put back together. We are looking forward to our first time out to do some sailing so that we can try out all the new toys we have. I'm guessing the next big project will be to replace our old windless. We had recently purchased 150 foot of chain from someone that did not need it anymore. It was a wonderful deal but we learned that it was triple B chain. If I am in fact quoting that correct. Anyway our windless would not accommodate the new chain. As you can see the existing windless is fairly old and when you run it, it sounds like its groaning to get the chain in. With cruising in our future we decided a new one was in order. Don't have any photos of it yet, but its a beauty.
We also had ordered new lexan to replace all the hatches. So that project is looming along with all the others. Don't know if you can see, but the current hatch has been sealed and sealed again. The existing window is crazed and has a few cracks around the latches. After we finish installing them I will make covers to fit over them in hopes to prolonging their life. It will also serve to help keep the sun out during the hot summer days. I'm hoping that in the near future I can write about some of the excursions we do rather then all the work were doing.

Up to our eyeballs with projects and snags

Friday we headed down to the boat and actually got there while it was still light outside. Loving this new time change. Saturday the forecast was 80ish and sunny. This is what it looked like at 10am and it wasn't getting any better. My plans were to varnish the topside handrails as I have been working on sanding them a bit each time for the last couple weekends. So instead I removed a bit of the teak pieces around the companion way and started to sand them. While I was busy sanding away Dirk was excited about getting the new nav pod installed.
This is a photo of the existing helm. We had added the new C-80 shortly after purchasing the boat. In the smaller nav pod was the instrument for the non-working wind meter and the depth meter. We added a new wind meter and also a remote station for the radio/cd player downstairs so we can control it without leaving the cockpit. Below is a photo of the new nav pod that will hold everything I just mentioned and the fourth hole will be filled with a switch for the new windless we just purchased.
Dirk had also removed the compass to try and salvage it. The dome was badly cracked and the liquid was slowly evaporating out. After a few new parts the compass was reinstalled. Finally something we didn't need to shell the big bucks out for. After putting the compass on Dirk soon realized that we didn't have enough room to install the new nav pod. As I have said in the past, is there anything that is easy on a boat? So what to do now? You guessed it...spend more money and get a new pedestal guard with an angle bracket so we have the room. One project put on hold. Last post I mentioned how we installed the new radar dome but not without its own set of problems. Well Dirk went up the mast to seal the mast where the cable comes out. While up there he noticed that the radar mount that we just the week before spent time running around getting a new plate welded on had a very small crack in the bend of the arm. Not a very good place as this is where the cable exits to plug into the dome.
Do we hope for the best and risk losing a new dome? Don't think so.... Cha Ching. New radar mount and adaptor coming in this week. By the way, I said I would report on the marriage saver headsets. All in all they aren't bad. While Dirk was up the mast we were able to talk in a normal tone. Dirk was picking up a radio station but it did not interfere with our talking. I can see where these will come in handy for several uses. We have a few other projects going on that I am able to do during the week at home such as re-varnishing the cup holder and cockpit table. Also purchased some new lexan so that all the hatches can be replaced. Fun, fun, fun. But again I am looking at the big picture. She sure will be alot nicer to cruise on when we finally cut those dock lines.