Kaimusailing

Back in the boatyard, finding it very humid, the hot summer pattern arrived while I was up in Maryland. It was pleasant up there, and no bugs.
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The Catalina 30, Sunsplash, has Autohelm ST3000 autopilot components on it, but no drive motor or control head. There is also an engagement mechanism missing. I started looking for an ST3000 on eBay or anywhere else. No go. Then I realized I recognized the autopilot components because Kaimu has that same autopilot. I can’t sail both boats at the same time, so why not just bring the autopilot components along when switching between boats.
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I do not like the pedestal and wheel on the Cat 30, I would prefer tiller. I bet there is someone out there who would like to add the pedestal steering and give up their tiller.
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I spent time on the Moyers Marine website, which is the place to go for information about the Atomic 4 engine. I read a few running narratives about working on an engine like mine with similar problems, sticking valves, etc. Ron the carpenter, in the boatyard, had an Atomic 4 in his boat but changed it for a diesel. From what I am reading on the Moyers site, the Atomic 4 adherents love the engine, but there are some horror stories. It doesn’t sound like Sunsplash has that bad of an engine, just needs attention.
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Previous Owner Husband contacted me in reply to my request for more information about the engine’s history. I remember a phone conversation where I said I wanted to ask a couple of questions. First, who worked on the engine last time? He replied that he did. Then I said my second question would have been, was he any good? Laugh, chuckle. Now it looks like the engine’s present condition, with sticky valves and steam out the exhaust, is not the result of negligence or lack of skill in the repairs. If Previous Owner Husband couldn’t fix it, how much of a chance do I have. He sent me some leftover parts and tools and in reimbursement I added enough that they could have at least one round at the Boatyard Bar and Grill.
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It was Pizza Night again and the number of customers in the boatyard is dwindling. I made 4 pies, 2 margaritas and 2 pepperonis. For the margaritas I had tons of fresh basil from my plants that were bushing out, needed trimming. I had only one oregano plant, except for the two I bought that were already half grown, I had only one that I grew from seed. It was being crowded by the basils. There were a million other seedlings that were far from being viable to transplant.
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This time I tried slicing the mozzarella thin and it seemed to work out OK as long as I was patient with the slicing. I also had mild garlic that sliced, big cloves that gave up large slices of garlic. The garlic and the basil leaves were going on the margaritas. If you put them on before baking, the basil toasts, the garlic burns, it doesn’t work out too well. If you put them on after baking it’s nice, aromatic, fresh basil and garlic. But, if you put the garlic and basil embedded in the sauce, it doesn’t burn, it cooks a bit and takes that raw fresh edge off, and that’s the way I tried it this time.
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I picked up again on the Air 403 wind turbine, now using an Air Breeze stator. I pressed the stator into the face casting of the turbine and carefully aligned it so that the clearance was perfect. I lost the O-ring but found a replacement, 5.48“ diameter in Lowes plumbing section, way in the back. I tested the new stator with the permanent magnet rotor and found the 3 phases were putting out 10 volts each. I thought I could separate the coils and “totem pole” the individually rectified outputs, but I was surprised to find the windings were not totally separate from each other. A test with the higher speed drill and temporary hook up to the rectifiers produced 18 volts, but I doubt that that will be enough in real world RPM’s to charge a battery.
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I cleaned the carburetor on the Honda 2000 generator from Fabio for the 3rd or 4th time and now it started to run OK. Might have to clean it out one more time.
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My old Serotta bicycle that has waited for its rear wheel for almost a year, very slow service by a bicycle nut friend, and now I’m putting it back together. It took me about 2 hours to service the front wheel. Tires and cables came from PBK in England, not too expensive and quickly shipped. While putting it together I found the right hand gear lever for the rear derailleur was frozen and started to disintegrate when I tried to free it up. Replacements for both gear levers were ordered on eBay. I was able to ride the bike later by putting it into high gear. It is a much higher gear than the highest gear on the Specialized Crossroads, the bike I have been riding. Although it would be called a 16 speed bike because it has 8 sprockets at the back and 2 at the front, normally only 8-10 gear ratios are used. I was told it was a sprinter’s bike.
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The photo is of the rear brake cable on the bike. Perhaps I should have it repainted again. The frame is rather drab, but these bikes get stolen all the time, so drab is good.