Kaimusailing

When we work on our boats we create value in our boats and in ourselves. It was very satisfying to varnish the old exterior teak. I hope my varnish does better than the old varnish job. I had forgotten a couple of teak trim boards that I had removed before the last rain deluge. I now had 3 coats of varnish on the rest of the teak and it was starting to look great. I put the first coat on the forgotten pieces of trim. I’m sure they will snap to life like the rest.
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It was suggested I could do a boat delivery to St. Thomas. I would specify 3 crew at least. It’s a nice 42 footer, but the owner is recovering from coronavirus. I hesitate.
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I am contemplating my return to St. Marys. Kaimu awaits me there, just as needy as Sunsplash, maybe more. It would be nice to relaunch Kaimu and doodle around in the Florida Keys, away from the virus, enjoying the mild weather over the winter months. Last winter, who would have imagined this winter then, so many people have been displaced from their normal lives. Now we are masked like bank robbers and fearful of contact with others, when for many people that is a great hardship. I still shook hands with Malcolm, who does menial work in the marina in turn for a free slip and some income on top of that. He is one of those people you run into rarely, unpretentious and practical, offering to help when no one is asking, smiling as he mops floors. He prefers the night watchman kind of job when he can roam around the docks. He has a nice trawler with his wife and implies that he was a sailor in the old days. I shook hands with him, I hope I didn’t infect him or vice versa.
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The varnish work was going along great. We have clear weather, chilly in the morning, but perfect in the afternoon. The marina is nearly dead, yet along comes an old codger who asks what the plants are growing in the window sill pots on my boat. Marijuana, I said, he said, no that’s basil there, but what is that? Oregano. We talked for too long. He and his wife have a Pearson designed by Carl Alberg, the designer of many Cape Dory’s and Sea Sprites. His name is Bob and I look forward to meeting him again. I started putting on another coat of varnish.
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Light rain interrupted the varnishing. My perfect weather window has ended. I took a chance and put on a coat of varnish, then ran errands on the bicycle. I picked up fuses for the water pump and coffee from the grocers.
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Back on board I had the brilliant idea of finding out if the water pressure pump had a bad pressure switch. It was blowing 20A fuses and it should only have a 15A fuse. We guessed the pressure switch was bad and when the faucet was shut, the pump kept pumping until the back pressure caused a high enough current draw to pop the fuse. I put a 10A fuse in and it popped after the pump ran for a few seconds. Then a 15A with the faucet open. When I threw the switch to energize the pump, it ran and ran, pumping gallons of water. The pump is about $550, but the pressure switch is around $45. An alternative is to change the pump out with a modern 4 or 5 gpm pump for between $150 and $200.
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The roller furler that we have been unable to identify has a seized upper swivel bearing. I tried flooding it with Blaster, and then Awesome, and wrestled it with wrenches, but it barely moved. My Harbor Freight retaining ring pliers simply bent out of shape when I tried to remove the retaining ring from the swivel. Off I went on the bike to the hardware store again. They had a stout pair of retaining ring pliers for about $27.
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When I tried to remove the ring, the pliers kept slipping off. Eventually I figured out that the ring wouldn’t slip off if I could use the pliers to compress it all the way before I tried to remove it. This ring required all my strength and several tries, but I got it out. I belted the swivel with the small but heavy sledge and it started to come apart, then would not come any further.
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It was getting late, time to varnish, I put another coat on and the sun set soon after.
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The next morning I sponged the dew off the exterior teak, allowed it to dry, then went forward with Blaster, a paper towel, the small but heavy sledge, and a large straight blade screwdriver. I had the furler swivel fitting raised to eye level by the halyard, but restrained from below with dynema to the tack fitting. It seemed the inner part of the swivel, the part that fits around the stay, would only come down about 1/4“. No amount of hammering would bring it any lower. I thought I would spray it with Blaster and clean the crud out of the underneath of the swivel. What a mess. Eventually it cleaned up. I hammered up and I hammered down. The inner part would go up and come down, but not out. Then I noticed the inner part and the outer part had moved a bit. The swivel had swiveled. I worked it some more and it was free, moving the way it should. The previous owner Husband had said they never used the roller furler. He had been involved with the boat for 20 years. I assume the furler had been seized for all that time.
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The idea of using Blaster and Awesome to free up the bearing in the swivel comes from most furler manufacturer recommendations to flush bearings out with fresh water with maybe a little detergent to remove salt and dirt. Awesome is a highly concentrated water based cleaner. Blaster breaks up corrosion.
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The upper swivel had to be reassembled, i.e. put the retaining ring back in, but the bearing not only wouldn’t come out, it refused to go in. After pounding on it I got it in and got the snap ring back in. This ring has a very strong spring action, so that’s why it was difficult to remove. It takes good hand strength and a good set of snap ring pliers to compress it.
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The image is of the upper swivel of the so far unidentified roller furler.