Quick Bottom Shave

We knew we didn't have time for a complete bottom overhaul, but we wanted to get rid of the barnacles prior to our inaugural 3rd of July trip to Holmes Harbor. So we cruised on over to Delta Marine and got hauled out, pressure-washed, scraped, and put back in. I also had the rudders and the prop shafts re-packed while it was out of the water.

New Horn & Intercom System

When we bought the boat back in 2013, the electric trumpet horn was all rusted and stopped working after just a few squawks. Since then I've procrastinated, not wanting to drill even more holes in my boat, and made do with our brass bell and portable air horns.

I finally did some research and found the closest match to the existing hole footprint, a Sea-Dog MaxBlast. Utilized existing holes on the aft end of the horn, and a new hole for the front. Works great, as expected.

Cleaned the dinghy too. Used that Mermaid cleaner stuff. Pretty pricey. When I sprayed it it smelled just like citrus degreaser, and it worked like a champ with a good scrub brush. Will do it again in a few weeks and then put on a protectant.

On our trip a week ago up to Holmes Harbor, I dropped my intercom handset in the flybridge. Though I only dropped it about 6 inches, it was so brittle that it cracked clean in half and the guts spilled out. I contemplated a repair, but it would at best only be temporary given the state of the likely 30-year old plastic. So I bought a replacement from Aiphone, their AT-406 system. I took a close look at the old one when I removed them from the boat and by george, they too were from Aiphone! The new ones look good, are robust, and sound great.

House Battery Bank Replacement

Replaced the house bank over the weekend. Decided to buy local and replace the 9 year old batteries with exact replacements from Dyno, their D125.

Thursday

• Created a diagram of all the cables.
• Labeled and removed all of the cables.
• Removed 6 of the 8 batteries and carted them up to the marina hazardous waste shed.
• Removed 3 of the 4 battery boxes.

Friday

• Purchased 8 new batteries from Dyno.
• Carted the batteries down to the boat.
• Removed the two remaining batteries and box.
• Note, the Trace inverter/charger doesn't work (ie doesn't pass through shore power) when it detects no batteries!
• Cleaned up the boxes.
• Cleaned up the bilge area.
• Painted the bilge area with Interlux Bilge Kote.

Saturday

• Cleaned up and brushed the cables (lacquer thinner).

Sunday

• Installed the boxes (3M 5200 under the screws).
• Installed the batteries.
• Cabled everything.
• Sprayed liquid electrical tape on all exposed metal connections.
• Power on, 12V works, inverter works, through-AC works!