Backstay Chainplate

This project has been in the works since February, but it didn't all come together until this past weekend. It's part of the 'Get the decks waterproofed before I take the cover off project', but the backstay chainplate also falls in the project 'Make the rig strong' category.

I could have saved myself a lot of work by just bolting the old chainplate back in and calling it a day, but I had a few concerns about the strength of the almost 40 year old aluminum chainplate.  Unlike the stainless steel that makes up the shrouds and forestay chainplates, the fatigue strength of aluminum tends to decrease steadily with the number of stress cycles, and can fail with no warning signs.  Since the backstay is pretty critical to a boat's rig, I figured it was time to get a new chainplate made up.

I also found some water intrusion problems when inspecting the underdeck knee where the chainplate mounts.  The chainplate has four bolts that connect it to the knee and all of these holes clearly had some water damage and needed to be fixed.  Unfortunately, access to the knee is not great and requires getting into the lazarette and wriggling aft around the propane box to access.  I decided on a 2 step approach to rectify the problem.  

The first step was to overdrill all the existing chainplate holes (back to unsaturated wood), then fill the holes with structural epoxy and retapp.  The original bolts were 3/8" so I overdrilled with a 3/4" bit and found that there was no water ingress beyond that (phew).  I taped the backside of the holes and saturated the surrounding wood with unthickened epoxy.  Once that kicked, I filled the holes with thickened structural epoxy and used a small trowel to smooth out the side that was not taped.  

While all this was happening, I redesigned the chainplate in CAD so the new chainplate would have additional area that would connect further down the knee. Probably overkill given that the first one lasted almost 40 years, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have additional connection points in the 'meat' of the knee.  I went through several iterations and 3d prints of the design to test fit before I sent the final version for machining.  

I contacted Mike Quill (the rigging foreman for Niagara when the boat was built) Mike Quill Yacht Rigging and as always, he got back to me very quickly and informed me that the original backstay chainplates were made of 6061-T6 with a hard anodized coating.  So I went with the same material and sent the design off to the machine shop (Xometry).  Three weeks later the shiny new part was in my hands and ready to install (cost was ~$210 shipped).

Once I had the new chainstay, I retapped the 4 holes that the original chainplate used and dry fitted the new chainplate.  Then I tapped the additional 5 holes to secure the new chainplate along the lower section of the knee.  I sanded everything down and then re-painted with epoxy bilge paint before bolting it all back together.  I had to enlist the help of my wife to get a wrench on the backing nuts while I tightened the bolts down with a socket.  I'm not sure how happy she was getting stuffed into the lazarette to perform extreme boat yoga, but she didn't complain.  

With the chainplate secured, I moved up on deck to seal off the opening.  I 3d printed a TPU (D95A) sleeve to go around the chainplate opening and then put down strips of butyl tape on top before screwing down the chainplate cover to compress the butyl tape and make a watertight seal.  Probably a lot of work and expense, but I won't be worrying about the backstay breaking loose on my watch.

One Thing Leads to Another

Despite my best efforts to get the decks waterproofed so that I can remove the cover, the past month has been way too cold to do much caulking so I turned to what I thought was a simple project that I could knock off in an afternoon.  The original shorepower inlet plug was pretty old and I could see cracking on the rubber gasket where it seats on the deck so if exposed to weather it would probably leak.  Since I had a brand new one in the shop, I figured I'd just replace it now because it didn't need caulking to waterproof it.

Of course, as with all things boat related simple things just seem to take way longer than expected especially when I'm working with 1-3 hour blocks of time that I can carve out.  You'd think I would learn after all these years working on boats. Nope.

Replacing the plug was super easy, I just had to pull the old one off, disconnect the 3 AC wires that fee the AC panel and reconnect them to the new one. Since the new plug was a direct replacement of the old, I just had to plunk it back in place and bolt it on.  While I was replacing that though, I remembered that I had a brand new galvanic isolator that came with the boat and even though I rarely (if ever) plug into shore power, I figured I might as well install it while I was in there.  Since it was still too cold to do any caulking so I decided to tackle that.

A galvanic isolator is essentially a box with several diodes in it that blocks stray DC current on the AC safety ground when connected to shore power.  I don't fully understand the galvanic corrosion process, but I am all for reducing the possibility of corrosion on exposed underwater metals (shaft, prop, strut, etc...) and these devices are apparently helpful in preventing this.  Plus, I had a new one in my shop (ProMariner ProSafeFS 30Amp).  

Installation was straightforward and the hardest part was finding a good location between the shore power inlet and the AC panel and mounting the device in the fairly cramped lazarette.  Wiring it only required cutting the AC cable and running the safety ground (green wire) through the isolator.  I used a waterproof junction box to connect the wires coming from the shorepower inlet to a new AC cable (3 wire 10awg) that goes to the AC panel.  The old cable had some signs of chafing and figured it would be best to replace it while I was in there.

From there I spent a few hours bundling and securing the new wire in a run that terminates at the AC panel. This run goes from the galvanic isolator to a bulkhead and through the top of the engine compartment to the panel.  I was really thankful that the engine is not installed yet or it would have been next to impossible to get it bundled, tidy, and well secured.

At this point I was fully immersed in the AC system and decided to just plow through and replace the old AC main panel with a new Blue Sea Systems double pole breaker panel (#8027).  This would have been a straightforward job of just swapping out the old panel with the new if I hadn't decided to install the new ProMariner TruePower 1000w inverter to power the AC outlets with the battery when not connected to shorepower.  

There are many ways to install an inverter in a boat and the easiest way is to install it inline between the shorepower and AC panel. However, if installed this way then when inverter is connected to the house batteries, it could potentially power all the AC circuits on the boat, including the battery charger.  I'm not an electrical engineer, but I do know that you can't use battery power to run a charger to charge the battery.  This would fall into the perpetual machine world and physics tells us that it isn't possible.  

With this in mind, I decided to take another approach: install the inverter on a branch circuit that only powers the AC outlets.  This is a common installation method as well, but because the AC outlets on Velorum were originally wired as 2 circuits (port and starboard), I decided to combine them into a single circuit downstream of the inverter.  

The schematic below probably explains the AC portion of the installation circuit better than I can, but generally speaking the flow goes as follows:

1. AC Shorepower -> Main Panel
2. Main Panel circuit breaker -> Inverter
3. Inverter -> Junction box that combines port and starboard outlets

For the installation, I built a shelf in a compartment underneath the quarter berth next to the battery compartment and ran the AC cable from the panel along with positive and negative 2awg battery cables from the battery bank.  All of these connect to the inverter and depending on the power source, it sends AC power out of the compartment to a waterproof junction box mounted in the engine compartment and combines the port and starboard outlet circuits.

All in this took about 2 weeks of replacing the AC panel, running cable, building a shelf, securing cables, and connecting the junction box before it all came together.  A lot of work that all started because I decided to replace the shorepower inlet plug!

AC Schematic

Inverter Battery Disconnect and Monitor

New Main AC Panel (almost installed)

Inverter Installed 

Junction Box Combining Port and Starboard Outlets

Hatches, Ports, Handrails, and Refinishing Dorade

As part of my effort to get the top of the boat waterproof so I can remove the cover for the engine install, I started knocking items off the list that I posted last week.  We had some warmish temps over the past few days so I was able to get all the opening hatches (5) and opening ports (6) regasketed.  The hardest part of the job was getting the old gasket and sealant out (see last post for details).  

Once the hatches and ports were prepped, installing the new gaskets was actually pleasant.  Just cut the correct gasket based on the perimeter of the hatch channel, lay in a bead of Silaprene and press the gasket in place.  Once it's seated, just close the hatch and clamp it down.  24 hours later the Silaprene had cured and the gaskets were locked in place.  Easy peazy and the Silaprene was nice to work with.

Moving on to other holes in the deck, Steph and I tackled the handrails.  I had removed the handrails last fall and brought them home over the winter to clean up and re-varnish (12 coats) before re-installing.  Originally, I had big plans to change the way they were affixed to the deck, but never got around to it.  The handrails as designed were screwed in from the underside of the deck with 2 woodscrews in each mounting point.  Hinterhoeller did do a nice job providing holes in the headliner to access each screw, but the rails really should have been through bolted for a number of reasons.  The original design team incorporated a lot of well thought out ideas for the Niagaras, but using wood screws for handrails was not one of them.

• Through bolting provides a much stronger connection than wood screws.
• Allows easier mounting of the rails since the longer handrails are curved and need to be bent into place.  
• Gives more sealant options. I'm a big fan of butyl tape for sealing through bolted connections, but you can't provide enough compression force for butyl tape with wood screws

Anyway, I settled on using the woodscrews again and it was a bit of a bear to get done.  Starting at the aft end, we mounted the smaller handrails (4 mount points) without too much issue because they were straight and didn't have to be bent in place.  We taped off the area around the rails and I laid down a bed of 3M 4200 sealant on the rail and then set it in place.  Steph was on deck holding the rail in position while I screwed up from the bottom, gradually tightening each one.  The larger handrails (7 mount points) were much trickier because Steph had to hold the rail in place until I got the first 2 mounts screwed in.  Then she carefully bent the rail inward and I moved to the next one.  The hard part was keeping the next few mounting points off the deck so the sealant didn't smear everywhere.  We managed, but I can't say that it was my best job.  They are solid and should be watertight, but the sealant looks a little janky in spots.

Handrails installed

Like the handrails, I brought the dorade vent home to clean up and varnish over the winter.  When I removed it last fall, it was screwed directly to the deck and appeared to be penetrating the cabintop core.  When it came time to reinstall, I overdrilled the holes and filled them with slightly thickened epoxy and let it cure.  Once cured, I re-tapped the holes so there would be no water intrusion into the core going forward.  Tapping around the 4 mounting points didn't reveal any core issues and when I overdrilled the holes, the wood chips coming out were dry, so I think I caught it before it became a problem.   

Reinstalling was just a matter of applying sealant where the screws penetrate and screwing the box back into place.  Then I sealed the lexan cover with silicone (clear) and screwed that down along with the new cowl.  

 

Back to Work

We had a pretty cold winter in NH that kept me off the boat for a few months other than to check in to make sure the cover was holding up. However, the planning and scheming never stopped in my head and did do a few minor projects over the past few months.  The planning I did was really a logistics exercise for the engine installation and I found a surprisingly large number of things that need to be done before the engine actually gets hoisted into place.  Additionally, some of the items on the list are temperature dependent and have to be done once the temps start to rise.

So in a nutshell here is what has to be done (in rough order):

• Waterproof the top of the boat (The cover has to come off during engine install)
• Replace all gaskets on hatches and ports
• Rebed fixed windows 
• Rebed deck hardware 
• Finish installing and bedding chainplates
• Cover engine control cutout
• Cover instrument cutouts 
• Prepare engine compartment (temp dependent)
• Assess engine beds
• Add additional glass if needed
• Paint compartment
• Re-install strut (maybe temporarily to aid in shaft alignment later)
• Clean up and re-install exhaust and bilge pump fittings on stern
• Re-install water lift muffler and exhaust pipe to transom
• Choreograph engine installation plan
• Once the engine is lowered into companionway, how to get it onto engine beds
• Installation
• Remove cover
• Remove framing so crane can lower engine
• Schedule crane (the farm where I keep the boat has a myriad of big machinery, but I need to coordinate with the owner)
• Measure companionway opening and determine what needs to be removed from engine for install
• Run engine at shop and drain coolant (oil too?)
• Move engine from shop to boat and prep for hoist
• Hoist engine into boat
• Get engine on beds.

There's a lot of little things that won't take long and I know what to do, but there are a bunch of unknowns that I haven't done before and they are going to take some thought to do it right.  Of course, after this is all done, I'll have to re-install the transmission, get the shaft aligned and installed, and install the new engine control panel, but I'll tackle that when I get there.  

Now that I'm seeing some cracks in winter's grip, I've started on the waterproofing step by removing all the hatches and bringing them home to replace the gaskets.  Most of the hatch gaskets are pretty old and cracked so I ordered 3/8" and 1/2" round neoprene gasket material (Trim-LOK rubber cord seal) to replace what was there.  Removing the gaskets is tedious and slow, but not difficult.  The gaskets themselves come right out, but the sealant (Silaprene) is tenacious and I found that the best technique is to use a rounded wood cutting gouge and get under the sealant then slowly pull it up as you work your way along around the hatch.

It's still a little too cold to re-apply the gaskets. Silaprene requires 40 degree temps and right now we are in the 30's.  Once we get a few warm days in a row, I'll re-install all the hatches, apply new sealant, seat the gaskets and then close them up (that will give even pressure to the gasket on the hatch so it can seat and cure properly).  I haven't tackled the 4 opening ports yet, but that's on the list for this week.

In other news unrelated to the engine install, I revarnished the cabin sole section at the base of the companionway steps.  The existing varnish had peeled up in the corners and it just looked ugly.  I brought the section of cabin sole home and using a heat gun, stripped all the old varnish off and then gave it a quick sand with 220 grit to get any remaining varnish off.  I followed up with 12 coats of varnish.  I think it looks pretty good, and I'm hoping it won't make the rest of the cabin sole look shabby.  The other sections look good to me, but once installed I'll know if the others will need to be done as well.  

Finally, I don't like the exposed location of the engine controls, they are in direct sun and initially I was going to build an inset for the controls that would keep them somewhat protected when not in use, but I ended up designing a cover (AutoDesk Inventor) that I could snap on when not in use (most of the time).  As we speak I'm printing the prototype on my 3d printer using  TPU filament (95A durometer).  TPU is a flexible filament (like rubber) and should be a decent solution.  Time will tell how long the TPU will hold up in the sun, but even if it lasts a summer, I can alway print another.
   

Masthead Removal

The weather is getting colder, but I keep finding excuses to start a new boat project.  In reality, I'm having fun and unlike last year when I rebuilt the Westerbeke over the winter, I'm a little worried that I'm going to run out of things to do this winter.  The majority of the systems are installed and it won't be long before it will be too cold and snowy to work on the boat, so I'm doing a bit of hunting around to find a few projects that I can do in my shop over the winter.  

I can't really get going on the rigging work because I'm going to have to spend a bunch of quality time with the old standing rod rigging laid out at the mast to get accurate measurements for the new wire rigging and I'd really rather not have frozen fingers for that. It can wait till spring. However, I was standing by the mast the other day pondering how I was going to get the new radio antenna wire snaked out the side of the mast up near the masthead when I noticed that it looked like the masthead was removable.  

After consulting with the Niagara 35 Owner's Group on Facebook, I decided that this would make for a good project if I could get it off the mast.  The sheaves are probably pretty tired and I could have new ones made and replace them over the winter and clean up the masthead. The question however, was whether or not the assembly was fused to the mast from years of sitting outside or if somebody had decided to glue it all together with 3M 5200.  

Today happened to be pretty nice, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  There were 3-7/16" stainless steel bolts on each side holding the assembly to the mast, and I was pleasantly surprised that every single one of them freed up without any difficulty at all.  The only problem I had was that someone had installed the radio antenna bracket very close to one of them and had to switch to an open ended wrench to get that one off because there wasn't room to get the socket on.

Once I had all the bolts out, I gave the assembly a tap and was really surprised when it actually moved and wasn't corroded to the mast. Stainless steel and aluminum don't mix very well when wet and if you don't apply an anti-seize compound (Tef-Gel is one brand) when you thread in the stainless bolt, you can end up with a corroded mess and the aluminum always loses. Somebody clearly installed this the right way. 

As I pulled the masthead out, I labeled the substitute halyards and took a bunch of photos so I could reverse the process when I reinstalled. Honestly, I couldn't believe my good luck. Boat projects never take just 1 hour with no swearing so I'll chalk this one up as decidedly pleasant.  I haven't pulled the sheaves out yet or inspected them closely, but I will probably replace them for good measure regardless of condition (TBD). The big bonus for this effort is that it will make rewiring the top of the mast infinitely easier.

UPDATE: I took apart the masthead this morning and was pleased to see very little wear on the sheaves themselves, the bronze journal bearings, or the stainless steel axles. The axles fit snugly through the journal bearings with no play. The sheave themselves are a combination wire/rope sheave with a groove in the bottom to accommodate wire, but it was clearly never used, so looks to be a rope only boat (unless these sheaves have been replaced at some point). So I guess this is one area I won't have to spend money for replacements. I cleaned everything up, re-greased the axels with lithium grease and put it all back together.

Fire in the Hole (and other project updates)

I'm really pushing it on the weather now, but it has been warm enough to knock off a few more projects before I'm totally shut down for the winter.  To be honest, now that I've pushed the engine reinstall until next spring, I'm pretty close to finished with all of the systems.  With that said, here is the high level list that still needs to be done before Velorum gets wet again (no particular order):

• Mast rewire - Steaming light, foredeck light, anchor light, tricolor light, wind transducer, VHF antenna. 
• Mast standing rigging - Replace rod rigging with wire and all associated hardware.
• Rebed all deck hardware - All of it, everything needs to be pulled, rebedded with appropriate sealant with new backing plates where needed.
• Windlass install - I may or may not get to this before I go back in the water, I have the windless (Maxell RC8), but the wiring to the bow will cost close to $1000.
• Autopilot - I still have to sort out the wiring and reinstall properly. 
• House batteries - I haven't purchased the new batteries yet.
• Refrigeration - I pulled out the old Grunert engine driven refrigeration.  It reportedly worked when the boat was pulled in 2013, but there are way too many moving parts and it takes up a lot of room in the engine compartment.  I will be replacing with an air cooled Isotherm GE150.  It's much smaller, reliable, and draws very little current. This is something that can wait until after splashing the boat because it's a pricey item and funds are getting low in the coffer.
• Starting battery - I'm relocating that to the engine room now that the engine driven refrigeration has been removed.
• Inverter - 2000w wired into AC circuit.
• External battery charger - I have it, but probably won't use it much because I'm rarely on shore power
• Engine reinstall - Last but not least....

Ok, I'm overwhelmed again, but I have to keep pushing forward. Focus on the next job and get it done. One of the last electro-mechanical systems that needed to be installed was the propane system.  Originally the boat had a Paloma on-demand propane water heater, but I replaced that with and Isotemp 15 liter hydronic water heater.  Interestingly, according to ABYC standards, the only LPG connections on a vessel should be in an approved tank box (with overboard discharge) and the appliance itself.  Velorum had a single connection from the tank box and then a tee junction in the bilge where the one line went to the stove and the other went to the water heater in the head.  Certainly a no-no by today's standards, but I'm not sure what they were in 1986.  Anyway, with the Paloma gone, it was just a matter of plumbing the propane line from the tank box located behind the wheel in the stern of the boat to the Seward Hillerange 3 burner stove.  

I also had to install the solenoid (Xintex SV-1) in the tank box and wire it to the Xintex S-2A controller located at the wiring panel.  This turned out to be dead simple because I had already done the hard work of running the wiring up to the tank box (all the other controller wiring was completed). So all I had to do was connect the 2 wires to the solenoid and plumb that between the regulator and the downstream propane line.  

The hard part was running the propane line from the stove back to the tank box. Using my finest boat yoga skills, I spent the better part of 4 hours in the aft lazarette routing and securing 20 feet of propane hose from the stove back to the tank box.  It really is stupid that it takes so long and requires so many contortions, but it is what it is.  I signed up for it and knew what I was getting into. 
 

Once the hose was at the tank box, I screwed all the pieces together with gas rated teflon tape and secured the assembly in the box.  I brought one of the 10lb tanks over from the house and connected it up before realizing that I hadn't installed the overboard tank box drain hose to safely drain any propane gas out of the boat and not into the bilge.  So it was back in the lazarette for some more contortions and choice words to fit the hose and clamp it tight.

Finally, I fastened the other end of the propane hose to the stove and soap tested all the connections.  I didn't find any leaks so I decided I should try it out. I turned on the main panel (I have a DC converter connected to an inverter to power the DC side).  Next flipped the stove switch and waited for the Xintex controller to do its system test (I installed 2 propane detectors in the boat when I rewired everything).  Once the controller went green, I turned on the solenoid button on the controller and fired up the stove.  No big booms, just the satisfying blue hue from the burners.  Yay!  I still have to reinstall the plywood partition in the tank box that keeps 2 tanks in place, but I'm going to call this job about done.

A Fun End of Season Project

I don't have much time left before winter shuts down work on the boat, so I'm trying to make the most of it before it gets too cold.  It may seem like I'm randomly picking projects to cross off the list, but I do actually have a plan (subject to change of course).  I'm trying to work from the bottom up in most cases but have found that certain projects (like the wiring and plumbing) logically should be done before others. 

Now that I have both the wiring and plumbing completed (mostly), my next step is to start prepping for the engine install.  Originally, I was going to put the engine back in this fall, but I decided that keeping it in my heated shop until spring makes more sense. First of all, I won't have to winterize it and second, I can run it every few weeks or so during the winter to keep it happy.  

With that decision made, there were a few things I'd like to take care of before winter and the one that made the most sense was to get a start on the engine install and get the fuel system fully ready to go.  I had done a bit of work on it over the summer by running the fuel fill hose through the compartment where the water pump is now housed, but not much more. 

Most of the prep work to install the new tank was done for me other than getting the bilge painted (I did this last fall).  I basically had to plop it in place and bolt it down.  The original tank was held in place by a single wood bracket that spanned across the tank and mounted on a plywood 'rib' that was glassed into the hull.  I decided that was a little bit sketchy given the fact that 37 gallons (new tank size) of diesel weighs more that 250 pounds and even though the tank is wedged in pretty nicely, I don't think that wood bracket and the floorboards screwed down would hold it in place if something major happened (a knockdown or outright roll).  So I purchased some 2x2" aluminum L channel, cut a 2 foot section to through bolt to the forward rib.  Because the fuel fill and vent access the tank from the aft end, I cut 2 smaller pieces of L channel and through bolted them to the aft rib on either side of where the hoses run on top of the tank.

Next up, I spent a stupid amount of time fiddling with npt fittings to make sure they fit the fuel line and return (I ordered marine grade A1-15 fuel hose for both the fuel line and return).  The previous owner had planned on installing a dedicated fuel polishing system that he could run on demand that routed to a separate fuel water separator and had 2 extra tank ports installed. It's good idea, but I'm going to hold off on that and do it once the boat has been in the water.  In the meantime, I capped off those tank ports.  The fuel feed line I added an aluminum shutoff valve (3/8" npt male to 3/8" barbed hose end) onto the 3/8" npt aluminum elbow. For the return line I installed a 3/8"npt male to 1/4" barbed brass elbow.  I wanted to use aluminum (to avoid galvanic corrosion), but I couldn't find a fitting in aluminum that had the low profile clearance I need because the tank is within 2.5" of floorboards once installed.  I'll keep an eye on that, but I should note that I used permatex fuel grade sealant on all the connections, so that should effectively separate the dissimilar metals.

Finally, my son and I thought it would be fun to incorporate arduino devices on the boat, and the fuel gauge seemed like a perfect first project.  The tank came with a resistive fuel sender that is essentially a float mounted to a potentiometer.  When the tank fills up, the float rises with the fuel level and the resistance changes as the float moves toward the top. Knowing that arduino devices are very good at taking signal input I could use a python program and a OLED screen to convert the values to a 0-100% scale and print it out on the screen.  

I didn't want anything complicated that would require running more wire (I'm done with that) and decided to use battery power and a momentary switch to take the reading and then turn off.  The amount of battery consumption is so small that it would take quite a long time to run out of juice.  I bought an 'arduino nano every' board, a tiny OLED display, and a momentary switch for about $25 total and got to work.  It will be mounted on top of the fuel tank below one of the removable floorboards on the centerline of the boat.  In all the boats I've owned over the years my fuel gauge was always a grimy wooden stick and compared to that this will be quite the luxury.

We wired up the circuit on a breadboard and wrote a simple program to convert the incoming values into a 0-100 scale. My son added code for a small graph to show the level visually as well.  Once we had it working, I designed and 3d printed a simple box to house the electronics and after a few tries (my son thinks I'm terrible at prototyping) we were able to fit everything in and got it installed.  It certainly looks homemade, but it was a fun project and enjoyed working on it with my son.