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.