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Aside from a fantastic day on the water Saturday I managed to make some progress on two projects;  mounting the electrical panel and adding some chafe-protection to my dock lines.

Electrical Panel

In case you need a reminder on what the baseline was check out the Original Panel.  With the old panel ‘un-mounted’ the next step was to cut into the fiberglass false bulkhead allowing for the deeper panel clearance my new hardware requires.  I did this with a drill and jigsaw, cutting fiberglass is a mess. It was a first for me and I’m glad I had a shop-vac on hand for the clean up.

In this shot you see the old panel (still connected) and the cut out fiberglass panel.  The base for the new panel has also been epoxyed to the side of the hull.  I toyed with other fastening methods including anchoring to the cabinetry forward of the panel (like the old panel) but opted for a continuous shelf instead.  I notched the back of the board on the forward and aft ends to allow for any potential drainage in case there is a leak.  Here is a close up;

I’m not going to give any advice on epoxy work… this was a messy learning experience for me. I’m going to go in with some sandpaper later to dress it up.  Despite the look this is actually level!  Next step was dry fitting the hinges;

I chose hinges with removable pins to make panel work more flexible in the future.  Also I opted for through bolts with washers instead of the provided wood screws.  Once the panel was actually attached we have the (nearly) finished product;

I’m not 100% happy with the washers on the front of the panel.  I was in a rush so I left it for now but I’m considering some other options including just going without the washers altogether.  The opening action is smooth but I’ve got to do some adjustments with the top left side as it binds a bit on the cabinetry.  Next step will be to fine tune the hinges and install the barrel bolts. One final shot of the panel;

Dock Line Protection

Less glamorous but very important, I added some chafe-guards to my dock lines.  My floating dock is mostly steel and the ‘ears’ that I’m provided to tie off dock lines have done a number on several lines already. Luckily my friendly marina staff had a stash of old garden hose to donate.  Here are the results, easy job and one I’d recommend for anyone with similar issues with chafed lines;

Saturday Erika and I hosted Rachel and Dee  for an afternoon sail on Summer Breeze that turned into an all day adventure.  The weather called for rain till noon and then a 30-40% chance of thunderstorms all afternoon but as you can see above, we got significantly better results!  We got underway with no problems and made it out to Hains Point where we had a bit of a crossing/gybing situation with one of the the big cruise boats coming into Washington Channel.  I attempted to tack away from him but couldn’t punch the nose through the wind and had to settle for a gybe.  So I ended up doing what I’m sure was a stupid looking maneuver right in front of the larger boat.

The only downside to the day’s sail was our repeated difficulty with tacking in the 5-8kt breeze and standard jib/main combo.  The wind was coming from the south and perhaps the current was pushing from the south as well, but on at least 4 occasions I was forced to do a slow gybe vice a nice clean tack.  That aside the low overcast and ominous skies cleared around 3 after 2 solid hours of sailing up in vicinity of Hains Point and we decided to make a day of it and go to Old Town Alexandria.

Based on the wind we were forced to motor our way to Alexandria but the sky just got clearer and the sun brighter so we were in good spirits.  Alexandria City Dock answered my first call on Ch 16 and had a slip available. It was a narrow one with only a foot of clearance on either side, and my transom and outboard stuck out a couple feet but we got in without much spectacle (good thing b/c there are alot of gawkers on the dock and shore there).

We did a modified bar crawl including Bugsy’s and Taverna Creitku… then we met up with Andrew, Megan and Kristin back at the boat for some wine, beer and good conversation.  It was a really great time and I was sorry to shove off at 2000 and head for home.  So was the rest of the crew so we ended up doing a slow motor tour of the Anacostia north of the Douglass bridge and didn’t pull in till 2230!!!

A great time on the boat, Rachel and Dee are welcome back any time they want to come out!!

I’ve taken advantage of the rest of the holiday weekend to make some progress on projects as well – more on that soon.

I’ve owned Summer Breeze, my 1978 Seafarer 26’ for about a year now.  One of my first observations was the relative disarray of the electrical panel as owner after owner had modified the system.  I cleaned it up enough for safety (I think) before last seasons cruising but I’ve been harboring a desire to make some sort of overhaul.  Being an obsessive online comparison shopper I looked long and hard for the materials I was looking for including; Defender Marine, West Marine, Amazon.com, GenuinedealZ and others.  Throw in a couple visits to radio shack and Washington Marina here locally and it rounds out a roughly 2 month on-again, off-again search.

I ended up going with GenuinedealZ for the cabling (I’ll provide a quick review for this site seperately) but for the following items I decided on oceanelectronics;

• Paneltronics Fuse panel
• Blue Sea bus bar’s
• Blue Sea Voltmeter
• Blue Sea Ammeter
• Poly Planar MP3 Amp + Speakers

The deciding factor was of course cost, I believe I saved between 10-40% off the next nearest price on each of the items listed.  The ordering experience unfortunately has ‘cost’ alot in time and patience…  here is my timeline;

• 3 May – Order placed, all items reported on website as ‘usually ships the same business day’
• 3 May – email confirmation of order with link for order status, when checked the link takes you to a order status page. my page was blank other than my order number.
• 4-6 May – Order status website remained unchanged, no further communication from oceanelectronics.com
• 6 May – I emailed ‘sales@oceanelectronics.com’ questioning the status of my order. No Response.
• 7 May – I called the oceanelectronics 800 #, and local #’s. I left a message referencing my order number and my email of the night before.  No Response.
• 10 May – 0928 – Another email, more sternly worded but polite requesting status and stating my attempts to contact.  Followed up by 2 more phonecalls during the day, to the sales, tech support, personnel directory options on there phone system.
• 10 May – 1821 – Mark from ocean electronics emailed me back assuring me that my credit card had not been charged (I mistakenly thought it had at that point) and informed me that one of the bus bars I had ordered was out of stock and was holding up the shipment.  I directed him to cancel the bus bar and send the rest. Mark replied at 2051 to say that it would be shipped in the morning and arrive within 1-2 business days (even though I only paid for ground shipping)
• 12 May – 1518 – Mark emailed again stating that another item (the Poly Planar) was out of stock and not expected in till 5/17-5/24.  I replied that he should send what was ready now and the rest later. I also requested consideration of removing the shipping fee’s based on the delays and mismanagement of my order. Mark replied (politely) that the margins involved did not allow him to remove any shipping fees and stated that my order would go out the next day and my account would be charged $177.91, the second part would go out when it was ready and the I would be charged the remaining  $124.93.
• 13 May – My credit card was charged $124.93, and I received an automated shipping notice from oceanelectronics.com stating that my full original order ($294.89) had shipped.
• 14 May – My full order arrived, in two packages.  All items were as described and in good condition. The remaining balance was charged to my credit card the same day and I never heard back from oceanelectronics.com

This is pretty rambling and long at this point so to sum it up and finish off, would I buy from oceanelectronics.com again…. yes probably.  Because cost is the biggest factor for me, however I would not base any timelines on timely arrival of an order from them. I am also not happy with the promptness or accuracy of their customer service.   It also really bothered me that it was impossible to get anyone from the company on the phone, it leaves me with the impression it is being operated out of a basement or garage.  Buyer beware!

A rainy Monday night was perfect for some dedicated work on the new electrical panel. The old panel pictured below was functioning… but made me nervous with years of additions and several wires directly tied to the common hot input.

Not to mention that it is difficult to trace anything in this fairly simple electrical system in the current configuration.  After some research and a chat with the in house electrician at Washington Marina I decided upon a new Paneltronics Waterproof DC 8 Position Lighted Rocker & Fuse Panel.  I went back and forth on 4, 6 and 8 circuit panels and finally opted with the 8 to adequately separate my intended circuits and preserve the possibility of future expansion.  Also for the panel I wanted to add some battery monitoring capability with a Blue Sea 8003 Voltmeter and a Blue Sea 8005 Ammeter.  These gauges will give me instant access to my battery health.  As you’ve seen in my Part 1 Electrical post I’m adding 6 12V plugs, a double West Marine plug is going on the panel. Finally the mini-jack plug for ipod/zune/sat radio will get mounted here (more on this in a future post).

For the panel itself I’m using left-over one sided teak 1/2” plywood.  Since the strip I have left is only 10” wide across the grain that became the limiting factor on my design.  I opted to go long to match the horizontal alignment of the new Paneltronics fuse panel and intend to hinge it along the bottom per the last image in Part 1.  Learning from my cutting experience with the countertop fabrication I used plenty of blue painters tape to protect the veneer.  To get my shape I used cardboard to make a mock up at the boat then two trips to the boat to fine tune the rough shape.

The panel has been cut to conform to the slight curve of the boat and the pieces are placed on top as I played around with arrangement.

Taped up with the cuts identified in pencil. Using tape also prevented alot of erasing in the future! Unfortunatly I realized at this point that my drills were all on the boat prompting a second trip in the rain to the boat for those vital tools so I could continue.

Getting there!  The small holes for the 12V plugs and the audio jack would have been so easy with an appropriately sized paddle bit… but a jigsaw and a pilot hole work too.

By about 1100pm I was done with cutting… everything takes longer than I anticipate!!  My trusty halogen work light was necessary as usual to finish up.

Mission accomplished… I deliberately crowded the two gauges to the left reserving space for an electric bilge pump controller at some point in the future. Also the panel is actually going to sit a bit to the left lined up with the voltmeter.  It’s not a masterpiece and definitely could be better lined up but once its stained and in place on the boat I think it will be a huge improvement.

Next up, staining… then on to the boat for mounting and cable pulling.

Like the countertop project I’ve wanted to address the electrical system onboard my 1978 Seafarer 26’ sailboat ever since I bought her last year.  Improvements last year included replacing the battery terminal connectors, adding a 12V socket and replacing the masthead light.

This season I have grander plans… replace the panel, replace all wiring except nav and masthead lights, upgrade to 6 12V sockets, add a stereo hookup for my MP3 player and replace the battery.  ‘Phase 1’ described here will attempt to do all but the battery for now.  The supplies are all enroute and I hope to tackle the job before the end of the month.

Observations from the current electrical system:

• Many wires soldered to the common ‘hot’ at the panel (not fuse protected, always on)
• Deficient or non-existent labeling makes troubleshooting difficult and time consuming
• No battery monitoring capability at the panel
• Not enough 12V plugs
• No separate house and start battery ‘banks’
• Some interior lights work, some do not
• No fans

Goals for the new electrical system:

• All circuits should be overload protected
• System should be documented and easy to troubleshoot
• Battery monitoring at the panel desired
• Add 12V plugs, include cockpit and vee berth plugs
• Move to dual battery installation, one house, one start
• Add fans
• Reserve circuits for future expansion

Here are some powerpoint diagrams I’ve put together with my intentions;

I’ve used GenuinedealZ twice now, great experiences both times.  Part of my electrical overhaul on my 1978 Seafarer 26” I ordered 100’ of 14 gauge and 50’ of 12 gauge boat cable (yellow/red) along with some heat shrink.

The site appearance didn’t give me a ton of confidence but the prices are fantastic and the products are delivered as described. I’d also say that the delivery is quick with plenty of communication from the seller.  They even give you a $5 refund if you review them on resellerratings.com which was a nice suprise.  Nothing bad to say here.

Summer Breeze, our 1978 Seafarer 26 sailboat is finally getting her spring projects going so I thought I would share this new countertop as it was one of the very first things Erika and I wanted to do since owning the boat.  The old counter is 1/2” plywood with a teak veneer of some sort and was rotting on the port side badly near the icebox.  After looking at different wood, laminate and synthetics I decided on 1/2” Teak plywood (single face) from Exotic Lumber in Annapolis.  It wasn’t cheap at $90 for a 4×4 piece but it matched the existing cabinetry well, has good resistance to the marine environment and I’ve worked with plywood/have the tools.  Here is a shot of the old countertop just before it came out of the boat. I was surprised it was only held down by 4 screws and the trim across the back, no evidence of a sealant or adhesive.  I’m still up in the air on how I will be re-attaching the new one but more on that later;

Once free of the boat I set up my workshop on the balcony back at my apartment, it was a TIGHT fit and my stools/sawhorses did get nicked a bit by the jigsaw but it worked;

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The cutting took longer than I anticipated, even with the higher end, fine tooth saw blades I still had issues with chipping the veneer off. I got a little better towards the end adn also started taping cuts to help prevent the chipping.  Here is a shot of the dry fit – test of the counter installed in the boat;

You may have noticed that I have deleted the reserved hole for the alchohol stove.  I did that on purpose and will use the cavity for a ‘pantry-bin’ with a rubbermaid bin used like a drawer.  More on that when I actually finish it!

I put 4 coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane on it (1 coat on the underside) and it is currently ready for permanent installation back on the boat.  I’ll be sure to update pictures when I finish.

Snowpocalypse Capitol – 7, originally uploaded by Tony DeFilippo.

This is the snowstorm that has delivered as promised… and continues to do so! I trekked out the 7 blocks up to the Capitol to get some pictures and wasn’t dissapointed. I ran into a Washington Times staff photographer while I was there… lesson learned – NEVER buy used newspaper gear. She was laying lensless Nikon D300 bodies in the snow as she changed from wide to tele zoom and snow was everywhere… wow, what a mess!

I may go out again this afternoon to the monuments!

Turkey Day has come and gone, family, food and football were had in abundance….. and it was good!

I’ve already posted a full album of Thanksgiving pictures which you can check out here.   Between hosting our own pre-thanksgiving last Sunday night with the Stav’s, Erika’s Grandma, my Mom and our friend Breanna to the full DeFilippo Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh (with Madigan desert!) and finally post-Thanksgiving at the Stav’s last night with friends it was  a great 7 day event for us this year.

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving as well!

On a photography note I am excited to be asked to photograph a party for a friend of Erika’s coming up in late January.  Its a ‘pro-bono’ kind of gig largely but it should be good experience and possibly some publicity with other potential clients.  I’ll keep you posted.

-Tony

I really can’t complain at all… what a great weekend!  We had the VT-MD game at College Park penciled in since the schedule was released so that was no surprise but when I got Sampel and Laura’s text about tickets and a parking pass for the Skin’s game versus the Bronco’s on Sunday the weekend was really capped off.

Saturday was an early, and grey day in MD spent with tons of great friends on the parking garage roof of ‘Terripan Trail’ structure.  Ryan and Lauren got there at 7 AM to make sure we had a good place to tailgate – it was still empty when Erika and I rolled in around 10!  From the great spread of food to the improvised beer-pong on a concrete column it was a a great time all around.

We cooled our tailgating jets for a mere couple of hours and then fired up the Sportage for its first visit to FedEx field with Sam and Laura.  We had great (free) parking and the game day weather was a splendid 70 and sunny.  Both victory’s – coincidence?  I think not!

GO HOKIES, HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!