Capt'n Pauley's Virtual Boat Yard -- Projects Galore!!!

Backing Up a Chain Plate

The aft chain plates on my Columbia 10.7 had a problem; the tabbing on the hanging locker had broken, allowing the shroud to poll up the chain plate and crack the deck. That allowed water to leak into the deck core, weakening it.

Making Holes

Several months ago, I talked about filling in holes in Daydream. I patched two thru-hull openings, one for the overboard head discharge and one for a redundant transducer thru-hull.

Now that the entire boat, inside and out, has been sanded and the first coats of paint are being applied, it’s time for me to actually start making some holes in the boat, or at least remaking some.

A Columbia 26 has two deck drains and two cockpit drains, one of each on each side. Both drains on one side of the boat meet at a tee at the top of a seacock which in turn is fastened to a thru-hull. The old drains were pitted and dull. We decided to remove them temporarily to make painting the deck and cockpit easier.

Boarding and Swim Ladder Basics

While many of us have ladders installed on our boats, how many have actually tried to use them to get back aboard? I’ll bet a goodly number haven’t actually tried their ladder out to determine how well it really works.

 

Installing a Panelized Overhead in Your Cabin

The headliners in many older boats are on their last legs, dirty, off-white and sagging in places and are a prime candidate for replacement. I decided to replace mine with one with removable access panels. A prime advantage is that it allowed me access to the fasteners holding on the deck-mounted equipment.

 

Changing Oil

 

There should be a law that boat designers should be forced to service their own boats. That might make common maintenance tasks, like changing engine oil, a little easier. In most inboard or I/O engine installations, changing engine oil is looked on with the same fervor as going to the dentist.

 

Project Daydream: Designing the Sanitation System

Well, winter has finally arrived and it’s too cold to actually work on the boat. Time to do some planning and design inside where it’s warm.

 

When we acquired Daydream, it had no sanitation system aboard. There were two seacocks installed, one for water inlet and one for overboard discharge, in the head compartment but nothing else.

 

The 2012 Columbia Sailing Yachts Calendar is now out!

Available online at: www.cafepress.com/cyoagear

Installing Jack Lines on Ternabout

 

Ternabt's Cockpit Table

 

The Sanding Crew: Tools We Use

If you are allergic to dust, don’t even think about restoring an old boat. It seems like we have been sanding on Daydream for years. My daughter has tackled the outside. She recently completed sanding the topside and is now busy on the bottom. For a break, she sands the deck.