Happy New Year of 2012!
Wow, another year of boatwork. I will finish this year. I have to get on the water and realize what this was all about.
Well today is February the third. I have been busy with the boat but
have not kept up with my webpage. The main reason was I clipped my
finger nail a little close with my jointer and could not type very
well. Pic below:
Used my jointer as a fingernail clipper and trimmed it a little close.
I will attempt to do that now. I have been busy finishing interior
woodwork, installing the "tiny tot" heater, installing the transducer
and ground plate, building the hardtop and rebuilding the mast and
redoing the anchor system and engine hatch.
Anchor System
I added a few supports under the anchor platform and added a hawse
pipe on the anchor locker lid and let the chain in from above the
anchor locker lid via a roller. It works very nice.
Pics below:
I beafed up the anchor platform mount and reinstalled
I can run the chain into the locker or under the forward berth
I can detatch the chain from the windlass and open the locker door easily
Heater Installation
I decided on a charcoal burning Tiny Tot heater for the boat. I
bought a nice bronze fiting from Navigator Stoveworks at
www.marinestove.com for the pipe
to go thru the deck. It uses three inch diameter pipe. I mounted the
stove on the forward settee and took up a sitting spot. I made it
easily removeable
because I won't be in cold climate all that often. I used a metal slip
plate off of a fernco plumbing fitting to connect the stove pipe to the
deck fitting.
Below are pics:
The fitting is filled with water and keeps things cool around the deck as you burn
Installing transducer and Ground Plate
I built up the front centerline of the Rasmus a bit with fiberglass
and epoxy for fairing purposes and mounted a nmea 2000 transducer up
front. I also mounted a transducer for a Furuno FCV-600L Fishfinder
and mounted a Guest Dynaplate ground plate. All was straightforward
installation. Pics below:
Transducer mounted
Ground plate and transducer for Furuno fishfinder. I had alread
mounted the fishfinder transducer and had to place the ground plate
right next to it. Hope that doesnt cause a problem.
Making the Hardtop
I am using 122 inch radius for the curvature of the hardtop. I
epoxied 2 layers of 1/4 inch ocoume plywood and then added 3 layers of
9 0z fiberglass bathed in epoxy. I then faired it with System Three
Quickfair and sanded and then sealed with epoxy. I will then apply a
tie coat and paint with Interlux Perfection. I will document all
aspects of this including diminsions and angles in case it can be used
by others. Pics below:
Measurements to make jig for the hardtop at 122 inch radius.
Bonded two 1/4 inch marine ply using epoxy, sheetrock screws, and ply squares to keep from dinging the top.
Top glassed with three layers of 9 oz cloth, faired using Quickfair, sanded, and coated with System Three Epoxy.
Assembling
5-30-2012 I have been finishing up on the hardtop and windshield, installed the CapeHorn Windvane self
steer gear, installed skenes, cutlass bearing, and various other items. I have ordered the engine and the sails
and should have the boat in the water this Fall. My plan is to set sail next year if all is good with the family.
Pictures below:
I replaced the old cutlass bearing with a nice new one in the 1 1/8 inch shaft diameter size. The outside diameter
of the cutlass bearing is 1 3/4 inch outer diameter, which suprised me considering it was built in the land of metrics.
I added an aluminum plate to keep the anchors off the wood and also to hold the fortress anchor in place using two grooves
I cut into the aluminum plate.
I installed the other anchor chain stop. Anchor system is COMPLETE.
I finished the hardtop and windows. I trimmed out the exterior windows with teak and a little mulberry.
If you don't know, mulberry looks very much like teak. I can't tell the difference and it is almost as
rot resistant. It is just very hard to find. I milled these pieces myself from a tree in Little Rock.
Tiller handle made from cherry wood.
7-15-2012 Electronics, Self steer gear, and Engine
In
the last few weeks I have been mounting electronics, getting the engine
room ready for the engine, and installing the remainder of the Cape
Horn self steer gear. Below are pics and desciptions of the work.
I have shimmed each engine mount with 1/2 inch thick plate of aluminum. I am "guessing" from the original equipment
that the original engine mounts were thicker than the new ones. So to make the engine fit, I am hoping these shims
will do the job. These shims will keep the engine lower on the mounting bolts as the instructions suggest.
I installed the Groco raw water strainer over the newly installed sound proofing.
Installed new fuel lift tubes. I figure the old ones were at the end of their useful life and this was the best time
to change them out.
I finished running the rigging for the wind vane self steer gear.
I used RAM mounts with VESA mounts to install monitors for my navigation computer. One monitor is on the galley table
and another, a Lilliput field monitor, is installed in the cockpit. The Lilliput runs on less than 10 volts and can be
hooked up directly to 12V system.
Every
year a pair of house wrens nest in my boat. I have been careful to let
them have thier way and raise the chicks safely. But today I had to
move the nest which they built in a spot I had to work on. I moved it
just 4 feet from its spot. When the couple returned, they gave me a
serious talking to and flew away. I wondered if they would ever find
the new location of the nest and felt bad about it. But within the hour
they had located the nest and resumed their diligent lives as parents.
Notice the beautiful arching entry way to the nest. I thought about
naming the boat "Wren". This boat has been a shelter for about 20
little house wrens.
Woodwork:
9-19-2012 Doors and Drawers
I have built four drawers and two doors out of nice cherry wood I had
milled from my neighbors yard. I finished them with Old Masters
semi gloss varnish. They have been installed and they fit
nice.
Electrical:
9-2012 Solar Panels
I am reinstalling smaller panels on the starboard and port side of the
boat. The large panels I had previously mounted were coming apart
and I haven't even been on the water yet!! I wish products were
built to last.
Electrical 9-24-2012
Solar Panels
I have remounted new and smaller solar panels today. They are
ET Solar 95 watt panels. I glued and riveted and 3/8 inch thick
ply panel on the backside to hold everything together better and make a
nice strong mount.
Mast and Rigging: Nav lights
Mounted the foredeck light on mast and I am working on the anchor
light. I have lost the plug to the Hella Anchor light model
DHJ/08/01/71 and I am currently scouring the internet looking for one.
Finishing, Finishing, Finishing
10-18-2012
I haven't written much on this web page lately. Most of the jobs
I have been doing are not very interesting. Just trying to finish
everything up. Like, finish the plumbing like a want it, which
meant moving a foot pump I had stuck behind a cabinet door (bad idea)
and placing it where the pedal could be reached without opening a
door. And adding another foot pump to the head sink. I
found out quickley I like to foot pump a lot more than hand pump.
I found a leak in the freshwater tank, so I am fixing it. I have
been wrestling with the engine install for months now. About to
get it the way I want it. Finished the interior painting and
varnishing and had to cover a bit of ceiling with wood. I have written
up some of this work in more detail on the HR Rasmus Owners Blog.
I will end the work portion of this web site in the next couple of
months with a flurry of before and after pictures of the boat and a few
pics of the HUGE celebration I will have when the boat gets dunked into
the Arkansas River.
Cheers
Pat
Below is a Series of Post I made
concerning my Engine Installation. This is my first Engine installation
and I made some mistakes but I have also learned a lot.
Thanksfully the mistakes weren't catastrophic.
Beta 38 engine is up and running
Well I received my new custom engine mounts and they worked
great. I have roughly aligned the engine and hooked up the
exhaust and electrical. I also hooked up a facet pump (part
number 40104) in front of the Racor fuel filter to help lift fuel out
of the deep fuel tank. After running it a bit, I blew the 1 amp
fuse to the facet pump. I continued to run without the fuel
pump. The next day I tried to start the engine (Beta 38) and it
would not start. I then realized the facet fuel pump is really
needed on this boat/engine combination. I replaced the 1 amp fuse
to the pump with a 5 amp fuse and ran the fuel pump a bit before trying
to start the engine. No good. I had to re bleed the fuel
lines before the engine would start. This was a good lesson to
what is needed to get this combination to work well. That facet
pump is much needed.
Revision to my last post
Well I have figured out some things with the engine install. And
some lesson are learned the hard way. It has been hard to start
of late(last two days) and I have been having to re bleed the fuel
lines. I thought is was the added Facet fuel pump that blew a
fuse that caused the hard starting problems. Nope. I found
out what was causing the hard start. I didn't put enough diesel
in the tank and it was sucking air. I also found out what can
happen when you crank the engine several times without it
starting. I got water in the engine!! Today I checked the
oil level prior to starting and saw a milky coating on my oil dip
stick. I called Beta and they gave me a plan to flush the engine
of the bad oil. I pumped out the oil, replaced the bad oil with
good, replaced the oil filter, and ran the engine for a couple of
minutes. Then repeated the above steps four times. Ended up
running 16 quarts of good oil thru it and using up 4 oil filters and it
looked like it cleaned up well. I will probably do it a few more
times tomorrow just for good measure. It is running great now
that have the fuel tank filled up to an appropriate level and have nice
clean oil in the engine. And luckily it was fresh water, so no
salt problems should occur. Having hopefully dodged a bullet, I
now have to figure out what went wrong. I went to great lengths
to get the install done correctly. Hmmm, apparently I missed
something. I have a long exhaust hose run and have a Vetus
LP60 muffler installed that holds 2.77 gallons of wet exhaust, which I
thought would take care this. Maybe not. I am ordering a
LSL60 which holds 4.23 gallons of wet exhaust. I have a high
vacuum loop installed on the water injection hose and a high loop in
the exhaust hose itself. That is the way several Rasmus owners I
have talked to have theirs set up. The only thing I can think of
is that the duration of cranking the engine without a start caused
water to accumulate in the muffler to the point of backing up in the
engine, not having enough pressure to blow out the wet exhaust.
Any thoughts out there would be appreciated. I am thinking that
the insufficient fuel level caused the hard start, which caused the
back flow of water into the engine, and also saved my engine from
destruction when it wouldn't start before I checked the oil level and
found the water in the engine. Whew!! Question: What size
exhaust muffler are you Rasmus owners installing in your boat? Do
you put a loop in the exhaust hose? Also, I want to know how you
experienced owners handle hard engine starting situations,
specifically, after cranking the engine over an unusually long period
of time without a successful start, do you empty out the wet exhaust
muffler at some point to keep water from backing up in the
engine? Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks
Pat
Engine Exhaust Problem Located
After getting water in the engine from a back flow of wet exhaust, I
found the problem. My exhaust muffler inlet is two inches higher
than the high rise exhaust elbow fitting on the engine. I made a
big mistake. I relied upon a previous installation as being
correct. Since my exhaust elbow is in the starboard locker out of
sight from the engine room, it wasn't so easy to spot. That's my
excuse anyway! So, as long as the engine starts quickly you don't
see a problem. But as soon as a hard starting situation appears,
the hose between the exhaust elbow and muffler quickly fills up with
water, as the engine doesn't produce the exhaust pressure necessary to
push the wet exhaust water up and over to the muffler. The
problem is I don't have the space to lower the muffler or enough space
to raise the elbow to get the recommended 9 inches of drop from the
exhaust elbow to the muffler. Hmmm. I can custom make an
extension to my exhaust elbow to raise it above the muffler at a
maximum height of maybe 4 inches above the muffler inlet. That
puts the top of the exhaust elbow at the very top of my engine room
ceiling. But it still doesn't meet the recommended 9 inch
drop. What to do. Any suggestions are welcome.
Help! Beta Marine Engine Keeps Dying
Ok, I have redone my exhaust system much like Dave's and Martin's
systems. I put the Vetus LSS 50 water lock muffler under the aft
cabin closet on a shelf I made just above the prop shaft. That
gives me the required drop from the water injection point to the
muffler. Then ran the pipe straight back to the gooseneck mounted
at the transom. I left the anti siphon loop on the water
injection hose high in the starboard locker. That meets the
Vetus's installation requirements. So it seems to work fine
sitting here in my yard. We shall see when I get into some
waves. But, THE BETA ENGINE STILL DIES ON ME!!!!!! It is
still getting air in the line somewhere. Its not the fuel level,
I checked that. I have at least half a tank of fuel. My
Racor fuel filler lid was not screwed on really tight, so I tightened
that down really snug. That seemed to help and I thought I had it
fixed but after running it for several minutes, shutting it off, then
restarting and running for just a few seconds, BAM, the engine dies
again. This is driving me CRAZY!!! Any suggestions as to
what the problem could be would be greatly appreciated. I will
get some pictures posted in a few days of the entire install.
Cheers
Engine Problem Solved
I finally found the cause of the dying engine. I had an air leak
on the fuel lift tube where the nylon tube connects to the aluminum
fitting that screws onto the tank. It was a newly replaced
part. It's crazy all the sub standard equipment being
made. I found it by unhooking the fuel line from the fuel
tank (the other end goes into the Facet lift pump) and sticking that
end in fresh clean fuel in a bucket and unhooked the fuel line going
into the Racor fuel filter and sticking that in the same bucket of fuel
(isolating the fuel pump). I turned on my Facet fuel pump and
watched for bubbles going up in the bucket of fuel. No
bubbles. So then I took re attached the fuel hose to the fuel
tank and turned on the Facet pump again isolating the tank
fitting. I got bubbles coming up in the bucket of fuel. So,
the leak has to be at the tank fitting because all of the fuel lines
down stream of the Facet pump are pressurized meaning if I have a leak
downstream of the Facet pump it will show up as fuel in the bilge, not
air in the lines. I changed out the fuel lift tube assembly and the
engine ran beautifully. Boy has this little air leaked been
frustrating. This is my first engine installation and I knew I
would make some mistakes. Thankfully none of them have been
catastrophic. They have been very frustrating but I am learning a
lot fast and that, in itself, will be worth it in the long haul.
Cheers
Pat
Marine Survey and Insurance
I was able to find a marine surveyor here in Little Rock and he was
unusually busy at this time of year but was able to squeeze me into his
schedule. Insurance companies require a survey before they
will offer their coverage. I was dealing with BoatUS Insurance
company. Before the survey they were only going to give me
coverage up to $25,000. After they accepted the survey, they
upped their coverage to $50,000. That will cover about half of
what I have in the boat if it's totaled but I knew going into this
project that this wasn't going to be a money making venture and I would
certainly lose money. I will carry coverage insurance for at least a
year to gain experience and will later adjust it as I see fit. I
am scheduled to move the boat the week of Nov. 27th. I only have
a 10 mile move from my house to Little Rock Yacht Club. I am
cutting it a bit close, but still plan to leave in the middle of
January for my trip to the Bahamas. It's getting very exciting
indeed.
And the Costs Just Keep on Coming
Crane service to lift the mast: $425.00
Cost to move boat 10 miles: $400.00
Insurance for boat/year: $2150.00
Travel Lift Fee: $140
Dock Fee: $125.00/month
I am going to have to live very frugally during my cruising time.
I just hope this boat is solid and will hold up well while I am out
there.
Before and After Pictures
I have more or less completed the Restoration of my Hallberg Rassy
Rasmus. It took 5 years. The first two and a half years
were part time but the last 2 1/2 I have worked pretty much full time
on this boat. It has been a long and hard project and the cost
was considerably more than I anticipated. I have enjoyed the work
for the most part. It was a challenge and I like
challenges. I learned a lot about the boat and it's
systems. I had no previous experience with boat restoration
except for wood working, electrical, plumbing and painting skills I had
earned on house building, general construction, and cabinet
making. I learned the boat specific skills from books, the
internet, and advice from forums and blogs. I turned
to Calder's book on boat maintenance and systems often. I
do think his book goes into such depth it almost becomes impractical.
One of the most satisfying and unexpected aspects has been the
communication from other Rasmus owners and boat owners around the
world. Without the support from all of those who chimed in I
don't know if I would have finished. Thanks. Would I do
another project of this magnitude? No. And it would be hard
for me to recommend doing a project of this size to an unexperienced
person such as myself. The time and financial demands are
substantial. Below are before and after pictures of the
project. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I am going
to enjoy posting them. Yeeeehaaaaa!
First Day Out With Mary Annie Dec. 15, 2012
I took my wife and oldest daughter out on the river to give Mary Annie
and myself a shakedown run. The rigging is not complete so this
was just to get used to how
she handles under power. We motored 3 miles up the Arkansas River
and back. The first thing I noticed is that the hydraulic
steering was slipping. It looks like I need to
bleed some air out of the lines. Also, she pulled to one side a
bit. Don't know what was causing this. I don't know if the
hydraulic steering is creating some kind of back pressure
and pushing the piston back. I will unhook the streering next
time out and steer by tiller and that will tell me if it's the
hydraulic system. Then, wouldn't you know it, I went aground
FIRST
TIME OUT! I got out of the bouys but in deep water but I failed
to notice the red letter on my chart that read HAZARDOUS BOATING
AREA. It's typical for me
to get all my screwups over up front. I will pull the boat to check any damage and report. Cheers.
Woodwork