Seabiscuit and Beyond: Boat Projects

Location: Sidney, BC, Canada

We are well into our boat projects, repairs and upgrades. The work started on February 20th and we are hoping to cross the finish line sometime over the next few weeks. Our project list is quite long, so for this post, we'll walk thru the list, provide some pictures and let you know what's been done so far.

Seabiscuit hauled out on a rail system for bottom painting
and stabilizer maintenance.

Our biggest project is installing a diesel hydronic heating system along with a new water heater. We chose the Kabola Blue Flame system which is billed as "the only blue flame, zero soot and low-carbon emission marine boiler on the market." The theory is that because the flame burns hotter, blue instead of yellow, it is more efficient and produces less soot. An interesting article on hydronic heating systems, specifically the Blue Flame system was written by Steve D'Antonio for Professional Boat Builder Magazine Blue Flame Afloat. (Steve D' is a marine technical consultant. We read his articles and newsletters on a regular basis. Learn more at Steve's website: Steve D Marine Consulting). So far the boatyard have completed:

Installation of the fan coils in all the spaces to be heated (8 total - 2 in the saloon, 1 each in each stateroom (3), 1 in each head (2) and 1 combo heat/defrost unit in the pilot house)
Installation of the PEX plumbing and insulation.
Installation of air intakes and vents for the fan coils.
The cable runs for the thermostats and switches are done but not connected.
In the engine room, installation of the boiler, the hot water heater, the five-zone manifold, the fluid conditioning tank and the fluid filter.

The components installed in the engine room: the boiler, new water heater, fluid conditioning tank and manifold.

Fan coils waiting to be installed in the starboard stateroom and head.

Fan coil installed in the starboard stateroom.

Fan coil installed in the saloon under the starboard settee.

Main switch for the heating system.

Burner side of the boiler.

What's left:

Installation of the boiler's exhaust system.
Electrical connections to the fan coils, thermostats and switches.
Pulling in primary power from the 24V battery bank to the 24V/230V inverter and then the inverter 230VAC power to the Kabola boiler.
Installing the fuel line and fuel filter.
Hook-up, commissioning and testing.

Our second biggest project is replacing the teak on the main deck. The teak on the main deck was worn down so that it was below the level of the caulking. The deck on the Portuguese bridge is still in good shape so we opted not to replace that. The removal of the old deck has been very labor intensive and included taking the deck down to bare metal. Now that they have the old deck removed, they are in the process of painting and fairing the steel to ready it for the new deck installation. The teak installers have been to the boat and created the pattern for the new deck. The boat yard should finish the deck prep this week and the installation of the new deck is scheduled to begin next week on Monday.

Starting to remove the old deck, port side.

Old deck removal, port side

Removal in progress, stern.

Pattern making for the new deck, stern.

Preparing to paint with epoxy primer.

Starboard deck painted with some long battens to allow more efficient application of final "level" of fairing compound. 2-3mm tolerance is target for teak installation via vacuum bagging over thin layer of epoxy.

Seabiscuit at the service dock with the main deck enclosed with plastic to protect
it from the weather while they work on the deck.

Our other projects are relatively small compared to the heating system and the deck, but they are numerous. We had the boat hauled out of the water to repaint the bottom, apply prop speed and do maintenance on the Wesmar stabilizer system.

Preparing to haul-out on the small rail.

Lined up to haul-out on the small rail. The boatyard noticed that the rails weren't lining up on the small rail. They inspected, found some subsidence and needed to make repairs before they hauled any more boats on that rail.
Our haul-out was delayed by one week when they were able to haul us on the large rail.

We got hauled on the large rail.

Up out of the water, ready to be prepped for bottom paint.

Stabilizer fin removed so that shaft seals could be replaced.

Stabilizer fin shaft.

Installing Speedi-Sleeve on stabilizer shaft where some minor pitting was found.

Stabilizer fin re-installed.

While the boat was out of the water, we flaked out our anchor chain and repainted our markings. We have soft line marks every ten feet, yellow spray paint every fifty feet and yellow-orange-yellow spray paint at the bitter end.

Dave painting the bitter end marks on our anchor chain.

We're doing some carpentry work including removing our entertainment cabinet to make more space in the saloon, building a new entertainment/DVD cabinet under the port side dining bench, modifying the wine cabinet so that it will hold wine bottles and glasses, building a storage unit where the washer/dryer used to be and adding louvers to the chart cabinet where our sat system is installed. We are also replacing the carpet in the saloon and state rooms.

The carpenter removing the entertainment cabinet while the
electrician runs cable for the propane solenoid valve.

The entertainment cabinet is gone and the carpet is removed.
The wine cabinet is on the table waiting to go to the shop for modifications.

The electrician wiring for the new DVD cabinet under the port dining bench.

We are installing a propane shut-off solenoid valve and have taken our tanks to be re-certified. One passed and one didn't so we have a new tank on order. Our propane storage box is old and the base of it is rotted so it will be replaced.

Propane shut-off control

The bottom of our existing propane storage box.

Our electrical repairs and upgrades include: adding a 110V outlet just above the wine cabinet at the aft end of the starboard settee, repairing the LEDs in the galley, and installing a breaker and outlet/switch for our hookah compressor.

The circuit breaker box opened up for the electrical upgrades.

The new outlet for the hookah compressor.

We're replacing our seawater cooled refrigerator and freezer compressors with fan cooled units. We think they'll be just as efficient but will require less maintenance (no anodes and no seawater lines) and will allow us to close the sea chests while leaving the frig/freezer running if we leave the boat for short periods of time.

Refrigerator and freezer compressors being replaced.

We are replacing our black and gray water tank level gauges and are adding a tank level gauge for our fresh water tank. We noticed some rust in our fresh water tank so we have cleaned it up and are repainting the inside.

New tank level gauges (to the right of the coffee cup)
ready to be installed.

A collar added to the top of the fresh water tank so that tank level sensor can be installed.

Localized 2mm pitting in our fresh water tank. Repaired with epoxy.

Heater in the fresh water tank to dry it out before painting.

Of course, it hasn't been all work and no play. During the first week of March, while Dave managed the boat projects, I headed south to join my friend Jennie for part of her cross-country drive. I met her in Las Vegas on March 1st. We toured the strip and did some gambling on the 2nd and then hit the road on Friday, March 3. We drove from Las Vegas to Bakersfield on Friday and parked at a small casino. Saturday we drove from Bakersfield to Merced, CA where we parked at a local winery Vista Cellars Winery. Sunday we drove from Merced to Williams, CA where we met my mom, Louise and brother, Kevin, for lunch before continuing on to Orland where Jennie set-up for her work week. I spent two days visiting with my mom in Colusa and then flew back to Victoria.