A Moment of Clarity - Punch List Items Remaining

Grant: Here is a list of remaining items I would like you to complete: Add Fuel Sending Unit to Tank Add Fuel Guage to Key Panel Add Overflow tank to Radiator on Engine Hatch for Engine Room Door Put Bungee Cord on Shelves in Engine Room Two Fwd Cleats Two Mid-Ship Cleats Weld Stern Pulpits Tighten Life Lines Mount Generator in a Case Carpet in V-berth area and also in hallway, nav station and under stove. Change blulb on Windlass Switch Bulb on Compass DC Fan in Galley DC Fan in V-Berth DC Fan above AC outlet  next to where I sat and used laptop Fix leaks on aft stbd chain plate Replace sandpaper on floor steps (in bag @ nav station) Mount Rack Shelves in the Engine Room Put on Jib Rollers Possibly design a better nav station that has more storage. Deeper drawer, etc. - objective here is to be able to stow charts and to have a workspace large enough to open chart book and plot courses. Do five portholes. Do bottom paint on dingy Patch all small holes around hull so no leaks to the inside. In particular, we noted leaks where the radar cables came into the aft cabin head and also at the mast and somewhere in the engine room at the binnacle.  I think you said there was a leaking water hose near the water pressure pump as well. Install Auto Pilot Once life lines are tightened, order some nice rope from Lewis and hang four new fenders (now in aft cabin) Here is the list of items I am giving Bart: 0) Add a 2x4 or other support under access panel at galley table. This broke today. 1) Finish floor Add trim (an escutcheon) around mast 2) Patch Fwd Cabin Head Door Foot 3) Fix doors so they latch 4) Add a fiddle to the engine room compartment platform. Please use the two pieces I have provided, separated by a 1/2" or so for drainage. They are on the galley table. 5) Add one shelf to aft cabin closet about 10" below the top shelf 6) Add two shelves to closet aft of that closet. as marked with a sharpie. Objective here is to be able to put the silver case on the first shelf. 7) In aft cabin closet, segment it so that 9 1/2" of the aft portion of that compartment may be used for hanging clothes. Cut short the existing dowel to fit in this space. The remaining section should have one shelf measured equidistant from the top and bottom (ie in the middle).  This part should not have a hanging rod. Objective is to use this ection to stow two bags.  Please don't secure this shelf as it may need to be removed.

Finally! An Autopilot!

In my opinion, an autopilot is the most important piece of equipment, next to an EPIRB, to have on a sailboat. To some it may be considered to be a "comfort item," but to me it's a requirement.


I have fantasized for years about getting something like the Norvane self-steering Windvane as it is my opinion that a servo-pendulum (that is, a non-electronic) system is the most fail safe way to go.


However, to install one I would have to give up having a swim ladder in the back of the boat and would have to be very careful dragging a dingy so I finally convinced myself that an electronic autopilot was the best choice.


Unfortunately, when you get into boat as big as Clarity (at 22,000 lbs), you can't just go the easy way and buy a wheel pilot like the Autohelm 4000 (now called a SmartPilot X-5) which work nicely for boats with displacement up to 16,500 lbs.


Therefore, effectively the only choice I had was to go with a hydraulic steering device. I settled on the ST70 SmartPilot X-10 Linear Drive System for Sailboats by Raymarine that I ordered today.

Undertaking a major overhaul of various systems

Undertaking a major overhaul of various systems on the boat.

First on the list was to fix a small, but persistent fuel leak (3/4 cup per hour) coming off of the main fuel injection pump assembly where the throttle linkage attaches.

This component took a professional mechanic almost two hours just to get off the engine (a Perkins 4-108).

I took the pump into Everglades Diesel in Fort Lauderdale and they broke it down for a look.

The pump has a surprising number of parts - at least 30, possibly more, and is complicated almost to the level of a transmission. Its insides were somewhat filled with oil, which it should not have had, and there were obvious signs of bad seals and scratches to the inside of the main cylinder where a thing like an impeller pumps the fuel at high pressure.

Anyway, due to the level of effort to get the device on and off the motor and the number of possible fault points on it, I elected to have a major overhaul done - at a cost of $768.

The pump came back looking so good I was ready to cuddle up with eat - like it was a brand new $3000 pump.


Here is the result of their work:

We get a new inverter

Being a webdood, it is important that I maintain the ability to run my laptop and to connect to the Internet from the boat.

This is our top of the line Xantrex Prosine Wave Inverter / Charger 3.0 (aka the Prosine 3000).

It produces a pure sine wave at 3000 watts.

It is by far the most sohisticated piece of machinery on the boat.

For unknown reasons, it blew up in the Bahamas this year.

This is our warranty replacement: