How to Guage Progress - New Engine Controls

Harmony needed a new engine.  To solve that issue we purchased a new Yanmar 4JH4-HTE diesel.  This engine will give us 110 HP, but I don't think we'll do any tubing or wakeboarding once we get underway!  However, we should have ample power to get through tough currents or opposing seas.

So, with the new engine comes a new control panel.  This control panel needs to be mounted in the cockpit so that rpm's, water temperature, and charging current can be monitored.  More than that we need to be able to start the engine!  The new engine comes with a lovely looking control panel.  However, it has a different shape and different dimensions than the old Perkins panel.

After some consideration, I decided to dress up the control panel housing and to provide some 12v outlets for use in the cockpit.  Having a 12v outlet in the cockpit comes in real handy when one needs to use a spotlight or needs to run a hand held GPS.  West Marine sells a convenient double outlet 12v receptacle which fit very nicely into the my panel housing design.

Well, now that I had the new housing designed, I needed to make it.  I chose to make the mounting face out of Merranti plywood because it was waterproof and would be able to withstand the rigors of cockpit life.  I chose teak to frame the housing in order to match the cockpit, which was sheathed in teak. 

Our new engine control panel and 12v receptacles which will be mounted in the cockpit

The nifty thing about the new Yanmar control panel is the push button start capability.  With our old Perkins engine in Poetry, I always worried about water intrusion at the key slot.  While we never had a problem, it was one of those nagging issues that awakened every time I started the engine.  Yes, I understand the potential for reliability challenges with these new fangled gizmos, but I still like the ease and convenience of push button control.

Once the panel is permanently installed, I will either purchase or construct a lexan/polycarbonate cover to protect the Yanmar panel from splashes and UV damage.  I have spoken to Seaworthy Goods (www.seaworthygoods.com) which manufactures a product called "ProductVisors" for Yanmar engine panels.  However, our panel is so new that they have yet to design the exact a cover for it yet.  We are scheduled to revisit the situation in a few months.

Next I went to work removing the old cockpit engine controls.  The old Perkins had 1200+ hours on it before it or the tachometer died.  After cutting a few wires and removing a few screws, I had all of the last vestiges of the old engine removed.

The empty hole in which the old Perkins control panel was housed

I could now test fit and mark cutouts for the new control panel housing I had made.  After clamping the new panel housing to cockpit, I was able to scribe the lines I needed to cut out to fit the new Yanmar panel.  I decided to leave the cutting out until another day because I am going to have protect the engine room underneath from the dust mess resulting from the cutting-out process.

The mounting lines and cut-out marks for the new Yanmar control panel

While it doesn't look like much, this step was a major move forward.  The final installation of the engine will begin soon and with it a flood of projects will start that leads to Harmony's launch.  It always nice to see a visible indicator of progress being made, and this engine control panel provided just that!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Moving More Than The Clocks Ahead

After a long winter of annoying snow storms, a clear signal that Spring is on its way is the ritual of moving our clocks ahead.  While this change essentially shortens one night of sleep, it heralds an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day.  It is amazing how much that seemingly little change offers such a large space in which to work on things.

Add to that a flirtatious warm temperature and it is amazing how energized one can get.  Our project list has filled pages with a steady stream of set-up steps, but also deep dives into preparing for furniture fabrication in the galley and dinette.  While waiting for the snow to melt, I prepared cedar ceiling strips for inside the galley and dinette cabinets.

While most of the ceiling strips in the boat were originally fabricated out of teak.  The cost of teak today is around $32 per board foot.  Since most of the ceiling strips I need will be enclosed within cabinets, I don't need fancy teak.  I have opted for either mahogany or cedar strips which cost between $5 and $9 a board foot.  Where visible when opening a cabinet door, I have chosen to use mahogany, and, where hidden, I have chosen cedar.

The mahogany strips will be varnished and the cedar will be unfinished.  Unfinished or natural state cedar helps repel bugs.  Hence, the cedar will not be finished.  Besides those benefits, not having to finish the cedar strips saves about 5 days of varnishing!

To make the strips, I purchase 2x4x8 or longer mahogany or cedar studs.  Step 1:  I round-over the corners on a router table.  Step 2:  I rip out a 3/8" strip.  Once that is done, I repeat steps 1 and 2 until the 2x4 has been completely used.  At the end of the process, I am able to produced six ceiling strips out of each 2x4.


Ceiling strips begin as a 2x4 piece of wood

 







The corners are rounded over on the router table

The ceiling strips are ripped to 3/8" thick





This is the process I used to make both the mahogany and cedar ceiling strips.  I try not to make too many at one time in order to prevent the strips from twisting or getting out of shape before I install them.  The mahogany strips require 2 coats of shellac and 5 coats of varnish before installation.  The cedar strips get installed as soon as I am on the boat

While the snow remains in the yard and the temperatures stay in the low 30's despite flirting with Spring, it is a good time to do these set-up steps.  At this point in Harmony's restoration, every project requires a goodly amount of preparatory steps:  hull ceiling, furniture cabinets, electrical wiring, cabin overhead paneling, etc, etc!

But at least the ritual of moving the clocks ahead gives us more light at the end of the day!

Fair Winds and Following Seas

The 3 P's - Plan, Prepare, and Perform

One of the challenges we face in today's fast paced and relatively instantaneous gratification world, is that most good things don't just happen at the snap of a finger.  However, it is so easy to succumb to the desire to have something you want as quick as it takes to click a mouse!

We goal oriented folks very often give scant attention to the journey in our rush to get to our destination just to sprint off to a newly created goal.  As true as this is for us, we need to realize that the journey is many times more impactful and, hence, more important than the destination.  This is certainly true with respect to the restoration of Harmony.

Since we have the opportunity to design our "systems" from the hull up, we get to learn every aspect of them.  Furthermore, we get to think and re-think whatever we thought we have finalized!  With the Winter weather interfering with working on the boat, I get to spend time and effort with the 3 P's of a project:  Plan, Prepare, and Perform.

For example, I redesigned the nav station to cleanly house radios, instruments, and the like.  My vision has all of these goodies neatly flush mounted in a cabinet.  Well, is my mind's eye calibrated to reality?  There are 2 ways to find out:  attack with a sabre saw and find out, or prepare a template to see how it really looks.

Since I recall the invested time and effort it took to fabricate the cabinet, I chose the latter.  So, armed with some foam board and the dimensions of each item being installed I began to layout the face plate of the cabinet.  I would rather screw up my pencil marks on the foam board than deface my nicely finished sapele mahogany face panel.

Instrument Cabinet with blank face panel - varnished sapele mahogany

Obviously my cabinet plan incorporated the basic dimensions of the instruments, but I had not been able to actually see how it all fit.  I prepared cut-out templates for each instrument and played around with where to put them.  After some focused measuring and drawing, I finally came up with the layout.

Face Panel template with layout of instruments - left to right
Fusion IP600 Stereo, SiriusXM Radio (T) & 12v Outlets (B), Wema Running LIght Monitor, Standard Horizon GX2150 VHF Radio, Raymarine i70 instrument

With Harmony's restoration there are so many elements that take a lot of ground work to get to the finished stage.  We have been hard at work on the project for over a year, and it still looks like we've barely scratched the surface.  However, the 3 P's (plan, prepare, perform) apply to everything on Harmony. 

As much as I want Harmony in the water and ready to sail right NOW, I am truly thankful that I have the opportunity to experience the 3 P's.  It not only gives me the control over what we're doing, but it provides a healthy amount of therapy for the stresses of everyday demands.  It is amazing how calming it is to get "lost" in working through all the P's. 

However, as much as I respect the benefits of this journey. I still can't wait to raise the sails and head toward the horizon!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!