Bilge pumps, high-water alarm, cockpit table, Monitor Windvane, Liferaft

We have been knocking items off the to-do list over the past few weeks:

Bilge Pumps

The new Beta Marine engine made getting the bilge pumps, which are way, way down there underneath the engine, very difficult to access. They were both attached to the same steel ‘stick’, seated in the bilge, but needed the hoses detached and the entire unit twisted and fiddled with to get them out.

Colin fixed this by reorganizing the arrangement, and making the two pump installations independent of each other.

High-Water Alarm

This was one of those ‘team projects’ – Julian to install the switch into the cabinetry, and Colin to install the monitor and wiring (along with the bilge-pumps).

If we get a bunch of water and the bilge pumps aren’t working or coping, we should now hear a screech! (or at least the neighbors will).

Cockpit Table

We’ve had the cockpit table installed for a while, but with the nice varnish job elsewhere, it was time to make it pretty, and protect it from all those red wine spills.

A coat of epoxy sealer and four coats of varnish.

Monitor Windvane

This (the installation, not the operation) turned out to be a relatively simple job, as the vane had been on the boat before, and the P.O. (Fred) had ordered some new parts. We backed the boat into the slip, and then worked off the dock.

Liferaft

We had an out-of-date coastal valise-style liferaft that came with the boat, but rather than get it recertified, we wanted to replace it, and after some research went for a Viking Rescue-You Pro 6-man liferaft in a hard case, with a cradle for a deck mounting.

As the cradle required through-bolting to some backing plates, this entailed removing the inner headliner in the galley and salon, which revealed a dry and dusty underneath to the deck (dry and dusty being good things on a boat). Some hefty bolting and this thing should be solid. On the outside, the job involved over-sized holes, epoxy filling, re-drilling to the correct size, and mounting with butyl tape – the usual multi-step process.

Hopefully the whole deal was a total waste of money and effort, and we’ll never use it! The good news is that without the valise liferaft in the lazarette, we now have a nice spot for the fenders, and the hard case makes a nice backrest while sitting on deck.