We spent the Christmas/New Years holidays at the boat so that is the beginning of the 2010 updates.
As for what we accomplished, here is a small list of things:
Got the new sails checked for fit;
Installed additional handrails inside;
Made & installed some fiddles so the cushions don't fall out when healed;
Put 2 more wraps of fiberglass insulation on the exhaust pipe;
Installed the second computer display for the cockpit;
Filled all the acorn nuts with set screws;
Got the Raymarine/NMEA interface wired up & working;
So I guess that we start with the sails.
We had decided to have North Sails make us a suit of custom sails. Had the boat measured in August, the sails arrived in September, and got them up to the boat & test fitted the end of December. Kate went all the way up the mast and installed the head block for the gennaker halyard! While she was up at the top she took some great pictures of Sherpa, who is sitting next to us in the boat yard, as well as MOM.
There were some problems, but nothing that couldn't be fixed quite easily on the main and the gennaker. Looks like the genoa will have to be remade as it was 6" too short on the luff. That took a little bit of convincing, but the president of North Sails gave it the go-ahead so we are getting another genoa that will fit our boat very nice.
As for the additional handrails,
I had the measurements with me in Utah and did a little cutting & welding to make some very custom ones for the the stove guard and above the port quarterberth. Another little handhold/fiddle was made for the galley counter that is aft of the stove. After this round of handrails we have a better idea on where some additional ones need to go. So with some measurements & patterns I'll be making them soon.
Fiddles for the cushions.
Made some nice fiddles from some baseboard stock that I found in Home Depot. These should hold in the dinette cushions as well as the "couch" and the little seat opposite the head. Kate finished them with Watco oil so they give a touch of wood grain to the boat (if anyone notices those things).
Fiberglass tape insulation on the exhaust pipe.
Last summer we still had a little too much heat coming off the dry exhaust pipe. I found a local supplier in Utah that stocked some 1/8" X 3" wide fiberglass tape at a much better price than the "marine" stuff. So we got 200' of that and installed the additional wraps on the pipe. Topped it off with some aluminum foil tape to keep it all contained and help keep some of the radient heat inside the pipe. This was perhaps the worst job of the trip as there isn't much room around the pipe and working with any kind of fiberglass is nasty. It took 100' just to make one wrap on the pipe! I did a 2/3 overlap so each "wrap" makes for an additional 3/8" thickness of the insulation.
Second computer monitor for the cockpit.
Last summer we decided that we needed to be able to see the computer screen from the cockpit. My decision was to use a VGA splitter and drive a second monitor that could be seen while in the cockpit. I was very lucky in getting another 15" matching waterproof, daylight readable monitor from Argonaut as they had discontinued production last spring. Anyway after much debate about where to mount it (it could be out in the cockpit, or could be just inside on a RAM mount to swivel around, or it could be mounted in one of the aft windows). In the end we choose to mount it against the aft port window on the inside. This made cabling easier.
Filling the acorn nuts with set screws.
I was concerned about dirt getting into the acorn nuts and was looking for a way to block them off. In looking at options, I found a deal on some 1/2" nylon set screws. I ran the bottom tap into each acorn nut (MOM has 114 of them) then installed a set screw with a little bit of oil on it. Now all these little holes look a bit more finished and will not collect much dirt either.
Raymarine/NMEA interface wired & working.
We wanted to be able to see the wind data as well as the depth sounder reading on the computer screen. This took getting a special interface box that translates from the Raymarine SeaTalk network to the standard NMEA 0183 data format. It really is nice to be able to see this information next to your chart on the computer screen. I also reinstalled the repaired AIS unit & checked it out to verify that it works properly (it did).
After losing the GPS when the AIS failed last year & relying on the Garmin handheld, we wanted to have some additional backup capability. We now have 2 additional spare GPS units that plug into the computer USB port. They are waterproof and have a magnetic base so they are perfect for MOM and only cost about $25 each.
So that is about all for now. We plan on getting back to the boat in March.