Hosing and Windlass Foot Switch

The effort with the hosing in the lazarette turned out to be much more modest than I had expected. I removed two hoses from their thru-hull fittings and saw that they are made for hose connections and have no threads for attaching a shut-off valve. I looked at the other hoses, thinking how they are under no pressure and their outlets were above the water line and decided to leave well enough alone. I don't want to risk opening a Pandora's Box of grief by trying to replace those thru-hull fittings. However, I did raise the loop of a half-inch hose and who knows, it may solve my water ingestion problem. I still don't know what that hose services because it disappears under the cockpit and I won't have access to that area until I remove those large batteries.

The top photo shows the hoses from the two whale gusher pumps joined to the one outlet.

The second photos shows the red drain hose for the electric bilge pump and the mysterious half-inch hose removed from their thru-hull fittings. The big black hose is the exhaust hose.

The third photo shows the hose outlets at the stern. The two large outlets below the water line are for the cockpit drains. All of the thru-hull fittings below the waterline were professionally replaced in preparation for this trip.

Above the water line to the left is the exhaust outlet with the dark streak running down from it. Next to it is the outlet for the mysterious half-inch hose. The large outlet on the starboard side is for the whale gusher pumps. The small one below that is for the small drain at the back of the cockpit.

In the afternoon I had a go at fixing the foot switch for the electric anchor windlass. I replaced the cabling between the switch and the solenoid with thick gauge tinned wire with professionally soldered terminals. I hooked it all up confident that it would solve the problem but the foot switch would still not work. I don't fully understand the circuitry between the master switch in the cockpit, the foot switch at the bow, and the solenoid. At this point it looks like the foot switch is OK and that the master switch is not sending energy to the bow. Arnold is visiting tomorrow and I'll ask him for advice.

I got a visit from the rigger today and we looke over the tasks. I was impressed with his approach to the job. Tomorrow he will send someone to go up the mast to check out the upper ends of the standing rigging. At first glance the shrouds and backstay look OK but he will use his tricks of the trade to look for any evidence of corrosion or broken wires.

I am going to remove the port chain plate for inspection. I'll first brace the mast, of course. Whether they are replaced or not the chain plates will be rebedded in epoxy and will not leak again during my tenure. He will guide me in the procedure and send someone to help if I require it.

We discussed setting up a track and block arrangement to store the spinnaker pole up the front of the mast. He will cost out two options.

Yesterday Doug Roth the refrigeration man phoned me. He had tried to call me but I had garbled my telephone number and he could not reach me. Fortunately I phoned the second morning and was clearer with my message. He asked why I though that I needed to replace the refrigeration unit. It replied that it was because of its age and that I had heard that older units cannot be charged with modern gases. He said that the Danfoss compressors are practically indestructible and seemed to indicate he can re-gas it to get it working again. He will visit next week.

I tried to contact Richard on the HF radio at the indicate hour and frequency today, with no success. I missed the first two sessions and he may have given up on me. The HF radio seemed to putting out plenty of power.

Arnold will visit tomorrow. I'll drill through the hull with a 1" hole cutter and install the salt water pump inlet fitting. We'll also test out the VDO temperature sensor. He recalls that it tested OK earlier. That would mean that we have either a wiring or a meter problem.