Finished Painting Quarter Berth Area

Port Berth

Other than a some minor tidying up it looks like I have finished repainting and varnishing the quarter berth section of the boat.  I used more than 2 liters of Imron paint (that's a lot) in laying down the 2 coats.  Yesterday I put the second coat of varnish on the wood pieces and today I secured the cabling and remounted various fittings that I had removed for the work.

Intermediate Area Between Berths

Looking to Starboard Berth

The blue material on in the port quarter berth is a lee cloth that Arnold used when he slept in the berth.  Now it is handy for holding material in during long crossings.  The photo through the crossover to the starboard berth shows green masking tape that I have since removed.  The metal dome protects the refrigerator compartment exhaust fan.  The hose at the rear of the starboard berth has some white paint on it.  Professional pride compels me to proclaim that it (and many humungous drips) was done by a predecessor who was ... let's be kind and say "impatient".

I've included a photo the the 30 meter mark of the chain, with an intermediate 5 meter mark above it.  I laid out one section at a time and used the last of the day's paint to brush on the appropriate mark: 1extra long mark for 10 meters, 2 marks for 20 meters, 3 marks for 30 meters, with a single intermediate mark every 5 meters.  I painted an extra long single mark at 35 meters to represent the end of the usable chain.

The engine is now running for the first time since Brenda's departure, and since Jak and I (with key help from Joel) installed the exhaust ball cock valve.  I wanted to make sure that the engine wiring was still OK, and also to check the outflow from the exhaust, as Mark had advised from Port Townsend.

Starboard Berth

Starboard Berth (Used for Cargo Only)

30 Meter Mark with Intermediate Representing 25 Meters

I first checked that the inlet and exhaust valves were open, even though I knew that they were, powered up the electronics to find that there were 70.3 engine hours on the clock, then hit the "start" button with no problem encountered.  After 40 minutes of running in reverse gear (to put some load on the engine) at 1100 rpm the temperature is running normal and the volt meter has fallen back to 14 V after reporting 14.3 V for at least 30 minutes.

... I just remembered that Mark asked me to note the RPM at full throttle to ensure that the new exhaust valve is not constrictive.  In neutral gear the engine reached 3500 RPM, which is higher than the prescribed 3200 RPM when under load.  The exhaust outflow became a pulsating steady stream but I observed no indication of constriction or build up of pressure.