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The Blue Beast

jimcleary

James M. Cleary
After a winter of work the Blue Beast is ready to be reinstalled in her cave.

Jim
 

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Wow, Jim. The Blue Beast looks like it was just born! And the Cave looks so clean you could eat off of it.
Somebody has been doing a lot of work. :)

I've been doing a ton of work all winter out here on the other coast. All new plumbing, sinks, water heater, water pump/accumulator, UV filter for potable water, composting toilet, cockpit show, anchor washdown, and 5 new hatches so I can actually get to all that stuff for future maintenance. I think we will be done next weekend and plan to post some photos/videos.

Are you on the hard now? If so, when are you going to splash?

Spring is (almost) here!

Cheers,
-Mark
 
Thanks everyone. The engine had to come out to have the tranny looked at. Luckily that was only a case of a new damper plate and new tranny seals. So while she was out, it was time for a minor overhaul. It is amazing how easy it is to do regular maintenance when there is access all around. Just think....to change the engine oil, a bucket was placed under the engine and the oil pan plug removed. How easy is that. So now I am just waiting for Yanmar to send me 4 replacement bolts to attach the exhaust elbow to the exhaust manifold and she will be back in place. I only hope she still runs good when I'm done. And as for the shiny blue color, well I just like it.

One thing that was done while the engine compartment was empty was to grind down the bilge under the engine from the stuffing tube fwd. Where the two halves of the hull were bonded together they were always rough and hard to reach. It was always hard to reach in and clean out the area. I filled in the V of the hull to create a flat, smooth bottom to that bilge that will be easy to clean. I guess my anal fixation got the best of me on that one.

Jim
 
Thanks John. It is back in it's cave and the shaft is re-coupled and the mounts bolted down. The rest is easy.

Jim
 
Wow, Jim. The Blue Beast looks like it was just born! And the Cave looks so clean you could eat off of it.
Somebody has been doing a lot of work. :)

I've been doing a ton of work all winter out here on the other coast. All new plumbing, sinks, water heater, water pump/accumulator, UV filter for potable water, composting toilet, cockpit show, anchor washdown, and 5 new hatches so I can actually get to all that stuff for future maintenance. I think we will be done next weekend and plan to post some photos/videos.

Are you on the hard now? If so, when are you going to splash?

Spring is (almost) here!

Cheers,
-Mark
Mark, I also need to replace all my plumbing fresh water supply. Do you have any drawings or could you tell me what you used? Pex maybe?

Thank you
 
Hi Tim- yes, it was mostly PEX. And super satisfying now that it is done. But it was a lot of work! And about 20 trips to Home Depot or Lowes. Almost 7 months of mostly winter weekends. But we also were doing lots of East coast trips because of ill father-in-law.

I’ll make a separate thread in the next few days. I’ve got lots of details & photos, and videos.

I’m retired as of today, so I will have some more time!
 
Mark

Congratulations!!!! This literally is the first day of the rest of your life. Enjoy it and sail hard.

Bonnie & jim
 
Thanks Bonnie & Jim! I already feel way more relaxed! And we are stoked to do some more big voyages.
 
Holy Cow! Congratulations Mark. I'm looking forward to the same or "semi" this coming August. And hoping for a lot more boat time on the water. Really happy for you!
Mitchell
 
Mark

Knowing that you are a person with many interests and hobbies, I can guaranty that in two months time, you won't remember how you even had time to work all those years.

Jim
 
Can you describe the anchors into the engine bed?
That's where the shear forces are ultimately applied
What does the beastie weigh?
 
The blue beast is the boats original Yanmar 3QM30F. It has 6500 hours on it. She weighs 630lbs. When I first removed her to the main cabin for cleaning, painting and maintenance in 2006, the anchor points where the lag bolts were seated were soft and mushy. I over drilled out the soft stuff and imbedded 1" oak dowels vertically with epoxy. When the engine was returned, the original 3/8" lag bolts were replaced with longer 1/2" 316 Stainless Steel lag bolts. All these years later, those lags were holding quite well. This time, going back in, the only change was to add 2 cut offs of 3/16" ty-raps to each hole. The plastic filled the lag space nicely and the lags made up very tight. I am not expecting to have any issues with the engine mounts in the future. The original engine stringers were made of glassed over 2x8 lumber. It was soft and susceptible to rot. The Oak appears to overcome that flaw.

In the first photo you can see the inserted dowels before trimming. The second is the dowels trimmed and glassed over. The third is the jig used to drill out the soft wood squarely.

Jim
 

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Jim everything looks absolutely beautiful. You’ve done gorgeous work do you have a hourmeter on your 3:qm30 ? Mine never came up with an hour meter And I never installed one. Just curious because we’re about the same age on the boat and ours should be similar because we’ve traveled long distances in both cases
 
Good Morning Dick

Being the anal personality that I am, I keep daily logbooks of Dana's operation. The most critical entry are the engine starts and stops. I round up or down to the nearest 5 minutes of the start or stop which over time averages out fairly accurately. I have been doing this for the 36 years that I have owned her and have recorded 5500 hours. The previous owner in 9 years I alloted 1000 hours to which is nine times my yearly average use. There was an engine hour meter on the boat when I got her but it never recorded correctly. I do not keep track of the times the engine is or isn't in gear. Because of solar panels the engine is never run for amps. Because of the Espar diesel heating system the engine is never run for hot water. So those recorded engine hours are mostly in gear and underway.

Jim
 
Hi Tim- yes, it was mostly PEX. And super satisfying now that it is done. But it was a lot of work! And about 20 trips to Home Depot or Lowes. Almost 7 months of mostly winter weekends. But we also were doing lots of East coast trips because of ill father-in-law.

I’ll make a separate thread in the next few days. I’ve got lots of details & photos, and videos.

I’m retired as of today, so I will have some more time!
That would be great and thank you!
 
OK, Dana has been back in the water for two months now. We have put many hours on her both under power and sail. I am rather glad to report that the blue beast is purring like a kitten. The really good news is that the ticking sound we heard when the prop was freewheeling under sail is gone. Turns out that was a loose spring on the damper plate. So it was worth all the work of moving the engine into the main cabin, having the tranny looked at, doing all the maintenance then putting her back.

Jim
 
Glad to hear that, Jim. It’s pretty cool that you can cruise around in a 45 year old boat that looks and acts brand new!
As I remember you guys were planning on taking Dana down to the Chesapeake? Is she down there now, or is that later?
Cheers,
-Mark
 
Mark

Our plans for the Chesapeake have fallen victim to Family concerns (read: babysitting). So we will be heading out to Block Island and beyond in August (read: hot with no wind). Are you coming East for the Annapolis Show this year? If so, I would like to suggest we meet for dinner or drinks at some point.

Mitchell

Thanks for the kind words.

Jim
 
Jim: if you and Bonnie are around please give me a shout. Vixen is in the water and on her morning. Judy passed away last August 7, so she will no longer be able to see you guys. But if you’re near Marion on your way to somewhere would love to see you. Let me know if you don’t have the numbers here at the house or my cell or email
 
Dick

We are very sorry to hear about Judy. A fine lady. We will be going East in August. How far we get is yet to be determined. If we head into Buzzard's Bay we'll shout out to you. Have a good summer.

Jim
 
Jim - I think I’m going to try for the Annapolis show this year. As you predicted, I can’t believe how busy I am now that I’m retired .

Last year there were so many people that I had to wait an hour to climb onto most boats I wanted to see. A Disneyland-like situation. It’s still a great place to accessorize, though I’m almost out of accessories we need .

Dick, I’m sorry to hear about Judy!

Cheers,
Mark
 
Mark
It will be wonderful to meet up with you in Annapolis. You can never have enough accessories! It always is a great show in a great City. Question: Do you like steamed crabs???

Jim
 
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