Houa epoxying his threshold in place just outside the entryway
32 Fly to USA
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Houa epoxying his threshold in place just outside the entryway |
Summary: A short week as we flew back to the US on Thursday, so much of our work was preparing Ocelot for being left alone for a couple of months. Houa put our sliding entryway door back together so we can close Ocelot up. Lots of tools and gear was moved to the workshop - then we suddenly got a message that we had to move everything out of the workshop and into a new storage location, which produced a mad panic. Jon drilled out all of the holes that had been de‑cored earlier, and then drilled out drains for our 2 new compartments up forward. Luck engineering tacked together the new grab‑rails for the sides of the main cabin and added 2 additional supports to the backrest for the cockpit seat. Finally, Jon reassembled the batteries in their new compartment, cleaning, greasing and servicing all the connections and then strapping the batteries down to their fancy new rails.
Monday, May 28:
Bit of a slow day, as we only had Houa and a helper on Ocelot. This is fine with us, and we've
been telling Golf that we'll be quite happy if nothing at all happens on Ocelot while we're away.
Houa apparently has a lot of things to do on our neighboring boat, Katani 2, so us being away will
mean that Houa can focus on Katani's projects. The weather also didn't cooperate, as it was
raining for much of the morning.
 Jon drilling out 30+ holes for the port sail-track |
In order to put Ocelot to bed for a couple of months, we needed to move several things to Golf's workshop that we no longer need at the boatyard (and that we don't want to walk away) - sail‑tracks, pulpits, hatches, the anchor windlass, etc. So we borrowed a truck from one of Golf's workers and took a load to the workshop.
On the way back we picked up a plastic storage container, which we then loaded with many of the bits and pieces that we've removed from Ocelot and put into zip‑lock bags for safekeeping. We'll need to take all that, as well as Jon's tools, off to the workshop before we leave (although Houa has asked that Jon leave his little battery‑drill, as Houa uses that a LOT).
Houa did manage to epoxy in the bit of foam he's been working on for the last few days. It's sort of a threshold in front of the entryway, with a cute little drain in the corner to keep water that runs down the door from running into Ocelot and getting into trouble. We believe that it was water hitting the entryway door that eventually ran into our starboard aft guest cabin, so we're trying to prevent that from happening. The drain is part of that.
 Drilling a 1" drain hole through 4" of bridge-deck |
Jon was in a drilly mood, so he drilled out all the many holes in the salon ceiling that we'd de‑cored and filled with epoxy mud. We wanted to drill them out before we left so that if Golf puts down gelcoat on the salon roof, we can still find and drill out the holes from the inside.
 Noua using his "precision bending brake" to shape our grab-rails |
Jon also drilled the drain hole for the port‑side new compartment. We did starboard‑side last week but port‑side needed a much longer hole, almost 4" (10cm), most of it through solid fiberglass. Our 1" (25mm) hole‑saw and the spade‑bit we bought for the job are probably toast now. Fiberglass is nasty stuff to cut through.
Tuesday, May 29:
An interesting day, mainly because there were a few changes in direction
The biggest advance was made by the folks from Luck Engineering. Noua and his assistant worked all day on the new grab‑rails on the sides of the main cabin. We'd already drilled pilot holes exactly where we wanted the supports to come down, which made it easy for everyone. After a few discussions to determine the height of the rail and to make sure everyone was on the same page, they set to work. By the end of the day they'd finished welding together the starboard rail!
 Our new stainless steel grab rail, just above the window |
It's only tack‑welded for now, but it's all shaped. Now they have to complete the welds (all the way around the tubes) and then grind and polish them smooth. They'll be back tomorrow to do port side, and they may also add a couple of additional supports to the backrest for the aft cockpit seat, which has always been a bit flimsier than we've liked.
 Jon checking out our new (for us) 2 meter prod |
We talked to Golf extensively about what's happening with the wall coming down to the swim‑platforms, and what that will do to the railing that Noua built on Saturday. Golf went on at length about how he wants to build out the transoms a bit to cover the hinges of the swim‑ladders, and how the wall will have to be built up and reshaped, but he didn't really say much about the rail. This is a common Thai trait - they don't like to talk about potentially controversial or adversarial subjects. When a worker dropped a tool on one of our battery lugs and broke it, rather than tell someone he elected to keep quiet about it, like a school‑boy avoiding an angry parent. We just have to accept it, I suppose. But Golf knows we're upset, and we hope he realizes that it was his job to catch the problem.
 Our 660Ah "house" batteries reassembled & safely strapped in |
Since Noua was coming from the shop, he brought several of the pieces that Luck has finished for us. The prod now has straightened mounts and a new stainless steel pad‑eye on the end. It still looks a bit scruffy, but what could we expect for only B5,000 or about $160. Our forebeam now sports a huge new tang in the front for the prod. Luck cut off the smaller horizontal tang that they'd misaligned and welded on a new vertical tang. They even fitted it with an oil‑light bronze bushing.
 Houa preparing to remount our control console |
Our rudders came back, but Luck is still waiting for the bearing material to come from Bangkok. Presumably they don't need the rudders to make sure the bearings fit well. We're going to epoxy‑coat the rudders, then cover them in a layer of fiberglass, and then fair them and reshape them a bit before giving them a second layer of fiberglass and fairing them smooth.
Jon finally got around to replacing the batteries. He took the opportunity to clean up all the connections and reassemble them with lanolin grease so they shouldn't corrode. Then he used Houa's new rails to tie the batteries down with a couple lengths of wide webbing strap.
Houa was working on Ocelot's control console. Back on 13 March, the guys removed the control console to get at some rotten balsa underneath it. The control console is solid fiberglass and houses all our sailing and engine instruments, as well as our engine controls. It's obviously something of an afterthought on the builder's part, as there were remnant holes for the instruments just behind the console. These always got in the way whenever we had to service the instruments, so they were removed when the console was removed and won't be replaced.
 At 4:30 the rain washed out the moving efforts |
In preparation for remounting the control console, Houa epoxied in some foam blocks to guide and support the console. We can fiberglass the outside of the console, but we can't get to the inside of the console in many places. We can't build the fiberglass up too far on the top or Golf won't be able to make it all look nice when he sprays on the gelcoat. The sides and bottom will be much stronger than before, as we've got lots of room for fiberglass strips to join the console to the hull (which the old one never had).
 Houa's foam blocks to help remount the console |
Before we hauled out, the control levers for our engines and sail‑drives literally crumbled. The replacement wasn't quite the same shape so Jon had to recut the hole and mount some teak blocks that we could screw the new controls into. Houa ripped off the teak blocks and sealed the entire hole up with fiberglass. Now we can cut the correctly sized hole and mount the controls directly onto the fiberglass, which will be much simpler and should look nicer as well.
We had a strange message this afternoon. Manoon (the yard owner, who also owns the workshop that Golf leases) informed us that he needed Golf's workshop. Yikes! All our stuff is stored there! Quite literally tons of it. Manoon provided us with a nicer but somewhat smaller space, so Sue, Golf, and several of the workers took 2 trucks to the workshop to move everything. They made a valiant effort, but at 4:30 the heavens opened up with pouring rain and they had to stop with about 80% moved. Hopefully the rest can be moved tomorrow (as well as moving more stuff from the yard to the workshop, paying Luck in Phuket Town, paying Manoon for our prod, putting Ocelot to bed, packing up to fly to the US, moving out of our apartment, a 40 minute drive to the airport, dealing with any other emergencies that arise, etc, ...)
 Port side grab-rail, above the windows |
Wednesday, May 30:
Short day for us today, as most of the day was taken up with packing of one sort or another.
By the time Golf came to our apartment, we had 8 big boxes to take to the workshop for storage.
The other 4 big plastic storage containers, plus our washing machine, will stay in a store‑room
off the apartment office until our return.
 Noua checking our backrest, with its single central support |
By the time we arrived at the boatyard, Noua and his assistant from Luck Engineering had already finished most of the port‑side grab‑rail. Obviously, it goes much faster the second time around. So we gave him the backrest for the aft cockpit seat. The backrest has never been supported as strongly as we'd like, so we asked Noua to give us 2 additional supports, 1 on either side of the central support, with the supports coming down to the specially reinforced pads that we'd created in the top of that aft cockpit seat. So they merrily went to work cutting and welding their bits of stainless steel.
Noua had also brought the reduction gear‑cluster for our autopilot, so Jon set to work greasing all the gears and installing it. First he couldn't find the grease that he'd specially bought (evidently it's already been packed and carted off to Golf's workshop). So he used winch‑grease instead - not ideal, but it'll work. Then he couldn't find the 6 tiny nuts and washers that hold it to the motor mounting plate. <sigh> They've probably suffered the same fate. Oh, well, it'll still be there when we get back from the US.
Houa was again working on our helm console, glassing over some exposed foam ends. Max was preparing more fiberglass for the foredeck, but we didn't stay to see him epoxy it down.
 Just SOME of all the junk that has to go back onto Ocelot |
About 2pm we moved all our tools and stuff off Ocelot and took them to the workshop. We also moved everything to the new workshop that we hadn't moved yesterday. Yeesh! What a pile of ... stuff! How are we ever going to get it all back on our little boat?!?
While we were there, we also measured our battens, in case we decide to order a new mainsail. Our sails are actually in pretty good condition, especially considering that they're now 11 years and 40,000 miles old. Most sails only last 7‑8 years, or maybe 30,000 miles, but these sails from Doyle (Barbados) have lasted very well for us. They have no tears or even any repairs, but they have stretched (as Dacron does) so they're not an ideal shape for going to windward. OK, probably 90% of cruising is going with the wind as we choose our winds and destinations carefully. But when you want to go upwind, you want well shaped sails. We'll have to see what the Chancellor of the Exchequer says...
This will probably be our last entry for a while, as we fly at 1am tonight (well, technically, tomorrow morning). Overnight to Seoul, Korea, then a 9 hour layover (but we arrive too late for the city tour!) Then the long haul across the Pacific to Seattle. We'll resume these entries when we get back to Ocelot at the end of July unless we get some email updates!
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