Alajuela 38
It’s been about 45 years since I last went diving at San Pedro Island, about 15 miles north of an Carlos. I had a lovely time diving there today, two dives between 25 and 60 feet for about 50 minutes each. What I remember most clearly about diving at San Pedro in the 1970’s was diving with the seals. Today did not disappoint … and the seals were there.
Aegir-Ran’s original tiller is nearly seven feet long and was originally constructed of laminated hardwood. Unfortunately, the wood started delaminated. An effort was made to shore up the tiller by inserting dowels, but it still felt “hollow” under pressure.
Note two other features of the original tiller: 1) the cam cleats on the top (for the wind vane) and the bracket for the tiller pilot on the bottom are insecurely screwed into the wood and 2) the tiller extends well into the cockpit (making the cockpit difficult to use for purposes other than sailing). To address these issues, the tiller was rebuilt.
This was achieved by sawing the tiller in half, discarding the unusable handle, strengthening the remaining half of the tiller, building a bracket, and constructing a new handle. I started by cutting a groove down the middle of the tiller with a table saw and gluing in a 1-1/4″ x 3/16″ x 5′ bar of stainless steel (with a hole drilled through it for the main bolt).
Additional plates were recessed and glued on the two sides of the tiller where the bolt passes through. Note the white line of carbosil/epoxy that was used to fill the groove left after inserting the steel bar.
After reshaping the the end of the tiller to accept the new bracket using West Systems 407 Fairing Epoxy, the entire tiller was fiberglassed.
A bracket was designed with Fusion 360 and it was constructed by SendCutSend. Because the top was a different thickness than the sides and bottom (to accommodate tapping the threads for the cam cleats) and because the bracket could not be folded, the four sides of was constructed of tabs and slots (to insure alignment of the holes) and it was welded together. Note the tongue that extends from the bracket to accommodate the Tiller Pilot’s bracket.
The tongue of the bracket was attached to the tiller using stainless steel E-Z Knife Threaded Inserts (in addition to two 1/4″ stainless steel bolts the pass horizontally through the bracket).
A handle was designed with Fusion 360 anti was turned from a single piece of ash (not laminated like the original handle), stainless steel tubes were glued into the holes that accept the pins, and the block was fiberglassed to provide additional strength.
The handle is attached with 1/4″ stainless threaded rods and wing nuts so the handle is easily removed during long passages (to free up the cockpit).
So … after filling the day tank with fuel (15 gallons), it apparently drained (siphoned) out. I installed a Lowrance/Navico Fluid Level Sensor to put the fuel level of the day tank (15 gallons) on the NEMA 2000 network via the sending unit. Once I was able to monitor the fuel level, I discovered the fuel was indeed being siphoned. After I examined the plumbing, I decided to switch the engine return (without siphon tube) and overflow hoses (with a siphon hose) to/from the day tank, and this fixed the problem.
After more than four months on the hard – during which time she received a new fuel system, a bow thruster, bottom paint, etc. – she was put back in the water this morning. The launch was not without its problems. The dripless seal is dipping (and needs to be adjusted) and the engine would not run. Eventually, the problem was traced to an oil pressure sending unit that is attached to the alarm system. Because the sending unit was not tripping, the electric fuel pump was being shut off. I “hot-wired” the sending unit so the boat could be moved from the ramp to the slip.
Aegir-Ran got three coats of Interlux Fiberglass Bottomkote Aqua paint today. Practical Sailor gave the paint a good review.
A 15 gallon aluminum day tank was installed in the engine room on the shelf where the genes used to be mounted. Since it is located above the engine, the diesel is gravity-fed, which reduces the chances of an air blockage in the line.
Since the day tank will be filled from the main tank via the fuel polisher, the fill line for the day tank was located in the bottom of a lazarette. The fill line will only be used for emergencies, were for some reason it is not possible to transfer diesel from the main tank.
The fuel diesel polisher is comprised of the component: a stainless steel filter housing for 10″ cartridges, a Racor 500MA water separator, and a Seachoice Dura-Lift Electronic Fuel Pump. SendCutSend was used to manufacture a custom bracket.
Pressure gauges after the 10″ filter and the filter in the Racor indicate when the filters should be changed. The stainless filter housing contains a 10×2.5″ 10 micron polypropylene filter. The bowl of the Racor has a conductivity sensor that indicate when water needs to be drained. Note the ball valve that drains the bowl is lockable so it does not open accidentally.
The following video illustrates the operation. Note the circuit breaker, timer, and a liquid level controller.
The anchor roller passes through the bow sprit. While steel tubes were used to prevent the bolts for the roller bracket from digging into the wood of the bow sprit, the bracket has still shifted causing the roller to dig into the bow sprit platform. I designed a brace and used SendCutSend to manufacture it out of 316 steel.
The bracket is bolted to the bow sprit with lag bolts behind the axial of the roller (outlined in red).
The bow thruster has been installed. To make the job easier, the equipment was installed from the bottom up, beginning with a bilge pump and the electronics. The electronics comprise of a Victron SmartShunt 1000 Amp Battery Monitor, a Victron DC-DC Orion-Tr Charger (which connects the lithium batteries that are under the V-berth to the house battery bank in the engine room), a Blue Sea Systems 7713 ML-RBS Remote Battery Switch (that can be used to remotely disconnect the bow thruster from the battery bank), and breakers/fuses. The electronics were mounted on a board to make it easier to service in the future. Note also two selves were fiberglassed in, a small shelf for the bilge pump and a larger shelf (at the bottom of the photo) that will be used to support the thruster motor. On the left of the photo is a support that will be used to support a third shelf for the batteries.
The transmission for the bow thruster was installed in the tube and a priming paint was applied.
A support for the bow thruster’s motor was fabricated from fiberglassed marine plywood. The stainless brackets were designed in Fusion 360 CAD software and were fabricated by SendCutSend.
A custom battery pan was also manufactured by SendCutSend.
Finally, a shelf for the batteries was glassed in, the bow thruster’s motor was installed and the batteries (two Battle Born 100Ah 12V LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Batteries) were installed.
The fiberglass tube for the bow thruster was installed. Under the V-berth, tie lines were dropped and pilot holes were drilled on the port and starboard side of the hull.
Using a string and two points on the keel, I confirmed the pilot holes were centered, then a jig was passed through the two pilot holes. The jig comprised of a steel rod that was sharpened to a point on one end and bent twice such that the point was a distance from the axis of the rod that was the radius of the fiberglass tube. Note the two red chalk marks that were used to confirm the pilot holes were centered (made by tying a piece of chalk to the end of a string that was taped to the leading edge of the hull). The jig was then used to scribe the hull.
A saber saw with a diamond blade was used to cut out the oval that was scribed.
Note the hull is 1-1/4″ thick where the holes were cut.
The tube fit the holes that were cut perfectly.
Before glassing the tube in, the hull was ground down past the gel coat.
Once glassed in, the excess tube was cut off, leaving enough of the tube protruding to create the leading hydrodynamic edge.
After glassing in the outside of the tube, the leading edge was flared to improve hydrodynamics. Cabosil (collodial silica), a very hard material, was used to flare the leading edge.
Low density (fairing) filler was used to smooth the installation.
Finally, the inside was fiberglassed.
The entire project took two weeks.
My sister ship Arabesque (also an Alajuela 38) and the Aegir-Ran happened to both be on the hard at Marina Seca in San Carlos, just a few boats away from each other. I had only arrived in San Carlos that day and had taken the owner out for a couple of beers and some almejas chocolatas (chocolate clams) at one of our favorite restaurants, La Manga Restaurante Doña Rosita. The Arabesque was to be moved from the work yard to storage at 2:00 PM, and we arrived at the yard exactly at 2 only to find that the boat yard had begun to move Aegir-Ran, not Arabesque. While there are many differences between the boats (e.g., Aegir-Ran had a hard dodger), the hulls of the boats are almost identical, right down the the color of the paint of the hulls (Awlgrip Insignia White) and the waterline stripes. Flagging the workers down, we all had a good laugh about the incident, and in the days following, I still poke fun at them for trying to “steal” the Aegir-Ran.
Here is a photo of the Aegir-Ran on that day:
Here is a photo of the Arabesque being hauled to storage:
