hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

[barato]

the long, hot tow home

the long, hot tow home

latest on La Novia Alumina*:

well, i got the tires mounted and towed her 250 miles home from ABQ yesterday, in 100 degree heat. all my great intentions for repacking all wheel bearings, replacing trailer wiring, vac'ing and hosing off cushions, oiling teak, etc before i left literally melted away. there are some really steep canyons on I-25 and my 4 cyl Taco was really laboring up em (2d gear at 40ish on the worst of em), but never did overheat even with the A/C on. if it'll make it up those, it will get over anything between here and Sonora.

boat is light but lots of frontal area makes it more of a handful to tow than i'd expected. no problem, i was laughing at all the pathetic little folks with their pathetic little trihulls and Bayliner Capris (as they passed me at 75 mph). i was so exhausted when i got in that i didn't even start vacuuming the leaves out. but she's in my driveway now! wife got the guided tour before i left and is pretty excited about it....good thing, wait til she hears how much the drivetrain refurb/replace may cost

*this may end up being her name....the ALuminum Girlfriend... since the wife keeps referring to her as my other puta and i can already foresee she may be a demanding mistress who expects regular infusions of my $.

lessons learnt: 1. budget the $50 and replace all trailer wiring & lights before you drag it home, far easier to just gut it at home than crimp in repairs by side of road.

2. take a spare bearing buddy "in case" you lose one while climbing a curb with trailer due to unfamiliarity with turning circle. flat rubber bands off broccoli bunches and scrap of plastic bag make a good impromptu replacement....held all the way home, even in this heat. besides, broccoli is good for you.

3. add 50% to normal trip time and take a cooler with cold drinks, cuz you may be spending lots of time by side of road, even just checking things.

4. awfully glad i use synth oil in the tow vehicle and gave it a load of 91 octane...it's never worked that hard before and the synth oil made watching temp gauge living in upper 1/4 of scale less stressful. 15 mpg for trip, worse than i expected but the boat IS bigger than the Taco.... and i see Armadas and Burbs getting worse w/o boats behind em.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

That's a very nice rig, glad she made it home

Love the name too...wish I could think of a cool name

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Thanks. Figured it was a tiny bit more classy than ?La Puta alumina?...

My hands smell like teak oil. My cellphone smells like teak oil. My legs and Tevas smell like teak oil. My hair and pillow smell like teak oil. My cheepchineez shop vac was killed in action.

i.e., did the initial cleanout. The sucking noise you hear was the old wood drinking in vast amts of teak oil like a viking with a horn o mead. Thass a lotta leaves, and we haven?t even gotten to the engine room. Orig white vinyl is now almost white. Got the orig factory bimini up and it?s in pretty good shape albeit stained. Even has good 3 piece weather ?dodger? (do they call em something different on power boats?) altho I didn?t install it. It looks HUGE with the bimini up....like a Real Cruiser.

Cabin now glows, and I sat out there for quite a while, just absorbing fumes from teak oil, and Dos Equis. I really am in love with this thing....almost slept on the damn boat last night! I have a couple of spare 75W PV panels that would fit nicely on cabin roof, and my math indicates that this will be enough juice to allow 2 house batteries to run 5000btu A/C unit at night even allowing for inverter inefficiency (don?t laugh at idea of A/C til you?ve overnighted in Mexico in August!)

Apologies for no pix....I did just upload a bunch of em to my folder:

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

CB, thanx for help getting those up!


SOAPBOX MODE: the fact that so many of these boats are rotting in fields is a comment on the sad state of the American buying public....if they were rational, they would see the value of a never-deteriorating hull that only requires small frugal motor to push....but NOOOOOOO, they all want Sleek and Faux-Euro and More Power and Phallic Surrogates. ok rant over.

That would be a good name for a boat!

 

[bananaboater]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

I just love your posts. Ever consider writing for a profession or are you one already?

"Cabin now glows, and I sat out there for quite a while, just absorbing fumes from teak oil, and Dos Equis." Two of my favorite things to absorb.

Good work

 

[barato]

Let's do the Time Warp again!

Let's do the Time Warp again!

update time:

finally determined the old 120hp was seized beyond loosening up...so pulled the head:

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2063

i've shown the pic to friends and told them it was the oil from the BP spill or a volcanic caldera....one suggested it looked like menudo cooking. damn shame as it was obv recently rebuilt....zero cyl ridge and you can still clearly see the cyl crosshatch from honing.

after various investigative flailings, posted a CL ad looking for a donor boat with newer drivetrain. SCORE! found a '93 chopper-gun disposaboat with 140hp that starts, for $650. also got a teak swim step, kicker bracket, and alum 19 gal aux tank in boat, plus the trailer. a zopilote like me even takes the cleats, bow rails and stainless screws.... and it was a win-win deal, as seller can now get motor for his truck.

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2134

will prolly try to sell trailer for $100 once i;m done (the boat may just meet the Sawzall so i can fit it into my pickup for journey to the dump) or put a bed on it and keep it, and i'll prolly sell off the ancillaries of my old motor as everything but the block is in great shape (PM me if you need anything for early 60s 120hp). new motor has good compression in 3 of 4 cyls, but even if i have to freshen it up with new rings/brgs/valve job, i'm happy....17 yr old drivetrain instead of 46? and it updates me to Alpha 1 outdrive.

got the old Merc-1 outdrive off and the motor out of Starchief this weekend

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2137

so now i just gotta figure out: 1. how to get the old motor out of the cockpit from where it's currently swinging on the crane; 2. even worse, how to get the new one up and over the gunwales; 3. still worse, how to either hide the donor boat from my wife when she gets home from GA this evening, or to explain the concept of donor boat well enough that she doesn't go ballistic

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Nice score on the new Merc...good luck with the swap.

Unless you have a huge invisibility cloak you are gonna have to come up with a good story

Maybe just generally say that it's only being stored in your yard temporarily?

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

ahhh, irony.

how horrible the donor boat looks helped considerably with mollifying spouse....her concern was not that ugly boat, her concern was that i might get a wild hare and want to RESTORE that ugly boat.....

hummph....after wallowing in lobster, why would i want to eat carp?

 

[fshngho]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Barato, you are indeed a silver tongued devil. There is no way you can't explain your way out of this with the wife/Admiral. " It's all for you honey, I would not want to risk your safety and comfort for a mere $650.00"

Yeah, you fit right in here my friend.

 

[barato]

the best laid plans of mice n men

the best laid plans of mice n men

gang aft agley........

it's amazing all the stuff that will toss a wrench in the works. i knew things were going too fast and well on this resto-lite compared to most of my projects.
working on the donorboat carb last night when a stray kitten someone had apparently dumped near my house wandered into the yard, and my big dog grabbed him & was running across yard with kitten-toy in his mouth. got cat away in time and he'll make it, but there went $1000 of boat resto $ on vet bills and a long night at emerg clinic. kitten is as sturdy as the 46 yr old Starcraft, apparently....may have to name him Starchief or something.

guess i won't be buying any parts for a while and the stress and adrenaline-aftermath really knocked the wind out of my sails. reckon i'll work on doghouse renovation & painting cabin interior for next couple of weeks since that doesn't require much brains and i already have the materials.

 

[barato]

small update

small update

another few days of quality time with my aluminum girlfriend. Sunny near-100 degree temps bring home how critical for comfort it will be to do some heat/sun control in cabin....Still stalled on motor work due to no $ so I did a bunch of ?livability? stuff:

Varnished cabin ceiling so it now looks just like the stateroom on a 52' Hatteras sedan off Martha's Vineyard. Still waiting for the steward to bring me that maaaahtini.....

Custom made cabin windshield and side window shades from ?reflectix?...mylar faced bubble wrap. Big difference in cabin temps.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2206

Replaced old 6-gang switch panel with new one....looks similar but uses LEDs/circ brkrs in lieu of the pop-out glass fuse holders. Appears to be a drop-in replacement but required some hole enlargement. This should let me start to find all the OTHER problems with the electrics....
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2296

Pulled out wood pieces inside bow and got started on painting the interior in almond instead of former dingy brown. Bad color choice, need warmer tone; will repaint these 2 pieces. Found prev owner had used PVC pipe for part of gas filler tube....ghaack.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2205

Finished bunk supports and center bunk. Ahhh.....

Got started on ?screen door? hatch to use in lieu of regular solid one on hot nights.

trying to aspire to EZ's standard of pool noodle-ification, failing miserably. i only got 8 of em into the bow so far.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2207

Gently washed cabin roof with citrasolv and very-worn scotchbrite on theory that dingy black crud also makes cabin heat up more. Not sure if it helped, but it sure looks better and took a lot of chalky old paint off.

Polished exterior chrome the same way....scared myself when I saw reflection of trees in bow light housing for the first time; not used to seeing anything clearly reflected in my brightwork! not used to calling it BRIGHTwork for that matter.

Started to install sunblock window screen over side windows. A labor intensive ?pimp my boat? project that involves drilling holes in not-easily-replaced side window frames...but results look OK so far and will make huge difference on the water in Mexico in terms of both sun and bugs (not just skeeters, there is a bug called the ?bobo? that lives on guano covered rocks, like anchorages in the lee of islands....they don?t bite but try real hard to get in your nose eyes mouth and will drive you nuts).
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2294


more pix to follow, manana. apparently managed to leave camera at home.

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

started working on some creative shades for cabin roof to keep the hot sun off it....still need to mount them properly.

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2494


still no success on figuring out logistics of low-power-draw refrig'd air for a <200 cu foot cabin, tho. everything has way too much cooling capacity and uses way too much juice. RV units are all 13Kbtu+ and designed for grid power. best options so far look like 5000btu window unit from hellmart with idea that compressor would run maybe 5% of time, or car system from Vintage Air with 12V motor and belt drive. anyone have any ideas?

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Nice work there Barato...I like the PV panels, should be a great trickle charger and absorb some heat.

Good spot for some noodles there, I hope they never touch water

Way to go on the salvage op...great source for parts those "disposaboats"

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

thanks, HA. yeah, about 150 watts of trickle...hopefully won't be getting stranded on the water with dead batteries. i do like the idea of converting that solar energy into something more useful than cabin heat, but will have to install em with some kind of antitheft hardware.

we laugh about the noodles, but placing them higher in the boat is actually a very good idea for purposes of level flotation.....keeping boat from turning turtle is a good thing (remember those drunk NFL players out of Tampa who died when they managed to flip their boat? the raw video of FMP trying to right it later was edifying, as it kept rolling back over):

http://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/boatbuilder_s_handbook/flotation_part1_f.aspx

http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/flot2.html

this is why i'm trying to put them as high as possible and am stuffing them up under the gunwales and bow cap. there will also eventually be a lot of them under my stern area and even inside dead space in doghouse.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

started working on some creative shades for cabin roof to keep the hot sun off it....still need to mount them properly.

http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2494


still no success on figuring out logistics of low-power-draw refrig'd air for a <200 cu foot cabin, tho. everything has way too much cooling capacity and uses way too much juice. RV units are all 13Kbtu+ and designed for grid power. best options so far look like 5000btu window unit from hellmart with idea that compressor would run maybe 5% of time, or car system from Vintage Air with 12V motor and belt drive. anyone have any ideas?

I was browsing over at Great Lakes Skipper.com and saw that they have a section just for boat AC units. Thought it might be helpful in your search.

http://greatlakesskipper.com/category-1/3_221_593-cabin-and-galley-air-conditioners-and-duct-kits.html

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Huron, you Da Man!

most of what they offer is like what i've seen before...too big and juice thirsty....before i'd drop $1200+ on a big 7000+ btu unit that still requires shore power or huge inverter/battery bank, i'd just get the $99 5000btu unit from hellmart and treat em as consumables....

but then i saw THIS one, which looks like it may be just what i need:

http://greatlakesskipper.com/produc...cs-nc15-portable-boat-rv-cooling-machine.html

48 watts i can do....this looks like what i was thinking of trying to build from car A/C components, and a whole lot cheaper than doing the roll yer own (suitable DC motors from Grainger are $250-450+). i need to do some research on the mfgr's site but this looks like what i was trying to find...and if i build it into a cheap ice chest, could even make it portable so i could move it to the sailboat (Mac 25) as needed

the only thing i'm not sure about is whether this is designed as a fridge or for A/C use....no matter, i suspect it will work EDIT: it is a fridge, but i still suspect it might just work for my purposes....just treat cabin as a bigger fridge box that don't need to be as cool.

 

[Deadwood]

Re: small update

Re: small update

another few days of quality time with my aluminum girlfriend. Sunny near-100 degree temps bring home how critical for comfort it will be to do some heat/sun control in cabin....Still stalled on motor work due to no $ so I did a bunch of ?livability? stuff:

Varnished cabin ceiling so it now looks just like the stateroom on a 52' Hatteras sedan off Martha's Vineyard. Still waiting for the steward to bring me that maaaahtini.....

Custom made cabin windshield and side window shades from ?reflectix?...mylar faced bubble wrap. Big difference in cabin temps.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2206

Replaced old 6-gang switch panel with new one....looks similar but uses LEDs/circ brkrs in lieu of the pop-out glass fuse holders. Appears to be a drop-in replacement but required some hole enlargement. This should let me start to find all the OTHER problems with the electrics....
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2296

Pulled out wood pieces inside bow and got started on painting the interior in almond instead of former dingy brown. Bad color choice, need warmer tone; will repaint these 2 pieces. Found prev owner had used PVC pipe for part of gas filler tube....ghaack.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2205

Finished bunk supports and center bunk. Ahhh.....

Got started on ?screen door? hatch to use in lieu of regular solid one on hot nights.

trying to aspire to EZ's standard of pool noodle-ification, failing miserably. i only got 8 of em into the bow so far.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2207

Gently washed cabin roof with citrasolv and very-worn scotchbrite on theory that dingy black crud also makes cabin heat up more. Not sure if it helped, but it sure looks better and took a lot of chalky old paint off.

Polished exterior chrome the same way....scared myself when I saw reflection of trees in bow light housing for the first time; not used to seeing anything clearly reflected in my brightwork! not used to calling it BRIGHTwork for that matter.

Started to install sunblock window screen over side windows. A labor intensive ?pimp my boat? project that involves drilling holes in not-easily-replaced side window frames...but results look OK so far and will make huge difference on the water in Mexico in terms of both sun and bugs (not just skeeters, there is a bug called the ?bobo? that lives on guano covered rocks, like anchorages in the lee of islands....they don?t bite but try real hard to get in your nose eyes mouth and will drive you nuts).
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=323&pictureid=2294


more pix to follow, manana. apparently managed to leave camera at home.

Excellent work B-man and sorry to hear about the animal fiasco. How about "Puss n Boats" for a name. Ooo, that's bad. I'll keep working on it. Finally took some pics of my 1966 Starchief V.
http://forums.iboats.com/album.php?albumid=462
Some of my modifications too. I thought the cabin needed a table (removable) with cup holders of course. Also made a fish/bait cleaning station. Hope they meet with the groups approval. I would love to see the mods of the group. Always looking for new splinters, etc. Window shades???....hmmmmm......

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

Deadwood, that's really nice. i love all the wood on your boat, and the natural aluminum on the cabin sides . it would be great to see more pics of the entire boat. where'd you get the real brass porthole and did it cost you an arm and a leg? how does the 8hp do with your hull? i was planning on using my 8hp (albeit 2stroke) for kicker on mine but was wondering if i needed to buy something more in the 10-15 range. i'm jealous of a garage big enough to get a Chieftain into!

 

[Deadwood]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

fleaBay for the porthole: http://cgi.ebay.com/12-OVAL-BRASS-P...-NAUTICAL-/310242678199?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Make them an offer and see if they take it. Be advised...it's very cheaply made...the latches are junk....but it allowed me to make a hole in the door and that works for me. I've got so many other cabin areas that aren't air/water tight that I'm not worried about it sealing perfectly.

8 and 9.9's Yamaha's and Honda's are the kickers of choice it seems and at around 108lbs +or- I didn't want anything larger because of the bow height issues we've discussed before. (I'm going to try the 162qt igloo filled with water in the bow in Sept.) It moves her pretty good (I'll report back on the top end later) and it trolls like a dream. I went with the EZ Steer set up as a TR-1 gold auto-pilot is over 2 grand plus I'd have to replace the "mature" Furuno GPS. Aaah...someday. And if I venture out of the bay and the main dies I have a back up to get home. I put it's 3 gal tank under the starboard back seat with room to spare. I could have piped it to get gas from the belly tank, as there is a Y connection already plumbed but was advised to keep the fuel sources separate for safety purposes. You might have noticed how I routed the fuel line down through the middle vent in the transom, out of the way. That engine is rumored to go 20 + hours on 3 gallons.

 

[barato]

Re: hullo to all, and hot dawg i got me one!

thanks for info! a man after my own heart, to seriously consider putting a $2k Otto Pilot on a sub-$2K boat...

guess i'll be posting a bit less...check out the not so subtle message we got this morn:



TO: all

RE: Employment Opportunities

There are a number of fast food restaurant jobs available for a handful of our 1,000 member organization for the following reasons:

1. Notwithstanding previous admonishments, there were 307 requests on our taxpayer funded computers to enter known pornography sites in the one-week period of August 5 to August 12.

2. 202 incidents, between August 5 and August 12 from non-work related sites as a result of employee activity were also blocked. This can cause malicious attacks, viruses, etc. and the tying up of bandwidth used for the work of the Court.

Some observations:

1. We have tens of thousands of civil, bankruptcy, misdemeanor and felony cases to address without wasting time during work hours on web surfing.

2. We are lucky in this economy to have these jobs and are well paid.

3. There are at least 20 people per position who would love to have a job if one of us leaves.

4. We have had to terminate or discipline several of our group in the recent past for performance issues or inappropriate behavior. (Though not from Western District of Texas, an example is an Article III judge who not only lost his position but is sitting in a federal prison.)

5. The folks who end up in the Courthouse are there because of Greed, Addiction, Sex or Stupidity (GASS). Let's not follow their example.

I have not yet asked IT to provide names of those employees using court computers inappropriately. From this day forward, I will.

The consequences will be:

1. Loss of employment or reduction in pay.

2. Possible referral for criminal prosecution for misuse of government property.

3. Free cooking lessons taught by me, beginning with how to flip burgers.

To the 99.9% who conscientiously and efficiently perform your duties, I thank you on behalf of the Court.