Captain’s Log: Mystic’s TLC Program Continues….

Feb 5, 2020,

Hi All,

The last log update was in mid-Dec after Kathy and I got back to California to enjoy the Holidays. Mystic was comfortably moored at Emerald Landing Marina in Lake Union in Seattle. We did have a most enjoyable Holiday with family and friends but it was now back to work!!

We returned to Mystic on January 7. We took 2 days to drive….1st day to Eugene OR then the next day onto Seattle. In all, it was 815 miles!! And boy did it rain, rain, and then rain…yikes. It rained all 26 days we were in Seattle….they tied a record at 28 of 31 days….>9″ and some of that was snow…..ugh….I think we might have seen the sun 2-3 times but still…..dark and dreary!!!

If you recall the reason we drove was to resupply our red wine stock on Mystic. We brought back 8 cases of wine from our cellar here in Pleasanton….ok, good to go now:)))) And, we brought back a full car load of stuff off the boat!!!

The major work accomplished included: buying a new dinghy, completing the Cummins engine maintenance, completing the partial electronics upgrade, designing a new FB enclosure, and completing the every-nook-and-cranny cleanout of Mystic….we can now use both bunk beds for grandkids and guests in the 3rd stateroom!!

Now the details:
Cummins: We had Greg and Doug at Andersen Diesel do the work and wow, were these guys good. (Thanks Greg and Les for the recommendation!!) We replaced all the injectors with new washers on everything (remember we had one injector leak on the return line last summer, we did find one bad injector, 1 good one, and 4 iffy….good we changed!!!), adjusted the valves, replaced front crankshaft vibration dampner, replaced coolant pump, pulled transmission back to change rear seal and transmission coupler, replaced all 4 engine mounts, replaced the heater hoses and valves from Kabola heat exchanger to engine to hot water tank, rebuilt JMP seawater pump, and realigned engine…and they even got a better alignment than Platypus….~0.0025″ all around!!!!

Electronics: We now have THREE WORKING DEPTH SOUNDERS…..YEA!!!! Greg and Chris @ YSNW almost completed the partial electronic upgrade: new Maretron small instruments to replace the Simrad IS-15 instruments, new Garmin Panoptix Sonar to replace the Interphase unit, new NMEA 2000 backbone, new Shakespeare VHF antenna, new VHF hailer, new Denon AVR to replace old one (now we can watch TV on the big screen vs our laptop), cleaned out many old instruments and cables under the PH console like removing the Seatel Sat TV antenna and the Inmarsat FBB Sat phone!!

New Flybridge Enclosure: Well, as they say….when in Rome. It is pretty cold and rainy in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, British Columbia and Alaska) and most boaters elect to enclose the Flybridge area. We did not in 2004-2006 as we knew we were going to the Tropics where we wanted the area to be open to the wind et al. But, now, we need to enclose or forgo the use of the area. And, since it is one of our favorite areas due to the 360* views, it was a nobrainer. But, enclosing a mast/boom boat with no hard top is a challenge. Enter Brian at Canvas Supply who built our original Bimini and did all our canvas work. Brian went through several iterations and would only present to us something he would make him proud. We finished the design out in the cold and rainy weather the day before we left. He hopes to start the construction mid-Feb and complete by the end of March!

Cleanout: Kathy did the majority of the work while I just got through the Lazarette!! In total, we sent 8 bags of stuff to Goodwill, threw away maybe half of that and brought back a full carload of stuff!!!

New Dinghy: we bought an AB 12 Sport with aluminum bottom from Guyer Boatworks. We are very happy with the new dinghy. We went with a Weaver SS helm station and they will install 2 downrigger brackets as well. We did buy new electric Scotty downriggers and a pot puller. Wow….felt like I was joining the big boys…..salmon, halibut, crabs and prawns here we come!!!! We got great prices on all the above at the Seattle Boat Show. The boat has to be ordered and should be available end of March/early April. And best deal for us, they gave us a decent price for our old dinghy and motor so we don’t have the hassle of trying to sell it which is good because we have no where to store it if it didn’t sell!! One odd/strange/incompetent event did occur while dinghy shopping. We quickly narrowed our search to a Highfield aluminum bottom 12′ dinghy after a week or so in Seattle. We went to the only dealer in Seattle two weeks before the boat show and liked what we saw so proceeded to attempt to get quotes and lock in a deal, But, the salesman, was new and our “deal” (trade-in, new helm station et al) was evidently too complicated for him…hmmm. After 2 weeks of trying to just get quotes….I actually stood in front of him and said he had a sale if he would gives us some quotes, “he” finally threw up his hands and walked away….yikes!!!! So, in frustration, we had to walk away from the Highfield dealer at the Boat Show with a temporary salesman profusely apologizing. But, 200 yards away we found Guyer Boatworks and wow….they actually wanted to sell boats….how novel!!!

Master sink faucet: The old one started to squirt out the screen dousing your waistline…ugh….and we could not figure out any repair. So, Kathy bought a replacement and off John the plumber went. Yep….first have to figure out connections as the new faucet hoses were smaller than the old one. Ok, a little help from Selene owners and went to the hardware store for proper adapters. So, got the hoses on/off and then discovered the new faucet bolt that goes underneath the granite for a tightening nut was too short….really. So, spent the next few hours trying to find a solution only to make up a new threaded bolt from our SS rod spares and voila, we have a new faucet….only took most of the day….arghhhhh!!!!

Electrical Panel Meters: ODG….over the years our 6 meters, 12v, 120v, 230v and 12amp, 120 amp and 230amp have all died. And, no one at Selene knew of replacements….the newer ones in the USA are bigger necessitating cutting out a larger hole in the panel….needless to say we waited until we could find the right skills to get the job done!! We did replace the 120v one a while back with our spare so it is working, but for the most part we have had to do without. Chris at YSNW said they had found the original manufacture that Jettern used in Hong Kong and we made contact and bought 6 new ones. Chris installed and voila, we can now tell voltages and amperages on the boat….how novel is that!!!

Kabola Diesel Heater: Jeff at YSNW said he could service the unit which seemed symmetrical since he installed in 2005. He changed out the coolant (not done for 15 years), serviced boiler, new coolant and fuel filters, changed exhaust hose, new aquastat thermocouple, and new heat exchanger on engine loop. On those cold and snowy days in Seattle, TG for the Kabola heat!!!

The Plan: We did leave Seattle on 2/1 in a tremendous rain storm with a full carload of stuff….rained all the way to the California border. This time we drove it all in one day….12+ hours, 810 miles, no tickets:)))) We had a rousing Super Bowl party at Dave & Dana’s….all good except that last 6 minutes:((((

We have a family ski vacation in Tahoe from 2/8-15, then we will go back to Mystic for a week, 2/19-27, then we will go see the Iditarod in Alaska on 3/4-3/10. Then it will be back to Mystic to hopefully complete the FB enclosure work and pick up the new dinghy!!!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon

PS: A few pictures on the website:

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