After spending Easter with family up in Ottawa we had some time Sunday and Monday (April 21-22) to spend on the boat.

The plan

  • Remove striping and names
  • Install Mantus anchor mate and ensure Mantus anchor fit
  • Install batteries
  • Clean bilge
  • Service speed sensor
  • Measurements for other projects
  • Investigate how to remove line cover

The results

The new Mantus anchor fits! Bad news is the bolt in the roller was too short to use for the Mantus Anchor Mate.

Battery install went well. Only brought one battery on Saturday and it didn’t work when I put it into Slot 1 (far right) but worked as battery 2. This year is running rigging, next year will spend more time focusing on learning about, and upgrading the electrical.

Took some measurements around the batteries. The previous owner had several blocks of wood stuffed in here to keep them from rattling. I’m going to cut a single piece of wood to size.

A good reminder of the dangers of electrical systems, even 12 volt. Tightening the bolts on the batteries without thinking and accidentally touched the other terminal and shorted it out using my wrench. A nice good spark and a scare, fortunately the rubber coating protected my hand but the rotating part of this wrench is now fused in one spot.

Pulled out the speed sensor to clean off the barnacles and I’m glad I didn’t try this in the water. There is a small plastic flap that flops down but it’s still a huge hole when the speed sensor is removed. Not sure how easy it would have been to try and replace the speed sensor with water gushing in.

Sunday ended up with a late start. It wasn’t until 10am that I left to go to Holland Marine to pick up our order, and Lori got to the boat around noon. With crazy downtown traffic I saw four accidents and was driving mostly in 1st gear for the last hour I finally got back to the boat at 4pm.

Cleaned out the engine water filter. It was much cleaner than I was expecting but had a few twigs and a few little stones that needed to be removed.

Continued frustration with the striping. Only coming off in little small chunks. Eventually moved up to the heat gun and went to the sunny side of the boat. At the front, the striping came off much easier. It’s in better shape. The 3″ stripe still was a struggle, the 1/4″ stripe came off like a dream.

Acetone removes the leftover glue, and told to avoid Goo Gone, something about the oils messing up the gel coat.

Things we’ve dropped from our list

Decided not to remove the line cover, it is a lot more work than we anticipated. It requires removal of the stainless bars going down into companionway and the traveller. Both were secured with large screws and sealed onto the deck. Plan is now to just get a sponge and cloth on a piece of wire to clean underneath.

Bottom coat is in excellent condition, had a few people comment on how well it’s holding up. Decided to just give it a scrub and not paint at all.

Lessons learned

  • I love going to Holland Marine and asking Peter questions about the CS boats. He’s quick to come up with a solution and so far seems to like all my mundane questions about the CS boat. But maybe it’s better to have the orders shipped, 2+ hours to get there and 3+ hours in heavy traffic to get back home.
  • Lists are great to keep everything on track. But my online lists are not working for Lori, moving my list into sticky notes on the wall in our workshop.
  • Lists are great, double check before you leave home. We forgot the ladder. Fortunately remembered it only 5 mins into our drive.

Few things to purchase

  • Racnor spin-on replacement element Part No. R24S (2 Micron)
  • Universal Fuel Filter 298854
  • Universal Oil Filter