Davits

We're growing weary of hoisting the dinghy with the mizzen boom so we're working with Kato Marine in Annapolis, MD to spec out a pair of davits for Serena's stern rail. We posted the following photos of Serena's stern to help the folks at Kato figure out the best configuration.

2009 Project Highlights

Upgrading the chartplotter was at the top of our list of projects for 2009. A Raymarine E120 with GPS, Sirus Satellite Weather and AIS replaced the old Trimble which had been on life support since the Y2K date change when it could no longer recognize dates. Apart from that minor annoyance, charts were no longer available rendering the unit obsolete. It it were a bit more hefty, we would have recommissioned it as a boat anchor. However, it found its final resting place in the dumpster.

Hooking up the Raymarine E120 reminded me of my old 1971 MGB. The MGB shop manual was cryptic at best, laced with expressions like "drive the trunion with a suitable drift". When MGB went out of business, their tech writers must have signed on with Raymarine. The wiring instructions for the GPS antenna were especially confusing, so I was not surprised when I powered up the E120 and had no GPS signal. To make matters worse, the GPS receiver is affixed to the gimballed radar mount two-thirds up the mizzen mast. After a couple of climbs up the mast to whack the GPS antenna "with a suitable drift", still no signal.

Discretion is the better part of valor, so I called our good friend Hugh Lupo at New England Marine Electronics. Hugh knew exactly what the problem was - the ground wire for the GPS antenna was connected to the E120 instead of the battery circuit. After switching a few wires, we were in business. The E120 performs like a champ.

Here are a few pictures of the installation. We're also replacing the access plates, gaskets, pickup tubes, and depth sensors for our fresh water tanks. We completed the installation on the starboard tank this season and will have new plates for the port tank and day tank ready to go next spring.

Spring 2009 commissioning

May 13th is our scheduled launch date! In preparation, we're working on several "projects":

• Replace access plates on fuel tanks (oozing diesel fuel is not fun)


• Touch up brightwork


• Install new boom vang


• Install Raymarine E120 Chartplotter and associated goodies (NEMA interface, AIS, etc.)


• Rewire knot meter transducer


• Replace diesel engine hoses and turbocharger oil return

And then, there's the never-ending bronze polishing to maintain that golden luster...

How nuts are we?? These polished bronze anchor rollers and all the other bronze hardware on Serena require a heavy dose of elbow grease to maintain the golden luster