Captain’s log
Dateline: 02.05.2022

Searchlight

Traced two wires from the middle of the bow to my electrical panel. I’m putting marked zip ties on wires to make better sense of what goes where, and eventually make everything nice and tidy. The object of my interest today is Golight Radioray searchlight.

Used multimeter to find out if the voltage is there. It is. At first it seemed like the problem was in the lamp, but then I realized that the thing only has two wires, ergo needs to be controlled from somewhere else, remotely. Found the remote inside the charting table. Had to buy two A23 batteries to make it work. Haven’t seen those in forever, forgot they’re 12V. So small yet so powerful. Reminded me of those tiny female anime characters that kick ass non-stop yet refuse to die.

I was able to turn the searchlight on, but the light from the halogen lamp was extremely dim, the thing was emitting constant clicking noise, and there was no way to turn it off or change its angle via the remote once it was on. I believe it’s been there since day one — means over 20 years. Maybe over 10 years, but still, it’s a long time for something that’s claiming to be "weatherproof"... it’s not even IP65.

Dismounted, disassembled. Inside it had one and a half PCBs, two DC motors, lots of dead spiders, and some dirt. I don’t expect those motors to work, most likely they’re dead, and I want them to be.

If I decide that I do need to have a searchlight for some reason, I’m probably going to buy a cheap waterproof LED spotlight that can recharge from the sun, and then add a couple of servos and a remote to it, potentially slap a camera on top. This way it won’t require any wires and be as waterproof as I’ll be able to make it with my 3D printer. New LED Golight products cost close to $700, and I don’t expect them to last — having seen what’s on the inside and how many gaps it has for dirt and salt water to enter. Their products likely work better for cabins and offroad vehicles.

Round hatches

Those ten round hatches that were installed instead of leaky cabin windows about a decade ago, they turned out to be Jim Black. More specifically, they are 592-20RND-05-02-05. 20", but almost all stuck and leaking at this point. The only good thing about them is that they’re tempered glass and not acrylic. That can become a bad thing if I cut myself while removing them.

Trying to figure out what to replace them with. Lewmar only makes acrylic round hatches, but if I put four square 70cm hatches in the front to have a better view, then those will be definitely acrylic, and hence I could keep them all Lewmar without resorting to sketchy brands. And I absolutely love how the boat looks from a side with those three round circles, I think there’s only one cat in the world that has that. The front appearance I really hate, it looks like a retarded spider with those four round "eyes", not to mention you can barely see anything through them due to the angle.

Considering installing different sizes for the round ones. It’s three on each side, that means I could make two of them 18", two 20", and two 22". Need to do some drawing in GIMP to know if it’s a bad idea or not. Whatever I get, I hope to be able to open them up more than 90 degrees — the current hatches say on them they can’t be opened more than 90 degrees, and that stinks. Not that it matters, since they’re all stuck for good.

My other ideas include: - self-tinting layer or electric window tint - remote opening mechanism - mechanical shutter for round hatches (something like what analog cameras used to have) - OLED stickers that are see-through but emit light and hence light up the cabin when needed - organic solar cells to make everything above require no wires

It’ll be nice to open all of them when I’m finally anchored in Hawaii, the airflow in the cabin is going to be absolutely sick!

Captain’s log
Dateline: 03.05.2022

More work on round hatches

Turns out the round hatches are all glued shut, not just stuck. It’s a security feature, not a bug. They’re all old and most of the plastic outside was eaten by the sun long ago, currently cracked and glued multiple times. They all need to be replaced.

Since they won’t open, some nuts just can’t be easily detached from the thread — the screw they’re on rotates along with the nut when I try to unscrew it. Oscillating tool will help with that, but plastic dust is not fun. Good thing I have a respirator.

Most likely the hatches were installed and not glued right away, then somebody later decided to glue them shut to prevent any break-ins, since those hatches lack proper locking mechanism. Too bad they didn’t think about how to detach them from the hull once it’s all glued together and can’t reveal the screws, but that’s okay, just another fun little adventure. I’m probably going to cut around them anyway, if I go with six bigger (22") round hatches on the sides, and four 700mm square hatches in front, all by Lewmar.

Ken

Ken gave me two blades to try with my oscillating tool to remove those ugly wooden planks that are glued all over my boat on the inside. One didn’t fit my Ryobi tool, and the other one could work, but it seems like it’ll take much longer when compared to using convential wood-cutting blades.

I’m most likely going to either use masking tape to protect the hull while I’m stripping my hull off those stupid wooden planks, or use the dull blade that Ken gave me as a protection layer, giving some elevation to the blade as well. Here it says,

It is suggested that you have a piece of scrap material supporting the blade when making a flush cut. If you need to rest the blade on a delicate surface, you need to use cardboard or masking tape to protect the surface.

I’ll try to see if I could use some kind of dissolver to get rid of the rest of the glue, or just sand it down. Lots of work either way, but that’s good.

Dave

Met a very cool guy named Dave today at a bar. The dude is a badass engineer, builds and flies airplanes. He’s currently planning to build a fully electric one. Told me about E-Z Poxy epoxy resin that’s often used in building aircrafts. It’s supposedly stronger than what West System has, but much harder to mix and use, definitely not for novices like myself. Maybe one day I’ll get there, but for now I’m likely going to stick with West System.

He also gave me good advices for my project: 1. Do one thing every day, even if it’s small 1. Only focus on most important things, non-crucial tasks can wait 1. Only buy things that may become outdated (e.g. electronics) when you’re ready to set the sail — all those gizmos becomes old fast

Told Dave about Ken, another airplane-building enthusiast from St. James City. His eyes lit up right away, he gave me his card to pass it to Ken. Ken owns Golden Palm Resorts with his wife Julie, it’s where I used to stay while my boat was still at Bob & Annie’s Boatyard. They still let me use their washing machine and dryer even though I’m no longer a guest.

Captain’s log
Dateline: 06.05.2022

Northern Composites

Reached out to Northern Composites today. It’s a company that I was referred to by a contact at SGS when I asked for help regarding identifying materials that were used to build the hull of my vessel. It’s obviously mostly kevlar, but the resin type is not clear. Since the boat was reposessed twice (so far), the blueprints and all other info is missing. SGS will help me with gas/mass spectrometry to see if it’s vinyl ester or really epoxy resin. But NC are hopefully going to be there to help me with everything else (choice of materials for repairs, and just answer small questions here and there).

Chisel

Ordered a set of Japanese chisels off Amazon today. Becase using my oscillating tool to remove all the wooden planks is going to take months. It’s ridiculous that I have to use a chisel and hammer on a composite boat, but I’m not the one who glued those wooden planks there to hold ugly dusty lining that has mostly disintegrated after over two decades under UV.