Garmin DST800 Failed

 Garmin Depth/Speed/Temperature (DST800) failed. 

We splashed Eximius at Playboy Marine Yesterday (January 28th 2021) without any issues and headed for Sunrise Bay (the lake just north of Sunrise Blvd Bridge). The good news - The newly painted bottom and propspeed on the prop and shaft made a significant improvement in boat speed. We normally have to pus the engine over 2100 rpm in order to nudge past 6 knots through the water. Today we attained 6 knots at 1700 rpm! WooHoo! We broke 7+ knots at 2000 rmp and 7.5knots at 2100. Awesome.

Another round of "Thanks" to Patagonia Services! Thanks Leandro & Luis.

The bad news, our Garmin Depth Speed Temp transducer failed. The data is delivered to the NEMA 2000 network, speed - good, depth - all over the place from 40' upto 240' and most of the time it's just reporting garbage. 

More good news though! We purchased the Protection plus coverage when we bought it 2 years ago, woohoo! It's covered! We'll take it back to West Marine in the morning and start the return process.

And even good news- because the transducer output is direct to the NEMA 2000 backbone, removing the transducer and disconnecting it is an easy task. Similarly, the replacement should be a snap too.

Let's see how long it takes to get the replacement, I'm betting March 1st. Comment with your estimate.

See you on the water.

Patagonia Services

Patagonia Services at Playboy Marina

It's been 3 years since Eximius was hauled out for bottom work, last time my neighbor and I sweated for days sanding the hull lightly and then painting, then compounding the hull and polishing - we never finished that and had to work on it some more at the dock later.

This year we hired Patagonia Services at Playboy Marina to do the hard work. There were dozens of mini blisters on the hull, not unusual, but also on the keel. There was also some fairing over bottom paint that was an issue. I decided to have Leandro from Patagonia Marine take the keel down to the metal and refinish it. They did a great job, really pleased.

Unlike at the last haulout, there was no Catalina Smile just the scar where we had the smile cleaned up and faired by salerno marine in Port St. Lucie 5 years ago.  No water intrusion so all was well.

They did a really nice job of priming with Primocon and faring the area between the keel stub and the keel.

I also had them repair a hole where I removed the old speed transducer that is no longer used (our new transducer is Port side aft of the keel and is a combined Depth/Speed/Temperature transducer)

Most of the work was done by Luis, he worked for days to get everything done.

Then they (Louise) completed the job by applying 2 coats of the same bottom paint we have used since owning the boat.

The result is handsome!

I'm really pleased with the work done by Patagonia Services. 

Leandro, owner of Patagonia Services, is a member of the Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Club, so he knows us, but I'm sure his standards are the same for anyone's work.

Thanks Leandro.

Looking good

 Eximius is looking good.

Old lettering removed, new applied with a hint of a smile. 

Thanks Ross & Astrid for the tip about the hull side polish, worked out really well.

Eximius: We get a lot of 'Why 'Eximius' ? 

The story is told in one of our first blog posts, but we still get that 'What?' enquiry when folks first see the boat name.

Just a bit of fun.

The boat detailer was able to compound both sides and the transom, but the years of Poliglow did not submit to his polishing attempts.

Ross & Astrid (Commotion) advised me about the polish they use on their 20year old boat. Eximius is 33 years old, but the polish did the job.

We splash tomorrow, Thursday, but the tides are not in our favor to return to our dock, so we're going to hang off the hook Thursday night and return to our dock on Friday.

Then it's time to finish of the new Cabin cushions, new backsplash for the galley counter and finish off the new table.

Making progress.

See you on the water!

Stowing the Hatch Boards

 Stowing the Companionway Hatch Boards

Over the years we have struggled to find a way to safely, securly stow the two hatch boards. At first, we stowed them under the Cabin Seats, secure, but uncomfortable. Then we stowed them on either side of the Companionway steps, that worked, easy to store from when lifting them out of the companionway and easy to lift them to replace in the companionway, but they fell out onto the cabin sole several times and finding a convenient way to secure them that was easy to stow and remove was a tough one.

Finally figured out a solution that met several requirements

• Easy to stow after removing them from the companionway
• Easy to retrieve to replace them in the companionway
• Secure stowage to prevent them falling
• Stowage does not scratch the freshly varnished boards.

Solution: Hatchboard Baggies

The 'Baggies' are Sunbrella, shaped to fit the hatch boards with a piece of foam along the lower edge in the hope of preventing wearing through as the boards are frequently lowered into them.

The Tabs (shown on the right side in the pic) are double layered Sunbrella and will have Snap buttons applied.

Next time down at the boat we'll position them and add Snap Studs screwed into the wooden bulkhead on either side of the Companionway steps.

The boards have handles on the same side as their stowage bags, so the panel with the handle on the port side will be stowed in the Port side baggie.

When stowed, the handles should be within reach to enable easy pickup of the boards. 

Easy to make and I used left over fabric from another project.

I'll update this post with a pic of the boards in their baggies. The reason for using snaps to hold them in place is simple: If I need to access the engine, I would have to remove the boards, this way they are pretty well protected from damage when temporarily stowed elsewhere.  Right now there is a temporary, single, hatchboard securing the cabin.

Stay safe out there folks.

See you on the water.

Paul