Maintenance

Maintenance

This page is still very much under construction...

Never thought we'd see Ocelot flying!

Repaint Topsides: "Topsides" are the hulls of the boat, the part between the waterline and the deck. Ocelot's are getting a bit chalky, and they were never repaired correctly after our too‑close encounter with a sleeping whale off Mozambique. Repainting is a lot of work, as the hull has to be "long‑boarded" (sanded with a long board, to remove any ripples or other blemishes) until it's mirror smooth and then sprayed with an expensive linear polyurethane paint. And, of course, Ocelot has a lot of surface area between the waterline and the deck...

Repaint Cabin Top (basically, all exposed gelcoat): If our vertical topsides are weathering, our cabin top, which looks right at all that UV streaming down at us, is even worse. We talked to several people about repainting our cabin top but Golf said that painting wasn't the answer. He could do it, but it would look bad again pretty soon. What it really needed was new gelcoat. Along the way, he'd repair all the dings and nicks that Ocelot has accumulated. He'd grind off our existing anti‑skid and lay down more that he'd make himself. It impressed us that he'd want to do a quality job, and his price ($10,500) was competitive with other quotes we got to just paint the cabin top.

Corrosion around Monel rivets on our aluminum mast

Mast Work: Ocelot's mast hasn't been taken out and stripped down ever, and it's 16 years old. We've replaced the forestay in Tahiti and the cap‑shrouds in Brisbane, but neither operation required removing the mast. The 8 diamond stays are rod‑rigging and need inspection, there's a bit of corrosion around some of the rivets, and we'd like to put the masthead wiring into the wiring conduits inside the mast. Most of the wiring needs to be replaced after 16 years, several of the ropes ("running rigging") need replacement (and need checking to make sure they're not chafing each other), the radar needs replacing after being zorched by lightening, and we'd like to put in our masthead spinnaker halyard. But the mast is actually in pretty good condition and we were debating if we really needed to do this work when Golf said that he'd pay for the crane, if necessary. It seems that Golf wants to put a tent over Ocelot and a mast sticking up would upset that too much. OK.

Clean Engine Rooms and De-Rust the Engines: This is a messy job in small spaces that we're happy to pay someone else $330 to do.

Week 17 - Refurbish both engines
Week 18 - Start long-boarding the topsides
Week 31 - Autopilot gears rebuilt, gearbox greased
Week 48 - Regalvanize 2 anchors & chain
Week 70 - Life-rings covered in Sunbrella
Week 105 - Cleaned mainsail
Week 106 - Drained & refilled the anchor winch oil
Week 108 - Replace engine cooling water valves
Week 108 - Replace sail-drive anodes
Week 108 - Service both cooking gas bottles
Week 109 - Clean & inspect water & diesel tanks
Week 109 - Clean all fenders
Week 114 - De-rust & paint both engines
Week 116 - Service 7 winches
Week 117 - Replace both portside toilet outlet hoses
Week 119 - Repair our mainsail cover

Refurbish engines: injectors, heat exchangers, exhaust manifolds, water pumps, etc.

Winches: stripped, cleaned, greased, mounted, & reassembled

Dooking gas bottles: Sanded, primed & repainted

Sail drive anodes: Week 108 internal, week 117 external

Mainsail cover: Put OCELOT on the sides

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