Ship's log: at berth

Maintenance:
Holding tank pumped. I now owe Mugsy for 2 times.

Work:
Dry-sanded then oil-sanded almost half the teak in the galley. Only up to 320 grit but it's looking a lot better and feels fantastic.
Built, edged, oil-sanded, and installed a red-oak shelf in the galley.
* Notes: aft edge is too high. Lower forward edge or insert shim into aft support; probably the latter, for my wrists' sakes.
* Future: Shelf is 16" wide and hinged 2/3 of the way in; rout edges of flap so it can be lifted clear of the surrounds. Below the shelf, set up a cupboard for kitchen equipment.

Supplies:
Navigation Tools
Dan and Allison gave me marvelous things for my boat-warming:
1. a beautiful, shining brass, gorgeously solid set of navigator's calipers (only they call them dividers) which outshine everything else on the boat. (I really have to get to work now, so as not to be hopelessly outclassed by my instrument.)
2. Map #121, a top-quality plasticized nautical chart of the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays -- my playground -- suitable for framing, either before or after it gets stuffed in a 12-year-old's backpack. Practically bulletproof, very beautiful, and immediately useful.
Galley Gear
2-burner camping stove. To go on a sliding drawer under the lifting shelf, once built.

Research:
* Headliners. Marine fabric is insanely priced. Looking into alternatives which would be up to code.
* Source of leak beside compression post. I think I'll have to get under the toilet and inspect the seacock that provides flush-water and the seawater path into the toilet. I may have to take the head apart entirely. Because I didn't have enough to do.

Thinking:
There are 4 interdependent priorities which keep this boat too close to trouble for comfort:

* Engine.
The inboard hates the sight of me, so I intend to hang an outboard off that perfect perky stern. Perhaps she will forgive me one day. Nissan/Tohatsu make a 9.9-hp engine that weighs only 84 pounds and is highly rated.
- Drain gas & oil.
- Remove gas tank.
- Disassemble engine.
- Remove propeller.
- Check hull integrity & clean up grease.
- Build rails on transom, with anchor roller to move engine up and down w/ foot.
- Get outboard and mounting bracket. Play erector set.

* Headliner.
- Get rid of the headliner. The foam-backed fabric that lines the living areas of the boat is original. That means the foam's usefulness degraded 24 years ago, and ever since then all it has done is soak up mold, head fumes, and whatever poisons were sloshed onto it to kill the mold.
I should hire help so it can get done in 1 day. I've already got the scraping implements and one respirator mask.
- Reline the hull for warmth, sound reduction, and appearance. Naked fiberglass looks even worse than most naked people. It's also damn cold and winter's coming.

* Electricity.
+ Once the upper half of the engine, and its enormous gas tank, are out of the hull, it will be a lot easier to get to the battery and the electric panel.
+ Once that festering crap that used to be tasteful headliner is out, it will be much easier to find and assess all the wiring.
- The cabin lights need to be rebedded from the deck side, as their wooden backing plates are soaked with slow leaks and turning on a second light shorts the whole DC system. (Can you spell 'fire hazard'?)
- Move the battery breakers. They're in a dark corner behind the knife block, and that just looks so wrong to an old ER nurse. They belong near the electric panel.
- Move the one AC plug. It's right in front of whoever is standing at the galley sink pumping water from a pump that farts & splashes like Vesuvius on the rag. Another hazard.
- Redo the math and, subsequently, the circuit board & wiring to accommodate liveaboard and workfromhome needs in the 21st century. Consider positioning alternative power sources in these schemata.

* Plumbing.
- Investigate that leak under the compression post. Looks like it's seeping up from under the head floor?
- Install 20 gallon holding tank. Pretty sure I've got all the right parts now.
- Rebed the head gaskets. No question, that sucker's got a slow leak. Looks like the pump assembly. Would prefer a foot pump anyway.
- Replumb the fresh water. I'm pretty sure this will fix the nonworking sink in the head and the hand-pump problem in the galley (the farting and splashing, and taking 38 pumps to get half a glass of water.) If not, look around for a good used foot pump. Otherwise, save the foot pump for later.

Curious Voyager-related fact:
The original owner worked with NASA. He named this boat after the Voyager probe! How cool is that.