Maintenance Archives • Don't Panic and Sail

17Aug

By Don't Panic2 Comments

Boat, Maintenance, Storms

Leaks found

Florida afternoon thunder storms have been rolling through pretty regularly this year. It has helped me discover a few leaks and provided a nice spray down for the boat. It has also reminded me that you always need to be prepared when at anchor. The winds that have come through with these afternoon storms hit over 35kn and hit quickly. Best be prepared with a well-set anchor or ready to pick up and move quickly if things go bad. This has been something I prepared for early in my refit, my 85lb Mantus Anchor is good, in theory, for up to hurricane force winds for my boat size and weight...I just hope I never really have to test how hot holds in a hurricane. Easily, one port leaked, needs to be re-bedded. Two chain plates, already known, leaked. I had already suspected the leaks so wa...

16Jun

By Don't PanicNo Comments

Boat, It Broke, Maintenance

….and Wait to Repair

Well it looks like the boat will not be moving for a while now. This past weekend I replaced the transmission fluid, hoping that might help resolve the shifting issue, as it was a bit low. Plus it needed to be changed as part of the break-in period maintenance. It did not fix the issue, the transmission shifts fine into reverse, but will no longer go into forward at all. It is still under warranty. So for this and some other issues I contacted the installer to repair the issues. They are booked out til the 3rd week in July already, so it will be some time before the boat moves again. In the mean time I work on some interior projects. On a better note, the outboard did not get any damage from the quick dunk it took. It needed routine maintenance anyways and a small oil leak was ...

18May

By Don't PanicNo Comments

Boat, Solvents

DON’T PANiC finally shows off her name

I finally finished putting the name one the boat. The old vinyl name was a pain to get off at first. Goo Gone does not work on Vinyl adhesive, so forget about tying to use it. A neighbor boat recommended two options, Kleen Strip and Interlux 202. Both did work, but the Interlux worked better. The Kleen Strip worked almost as well, but took more effort to scrub. Interlux cleaned the adhesive off with a bit less effort. I ended up using the Interlux more, but if I had to do it again I would use Kleen Strip, it's a bit less toxic and is dual use, if you have an alcohol stove. Getting the new name on the boat was pretty simple, I could have done without the boats on the ICW making all the waves. That probably doubled the time it took. But in the end I got it done and there is room left ove...

31Mar

By Don't Panic1 Comment

Maintenance, Paint

New Bottom job

Yes, what DON’T PANiC heard was true. A new bottom job was in her future. I took advantage the haul out and had the bottom repainted with Pettit Ultima SR-60 in green. The previous owners had used the same paint, the bottom paint in the previous pictures was almost three years old and still preventing hard growth so I decided to stick with the same paint. Some questioned my color choice since the canvas is blue, but I will slowly change over to a green color scheme as upgrades occur. Showing off her frontSlinged with new paintNice view of the rear