Summer Life in Baltimore
Aug 9 thru Aug 16
—Blogpost written by Bob
It didn’t seem like I got much done yesterday, at least there’s not much to show for a day’s work. However, when I look at what got accomplished over a 5-day period, I’m really pleased with my progress. The boat is a complete mess right now with parts of my ongoing projects strewn all over. I’m anxious to get the stereo cabinet done, the stereo and speakers installed and get the boat cleaned up. Of course, I have our TV installation right on the heels of the stereo cabinet project.
Thursday, August 9
It was cool this morning (for a change) and I got right to work making the new shelf for the stereo cabinet. I cut the shelf out of a scrap piece of teak-veneered plywood to the shape of the cardboard template using my jigsaw.
 |
| In this photograph the teak shelf is upside down so that the edges are flush with the top surface when it’s turned right side up. In this case I was working on the cockpit table using wax paper as a barrier to the epoxy. |
Like the lower shelf, I applied solid teak edges to the exposed edges of the 1/2-inch thick plywood shelf. I mixed about 50% more hardener with the epoxy resin to make it cure faster.
Since I had to wait 6 to 8 hours for the epoxy to completely cure before I could sand the shelf, I went out for a late breakfast. When I returned to the boat, I started to clean up the project mess in the main salon and look for a suitable location for the second speaker—I’m leaning toward inside the liquor cabinet because it would be directly across from the stereo cabinet. (The downside of this location would mean less room for bottles of liquor. I can’t believe I’m faced with that compromise—better sound but less space for liquor.)
In the afternoon I took the remainder of the day off and shot a round of sporting clays at Prince George's County Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays Range. It was a fun afternoon!
In the afternoon I took the remainder of the day off and shot a round of sporting clays at Prince George's County Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays Range. It was a fun afternoon!
Friday, August 10
This morning I resumed work on running the port side speaker cable this morning. This involved pulling the speaker out of its position (from yesterday), drilling three 7/8-inch diameter holes, removing and reinstalling a shelf on the port side of the main salon, and cleaning up as work progressed. In addition, all ten port side settee cushions had to be removed and temporarily stored on the starboard settee. Everything to this point (at noon) got the cable as far as under the port settee. (I also got two coats of varnish on the stereo shelf this morning—fortunately, satin varnish dries much more quickly than gloss.)
At one point around mid-morning I went up to the boater’s lounge to check on our new (Jensen-brand) TV that supposedly arrived. What I found instead was two nice (Jensen-brand) outdoor speakers that I didn’t order. The screw up was made by one of Amazon’s partners. I hope the resolution doesn’t delay my project!
After lunch, I removed the panel under the port settee cushions to route the speaker cable around the port fresh water tank and into the bilge area below the floorboards.
 |
| Lola takes a mid-afternoon break on paper towels that she pulled off the roll above her. |
From there, I removed the dining room table (10 bolts) and then the starboard floor panel (mucho screws) and routed the speaker wire and the TV antenna wire (which was coiled up in the bilge) into the area under the v-berth where the depth and speed transducers are located. I was glad to put everything back together at the end of the day. All this took 5 hours! (I really hope that’s the last time I remove the dining table and floor panels for quite a while!)
By the end of the day, I had applied four coats of satin varnish on the stereo shelf—I called it quits at this point.
Saturday, August 11
I slept in until 8 AM this morning since I was so tired from all the boat work yesterday. The cats were climbing all over me to wake their can opener up.
Previously I had ordered six TV mounts on Amazon since none of the descriptions were sufficiently complete for me to determine if they would fit. They arrived today. I selected the mount made by Von Haus--it was very well designed and ruggedly built.
Once the TV mount was selected, I made a teak pad that allows the black steel base to straddle the teak frame of the stereo cabinet. I also constructed a backing plywood pad for the upper bolt which takes the tensile load of the weight of the TV on the arm. I started to varnish the teak pad, applying the first two coats of satin varnish.
Sunday, August 12
It was surprisingly cool this morning (mid 70’s) and it was very pleasant while I applied the third coat of satin varnish on the TV mounting pad. I let the cats outside while I did the varnishing—they loved it.
After a light breakfast at Starbuck’s (across the street from the marina), I started routing the power cable from the stereo cabinet back to the electrical panel. Because of all the little areas the cable passes through and the different challenges each one presented, it took 2-1/2 hours to run less than 30 feet of 12 gauge 2-conductor cable!
Next, I completed the routing of the port speaker to the stereo cabinet. I had stopped at an area below the v-berth and had only 6 feet to go—the last 6 feet took about 30 minutes.
 |
| The port-side speaker is located in the liquor cabinet. |
I, then, worked on mounting the little shelf for the amplifier in the stereo cabinet and drilled mounting holes for the amplifier. (Everything has to fastened securely on a boat!) I hooked up power to the amplifier and connected both speakers. I tested the stereo system using my
music library on my iPad—it sounded fantastic! By the time I got to this point it was 3:30 PM and time to quit for the day.
music library on my iPad—it sounded fantastic! By the time I got to this point it was 3:30 PM and time to quit for the day.
I got four coats of satin varnish on the teak pad for the TV mount by the end of the day. It was raining outside when I was applying the sixth coat of varnish—one more tomorrow morning will finish it up. (By lightly sanding between coats and applying lots of coats, the finish becomes very smooth, like a nice piece of furniture.)
My “alternative rock” playlist is playing on our new stereo system right now...
Monday, August 13
This morning was relatively cool as I drove to Annapolis to accomplish a lot of tasks. (The bulk of our life is still in Annapolis even though this is our third summer in our Baltimore Harbor slip.)
Besides some banking tasks and returning some Amazon purchases, I wanted to get some #12 stainless steel hex bolts (the next size down from 1/4 inch) for the TV mount but I found out that they are somewhat of a rarity—Chesapeake Marine Fasteners (now owned by Fawcetts) didn’t have any #12 bolts in stock. I found some Phillips head machine screws (not exactly what I wanted) of the lengths I needed at the large West Marine store in Annapolis—I bought them and will make them work.
 |
| The mounting arm for the new TV is now in place. |
A violent thunderstorm blew through the harbor late this afternoon--the wind was about 40 to 45 knots. It lasted about 45 minutes. I was concerned that our forepeak tent would blow off but it held nicely.
Tuesday, August 14
This morning was cool with low humidity thanks to the afternoon/evening thunderstorm yesterday. I helped my boat neighbor get out of their slip this morning on their way to get hauled out for bottom painting but they couldn't get out due to lack of power. It turned out to be a heavy accumulation of barnacles on their prop, very similar to what I had experienced before our haulout. I have never seen such a heavy concentration of barnacles as I have this summer. At the same time, I have seen very few nettles (jellyfish) in the bay this year.
Today I am working on a number of small tasks: selling some things on eBay, mounting the TV antenna signal amplifier in the stereo cabinet, etc.
I decided to mount the TV signal amplifier against the fiberglass side of the stereo cabinet using heavy-duty plastic hook and loop fastening.
 |
| The TV antenna signal amplifier mounted on the fiberglass surface inside the stereo cabinet. |
Wednesday, August 15
As we hit the mid-month point, we have two months remaining in Baltimore. Baltimore’s weather is beautiful this morning, sunny and 77 degrees! Ninety-three degrees is the expected high for this afternoon.
My friend, Bill, is stopping by for a couple days, arriving sometime this afternoon. I accomplished a few little tasks this morning before he arrived—one being sending pictures of the Jensen speakers I received in lieu of the TV I ordered (from an Amazon partner). I can’t believe I had to go through so many hoops to prove that I received about $75 worth of speakers after paying over $200 for a TV. It’s now been three days in resolution and I have still no address to return the speakers. (I don’t think I’m going to buy anything from an Amazon partner again! At least that's the way I feel right now.)
We attached the TV to the mount this morning--I really needed two people to do this but once I got one or two of the mounting screws in place it was easy from there.
We took the rest of the day off and went shooting wobble trap and sporting clays and then drove to Annapolis for some good meals and boat-related shopping.
Thursday, August 16
We attached the TV to the mount this morning--I really needed two people to do this but once I got one or two of the mounting screws in place it was easy from there.
We took the rest of the day off and went shooting wobble trap and sporting clays and then drove to Annapolis for some good meals and boat-related shopping.
Friday, August 17
This morning after a light breakfast, we ran all the wires for the TV, connecting the power, antenna, and audio to the amplifier. We then reassembled the equipment in the stereo cabinet and fired up the TV--it worked perfectly!
 |
| Our new TV in place on the starboard side of our main salon. |
One of our next projects will involve anchor chain...stay tuned!
Thanks for following our blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment