As with most of our friends and colleagues over here in Europe and Asia, today, May 1st, is a national holiday by various names including Labour Day and May Day so we have yet another shortened work week. Indeed almost every week in May will be shortened as May 19th is commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day and then May 24-26 is Eid al-Fitr with several days of traditional feasting after all the fasting of the month long Ramadan. With the current Lockdown policies in Turkey each of these days fall under the Lockdown policy so everyone is under midnight to midnight curfew or Stay Home restrictions so we are all having more Staycations this month starting with this first week of May being a three day weekend.
However, the work of building a boat involves at least as much work off the boat looking after things such as planning, designing, decision making and research so for Christine and myself there is no less work to do so we will very much be labouring this Labour Day long weekend and very happy about that.
A well deserved break though for our hard working crew aboard Möbius who may be less in number of late but no less in terms of work and progress so let’s go check out what got done the past 4 days of this last week of April.
ELECTRICAL:
He’s an army of one but Hilmi is our Master Sparkie/Electrician and he had a very productive week.
If you’ve been following along the past few weeks you’ve seen that he pulled the wires up into this Forward Electrical Panel which is built into the angled wall on the Starboard/Right side of the Main Helm Chair. This week he picked up from there and got all those wires organized into their DIN Rail junction blocks so let’s see how that all progressed.
Here is a close up of what Hilmi is looking at in the photo above. On the bottom of this cabinet you can see how he previously pulled all the black cables up from the Basement, stripped the Black outer insulation from each one and sealed this junction with adhesive lined heat shrink tubing which he then used as the spot to zip tie each cable to one of those White nylon tabs you can see on the far Left here.
Above the row of zip tied cables he attached a length of Gray PC slotted wire organiser duct and then mounted the DIN Rail above that where each of the Gray junction blocks snaps in place.
The coil of Black cables above is tied out of the way for now as these are for the light switches which are mounted on the opposite side of this cabinet in the stairwell leading down into the Master Cabin.
Then it is a relatively simple task of cutting each of the individual wires to length, crimping a tubular wire end on each and then inserting each one into its Gray junction block. Each wire also receives an additional zip tied name tag with its unique number code from the electrical schematic.
Once he has all the wires labelled and securely tightened into their junction blocks and tucked in, the top cover of the slotted wire duct is snapped into place to make for an eXtremely neat, tidy, safe electrical cabinet.
Next step for all these Electrical Panels will be to run the individual wires from the tops of each of these junction blocks and up into their DIN Rail Circuit Breaker so stay tuned for that.
Hilmi then moved down into the Basement to do more of the wiring of the NMEA 2000 or N2K network. This is one of two AL panels in the Basement which provide ideal mounting platforms for all the N2K components such as these Maretron Black Boxes for our extensive monitoring system. 
The White box Hilmi is wiring here is one of two Actisense Quick Power Drops which inject the DC power into both sides of the N2K Backbone which is made up of all the Blue N2K cables.
This second N2K panel is in the diagonally opposite corner of the Basement and Hilmi has now wired up more of this. The box in the upper Right is one of many N2K Multi-Port blocks which provide provide eight in this case receptacles to plug in the Drop Cables to each N2K device.
The two upper Black Boxes here are Maretron DCR100 Direct Current Relays which deliver the 24V power to each of our 12 Bilge Diaphragm Pumps. Each of these Bilge Pumps are turned on by the solid state (no moving parts!) water sensors you may recall seeing installed in previous Weekly Updates. Anytime water comes into contact with one of these sensors it sends a signal to its SIM100 Black Box which then turns on the Bilge Pump circuit in the DCR100 and the Bilge Pump starts pumping.
One of the many benefits of this type of N2K Monitoring system, Maretron in our case, is that we can also use these digital signals to create rules to do things like turn on colored lights on any display such as this one using Maretron’s N2KView, count the number of times and duration a pump runs, sound an alarm, etc.
If you’re interested in knowing more about this Maretron N2K monitoring system James and Jennifer Hamilton who are fellow liveaboard world cruisers have a super informative and well written blog post HERE.
Our resident Geekette Möbius, aka Captain Christine has taken charge of designing the N2K system onboard XPM78-01 Möbius and this is a screen shot of Maretron’s very powerful free N2K Builder program which she uses to design the whole system and which Hilmi is now using to install.
PLUMBING:
Cihan also had a busy four day week getting to jobs such as finishing up this high volume water manifold on the Stbd side of the Workshop. This connects to the high volume diaphragm pump and enables us to switch between its dual Fire Hose and “crash pump” functions.
Last week you saw him building this very clean and robust mount and this week he installed these two 24V geared Fuel Transfer Pumps.
When mounting anything that moves special anti-vibration mounts are used such as these ones Cihan has used to mount the gear pumps.
Up above, on top of the Day Tank, Cihan finished up installing these three return fuel lines. One from the Gardner, one from the Kabola boiler and one from the Transfer Pumps which we use to fill the Day Tank.
Back on the Aft end of the Workshop it was exciting to see Cihan mounting the two Accu-Steer/Kobelt Hydraulic Power Units.
These are 24V HPU400 models which power the two double acting Kobelt steering cylinders.
Anti-Vibration mounts used here as well.
Cihan also starting fabricating the mount for this small Kobelt hydraulic Header Tank which ensures that the whole steering system always has a ready supply of oil. Gauge on the front makes it easy to see the temperature and level of the hydraulic oil.
Up in the corner where the Aft Port/Left side of the hull meets the ceiling of the Workshop, Cihan welded in the mount for this small SS silencer for the Kabola Diesel Boiler.
It isn’t required for our KB45 model as these are so amazingly quiet to begin with but for those rare times when we might be rafted up to another boat or on a dock, we thought it smart to get this Kabola exhaust kit. These Kabola boilers run about 94% efficient so the exhaust runs very cool but we will wrap the whole exhaust system with insulating lagging.
We wanted to have compressed air available in the Workshop, Engine Room, Basement and Forepeak as it is eXtremely useful for everything from pneumatic tools to clearing clogs in Sea Chests, filling up our inflatable kayak and the ever handy compressed air blow gun for cleaning parts and such.
I had this 125L/33Gal Craftsman air compressor in my old land based woodworking shop so it is over 20 years old but I headed out on my single handed sailing adventures soon afterwards so it does not have too many hours on it and we are installing that in my new floating Workshop.
It was a vertical model with the compressor mounted on top of the tank so Cihan and I cut the motor mount and wheels off the tank, moved the drain to the “new” bottom and Cihan quickly welded in a new mount for the compressor up on the Workbench.
SuperSalon:
Up in the SuperSalon, Omur and Selim also made the most out of this four day work week. Let’s go check in with them.
AirCon/Hot Air Ducting
They picked up where they left off last week building these insulated ducting boxes which run under the window sills.
Simple construction of marine plywood boxes insulated with 10mm EPDM inside.
On the Port side Omur was able to build the duct as a single box that could drop in place in the space along the window edges. Flipped upside down here while they were testing out the insulated ducting which brings the pressurized air from 18k BTU Air Handler tucked into the space under the side decks on the far Left. 
The portion wrapped in Black EPDM above is about the full length needed so a nice short run between the Air Handler and the Duct Box. The round ducting tube in the bottom of the Duct Box fits into this cut out leading to the Air Handler below.
On the opposite Stbd side it worked out better to build this one long straight Duct Box with smaller ones in front of it as the windows wrap around the front. 
Insulated duct hose connects each box which you can see if you look closely or click to expand this photo.
Once all these Duct Boxes were in place and interconnected it was time for the finished Rosewood Window Sills to be installed. 
FastMount clips were not going to work as well here so instead they used small dots of silicone adhesive along the joining surfaces which make it possible to remove these Window Sills in the future should access to the Duct Boxes ever been neccessary.
Same method used to mount the Window Sills on the Starboard side.
Helm Chair & Table Pedestal Mounting Bases:
The Main Helm Chair and the pedestal for the Dinette table both need very strong and sturdy mounting surfaces for their round bases and Omur and Selim have laminated squares of marine plywood to mount these to the AL floor plates.
After slathering these wood mounting bases with Sikaflex 292 adhesive they carefully leveled the edge surfaces to be the same height as the surrounding white foundations. 
This ensures that all the final 10mm marine plywood flooring will be perfectly flat and level.
Selim could then quickly create templates for each plywood floor section to ensure each of these rather jigsaw puzzle like shapes were just right fit.
Each space if filled with rigid foam board insulation which the PEX tubing carrying the heated water for the In-Floor heating will be pressed into prior to being topped off with the plywood floor panels.
Window Mullions:
They finished installing these L-shaped ceiling corner boxes which make the transition to the vertical windows.
As are the ceiling panels, the front area over the Main Helm is all matt Black to reduce reflections on nigh passages and the rest is white, hence the two colours you see here.
With the sides done, they started making the last transition boxes for the Aft end of the SuperSalon.
Main Helm Side Storage Triangles:
With the Window Sills now in place the two hinged triangular Rosewood lids could be fitted into their new homes on either side of the Main Helm Station.
Anxiously awaiting the Window Sills to go in, the matching lid for the Starboard side is ready to go.
Sorry for the poor lighting but this will give you a better sense of how the Main Helm is shaping up.
GUEST CABIN:
Ro$ewood Hatch Liners:
Meanwhile down in the Guest Cabin, our other two Cabinetmakers, Omer and Muhammed had another stellar four days of progress. They finished laminating the inside of the Rosewood Hatch Liners and rounding over the top and bottom solid Rosewood edges.
Fresh out of the Finishing Shop they soon returned with their gleaming satin coats of five hand polished polyurethane varnish.
Time to now start fitting them into their respective hatches starting with this one inside the Guest Shower prior to the composite team coming in to fiberglass all the walls, ceiling and floor.
Here is a quick shot of how all these Hatch Liners will look when finished. The solid Rosewood edges will extend below the finished ceiling by about 15mm / 5/8” to create a very warm and rich feeling.
Corridor Staircase Walls:
Picking up where he left off last week, Omer also finished installing the Rosewood Staircase Wall Panels which go on the vertical surfaces on the Right here below the windows.
Having made the panels previously, this mostly involved final fitting and he soon had both panels installed.
Now all ready for the panels to go into the space up above and to your Left as you come through the WT Entry door from the Aft Deck.
Bookcase Air Vent Box:
Picking up where we left off with you last week, Omer also managed to finish off the L-shaped Rosewood piece that fits between the top of the Bookcase in Christine’s Office and the Ceiling.
They are incredibly fast and soon had this fitted onboard Möbius. As you may recall from seeing last week these slots allow air to be extracted out of the Guest Cabin via the vent in the ceiling hidden behind this removable Vent Box.
Her hand only unfortunately, Yesim our Interior Designer eXtraordinaire was on hand to go over the details of radius sizing and attachment points. The plywood ceiling panels are now all snapped into their FastMounts and will soon have all their edges smoothed over before they head over to the Upholstery Shop.
Mr. Gee is a Blast!
I did my best to be productive this past week as well and made good progress on getting Mr. Gee, as we affectionately refer to our Gardner 6LXB main engine, back to better than factory new condition so here’s a look at what I worked on.
This is Mr. Gee’s Fuel Lift Pump for which, like all other assemblies, I had the full factory rebuild kit for with every gasket, O-ring, valves, balls, springs, diaphragm, etc. 
This exploded diagram will give you an idea of both how this Lift Pump works and …….
……. this drawing shows the internal parts which were included in the rebuild kit other than the main cast body parts and cam levers on the far Right.
Several of you have asked about the extensive original documentation I have for rebuilding the Gardner so here is an example of the 2 page rebuild instructions for the Amal Lift Pump. 
Not sure how readable these are here but click to enlarge to find out.
I decided it would be best to paint this after I had fully rebuilt and reassembled it so it doesn’t look as good as new quite yet but functionally and internally is is back to factory new condition.
Switching from clean to dirty but sticking with pumps, next up on my list was rebuilding this gear driven oil pump. This is one of two oil pumps as this one is dedicated to pumping the engine oil through the engine oil cooler you will see me working on below.
Partly disassembled here I have slathered the pump’s exterior with paint remover gel which is eXtremely concentrated and strong (ask me how I know?). Within a few minutes after brushing this on it looks like this and a wire brush makes quick work of taking the body down to bare cast iron.
Along with several other assemblies, this cast iron Oil Filter housing got the same paint remover treatment and was soon back to its original “naked” form.
This is the illustration of the internal parts of this Lubrication Oil Filter assembly found in the Original Gardner Complete Maintenance-Overhaul-Installation manual for the 6LXB. You can imagine how invaluable these are to me and along with being able to procure all the factory original parts from Gardner Marine, it makes the job or returning Mr. Gee to better than new condition relatively straightforward.
One of the many things I love about these old engines are that they are so eXtremely simple in construction. Part of that comes from having so many of the parts and systems be external rather than cast in place. In this illustration for example you can the external pipework for the lubricating oil system.
You might also like to note the chain arrangement on the front which is how the hand crank starter works!
Here is one piece of the lube oil pipework. 
The cast bronze fitting at the top of this pipework is a distribution block with fittings for things like the mechanical oil pressure gauges and oil temperature gauges.
And THIS by the way, is what a real temperature gauge looks like! Mr. Gee will have several of these as the same temp gauges are used for oil and water. We will augment these original temp gauges with electronic temp sensors which will put all this engine information onto our N2K Maretron monitoring system but they don’t quite have the sex appeal of these brass beauties!
The ultimate weapon of mass dirt destruction though is this bad boy! Naval Yachts acquired a whole truckload of used machinery when a local machine ship went out of business and this cabinet sand blaster was one of them. It took several days to rebuild, which I was glad to invest and with thanks to Cihan for helping supply some of the compressed air fittings it needed, I was able to get it up and running and spent several days this past week blasting many of Mr. Gee’s parts back to their original “newborn” glory.
If you are not familiar with cabinet style sand blasters you load the parts to be sandblasted into the cabinet through the large side door and then seal it shut. Blue box on the top houses florescent lights so you can see the parts as you blast them through that blue framed window on the front. Donning thick leather gauntlets I push my hands through the two elastic gaiters to hold the parts and move the gun.
This is one load of parts loaded into the cabinet. The actual sand blasting gun is in the center with the clear hose supplying the 140 PSI of air pressure which I control with a foot valve on the floor which you can see in the photo above. The venturi effect of that air rushing out the ceramic nozzle creates a vacuum which pulls the sand up through the black hose from the reservoir below the perforated plate which produces an eXtremely abrasive blast of air/sand mix.
Using different grits of “sand” allows you to control the degree of abrasiveness and for the finer finish I wanted and least metal removal I used a very fine 300-400 grit silica sand.
How well does it work you ask??
Well, here is what that Oil Filter Housing you saw with the paint remover gel on it above looks like as it comes out of the sandblaster. This is the ultimate surface cleanliness and texture for paint to stick to.
And here is a box full of other parts I’m about to carry back up to my workshop for painting and polishing.
These are some of the cast bronze parts of the engine oil cooler.
Here is a “before” picture of one half of the bronze oil cooler housing on the bottom and the dimpled brass oil tube on the top.
Several hours of having a blast with them, those same parts emerge looking like this.
For those curious to know more about the Gardner’s Engine Oil Cooler, here is an exploded drawing of all its parts. When assembled, the round dimpled brass pipe on the Right fits inside the rectangular bronze tube on the left. An engine driven sea water pump pulls sea water from the Sea Chest and pushes through the space between the outside of the dimpled brass pipe and the inside of the square tube.
The Oil Pump you saw me cleaning up above takes oil from the oil sump/pan and pushes it through the inside of the dimpled pipe so the cool sea water flowing along the outside can extract the heat from the oil and help Mr. Gee keep his cool.
Here is an example from another Gardner of how this Oil Cooler mounts along the side of the Crankcase.
Classic Gardner: Smart, Simple, Effective, Efficient.
Whew! And that’s the summary of another shortened work week but no less progress. Makes for slightly shorter blog posts though. Lucky You!
I do hope that each of you are staying fit, happy and healthy as we all work our way through this amazing time. I hope too that in addition to looking after your physical health you are looking after your mental health by finding ways to stay positive and optimistic. As we say in the midst of big storms at sea “This too shall pass” and I do sincerely believe that the only difference between adversity and adventure is attitude. Perhaps these blog posts can contribute in some small ways to entertain and inform you and give you a chuckle from time to time.
Long or otherwise, do enjoy your weekend and I’ll be back with the next weekly progress update after what will hopefully have been a full five day work week!
– Wayne
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