Caulking Wooden Deck

Navegantes, SC, Brazil
After the sting-like stuff has been put between the planks, a thick, hot liquid called asphaltum is poured into the space between the planks by the ever-smiling grandfather in the picture. The asphaltum is prepared by melting it in old paint cans over a wood fire.

Bars on the Windows

Navegantes, SC, Brazil
The windows in the pilothouse were old and getting hard to see thru (polycarbonate fogs up after a few years of exposure to sun), so they were replaced with thicker ones, and reinforcing bars were added to the middle of the window to make them stronger.

New Water Injection Elbow

Navegantes, SC, Brazil
To cool the exhaust, seawater is pumped into the exhaust system. It is done at a piece called a seawater injection elbow (since it is usually bent)–the odd-looking stainless steel piece in the picture of the back of the engine. When I got the boat, there was a tiny leak in the seawater injection elbow, which really wasn’t a problem…just put a small amount of water in the boat, but eventually it would rust out enough to put a lot of water and fumes in the boat, so I wanted to replace it at some point. It is hard to import parts into Brazil, and people are used to making more than ordering, so they made this one for me (and also a spare one, because the hot exhaust gases will eventually corrode this one also).

Great boatyard

Navegantes, SC, Brazil
Now that I’ve been in this boatyard over a week, I can tell that I got lucky with the choice of boatyards. The boatyard I am in, Soldex Estaleiro, is great at getting stuff done correctly and on time. Communication is interesting, as I can barely speak Portuguese, but my neighbor kindly helps out with translations of many things. In the picture, a new cleat (built from the stainless steel pole the old wind generator was mounted on) is being added.