Author Archives: lewisblevins

I did not retain any photographs of the two triton displays affixed to a wooden board attached to the fore wall of the cockpit as it was when we took delivery of S/V Ruby. It was not to our liking and under representative of our needs in this age when paper charts are vanishingly rare.Continue reading “Cockpit Navigation Displays….and more.”

I’ve been working on improving the lighting conditions inside S/V Ruby. There were two of these on the fore bulkheads of the main salon. They were broken, dysfunctional, and outdated. I’ve replaced them with a lovely alternative. This…. I pulled every dome light off the ceiling. Malcolm Morgan helped me understand the wiring that hadContinue reading “Lights and Power”

Out with the old…and in with the new. Delighted to have had Nautor Swan to replicate the original mast base blocks. Thankful for the great folks at GC Rigging and Composites for their patience with me and helping to make the replacement work. More on the rigging successes in a future post. https://www.gcmarine.net

The iron wind is in place and fully functional. It took a full four months to complete the work. The old Perkins was shot. The bilge was filled with an inch and a half of solidified grease. That took a while to clean. They had to work out angles and clearances with the new engineContinue reading “Repower Complete”

Repaired a few osmotic blisters expected on a hull of this age. Faired a few keel joints. New engine cooling water intake seacock placed. Barrier coats applied. Antifoul paint in place. Polished hull. New naming decals placed. The engine replacement is nearing completion. Engine replacement by Helmut’s Marine in San Rafael. Hull work by Carlos’Continue reading “Out of Water Service”

I didn’t think the floorboards in the sailboat looked all that bad. Not for a vintage vessel from 1977. They were acceptable. Or so I thought. I made the mistake of using acetone to remove the glue from the back of one of the floorboards that covers the area above the propeller shaft. My goalContinue reading “Refinishing Floorboards”

It took a long while. But…..custom-made mast base blocks for Ruby have arrived. Having these saves a tremendous amount of work and significant modifications in order to use something with standard or uniform commercial applications. Keeping it as original as is possible in a world that has changed a lot since 1977. Hats off toContinue reading “Mast Base Blocks”

Ruby, our Swan 431, is temporarily decommissioned. The engine is now out with replacement expected to take place over the next few weeks. We decided to replace the engine as I’ve had one engine failure underway. All turned out well. It did test my wits, though, and I recognized it’s important to do everything possibleContinue reading “Engine Out”

The vessel seems naked without the standing and running rigging! Earlier today, I enjoyed the opportunity to closely observe the process of disconnecting all the stays, halyards, sheets, boom and vang. I watched in awe as the rig was lifted from the boat by a crane operator employing a small crane. Much of the standingContinue reading “Rig service”

As most of you know the bilge of a sailboat is the space in the lowest parts of the sailing vessel. For many, the bilge is considered the space under the floorboards. The bilge is mostly empty but it may contain a number of things including wires from here or there to somewhere, various throughContinue reading “Bilge Pumps”