The Blue View - Creating Your Own Breaker Panel Labels

When Nine of Cups was built in 1986, the designer provided several spare breakers in the DC distribution panel to make the job of adding new equipment and electrical circuits easier. All these spare breakers on our main breaker panel were used a long time ago as we added gear, and  over the years, we have added even more circuits, resulting in several fuses and breakers located in various locations around the boat. One of the things I wanted to accomplish here in Durban was to add a small sub-breaker panel to the electrical system on Nine of Cups, and re-organize at least a few of the added circuits.

Marcie brought the new breaker panel back with her when she returned from the States. The panel has a small, clear, backlit window adjacent to each breaker, so that each breaker can be labeled and its function clearly marked. It also came with a sheet of “standard” labels that could be peeled off and placed over the windows. Unfortunately, not one of the circuits I was adding to the panel could be accurately described by the labels provided.

Making my own labels wasn't quite as straightforward as it might have been. Since the little windows are backlit, the labels needed to be a reverse image... the background needed to be black and the letters clear. This wasn't really all that hard using text boxes in Open Office Writer, but it did take a little experimentation to get the fonts and box size optimal. I printed each label on clear label stock, then applied a small square of laminating plastic over the ink to protect it from scratching and smearing. Then I stuck each label in place, and the result was quite acceptable.

The Blue View - Top 2000 Uses of WD-40

Our good friend and former cruiser, Jack Cooley, sent us a fun blog on the history of WD-40 and about 43 different uses for it. WD-40 is, of course, one of the fundamental and key components of any yachtie's tool kit, and I thought I'd devote a Blue View in tribute to it. To quote the Duct Tape Guys, “You only need two things in life: Duct Tape and WD-40®. If it moves and shouldn’t, use Duct Tape; if it doesn’t move and should, use WD-40®.”

A little history... In 1953, the newly formed Rocket Chemical Company, with its staff of three, set out to create a line of rust-prevention solvents and degreasers for the aerospace industry. The first product was to be a water displacement product, and it took 40 attempts to get the formulation right... thus it had the internal name WD-40. Their first big customer was Convair, an aerospace contractor, who used the product to protect the outer skin of the Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion.

The name stuck, and a few years later, the company's founder, Norm Larsen, experimented with putting WD-40® into aerosol cans, reasoning that there might be a consumer market for the product in the home. It made its first appearance on store shelves in 1958. The company more than doubled in size, to seven people, who sold an average of 45 cases per day from the trunks of their cars to hardware and sporting goods stores in the San Diego area. In 1969, the company was changed from the Rocket Chemical Company to the WD-40 Company, Inc., which was its only product. Since then, the company has continued to grow, going public in 1973. It is now found in 4 of every 5 households, on every boat I know of, and in 176 of the 196 nations around the globe. We have personally seen it in some of the smallest, most remote hardware stores you can imagine – from remote jungle villages on the Amazon to tiny islands in Vanuatu.

A common myth... The main ingredient is fish oil. The actual formula is a tightly held trade secret, but reviewing the MSDS sheet shows WD-40® contains about 65% aliphatic hydrocarbons and 25% petroleum based oil. It has a slight odor of petroleum when used, and the can even has warnings about petroleum distillates and the perils of ingesting it. One of its many uses is most certainly NOT as a source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Common uses aboard... On Nine of Cups, my can of WD-40 sees a lot of activity. My own top 10 uses are:

Freeing seized bolts. This is always the first round in any attempt to free a seized bolt.

Removing masking tape residue.

Removing shoe marks. The officials in many countries insist on boarding your vessel wearing their black polished boots, not noticing or caring that they are leaving big black marks all over our decks and topsides. WD-40®  works well to remove them.

Lubricating drill bits when drilling stainless.

Preventing rust on tools

Lubricating blocks and pulleys

As a belt dressing on engine/alternator belts

Displacing moisture from electrical connections and wires

Freeing stuck zippers

Lubricating and protecting fishing reels

Other lesser known uses... The WD-40®  website lists more than 2000 uses for it. Here are some of my favorites:

Spraying it on bird feeder posts causes the squirrels to slide right off.

Removes adhesive from the tails of show calves

Use the bottom of the can to draw a perfect circle

Use to shine seashells from the seashore, Susie

Keeps snake and reptile skins pliable during taxidermy

Removes duct tape – in case what previously didn't need to move, now does need to move

Cleans gum from turtle shells and chicken feathers

Cleans raccoon traps

Cleans melted vacuum cleaner belts from carpeting

Creates pretty rainbow formations when applied to empty aquariums

Keeps kitty poo from sticking to electric cat-box rakes

I noted it is also good for removing lipstick stains and for freeing stuck zippers. So I guess it would also be good for removing lipstick stains from stuck zippers??

The Blue View - Rebuilding the Instrument Box

For the most part, we have been quite pleased with the quality of the tradesmen here in Durban. We have found a good sailmaker, canvas and upholstery man, machinist, and welder. Several friends have also had good experiences with engine mechanics and electrical repairmen.  With the South African rand as soft as it is, the prices here have been very reasonable, especially when compared to the cost of the same things in Australia. Thus, beyond all the needed repairs that are getting done, we are taking advantage of the opportunity by replacing a few things that are nearing or at their expiration date - our old, battered staysail, our patched and re-patched dodger and bimini, and the worn and stained upholstery in the saloon, to name a few.

One item that was in definite need of work was the cockpit teak box that holds the engine instruments. This box was built and installed by the previous owner, and wasn't all that great to look at when new. Now, after 15-20 years of abuse from the wind, rain and sea spray, it was looking pretty sad. I had been meaning to rebuild it myself for quite awhile, but it had never made it to the top of the list.

We also have a beautiful piece of teak on which our cockpit nav instruments are mounted. One of the older instruments mounted on it has died, and the hole it fits in is bigger than anything we can find to replace it. I can't think of a way to patch or cover the old hole that will look good, so I will have to replace it as well.

One afternoon, a young guy named Kyle stopped by. When he gave me his card and mentioned his forte was marine carpentry, I thought I'd see about replacing the instrument box and the teak for the nav instruments. His rate was R250/hour - about $25/hour - which is on the high side of what qualified people charge here. He looked at the instrument box and said he thought all the wood could be salvaged. He could dismantle the box, sand the parts down, seal everything in epoxy, and reassemble it all. Then either he or I could refinish it. He thought the whole thing would take maybe 4-5 hours. $125 was getting close to my threshold of pain, but I thought I'd give him a shot. As to the teak for the instruments, Kyle said teak was expensive and hard to come by, but he could probably find a lighter piece of mahogany for R250-R300 ($25-$30) or so. That sounded good, so Kyle headed off with the teak box.

He came back a few days later with an armful of wood. He said he wasn't able to salvage most of the teak box after all, so he bought some marine plywood to replace it. It was only R750 ($75). Ouch! His time estimate was also a little off - he was up to five hours already and was about half done. Another ouch! But the good news was that he was able to find some nice teak, which he was able to buy for only R2800 ($280)!! He showed me a very used piece of teak, complete with several layers of peeling varnish and half a dozen old screw holes. I think, with some effort, it could have been made to work and might have even looked good, and had it been $25, I might have been okay with it. But $280?!

Obviously, Kyle and I had some communication issues. We parted ways at this point. I paid him for his time and materials on the box ($215), and completed it myself. It actually didn't turn out too badly. And Kyle kept his fine piece of teak.