One of my dock neighbors asked if I was going to get fender covers. I replied that I didn't think so, yet another maintenance item. He said that over time he noticed gel coat rubbing off his boat onto the fenders, so he went ahead with the covers. 

Well, that was enough for me! Bought the covers on Amazon. Had a little washing project before putting them on. I'm SO GLAD I had an air compressor in the build! And I really like this small line, but it's leaking so that's another thing to look into. 

Gotta say they do look way better. Now to keep them out of the water, right? And I'll wash them three times a year like the directions say, right?

Regular readers probably recall we have an 80 kg Ultra anchor on Mahalo, shown here. It's a beautiful brute, with a price tag to match. 

And you know Mahalo was just in the Seattle boat show. The "big boats" are tied to the dock "stern to." And they have an anchor deployed to keep the bow in place. While the Hampton guys were performing this operation, somehow they notice that the bolt securing the pin which attaches the swivel to the anchor was missing.  

This is a temporary bolt. The one supplied by Ultra is a flush fitting allen bolt. 

Without them noticing, one of these days I'd deploy my anchor and retrieve just the chain. Which is like a nightmare scenario. 

That was worth the trouble of having Mahalo in the boat show for sure. And BTW, when was the last time you checked bolts/etc on your ground tackle?

Oil changes were due on the transmissions and the 16kw generator. The Hampton Service Manage offered to help me do them. This is my first time ever doing oil changes on a boat. Luckily Hampton includes the Reverso oil change system. Hard to imagine doing it without that. 

With the Reverso, you pump out the old oil, and then pump in the new. It's still a bit gnarly and there's no avoiding some mess. Those red valves are how you control which engine you are dealing with. So we have six - the two generators, the two mains, and the two transmissions.

The main engines each of 12 1/2 gallons. Not sure if I'll do that one myself or not. We shall see. 

I'm back at South Lake Union getting more work done on Mahalo. It's an easy walk up to Whole Foods. Rewarded myself for the big accomplishment with some chorizo, shrimp and scallop tacos. More fun than changing oil.

I haven't been to the boat for a week and a half. Wasn't really that interested in going when the boat was hauled out at the yard. But lots of progress while I was away. 

Going back today for three full days. We are getting close to the boat being turned over to us. 

While I was at Trawlerfest this year, I dropped into the diesel maintenance session a couple of times while our sessions were on break. During one they were showing a multi-meter with an integrated clamp and saying that was the way to go. Dang, those things are expensive! Was mentioning this to one of the Yacht Systems guys and he said "oh, just get a separate one for that." Also, he highly recommended Fluke.

So the Fluke integrated unit is $400+ while this kit was like $267 on Amazon. Score! 

​Should be lots of material for upcoming blog posts over the next couple of days.

You know it is getting serious when you have to start acquiring cleaning products for your new baby. One of the best links in our Resources tab is www.trawlerforum.com. 

Recently there was a thread there about cleaning products. A guy mentioned he had just finished a bottle of very expensive boat wash (from one of the major national chains, let's just say), and wondered what everyone else  is using. 

A couple of people mentioned Chemical Guys (www.chemicalguys.com). It appears they mostly service the professional car detailing world. But they have a marine line too, and all their marine products are eco friendly. On Amazon, their products have hundreds or thousands of very good reviews. They have instructional videos on their site for every product. 

The prices are very good, and as I was doing all this research the last week of April, they had a 25% off sale for the entire month! So I did a large order that should keep me going for quite a long time. That bottle (lower left) with the interesting top is called a "foam cannon." You put soap in the bottle, then hook this thing up to your pressure washer. It's adjustable for flow and pattern. Evidently it lays down a thick layer of foam which does a fantastic job cleaning. These run about $90.00 and the discount meant I basically got it for free. Happy foaming! 

Now I "think" I'll be doing a lot of my own boat washing. I want to take care of Mahalo, and it's good exercise to keep my bod going, and what the heck I'm retired, right? 

But when I watched this guy at the factory I thought, "uhhhh, probably not." This guy can go on for hours like this. Luckily over the past 5 years with physical therapy and getting fit I have ended 30 years of daily back pain. That looks like a ticket back to Painville to me. I'll be hiring that one out.