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Steering pedestal, part 1 of 2 (Patreon)
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Good morning guys!
Waking up here in sunny LA, the cold frozen wasteland that is the yard back in Denmark seems so far away. Ava and I are having a ton of fun. She has the next week off, so we're going to get in a lot of quality time over Christmas :)
With the pedestal removed from the cockpit, I thought it made a lot of sense to go ahead and give it an overhaul. Turned out to be way easier than I thought. I honestly think the steering pedestal might be the best bit of engineering aboard Athena ;) I'm glad I decided to open up the pedestal. There was only really one bearing that needs to be replaced, but that is a lot easier to do with the pedestal completely disassembled.
I was hoping that I would have the pedestal back from the paint shop before leaving for LA. Sadly that didn't happen, but I do have a photo of the freshly sandblasted pedestal that I'll share later today :)
In other news, it looks like Santa is coming early this year. I ordered the gear I need to get started on learning how to weld. The first bit of that kit should get delivered today. Welding is a skill I've always wanted to learn. It's most certainly a skill that's going to come in useful as a long distance cruiser! Why learn that skill now? Considering the cost of a new aluminum toe rail, I think it makes a lot of sense for me to spend a few weeks learning how to weld and then build my own toe rail out of stainless. For me to get the size of toe rail, I want the aluminum version is $4500+. That's a lot of money! I can build a stainless version for way less, and it's going to be stronger and last a lot longer too. To me that makes it a win-win-win (pick up a new skill, get a more durable toe rail and save some money). The only thing I'm sacrificing is a bit of time. Seeing as it's too cold for me to work with epoxy aboard Athena for the next four months time is not a big concern right now. The most pressing items on my to-do list this winter is the new rudder and the new toe rail. I'd like to have both done before launching Athena later in 2019 (fingers crossed!!!)
Last but not least Merry Christmas guys! I hope all of you stay cozy and warm :)
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