B&G 496/213 Masthead Repair

 My 15 year old B&G 213 masthead wind meter failed some time ago.  The directional indicator at the top is fine, but the cup speed indicator seems to have bad bearings.

Bearings required (2ea) are:

030804161

F1/8 x 5/16 x 9/64

FR2-5-ZZ

Inch Flanged Bearings

I'm pulling it apart and will replace the bearings.  First obstacle is a stripped 1.5mm set screw.

I'll try a few options before drilling it out, it will need replacing.

If I have to, I'll buy the entire bearing housing, which is $150NZD and is part # 213-10-038

These things are more than $1000 if you can find one, so worth trying.

Update 11/5/21:  I just ended up buying a new bearing for $169NZD.  I reassembled it and I'm just waiting for the rigger to re-install along with a new VHF antenna.

Update 2/6/21:  The rigger has installed the rebuilt wind unit, along with a new VHF antenna and in fact 2 new lenses and bulbs for my tri-color and steaming lights.  He also replaced my burgee line from the mast top.

New ship's clock!

Wireless has a matching Weems & Plath clock and barometer set.  Recently the clock failed, due to what I suspect to be a faulty plastic movement.

Trouble is...the bloody things sell for nearly $400NZD.  No replacement parts are available, even if I could find a way to work on it, as everything was glued together.  Even the battery was an oddball (try finding an N battery).

So I looked around an found a local alternative here in New Zealand.

Cruising Electronics

This is a business run by sailors for sailors and I'm happy to support them.

This is an outfit based in Cable Bay Northland that market various clocks, barometers etc.  I purchased the small version of the clock/tide clock combo.  Looking at it online I saw that it was obviously set in a brass case, with a traditional opening to ease battery replacement (the W&P required pulling it off the bulkhead).

I bought this clock for $155 NZD.  It arrived today and I was amazed.  It's heavy, as the case is thick polished brass.  The beveled glass face is also very thick, as are the hinges and "dog".  

Opening the case allows the entire clock to swing outward for easy battery changes.

I've now bought the matching barometer.

Deck Paint

 It's been a long time since I've updated the blog, due to a combination of available time, but also because the first few years of ownership were a flurry of renovations and improvements.  I had reached a point where Wireless didn't 'need' a lot.  I had addressed all of the 'must-haves' and life didn't allow for many 'want-to-haves'.

Well, the time has come to admit that the deck surfaces can no longer be rejuvenated with polish.  The gelcoat is dull and chalky, and more importantly, it has many spider cracks from becoming brittle under the New Zealand sun.  My 2014 deck project was focused on the teak work, re-bedding fittings, and a good surface polish. 

Spiders cracks evident around grab rails.

In preparation, I have gone over the deck identifying and fixing imperfections and the spider cracking.  To give the crack repairs a fighting chance, I enlarged them with a ball tip cutter on my Dremel tool.

This now gave me the ability to get some Epifill to stick.  This product is easy to mix and also sands easily.  Because it is epoxy-based, it sticks tenaciously and is water proof and durable.

I'm afraid I don't have before photos of the spider cracks, but you can imagine they radiated out from stress points like deck fittings, and particularly in the cockpit sole.  I'll take a battery of photos moving forward.

So the next step, now that I have sanded the Epifill, is to look for areas that may need a 2nd application.  After that I'll follow this process:

1. Select area to paint (I'm going to break it down into sectors to make it manageable)
2. Thoroughly wash this area with degreaser and sugar soap
3. Wipe surface down with grease and wax remover
4. Sand the area with 120grit sandpaper until uniformly dull (to give the primer a surface to bite into), wash or vacuum o remove dust.
5. Mask off the area *I am NOT removing deck hardware...this is controversial, but I will do this in time and it is unnecessary given the bedding compound tends to ooze out beyond the footprint of the hardware anyhow.
6. Final wipe down with grease and wax remover
7. Apply 2 coats of primer, sand with 220g between and after
8. Wash or vacuum to remove dust.
9. Wipe surface down with grease and wax remover
10. Apply 2-3 coats of top coat.
11. Mask and apply single coat of Kiwi Grip to non skid areas.  Mask radiused areas with 3M stretchy tape.
12. Apply new vinyl "Nonsuch" decals to the cabin sides (the pattern was developed by an enterprising owner some years ago)

Crack filled and sanded