This week there was a huge fire in Cowes, but fortunately the thick acrid smoke blew across the river and out in to the Solent and missing me on the hard at the Yacht Haven.
My skipper has been down on lots of occasions and been working away through his list, which they start to develop whilst we all go away during the August cruise. New hangers for dressing gowns in the master cabin, additional shelving to make storage more convenient or just better use of space. The prop which had been taken off and cleaned up is back on with the two new anodes. The sail drive it attaches to, has suffered from electrolysis, but skip has rubbed it back filled the pot marks, given it several coats of resin to isolate it and then painted it with an anti-foul paint. However he has been talking to the manufacturer of the prop Flexofold about the damage and found out that Yanmar the manufacturer of the engine & running gear, struck a deal with Hanse and in doing so under spec'd the blade for the 75hp engine. So I think he's in a dilemma as to whether to fit the prop that is most suited to the horse power. If he does it'll mean more umph for my revs, so more mileage for diesel burnt, meaning shorter passage times whilst under engine and yes more umph when needed. So I wait and see his decision.
He's also been busy cleaning my hull bless him. Last year he went to Antigua for a race, so didn't get it all done. It's a painful and long process first removing all the grime from my gel coat before waxing & polishing off. He's managed one full quarter and fortunately the fire hasn't covered me in soot either. He's had the shower in the master cabin heads apart, there was a slight leak noted on the cruise, but that's all back together again and the stainless steel fittings in there are all polished to the gunnels as are the taps in the galley. All the stations and guard rails have been removed and polished up too, so I'm going to be shiny when its all fitted back on.
There's the push & pull pits to clean to match the rest of the deck stainless steel and he's spotted that the navigation light, starboard side, that was knocked off by a wave outside of Guernsey, is not working properly, due to the salt water having covered the fitting at the time.
There's a couple of jobs that I know of that have been carried over from previous years, the fitting of the McMurdo AIS system that currently puts me in the attic of their house for example. Also getting the best out of the Webasto oil fired heater, by fitting the insulated sock around the ducting, the installation of the fan he's had for 18 months and the larger ducting to the master cabin to get the heat where the heat doesn't currently go ! The in line fan with a resister switch to give a variable speed, should prevent the unit itself from turning off as it struggles to get the hot air away and the sensor then cuts in thinking there's a problem.
My main & jib is with the cleaners and the lazy jack bag that the main lives in has gone to a local business to make a new one as the UV rays has taken its toll.
If he manages to get these jobs sorted before I go back in to the water I'll, as well as I 'm sure he will be, chuffed to bits and look forward to a shake down sail. I know that he's intending to get me over to Weymouth at Easter and to Cherbourg for the first May bank holiday. I'm looking forward to getting my new Code 0 out and flying.
Wednesday 27 January 2016
Monday 4 January 2016
Christmas Break
So with the mild weather over the Christmas break my skipper has been beavering away with the list of tasks I set him together with some of his own. Although I feel there are more 'would likes' than 'must haves' that I've set from our August trip.
With me up on the hard the scaffold tower has been erected at my side and already he's been at the hull cleaner and polish. Although a spell of rain interrupted proceeds but if he's happy with the coverage, he's already managed to clean one quarter of my hull ! This aside he's removed the Flexofold three blade folding prop and taken that home to clean up, which meant removing the two anodes which were partly intact, unusual, but he did add a manual, fling over the side one which has an earth wire from the engine block all the way to the base of the wind generator. So this may have had something to do with the halting the electrolysis process of the blades. However the sail drive itself has quite bad pitting and he's come up with a unique solution here too. If the aluminium sail drive is coated with a resin then the surface is not exposed and thus electrolysis cannot take place. So he's filled the pit holes and then coated it with the left over resin from the copper coat, once this has been rubbed back smooth he's then going to paint it with an anti-foul. Oddly he spotted, from a photo, that the guys that applied the copper coat had also covered the sail drive which may have induced the pitting in the first place. Either way the sail drive will be protected and smooth when he's finished.
Both main and jib have been removed and are at North Sails for a check over and laundering, although my skipper has made enquiries as to the cost of a third reef ! Not sure if this is a reflection of global warming and the effects on weather patterns or he has a longer voyage in mind.
The lazy Jack bag is also off and in a different local sail loft to have a new one manufactured.
Both heaters and dehumidifier are all on keeping my insides warm and more importantly dry, although with the moderate temperatures I'm not exactly cold. He's removed the Webasto diesel fired heater and replaced the burner a job he was going to do about 2 years ago. The exhaust too is corroded in two places and a new one has been ordered, as has a thermal sock to go over the ducting to keep the heat higher as it passes through my bilge. Also ordered is larger ducting to get to the master cabin and I assume he'll also fit the new fan and variable speed switch to assist the Webasto's own to get the heat forward, something that it cannot do.
My heads have been cleaned out and the black water tanks filled with a bleach mix and emptied. Do you remember the leaking mast, well that seems to have been a thing of the past for a while now, so he's made new plates to seal the opening in the ceiling, that will be covered in the same material as the ceiling itself. There are even two retractable coat hooks for dressing gowns to hang when needed.
I'm not sure what's next on his list, but am aware that the McMurdo AIS needs to be fitted, so that everyone can see where I am and more importantly my skipper can get contact information of other vessels he may encounter whilst we're out at sea. So here's to the first month on the hard, with plenty of things underway, sent away or simply WIP (work in progress).
I wait his next visit in anticipation that another item on his apparent extensive list will get ticked off and I will carefully hold the benefits of this work well in to next season.
With me up on the hard the scaffold tower has been erected at my side and already he's been at the hull cleaner and polish. Although a spell of rain interrupted proceeds but if he's happy with the coverage, he's already managed to clean one quarter of my hull ! This aside he's removed the Flexofold three blade folding prop and taken that home to clean up, which meant removing the two anodes which were partly intact, unusual, but he did add a manual, fling over the side one which has an earth wire from the engine block all the way to the base of the wind generator. So this may have had something to do with the halting the electrolysis process of the blades. However the sail drive itself has quite bad pitting and he's come up with a unique solution here too. If the aluminium sail drive is coated with a resin then the surface is not exposed and thus electrolysis cannot take place. So he's filled the pit holes and then coated it with the left over resin from the copper coat, once this has been rubbed back smooth he's then going to paint it with an anti-foul. Oddly he spotted, from a photo, that the guys that applied the copper coat had also covered the sail drive which may have induced the pitting in the first place. Either way the sail drive will be protected and smooth when he's finished.
Both main and jib have been removed and are at North Sails for a check over and laundering, although my skipper has made enquiries as to the cost of a third reef ! Not sure if this is a reflection of global warming and the effects on weather patterns or he has a longer voyage in mind.
The lazy Jack bag is also off and in a different local sail loft to have a new one manufactured.
Both heaters and dehumidifier are all on keeping my insides warm and more importantly dry, although with the moderate temperatures I'm not exactly cold. He's removed the Webasto diesel fired heater and replaced the burner a job he was going to do about 2 years ago. The exhaust too is corroded in two places and a new one has been ordered, as has a thermal sock to go over the ducting to keep the heat higher as it passes through my bilge. Also ordered is larger ducting to get to the master cabin and I assume he'll also fit the new fan and variable speed switch to assist the Webasto's own to get the heat forward, something that it cannot do.
My heads have been cleaned out and the black water tanks filled with a bleach mix and emptied. Do you remember the leaking mast, well that seems to have been a thing of the past for a while now, so he's made new plates to seal the opening in the ceiling, that will be covered in the same material as the ceiling itself. There are even two retractable coat hooks for dressing gowns to hang when needed.
I'm not sure what's next on his list, but am aware that the McMurdo AIS needs to be fitted, so that everyone can see where I am and more importantly my skipper can get contact information of other vessels he may encounter whilst we're out at sea. So here's to the first month on the hard, with plenty of things underway, sent away or simply WIP (work in progress).
I wait his next visit in anticipation that another item on his apparent extensive list will get ticked off and I will carefully hold the benefits of this work well in to next season.
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