Covid 19

Apparently, you guy's have a virus that's going around that has put everyone into a state of lockdown.

With a week to go before I was due to launch, Skipper was working down my port side, you can see the starboard side photo in Maintenance III the previous blog. Not happy with the finish he was getting, believed to be caused by the sun baking the cleaning compound on my Gel coat, he was going to go over it again.

Due to a large Rib being parked between me and my neighbour, Skipper couldn't get the scaffold tower beyond halfway and so this is where he had reached before looking up at me and scratching his head.  So having had the Rib moved out of the way, he started at the stern in the morning when the sun was on my other side and as the sun moved round he reduced his working area, enabling him to remove the cleaner before becoming baked.

He opted to work by hand not using his polishers and managed two 'slots' before being told that the marina was going to close later that day (Tuesday).  Slots are basically just wider than the width of the scaffold tower, so prevent overreaching.  With no hope of cleaning the remaining side in the time available, he opted to concentrate on my twin blue stripes above the waterline.  They, being dark, suffer from more UV damage than say white bits, just look at the older blue-hulled colleagues of mine.  So he spent a bit more time cleaning them and buffing them up, I think next year he's going to do the deeper clean he did on me a few years ago but just to the blue bits, make them shine again.

So currently all cruising idea's, even the usual weekend to Totland Bay are on hold.

Still, he's still got the remaining line tidy in his garage which he may now have time to spray with Gel and Flow coat and get it down to me before I launch.  Everything is on hold for three weeks.

He's also got the plastic surround to the Honda 2.5 outboard to relace after all these years, so he'll not be idle!

My jib being washed on the front lawn

The new J3 in comparison

As the lockdown continues Skipper has been busy by stripping down the Honda 2.5hp air-cooled outboard motor.  The clutch & gearbox has three lugs that sit onto the shaft and this is the mechanical link that enables everything to turn together.  During the dismantling, it was discovered that one of the lugs was cracked, one has snapped off, with the piece large enough that it remained in place and the third broken and missing.

He's taken the shaft to his fabricator to have the cast element 'fixed' before re-assembling.

The whole point of the exercise is to replace the smashed base that occurred many years ago when the outboard belonged on the SB3 Skipper used to own.

         

Engine on                                                            Engine Off                 

Winter Maintenance III

Well, we're coming into the last month of my four-month winter period stay on the hard at the Yacht Haven, Cowes. I'm squeaky clean inside with all surfaces washed, disinfected and steam cleaned. The hob and fridge likewise have been given a thorough going over and disinfected too. All the external stainless steel has been removed, cleaned and returned ready to go back prior to me going back in the water or just. The steering wheels have had the suede soaked in softner like the crew also does to the sheets which kill any algal growth and a simple brush removes the green staining after all, what are baths for?  The teak deck has had a light power-wash also to remove the mildew prior to the deck Gel coat getting a wash and polish. My teak deck tends to stay reasonable mildew free, as trips out with resulting seawater over the deck leaves behind an environment that doesn't suit the freshwater loving algae.

My remaining line tidy back at Dagmar House is under-going necessary preparation for it to be sprayed in Gel coat, so hopefully, that will be back on board in the early part of the new season if not before I leave the marina.  Skip needs to be hoisted up my mast to undertake a few jobs, the feeding of the new halyard for the J3; the replacement of the deck lights and the removal of the radar dome. The plastic C clips holding the deck lights in their cases have gone brittle, snapped and washed away.  More plastic in the sea!  At least the new ones are in stainless steel.

The radar dome is to come down as it no longer talks to the new navigational equipment skip had fitted at the end of the season. No point having excess weight high up, besides the AIS is very trustworthy, although not all boats have one fitted, these are generally small craft, who in the fog may be questioning as to why they're out there! 

That now leaves a month in which the skipper will wash and polish my hull ready for the oncoming season. He's got a colour chart and is thinking about respraying the two blue stripes just above the waterline as a next year's task or even summer of this year as the ambient temperature is required for the compound to go off.

The new top-down furler for the code 0 should be back from the sailmaker soon so lots of things to look forward to in the new season.

That leaves only my mainsail as the original sail left on board, will that be replaced anytime soon?

The new Webasto heater skip fitted is working well, providing lots of warmth throughout my interior.  They popped over to Ireland for a few days with the intention to meet up with his brother and left the Weasto programmer to come on every weekday morning from 0500 till 0800 on eco mode and at 19C.  102 litres of diesel in my tank before he left and 102 when he returned, whilst he set the timer he hadn't set it off!! Skip will be pleased that he'll no longer have to get up to make tea in the cold, timed settings can have the saloon warmer in plenty of time.  It also means that the deck windows that were badly replaced, could also be done.  Warm air outside, toasty air in.  The replacement windows were badly fitted because holes were drilled in them to hold them in place, whilst the Sika-flex set. These holes are the source of cracks, which like car windscreens, extend when in rough conditions and I'm being pushed or slammed about by the elements (or crew)

Most if not all my original pulleys have been replaced. The old large non-bearing 2000kg ones have been swapped for smaller bearing type (70mm) that run a lot smoother.

Even my anchor chain has had the wire brush treatment and checked for weaknesses.  So a successful winter break, well break for me!