Despite the toing and froing, the issue with the batteries charging under engine still isn't resolved. A new 100 amp hour alternator has turned up with an intelligent regulator, but despite being sold as plug & play, it isn't quite that simple and my skipper will have to read & re-read the manual to ensure it's wired correctly.
Still that hasn't stopped my departure from Cowes Friday (1st August), and for the first time for a while I was heading back to Totland Bay for an overnight stop moving at 7.0 - 8.0 knots been awhile but good to be back in the groove eventually reaching 9.0 - 9.5 knots whilst passing Hurst Castle as the tide really pushed. A south easterly to south westerly wind was forecast and so I tucked in tight but still leaving a metre of water under my keel at low tide, a quiet night was had, no disturbance from the GPS anchor alarm.
So an early start to get the last hour of ebbing tide out of the Needles and in to the forecast southerly 3 - 4's. Yeah right, the early start was ok, but the wind was south westerly 5 - 6 and so the reef put in to my main was a shrewd move. However it did mean that I struggled to point to windward and soon I was over by the Shingles Bank, so much so that despite the charts indicating 4 - 6 m of water, I was tacked back out to sea with the depth gauge showing an astonishing 0.6m under the keel !
The 3 - 4's never came to fruition, instead my crew had to endure 5 -6's and basically from the direction we wanted to go, it wasn't Swanage or Studland Bay as I'd expected, but to push on to Weymouth. The drizzle ensured that my crew were well covered, despite the fact is wasn't cold, but the wind went fickle and died as I approached St Albans Head, the reef I had was shaken out and the wind filled in again. By now my skipper was trying to pinch every bit of west he could and with the tide easing managed to round St Albans without the need for a tack back out to sea. It did mean however that I was being taken straight through the races, confused seas just off shore.
There where smaller boats staying well inshore but no we went through the middle, rudder hard over to maintain a straight course at times, but you couldn't tell that from my wake. The Coastal watch guys at the top of the cliff must have had something to say, yet the VHF was full of two guys in the water within the Portland harbour sailing area, reasonably protected when compared to this. With full sail I was over sheeted as we headed to Weymouth, but by pinching to windward, I spilled the wind from my sail and kept an honest 6.0 knots.
On arrival, my fan belt didn't complain and we motored in and moored up as usual near the Harbour Masters office. Where my skipper noticed that the piece of wood or bird he saw plummet in to the sea just after the Needles was infact the Windex at the top of the mast, probably one of the reasons it had stopped working, it was not connected properly ! So something else for him to fix !
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Fit for purpose
Since the Round the Island Race, my skipper has been back and forth, trying to resolve the issue of the screaming fan belt. He's also been working on a number of other things too and has re-erected the wind generator and wired it back in. So my batteries are at last getting some power despite the distinct lack of wind currently.
The new stainless steel screws obviously arrived as the back board that was removed to get at the faulty Auto Pilot in the stern locker is back on. The heads of the old ones being chewed completely.
One of the Spinlock deck tidy's is putting up a struggle to be removed and cleaned up. This is so the pulley wheels can be cleaned up and remove the friction that currently exists. There's just the one bolt left refusing to budge, having drilled out one already. Am sure this will soon be done.
Yesterday (15th July), I was moved down river to Shepard's marina, where my skipper worked until the marine electrical Engineer arrived. Between the two of them they traced the issue with my charging down to the regulator within the alternator. Being on shore power, meant that the Sterling Ultra Pro battery charger and condition worked hard all day, through its three cycles, putting life back in to them. With the alternator removed a smaller one was fitted enabling me to be returned to my mooring late evening. At least with the wind generator working my systems will at least continue to be trickle charged.
With the month of August fast approaching, I'm sure his visits will be more frequent and will start to re-stock my cupboards ready for my month at sea.
The new stainless steel screws obviously arrived as the back board that was removed to get at the faulty Auto Pilot in the stern locker is back on. The heads of the old ones being chewed completely.
One of the Spinlock deck tidy's is putting up a struggle to be removed and cleaned up. This is so the pulley wheels can be cleaned up and remove the friction that currently exists. There's just the one bolt left refusing to budge, having drilled out one already. Am sure this will soon be done.
Yesterday (15th July), I was moved down river to Shepard's marina, where my skipper worked until the marine electrical Engineer arrived. Between the two of them they traced the issue with my charging down to the regulator within the alternator. Being on shore power, meant that the Sterling Ultra Pro battery charger and condition worked hard all day, through its three cycles, putting life back in to them. With the alternator removed a smaller one was fitted enabling me to be returned to my mooring late evening. At least with the wind generator working my systems will at least continue to be trickle charged.
With the month of August fast approaching, I'm sure his visits will be more frequent and will start to re-stock my cupboards ready for my month at sea.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Allowed to race or was that a ploy !
So last weekend and the usual signs that something's going on appear. more food is stowed in my galley. There's more concentration to finish off the odd jobs that have been hanging around. My fan belt gets tightened once more, but still I don;t think thats the route cause of my troubles down below.
The support system for the wind generator is starting to take shape again, but then instead of carrying on with that, I get dresses with the 'Sail 4 Cancer' flags again and other paraphernalia and a sticker that my skipper has adorned all the way down my bow at the same rake as the bow line, but when I look at others they're all horizontal, typical of my skipper being different.
So I was half asleep when I heard the noise of the outboard from the tender as sure enough more provisions were brought on board. Followed by more and more crew. I knew something was afoot, as the River had been filling up all week with others with the black poster stuck to their hulls too.
Finally at 0630, with a full 10 on board, my lines were slipped and out I went in to the melee that was the Solent. I have not seen anything so crowded, where did all these yacht come from ?
At 0700 my engine was shut down, not just because the fan belt was once more screaming but apparently that's what you have to do before crossing the start line. With full sails and jostling for space, it soon became apparent that any change of direction would kill any speed my crew had managed to gain from what little wind there was. At least the tide was taking me the right way.
What usually take no more that two hours took around five and so we passed Hurst Castle and Totland Bay, but for once it wasn't a stop over. Yachts weaving back and forth now in their own race to beat the tidal gate and pick up the flood tide to St Catherine's. Those that failed to make it would be retiring and heading home, where ever that may be. We made it with my skipper pushing my further west to ensure a good run back and missing the sunken wreck.
I was then tacked out to sea in search of more wind and what an inspired move that was. Although with the tide still against me the wind picked up a little and later, with the sun beating down the sea breezes kicked in. Those that tucked in against Freshwater Bay cliffs to keep out of the stronger tide picking up the eddy, entered a wind shadow. I was pointing at St Catherine's and was traveling at 6-7.0kn over the ground and clearly passing many stuck along the shore line. The Solent does funny things with the weather and whilst I had been beating all the way to the Needles, I found myself in south easterly breeze, so off of the starboard bow.
This was good news, as it meant nobody could gain an advantage with their huge Spinnakers, Gennakers and Code 0's. The sun shone and everyone relaxed further, with drinks being served and rolls handed round, it was time to look at all the other boats without worrying about all the other boats.
At around 1530, the sea breeze was gone as had the prevailing wind and so the momentum I had with my 13 tonnes ebbed away, but not before carrying me through the tidal race and whirl pools of the headland. With little or no flow over the rudder, I like other boats started to pirouette, handy if I needed to do a 360 degree penalty turn. I sat there moving slowly on the flood tide and waited 45 minutes before the skipper gained the consensus of opinion from his crew and the iron sail went on. My race was over and the screaming from my alternator continued where it had left off.
Once past Bembridge, with the wind rising once more, my sails were raised again enabling the engine to be shut down and my skipper to remove the front panel and get to the fan belt. It took minutes to re-adjust, with everything having been undone so many times previously. Within seconds of the engine being fired up, it was screaming again.
With the engine still running my skipper used a tyre lever, a tool from his previous days of rally cars and engines, and acted as a belt tensioner. The noise should've gone, but it didn't. In the knowledge that the water pump was functioning properly and that the crank pulley was too without fault, it looked likely that the alternator was the source of the problem but didn't explain the screaming.
We arrived back at my berth around 2000 hrs and peopled were ferried back, whilst my skipper started to close me down.
Sunday afternoon, skipper arrived back and removed the alternator completely, but could see that the bearing was still in tact and not complaining, He wiped the engine down spotless once more and took the offending item away with him for further investigation.
The support system for the wind generator is starting to take shape again, but then instead of carrying on with that, I get dresses with the 'Sail 4 Cancer' flags again and other paraphernalia and a sticker that my skipper has adorned all the way down my bow at the same rake as the bow line, but when I look at others they're all horizontal, typical of my skipper being different.
So I was half asleep when I heard the noise of the outboard from the tender as sure enough more provisions were brought on board. Followed by more and more crew. I knew something was afoot, as the River had been filling up all week with others with the black poster stuck to their hulls too.
Finally at 0630, with a full 10 on board, my lines were slipped and out I went in to the melee that was the Solent. I have not seen anything so crowded, where did all these yacht come from ?
At 0700 my engine was shut down, not just because the fan belt was once more screaming but apparently that's what you have to do before crossing the start line. With full sails and jostling for space, it soon became apparent that any change of direction would kill any speed my crew had managed to gain from what little wind there was. At least the tide was taking me the right way.
What usually take no more that two hours took around five and so we passed Hurst Castle and Totland Bay, but for once it wasn't a stop over. Yachts weaving back and forth now in their own race to beat the tidal gate and pick up the flood tide to St Catherine's. Those that failed to make it would be retiring and heading home, where ever that may be. We made it with my skipper pushing my further west to ensure a good run back and missing the sunken wreck.
I was then tacked out to sea in search of more wind and what an inspired move that was. Although with the tide still against me the wind picked up a little and later, with the sun beating down the sea breezes kicked in. Those that tucked in against Freshwater Bay cliffs to keep out of the stronger tide picking up the eddy, entered a wind shadow. I was pointing at St Catherine's and was traveling at 6-7.0kn over the ground and clearly passing many stuck along the shore line. The Solent does funny things with the weather and whilst I had been beating all the way to the Needles, I found myself in south easterly breeze, so off of the starboard bow.
This was good news, as it meant nobody could gain an advantage with their huge Spinnakers, Gennakers and Code 0's. The sun shone and everyone relaxed further, with drinks being served and rolls handed round, it was time to look at all the other boats without worrying about all the other boats.
At around 1530, the sea breeze was gone as had the prevailing wind and so the momentum I had with my 13 tonnes ebbed away, but not before carrying me through the tidal race and whirl pools of the headland. With little or no flow over the rudder, I like other boats started to pirouette, handy if I needed to do a 360 degree penalty turn. I sat there moving slowly on the flood tide and waited 45 minutes before the skipper gained the consensus of opinion from his crew and the iron sail went on. My race was over and the screaming from my alternator continued where it had left off.
Once past Bembridge, with the wind rising once more, my sails were raised again enabling the engine to be shut down and my skipper to remove the front panel and get to the fan belt. It took minutes to re-adjust, with everything having been undone so many times previously. Within seconds of the engine being fired up, it was screaming again.
With the engine still running my skipper used a tyre lever, a tool from his previous days of rally cars and engines, and acted as a belt tensioner. The noise should've gone, but it didn't. In the knowledge that the water pump was functioning properly and that the crank pulley was too without fault, it looked likely that the alternator was the source of the problem but didn't explain the screaming.
We arrived back at my berth around 2000 hrs and peopled were ferried back, whilst my skipper started to close me down.
Sunday afternoon, skipper arrived back and removed the alternator completely, but could see that the bearing was still in tact and not complaining, He wiped the engine down spotless once more and took the offending item away with him for further investigation.
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
It's Back
It's been months, but finally my main sail was returned to me last Saturday. A gang of four arrived, to lift, hoist, clip and re-attach the reefing lines.
It was a sunny day with the light wind coming from the north, the direction I was pointing, so no need to turn me round or loosen the main sheet. First, my skipper arrived in the dinghy with the sail bag dwarfing it and he soon man-handled it on to the pontoon and returned to pick up the others. With a strategy in place, I had one person on the electric main winch and two others on the pontoon lifting my huge sail over the safety rail. My skipper was standing on the boom and with one hand holding him to the mast; one bringing the sail to the cars; one feeding the grommets into the cars and the other releasing the car pins, withdrawing and replacing once the toggle lined up. With so many hands he'll be useful at buffets.
Slowly the main reached the top as each toggle was attached to the cars and raised for the next and my big white sail gleamed in the mid morning sunshine, the new sail numbers all present and correct and at the leech of each battern was a new tell tale, who's job it is to show how the air is flowing over the sail.
With both reefing lines re-tied and tested, it was lowered back into the repaired lazy Jack bag. Unfortunately my skipper spotted that both reefing lines, plus the clew were over the zip rather than under. With that in mind they all disappeared down river to Cowes for lunch.
The skipper returned a short while afterwards on his own and sorted the overlooked zip and re-tied the lines.
My bilge pump impeller was removed and found to have one of its fins broken, explaining immediately why it didn't want to suck any water from the hull. My skipper took it with him when he left.
Late on Sunday I was boarded once more and this time we set off on the ebbing tide and headed west once more. With a fickle wind unsure of where it wanted to come from the new main was kept in its bag and the jib was raised to pick up what wind there was. Just before sunset we anchored back in Totland and set the alarm.
With 21m of chain out and the alarm set to 20m the electronics waited till 0200 to warn of possible dragging. As it happen to coincide with high tide (0230), my skipper got up, let out more chain and reset the alarm for 30m before turning in to hopefully a more peaceful night. This is never normally the case under anchor as all the creak and groans that are inherent with anchoring, within the solitude of the vast emptiness. The wind had found itself again and started to howl through the rigging.
The previously forecast 3-4's had changed to 4-5's ocaissional 6 later so the thoughts of catching the last of the ebb around the Needles and heading back east and to the south of the island changed and the early start became more leisurely as it was felt now wasn't the time to discover there was an issue with the sail that had not been hoisted in anger. With one reef left in and picking up the flood tide I was lead home and back to my pontoon.
With the last of the flood tide making its way down the Medina, I was turned to head into it, as usual to help slow me down. However the strength of the wind and more importantly the effect it has on my high sides meant that I was taken past and turned round to approach from the other direction. With the anchor from the Kedge Poly Agatha ready to do more damage should the approach be wrong and the catamaran in front of me to slam into should I fail to slow down in time and over run. However with the timed use of reverse I hit the spot and was lashed to the pontoon amidships and the other warps could be sorted out at leisure.
Once lunch was complete, the bilge pump was reaquainted with its one way valve and tested, following the discovery of endless bubbles, the impeller was turned 180 degrees and I could have emptied the river beneath. The filter of the fresh water pump was also removed cleaned out and replaced after the sounds of the pump re-pressurising the system where heard far more regularly than usual. With the sail zipped up and all systems bar the auto bilge shut down, the crew left.
I notice that the electric motor from my auto pilot was on board and the fitting kit for the wind generator likewise, there's always something to do.
It was a sunny day with the light wind coming from the north, the direction I was pointing, so no need to turn me round or loosen the main sheet. First, my skipper arrived in the dinghy with the sail bag dwarfing it and he soon man-handled it on to the pontoon and returned to pick up the others. With a strategy in place, I had one person on the electric main winch and two others on the pontoon lifting my huge sail over the safety rail. My skipper was standing on the boom and with one hand holding him to the mast; one bringing the sail to the cars; one feeding the grommets into the cars and the other releasing the car pins, withdrawing and replacing once the toggle lined up. With so many hands he'll be useful at buffets.
Slowly the main reached the top as each toggle was attached to the cars and raised for the next and my big white sail gleamed in the mid morning sunshine, the new sail numbers all present and correct and at the leech of each battern was a new tell tale, who's job it is to show how the air is flowing over the sail.
With both reefing lines re-tied and tested, it was lowered back into the repaired lazy Jack bag. Unfortunately my skipper spotted that both reefing lines, plus the clew were over the zip rather than under. With that in mind they all disappeared down river to Cowes for lunch.
The skipper returned a short while afterwards on his own and sorted the overlooked zip and re-tied the lines.
My bilge pump impeller was removed and found to have one of its fins broken, explaining immediately why it didn't want to suck any water from the hull. My skipper took it with him when he left.
Late on Sunday I was boarded once more and this time we set off on the ebbing tide and headed west once more. With a fickle wind unsure of where it wanted to come from the new main was kept in its bag and the jib was raised to pick up what wind there was. Just before sunset we anchored back in Totland and set the alarm.
With 21m of chain out and the alarm set to 20m the electronics waited till 0200 to warn of possible dragging. As it happen to coincide with high tide (0230), my skipper got up, let out more chain and reset the alarm for 30m before turning in to hopefully a more peaceful night. This is never normally the case under anchor as all the creak and groans that are inherent with anchoring, within the solitude of the vast emptiness. The wind had found itself again and started to howl through the rigging.
The previously forecast 3-4's had changed to 4-5's ocaissional 6 later so the thoughts of catching the last of the ebb around the Needles and heading back east and to the south of the island changed and the early start became more leisurely as it was felt now wasn't the time to discover there was an issue with the sail that had not been hoisted in anger. With one reef left in and picking up the flood tide I was lead home and back to my pontoon.
With the last of the flood tide making its way down the Medina, I was turned to head into it, as usual to help slow me down. However the strength of the wind and more importantly the effect it has on my high sides meant that I was taken past and turned round to approach from the other direction. With the anchor from the Kedge Poly Agatha ready to do more damage should the approach be wrong and the catamaran in front of me to slam into should I fail to slow down in time and over run. However with the timed use of reverse I hit the spot and was lashed to the pontoon amidships and the other warps could be sorted out at leisure.
Once lunch was complete, the bilge pump was reaquainted with its one way valve and tested, following the discovery of endless bubbles, the impeller was turned 180 degrees and I could have emptied the river beneath. The filter of the fresh water pump was also removed cleaned out and replaced after the sounds of the pump re-pressurising the system where heard far more regularly than usual. With the sail zipped up and all systems bar the auto bilge shut down, the crew left.
I notice that the electric motor from my auto pilot was on board and the fitting kit for the wind generator likewise, there's always something to do.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Easter
So I spent several weeks in Shepard's marina hooked up to shore power. The heaters and dehumidifier trying to combat the inevitable damp that is inherent within us yachts.
The intensity of my skippers visits increased aver the preceding weeks before Easter, with all the little jobs being completed, or not in the want to get me back out on the water. The repair works to my port rear quarter is almost complete, all the metal work including the wire stays back in place, with a view to looking at re-fitting the windex generator, although missing parts put a hold on that.
My main, that was sent off to be serviced, cleaned and have my world wide individual sail number applied, has still not been returned. But I'm sure my skipper is well aware of my limitations without it.
Previsions loaded and even some of the bed linen removed to be tumbled dry before fitting, meant that I was expected to head somewhere for my first real trip of the season. The plan to head across the channel to Cherbourg amongst the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) on Good Friday followed by a short trip to Alderney, before returning to Weymouth and home, was a wish too far as the sail loft still failed to understand that for the first major holiday since Christmas, it may be the wishes of others to have their sails back.
However with guests arriving and more food being delivered, an alternative plan was hatched.
So a mid morning arrival, on Friday, my lines were eventually slipped and I headed back up the Medina to the Solent once more. This wasn't quite as straight forward as my skipper, clearly rusty after the winter break took two attempts to get me out of my berth, his plan was sound but his execution didn't follow the plan until he realised and put his actions in sync with his brain.
As expected my skipper had the tides down to a tea and I motored with the tide until we reached a favourite spot at Totland Bay, where my anchor complete with brand new swivel was deployed. Around lunchtime the following day in glorious sunshine, I again was pushed in to the tide and headed east to Swanage. Due to the underlying north easterly wind I was placed near the cliffs on the north side of the bay, away from the town, but a constant swell made living on board uncomfortable and so I was moved to pick up a buoy nearer town.
It became apparent after several aborted runs, that visitors buoys had yet to be deployed and with two hours of daylight left, my skipper made the decision to run to the shelter that is Poole harbour. The ebbing tide created overfalls by Old Harry, which I've not been taken through before and Studland Bay the other side looked idyllic, but having , for the first time put my nose around, my skipper decided that with winds still expected from the north east, it wasn't the place to be. By now though the ebbing tide out of Poole meant a slow passage in.
Sunday and the weather came in making for a miserable day, their guest was picked up and taken home, a second night at a different berth ensued. Early doors Monday, saw me out of Town Quay to pick up the ebbing tide, which made a huge difference in time in getting out. My skipper happy that enough water existed over the bank took me across and we headed back to the Needles again timed such that the tide was soon at my stern and pushed me. The north channel at Hurst Castle is somewhere my skipper has only been through in the dark, so the opportunity was taken to visually see how close to the shingle bank the channel was.
I achieved a staggering 9.2 knots, without sail, in little wind such was the timing my skipper had put me here. It was just a few hours that I was swung round and taken back to my berth between the oversized catamaran and the gaff rigged Poly Agatha. This time the actions were in sync with the skippers brain and we came in nice and gently.
I understand that I have been entered in to this years Round The Island Race, but am sure my skipper has other trips up his sleeve before then.
The intensity of my skippers visits increased aver the preceding weeks before Easter, with all the little jobs being completed, or not in the want to get me back out on the water. The repair works to my port rear quarter is almost complete, all the metal work including the wire stays back in place, with a view to looking at re-fitting the windex generator, although missing parts put a hold on that.
My main, that was sent off to be serviced, cleaned and have my world wide individual sail number applied, has still not been returned. But I'm sure my skipper is well aware of my limitations without it.
Previsions loaded and even some of the bed linen removed to be tumbled dry before fitting, meant that I was expected to head somewhere for my first real trip of the season. The plan to head across the channel to Cherbourg amongst the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) on Good Friday followed by a short trip to Alderney, before returning to Weymouth and home, was a wish too far as the sail loft still failed to understand that for the first major holiday since Christmas, it may be the wishes of others to have their sails back.
However with guests arriving and more food being delivered, an alternative plan was hatched.
So a mid morning arrival, on Friday, my lines were eventually slipped and I headed back up the Medina to the Solent once more. This wasn't quite as straight forward as my skipper, clearly rusty after the winter break took two attempts to get me out of my berth, his plan was sound but his execution didn't follow the plan until he realised and put his actions in sync with his brain.
As expected my skipper had the tides down to a tea and I motored with the tide until we reached a favourite spot at Totland Bay, where my anchor complete with brand new swivel was deployed. Around lunchtime the following day in glorious sunshine, I again was pushed in to the tide and headed east to Swanage. Due to the underlying north easterly wind I was placed near the cliffs on the north side of the bay, away from the town, but a constant swell made living on board uncomfortable and so I was moved to pick up a buoy nearer town.
It became apparent after several aborted runs, that visitors buoys had yet to be deployed and with two hours of daylight left, my skipper made the decision to run to the shelter that is Poole harbour. The ebbing tide created overfalls by Old Harry, which I've not been taken through before and Studland Bay the other side looked idyllic, but having , for the first time put my nose around, my skipper decided that with winds still expected from the north east, it wasn't the place to be. By now though the ebbing tide out of Poole meant a slow passage in.
Sunday and the weather came in making for a miserable day, their guest was picked up and taken home, a second night at a different berth ensued. Early doors Monday, saw me out of Town Quay to pick up the ebbing tide, which made a huge difference in time in getting out. My skipper happy that enough water existed over the bank took me across and we headed back to the Needles again timed such that the tide was soon at my stern and pushed me. The north channel at Hurst Castle is somewhere my skipper has only been through in the dark, so the opportunity was taken to visually see how close to the shingle bank the channel was.
I achieved a staggering 9.2 knots, without sail, in little wind such was the timing my skipper had put me here. It was just a few hours that I was swung round and taken back to my berth between the oversized catamaran and the gaff rigged Poly Agatha. This time the actions were in sync with the skippers brain and we came in nice and gently.
I understand that I have been entered in to this years Round The Island Race, but am sure my skipper has other trips up his sleeve before then.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Holiday - or so it seems
This weather has been strange. In Scotland it was simple it either rained or snowed hard or blew hard or it was summer. Down south, things are very different.
The period of high winds has abated, for now at least, but I've had more water under my keel in the Medina than I've ever had before, I understood that high tide has topped the quay wall and flooded the High Steet to about 150mm.
As promised I have been moved, the wind eased on Sunday and I was moved to Shepards marina next to the Yacht Haven. With both heaters and dehumidifier plugged in, I can at last start to dry out completely, for now at least. The work with the Mast Gaiter tape that was applied some time ago appears to have stemmed the flow of water but with it being much warmer at the moment condensation is just getting every where and with the gales and driving rain leaving a hatch even slightly ajar isn't an option.
All the new metal work is bolted on to my deck and the guard rails wire has replaced the temporary rope. I've even been measured up for a new piece of Teak to replace the slat that was damaged in the accident. The second half (port side) of the ceiling in the saloon, is in the process of being removed ready for the new LED strip lighting matching that already done on the starboard side.
The small section in the port rear cabin is still off whilst my skipper scratches his head as how to stop water from dripping off of the screw or bolt ends. The floor panel under the navigators table is back up again waiting for the new fan to be put in line along the heating duct and the remainder to be replaced with an insulated upsized duct to the master cabin, where the heat fails to reach.
Of course the wind generator needs to be put back once the frame is attached to my new pushpit, but at least the new shore powered generator my skipper installed last summer is up and humming nicely keeping the new batteries nicely topped up too.
I understand that my main sail will be off soon and sent to the cleaners, like the jib was last year, with my allotted sail numbers added. The boom too will be removed and taken to a work shop to have some precautionary strengthening work where the Vang attaches to a plate under the boom.
So no rest for the wicked and I look forward to returning to my pontoon all ship shape.
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Winter Wonderland
Prior to my skipper and his crew bringing me down to this Island off the south coast, I would have to endure freezing temperatures, snow & ice, storms and high winds.
Whilst I agree that recently high winds have swept the nation, my little berth down the Medina river is pretty well sheltered from most things. Ok southerlies and conversely northerlies can be a problem but even then I'm either facing or stern to them. The biggest issue at present is condensation. I am literally heating up inside when the sun does come out removing moisture from within to the colder portholes and hatches. Unfortunately I then perspire and moisture runs across the roof linings and drips.
The work my skipper did to the mast base, seems to have stemmed the tide but there is a leak from top decks through to the rear cabins, a puzzle I have set my skipper to resolve.
The last few weekends he's been down to check me over, run my systems, fire up my heater, but I haven't been out now for ages. However I am supporting new stainless steel pushpit and side gate and it wont be long before all the wire is replaced and the wind generator is installed and running again.
I have it on good authority that I'm going to be moved to Cowes Yacht Haven for a month, where I can have the dehumidifier and heaters running and dry every sinu out. But as always its more than that, my main sail is to come off and be laundered like my jib was; the boom will come off and have the Vang bracket strengthened, not that its a problem at the moment but my skipper has spotted something that has been added to his wish list. The lazy Jack bag can come off and a new one made. I may even come out of the water altogether and have my anodes checked again.
The tube lighting on my starboard side is being removed, replacing it with the same LED pink lighting strip that adorns my port side, so most of my ceiling panels are currently off. I am sure that once I am returned to my mooring at Whitegates, I'll be in much better shape and will be out in the Solent once more.
Whilst I agree that recently high winds have swept the nation, my little berth down the Medina river is pretty well sheltered from most things. Ok southerlies and conversely northerlies can be a problem but even then I'm either facing or stern to them. The biggest issue at present is condensation. I am literally heating up inside when the sun does come out removing moisture from within to the colder portholes and hatches. Unfortunately I then perspire and moisture runs across the roof linings and drips.
The work my skipper did to the mast base, seems to have stemmed the tide but there is a leak from top decks through to the rear cabins, a puzzle I have set my skipper to resolve.
The last few weekends he's been down to check me over, run my systems, fire up my heater, but I haven't been out now for ages. However I am supporting new stainless steel pushpit and side gate and it wont be long before all the wire is replaced and the wind generator is installed and running again.
I have it on good authority that I'm going to be moved to Cowes Yacht Haven for a month, where I can have the dehumidifier and heaters running and dry every sinu out. But as always its more than that, my main sail is to come off and be laundered like my jib was; the boom will come off and have the Vang bracket strengthened, not that its a problem at the moment but my skipper has spotted something that has been added to his wish list. The lazy Jack bag can come off and a new one made. I may even come out of the water altogether and have my anodes checked again.
The tube lighting on my starboard side is being removed, replacing it with the same LED pink lighting strip that adorns my port side, so most of my ceiling panels are currently off. I am sure that once I am returned to my mooring at Whitegates, I'll be in much better shape and will be out in the Solent once more.
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