Continuing winter work

Saturday 27th December

It is rather more comfortable working at home, but annoying when you realise that you need something that is on the boat 200 miles away, this time the sail makers kit I need to make a cover for the newly varnished tiller and to remake the throw bag that, like the emergency ladders, has suffered from UV and is starting to fall to pieces; planned obsolescence I suspect, straight forward canvas would last longer, the current one is the second I have bought and about 4 years old. Still there should be plenty of time to make those after my next visit to Milford which will be as soon as we get a warm spell.

I am fitting a remote card reader for the plotter to save removing the cover to get at the cards - I could not get the current Garmin Navionics chart to transfer from the iPad in one go but it was quick and straight forward to write it to the SD card using Garmin Express. The reader will be going in the hole visible but was too long and and interfered with the back of the plotter so I had to put deeper side pieces on the cover and revarnish. The section with no side pieces is where the radio goes giving me access to the aerial socket if necessary and exposing the radio heat sinks to keep it cool.

Some repainting of engine bits in process, about 3 days more
 for the air filter cover and one or two for the water pump.

Sunday

Getting there.

Tuesday

All done, now waiting for sensible weather to get to the boat.

Trying to get the boat back in the water.

Sancerre was scheduled to launch last Friday, the 5th, but strong winds and heavy rain prevented that. Probably not a bad thing as the very wet weather meant the anti-fouling was behind schedule. The launch was rescheduled for the following Tuesday the 9th.

I put a coat of anti-foul on the skeg, rudder and leading edges shortly after
coming ashore as these get more wear and needs 3 coats. The first full coat of blue was
done on 3rd December after weeks of rain, there was a real risk of not getting the 2nd full
coat on before the scheduled relaunch but that has was put back from Friday 5th until
Tuesday 9th because of yet more bad weather on the way.

Windjammer Marine got the last of the blue done in a short window on Friday and did the boot line today (Monday).
 

Pics by Windjammer Marine

I was due to go down Monday to fit the new anodes, get the newly marked anchor chain back on board and do a few other chores to get ready for launch, then on Sunday came the weather forecast for Tuesday; 30 knots of wind gusting to more than 50 knots and 60 knots possible.

There was no point in going down for that so I cancelled the hotel booking and today we have rescheduled the launch for Monday the 22nd December, hopefully there will be sufficient water as the spring tide is low at 6.6m which is marginal. 

Tuesday

A good decision, 30 knots of wind gusting 49 reported at 09:00
and forecast to be similar or more throughout the morning,
it peaked with gusts of 53 knots (61 mph).

Sunday 14th.

With all of the flooding in the area and amber warnings for rain this coming week, there will be lots of freshwater coming down the pill which will keep water levels in the dock above normal levels which helps albeit with brackish waters that will increase the draft a little. It is a long way out, but the ECMWF is showing a brisk north easterly for Monday week and I could get wet, not ideal but manageable. Fingers crossed!

No "proper" boat work to do at home so back to models.

Thursday 18th.

Hopefully I'll get the boat in on Monday, the wind is now forecast to be c 10 knots on Sunday and Monday, the ecmwf and UK gobal models show that increasing to 20 knots gusting 30 on Tuesday afternoon, hopefully that will not come in earlier, or the UK domestic model is correct showing no increase through Wednesday.

Sunday 21st.

Anodes changes and shaft primed for antifoul where left bare by slightly
shorter Aluminium Anodes. Also a coat of silicone on the propeller.
Various other jobs done and ready for launch!

Monday 22nd.

For some reason I had been scheduled for the second launch but that was quickly changed by the boss man who was doing the launches as the large motor boat also to be launched, drew significantly less than Sancerre. The boat was put into the slings in the twilight, antifoul quickly put on the areas previously covered by props and we were in the water by about 09:00.

The rush to get me in was not because of  lack of water but too much due to all of the rain, they wanted me in early so they could start letting water out through the lock to avoid flooding further up what used to be the pill before it was built over.  A "Pill" is the name, mainly used in S Wales and Cornwall, for a creek or shallow tributary to an estuary, usually largely drying at low water.

It was a tad windy up the chuff getting onto the berth but manageable single handed and I got a line round the end cleat on the end of the finger first try despite the fender which gets in the way. It was a little fortunate as half an hour after it was blowing well over 20 knots, at that I would have gone onto a spare berth heading into wind and waited, the marina staff probably not being available to help as they were doing the next launch.

I had got a lot done by lunch time and I had rather over done it the previous day and was rather achy so decided not to stay the night for some fairly arduous work on Tuesday and after a good trip back was home before five.

 

Refurbishing a Seagull outboard - Part 2.

After part 1. 

As  described in Part 1 I did a lot of restoration work on my 1976 vintage Seagull 40+ last winter, unfortunately the fuel tap leak that I had thought cured hadn't been, when I came to fill it up to take it on this years cruise the fuel that I had left in it had disappeared and replacement fuel gushed out. The cork had shrunk again and there was no time to replace it so the Mariner came with me, but was not used as I was able to row ashore on the odd occasion I used the dinghy.

I have now embarked on a second phase of restoration including:

• Fuel tap cork replaced, tap polished and lacquered.
• Exhaust polished, more cleaning and paint to touch up.
• The bronze mounting bracket had started to go green, even in the garage, so cleaned and will be lacquered as soon as the humidity drops.
• The tiller is being replaced: Mine had been broken at some point and been replaced with a piece of copper water pipe which had been poorly painted and had some dings in it. At only £5 from  Saving old Seagulls a replacement was a better bet than filling or removing dents and repainting.

The bronze mounting bracket cleaned and lacquered. The main body has trunnions that fit in the cups on the inside of the top edge and is secured to it with a stainless rod going through them. The piece bottom right supports the drive shaft housing and provides adjustment for the rake of the transom. A few original nuts were replaced with new phosphor bronze that are still available in BSF sizes (and in Whitworth which is useful for locking nuts on Blake's seacocks, I had a couple missing).

The repaired tiller arm stripped of paint.

The "new" tiller, goodness knows where this had been stored.

Cleaned up with a NOS throttle lever. The tiller is rather shiny now
but should get a dull patina as it ages which will help to hide the
remaining marks. 

Almost done, I just need to fit some split pins, polish up
the exhaust and, when the laquear has hardened, refit the
mounting bracket and I'm finished.  Probably.

The tiller should end up the same colour as the crank case which
is not painted.

Friday 21 November - Finished!

Laying up - Canvas Work - Part 2

Saturday 4th

One bag finished for the emergency ladders, I made them a little thicker and considerably longer to help with packing and to reduce the pressure on the longer strip of velcro closure but they are a tad shallower so hopefully will  not be bashed about quite as much by the waves. A lot of work, about a day, to save c £85 (allowing for materials), the next one should not take quite as long now I am getting more adept at the stitching and I have a design. Friday 10th: The second one (top) actually took about the same time but is rather neater.

Outside.

Hull side.

Inside

Monday 6th

Two patches made ready for the spray hood and three patches completed on Blue Performance halyard bags, I don't recommend these - various small bits (one shown top right, the shock cord was originally covered)  fell to bits after a couple of years due to not being UV resistant, the two I have left are not in direct sunlight. but still suffered. The bag on the mast was more exposed and had more susceptible bits (I notice that F4 have stopped selling those) and was thrown away after just two seasons. They also fade quickly, not good on bags costing £60 and above.

Tuesday 28th

Now I have started the amount of canvas work is growing:

• Cover for the SeaFeather Servo Blade. Removing the blade requires the dinghy, not a problem when on a mooring but a pain when bows in on a pontoon.
• A double halyard bag for the mast (in process), the two off the peg bags on the mast are OK but not ideal so they are going to be reused around the cockpit, replacing one that is beyond cleaning and repair.
• Cover for the tiller that hopefully will reduce the number of times it needs re-varnishing.

I suspect there will be one or two more projects that will occur to me.

Sunday 2nd November

The double Halyard bag for the mast is finally finished, an awful lot of work hand stitching!

The flash makes them look light, it is actually the same material
as the servo blade cover above and a reasonable match with
the stack pack.

They are a lot deeper than the ones being replaced which were
a little bit small for the spinnaker halyard when the sail was set.
Hopefully the large covers with Velcro fastening fastening will
keep most of the rain out.

Laying Up - Ashore

With awful weather predicted for Monday I went to the boat on Sunday afternoon to do some work before the haul out on Wednesday, that worked out well as I got some useful odds and ends done on Sunday, then on Monday I installed a new water tank - the water was starting to smell, even with purification tabs, sterilisation back in March and a filter. 

I had also decided that the boat was trimmed too far down in the stern due to:

• Moving the water tank with 40 - 50 Kilos of water aft when I replaced the fuel tank.
• The larger steel fuel tank replacing a bladder plus a couple of cans of spare, put 100 Litres of fuel totalling c 120 Kg, with tank, a long way aft.
• Carrying the dingy on the roof rather than forward.
• Stowing my two long and heavy ropes (80m of 14mm & 100 or 12mm) in the quarter berth.

So using the original deck fitting the bladder tank is in the forepeak with the on-demand electric pump under a saloon berth which frees up a little room in the under sink locker. The ropes are also now in the forepeak leaving more room for the heavy weather and storm jibs in the quarter berth and giving better access to all. They can easily be moved back if necessary.

Tuesday saw a lot of odd jobs done and Sancerre was hauled out at 09:00 on Wednesday with essentially no wind it was very straightforward, unlike last year when I had >20 knots of wind blowing me into the hoist requiring the engine to be running astern for at least the last hundred yards which makes steering tricky with the prop walk.

 

On Tuesday it was me queuing behind the previous

boat to be lifted.

Spot Sancerre (click to expand, answer below).
Link to live cam (with adverts)

I was very pleased with the state of the hull, the change of location and anti-foul has made a big difference, she looks dirty but it was mainly slime with no weed or Barnacles on the main part of the hull. There was a good crop of Barnacles and small limpets in a couple of places where there was little or no anti-foul such as on the shaft where a anode had come off, the underneath of the keel and rudder and on the rope cutter. The prop was also good and was cleaned of growth from the last few months with a gentle wipe with a cloth and the "Pellerclean" has been on since July 2023. 

The clean spots are where the sling slipped
forward before being stopped by the safety lines.
This is a common issue with boats like the A9m,
Contessa 32, etc. with a sloping profile from
the forefoot to keel. It can be an expensive mistake
to omit the safety rope! Make sure the operators
knows it is required.

This may look dirty but it is nothing compared to previous years.
The bag over the propeller is to protect the "Pellerclean" anti-
foul coating from errant sprays from the power washer.

Mullet have been grazing on the rudder. The port side is dirtier
than the starboard side due to the right handed propeller and
being moored starboard side too keeping the sun off that side.

It cleaned up very well (pics if I remember next time down) and the question now is 2 or 3 coats of anti-foul? At £109.95 per 2.5 litres (RRP £157.68) one does not want to be profligate with it! Nor do I want to built up a thick coat of anti-foul which at some point might then need striping. Decision: I’m going for two coats generally but three on the skeg, rudder and three or four on leading edges.

The next visit will hopefully include re-marking the anchor chain and removing the last link that is a bit rusty due to contact with the stainless anchor swivel, prep work for anti-foul, cleaning the top sides, refitting the anchor locker cover removed for painting, refitting the removable parts of the Blakes sea cocks after cleaning, some anti-fouling and more. Work is never ending on a boat!

 

Sancerre is on the 2nd row in, by the road. Second left from
the wide footpath across the yard. 

Laying Up - Rope and Canvas work.

Wednesday 1st October.

A new topping lift for the spinnaker pole. It took a while for a
suitable reel end to turn up and it is not my prefer colour but at a
40% discount I'll live with it, 17 metres x 8mm of my favoured
 premium braid on braid - Lyros Hercules £20.40.

I reused the shackle and it took c 45 minutes work to put a nice
mousing loop on one end (there is no core in the loop so it will
go through the mast sheeves) and the snap shackle on the other. It
would have been quicker but I forgot the snap shackle, realised
before it was too late, and had to back track.

I don't understand why more people don't do their own splicing.

Age is beginning to show on some of the canvas work with a few damaged areas due to chafe, also the bags containing the man overboard ladders are falling to pieces due to UV exposure although the ladders are fine and I could do with replacing a couple of halyard bags. Time to try my hand at canvas work!

8 years old, and until last winter on the boat most of the year - with
the boat on the mooring in a fast flowing estuary this was essential
as transferring between dinghy and boat is a prime cause of going
overboard. I had thought to put a large canvas patch over the
damage but having looked at the construction and the extent
 of the damage I decided that it would be best to make new bags.

The ladder cleaned up reasonably well although I'll give it one
 last clean before fitting the new bag now that some stronger
 cleaner has arrived.

But before starting a fairly complicated job for a novice, some patch work for one of the dodgers and to cover two small slits in the stack pack.

The two aft lines have both chafed the canvas, the forward lines,
two a side, have a better lead and are undamaged. View from the
inside; a full length batten does through the white pocket and the
webbing loop to which the lazy jack is attached on the other side.

I lashed out £25 on what appears to be a brilliant tool, a
"Speedy Stitcher", advertised as a manual sewing machine
 which is not a big exaggeration, it was slow going on my
test piece but produces a good looking locked stich.

It turns out I could have saved some of the dosh, the needles
fit this very old equivalent that I inherited. And the bobbin
in the new version is a waste of time because you can't get
rid of twists in the thread. But the old one is a bit small.

Patches ready to go, folds glued with PVA and left overnight.

OK, not pro standard but not too bad for a first attempt with
hand stitching, and they will certainly do the job.

Click here for part 2.