....and we're in...

...now... where's the summer?

Just finished two solid days where I think I fitted almost 50% of the whole winters maintenance, and a launch, and I am absolutely knackered...

Was due to launch Saturday, but Friday when I was panning to get my urgent jobs finished (never mind the nice to have's) was a washout - all day rain - so I turned up at the club expecting to have to ask for a few weeks more ashore (and I wouldn't be the only one - lots of boats in the club not ready because of weather) but one of the guys said, no worries and I could shift to Sunday launch even though I was supposed to be working..  bless him, so tools unloaded I set to with a will..  first and most important job was the outboard pad..  this took very little work..  offered up the new piece, carefully sanded the lip where the fit was too tight, drilled and bolted and done... (just need to fit penny washer and stainless steel nut on the left (I'd run out of stainless!)

..pleased with that...  it's not stuck/sealed down  I intend taking it off and expoxy'ing it next winter... three coats of wood seal, and a tidy up with some two pack gelcoat filler, and she's as good to go as I had time to do it in...  if you know what I mean..

....while I was putting on the wood coat I happened to notice that the rubbing strakes were looking a little sad in places so I also rubbed those down and painted a couple of coats on those while I had the brush out..

Next job..  fit the dri-plug...  as one of my mates would say, what a balls-ache that tuned out to be! Basically the design is sound (I think), but the cable size I am using is at the top of what the plug can take...

Piccie courtesy Gael Force Marine [clicky]

....so socket is on the left in the picture above, two small terminals with a threaded screw to hold the wire, no room for normal terminals and mine didn't come with those rather handy looking terminals..  fixed it in the end by hooking bare wire around the threaded screw with a mini washer to help hold it firm - through bolted to the cockpit side, and then cable run into the locker, jobs done that end...  all I have to do at the other end is wire it into the switch panel (along with the VHF), and that can wait for a quiet day on the water...

...next job - replacement for the defunct windex...  all previous lessons were learned,  robust construction (check), put together properly (check), and firmly bolted to the mast head (check)

...impressed with this by the way..  not a named brand, but in my mind amazing value for the quality of the build..  good solid fixing, robust metal pole, metal guide arms, and the vane is well made too..  and cheap..  change out of £17 for something that would have cost twice that from Windex... recommended, but let's see if it lasts the summer.. 

....then it started to rain, and it was time to wrap up...

Next morning I was due to launch at 10...  the plan (as there were only five boats to go in) was to plonk us all down on the slipway where we could float off in our own time...  arrived at the club an hour and  half before to allow enough time to give her a good wash - last chance for a fresh water rinse until the end of the summer - strapped the engine on, and it was time for the last item of every winter - the new licence plaque is the closing out ceremony...  firmly attached, we're road legal...

Just in time, as the tractor was arriving as I stuck it on...

...and then gently on the beach...

...half an hour after that was taken she floated off...  I managed to hitch a lift on one of the rescue boats to get on her, as it was too deep for the welly's, and as we know she's nose heavy so jumping on the nose wasn't going to happen...  just enough time to pump some fuel, fire up the engine, leave it in reverse, and five minutes later off we went...

That trip under the bridge is always the mark of the start of a season and always looked forward to..  it was good to be back on the water again...  moored up on the stern so I could reach over easily to attach my pick up to the mooring buoy, sprayed the shackle pin with water proof grease this year to see if it helps at the end of the season, firmly tightened down, put a tie clip round the pin and shackle, and then transferred boat to mooring chain..  with the weather we were expecting, double checked the chain was firm, double checked the mast was tied down, and it was time for the shore boat..  job done...

Just the mast to put up!

More ticks than a (slightly) mangy dog..

...while not being up to my usual work rate at this time of the year (the weather has been a decider), 
with the Easter weekend launch looming a significant number of the tasks were completed this weekend just gone.....

As is usual I started prioritising into "must do", "would likes", and "can waits" ...

Top of the "must do's" (there's one other - more anon) was the anti fouling so on a cold'ish, grey day, I had four enjoyable hours scrubbing around on the rubble beneath Sparrow giving her bottom a seeing too...  if I ever get rich this is the job I'll pay someone else to do - but she looked pretty damn spiffy when I'd finished...

..boats just look the dogs nadgers with a dark blue antifoul..!

...then - having done a club duty of three hours power washing the slipway, it was time to pick some more jobs...

Can't do the other "must do" yet - the outboard pad - as I need to prepare the word for scarfing in - I'll do that at home this evening, but I have a fair few "would likes" so cracked on with those...

First off,  job #8, which was moved forward as a result of finding another puddle of rain water on the quarter berth under the screw holes for the hand rails on the cabin roof..  simple enough job, with a plapatating moment in the middle!

What I decided to do was loosen off all the screws to the rails, and then wrap some butyl tape round the crew between the penny washer and the roof, then screw back in - had done all the port side when I moved forward to do the front one's and the entire cabin shifted to 45 degrees with a loud(ish) bang!
Scared the living bejeezus out of me - forward prop had come loose and dropped , and as I moved forward it was enough to tip Sparrow on her nose...  a Hurley 20 is nose heavy anyway so it didn't take much...  no damage done as it was only a foot, a gentle drop, and she landed on the wooden sleeper, but my oh my..

Five guys hanging on the back got her flat, then a car jack under the nose to lift her on to the back of her keels so I could move the front sleeper forward (she'd slid forward when the nose went down) and all was good...  lesson learnt - I've got a pile of sleepers now rather than a single upright...!

Heart re-set I finished the hand rails, and then moved on to the next job - #3.1 fitting the fixed VHF - all done, just need to wire her in to the power and fit the aerial - if necessary I can do that on the water - the important bit was the drilling - I was going to glue it but the unit is heavy, and the weather is too cold for epoxy, and a couple of small bolts, sealed with butyl is a strong waterproof solution...

Enough's enough.. went home for a reviv'ifier and a warm shower... boats are a worry...

To do..

1/. Outboard pad
2/. Wire in power for the tiller pilot
3/. Tiller pilot fitting
4/. Coat of paint on the hatches
5/. Rub down of a few spots on the rubbing strip and re-coat with wood treatment
6/. Wash and scrub
7/. Fit harbour plaque
8/. Launch.........................................
 

Jobs done ... at last.. outboard pad and boarding ladder

....with a little over week to go there are at last signs of movement.. 

An afternoon off work and trying out new power tools - does it get any better..

First off the outboard  pad...  oscilating multi tool with a half moon saw head saw this one off very quickly..  you may remeber I wanted to check behind the pad for any signs of damage - rather than take the whole pad off though I took the top 3" just to reveal what's going on...

..not a lot to be honest - bit of a relief - this is a 50 year old boat so you're going to expect some movement - transom is stiff, bit of a gap between lip and hull..

Cleaned it up - filled the gap with epoxy putty...  painted the exposed edge just to keep water and damp out (glad I did as it rained last night)..  next job is to scarf in new plywood pad - epoxy or varnish it - then glue and bolt..

Moved on to the next job - boarding ladder...  the ladder is short, just 3 steps and two feet long so I've put it at the bottom of the transom (but still above water line)..

Before..

After...

couple of aluminium plates as backing - stainless bolts and penny's, nyloc nuts, all holes sealed with butyl - this one is done - and yes it can take my (not inconsiderable) weight...

After that I moved to the inside and finished off hanging the curtains - new bungee for the bottom edges, and all now done..

Just before heading for home (and it was freezing - breath was steaming in the cabin!) I measured up for the fixed VHF..  on the roof to the right of the hatchway, and above the switch box is the optimal spot..  that's for next week...   tomorrow, Saturday, is antifoul day.

Cold, cold, cold...

Far to cold for doing work on the boat..  mid-day and only just 4' C, but with the east wind (direct from Siberia) it's absolutely bitter..  we also have a yellow alert snow warning (don't eat the yellow snow) for Tuesday and Wednesday, so no let up..  but despite that the clock continues to tick and we are launching in a little of four and a bit weeks..!

Some stuff has been happening, however...

The outboard is in for a service.. expected back in a week or so...

Tiller pilot (job #3 on the winter list)...

I've fitted the DriPlug 2-Pin Plug I bought last summer to the tiller pilot, the socket will wait for later, as there's no point wiring it up until I can drill holes in the boat and fit it, I'd only have to dismantle it again as part of the fit..

I have wired in an inline fuse however, as my intention is to wire the tiller pilot wiring direct to the battery, albeit I will be wiring the positive to the switch panel side of the isolator switch so that when that's off, there'll also be be no power to the tiller pilot socket/circuit...

...I put some amalgamating tape round those joints when I'm on the boat..

The inline fuse currently has a 15 amp fuse in it, Raymarine recommend 12 amp, and will provide some protection to the circuit. The cable I'm using is 2.5mm² two core tinned (marine grade) thin wall so is rated for up to 27 amps.

https://www.boatoon.com/de/shop/details/expose/raymarine-st2000-plus-pinnenpilot-2192/

The cable run is likely to be no more than 2 mtrs so 2.5mm is over-spec but as Raymarine say in their manual (extract above) when in doubt err on the heavier side, so I went heavier.. 

I've also been giving some thought to where I will mount the pilot... Raymarine guidance is as follows:

Source as above..

....when I measured up (and excuse the old picture - it was just handy to show measurements - and yes, when I measured the tiller was straight.. ) I show the following..

So I have two options...

1. I fit a bracket on the cockpit side that will bring the tiller pilot 3" closer to the tiller
2. I buy (or make) a push rod extension so I can mount the pilot on the coaming

...currently going with 2/. as my cockpit lids are hinged and a bracket is going to interfere with it fully opening. Anyone got any views as to whether 3" is enough to need a rod extension?

More anon...

Boarding ladder (job #7)..

That'll be fitted before I go back in the water... I have two aluminium plates on order that I'll be using as a kind of super sized washer to spread the loads..  these are 30cm x 10cm and 4mm thick..  plan at the moment is to

1. Drill holes in the plates to match the fitting (following)





2. offer up the ladder to the back of the boat and mark the attachment points - needs to be low enough that the bottom rung is under or near the surface of the water (though I will put an extension on the bottom rung in the form of a metal pipe on a piece of line attached to the bottom rung)
3. drill holes (the point of no return)
4. grind off the inside of the transom around the holes to an area equivalent to the aluminium plates..  wipe down with acetone...
5. put a nice thick'ish smear of thickened epoxy on the back of the plates, bolt the whole lot through, and partially tighten up, which should squish the epoxy out nicely and form a bed as I tighten the bolts..  
6. ..once the epoxy has gone off tighten some more..

... the intention is that it will only ever be used when the boat is in the water, so that water will also provide some pressure dampening..  I think that'll be good enough... 

Elsewhere, let joy be unconfined a new power tool has entered the household - I have my first ever angle grinder..  

...and why would I need such a beast..  well I have a plan to address the issue with the ==>

Outboard pad (job #10)

...the lip of the outboard inset has some cracks in it, the top of the pad is coming away from the transom (in yellow), but as you can see I have bolts, and a drain pipe going through it so unless I really have to I didn't want to take it off completely..  I plan to cut along the red line (wood cutter disc in the grinder) and remove the top couple of inches..  check what then needs doing, repair, and then replace with a strip of new marine ply to the same size, which I'll through bolt... sounds easy...