Job #6 (Paint the cabin), Job #9 (Cockpit drains) - progress...

So another good weekends work - not least because "Coral" Paul turned up with one of the biggest Stilson's I've seen in some time, to have a go at the stop cocks...

Last weekend I'd managed to get the hose fittings off, but had fundamentally failed with the  actual stopcocks as I didn't have a wrench or spanner big enough..  the job was finished this weekend.

So from this:

Questions have been asked as to why so many nuts, so this is what I found - bottom to top, skin fitting, stopcock (two of them), and the top two were a compression fitting holding a length of copper pipe for the hose to attach to...

 

To this:

We used mole grips clamped on to a rag around the thread to stop the skin fitting moving, while protecting the thread, and then brute force and ignorance to get the stop cocks off...

Nice clean thread both sides but one of the benefits of a good close up is the detail and I'm a little concerned about those pink spots you can see....

More erudite minds will know but I'm wondering if that's dezincification (brass rust in basic terms) - if it is I may also need to swap out the skin fittings......

...and this was what came off....  other than the handle it was in pretty good nick... the stamp gives me the size though so new hose, hose tails and ball vales were ordered in DZR from ASAP Supplies this morning....

Separately, after these were taken off I then went at the forecabin roof with a wire brush attachment and having then cleaned up the resulting snow storm of paint flakes I painted it - forecabin now done..  main cabin next....

Job #18 - Spreader plate completed..

....and another one done.... 

From this:

To a slightly more respectable this:

All done...  used 4mm, and some 5mm (for strength) Monel rivets, I'd have used all 5mm but they are a right royal pain to do when you only have a hand held pop riveter... I need one of those concertina jobbies (also known as a lazy tongue)...

...either way, this job done unless I decide to come back and replace the 4's with 5's (curse my perfectionism!)

Job #4 - Bow roller.. completed

Another warm/dry Sunday, and some more jobs - this one is all done... 

From this:

 To this:

Getting there..

Job #23 - Halyard diverter - completed

Another one done... 

From this...

...to this...

Much smoother exit with the wire type eye strap...  couple of whacks in a vice with a large hammer to angle the screw holes, and jobs a good'un...  I put a bit of butyl tape under the fitting to stop water ingress to the mast.

Job #6 - Paint the cabin - 30% done

What can I say,  it was a good Sunday...  

I'm using the same paint I used on Papillon (my last boat) for this job as I was pleased with how hard wearing it was, it's a bog standard (Homebase own brand I think) water based bathroom/kitchen paint...  it's formulated to manage in a damp environment, and it has anti-fungal properties as well...  seems purpose made!

Anyway...   having painted the bulkhead the inspection hatch was in I finished the rest of the locker, and then cracked on with the hull and main bulkhead (the one separating the two cabins) in the forward cabin...

Al done with the exception of the roof - which needs some preparation as the old paint is flaking... either way I reckon 30%  of the entire cabin done and I hope to finish off the rest this coming weekend...

From this:

To this:

Job #7 - Fixing the leaks....

I've made a start on eliminating drips..  I suspect this will be a little like painting the Forth Bridge.. never ending... but you have to start somewhere.. 

A couple of months ago, I read a very (very) interesting article on one of the sailing web sites about using butyl tape as a sealing mechanism ...

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebedding_hardware [clicky]

In summary, don't use silicon sealants to set deck fittings as the silicon is a major pain to clean at a later date, and is also really messy..  he recommended using butyl tape (used in the glazing industry) so I went and bought myself some from eBay..  £5 got me 12 metres tape, which I can only describe as being like a sticky, extra thick blue tac...

Having read the article a couple of times I thought I'd start with a deck fitting I know is leaking, a cleat on the cabin top...

One layer of tape across the bottom of the fitting, well wrapped around the bolts - pushed into place - screw driver to hold the bolts while I tightened them from the inside... as you tighten it down the butyl squeezes into every hole... 

I know this was working, as the butyl was coming through above the nut..

Cleaned up and we were done...  fairly confidant the job's a good'un...  and the tape is very easy to use..

No mess, no sticky fingers, no smell..  recommended...

Job #22 - Inspection hatch - completed

Productive Sunday afternoon started to see the jobs starting to be finished.. at last! So this is one down, and 23 (currently) to go...

 

Before (above).. the whole of the forward bunk is a sealed unit - just the two breathers and a drain hole in the bottom of the anchor locker...

 

During (above)...   hole cut and bulkhead painted ready for the hatch...

Hatch fitted, and finished!

 ...and what was inside (following)??  N'owt ...  as expected, but at least I know for sure now ...

Job #23 - Halyard diverter

In order to stop 'halyard wrap' "Sparrow" is fitted with a halyard diverter just short of the top of the mast...

Basically it ensures the jib halyard is angled to the top of the roller furling at nearer 90' than it would be if just went direct to the top of the mast, which means the top bearing will spin, rather than just wrap the halyard round the spar.....

This is it close up...

Nothing smart or clever, just an eye strap screwed to the mast, the halyard comes from the top of the mast, through the eye, and then to the head of the jib..

I want to replace the existing eye strap (which is standard type) with a wire type as I noticed the halyard had been worn where it rubs along the sharp('ish) edge of the bottom of the eye strap... 

The wired type has a smoother profile so I figure less wear...

The size is 5cm from centre eye to centre eye..  the hunt is on...  if not, a nice smooth shackle will do just as well....

Job #4 - Bow roller..

One of the guys on the PBO forum has offered to machine me a new bow roller for a reasonable amount to charity... result...!

That's a sad and sorry looking fitting...  I'm wondering (hoping) that a new bow roller - firmly bolted in - will straighten it up a little ...

Plan for the replacement...  Just less than 3 cm wide, 3.5 cm at the shoulder, 2.5cm in the middle, and drilled for an M6 bolt...