Let the season begin*..

...so we're in... launched..  splashed..   but not without a few interesting wrinkles on the way in..  😀

I was due to go in on the 15th..  it was a half 11 HT..  and as I am usually dumped on the mud at the bottom of the slipway to float off as the tide comes in, I had rocked up to the club about 7'ish to allow for enough time only to find no one there at all!

Kettle on, tea, watch the world go round for half an hour, and the first signs of (lift in) life began to appear..  half an hour later and I'm beginning to think that I may not be in for a dry launch after all, as the water is beginning to show..  first boat goes to the end of the slip, and as the tractor comes back one of the front wheels comes to a halt as the rest of the tractor continues forward..  universal joint (that's one, top left) fractured, not good..

The club is nothing if not rammed with blokes of inestimable mechanical knowledge however, and before you could say anything, the wheel was off, the hub stripped, the remains of the UJ removed with an angle grinder, and the hub rebuilt, and wheel replaced.. the UJ allows 4WD and it wasn't essential for what we needed..

Boat in front of me shifted out of the way, and it was then my turn ..

The water was well up by now, so I had my first ever 'wet' launch (put into the sea on the hoist, and then motor out) which went very OK..  couple of launching party guys on board to handle ropes and slings (which was most useful) and I was soon motoring under the bridge to pick up my mooring strop, which I had taken the opportunity of putting back on the day before so I was ready.. job done...

The day before I had also wired the depth sounder into the electrics, and taken the opportunity to tidy up wiring from the VHF - the moment of truth had arrived..  switched it on and ==>

Boo yah! Result..!  😃

1.4 mtrs under the keel at about HT..  I have set an offset for the keel of 0.9 Mtrs so the water at my mooring is about 2.3 mtrs deep (surface to bottom) - chuffed to nuts with that...

...and this is what it's all about - glorious day in warm sunshine, sat safely on the mooring - quick was down and tidy up and the rescue boat came and took me back to shore..  a very good day all round..

* The next day (today as I write) I took the boom, A frame, and genoa down to the boat - the Jolly Boys are due to convene on Thursday afternoon, weather permitting, to put the mast back up - strictly speaking, the season can really start then..

Boats look the dogs nadgers with...

..nice new dark blue antifoul! 😀

Loads of work getting done as the clock ticks down inexorably towards the launch this coming Friday - bunch of poor weather last week scuppered any plans for a crafty day off work to get some stuff done, so a mostly clear, and sunny weekend was a God-send - lots of activity down the yard not surprisingly..

First off the antifoul though - like to give it a week or so to harden off so that it doesn't coat the strops of the lift, and then any other boats coming along afterwards, so that was the first order of business this weekend..  not a job I particularly enjoy but a few changes to the routine this year I thought made it a whole lot quicker..  

First off the obligatory "befores"..  mud tide line on the keels and skeg...

Masked up...

...and then the "after's"..

...smart!!

Quite possibly one of the most satisfying jobs in the known universe is taking off masking tape..  from chaos comes smooth lines and order.... I love it.. 😁

So - what was new this year?

• new knee pads - you can see the surface of the yard - hard ballast - not a smooth rock to be seen - the knee pads were excellent
• cardboard - had an old (large) box in the garage I'd been saving and it was brilliant for laying on, and being able to move around on, while getting between the keels
• on recommendation I used woolly rollers this year after having used foam ones for years - holds the paint better, and I thought a thicker layer per coat than with foam - apparently foam ones are for gloss paint so makes sense
• long radiator handle was perfect for between the keels
• for the rest of the boat I used a short handle but with a 6" roller - just as easy to handle but lots more coverage than the small ones - and it holds more paint so less time spent dipping/loading..  of all the changes this year, that one was worth it's weight in gold...
• for the records...  Hempel Tiger Xtra Antifoul - 2.5L, Dark Blue - £69.95

All done and dusted, two coats, masking and unmasking in about 2.5/3 hours.. brilliant...

That done it was time for some fun...  every winter I try and do one thing that adds value/significance to the boat, so this year it was a depth gauge..  thought long and hard about how I was going to fit this as I really (really) didn't want to drill holes in the GRP, when a chance comment by someone on one of the sailing groups on Farcebook lead me to buying a small TV/monitor bracket - fitted it this weekend and I'm delighted with it...

Deployed/out - you'll note I also moved some of the other bits and pieces to it as well (GPS mount and VHF mic) so as to centralise - since the picture, I've also fitted the depth gauge audible alarm ..

Folded half away..

Folded completely away (next) - chuffed to nuts with that..  the mounting board is one of those plastic chopping boards, chosen for the lack of upkeep required..   I may still go for something a little more aesthetic next winter, but let's see how we get on with this first..

Finished off with a touch of varnishing (grab rails, companion way sides, and cabin foot step) some wood preserving (jam cleat organiser) and some painting (autohelm pad), and that really was beer o'clock time..

Got a day booked off this week for the last few jobs before launch..  she's covered in Saharan dust from the last weather plume, so that has to come off while I have access to fresh water, and then as per the pictures, the depth instrument and alarm still need wiring into the boats 12v power - I'll enjoy doing that more than the washing! 😁

More stuff getting done - smooth bottoms and unguents..

More work done, and prep work in plan..

First off job #8 - the smooth off of the bottom..

Like most boats "Sparrow" suffers from a build up of antifoul - I use ablative/soft/eroding antifoul but a bit always gets left behind at the end of season power wash, and over years, craters/roughness begin to form. The antifoul is solid, just not smooth, so this year I decided to see if I could smooth it off some to allow for a smoother paint job when the time comes...  

Reading around, the go to solution seems to be sanding mesh, using a sanding pole (same rig builders use for smoothing down plaster) so as a start for 10 a trip to Toolstation got me pole/head and 5mtrs of mesh for about 15 quid..

Here's the before - note the sanding pole in a bucket of water in the back ground.. 

...and here's the after - the lighter blue is where the mesh has smoothed off the worst of the peaks - much smoother...

Lessons learned - and I will repeat this next year having learned these lessons - the mesh I had was 120 grade, fairly aggressive for most other usages, but not enough for this job - I got a good sludge from the smoothing/sanding, it definitely worked (you can see the colour of the water in the bucket) but a coarser grit would be better - 80 or 70 would shift more and have a more noticeable effect..  so 5/10, but job done..  the solution is good, the application was my failure..  for anyone coming along to do same, hose off and rinse the mesh head regularly..  wet the hull down for 10 minutes before you start so as to soften the antiful..  better still do it on a rainy day..   😁

Next - unguents..

• Rub down and coat of paint on cockpit locker lids / wash boards (as needed) - done, cockpit locker lids a tentative success, which I put down to finally switching to the epoxy spray primer undercoat, no signs of de-lamination or water ingress - so a rub down to key the surface, a clean, and then a coat of paint and they were good to go..  same with the washboards - they appear largely sound..
  
• Rub down and coat of wood preservative on rubbing strakes / cockpit board / outboard pad / hand rails (as needed) - outboard pad replaced 2021) - the outboard pad was good - no coating required, also still sound with no signs of de-lamination. The rubbing strakes and cockpit board however were tatty so I sanded them all down and put on two coats of wood preservative..  they now look considerably better..
  

..saved a lot of time last year on this step as most didn't need doing, but this year they all did, but they're now done.

Following an inspired  suggestion by one of the guys on the shoestring sailing group on Farcebook, I have a more than potential solution to how I can mount the depth gauge (job #3) - I am now firmly convinced I do not want to drill any holes in the bulkhead so I determined on a hinged display that could fold out when needed and back in when not..  what was proving difficult was the "where to hinge it?" question, until someone mentioned one of these..

..it's about the smallest size you can get, which is all I need, but allows you to hinge/fold out twice, and also angle the display..  it arrived yesterday and is very solidly built - will be perfect for the job - want to test fit the mounting end to where I think it needs to go in the cabin, but the rest I can do in the garage over the next couple of weeks..

Less than two weeks to launch, I need a sunny day in the next seven to wack on some antifoul and then I'm ready to go in.