Ships log for the yacht "Sparrow" an Ian Anderson designed
'Hurley 20', sail no. 109, launched 16th November 1967.
This is the day to day stuff involved with owning and sailing a
small boat, so nothing earth shattering but there'll also
hopefully be some adventures along the way..
Saturday 16 April 2022
Let the season begin*..
Monday 11 April 2022
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! 😁
Monday 4 April 2022
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.