It's curtains for you.....

Progress being made on a number of fronts..  which is just as well given launch date is a mere 4 weeks away... 😏

• Item 12/. "The minor shackle between swivel and pick up chain is old and needs replacing - I'll take the opportunity to end for end the chain at the same time"
  Decided to do the minor shackles at both ends of the mooring chain so got those, and while I was about it I picked up a new major shackle (goes between buoy and swivel) too...
  
  
  Can for scale...  new chunky, shiny, loveliness...


• Item 9/. "I think I also want to do something about the curtains, which have been UV'd to death.. Bungees replaced so they no longer sag but curtain replacement will have to wait until I get a sewing machine...  hand held sewing machine obtained as an experiment - time to see if it will cut the mustard.."
  The hand held sewing machine was a total waste of space I'm afraid, but you live and learn..
  
  
  
  
  
  Don't waste you're money
  
  Quite a clever machine but not even powerful enough to sew a hem in the very thin material I was using for the new curtains, so I hunkered down and hand sewed them...
  The old one's are way beyond the pale...  the mother in law ran these up for me in 2013 when I bought Sparrow, so what we're seeing is 10 years of UV and a dry/damp salt atmosphere...    you can see the original pattern but mostly they are bleached white (or a grubby grey)
  
  
  
  I washed them a few years ago but it didn't do much... 😁
  
  
  
  ...and here's the new one's..  material sourced on Amazon for about 8 quid..  chosen purely for cost, and that they are quite cheerful..
  
  
  
  ...all six ready to go back up (2 per side and 2 at the front)..  you can see the wonky seems from the hand sewer on this one - abandoned that soon after...  so they aren't going to win any sewing prizes, but given the primary purpose is security (keeping prying eyes out), with a long second of keeping the sun out, then they'll do nicely..  all I need to do now is replace the bungee they hang on and jobs done
  
  
  
  
• "Service outboard (fix oil leak)" - done, but not without some issues..  my usual "go to" outboard engineering shop - Emsworth Outboards - have gone out of business (great shame..) so I asked around for some recommendations, and one of the guys on the Practical Boat Owner web forum recommended a guy that used to work for them, but left a few years ago..  South Coast Outboard Servicing [clicky]. Can't complain at the turn around - he took it away and it came back the next day, and that was after he'd ordered spares to repair the oil leak issue - which turned out to be a leak through the sump gasket.  So.. engine serviced, and sump gasket replaced...    we should be good for another season - I also found out the engine dates from 2007/8, so only a sprightly 15 odd years old..


• "Rub down and coat of paint on cockpit locker lids / wash boards (as needed)" The locker lids on the whole are doing OK, but I noticed at the end of last season one of them was showing signs of splitting on one corner, and there were also some hairline cracks in the outer surface which would be perfect for syphoning in water if left untreated..
  Rather than leave them on the boat to suck up water all winter, I took them off, and then bought them home to dry out before initiating any repairs..  I have a couple of old ones that I covered in plastic to replace them with temporarily.
  Couple of weeks of drying out and I gave them a good sand down with an orbital sander before filling the hairline cracks (and cavities behind them.. 😒) with an epoxy silica paste.
  
  
  
  I used some thin plastic sheet to push the same down between each of the layers on the corner and clamped it...
  
  
  Before...
  
  
  
  
  After..
  
  

That'll do for now....  😏