Make do and mend...

Bit of maintenance bodge'ry been going on ..

First - as mentioned briefly in the last post I'd noticed that one of the switches on my switch panel wasn't lighting up when clicked on...  I have a simple 6 gang switch panel - for reference this is it - largely vanilla make as multiple manufacturers seem to market it, so I suspect it originates in China somewhere..

I had assumed it might be the respective fuse (each of them has their own fuse in that square holder to the side) but a check of the fuse showed it to be good, and even when I changed it for a new one the switch still wouldn't light up.  

Time to get the voltmeter out then - which showed the individual switch was good and doing what it should do in 'on' and 'off' modes (I compared it to a working one) so the obvious conclusion is that it is nothing more than a failed bulb/LED in the actual switch, which is a pain in the proverbials.

New switches are cheap though, and although it would be nice, the price of these panels seems to have rocketed in the passage of time since I bought the first one - what was twenty quid in 2016 is now thirty five nine years later - besides - I'm not changing the whole panel for one failed bulb in one switch! 😏

So down the chandlers and £2.50 later I had a new switch (in fact two, as I bought an extra as a spare)

Note - three connectors - gold is the common neutral (on this one) - middle is positive, and then negative for the device you are connecting

Looking at the back of it though, it's not a straight forward swap as the switches are actually soldered into a common negative "bus bar" integral to the panel - to get the switch out, heat had to be applied,  and then the contact gently separated - once you do that (and my gas soldering iron decided not to work on the day so I had to use a lighter 😕) the individual switches then are held in place by plastic clips. Push them in and the whole switch can be pushed out..

Note common bus bar in foreground - all the switches in the panel are connected/soldered to that - offending switch has been removed in this picture..

Offending switch removed..

..new one could then be orientated so that it's the same as the other switches (so that all of them are in "on" or "off" in the same direction ...  OCD? me? I think not.. 😏) and then you can wire it in. 

Now in an ideal world, where your gas powered soldering iron was working, that would be easy... but in this case an alternative solution had to be arrived at until I can get to mains power source for another soldering attempt. In my case a small spur cable from the main negative with a spade terminal for the new switch - shame it was red but I didn't have any black cable with me so it was "make do and mend"

...and then with positive attached it was time for a test - and the switch lit up.. job's a good 'un..  

New one a slightly different style but it works...

That done it was time to move on to other things...  you may have heard me mentioning that the washboards will need attention/replacement this coming winter as they are beginning to reach the end of their natural lives - by far the worst is the lower one..

The wet got in last winter and the top surface delaminated - I had dried it out as best I could, and then given it multiple coats of paint but it was clear it was getting worse so a stop gap solution was needed to get me to the end of the season without further deterioration...

I had toyed with multiple ideas - more paint, epoxy/filler, epoxy cloth, plastic wood - but in the end went with a simple solution..

Uggghh...

..a good rub down with sanding paper, and then UPVC stuck down with a thick (gap filling) adhesive - with the washboard in I drew a line down the edge of the beading it sits in, slapped the unguent on  (extra for the pitting area) and then stuck some plastic card I had on top, slid it round a little to ensure all edges were sealed, weighted it down and left it to dry..

..once done  the entire board got a couple of coats of paint..

...and I'm surprised how good it looks - time will tell...

Tiller pilot fix and a quick run to Marker...

So..  following on from the last post... 

New battery arrived the day after I ordered it (excellent service from a company called ABS [clicky]) - I'm limited to physical size by the current battery storage box, so although a bigger (Ah) battery would be good, to all intents and purposes the new one is a direct like for like replacement in terms of both physical size, and power..

Reading up on average life spans for batteries, they seem to think 5 years is about average, so the old one lasted about as long as it should have, and at only £50 owed me nothing..  for the records the new one was £55 (delivered)..

Specification 

• Weight 12 kg 
• Dimensions 212 × 175 × 175 mm 
• Warranty (Years) 1 
• Ampere Hours 50 
• Voltage 12
•  Deep Cyclic Yes 
• Engine Starter Battery No 
• Battery Lifespan (cycles) 300 
• Length 212mm Width 175mm Height 175mm 
• Technology Sealed Wet Flooded 

Product description: ABS 12 Volt Low Profile 50 Amp Leisure Battery * Totally maintenance free * Completely sealed Silver Calcium Lead Acid Technology for Enhanced Safety * Heavy Duty * Comfortable and robust carrying handle * VRLA style casing * Deep Cycle (can take deeper discharges during cycles) * Cyclic (can be used many times over) * Semi-Traction capable

An unexpected day off on Thursday^ with a serendipitous HT at 09:28 was the ideal opportunity to swap the batteries and test my theory - it's been 6 years since I last fitted the battery so it was a bit of a voyage of discovery, but as ever the decision to use stainless steel for the battery box fittings paid dividends... undid both bolts, which allowed me to slide the entire box out through the opening, swap over of batteries, and then slide the battery box back in and re-attach the bolts..  quick release terminals on the new battery and it was time to test the auto pilot..

Battery box is fixed in pace with the two bolts you can just see the heads of going through the lip of the opening

Which worked...  🙌🙌

As it was sunny, reasonably arm, and I still had a couple of hours of tide, I squared away, warmed up the donk, took the sail covers off, and went for a glorious run down the trench to the end of the Emsworth channel, where a bear up on to the wind, which was just the right direction, allowed me to aim for and reach Marker for the first time this summer...    with the water disappearing it was time to then head home, where yet again my approach to the mooring was way too fast and I sailed over it..  practice makes perfect.....  

^We're due to go on the Jolly Boys Cruise this weekend but due to storm damage Ocean Waves our usual ride is not available and we have swapped over to Rod the Mod's boat, but he was busy today so we delayed the start, probably not a bad thing, 5 blokes only just fit sleeping-wise on a 30 footer, and I got an additional day for repairs.. 

Log:

Distance: 5.51 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2; W
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 3.8 / 3

Shakedown sail and wrinkles...

First/shakedown cruise

Tides still not optimal (now 3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon), the next weekend it was finally time at last to get out for the first sail. Saturday was chosen..

Glorious is the only word for it - I'd forgotten everything of course, so it was hardly what you would call a text book effort, but I got away from the mooring, sailed, and got back to the mooring - so good result..

The roller furler operation just puts a  smile on your face, a clean bottom, and a tide underneath, and a broad reach, had us clocking upper 5's and lower 6's across the ground. The depth gauge is fantastic for extending the tacks so that better overall progress was made - I'm now not so tied to channel markers/withy's and can tack later, when I have to.

On the downside the tiller pilot wasn't working - the dreaded code "1000" which my reading would indicate is a boot sequence code, and generally means the device is not getting enough power..  😐

Autopilot power problem determination

Sunday then saw me with a bag full of 12v bits and pieces and a volt meter, hopefully to get to the bottom of the problems... the sun shone all afternoon, and to be honest I quite enjoyed it..

1. Before I left, I tested the autopilot on the car's battery (which I knew was good) and it worked OK, so the pilot was not at fault
2. When I arrived, I plugged it into the 12v socket that worked OK all last year, and same problem.
3. So I connected it direct to the boat battery and it worked OK - which lead me to start removing parts of the connection between battery and 12v socket. The end to end is in several parts..  connectivity is 
1. battery - negative directly attached, positive to the master 12v switch, to
   
2. wire (over spec for use), to
   
3. switch in the locker (so I can turn it off without having to switch off the whole boat's power), to
   
4. in line fuse, to
   
5. dri plug socket
   
4. First I removed the switch - it was stiff, and is supposed to move 360', but was only moving 90' - removed it and connected the positive direct to the inline fuse - tested, still not working
   



5. Next I removed the fuse - tested, still not working...  pffft...
   
6. Next I removed and checked the connectivity on the socket - stripped the wire ends and reconnected - tested, still not working - bugger'ation...
   
7. Next I stripped out all the wire, and replaced it with new - this time wired directly into the switch box (neater, and means I don't need the separate switch and in line fuse) - connected everything up - tested, still not working - bugger'ation!
8. Well and truly confused now, so connected it direct to the battery again, and this time that also failed...  💩💩💩

The battery is 6 years old, and like most boat battery's has a hard life - in it's entire life it has only ever been recharged from the solar, and has lived on the boat throughout, so my assumption is that the intermittent results are down to it failing - voltage looks OK (if a little high), but I don't think it is holding a charge - so it will work for a little while (as I found) and then fail.. in normal mode there's enough power to power up the pilot, but not enough amp'age to sustain the auto facility.

 

To test my theory, I have ordered a new battery, which at the time of writing I hope to fit tomorrow (Thursday 12th)

Log:

Shake down sail..

Distance: 6.3 miles (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting 4; SE/SSE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 6 kts/3 kts (estimated)

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! 😁

Anchor light and stuff..

...and on the seventh day there was light, and the light was jolly bloody damn good, and Steve did a little dance round the boat...

...that'll do then...

Today was the day for removing the old mast head fitting.. my reader may remember that when Rod the Mod jumped on board last year with all the feline grace of a young Nureyev (not..) for the annual event that is the mast raising, he managed to dislodge the mast from the crutch, so that it fell and bounced on the transom board, which was enough to vibrate the fitting below and snap the lower left corner off - unfortunately the lower left corner was holding my brand new Windex, so the whole lot went to the bottom of the harbour (and no despite a lot of magnet fishing I never did get it back)

I first put that fitting together in 2015 (see here [clicky]) and while the initial idea that it would be corrosion proof, and an easier construction than metal is sound, what I hadn't accounted for is that HDPE simply wasn't strong enough...  so with new Windex bought, a stronger solution was required..

I originally bought a square of  aluminium plate for the job in 3mm, but the HDPE plate it was sitting on was very small, and I was thinking it could be smaller, to provide less of a resting spot for the local bird population, so in the end I found some aluminium bar in the spares box and used that..

Having disconnected and dismantled the old one I clamped old base to the bar in a vice, drilled the holes in the same places, added another for the windex on an extremity, and then basically just re-assembled...

It is on straight - trust me..  

...and then I thought, 'well I've done this much how about finishing off the wiring?'...  ha...  that took considerably longer...   first job was to get some power to the bottom of the mast where the deck plug for the light was, a long wire from the batter to the plug wasn't cutting the mustard - no light..

I need a proper socket I thought - I know I'll use the the one from the deck fitting - but nothing sold as "marine" is every truly marine proof, so first job was to disassemble completely the deck plug as the socket - this bit =>

...was very definitely not wanting to come out..  in the end a soft wood plug and two whacks from underneath with a big hammer got that out.  Wires connected and run back to the battery, plugged in to the plug on the mast, nothing...

Test voltage at the socket - good - disassemble the plug and test the voltage the other side of the plug - nothing...  gah...  clean up the verdigris off the prongs, plug in, test again, we have power... walk to the top of the mast, and tad dah...

Result...!

Feed wires through the deck from the cabin - double secure the wires in the socket fitting (I don't want to have to do this again for a while) - refit the socket within the metal housing (with a smear of grease to help removal in the event I need to do it again, refit the deck fitting, and then move to the cabin....  a long time ago I came up with what I hoped was a cunning plan to save wiring, which was to use the negative from the forward cabin light as a common negative...

The two holes are to the deck power fitting - the negative I used is on the cabin strip light....

...used one of these again for the negative.. (when it comes time to fit the deck level nav lights, I'll do the same again, but with three or four separate negatives I'll probably fit a small bus bar somewhere unobtrusive)

Female Spade Terminal with Piggy Back Male...  apparently...   

..so all I needed to do was run the positive through the cabin, connect into the switch box, flick the light and then go on deck to have a look-see...

...that'll do nicely.... 

At which point I had to break for the day in order to get to the supermarket before it closed...  just to finish this off, we need a little cable clean up, amalgamating tape for the joints, and I'm thinking I'll give the glass (plastic) on the light a clean as it's a little green, but otherwise job done...

Launch is in 5 weeks...  and I THINK I'm in control....  

....good and not so good... tiller pilot and DSC setup

...."not so good"? Read on..

Pretty damn good actually...one of those crafty days off work that usually deliver so much on the sailing front in the summer, also delivered some goodness on the construction and maintenance front..

There were three jobs (four actually) on the list today...

With a little more than 40 days to launch prioritisation is now the key, jobs that need power and electrics move closer to the top of the list, as paint jobs and the like can be done on the water if needed (they don't tend to get done, by the way, they just get moved to next winters list )

First (and easiest), it being March it was time to drop the outboard off for its service - job done and after time for a catch up with Simon at Emsworth Outboards, it was on to the chandlers for one of those (top left -  more anon) and some nuts and bolts..

Next was the job I have been (over) thinking about for far to long, and as is usually the case worked out much easier than I thought - it was time to construct the tiller pilot attachment..  over many long cycle rides to work I have come up with hundreds of ideas ( I was even welding a bracket at one point!) but in the end I rejected them all for the simplest solution a block of 4 x 2 and a hinge..  truly the most difficult thing about it was doing the measuring..  happy to say I followed the 'measure twice cut/drill once' this time rather than my usual other way round..

First off Julian on "Billy" found me a tiller pin in his spares box last summer - it was slightly over size for the fitting on the end of the ram on mine, but that is only plastic so I drilled it out slightly and all was good.. drilled a slightly undersized hole into the tiller and it screwed in with a good tight fit with no need for epoxy..

Just prior to drilling the hole for the pivot pin..  the tiller pin is fitted - thanks Julian!

That done I could do the measurement from pin to cockpit edge, and as suspected it was several inches short of recommended - trimmed down a piece of 4 x 2 I'd bought with me and offered it up with the pilot resting on top and the other end on the pin on the tiller so I could see the pilot was horizontal and at right angles, marked up the position of the end of the block on the cockpit side, and got a rough idea of the length I would need..  once that was cut, I repeated the above, and when I was happy, did a precise measure from the pin on the tiller to get me the position of the hole for the pivot on the pilot. 10mm hole was drilled - perfect size - tested again, perfect..

After that a stainless steel hinge from the spares box (I think I was originally going to use them for the cockpit lids but thought they weren't heavy duty enough) was attached to the block at the cockpit end of the block, and to the cockpit side - that way the block can lie flat again the cockpit side when I'm not using the pilot, so I can still open the cockpit hatches

All done bar the shouting - it's not switched on hence tiller position - power socket down in the corner on the cockpit floor - the hook and eye will be the other side of the block - eye end on the block

The block is in the garage for a couple of coats of paint; I'll fit the hook and eye (which will secure the block when it's being used) next time, as at this point the rain drove me into the cabin for a cup of tea... 

Warm and dry in the cabin (fan heater going like a banshee), tea in hand, it was time for the third job - the VHF..

The easy job was to program in the MMSI that I recently got from Ofcom when I registered the radio, but then the job that turned out to be infinitely more a pain in the ar*e - connecting my GPS 72 (which is truly old, but continues to work and therefore I am reluctant to upgrade) so I can send GPS data for the DSC function on the radio..

The problem was that the GPS data cable has two wires for data, the radio has four wires..  I read that radio manual about a hundred times trying to understand what the cables were doing and what matched up - I don't consider myself to be a dull bloke, but I could not get the GPS to talk to the VHF for love nor money, so in the end I did what I should have done and did some research on the web.

On the Practical Boat Owner forum I came up trumps, someone had asked the exact same question a number of years ago, and one of the respondents had done the exact same job that morning and had provided the very info I needed!

Seven years ago, but as valid and useful to me as the day it was written - thanks "Bru" (I follow his blog, by the way - he owns/owned SV "Pagan" if you want to find him on Google)..  the file he references is long gone but I managed to find it on the 'way back machine' so if you want to read it, it is here [clicky]

So a temporary fix later and we had the following lash up..

...went into the GPS and set the interface to NMEA - the 4800 baud was default and the only option

..and eureka..  GPS data feeding to the VHF =>

Top result....  I would never ever even have considered that one of the two connections required used the negative power cable on the GPS without that handy post!...

So the not so good? Display on the new VHF is faulty - two lines of pixels missing as can be seen from the picture above..  damn....  so the day came to an end on a good note and a bad note... 

Fourth job was going to be that fore hatch but it can wait, I'll be down on the boat again on Sunday..

Dismantled the VHF, went home, found the receipt, put it back in ts packaging, and went off to the Chandlers I bought it from (mail order) to return it and hopefully get a replacement only to find it doesn't work that way and after 16 days you don't get a replacement - it goes back to the manufacturer for assessment/repair ..  double damn...  still, I am advised they are quick so I should hear within the next week to two weeks..  #firstworldproblem

On the plus side, while I was there I picked up the antifoul..  after two years of Hempel Classic I was all set to go with that again (it's as good/bad as anything), but as they were doing a special on this one I went with that instead..   £35 for 2.5 litres - I could pay three times as much and am not convinced it would be any better, never mind three times better... navy blue naturally, as all boats look the dogs nadgers in navy blue antifoul as we all know..  

....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!