Job #12-8 (Deck plug) and Job #5 (Hatch covers) .. completed

Another excellent Sunday basking in the sunshine and finishing off a few more jobs... 

After the cockpit drain hoses were re-bedded and sealed (see previous post [clicky]) I move on to the other jobs - it was a toss up between rubbing down the nose ready for the repair and some other tasks but in the end with a nice dry day I went for the paint brush and gave all three hatches another two coats of Homebase own brand "masonry paint" - I gave them a coat last summer [clicky] and was really pleased with how well they stood up to wear and tear...   job done, it was time to sit back and enjoy a pint of the freshest Ringwood "Best" I've had in some time along with a cigar...  bliss!

Next up was the through deck plug for the masthead light - I had had the mast rewired as part of the standing rigging replace last winter, and rather than putting on the old plug they'd put on a new one which was subtly different to the old one that the (new) plug no longer fitted the (old) deck socket

Old socket - two equal sized pins - new plug is two pin with one pin bigger than the other....

Socket removed - gasket was in good condition so I decided to re-use after cleaning up

Small smear of frame sealant (probably not needed but why not), and new plug now installed ready for when I get round to putting wiring in...  I decided to keep the old (copper?? brass?) cover as it was nicer than the more modern cheap plastic one that came with the new plug, and more robust...

Other than a couple of coats of anti-foul (which my sister tells me she has sourced (Dark Blue/erodible/Tiger Extra) to all intents and purposes she's good to go back in - everything I do now is just extra jam on the toast...

Job #9 - Cockpit drains - completed...

Hell yes....   👍💪

Just before my Saturday duty at the club (which was mud wading to check the moorings; a more execrable - quite literally - job I find it difficult to imagine) "Coral" Paul and I fitted the contents of the package I'd received from ASAP [clicky] the day before...

For the record these were:

• BALL VALVE DZR 3/4"BSP FEMALE PORTS x 2 (part no. 405704) @ £21.16 (each) 
• HOSETAIL 3/4"BSPM-19mm HOSE CRBRASS x 2 (part no. 435045) @ £3.83 (each)
• JUBILEE CLIPS 16-22mm 304 S/STEEL x 4 (part no. 416103) @ £1.08 (each)
• BLACK HELIFLEX HOSE 19mm x 1 MTR (part no. 412419) @ £1.95

So DZR throughout, and enough clips to double up  at both ends....  throw in 5 metres at least of PTFE and the job was a good'un for just less than £50 delivered...  

From this:

To this:

Double clips all round - and offset as I read somewhere that this distributes load better than having both screw heads facing the same direction....  decided not to bother crossing them as the hose run is so short..

Shiny!

Slight hiccup when a few days later, I found I had a small but irritating leak when it rained - I suspect that the hose was so stiff that it wouldn't collapse fully on to the hose tail...  I undid the hoses at the ball valve so as to pack the hose tails with PTFE and a thick smear of silicone (I used the frame sealant again as I had it handy), I also kept the hose end in a cup of boiling water as that helps with the compression from the clips...  Hopefully all now good - fingers crossed it stays that way when I launch!!

Absolutely made up as this was my big job of the winter...  now if/when I can get the cockpit drain sorted I'll be chuffed to nuts.....

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...

Job #9 - Cockpit drains - prep...

Time at last to get down to Sparrow if only to start preparation for some of the jobs I want to do before launch...

So first job was to identify what size the stopcocks are, and what condition the whole set up is in generally... 

First off, the cockpit drains...

Port side

Starboard

 

Which look good to me...   generally considered to be a good idea to have two jubilee clips but the fitting, and backing plate, looks good/sound...  nothing structural required there.

So on to the stop cocks..

Starboard

 

Through hull fitting looks good, but I'll investigate further to make sure that pad is sound....

Port

 

The starboard side will operate, it opens and closes but is stiff, the port side won't - it's jammed.
 

Side view

I need to research those markings..  I think the P would indicate these are not DZR

The  stop cocks themselves look good - I wonder if the better move might just be to strip and clean the closing mechanism and leave in situ..  time to ask for some advice!

...and size/scale - I'll pass these by my mate to confirm, but they look to be 3/4".

Thinking the best bet would be two new stop cocks (DZR), new hoses, new jubilee's and leave the cockpit drains and skin fittings alone.

Some progress......

First off, Happy New Year ...  wishing anybody passing by this little corner of the interweb "fair winds for 2014"
 

When I say "some progress"...   not much.....  

Part of the problem is the weather which is not conducive to say the least - this was yesterday:

Picture courtesy ITV

...that's the Royal Oak at Langstone just round the corner - normally it looks like this - in fact this is pretty much what it looks like from my mooring in the summer:

Picture courtesy http://www.imageinuk.com

....quelle difference and all that....   so weather, then Christmas and New Year got in the way, etcetcetc...

All excuses..  it's time to get on!!

Anyway - stuff is arriving at HQ for the winter refit..

1.  Pair of bargain fairleads from eBay (job #2), 





2. From eBay some butyl tape for bedding same (and also other deck fittings)
3. 12v 2 pin deck connector (part of job #12)
4. Quick release clips for the battery (when it arrives- also part of job #12)
5. Bradex Easy Start - for the tool kit!
6. Couple of stainless steel clasps to secure the locker lids (job #11) - need to find some hinges but I need to have a good look at the lids first...





7. The boat name is ordered (job #17) - I used Funky Monkey for this, there are others available but this had a website that was easy to use. I've gone with a single name, and separately my club initials, which will all go on the stern - if  I change my mind I can go for another couple for the bows later....

Lastly, something to look forward to - I'm off to the Boat Show on Monday!

Ashore... and first jobs done....

...and with the weather we're having this week thank goodness for that....

So having dropped the mast on Saturday I then had to leave early to do some other stuff, so Sunday was my lift out...  when I drove down to the club in the morning there was a rainbow so the omens were clearly good, but they didn't last long, and the first of the short sharp showers that were to dog the rest of the day soon swept through, and it was windy...

Cadged a lift on the club rib out to Sparrow to save having to dip the tender, where I rigged a mooring rope to my mooring  while I had a go at removing my pick up buoy and chain...  I try to take this home rather than leave it floating in the harbour all winter....  to be honest I wasn't hopeful as I've had to hacksaw the shackle off most years, but this year despite being really rusty it came off a treat - in fact I think it'll be mostly good for next year.....

Having done that, I then sat for a while watching the world go by, but not wanting to be caught the wrong side of the bridge as the tide continued to rise I powered up the donk and motored over to the slipway side of the bridge - it took four attempts to pick up a spare mooring as by this time the wind was well up...  (in fact the guy manning the club rib said he saw a waterspout towards the bottom of the harbour this one had struck earlier [clicky])

Spent the time tidying up the rigging and straightening up, then raided the ships stores for Pringles and Coke while I waited some more (takes about 20-25 minutes per boat), was soon joined by my lift out crew (a new idea this year is to put 2 or 3 extra crew with a boat hook on each boat as it is lifted out) and sat for a chat - turned out one of them was the very same club member who I had sailed with on the day I went out to Bar Beacon [clicky]

Either way we then got called over, motored gently into slings (need to put some sling markers on this winter), no issues and soon enough we were on the gravel in the car park and I packed up and legged it home...

Long'ish day (started at 9, finished at 3) and enough was definitely enough - delighted with my winter spot however, I've got water and power about 5 yards to the left of the picture below, and the bar is just behind me to the left...

Came down next morning and pressure washed the hull, ran out of time, came back after work to finish off the last bits (scraping off a good crop of barnacles between, and just on front of, the hulls). She is to all intents and purposes ready for the next coat of anti-foul next season....  wheww.....knackered!

Last of all a few of the job list for the winter - see page above for the full list...

Items 3, 4 and 19 in the job list in one picture - the fitting is bashed but sound - the nose GRP looks worse than it is,
being watertight but damaged - if I was to hazard a guess I'd say that at some time in a previous ownership
a mooring chain has jumped off the roller, and rested between rail and bow roller grinding away over a period of time......

Job no. 18 - when the mast came down I'm going to guess the cap shroud below the spreader caught on the
mast crutch causing the rivets to shear - they are original - the ones on the other side were replaced this year as part
of the re-rig - the damage is minimal, I'll just drill out old and replace with new.