Completed job list '21/'22 lay up..

By way of record keeping, and to remind me in the future - here's the completed job list from the winter layover...

1. Electrics:
   • new battery installed 
   • renewed the wiring for the power socket used by the autopilot
     
   • depth gauge installed
     
     
     
      
2. A smooth off of her bottom - no idea how many years of antifouling paint on top of antifouling  paint there is down there, but while it's not falling off it isn't smooth either, so a sanding pole with some mesh and a bucket of water was purchased, and an hour or two later she was considerably smoother. I'll do it again next year, but the take away is not to be cautious - get as coarse a grit of mesh as possible.
3. Titivate the tender - thwarts/strakes need doing - completed - she looks as rough as a badgers ar*e but is solid, and good for another season. At the same time I also modified the tender trolley to better carry a flat bottomed tender (as mine is), rather than the V shape the trolley is designed for..
   
4. New clock fitted

Regular/annual items:

• Rub down and coat of paint on cockpit locker lids / wash boards (as needed)  - all done
• Rub down and coat of wood preservative on rubbing strakes / cockpit board / outboard pad / hand rails (as needed) - all done
• Antifoul  - done, takeaway this year was the huge improvement in speed from using the slightly bigger, woolly (rather than foam) roller
• Service outboard - done
• Service Life Jackets - done

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.

Stuff getting done.. clocks and tenders...

Stuff has started to be done...

Job #11 "Titivate the tender - thwarts/strakes need doing" - is done/closed/finished/shuffled off this mortal coil/is an ex-job, etc etc..

It's as rough as a badgers ar*e but it is a solid fix, construction-ally sound, and ugly as sin... 😁

The front looks horrible but it has the advantage of at least being solid now whereas before it was not - both knees had split and were no longer bracing longitudinally or widthways, and various pieces were rotting - so we now have bracing, and the rot removed... let's move on, no one wants to see this wood butchery..  😀

Job #12 "New clock" - is also done and might fine it looks - chuffed to nuts with this - thanks bro in law..

Of the regular/annual items - the life jackets remained inflated after 24 hours so the air was sucked out of them and they are now folded away and back in their covers ready for another year of use..

The outboard also came back from it's service with a clean bill of health.. we're hot to trot..

Going to take some time off during the next bit of good weather and get some unguents on the wood surfaces..

Time to get going..

Well who'd a thunk'd it..? A new season approaches and time to kick my moribund sailing life into motion again..

Lift in date is the 15th April - Easter Bank Holiday Friday - the count down clock (left) is ticking again..

Jobs:

1. The outboard is in for a service - didn't get a lot of use last year, but as previously mentioned I'm a mechanical numpty, and better the experts check it over than it fails when I need it most..
   
   
2. The life jackets are on their 24 hour inflation test - gas bottles weighed and well within limits (+/- 1 gm.)
   

To do list (in priority order - full list above)

• Antifoul (if I can do job #8 - the smooth off of the old antifoul, as well, so much the better)
  
• Job #11 - Tender thwarts need doing - I may have a lead on a replacement tender which would render the job unnecessary...
• Job #3 - the depth gauge - I don't want to cut holes in the cockpit so currently thinking a hinge out instrument panel on the side of the companionway entrance will do the trick...  VHF mic and the GPS mount can go in it as well
• Job #12 - fit the new clock
  
• Coat of paint on the locker lids and wash boards
• Update and replace the cabin stores
• Any of the rest I get to!