Of course it’s tortoise. No March hare here! Getting our mast back on has been delayed again by another week. The mast came off almost 3 months ago. Ok, it needed stripping down, painting and rebuilding, but the first three or four weeks it sat in the yard just waiting, it was moved into a shed and then the paint work started and finished within a couple of weeks, and there she sat for four more weeks waiting. We were not in a rush to have it restepped, but now we’re getting concerned that it’s going to hold up a shake down sail, getting navigation gear commissioned and potentially delay our departure. Everyone we speak to says that they’re busy, and that they have so much work, the marine industry is not pulling in the younger generation and the old guys left during covid. I’m sure this is only part of the story, having a queue of customers is good for business, and with no mast you can’t go anywhere else. So our tortoise sits and waits.
Meanwhile, the jobs we can do ourselves progress a little each day, we now have three new guardrails, 6mm dynema instead of steel, won’t corrode, as strong, not cheap, but also looks good. Will try and fit the dog safety net sample on tomorrow and see how that blends in. Solar wing is up and seems to be ok in the winds we’ve had, it’s not blown a hooly yet, but we’ve had some squalls and it seems secure enough. The new clamps holding the aluminium section down to the Bimini arms keep it from flexing.
Boarding ladders are back, but not quite straight, so they’ll need to go back. Helm seat arms aren’t ready, not even a drawing yet. Helm seat hasn’t progressed, but the window blinds and Bimini hood is making progress. We bailed out on making our own main sail bag, after speaking to Julie at comfort afloat there are so many details we just weren’t confident about doing ourselves. It’s not just the sewing, but the purchasing of all the different bits of material. It’s our first rodeo, we’ll get there, but for now watch and learn.
We’ve put up a couple fo extra lights in the hulls to brighten them up. Obviously in the original build everything was halogen which soon adds up to big amp draw, but now with LED we can be more liberal with lighting. We want to add more to the kitchen galley, but where and how is the big question. We’ve installed a set of security cameras that double up as mooring cameras, they’re super clever as they detect humans rather than just motion.
The outside teak table arrived, and the swim ladder rails are on their way, but we’ve yet to install them, working out the table leg(s) is a challenge. Then there’s the stool we want to create that will turn the starboard Bimini seat into more of a day bed.
We’ve charged the starboard engine battery and it seems to crank the engine over. Maybe it was just low, rather than knackered. We’ll see if it holds charge in a coupe of days. Bothe engine bays now stay dry, the port side cover for the emergency tiller needed resealing since the teak decking had dropped 2-3mm exposing gaps into the engine bay for rain (and sea) water.
The starboard engine still needs a sail drive sensor, and the port side hydraulic gangway is becoming a challenge, first we switched over the corroded control panel, then the plank would lift and drop but not extend in or out. Further diagnosis identified a broken toothed belt and a seized pulley wheel which I just can’t get to inside a letterbox sized hole under the rear sugar scoop. And the hex head steel bolt is seized in the aluminium block holding the wheel. No hare here!! Slow and steady.
Did we say that the water maker is now working though! Yay! That was last weeks success. Tomorrow Simon the electrician will turn up (I hope) and we can connect and configure the new batteries, solar chargers and DC alternator controllers. That’ll be a major win!
We’ve been busy, or should I say, Janine has been busy, in the frosty cold winter air making new shelves for the hull clothes cupboards, staining and varnishing the wood, then treating one of the floor panels with wood impreg and varnish. At first it looked (IMHO) too dark but it’s since lightened up. While Janine is with her parents for a few days working on the interior soft furnishing side I’ll continue with the inside floor between other jobs.
Oh, almost forgot, the two large front lockers are now bleached clean so no more black mould (for a while)! And the starboard locker has been kitted out with an extra shelf and straps for the 25 or more clear storage boxes that hold our spares, tools, and a wide array of knick knacks that will keep us self- sufficient for a while. And lastly the interior nav station switch panel has now two smoked acrylic doors which blend in very well with the rest of the boat and hide the gaudy switches, but still allow the lights to shine through. Nice!