as instructed by Kim...

[duncan]

...I will share with you the boat (of course) maintaince planned for the weekend.
1. remove grease refit and oil change leg
2. measure for calorifier recently purchased from Solitaire via 'for sale' forum
3. reduce length of anchor chain from 30m to 15m (8mm) to (a) keep Hylas happy and (b) 'cos it really is to jerky when anchored in shallower water and puts one hell of a strain on baot and crew. It's also to heavy....etc etc btw it has 150m warp spliced to it.
4. apply mix of oxalic acid and wallpaper paste to stains on hull and deck as per PBO forum recomendations
5. remove broken steel screw from alloy windlass with coke - again PBO forum recomendation
6. measure for a new mini cover - to be manufactured by a forumite
7. check stock of rum for new season.
8. remove teak faced ply inserts from gunwhales (it's warping/coming apart on 2001 boat) and use as template to make and fit new solid iroko pieces

I am also fortunate that another forumite has agreed to come over and help (possibly linked to no 7 above)

my oh my I am a happy boater /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[powerskipper]

i hope its warmer this weekend, cold metal makes you feel cold very quickly!


<hr width=100% size=1>Julie ,
IMOSHO of course,/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[duncan]

hence 7. above!

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[steverow]

Hmmm sounds wonderful. What a nice weekend you have planned.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Y'all have a nice day now.



PS What colour wallpaper were you thinking about for the hull?


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[gonfishing]

Re: points 5,7,and 8

Hi
Point 5
Can't see how Coke will help at all? I have heard it's good for rotting nasal regions not so sure about steel screws though, and besides Plus Gas has got to be a far more economic proposition!!!!!!!!!!

Julian

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[DepSol]

you missed point 9 and we know what that is

<hr width=100% size=1>Dom

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.soltron.co.uk>the website</A>

 

[aztec]

rum is good....


that is all.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

i hope its warmer this weekend, cold metal makes you feel cold very quickly!


Indeed, while working on my mast this weekend while it was unstepped, Oh, sorry, almost forgot where I was then, the mast is the tall stick thing that we raggies like to hang things off, like our washing, especially good for getting the sheets and bedding dry.

Anyway, to the point, everytime I dropped a tool, which you invariabaly do when it is cold, it landed each time without fail into snow or icy water, so picking it up always made my hands a bit colder. We ended up like a sundial on Sunday, moving the mast every hour to keep it in the sun.

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Top Cat Homepage</A>

 

[andyball]

Cold metal? tell me about it; I've been sitting/kneeling/otherwise squeezed in at the bottom of our new boat renewing hoses/checking everything this week & cold metal is very cold indeed,even when the wheelhouse is a cosy 22C.

Horrid wire reinforced pvc hoses (wrong size, so forced on) was used for coolant in places - that'll have to go - I get the right'ish size (43mm not common) beefy black hose from hose place & it kinks when you bend it even a bit. Back & buy some wire reinforced black beefy hose (exhaust hose) & it won't go on the pipes 'cos "it's a small 41mm sir". Next size up is way too loose for a proper seal......beginning to see why builders went with wrong sized pvc stuff & bodged it on.

Tried lancing marine for ready made bends, next step is probably getting some made (firm 1/2 mile away make hoses to order) in the right size & with bends already in there. or maybe wire reinf. silicone hose (similarly expensive).


Also removed raw water pump to check impeller. Pump is belt driven & when fitted the cover plate is a few cm from a steel inlet pipe, so I figured it hadn't been looked at much. Eventually pulled it out & onto pontoon thinking that it was rather heavy, took off cover & found it's a centrifugal type ! huge industrial thing made by stork pompen (holland?). Funny looking impeller too, very long, thin vanes running & centrifugal bit cast into the pump.

Repacked rudder gland last week- it was impossible to move the arm by hand due to overpacking/tightening- now it moves freely & doesn't leak grease (inside the boat,anyway), but made surprisingly little difference to force needed at the wheel. New hydraulic steering fluid too.

refilled water tanks- but no supply from pump. Found prefilter clogged with sand/swarf due to feed from twin tanks taken from centre of balance pipe, so refilling washes all the crud from first tank into the supply pipe- brilliant design!.

Just need to improve on slivers of wood (not) holding batteries in place, rig up new vhf socket outside, fit new connector to compass sensor, flush 10yrs of rust out of cooling system/calorifier, replace the car stop/tail bulb that makes one sidelight a bit dim, sort out the rubbish vetus switch/fuse panel that overheated first time I had all the cabin lights on.....& she'll be shipshape. (apart from moving the anchor winch backwards so the chain enters the locker on its own).

Boats, eh?

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[chriscallender]

Yes, cold metal, brrr. Tried to climb one of those sailing/washing pole thingies back in December stupidly without putting gloves. Got avout 3/4 of the way up and realised that even if I made it to the top my hands would be too numb to do any work... and that was a much warmer day than its been recently. So you have my sympathy for doing any work on rigging at this time of year!

This weekend I'm drying the boat out on the scrubbing piles to change the anode and check underwater fittings. Should be OK even if its cold - several hours waiting for the tide to go out waiting inside with a pot of coffee, sitting next to Mr Heater, then a brief foray outside with a spanner at low water followed by a pint in the pub and then move the boat out to the "summer"??? mooring in the evening. No need for a scrub because the boatscrubber guys did that on Tuesday.

Chris

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[Robin]

Duncan, I would question #3 to reduce chain from 30m to 15mm? It is a very good idea to reduce snatch loads to use a length of nylon rope as a snubber and this can also be used to transfer the load from the windlass (essential to do this) to a deck cleat. Even better if as we do you put one of the rubber mooring snubbers in the nylon line as well, this removes all the snatching completely. Best is a chain hook (about £10) to attach the snubber line to the chain, then lower it so that the chain is slack and hangs in a loop below the nylon line, if the line fails the chain takes over. Doing this will a) leave you with enough chain to anchor on all chain (plus snubber) in most places and b) save you having to cut the chain and resplice the warp to it. IMHO if you anchor mainly on warp the boat wanders all over the place, not handy in a crowded anchorage like Studland! I think Hylas would agree with that too from my conversations with him, you get the best of both worlds using all chain and a snubber.

Robin

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[duncan]

I would still be on all chain most of the time in Studland - and yes I use a 3 metre length of 12mm nylon spliced to a chain hook in the way you suggest. I can't take the load fully of the windlass as I have to lead the line from port cleat to the windlass drum so there is a force acting on the drum at an angle - but way lower than that on the line itself. I am afraid I see no advantage in all chain and the particular length is awkward for me for a number of reasons as the most common grounds I fish are in the 25 - 30m depth. This leaves me messing around switching from drum to gypsy (yep I use the same line and chain hook) at a time when the anchor may or may not break out and then drift into a snag(wreck or otherwise). 55kg is too much for me to handle safely on the drop either. Reducing this to 33kg is a step in the right direction. However lets not develop this into an anchor thread - I think you and I have read them all over the last couple of years!

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[duncan]

Re: points 5,7,and 8

recomendation was cocacola (in preference to hydrochloric acid, wd40 or plus gas) applied liberally around the corroded / broken of SS screw in the alloy windlass casing before drilling/easyout.
I will probably end up using all three before drilling out completely and retapping but ....

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[Robin]

Ah ha, now I understand, tight lines!

Robin

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