January blues.

[Swanrad2]

Working on my refit (major) and making progress in November, even a little in December. Along comes January and its like a brick wall - faced with wind, rain and a 90 minute drive to the boat tomorrow, I can already feel my bed calling.

How do you keep going in January, or do you pack it in and spend the time surfing online Chandleries and e-bay?

If I can crack this one I am thinking of starting a new business, a bit like life coaching only for boaty types.

 

[Uricanejack]

I'm not awfully keen to go work on mine its a 9 minute drive but its in the water outside its cold and it gets dark to early.
we did go out for an afternoon sail though.
Stop by and check regularly.

many years ago I helped my uncle restore his old wood cruiser.
It was in a warm dry shed with a pub next door. and other old boat owners doing the same. every winter weekend. I think he spent more time working on her during the winter than he did using in the summer.

warm, dry, covered, nearby pub for lunch is whats needed.

 

[Debenair]

It's the drive wot does it. I'm a similar distance away and even with an early start it's 10.30 before any work gets started, and knocking off time by 15.00 Take out lunch and there's damn all time left for anything productive.
Experience indicates that for me at least there is little point trying to do much until the break in the Six Nations, by which time the days are lengthening out a bit.

 

[xyachtdave]

Not criticising your maintenance routines chaps, but the only way to get your boat sorted in a sensible time frame is to treat it like proper work.

When I've had our boat on the MYC hard standing area, watching people arriving at 10.30 am, catching up with friends for a bit and then trying to find a plug socket that's not being used or a working hosepipe - this really is a complete waste of time.

It is however a great social occasion if you want to get out of the house for a bit.

Arrive at 6.30, set your gear up, plug in to the power, tune into Planet Rock or similar, drink a coffee, start at 7.00 and you'll have a coat of paint on before anyone arrives!

Do all this the week before you launch to avoid sub zero painting and the subsequent 'my anti foul is rubbish' thread.....

 

[onesea]

I was on her yesterday:

Rudder bearing replaced,
Rudder on and off twice, bearing sanded rudder still a little stiff,
Seacocks serviced,

Rudder painted keel painted then rain stopped play

In bed listening to wind and rain wondering how I am going to get a the anti-fouling on before lift in tomorrow :ambivalence:

Then all I want is some not bad weather (given up hoping for nice), for some sailing.

 

[johnalison]

We went down to ours yesterday to collect some gear. By the time we had opened her up I had lost the use of my fingers in spite of wearing gloves since leaving home. I had to spend ten minutes in the marina block warming them before I could drive again. That's why we decommission the boat and do nothing until the sun wakes up again.

 

[jac]

Ours is afloat and aim to do minor internal jobs (suffering some rewiring challenges at the moment) and then some minimal external stuff. Took sails to sailmaker yesterday for some TLC so a few hours is ok.

Lifting for a month in March which is plenty of time to antifoul, change anodes, polish etc. only really out for a month as we are having standing rigging replaced and a couple of other mast related jobs whilst we can. That will be the time when we really do need to put the work in!

 

[rotrax]

First Mate and I are currently in Southern Spain enjoying 18-20 degree C tempratures and several hours of sunshine each day.

Our boat is in the water, tube heaters on and the dehumidifier on a timer. A berth neighbour has a key and looks in twice a week.

When we get home in early April we shall do the antifoul, anodes and lube the prop, probably on the Sealift.

We do have the advantage of being retired.

We also think the mindset of many in our club who lift out in early October, do little untill a few weeks before lift in is strange.

The weather is often better just after lift out but many seem to leave their work very late a then moan they have not been able to complete their list.

 

[obmij]

I'm also 90 minutes drive away but am afloat. This makes a big difference as I can knock off a few jobs, kip overnight and then go for a sail if the weather is decent. If not then it's still nice to spend time on board afloat and can get on with more work.

I think it would be quite difficult to find the motivation for a major out of water refit with the boat 90 minutes away, irrespective of the weather.

 

[wully1]

I've just been down on the boat for an hour or so...its a five minute walk, if that.

I did find the small leak into the forecabin which i'll fix whenever this rain stops - it would be nice if it wasnt blowing a gale as well.

I sorted out my charts and day dreamed a bit about where I'm going this summer -if we get one.

Then gave up and came home as it was howling again and the boat was bouncing around a bit too much to get what I wanted done. Or so I convinced myself.

 

[dancrane]

If the yacht's a cabin boat, is there any need to race home when it goes dark? If there's a fortnight of wintry work required each year, isn't that what the Webasto was installed for?

 

[FurryWritingDesk]

Went down to the boat yesterday - she's in the water. Just over an hour's drive. Fitted a new anchor (rocna, if anyone is interested, to replace the CQR). Measured out the anchor chain and marked at 10 metre intervals using cable ties (just how long they'll last is another matter). Then ran a new main halyard and had a late lunch. And Mr FWD rewired the stereo so we can play the ipod through it. Caught up with some friends then drove back (through a really horrific squall with sheet lightning etc, so bad that we pulled over for 10 minutes as we couldn't see the road, the rain was so bad). All told, a pretty productive day. Next time we're down, I'll be putting a patch in the mizzen, but that's somewhat weather dependent.

 

[LittleShip]

When doing a large refit, rebuild it's important to manage the task correctly. When I have been involved in rebuilding old cars and also Little Ship it was always important that I had a task that I could finish each day.

This means that I would take bits home to do in a little comfort rather than in the boat yard. I also made a rule that I would have sometime away from the project, that didn't mean I wasn't thinking about the task but I didn't work on it. For you I would suggest January is your REST time from the boat and you can spend the time looking for bits and organising the management of the refit.

I haven't been to my boat for 6 weeks now due to and operation on my hand, she is 5 hrs away from home and although I still don't have full use of my hand I'm going to the boat this following week and I'm really looking forward to doing..... Trying to do some work on her.

Take a break and get motivated when the weather improves or do as I do and put the boat in a shed for the winter and it DOSENT matter if it's windy or raining. ( Mr smug)

Tom.

 

[Scillypete]

At the end of last season the catamaran we bought last May was laid up at Millbrook, not exactly on our doorstep, so we arranged local accommodation for all of January so I could crack on with the long list of things that needed rectifying. Safe to say the weather has not exactly helped but many things have been crossed off the list I started with plus nearly all those that were not on the original list. The weather helped locate the annoying leaks and the rare dry days saw them seen to. The Eberspacher which had only ever worked once since buying the boat soon came to life with some proper tlc and all the connections cleaned since then it is turned on as soon as I get aboard and makes a huge difference to the working environment. Start time each day has been 9'ish working til 4'ish with a break for lunch, there has been hardly another soul working on their boats so very few interruptions. A few more good dry days and I will have achieved all I wanted too plus the extra jobs that became necessary once I started. Small fortune spent but worth it to just crack on.

 

[PhillM]

Little and often and always find ONE job you can finish or at least get a stage finished before you go home.

That is how I stayed motivated.

Currently, we are in the water (I secretly believe that the more time she spends on the hard the more chance the shipwrights have to find another little job that they must do before we finish) so this year its not going to happen that way).

Yesterday I helped a mate move her boat and had a great sail, got to destination just before the storm hit, so that was good. Today, I went back down and cleaned up a bit, then measured up for a few small jobs. Next week I will do one!

 

[jac]

Little and often and always find ONE job you can finish or at least get a stage finished before you go home.

That is how I stayed motivated.

Currently, we are in the water (I secretly believe that the more time she spends on the hard the more chance the shipwrights have to find another little job that they must do before we finish) so this year its not going to happen that way).

Yesterday I helped a mate move her boat and had a great sail, got to destination just before the storm hit, so that was good. Today, I went back down and cleaned up a bit, then measured up for a few small jobs. Next week I will do one!

+1

Think the stage approach is key. Also the taking time to plan. Doing a bit, getting to a sticky point and being able to come away, ask stupid questions on here, hunt the internet for parts / solutions etc helps so that the following weekend I have worked out how I tackle the next issue.

 

[Swanrad2]

You know the thing that helps most is just that I'm not the only one - its hard and it can be miserable, I have been trying to grab little bits of job-finished joy when I can. The boat is in 'a deconstructed' state, so there is little comfort to be had.

I like the following suggestion most;
1. Finish a job, any job, before you leave
2. Treat yourself to time away from the boat, think of January as this time then start again.

Thank you all - I am at this moment in London on business wishing I WAS on the boat! The weather hash got me beaten yet....

 

[PhillM]

The weather hash got me beaten yet....

One thing that kept me going was telling myself that this is a TEN YEAR project. Work in the winter, sail in the summer and over TEN YEARS it will all come right. Eventually.

It also helps justify the cost

 

[Robert Wilson]

The only progress I'm making since lift out in November is













making the "To Do" list longer :hopeless:

 

[martinaskey]

I'm restoring my 1966 wooden 36ft S&S.
She's a 21/2 to 3 hour drive away.
When I go for the day, I typically leave at 6:30am, get there around 9, work til 6:30 home by 10pm with a stop for chips !
Weekend trips have similar timings but a night on the boat too.
This year I'm doing keelbolts and sterngear ( plus the usual varnish etc), last year was recaulking the deck, previous year was galley and heads refit ......
I get a lot of stick for my lists of jobs but it does work - I have an overall list for the current year and a list of things to be done sometime in the future.
Each visit to the boat has that day's job list, a list of tools & parts to take up, stuff to measure / bring back and jobs to do at home in preparation.
and I agree that leaving with a sense of having achieved something is very important.

Overall, I suspect the answer to motivation lies in your attitude to the work.
If maintenance is viewed as a necessary evil to enable sailing then it'll feel like a duty and something to be minimised / avoided. The driving, cold and problems become a pain.
I'm one of the sad people who find the maintenance and engineering challenges quite enjoyable. It is an integral part of the sailing 'package'. Admittedly there are cold dark days when nothing goes right that are awful. But then again there are miserable days on sailing trips when the weather is hideous and nothing goes right !!

But now I've written this I realise what a sad old git I've become and that I need medication for my boat related OCD