Headlinings and Headaches

Again, I'm afraid, this post falls into the category of being a record of our preparations rather than interesting photographs and tales of exciting world travels. Aside from the odd short excursion, that is likely to stay the same until we set off properly in around 4 months time. Hopefully still of some interest though.

Not that any sane person would have really wanted to go out sailing this week. The view from the cabin was distinctly grey and wet as a series of F8-11 gales blew through.

Nicky completed an RYA Radar course; a day spent in the classroom followed by a day at sea putting it all into practice with a few exercises. I'm not sure that she learned much new on what we had taught ourselves from reading the books but technically if you have a radar fitted to your yacht you should have received formal training on how to use it.

Battery temperature sensor

With the rain beating down I spent that time finishing off various projects down below in the cabin (close to a steady supply of hot coffee and biscuits). The NMEA and other wiring associated with fitting the new chartplotter is all now tidied up and I fitted a small electric cooling fan to the compartment that contains the HF radio. The battery temperature sensor for the new battery charger arrived in the post so the cable needed running from the batteries, which are housed in a compartment in the middle of the boat, to the machinery room at the starboard quarter. The little grey sensor is bolted onto the negative terminal so that it can measure the core temperature conducted through the metal.

Running-backstay block protectors

Between rain showers the new padded protectors we have made were sewn onto the running backstays. These blocks are as big as your hand and can swing about potentially bumping into the boom or shrouds. Previously they had leather patches sewn onto them but the patches were curling at the edges and looking very tatty. Modifying the design slightly to hold the material and padding more tightly around the block seems to have worked out well and they certainly look smarter.












We were also visited by the guys who made our bimini. We have asked them to make up a series of removable panels which connecting the bimini sunscreen to the sprayhood. This should allow us to relax in the sheltered cockpit and watch the world go by even if it is raining or particularly cold. We're hoping it will prove to be a nice quality of life improver when we move onboard full time. It should also provide us with loads of extra space to dry things like oilskins after a wet passage without bringing all of that moisture into the cabin area. It was very exciting to see how far they had got and to see how they had made up templates from white material for the more complex panels to make sure that the final ones are an exact fit. It looks good so far and might even be finished by next week.

With Nicky back onboard we set about finishing the insulation of the deckhead. Just the area in the forepeak was left to do but it was still a fiddly job as the headlining trim panels needed to come down and then the insulation carefully wiggled into position.

The spares locker

We also pulled everything out of the 'spares' locker under the bunk in the forepeak. Lifting the panels at the base of that locker we  found some useful extra storage space we didn't know we had around the holding tank there; that will come in handy for the spare alternator and boxes of new oil and fuel filters. This was the start of a big project to make up a catalogue of everything we have onboard and where it is stowed, along with identifying what other spares we need to get hold of before Spring.

It was an extremely productive week but not everything went according to plan. We knew that the starboard foot block for the genoa sheet needed some serious attention as it had been getting very stiff with the block now only turning when it is under load. I'd taken a brief look at it a couple of years ago but the components would not come apart and I didn't have the time to try to fix it without compromising sailing adventures.

Theoretically the spindle should slide out easily when the securing screw has been removed. The reality, after 12 years of exposure to the sea environment, is an immovable pin. We have managed to track down two replacement footblocks (not easy as they are now a discontinued model) but getting the whole unit off will be a major achievement. The block is very securely attached to the deck and, whilst the two aft bolts come out, the U-bolt at the front will not budge. A real headache.

Taking this 'headache' in stages we have started to drill out the central pin. It's 10mm in diameter and about 4 cm long so it will take some time to do, but if that works we may be able to use the existing housing attached to the deck but with the new moving parts. Whether we do just that or move onto removing the whole thing we don't know yet. It's certainly going to keep us entertained over the next few weeks. We did take the opportunity to replace the genoa cars as they are likely to get a hammering over the next few years and we found some nice ones with side rollers when we were searching for the new footblocks. I think they have become my early Chrsitmas present.

Phew, after all that work it was time to go home and carry on with painting the passarelle and the shelf for the aft lazarette.