Sailing to Kinsale County Cork Republic of Ireland

Departing Dartmouth

Blue Velvet headed out of Dartmouth at 1140hrs on Saturday 17 May and by the time we reached Start Point, the nearest headland to the south, the cloud had burned off and we had glorious blue sky weather once more. We slipped into our normal watch routine with me spending the afternoon asleep, whilst Nicky dodged starboard tack boats off Salcombe and then set us up for the long broad reach towards Lizard. By dinner time the wind had dropped significantly and we had to motor to make the tidal gate. Fortunately, when Nicky came back up on deck at midnight, a combination of increased wind and a tighter angle to the wind as we headed up to lay Longships meant that we could switch the engine off again. Back on watch at 0400hs I took us up to just south of Longships lighthouse and then turned to cross the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) at right angles.

Crossing the TSS with Land’s End just visible on the horizon

It was an easy crossing of the TSS and whilst there were a few ships, we just sailed across and deconflicted easily. Once across the TSS the Isles of Scilly were visible off to our left and we turned to set Blue Velvet up for the 120nm to Kinsale.

Dolphin escort

We continued on, sailing on a beam reach in bright sunshine with ‘Georgina’ the Hydrovane looking after the steering and Nicky and me swapping watches every 4 hours or so. The most significant change was that the wind became fairly light at lunchtime so during our watch change, whilst we were both up to do the work, we set the Code 0. It’s a type of lightweight genoa, set on a bowsprit, with a torsion rope furler and is supposed to be controlled by a sheet/sheets led aft to about the quarter, much like an MPS/asymmetric spinnaker. We’ve used it very little since we got it a couple of years ago and have struggled to find the right set-up, primarily due to worries about the sheet catching on and ripping off the solar panels. However, this time we tried sheeting it through the spare genoa car positioned right at the aft end of the genoa car track. That worked extremely well and took away the snagging risk and potential damage to the solar panels. The Code 0 made a huge difference to our speed which increased to 6-7knots at 60-75 degrees to the wind, and we flew it until 1600hrs when the wind had picked up to 12-13knots, at which wind speed the white sails do just as well.

Sunset on Sunday 18 May about 60nm south of Kinsale

The overnight watches were lovely with gentle sailing over very smooth seas. At midnight when I took over the watch, the loom of Cork’s cultural lights had appeared on the horizon and we were expecting to arrive in Kinsale just after dawn.  However, as we approached the land, the wind headed us so that we couldn’t lay the Old Head of Kinsale.  When I handed over to Nicky at 0330hrs she spent the next 90mins beating the final 8nm or so (as the crow flies) to the entrance to Kinsale when I joined her again on deck again for the arrival into port.

Dropping anchor by Charles’ Fort. Rhys and Niamh’s blue Zora was anchored right under the
castle walls; a beautiful spot in the fabulous conditions

With our yellow customs flag and Irish courtesy ensign flying at the cross trees, we had intended to go all the way into the harbour, pick up one of the visitors buoys and then go over to the harbour office to do arrival formalities. However, we spotted that Rhys, the OCC Port Officer for Kinsale, and his wife Niamh had anchored beside Charles’ Fort which guards the eastern side of the entrance to the harbour. It was a lovely spot in the settled weather, so we dropped anchor close by and inflated our dinghy before setting off for a slightly longer run to visit the Harbour Master.

Arrivals formalities completed and back by Charles’ Fort we were able to meet Rhys and Niamh properly and arranged to meet up later for drinks. We had been very lucky with an extremely easy crossing. Overall, we had sailed 264 miles in 43 hours averaging just over 6 knots which was not at all bad for a heavy cruising yacht in mostly less than 10 knots of wind. By taking advantage of the favourable wind direction we had made great progress west and set ourselves up to enjoy cruising the beautiful south west coast of Ireland.

Kinsale, Country Cork, Republic of Ireland

Dartmouth Devon UK

Slipping out of the QE2 Marina

Well, we’re off and running, as they say, and so far all is going well. We left Guernsey at 1030hrs on Wednesday 14 May, after completing a few last-minute jobs first thing in the morning.

St Peter Port

High tide had been at about 0830hrs so we went south-about Guernsey and picked up the first of the favourable west-going tide when we reached St Martin’s Point. It was a beautiful day, with clear skies and bright sunshine and Guernsey looked at her springtime best as we motored along the south coast, shielded from the northeast wind by the island.

Pleinmont Point and Les Hanois lighthouse at the SW tip of Guernsey

Off Pleinmont, and out of the wind shadow, we picked up a good breeze and set course for Dartmouth, where we were planning to meet up with Neil, a friend of ours, for a couple of days.

Arriving at the entrance to the River Dart with Britannia Royal Naval College floodlit on the hill above

We had champagne sailing all day until about 1900hrs, when the wind died, so we started the engine and donked the rest of the way to Dartmouth, arriving in at about 2300hrs and grabbing what looked to be the last available space on the midstream pontoons. It was the perfect length for us, starboard side to with bows to the strongly ebbing tide and that ebb tide made it very easy to come alongside. Next morning the bloke on the motorboat astern of us asked what time we had arrived. When I told him his response was:  ‘Really? We were awake then and we didn’t hear a thing!’ Which is good as that’s exactly how we had wanted it!

Spanish Galeon Andalucía visiting Dartmouth

We had a good night’s sleep and were enjoying a somewhat late breakfast when a large catamaran arrived to take the space that had opened up on the other side of the pontoon from us. It was a little after 1000hrs and the tide was ebbing hard again. As the cat drew closer we realised that it was Maid Honour, with a couple we know from Guernsey on board. We caught their lines and then chatted. They had sailed over the day before as well but had taken the early tide at about 0530hrs. They’d spent a very peaceful night up at Dittisham and were now looking for a pontoon space closer to the town so that they too could enjoy the Dart Music Festival with local friends. Unfortunately, it turned out that the berth they were in had been reserved by the Westerly Owners Association (WOA) rally; there were already 4 WOA on the pontoon, 5 more were expected later. Happily, there were still 2 berths on one of the other midstream pontoons, so we went across to the pontoon and paced out the space – just enough room. And there was just enough time to take their lines before we need to head up the hill for our rendezvous with Neil.

It was lovely to see Neil again and also his younger daughter, Sophie, who is 6 months pregnant, and who was also visiting. We haven’t seen Sophie since she was a teenager about 20 years ago, so it was lovely to catch up with her too. We spent a lazy day in the garden, enjoyed a delicious BBQ in the sun and made plans for the next day before we all walked down the hill to return to BVoS.

Views of the Dart.  Blue Velvet in the centre of the picture

Views of the Dart.  Britannia Royal Naval College by day

Views of the Dart.  Looking down river towards Kingswear

On Friday 16 May we spent the morning on admin and emails before heading ashore and back up the hill to see Neil and Sophie. After a frittata lunch, we did a walking circuit down to the upper ferry, across the river, along the footpath beside the steam railway track and into Kingswear where we stopped in at the Darthaven Marina chandlery before crossing back to the Dartmouth side on the lower ferry.

The Dartmouth Yacht Club was the perfect spot for a beer in the sun and then we dropped Neil’s and Sophie’s dogs at the house before heading back into town to enjoy the opening night of the Dart Music Festival.

Neil had been keen to see ‘Riviera Dogs’ (an 80’s tribute band), and they were excellent, sounding almost exactly like the performers whose music they were playing.

A pizza dinner followed and then we headed to the Guildhall to listen to a band touted as ‘blues’ but which was actually quite heavy rock with a blues undertone. Not quite what we had expected but the performance was still excellent.

All the while we had had one eye on the weather forecast with a view to heading onwards towards Ireland. The long-range forecast had some very strong westerly winds whist the shorter range ones suggested that we would be spending more time motoring rather than sailing. The best option appeared to be to set off on Saturday. We’d miss part of the music festival but we would catch the last of the helpful sailing wind. Saturday morning dawned grey and overcast. We had been going to have breakfast with Neil at an open-air café in the park, but as it was so chilly we decided to go for an indoor café instead. We had a final couple of hours with our friend before saying our goodbyes on the embankment where we headed for our dinghy and he to his car.

Castle Point to starboard as we left the River Dart

We got underway a little earlier than planned, at 1130hrs and, from the off, had a reasonable sailing breeze – better than had been forecast a couple of days previously.

Dartmouth, Devon, UK

Sailing to the Helford River Cornwall UK

We landed back in Guernsey late on Wednseday 9 April with clear blue skies and a lovely easterly wind; perfect for our first sail of the year which would be to Falmouth planned for 12-13 April. Three days to load up Blue Velvet with clothes and food seemed to be a nice timeline. However, on checking the weather forecast we found that the wind was going to veer to the west on Saturday 12 April and then increase quite strongly. We really didn’t want to have to beat all the way to Falmouth but we had an appointment with our sailmaker to have our new sails fitted. The only logical thing to do was to depart Guernsey as soon as we could, to take advantage of the easterly wind.

Friends setting off on their overnight race training

So, after a frantic day and half of washing clothes, repacking, buying food, loading it all onto Blue Velvet and saying goodbye to family, we found ourselves pretty-much ready to go sitting on board Blue Velvet. We had initially planned on a 1615hrs departure which was the earliest we could get out of the marina but, after a more detailed study of the tidal atlas, we realised that would put us heading directly into a strong tidal flow at the north end of the island. A 2-hour delay would mean that the tidal flow would have become more northerly and timed perfectly for us to have a great view of some friends of ours starting off on an overnight race training package, part of their work-up for the Fastnet Race in July.

Turning west at the north end of Guernsey

As it was our first time out on Blue Velvet for 6 months we took things carefully and motored north up the Little Russel hoisting the mainsail and checking that we had rigged all of the reefing lines correctly. We planned to take the Doyle’s Passage at the northern end of the island and there is a short stretch of overfalls there as you enter. For a short while Blue Velvet bucked up and down and we had a couple of good waves across the foredeck; perfect for properly checking out our new windows and hatches!  I’m pleased to report that there was not a drop of water coming in and so our hard work replacing them over the winter has been successful. Doyles Passage was both straightforward and calm, at the top end of which we turned northwest and set off on a broad reach. The conditions were glorious and we both had broad smiles on our faces.

Working our way through the moorings in the Helford River

The passage to the Helford River was about 115 nautical miles and was a nice overnight passage to get us back into being on board and the routines of our watch system. The wind stayed good for us overnight and into Saturday morning before dropping off at about 11am which prompted a few hours of motoring before we were able to sail again for the last half hour as we approached the Helford River. We dropped the sails at the entrance to the river, when the wind died again and then picked our way through the moorings…

… enjoying the river scenes and looking at the lovely houses on the shore.

Looking back east towards the river mouth from our anchorage

Just west of the mooring field and close by Frenchman’s Creek is a lovely area to anchor.  We skirted around the deepest area and at 1515hrs found a nice spot to drop. After motoring back on the anchor to make sure it was dug in well, we put out 40 metres of chain because the wind was forecast to get up and we knew that we would be pushed about with wind against the tidal flow.

After several disrupted days of busy travel, preparations, and an overnight passage we both felt it was worth popping the cork on some fizz to celebrate being back aboard Blue Velvet.

Helford River, Cornwall, UK

Winter Refit – Replacing the Windows

As soon as we arrived in Brest early in August we had started looking closely at our options for sorting out the leaking windows. The leaks were in no way catastrophic but, for us, it was clear that Blue Velvet was not properly ready for an Atlantic crossing. We had last had the windows refurbished in 2011. Later models of Rustler 42s have a new window frame design in which the seal is less prone to UV damage. We looked at fitting that new design of window in 2011 but there was a 3 month lead time to make them and we realised that we might have to cut larger apertures in the GRP to fit them. So instead we had the old windows removed and sent off to be taken apart and the sealant around the glass replaced. On our passage towards the Azores we had had the same symptoms again; UV degradation of the sealant was allowing water to track around the edge of the glass and drip inside. It seemed sensible this time to properly investigate replacing our windows with the new design which does not have this weakness cropping up after 12-14 years.

Our old design of widow frame with visible bolt heads (and strips of sponge inside the frame to catch the drips!)

Seaglaze are a UK based company that make the windows for Rustler 42s and their team were very helpful. I asked for a quote for a set of the new design of the windows they supply to Rustlers and confirmation of the aperture dimensions. The response prompted a bit of head scratching and a lot of design work. The more recent design had a more substantial aluminium frame that clamps onto the GRP. It had 6mm toughened glass with a 65mm radius at each corner and I thought would be a relatively easy swap for our old design of windows. Unfortunately Seaglaze could no longer supply the 6mm toughened glass. The thicker 8mm glass they would use for future orders would need a heavier weight aluminium frame and 80mm radius corners. When I asked to see the drawings for the 8mm glass windows they supply to Rustlers, they replied that this was a new change and no Rustler 42s had been built yet with the new 8mm windows. Blue Velvet would be the first one and the windows hadn’t been designed yet!

On the left the later clamp frame with 6mm glass and 65mm radius corners. On the right the first design of the
new 8mm glass with wider frame and 80mm radius corners which we felt was too rounded at the ends

The 80mm radius corners meant that we would definitely have to trim the GRP on Blue Velvet to fit the new windows. So during our first days in Brest I made up paper templates with 80mm radius corners, slightly longer than our current apertures, to prove the concept. The Seaglaze design team then produced proper engineering drawings based upon this sizing. Those drawings gave me the full dimensions and profile of the heavier weight aluminium frames the 8mm toughened glass needed and that exposed an issue. With thicker frames and using the existing height of the apertures, the visible glass was going to be much smaller than our current windows to the extent that it would change the look of the boat from the outside. I described them to Nicky as narrow letterboxes of glass with rounded ends rather than the more rectangular windows that you expected to see on a Rustler42 (see Right above).

The only solution was to accept that we would need to open up the apertures to increase the heigh of the frames and therefore the visible glass. With the new design of frames clamping onto the GRP there is a much larger frame on the inside of the boat in comparison with our existing screwed on frames. Balancing the space inside for this larger internal frame and minimising the increase in size of the aperture, I was able to come up with a new size of window that I hoped would look right from the outside of the boat and not compromise the general look of the boat. The Seaglaze design team turned these into another detailed set of engineering drawings. After checking everything carefully, we confirmed the order. Manufacturing time was expected to be 12 weeks and the new windows would come with templates that we could use to help to accurately cut larger apertures in the GRP.

The first window removed

So now moving on to the end of November, we were back in Guernsey and were delighted to take delivery of a large wooden packing case. Inside were our 8 new windows all beautifully packaged up and protected. The male templates in hardboard arrived a few days later. The new windows looked very good; Seaglaze had done their part and it was now up to us to fit them. The first task was to make up female plywood template for each of the 3 sizes of window which we would use to enlarge the apertures.

Seaglaze supplied male template of the aperture and from them we had made up a female plywood
templates for each of the 3 sizes of window

Cutting the large aperture in stages using a router

Knowing the job would be a messy one, we hired a storage unit and took everything that we could off the boat. The first window we tackled was the aft heads one because it had a clear area all around it inside. Using the same technique we had used for the hatches and a new supply of small wooden wedges, the old window came out remarkably easily. Once the surround was cleaned of sealant, we carefully lined up and clamped the plywood template in position so that the ~10mm that needed to be cut away to enlarge the aperture was exposed inside the template.

Nicky and I wore eye and breathing masks and we had a vacuum cleaner nozzle in position inside ready to catch the dust, but even so it was a very messy job. The GRP was neatly cut away using a router which I ran around the edge of the template in short lengths moving the clamps as needed to allow the router access.

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Inside the boat was a bit like a snowstorm and the dust seemed to get everywhere even with the vacuum cleaner running. However, it was worth the mess because the router did produce a very neat and accurate cut. GRP is tough stuff though and it quickly blunted the router bit. Fortunately I had bought half a dozen bits in anticipation of that issue but based upon the first window, I expected to be ordering some more.

Left: Making sure the sealant gets into the corner before applying a much thicker bead around the flange.
Top Right: progressively tightening the clamping screws which were then (Bottom Right) neatly hidden
with some black rubber trim

The templates should ensure that the enlarged aperture was the perfect size but nonetheless it was a relief when the dry fit of the new window was just right. After the surrounds were cleaned with some acetone, we squeezed several rounds of marine sealant onto the flange to ensure that we had a healthy excess that would squeeze out to make a coherent seal. The frame was then clamped with 12 bolts which were progressively tightened to pull everything in. A wipe or 2 with a solvent soaked rag cleaned up the outside whilst a strip of black rubber trim was pressed in to hide the screw heads. There was a much larger aluminium frame inside with the new design but we felt it had a cleaner look. This larger frame would mean a bit of extra work trimming the deck head to fit around it in the forward cabin and heads but if I had got my measurements right it would just be those 2 windows needing that attention.

The first new window fitted

Looking from the outside the window looked very clean and smart without any screw heads visible…

… and when compared to the old window next to it, even with the larger frame and thicker glass, we felt that the size we had ordered maintained the proper look of a Rustler 42. The only issue was that we now needed to fit 7 more windows and 4 of those were extra long… it was time to order some extra router cutting bits!

St Peter Port, Guernsey

Winter Refit – The New Generator (Part 2)

Deciding which new generator to buy took some detailed research which had started as soon as we had arrived back in Guernsey at the beginning of October. Several factors needed to be taken into account. Most importantly the new generator would need to fit into and be strongly secured inside the available room in the machinery space. As a second consideration, the size of the generator would be constrained by what would fit through the narrow doorway into the aft heads. As well as the physical size of the generator, there was also the generating power to consider. Our old generator was 4kVA which ran everything we needed but it was working at its maximum capacity to power the compressor that we use to fill our scuba dive tanks. A 5kVA generator would be able to cope with that power demand much better but was likely to be bigger and heavier than our old generator.

After many hours studying generator speciation data, engineering drawings, and taking lots of careful measurements, we finally settled on the Fischer Panda 5000i Neo PMS. There were other manufacturers models that potentially would have worked but Fischer Panda UK were able to supply and ship the 5000i quickly and all of the exhaust system, header tanks etc already fitted to the boat were Fischer Panda and I knew would be compatible and wouldn’t require a complete redesign of the machinery space layout.

Using the Spinnaker halyard set up Nicky and I were able to 
lift the generator onto Blue Velvet and into the saloon without 
 needing any extra manpower – note that the casing is wider 
than the doorway into the aft heads

The 5000i Neo PMS is a remarkably compact unit which produces a high voltage that is then brought down and regulated to 240 volts 50Hz by a separate inverter unit. Aside from very stable power supply, one immediate huge bonus of this setup is that the generator unit only weighs 67kgs and the inverter unit an additional 9kgs. Much easier weights of equipment to manhandle into the machinery space than our old 100kg generator. From the engineering drawings and careful measurements inside machinery space I was confident that the 2 components would fit and that, even with the cockpit moulding encroaching above, the 2 parts of the soundproofing capsule would be removable for access.

The headache was that the 5000i capsule was cuboid and wider than the doorway into the aft heads. After many more hours poring over the engineering drawings and studying the various photos of the 5000i (several with different ancillaries changed over the years!) I finally hatched a plan as to how we were going to get a 5000i through a doorway seemingly far too narrow to fit it through. Confirming the order was a bit of a leap of faith. With the order placed the Fischer Panda team kicked into gear and a couple of weeks later we had a brand-new generator sat in our hallway at home.

The new generator secured onto the bearers and ready
to be connected up

The first priority was to make up new aluminium bearers which the generator’s flexible feet would be bolted to. A wooden template was made to assist in designing the bearers and spacers so that the new shape of generator could be properly secured. Once cut to the right lengths, the aluminium flat bar was drilled and tapped, and then bolted to the bearers which are part of the hull moulding. The generator’s inverter was also secured to the bulkhead.

A wooden ramp was then built so that, once the generator had been lifted into the heads area, it could be slid up the ramp and into the machinery space. Next came the tricky job of getting the new generator from the saloon and through the narrow doorway into the heads. By temporarily removing the bracket supporting the coolant pump, the iControlled box, and several hoses, the generator was made narrow enough but the sound capsule tray was still too wide. However, by turning the generator on its side the capsule could be hooked around the doorframe 

The finished installation ready for testing

and with the coolant pump bracket removed there was just enough clearance to rotate the generator through the doorway. The plan hatched whilst studying the engineering drawings and photographs had worked which was a huge relief.

The generator was then slid up the ramp into the machinery space and then along 2 wooden beams to move it outboard over the new aluminium bearers. The mounts were then bolted to the bearers to secure the generator.

The next 2 days were spent connecting up the fuel, coolant header tank, exhaust and electrics. A separate electric fuel lift pump also needed to be fitted close to the diesel tank under the saloon sole.

With everything checked and double checked in accordance with the manual, we finally came to the moment of truth and pressed the start button. It was extremely satisfying to hear the new generator fire up first time and settle into very quiet idle speed. The iControlled adjusts the speed of the motor to match the electrical load and we found that the new generator is much quieter than the old one; we are hoping for many years of trouble free service from it.

St Peter Port, Guernsey

Winter Refit – The New Generator (Part 1)

The old generator stripped of parts to reduce its weight and the
 surrounding panels removed to help with access

Our Winter Refit was made up of several large projects; one of which was replacing our generator. During our summer cruise the generator had become increasingly difficult to start. We had gone through a whole series of tests and adjustments to keep it going but then every few days it would turn over but not fire up. The injector seemed okay; it was cleaned but we were expecting to have to fit a new one to properly rule that out. The valve gaps were checked multiple times and bizarrely the generator always seemed to start straight away after those checks. Most worryingly we started to see traces of oil in the cooling seawater ejected from the exhaust and so we stopped running it.

It was clear that the generator was in need of a complete strip down, refurbishment and rebuild. I therefore set about drawing up a list of replacement parts that we would need to order in. Trying to price those parts up highlighted an issue. It would appear that this model of diesel generator motor hadn’t been made in Europe for a few years and with spare parts starting to become scarce, they were surprisingly expensive. Fischer Panda advised me that they don’t supply generators with that diesel motor in them any longer because the engine manufacturing company they had got the motors from had gone bust several years ago. As a result, Fischer Panda had designed a whole new generator to replace the gap in the market.

A major recondition of our existing generator would be possible but it was looking like it would be an expensive and time consuming operation. Additionally, I was concerned that in the future we might have difficulties getting spares; it didn’t seem sensible to invest a lot of time and money into an almost obsolete generator. Instead I started looking in detail at replacement generators available from several manufacturers. A key factor was which ones would fit our machinery space and the tortuous access route into that part of the boat.

The route to our machinery space at the aft starboard corner of Blue Velvet – the old generator
 would need to be carried out through this tunnel and the new generator back in the same way!

Our current generator was a rectangular cuboid shape which just squeezed through the narrow doorway into the aft heads.  It was a heavy lump weighing around 100kgs and manhandling it off the engine beds, through two hatchways and a doorway to get it into the saloon was going to be a challenge.  We would then need to lift it up through the companionway to get it off the boat.

With the machinery space cleared, access was much
better but lifting the generator off the beds and out
 through the hatch would still be difficult

Doors panels and the machinery space flooring were removed to give maximum access.  After disconnecting the generator supply lines I also stripped off every easily removable part of the generator to reduce the weight.

The plan was for one strong character to lie in the back corner of the machinery space and, as a 2 man lift, the generator would be moved off its mounts and then progressively inched out through the hatchways with suitable blocks underneath it. This was the same technique we’d seen used when we had had the original generator replaced with this one.

With everything ready for the lift out, it was time to recruit some extra muscle power. My daughter’s boyfriend Matt was roped in and he also found a friend from the gym who was happy to help. I’m not entirely sure that they knew what they were letting themselves in for!

With 2 muscly characters crammed into the machinery space there wasn’t much room to move and having to lift the generator up and off the beds without any headroom above it was far from easy. However, little by little the generator was manhandled out of the machinery space and into the saloon. Once there we rigged up a rope cradle which was attached to the spinnaker halyard. With another rope and block attached to the backstay we could then use the winches to take the load as we wiggled the generator up through the companionway and out into the cockpit.

The lifting team!  You can also see the spinnaker halyard, block and rope set up we used
to help get the generator up through the companionway and off the boat

A slight bump from a 100kg lump of metal could do a lot of damage so we had padded the doorways as best we could and used lots of protective boards as the generator was progressively moved. Even with those precautions, there was always the concern that we might damage some of Blue Velvet’s beautiful woodwork during the lift out operation. It was, therefore, a great relief when we finally got the old generator up into the cockpit with just a few scratched in the varnish around the aft heads doorway where we had needed to angle the generator to get it through the narrow gap. With smiles all around we were able to use the same spinnaker halyard, rope and block set up to lift the generator off the boat and onto a trolly. A very successful afternoon’s work!

St Peter Port, Guernsey

Winter Refit - New Hatches and Anchor Chain

 Our early August passage from Kinsale towards the Azores was aborted because of leaking windows and a leaking forehatch.  They were certainly not catastrophic leaks but the forehatch leak had been particularly irritating because we had already changed the seal on the forehatch earlier in the year because it had been looking a bit tired and compressed.  The seal change instructions had seemed simple enough, however, getting the new seal to bed down properly into the radiuses at the corners had proved to be much more difficult than expected.  When we had finished, it had all looked good and there had been no leaks during normal sailing conditions, but August’s proper sea trial in F6 confused seas with a lot of water over the deck exposed that the new seal fitting wasn’t really good enough for our planned Atlantic crossing.

Back in Guernsey, a chat with the guys at our local boatyard confirmed that changing the hatch seals was time consuming and very difficult to get right.  As a result, their usual practice was to replace the whole hatch.  Given that one hatch had already looked like its seal needed changing, and recognising that the others were also originals from when Blue Velvet was made, we decided that it would be prudent to take the opportunity to replace all of the hatches with new ones.

Out with the old

Taking advantage of some sunny and dry weather in October weather, we set about removing the forehatch.  Despite our concerns about the bedding sealant, it actually came out relatively easily.  With the bolts and screws removed, we were able to get a chisel under the flange and then progressively work around the hatch cutting the sealant with a knife blade.  Lots of wooden wedges were used to hold the flange up and keep a bit of tension on the bit of the sealant that we were cutting.  It took a bit of time but working very carefully around to avoid damaging the GRP, eventually the hatch popped out and we were able to clean off the old sealant with acetone ready for bedding down the new hatch.

The new hatch bedded down

With a good squeeze of marine sealant all around the flange and then a progressive tightening of the screws and bolts, we were confident that the base of the hatch would be watertight when the sealant had set.  There was clearly a little excess to clean up but a final wipe around with an acetone soaked cloth gave us a neat finish.

The hinge supports were given a bit of a tighten with an Allen key and, with weight from outside, the handles were locked shut.  Once the protective film had been removed the real benefit of fitting new hatches became immediately apparent.  The old hatch had a small amount of sunlight induced crazing but this new hatch was, in comparison, beautiful clear.  One hatch completed…. just 7 more to go!

Aside from the new hatches, the other big delivery we had received this month was a pallet with 100 metres of new anchor chain.  When away cruising we spend a lot of time at anchor and so the galvanising on the chain eventually gets worn away.  The chain is still strong enough to keep the boat secure at anchor but it starts to rust which marks the foredeck and makes it look unsightly.  Our chain was probably good for one more year, especially if we had end for ended it, but in a year’s time we aren’t expecting to be in a location where finding new 10mm DIN 766 metric calibrated chain will be easy.  So 220kg of shiny new chain was lugged down to the marina, each 10 metre point was marked, and then it was loaded into the chain locker.  For anchoring in extreme conditions, we also carry an additional 50 metres of thick stretchy octoplait anchor warp which was spliced to the bitter end of the chain; we hope we never see conditions bad enough that we have to let out 100 metres of chain and the additional 50 metres of warp but it’s there ready if we do.

St Peter Port, Guernsey