Pre-departure Lift & Polish

Nicky jetwashing BV

There's snow on the ground and we chose to play with a hosepipe and water. Given the air temperature you would be fully justified in questioning our sanity. Explaining that "my stern gland has a slight leak" would most likely raise an eyebrow or two rather than providing a full explanation, however, a few small drops of oil and water spotted dripping from our stern gland (propeller shaft seal) last September, and confirmed when we were sailing over Christmas, set in chain a decision-making process that led to a 'bracing' (= chuffing cold) few days working in the boatyard this week.

The transom polished up nicely

We had always wanted to give BV's hull a clean and polish just before our planned departure for NW Spain in 2 months time. That was for both cosmetic and practical reasons: all yachts sail much faster with a clean bottom and any extra polish on her topsides would help to protect BV from the strong sunshine we are hoping to find. Sadly back in November when I asked about space on the hard and the availability of the travel hoist in March, the yard staff looked at me as though I was a simpleton; surely I should have known that there would be no space on the hard and that the crane was already fully booked well into April lifting people's yachts back into the water in time for the 2013 season.

But for the small drops of oil we would have forgone polishing the topsides and used the nearby Sealift 2 submerging platform to lift us out in March. They lift you out for about 45 minutes, just long enough to jetwash BV's bottom before the platform is re-submerged and you have to move away to let the next yacht in. The drip, however, could not be ignored and it needed BV to be lifted out onto the hard to allow part of the drive shaft to be disconnected and drawn out. So, a deal was brokered to lift out BV in the last remaining space in January. It seemed like quite a good plan back in November when it was significantly warmer.

Prop polished up and then covered in lanolin wax

And so it was that this week I found myself at the helm of a 12 ton sailing yacht embarrassingly looking like it was about to become stuck sideways across the narrow entrance to the travelhoist pen. Proof that one of the unwritten rules of sailing is that there is never anyone watching when you 'park' a yacht perfectly, however, the whole world (or at least a good handful of boatyard staff) seems to be looking on when you get it wrong? Reversing a long fin keel yacht with a strong headwind is, admittedly, about the hardest manoeuvre to get right as they just want to go sideways when reverse is selected and the wind blows the bow away. But.... ones ego still takes a bruising when you are the one providing the 'entertainment' in a marina.

We had already discovered that if I went into the travelhoist forwards BV's forestay would hit the crossbeam when she was lifted, which is why she had to go in backwards. This wasn't a problem last time because the mast had been taken off first. The lift itself went okay apart from one heart stopping moment when the forward sling slipped just as she was being lifted out of the water. That could have ended our planned departure abruptly if BV had slipped out of the slings over the hardstanding; we have now learnt to always insist that the strops are lashed together wherever we are lifted in the future.

Once ashore the powerful  jetwash quickly cleaned off the small amount of slime and grot on the underside and then BV was moved into a cradle so that we could clean up the propeller and polish her topsides. Hard work, even with an electric polishing machine, but the results are spectacular.


















BV gleams with the reflections (including of the photographer) in her blue topsides; well worth the effort.

The new stern gland

The cosmetic improvements were most satisfying but the main reason for the lift was changing the stern gland. Not surprisingly we prioritise anything that is key to keeping the sea water on the outside of the hull so changing the stern gland at the first sign of any leak is a logical step. Our last one was very well made and, provided you looked after it with annual oil changes, was very long lived. Unfortunately it is no longer manufactured, I suspect because the profit margins were not there for a reliable, expensive to manufacture product. Getting a comparable replacement was surprisingly difficult because there is not much of the shaft between the stern tube and the shaft coupling. It seems that the last stern glad was quite compact and we found that the available dripless seals needed more clearance. After much searching, we found the stern gland pictured above. It's similar to the Volvo type of seal but with a couple of improvements: a water inlet to properly lubricate and flush the cutlass bearings plus a removable cap which allows the injection of silicon lubricating grease. Both should help keep it running well for several years to come. Fitting it was comparatively easy. The hardest part was driving out a rolled pin which goes through both the coupling and the drive shaft. Once that had been removed, and the bolts on the coupling loosened, we were able to draw out the shaft with me working on the inside and Nicky jiggling and pulling the propeller on the outside. The new stern gland was then fitted and the cleaned shaft pushed back into position with a small removable plastic device temporarily protecting the lips of the seal. After a bit of bashing to drive the pin back in, tightening of the bolts and connection of the water supply, the job was done. It needed a quick squeeze once BV was back in the water to let out any trapped air and since then we have not seen a single drop of water from it, which is the way we would like it to remain.

London Boat Show trophies

We have also been starting to collect together the last few bits and pieces that we need. In particular things that have left until close to our departure because they have an expiry date. For example, all four of the fire extinguishers have now been replaced so we can forget about them for a few years. The EPIRB (emergency beacon) battery also needed replacing but that is an expensive game that has to be done by a qualified technician. In the end, weighing up the costs, we decided to retire our 13 year old beacon and replace it with a new one that transmits for longer and has a longer period between battery replacements.

The London Boat Show provided an opportunity for us to pick up the 2013 almanacs plus a few other sundries. It was pretty exciting for us to actually be buying the electric charts for the Mediterranean and the last few courtesy ensigns for countries that we hope to be visiting over the next couple of years. It brings it home how close we actually are to setting off.

More Homework Required

Whilst we are waiting for the windows to be resealed we've taken the opportunity to remove the soft furnishings from BV. She's going to be our main home for quite some time so we wanted to check over all of the seat cushions and mattresses. The covers are all fine. They have now all been washed and we just need to reinforce the stitching in one or two places. The foam inside, however, was slightly saggy on the high-use seating areas and so we decided that it really should be replaced.

Getting hold of high quality replacement foam is very easy through suppliers on the internet but it tends to be available cut into pretty simple square and rectangular shapes. Our issue was that BV's mattresses and seat cushions needed considerably more sculpting to fit around the curves and the woodwork. Trying to cut those intricate shapes with a sharp knife would not have worked well and the only foam cutters we could find seemed to be very expensive top-of-the-range commercial spec equipment; definitely outside our price range for a one-off job on BV.

























Fortunately for us, all was not lost. Digging around on the internet we discovered a fantastic tip on how to cut foam... use an electric carving knife. Absolute genius! The reciprocating blades cut through the foam very easily and we found that, with a little care and teamwork with one of us watching each side, we were able to cut even the most intricate shapes really neatly. The new firm reflex foam has really made a difference. The mattresses and seat cushions are much firmer, they are certainly more comfortable and have a much better shape. Definitely a job worth doing and not difficult either with the old foam and the covers available as templates to aid the 'sculpting' process.

The start of stripping back the varnish

Nicky has turned her hand to sorting out the three troublesome cabin doors. Their last coats of varnish just didn't work out and appeared to lift an old lower coat in a few patches. Frustrating but there was nothing for it but to strip back the layers of varnish, sanding pretty much as far as bare wood. Tedious preparation work but really important to get right if the final effect is to do justice to the amount of effort involved and the quality of finish to which we aspire. Sadly, in the marine environment varnished areas will always need regular attention. Even if Nicky achieves the absolute perfect finish this time round it will be relatively temporary with BV needing some more TLC and varnish work on the same doors in a year or two. Whilst we are on our travels there is no doubt that keeping BV up to spec will prevent us from getting bored; there is always going to be an outstanding maintenance task or two to stop us from getting too lazy.

Nicky's 'varnishing shop' takes over the house

Varnishing the cabin doors whilst they were still fitted to BV during the winter was guaranteed to end in disappointment; varnish does not go on well in cold and damp air. So, to give ourselves the best chance of success, the cabin doors were brought home. Our spare bedroom was lined with plastic to make a warm and protected environment to complete the varnishing and between-coat sanding. Nicky thinks that she might get away with around seven coats of varnish with the last couple being in a satin finish.  That would be very good considering that you can only cover one side at a time and that each side needs about 24hrs to dry hard enough to be moved without leaving fingerprints on it. It's a long slow process.

As a result of our experiences with varnishing over the years I have to say that I am in awe of the sailors who own all wooden yachts; particularly those with varnished wooden topsides.  Whilst BV is beautifully fitted out in teak throughout the interior and that does take a lot of work to keep looking good, at least the surfaces are inside the boat and therefore protected from the worst of the elements and UV. I sometimes wonder how owners of wooden yachts ever get the time to actually go sailing in amongst the varnishing work.

Whilst Nicky has been busy with a varnish brush, I have been busy with a paint brush. The passerelle project is progressing reasonably well. An irritating setback there has also resulted in some stripping back because of a sub-standard topcoat finish. However, now we are using a different brand of undercoat and topcoat we seem to be back on track and the results are looking good so far. The final, hopefully gleaming, finish will be revealed in a later blog.

The Start of the Last Big Pre-departure Task

We knew that getting the windows out was likely to be a major task. On 8 January we removed all of the screws holding the windows in place and handed over to Barry the shipwright so that he could do the potentially damaging part of actually removing the windows and frames. The frames are made from aluminium and need to be levered out very carefully so that the are not distorted or the anodising damaged. Having removed hundreds of windows Barry has the experience to know just how much force can be used. Much as it would have been quite satisfying to do the work ourselves, if we had tried to learn how strong the frames are by removing BV's windows, we'd most likely have run up a big bill for new window frames; a potentially expensive way of learning we felt best to avoid.

The first window - not budging!

Despite Barry's best efforts, however, the first window did not want to come out. What was supposed to be a half day job to remove eight windows was starting to look like it would take two days. Barry was on the verge of delaying his afternoon clients' work when suddenly the first window popped out. It was a great relief to actually get the first window out and, even better, there was no damage to either the gelcoat or the aluminium frame. The only issue was that it had taken an hour and a half to remove just one window.

One done - only seven more to go!

Before

After

Amazingly the second window took just ten minutes to remove and then the same for each subsequent window. Barry was on a roll and got the whole job, including cleaning up the gelcoat with acetone, completed by early afternoon.

Closer inspection of the first frame showed that it had been put in with a different sealant. It had probably been removed at some stage and replaced with the wrong sort of sealant. We were very pleased that there was just one like that!



We have now dropped off the windows and frames with a company that specialises in making and refurbishing windows like ours. They will split the aluminium frames apart, remove the glass and then, after cleaning out all of the old perished rubber sealant, will rebuild them with new sealant so they are watertight again. That will take a couple of weeks to complete. In the interim, we will have to learn to live with Barry's idea of a zany new colour scheme for BV!

New Year Workout

After the Christmas excesses, whilst everyone else seems to be joining gyms and enthusiastically taking up intense fitness programmes, we have found an alternative way of working-out; replacing our anchor chain.

Our old chain definitely needed to be re-galvanised or replaced before we set off. We had 60 metres of 10 millimetre chain but have decided that, because we expect to be anchoring much more often, we should increase that. Despite the extra weight we have gone for 100 metres of 10 millimetre chain.

100 metres of chain weighs around 230 kilogrammes. After removing the old 60 metres of chain, lugging the new chain down to the pontoon and laying it out to mark the lengths, our muscles were definitely telling us that we had been moving over a third of a ton of steel.

We have spliced the chain to 50 metres of thick octoplait rope. The combined 150 metres of anchor chain and warp will allow us to anchor safely in up to about 35 metres depth of water. They somewhat fill the anchor locker but, with BV's canoe shaped bow, the extra chain forward has not changed the trim excessively; she actually now sits level rather than very slightly stern down.

So after all that work replacing the chain it's time to go to the gym for a rest!

Our First Sail in 2013

All of that waiting for a good weather window was worth it as the sea was much more settled when we finally set off from Guernsey on 2 January 2013. We had a fantastic crossing to Portsmouth which only took 16 hours. Nicky's navigation calculations worked out perfectly; we were pushed northwards from Guernsey and on through the Alderney Race by the tide, with our speed over the ground in double figures. Once across the Channel, we arrived at the Needles Channel just as the tide started to flow east to help us through the Solent as the wind dropped off at night. For most of the passage we had 15-23 knots of wind on the beam so BV sailed fast and comfortably. Visibility, however, was not great dropping to 1-3 miles mid Channel. Radar and AIS technology helped us cross the busy shipping lanes safely but despite the 'big picture' they provide, at times it still feels as though we are the frog trying to cross the motorway in that old computer game 'Frogger'.

The best part of the passage, however, was watching the sunrise.

Storm Bound

The strong gales blowing into the English Channel have kept us in Guernsey. That has been a bonus as we have been able to spend more time with family. But in the short lulls between squalls and rain showers we have wondered if we are being too cautious and should have set off by now. Fortunately the excellent local weather forecasts broadcast on Marine VHF by Jersey Coastguard include actual wind reports from the area. Hearing about 50 knot winds at Cap de la Hague, which we would pass close to on the way north, persuaded us that we have made the right decision to stay in the shelter of Victoria Marina in St Peter Port.

Servicing one of the genoa winches

We have taken the opportunity to spend two days servicing all of the winches. The photos are of one of the large genoa winches in pieces. Each of those took an hour and a half to strip apart, degrease with paraffin and reassemble with new grease and oil. With so many small parts, including small springs that can ping off, we were very pleased when all seven winches were serviced and back together without the loss of any components. Our cockpit tent, once again, came into its own in providing a sheltered work area.

The offending shaft seal

We finished off the routine winter service of the engine by changing the impeller in the seawater pump. Whilst doing that we discovered a slight leak from the pump's drive shaft area. The pump housing has spaces in it so that water can escape if the seals go. When this has happened in the past I was advised that it was not economic to change the seals, "just change the whole pump". It was certainly an easy solution but left a large hole in the wallet. Two days before New Year, however, was not a good time to order in a complete new pump. I was also concerned that any mistakes or damage from stripping the pump down could cause us to miss a weather window.

Geoff Tucker, the local Beta Engines agent, came to our rescue and, whilst his wife did a quick bit of shopping, he spent 45 minutes striping down the pump and replacing the leaky seal. He even showed me every step and talked through the considerations so that we would be able to do it ourselves during our travels. Great service on a Saturday morning and a far better (and more economic) solution than changing the whole pump - the Finance Director is very pleased!

Turk's Head knot

Much more interesting than leaky pumps was the results of Nicky's decorative ropework on the steering wheel. We had to cut off the old, rather tatty, Turk's Head which marked the wheel's centre point when we re-sewed the leather cover earlier in the month. Nicky's new Turk's Head knot is much smarter and completes the refurbishment work on the wheel.

There is still lots to do but the list of jobs finally seems to actually be getting shorter. Just as well with just three months to go before we set off!

Fortunately being storm bound is not all maintenance work though; the lunches can be very good!

Guernsey for Christmas

After three days of gales and squalls, on 21 December the weather finally settled down with a few hours of light south easterly winds and blue skies. Later in the day the wind was forecast to come from the west (the direction we would go on leaving Cherbourg) and would then back to the southwest around about the time we would need to turn southwest to reach Guernsey. Itching to get going, we were kept in Cherbourg waiting for the tide to turn. The Alderney Race was the barrier and, to avoid very unpleasant conditions and strong adverse tides there, Nicky had calculated that we should not leave Cherbourg until 1300hrs. We had until midnight to get to Guernsey before the next gale was due to hit the Channel Islands area.

We slipped on time and found the wind to be exactly as forecast; directly on the nose for the whole of our passage. Disappointingly after all of the excess wind in the gales there was now not enough wind to get BV sailing properly either. Reluctantly we accepted that if we tacked backwards and forwards in the light wind we would not make it to Guernsey before the gale hit, so the engine stayed on for the whole passage. We tied up to the waiting pontoon in St Peter Port at 2040hrs and, as we toasted our arrival, the heavens opened. We smiled realising that not only had we made it to Guernsey in time for Christmas but also that we had beaten the bad weather. Next time, hopefully, we'll do it under sail in order to properly earn our arrival tipple.

Fighting for a spare berth in St Peter Port's Victoria Marina

Since it was neaps, high water was at about midday.  We spent the morning refuelling as soon as there was enough water at the fuel berth and then waiting for there to be just enough water over the marina sill to get in there before showering and changing in time for a planned lunch in the Guernsey Yacht Club with Nicky's father and his partner.

Despite the tide constraints we managed to arrive spot on time. As we relaxed in the bar we mused that, on the one hand, we would not need to worry about tides delaying our departures or ruling our timings when we are cruising in the Mediterranean but that, on the other hand, light wind passages under motor would be a very real possibility. The oft stated cruising folklaw is that in the Mediterranean there is either too much wind or what there is is directly on the nose. With our escape plan we have traded the benefits of normal employed life for time. If we have got that right then we hope that we will not feel the same time pressure to get to destinations that prompted the cynical assessment of the sailing weather in the Mediterranean. Roll on next year so that we can find out!

For now though it was time to enjoy time with the family and the normal excesses of Christmas. Nicky's father even ensured that we had enough Christmas decorations to set the scene in BV.

Winter Madness?

With the normal succession of Atlantic depressions which sweep in from the west, sailing in the English Channel during winter is regarded by many as bordering upon madness, especially if you have any sort of deadlines to meet. Other than trying to get to Guernsey to be with family for Christmas, for once we had no 'getting back to work' deadline or essential appointments that would restrict us. We had also just picked up our mainsail from the sailmaker so after bending it on we wanted to get back out on the water sailing. BV had been in port too long!

Cherbourg's Visitors' Pontoon

On Tuesday 18 December there was a small weather window between depressions so at 0600 we set off to cross the Channel. The forecast had a strong south easterly wind which would hit us towards the end of our passage so we aimed to tactically position ourselves up-wind and up-tide of Cherbourg's entrance when that was due. We had enough time to cross to Cherbourg before the weather turned grim again.

The strong south easterly did not materialise so we ended up sailing a little further than we needed to but it was a good crossing. Strangely the visitors' section of the marina was empty apart from French sailing school yachts practising mooring and a couple of live-aboard yachts.

There was also a huge brand new Swiss flagged catamaran with a busy team of technicians finishing off commissioning her. The purple 'bling lights' all of the way up the leading edge her mast and matching floodlights for her boarding steps certainly make her stand out at night when in port; not an additon we intend for BV.

Consolations

Shortly after arriving our weather window closed firmly with the wind blowing very strongly directly from the direction of Guernsey for the next 3 days. We bravely decided to stay in Cherbourg and take advantage of the good wine, cheeses and seafood. Excellent consolations to make up for being held up in port.




It was not all R&R though. A recent delivery of sacrificial anodes for the fridge and the engine plus a handful of screws and the pieces of varnished teak ensured we were never short of a job or two. Changing the fridge anodes ended up being more troublesome than expected with some debris from the old anodes blocking the cooling pipes; we had to pull the water cooling circuit apart and flush it all through to get things working properly again.

We also used the time to fit the spice rack/shelf in the forward galley locker and screw the new teak kitchen roll holder into position. All successes from our labours the previous week. However, the one topic not to be mentioned in conversation at the moment is the wooden cabin doors. We have refitted them to check that they fit properly after being trimmed and having the drip rail fitted, it's just that the quick couple of extra coats of varnish to tidy them up have not come up well enough. We now have a New Year's task of stripping the old varnish right back on the inside of the doors and starting the varnishing again. Definitely frustrating but worth doing properly for both cosmetic and practical reasons.

Teak Week

A couple of years ago Nicky announced that she really didn't like the plastic kitchen roll holder in the galley area so we have been on the lookout for a replacement ever since. Sadly it has been a fruitless search. We did find one that might have worked with a bit of modification but it turned out to be too large and prevented the fridge lid from being opened up.

With only three and a half months to go we wanted to find a neat solution so that we can have everything on BV as perfect as possible for when we set off.

The kitchen roll holder therefore fell in with another couple of other jobs that would necessitate a trip to the teak supplier we use based in Poole.

Starting to look good after just a couple of coats of varnish

So, armed with some nice new strips of teak it was time to retreat into my 'man cave' and be creative.

After a few hours with sawing, drilling and sanding noises coming from the garage I proudly emerged with a new teak kitchen roll holder. Making the expanding bar to hold the roll was an interesting game but it will allow the holder to be mounted vertically where the existing plastic one sits.  It just needs a few more coats of varnish to finish it off which will hopefully be done in time to fit it next week when we visit BV.

The other pieces of teak were for making a spice rack and a drip rail for the door to the forward heads.

When showering in the forward heads the way the outward opening door fits in the frame allows a little shower water to get under the door and onto the floor of the forecabin. A minor irritation which necessitates mopping up the water after every shower. When we were last on BV we removed the door for the forward heads (We now have three of the four cabin doors at home) so we were able to cut, shape and fit a drip rail which we hope will divert the shower water back into the heads area.

Drip rail to keep the shower water inside the forward heads

Nicky's varnishing shop

The spice rack will be a shelf at the back of one of the three lower lockers above the cooker. It's the only one of those lockers not to have a small shelf at the back so it was easy to copy the design of the other shelves. Once in place it will allow us to use the dead space at the top of the back of the locker and therefore free up storage space elsewhere.

With lots of pieces of teak needing varnishing Nicky's varnishing area in the kitchen is starting to look a little crowded. The spare bedrooms in the house are also full of cabin doors all in various stages of being finished.

The loading plan

When not applying layers of varnish Nicky has also been busy preparing the loading plan. There are so many little nooks and hidden stowage spaces on BV that we know we will quickly lose track of what we have onboard. We can also envisage knowing that we have a vital spare part onboard to fix something but just not know quickly enough where it is. Nicky has therefore started to number and name every locker and compartment on diagrams of the inside of the yacht. We'll be able to tie these in with the lists we have started to make of everything we have onboard. It will all be ready for when we complete the final loading early next year; we just need to be disciplined and keep it updated when we take things on and off BV.

A Free Puzzle with Every Rustler

I've commented before about how good Rustler Yachts are at ensuring that everything on their yachts can be removed for servicing or replacing. The only tricky bit sometimes is working out what cunning solution their cabinet makers have designed in.

As part of our work in the galley area we decided that we wanted to replace the rather old and stained melamine mugs we have with nice new ones. Unfortunately all of the new mugs we can find are just a couple of millimetres larger in diameter and so don't fit the the holes in the cup and glasses holder in the galley locker. We needed to remove the holder so that some of the holes could be enlarged.

Unfortunately whichever way we turned the cup and glasses holder it would not come out of the locker.  That was even after we had removed some small blocks in the tracks so the locker doors could slide as far out of the way as possible.

An interesting puzzle.

After some careful inspection we worked out that, after removing two screws, the left hand side of the locker frame neatly slid out leaving just enough space to remove the cup and glasses holder.





Once it was slid back into place you wouldn't guess how easily this piece of the frame could be removed; it's fantastic craftsmanship. We'll just have to be very careful when we varnish that we don't inadvertently stick any pieces of the cabinets together.

Ready for sanding and re-varnishing

With the holder removed it was easy to enlarge the holes a couple of millimetres using a flap wheel and then cut some notches for the handles of the mugs so that they will sit properly. With that all done the holder is now ready for sanding and re-varnishing.