Year 2002

 

 

January-inside work only for next three months. Two pairs of hanging knees constructed for cabin from American oak- bolted into existing frames where possible or else external planking with large screws. Chain plates –3pairs made from  stainless steel 60mm  x 8mm flat. Difficult to assess correct angle for attachment of bottle screws. Much help from Dave Clout & Al.- full use of their facilities-makes light work of difficult material.  Excellent idea from Dave –using sliding wedges to hold upper section of chain plate tight between beam shelf & sheer plank thereby minimising lateral movement on vertical pull from rigging. Mark started on cabin interior- starboard seating –first attempt- too high –not good for my short legs! Useful visit to Boat Show with Pam- £700 spent on electronics. – cheap compared to Vic –he will be spending a fortune to kit out his new boat. Horrible wet W/E – last metal floor bracket- securing forward dead wood –preventing lateral movement of mast foot. The heads compartment is nearly complete.

 

February –work started in cabin- first the starboard side: L shaped settee berth  and nav. station.The bench seat is finally located at 14.5” above the floor which with 3” foam cushion should the correct height. The back rest is set into the frames and the top panel completes the panelling –based on a hard wood frame. Really quite difficult to get right due to all the curves. The plywood –supposedly –mahogany faced Far Eastern ½” WBP supplied by Watford Timber  really is very poor quality. I wish I had rejected the second load as well ! 

              16/17th –spring weather is here but will it last? Excellant progress- nav. table in situ and settee berth nearly complete. Heads compartment primed –plumbing needs completion. Morale good! Roof of work shop made watertight by Graham and far end cleared out in preparation for storage of Nancy’s spare furniture.

               23/24th- the portacabin roof still leaks badly. Port side- galley work started. Work top set at 30”. Flavel cooker TOO large (and it really is not that big) due to tight turn on bilges! Oh dear- replacement triple burner hob/grill to be purchased instead and “oven tin” in place of proper oven to be investigated. Does anyone need a good second hand cooker-going cheap –only £100? 

March – the “cool box” won’t fit either under the worktop but at least I can install a decent sink unit without any problems otherwise the galley is coming along fine. The  new Neptune 3000 hob/grill unit  is proving very elusive. Galley sink looks “the business” Wet locker now functional. Plastic waste pipe fitted in place of mast and there is good clearance for use of heads and even space for small wash hand basin –very civilising (for midgets)! A rather large (but welcome) visitor called in for a look over- large crew members will NOT be able to go forward from the cabin –even less attempt the forehatch! Will this create a problem in future? The new hob/grill arrived somewhat the worse for wear (but acceptable). Swings nicely in gimbels –the unit needs stainless steel anti-splash guard panels. Heads plumbing nearly complete.

 

 

April- cabin roof strips with beading pattern added, all sanded down (what a mess!) and treated with Dek Oljs –looking quite nice. Meanwhile skylights are nearly complete-except for safety glass and protective stainless rails. Starboard coving line tackled with great reluctance- very difficult to achieve a smooth line using router held against 3” wooden batten- lots of errors requiring filling with plastic wood but finished result acceptable. The rubbing strip can wait awhile! Cockpit floor panels edged in U shaped rubber channel (£45 cost!) –glued on with Bostic. Teak cockpit floor kit now being assembled. Teak grab rails for coach roof fitted by Mark-excellent job. Faulty wrought iron  keel bolts drifted out and temporarily replaced by 21mm studding – 4 removed without difficulty but number 2 seriously stuck and wedged in by excessive use of undersized drift and 28lb sledge hammer . Total doom & gloom - how could I do this? Rescue plan (to extract bolt)  formulated by Peter Parry & Dave Clout –thank God for friends? Sky lights now being treated with Dek Oljs 2 –coming along fine. Promising new contact in Maldon who will make the new keel bolts in mild steel.

 

May – Two attempts to extract bolt by means drawing it out from bottom of keel with extractor failed due to metal fatigue. Bolt cut in half at ballast/keelson interface by means of keyhole surgery with 14” industrial hacksaw blade. Finally top section drilled out by Dave Clout- using 1 ¾” drill size. Lots of drama –morse end snapped but success eventually with second drill bit. Very hard work (for him and drill!)  Skylight installed –looks good but rain drips in. Large boxy sliding coach roof on low parallel runners built- looks horrible –back to drawing board. Mk2 version built from cutting down Mk1 –sloping runners with low sliding hatch. Just too narrow but looks much better. Spars arrived on May15th –look fine. Gaff saddle missing. Mast lifted into shed for 4 coats of two pack varnish. Rigging order with Cindy Parker cancelled –my patience has finally run out- Classic Marine very helpful in advising on replacement order. Superb book arrived- Hand,Reef & Steer by Cunliffe- a really useful addition to my reading list! Tom –barman at the Bell –wants to give away his 20ft wooden boat-a dream come true? Mobile crane has lifted off hull from keel –kanga drill applied with vigour to top end of bolt but to no avail. Next- move keel to DPC Engineering by means of heavy lift hiab (lorry). New sliding coach roof nearly complete and moves well –at least until rain caused runners to swell –it will fit eventually. Blocks for locating heel of bowsprit  laminated up from old  teak runners. Keel bolt end finally extracted by means of drilling & plasma cutting –found to be entwined around a smaller drift –like two roots of climbing ivy –very odd-inexplicable! Keel returned and crane booked for reassembly next week. Cost:£1000. Plans for buying 20ft wooden ketch  abandoned – unfortunate fall out with Pam. Owner wants to keep her after all –perhaps we can sail her together. What a dreadful month-June can only be better!

 

June-  Jubilee W/E- Mark on holiday- final fitting for sliding coach roof- many hours  spent on “squaring up “ inboard end of bowsprit to fit teak locating blocks. Prepare and fit oak dowel tapering from  2” to 1” x 14” long  to fill “drilled out” cavity in keelson for keel bolt no:2. Unusually straight forward.  This will need re-drilling to size (1”) when keel fitted on Wed. Long overdue tidy up in shed-even the hoover seemed tired afterwards. Ballast keel re-sited wrong way round by Hiab (driver is obviously not a sailer).  2” moat built round top of keel and filled with large quantity of “black pudding” (tar based gunge). The legs are reattached to frame to get extra clearance Hull successfully relocated on to ballast keel and new keel bolts (3-6 only) refitted-all in pouring rain!  At least it looks like a boat again albeit rather high in the sky. Keel bolt holes 1 & 2 drilled through and bolts fitted. The seatings for heads of keel bolts  are excellent –lots of black pudding used and nuts tightened repeatedly –lots of gunge oozing from keel interface –most satisfactory! Finally crane returns again–legs detached  and boat re-sited at ground level again (not exactly level ) and mast stepped –all in ONE hour of frantic effort by Peter Parry ,myself and reluctant crane driver. Raining as usual. Rush home for Dac-Doc session (emergency on call)  from 7-11pm  Off to Oban next day at 5am- why do I feel tired?

           Successful week sailing in Western Isles –pretty eventful  but refreshing- back early (too much wind & rain)- now for the standing rigging- supplied by Moray from Classic Marine. Stalocks (clever little devices for attaching lower ends of wire rope shrouds to rigging screws) to  keep me beat for one day then it is full speed ahead. Mark back at work - great to have him around again. Lots of varnishing work on remaining spars. First attempt at scaling mast a resounding failure. Boom winched up on deck –all 32ft  and located into gooseneck fitting- it REALLY is long! Bowsprit fitted after many trials. Held up by stem head and crane iron fittings –I do wish Dave C. would work a little faster.

 

 

July-life is now more interesting but also more scary! My first trip to the mast head will remain a memorable experience –poor  Mark can’t bear to look up whilst winching –Graham Halden has now taken over-and I feel a great deal happier.      

 Running  rigging set up –first jib & foresail then gaff- peak & throat halyards finally twin topping lifts – 200metres of 12mm rope consumed! Wooden blocks pickled in D1 for 7 days. 3” blocks changed to 4” –former too small. Very exciting and satisfying. Fife rails fitted –essential for halyards –now 8 in number. Thank goodness my luck has changed. Extendable dolphin striker and mainsheet horse needed for completion. Weather very hot- Sandy (younger son) great help up mast.

 

August-mainsheet horse returned for shortening by 5” –Dave C. “not amused”. Finally installed along with 45m. of 14mm rope –now I need some cleats. Boom crutch made from 1” S/S  side tubes and BZ mahogany strut-elegant and useful for supporting boom. Lots of small rigging jobs inc.  running back stays finally completed. Very fetching brass cowl vents purchased for fitting on dorade boxes in front of cabin roof –most satisfying (unfortunately they do not actually vent the heads or wet locker as intended but they look great anyway)

 

September- long awaited visit from Cindy Parker (Wilkinson Sails). Jib luff too long due to upward angulation of bowsprit –to be lowered. Likewise foresail luff wrong- inner forestay set incorrectly at hounds –should be crane iron level. Mainsail (VAST!) needs extra eyes but otherwise OK (relief). Long hot but very enjoyable day. The long wait was worth it. Now for re-jigging the rigging and a second sail fit next month. The boat does feel close to coming alive. Lots more varnish being applied to toe rails and rubbing strip. Disaster- forehatch  accidently  dropped on my fingers- two finger tips fractured –lots of blood & pain++ : trip to A & E on Sunday – more grief but back to work on boat by midweek –not too bad really!  Deck drains connected under deck to drains under counter stern –water collected into water butt for future use. Cleats & fairleads fitted to stern -trial & error as usual. Winches mounted on BZ mah. Blocks –offset hemispherical- layered and turned on lathe. Quite labour intensive. Glued and screwed to deck & cockpit sides walls.

 

October-weather still holding good- varnishing coming on well. Stern deck  vent arrived (at LONG last) from Vetus- look smart. Companion way doors- slatted in braz. mah- fitted with difficulty. Deck draining working well- water butt full after a few hours of light rain. 14 hessian sacks now arrived for the “take up” procedure. Sandy back up the mast –new inner fore stay fitted and other rigging arrangements completed. Winches seated on mahogany bases –very smart! Work well –excellent purchase for bosun chair lift . Now it’s raining again +++ Very miserable indeed. Time to fit the bilge pump assembly. Pump expired after 15minutes- not a good omen! Cockpit floor needs sealing (once & for all)- new sealing strip required after building up floor rim.

 

November- it’s wet so retreat to forepeak again. Rather strange looking pipe cot berths designed – 6 ½ ft long by 2ft max(head) reducing to 6” foot end- canvas slings made by Valiant Sails (Maldon)  only suitable for Chinese crew with bound feet! Head down tilt –good for swollen ankles- no danger of crew oversleeping. More (& more) painting –seams are rather large- panic ++ (it’s going to sink big time!). Most helpful day on East Coast sorting out “take up” of dried out seams –don’t panic- let nature do the work- oh blessed words – Geoff King (Pin Mill) –proposes slow immersion over 10-14days but John Munns(Fox,s marina) suggests the “quick dunk” method with powerful rescue pumps on board just in case!  This needs careful thought but latter method is quite appealing –proceed to quotes. Second & final sail fitting session with Cindy Parker –late start (no surprise!) –finish in pitch black. –all appears satisfactory. Look over 19ft carvel wooden cruiser as temp. boat- (Nancy’s suggestion) – at Tollesbury- not too bad- should have done this last year- being boatless is horrible.

 

December-many hours of hard work cleaning and sealing the bilges, followed by coats of primer and red bilge paint. Tidying up the cabin has started in earnest. Time to rediscover the engine and complete fuel connections. Rear cabin bulkhead and lids for access hatches completed. Cabin/ heads door installed 1” thick- should act as “watertight” door in case of severe flooding! Some obstruction to passage way but acceptable. Useful time spent on Xmas & Boxing Day doing odd jobs- nasty head cold – pretty miserable time (if all said & done!) New Year’s Eve- engine started using internal cooling circuit only –total disaster when external cooling circuit added (using header tank)– “dead engine” and external circuit water draining from inlet manifold. What have I done to my new engine? At least the Xmas photo looks OK- perhaps next year will be kinder!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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