The Work
We have so many things to do on the boat that it would be impossible to list them all here but here are the main ones:
- Replace the standing rigging
- Bottom antifoul prep/paint
- Through hull replacement
- Engine full rebuild due to excessive oil consumption
- Plumbing upgrade
- Electrical upgrade
- Electronic upgrade
- Mini keels fibreglass repairs
- Bowsprit installation
- Rudders bearings replacement
- Gelcoat removal and repair on bows (below the waterline)
- Installation of a depth sounder
- Sanding and polishing the hulls
- Fridge and freezer repairs
- Installation of a salt water tap in the kitchen
- Installation of a hydro generator and solar panels
Mast Preparation
It wasn’t easy to fit the whole spaghetti plate inside the mast!
- Windspeed / direction
- Navtex (HF weather info)
- AIS ( Automatic Identification System) basically anti-collision system
- VHF (short range radio)
- Anchor light
- Camera
- Wifi antenna
The Erection
After many weeks of waiting for the mast base plate to be machined (Herve found a crack when he inspected it), we finally fitted the mast back up with the new rigging and a few additions like a wifi antenna, an additional masthead spinnaker halyard and an AIS antenna to name a few.
Mast Base Plate
This is a close up of the crack Herve found.
The old plate was made of 4 pieces welded together and the new one is a single piece machined in a billet of aluminium, much stronger!
Painting Is Fun
The bottom of the boat needs to be painted with a special paint called antifoul which is designed to keep the bottom clean from growth and algae. We chose to apply a product that doesn’t release any chemicals in the water and that lasts for a long time.
It is a pure copper powder which is kept captive in an epoxy resin. The copper is exposed to the saltwater and it oxidises which prevents micro-organism to stick to it.
It’s environmentally friendly but not very easy to apply, every coat needs to be applied on the same day and the weather has to be good for the following 3 days after application. If not, it might wash out if it rains (it’s water based) or it could peel off when the boat is in the water if the humidity is too high during application.
With the help of 4 other people, we started painting at 10am and finished at 6pm to apply 7 coats (11L of epoxy resin, 48kg of pure copper powder and 11L of hardener for the resin).
Engine Rebuild
Due to high oil consumption and smoking like a chimney, the starboard needed some attention.
Herve removed the cylinder head, pistons and crankshaft in situ for finally taking the engine block out to do a full rebuild in the yard’s workshop.
So happy to see the engine back in it’s place!
Fibreglass Repairs
We had a few areas to fix, mostly minor patches but the biggest job was to reinforce the bows for them to handle a bowsprit.
What’s a bowsprit I hear you saying? Well, it’s nothing more than a pole sticking out at the front of the boat where we can attach a downwind sail like an asymmetric spinnaker or a gennaker.
An additional 9 layers of fibreglass glued with Polyester resin and a 10mm aluminium plate should do the job we think; a bit of an overkill but Herve still thinks he is fixing an excavator so it must be strong as!
This is the bowsprit getting painted.
What’s a Typical Day Like?
We usually get up when the yard’s forklift rattles around the boat, back and forth to move the boat stands and the bins: 7:30am
Then we have breaky and take the kids to school for their 8:30 start
As Herve prepared a list of tasks the day before, we start our work duties
Have Lunch around 12:30ish and back on the tools for 1pm
Sophie Picks up the kids from school at 4:30pm and takes them to the beach or a playground as the boatyard is not ideal for them.
Dinner is served around 7pm and Herve usually works until late doing quiet jobs to not wake up the kids.
Looking for little critters is always fun!
Mini Keels Before Repairs
These mini keels commonly called “skegs” are designed to protect the propeller and the rudder, they also serve the purpose of stands when the boat is lifted out of the water and over time they fatigued and needed some love.
Mini Keels During Repairs
Charly holding up the dry fibreglass cloths.
Job done, just need to paint with a bit of copper now.
Good Little Helpers
Amelia loves helping, especially when it involves spraying stuff with a garden hose. Aiming at random people walking past is a common occurrence.
Charly is a fan of making things shine with a wire brush.
Sophie works hard too! Here she is sanding the daggerboards before polishing them.
Installation of the bowsprit
Spot the hazard!
Coming Up
We apologise for the time it took to release this newsletter, we have been very busy and didn’t take the time to compile it until now
In the next Newsletter, we hope to be in the water. The repairs won’t be 100% completed but at least we will be away from the yard noises, dirt and scaring height over the concrete!
Keep checking our FaceBook page for up to date info!
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