A great weekend thus far interspersed with periods of utter frustration.

First up, welded a piece of stainless rod onto the anchor. Our anchor catches the bowsprit cable every time we haul it in so the new piece of stainless should help the anchor slide along it and settle into it's holder ok. Hopefully.

Next, our plan was to keep the two kayaks on the swim platform while underway. I managed to squeak one on there, but the second is going to need to live on the aft deck.

The aft morse controls needed fitting and Chandlery Rob has been on my case to pay him for the cables, so I spent a day crouched in the engine bay fitting everything. Well, as it turns out the gearbox selectors work fine but one smashed morse cable later, the throttle cables just do not work.

 

Update! I got them working this morning (Monday). I woke up with a Eureka moment at 06:00 (sorry Lauren) - basically, rather than having a nut on either side of the bit that connects to the throttle, I changed it to a nut on only the pulling side. What this means is that when you pull the throttle, it slides along the throttle that isn't being pulled (rather than moving the cable). Make sense? Well, if not, rest assured it just works.

I pulled apart the the morse controls and changed it from push to pull, but still no luck. Anyway, here's what I spent my Saturday night doing....

The throttle selectors will be going back to the supplier and we'll see what they come up with.

Things ordered:
- 15hp outboard. I found a good condition outboard in Wales that should be arriving on a pallet tomorrow. As good as the 8hp has been, a 15hp will get us on a plane a lot easier fully loaded and move us around the anchorage a lot easier.

- Two sheaves. Our aft steering is still not right and the cables are attached to the rudder stock at the wrong angle so I did some hunting, and found two sheaves in Idaho for $29. The guy's happy to ship them to me but curious as to why I'd be happy to pay $59 for shipping..... given that comes to £60 all up, and two sheaves in the UK would cost £400, it's a proper bargain.

- Rutland 914i wind turbine. Those of you who've followed the blog for a while will know all the problems I've had with the Istabreeze wind turbines.... well, I swore off that design and decided I'd get a local 6 blade version. They have a great reputation and are absolutely silent. Anyways, this one came up 20 miles away and it's brand spankers but the guy's had it for 2 years and never installed it (still in the box) so the 2 year warranty is null and void. That'd normally be a problem but ebay give a 3 month warranty and since we're leaving in 5 months, a 2 year warranty wouldn't be any good anyway (it's not like I'm going to send a wind turbine back from the Caribbean). Anyways, I paid 3/4 of the brand new price and picked it up this morning. 

So that's about it for today. More work to be done in the lead up to Christmas, three days off, then hitting it for another week and a half before it's time to head back to work.

Have a great Christmas everyone.

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Another weekend closer to departure ticks by. This weekend I needed to change the ally angle that was supporting the steering cables for thicker mild steel, and also fitting the wood to the swim platform.

The mild steel angle fitted up amazingly quickly (for a boat job anyway), so it was time to crack on with the swim platform. We re-bolted the steel supports and sealed everything with a touch of 5200, then fitted the hardwood planking.

A light trim later and I'm relatively happy with it, although it'll need another trim as it's too wide.

After that, I had a spare day so fitted the cover to the guest cabin mattress.

Doesn't seem like much got achieved, but it filled up the weekend quite easily. Anyway, it's the last week at work before the holidays then I've two weeks off to get more boat work done. It never ends.

5 1/4 months to go.

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Another weekend, more progress on the boat.

First up was painting the forward and aft trim I fitted back in November. It's one of those jobs I've been meaning to do, and finally got around to actually getting it done.

Saturday morning dawned and I went off to collect our packages from the boat yard office. The swim platform steel had arrived, as had the new waste tank (and a whole lot of other little bits & pieces).

The steel arrived in five pieces, with four of them needing a small trim to adjust to the angles of the transom, and the one large piece to be cut in half diagonally to act as the vertical support (clear as mud?) Anyway, out came the grinder and we had that all done relatively quickly, then I put my newly improved welding skills to use and fabricated up the supports.

The tide was fast then going out so we positioned the dinghy behind the boat and drilled / attached the supports to the boat. Infuriatingly, I attached the outer bolts first, meaning the inner bolts are now impossible to drill from outside... added to that, the weather dropped below freezing and the 5200 hasn't cured, so I'm planning on removing the supports this coming weekend, drilling out and fitting the inner bolts, then fitting the hardwoood swim deck.

While all this merriment was going on outside, Lauren cracked on with labeling up our courtesy flags (all sixty of them). These flags have to be flown on our starboard spreader once we've cleared into a country, so we figured we might as well do a bulk order and get them all now.

Sunday morning dawned and with rain predicted, I fitted up our new, smaller waste tank. The wood support structure below it still needs to be built, but for all intents and purposes it's in place.

 

That about covers this weekend. Being back at work means progress has slowed down considerably, but we're still on track to have everything done for departure. I also ordered up the new Aries rudder tube extension, so we'll hopefully get a test sail in over the Christmas break.

Right, back to life in the office. 5 1/2 months to go...

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It's been a couple of weeks since our last update but with 6 months to go - and me going back to work this week - we put in a big final week of ticking jobs off the list.

First up was sorting out some mildew under the aft cabin bed. This has been caused by a combination of the colder weather and there being no airflow holes in the bed base. Cue a morning with the holesaw and drill, and thirty holes later, the problem seems fixed. I'm not too worried, as after this winter, we don't plan on being anywhere too cold for quite some time....

Next, the foam arrived for the forward cabin. Those lucky folk who come visit or crew for us will get this cabin - it's pretty comfy if I do say so myself. Anyways, foam cut out and now just needs covering.

The Mikuni diesel heater has been quite useful this year but wasn't heating the salon too well (where we spend most of our time). Anyway, I removed the wheelhouse outlet and now the rest of the boat is much warmer, with the wheelhouse warming up a bit slower as the warm air rises there.

A replacement battery monitor was next. We spent a lot of money on a whizz-bang Merlin setup - frankly, it's been pretty average and the battery monitor was pretty pathetic. Onto ebay it went and we picked up and fitted a new Victron unit, which gives us a lot more info (% total, % remaining, watts and amps being used, amps used since last recharge). Plus it's blue. Awesome.

We've decided not to use the davits (courtesy of the Aries wind vane) so the dinghy needed a new home on the foredeck. To fit though, it needed to be 2ft shorter so a week or so later with the angle grinder and it's now all done and ready to go.

We then had a drizzly day so I cracked on with some wiring. With the wind gen's both now removed (DO NOT buy an Istabreeze - they are rubbish), we needed to clean up the wiring area and also wire in the watermaker - both of which are now done. The watermaker now just needs to be plumbed in; a perfect job for a drizzly winter day.

On that same drizzly day, we pulled apart one of the forward cupboards and removed the diesel day tank that was installed to supply the Dickinson (another useless item). This now cleans up another space for food storage - likely baking items due to the location.

Same drizzly day - I fitted some hatch surrounds. This has been a job that I've needed to do for AGES and finally ordered in some thin ply to get it done.

The sun then came out so the forward genoa supporting line was replaced with 7x19 wire instead (much less likely to wear through).

Last up, we worked on the aft helm - the steering cables were binding on the autopilot sensor support, so we flipped it around and upside down, and it now works (and clears the cables). I made a quick visit to our local wood yard and grabbed a bargain on some hardwood to build the Morse control base for the external helm. This will make Chandlery Rob happy, as he sourced some throttle and gearbox cables for us, and I need to hurry up and see if they fit. Best be keeping our chandlery man happy....

Our courtesy flags also arrived this week - all 58 of them to cover our trip around the world.

We also ordered a few bits - both rope cutters (to be fitted at the haulout) and.... the wood and steel for our swim platform. I'm planning on fitting it over the next two weekends and hopefully, we'll be able to fit our kayaks on it.

So that's about it really. 25 weeks to go (17 weeks 'til haul out) and whilst we still have quite a few jobs to tick off the list, progress is coming along very well. Back to the office tomorrow though so the next update should cover off the watermaker....

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Another big week of boat progress, but unfortunately not a real photogenic one.

The week started with me having enough of all the bits in the forward cabin - basically, it had become our unofficial dumping ground, so I rather unceremoniously emptied everything into the salon. As luck would have it, the very next day typically would have been a cracker for a sail, so we set ourselves a one week goal to get everything installed / tweaked, and that with only 4.5 months 'til haul out, we'll sail whenever the weather allows.

Cue much running around and completing of jobs I've been putting off.

Up first was a visit to Chandlery Rob (don't worry Rob, nobody knows who you are), to have a good ol' gripe about the current state of chandlery prices, and to obtain some latches and locks for the cabin doors we recently fitted.

Next (and between rain showers) was cutting up all the remaining engine bay foam and fitting it in the engine bay. I coincided this with our monthly engine run up to keep things a little warmer, given how chilly it's been recently.

I also had some reservations about mounting the watermaker pump in one of the wheelhouse alcoves, so fitted some extra foam to the back of the access panels to keep things quiet.

The huge pile of wood from up forward needed cutting up next, so between rain we duly got it done, fitted and painted. Part of that was fitting a couple of book shelves to the aft cabin - many thanks to Ikea for providing all the parts.

 

The steering has always had a bit of slop in it, so I attacked a piece of bronze with a file and hacksaw, and bashed it in place with a club hammer (it ain't moving now). The great news is there's no more slop at the rudder / quadrant end (which means the aft helm will be perfectly precise). The not so great news is our internal steering still has a bit of slop but given the steering box costs £5k to rebuild, I can live with that. On that note, I also rather liberally coated the aft helm in a spray lubricant to make it spin easier. It must've sat for a while as it was rather gunged up but after an afternoon of elbow grease, we're making some good progress and I'll be connecting the steering cables tomorrow.

Here's the cables connected at the rudder stock end:

And lastly, we helped a friend take their 60t trawler for a brief motor to fuel up and back, and had a crack at the helm. Given the size, it was a case of turn the wheel and wait for the boat to respond, something akin to flying a 747 when you're used to Cessnas. Hey ho, was good fun and allowed us to get some profile shots of our boat to see how the aft deck boxes and helm look.

So that's it for this week. I'm back to London for the night to crack on with my welding course then with work so slow, back to crack on for another week of tweaking and maybe a test sail.

4.5 months 'til haul out....

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A bit short on photos this week (the rain stopped us from taking them yesterday) but some good progress. The rain has been shortlived tho - we had the hottest Halloween on record last week which has allowed us to really crack on.

I've never been too happy with the running rigging - undersized and too difficult to use. The Day Skip course highlighted some potential changes we could make so after ordering a few blocks from the chandlery (and scrounging some spare 10mm line from our rope locker), both mainsheets now run through a 3:1 tackle and each boom also has a kicker strap. This won't meant a lot to the non-boaties out there so basically, it means we can control the sails better.

I also managed to run all the lines to the aft helm without too much fuss - just a couple of bullseyes to fit tomorrow and we're done.

Next on the hit list was adjusting the dinghy. Since fitting the Aries we can no longer use the davits, so the dinghy either had to go or shrink. It's almost done now - just needing some sealant and the adjusted piece re-riveted.

After that, it was time to fit the pulleys and run the steering cables to the rudder stock. Some blood, swearing and adjusting later, they're now ready to connect.

Anyway, hoping to take the the boat out tomorrow for another test (first time since the Channel Islands..) and finish fitting the final pieces of internal wood...

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Another week, more bits and pieces done.

First up, the forward cabin, storage area and aft head needed new doors so after borrowing a van and picking up some 18mm sheets of 8x4, we had them cut out and fitted relatively easily. Other than a light trim, locks and a lick of paint, they're ready to go.

Next, the boat jumble dorade vents needed fitting and after a bit of faffing around with locations and hole saws, we had them in and providing a breeze throughout the boat.

The aft helm steering cables needed a box built to keep them secure so we made a dent in that. We're getting some great weather this October so once that turns rainy & grey, I'll get the cables and sheaves run and connected to the rudder stock tiller.

Last up, the Aries blocks and new line were run and the BBQ stored away for the winter.

I then spent the weekend knocking off the last of my Day Skip which now allows us to get an ICC, which will make transiting through Portugal and Spain a lot easier. It was an interesting few days out in the Solent, including a cracking night passage to Gosport and watching a helicopter rescue near Cowes, and has also given us a few ideas on how to tweak the rig to make sail trimming a bit more effective.

Anyway, another week down, November this coming week and we'll be under 7 months to go....

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Weekend update.

Quite a few jobs to get done before I head back to the office (and before winter sets in). First up was fitting the new steering wheel and connecting the Aries wind vane wheel drum.

After that, the steering cables needed to be run down into boat. This week we're set to build a box to house them, and I'll connect them up to the steering quadrant.

The Aries wheel drum then needed connecting to the Aries wind vane, which took a bit of imagination and some line.

And the SSB aerial finally got connected and tested. This will allow us to receive basic emails and weather updates from anywhere in the world.

 

I then had to take the weekend (1 of 2) doing my Day Skipper as Portugal and Spain now require an ICC licence. 30kts of breeze made the Solent quite choppy but we got some sailing in and this time next week, we'll have all the qualifications needed to depart.

So that's this week's update. Planning on spending the next few days connecting the aft deck steering and fitting doors within the boat, then Day Skip weekend #2 and a few days off.

28 weeks to go....

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Having headed up to London for the night for another week of the welding course, it was time to head back to the boat to crack on again.

We've been due some high tides for a while and this week didn't disappoint - the yard flooded for a couple of days which meant my wellies got a good workout.

We also had rain predicted for a few days so I cracked on with some indoor jobs. First up - reinforcing the wheelhouse table. We've had it temporarily held with g-clamps since the Channel Islands to see if it's positioning was right - it was, so time to bolt it in and add a couple of lower supports to lock it in. Verdict from crew - it works. Good.

Next - fiddles in the galley. We needed to fit some to stop things sliding around at sea so after a visit to our favourite hardwood supplier, they were screwed and glued in and just need final trimming and finishing.

The sun eventually came out so I got on with fitting our Garmin external instruments. We've gone with an secondary autopilot and wind speed / depth and the pod was made up from a sheet of spare 0.6mm stainless I had sitting around.

Another outside job was fitting the stainless railings to our back deck boxes. Annoyingly, we waited 6 weeks for them to arrive, only to find the 900mm railings were actually 950mm - doesn't seem like a big deal, but meant we had to fit an iroko piece below them to extend the seat top. Ah well, they look great and make the seats very comfortable.

 

We also needed to fit a connecting piece between our pulpit and the railings around the rest of the boat. A bit of 14mm multibraid and some stainless fittings later, and all done.

 

After all that work, I figured it was about time we took the dinghy out for a run so on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I plugged it all in, primed the fuel and.... nothing. The o-ring had perished in the fuel connection so after rowing to the ramp then walking to the chandlery (and spending another £13), the outboard fired up and we spent an afternoon tearing around.

So that's it for this week. The new circuit breaker for the SSB has been installed, as has a securing bit for the cooker to stop it swinging in rough weather. I've done a big clean up of the boat and put a few things on ebay, all the bits have arrived for the aft helm steering and once the new ring is soldered onto the backstay aerial, we'll have that connected as well. The next two weekends I'm off to do my Day Skipper course so progress will slow a bit, but by the end of October, we're still on track to have the boat ready to go, apart from a repaint and re-rig (which will happen next April / May).

29 weeks to go....

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