Has it really been almost a month since I last updated the blog? How time flies.
So where are we at. After the fun & games of our last departure from the dock, we laid up the boat for a couple of weeks while we undertook our annual trip back to Australia to visit family and friends.
Back down to the boat this past weekend then to see the state of things. A few issues seem to have come about:
- A drip around the mast needs investigating (and likely another mast base. And more sikaflex. And more creeping crack cure).
- One of the Rule auto-bilge pumps has finally failed after two years - these are the ones that spin up every couple of minutes to check for water then power down if none is present. To be quite honest, having five of these chirp away all night has been a bit of a pain these past couple of years but due to the cost (£60 each), I've been loathe just to throw them out. Anyways, now this one's failed I'll refit a standard bilge pump & float switch, and await the failure of the other four......
- The Dickinson is proving to be a right pain to wire in the variable speed fan switch. The original switch was wired for 24V so after chopping out the resistor, I thought I had it wired in for 12V. Nope. Either off or on at full speed. Next I wired in an aftermarket variable speed controller. Still nothing. How hard can it be right? Any thoughts would of course be most appreciated.
Anyways, that's about it for the moment. We headed out to the Beaulieu Boat Jumble yesterday and managed to pick up a few bits & bobs (nearly all parts now purchased for the external helm addition), even if it was an utter mudbath....
The to-do and to-buy lists are shrinking dramatically, and this coming weekend we're off on a 50-nm round trip to another marina. If the weather stays from the north, it should be a cracker. Updates to follow.
n
So where are we at. After the fun & games of our last departure from the dock, we laid up the boat for a couple of weeks while we undertook our annual trip back to Australia to visit family and friends.
Back down to the boat this past weekend then to see the state of things. A few issues seem to have come about:
- A drip around the mast needs investigating (and likely another mast base. And more sikaflex. And more creeping crack cure).
- One of the Rule auto-bilge pumps has finally failed after two years - these are the ones that spin up every couple of minutes to check for water then power down if none is present. To be quite honest, having five of these chirp away all night has been a bit of a pain these past couple of years but due to the cost (£60 each), I've been loathe just to throw them out. Anyways, now this one's failed I'll refit a standard bilge pump & float switch, and await the failure of the other four......
- The Dickinson is proving to be a right pain to wire in the variable speed fan switch. The original switch was wired for 24V so after chopping out the resistor, I thought I had it wired in for 12V. Nope. Either off or on at full speed. Next I wired in an aftermarket variable speed controller. Still nothing. How hard can it be right? Any thoughts would of course be most appreciated.
Anyways, that's about it for the moment. We headed out to the Beaulieu Boat Jumble yesterday and managed to pick up a few bits & bobs (nearly all parts now purchased for the external helm addition), even if it was an utter mudbath....
The to-do and to-buy lists are shrinking dramatically, and this coming weekend we're off on a 50-nm round trip to another marina. If the weather stays from the north, it should be a cracker. Updates to follow.
n
