Another big weekend wrapped up this past weekend. The Z4 decided to suffer TWO flat tyres so having sorted that out, and picked up Lauren from her recent NZ trip, it was time to head down to the boat and crack on.

First up, having given it a good wash, we refitted the running rigging.

Next, I fitted some cleats to the spreaders so we don't have to wake up at 0300 to tie off clanging lines.

After that, I needed to reconnect the anchor light. This of course turned into a disaster, whereby I had to rewire the anchor light, Rutland and deck light, but hey, at least all the wiring is now fresh.

The swim platform supports also needed a good paint so we decided to go with the same blue as the topsides.

Lauren got on with sanding the hull below the waterline then we refitted the rudder.

I've not had a chance to test whether the new bearing fixes the difficult turning to port, but it seems smooth at the moment and we'll test fit the bearing next weekend.

We also fitted a windex to the main mast to help with day-to-day sailing.

Other than a few other bits, that was about it for the weekend so we headed back to London and went shopping for some stuff for our trip. First up, Go Pro. Sweet.

Next weekend is a Bank Holiday and is going to be a big one. The new standing rigging is due back from the rigger and I need to fit the rudder bearing to see if that issue's fixed. After that, we'll have an idea whether we're still on for re-launching on the 19th or if we'll wait for another 2 weeks. Update to follow....

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Well, another epic weekend completed and only 3.5 weeks to go. I've taken the blog down for the time being as I'm working my notice period (and don't need any grief from work) but I'll have the blog back up for our departure.

Anyways, with the rig down I had quite a few jobs to get done and "Hurricane" Grant was only around for one more weekend.

First up, I needed to get the ally mast steps fitted now while the rig was down. Who'd have thought drilling and tapping 132 M5 holes could be so fun! Anyways, after much swearing the masts now have steps all the way up each, which will make ongoing maintenance and coral spotting much easier in the future.

Next up, after spending £500 on rigging fittings it turned out we couldn't use them, so we had to measure and cut all the new 8mm wire and get it over to the rigger for him to do his bit. At a cost of £1300. Balls. It's worth noting my car sprang a flat tyre on the way down, so Lauren's runabout got pressed into rapid service.

There was some painting to be done while the weather was nice as well, so I got out the blue tape and marked / painted the bootstripe, as well as undercoating the swim platform supports.

The new steering column on deck also needed a box built around it.

Last up, jobs below the waterline. Both propshafts and props needed a good clean, rope cutters needed to be fitted to each, new anodes had to go on and the watermaker thru hull needed fitting (a huge thanks to Trev for holding it while I fitted the retaining nut!). Oh yes, and all the barnacles needed scraping off.

So that's it for the moment. Hoping to collect our fixed rudder bearing and stock this weekend (and get it fitted), plus ordering the new batteries and getting a whole host of other little projects done.

The weekend after is a Bank Holiday, when I'm hoping to re-fit the entire rig and have it ready for erecting the following weekend. The flat sell-off is also coming along well (anyone need a couch?), the car is up for sale, and we move out of our flat on May 10.

Not long to go now....

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Where to start this week.... it's Monday night and I'm sitting back on the couch at our flat, in my dressing gown, ready for bed. At 5:30pm.

The weekend promised to be manic from the start - a haul out scheduled for Fri morn, then rigging, steering, and everything under the water needing to be cleaned up / fixed. Alas, it wasn't to be. After spending Thurs night prepping for hauling out, we were told bright & early on Friday morning it wasn't going to happen. Instead, we cracked on with pulling apart half the rigging and I started moving the steering from the wheelhouse to the aft deck.

The steering proved to be tough - the steering columns were relatively easy to run, but I had to cut, weld and re-fit each of them as well as siting the bevel boxes. Anyways, it took up 2 days of my time and was pretty brutal. On the plus side, it works a treat.

After all that fun, we kept working on the rigging and found half our new terminals aren't going to work. Ugh. On the plus side, the new marina has a rigger who'll do them for £20 a shot instead. Cool.

We were told 07:00 Monday morning we'd be hauling out and sure enough, by 09:30 we were out. Moving the boat with the aft deck steering and engine controls was significantly easier than last time we moved around a marina; the only drama now being the engines are a bit smoky and the port engine put out a rather large puff of white smoke. Hmmmm.

Anyways, after a few attempts they managed to get the hoist slings beneath the boat, hauled us out, then moved us up to where we'll spend the next 5 weeks. Grant's currently down there tidying up the rig (they lowered it just after I left), and I dropped in our rudder bearing and stock for rework as it's bent and stiff turning to port.

Anyways, this coming weekend I'll be fitting the mast steps, doing all the bottom work on the boat (watermaker thru hull, bootstripe and touch up paint) and prepping the rig for being refitted.

5 weeks to go.

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So here we go - six weeks to go and time is ticking away. We're still in the water as the yard has delayed us by a week, but the to-do is shrinking and we're still on track to leave on the 19th.

The weather wasn't looking amazing for the first part of the weekennd so I headed over to a friend's house and grabbed our spare sails. Their house has some size to it so I figured whilst we were stuck indoors, we might as well see what was in the bags.

It looks like our spare main is relatively new so I'm going to test fit it when we go back in the water and it might become our primary.

After that, I headed back to the boat and got on with painting. And more painting. And, you guessed it, more painting. It's 99% done now and just needs the final few spots touched up when we haul out.

Grant got cracking and trimmed up the swim platform to make it a bit less prone to getting smashed by any following seas.

Last up, we removed the booms and tidied the lines in preparation for the masts being dropped next week.

So that's it for the moment. We're hauling out in 4 days time, spending the weekend in the slings where I'll get all the bottom jobs done (anodes, rope cutters, watermaker thru hull fitted, tape up and paint the boot stripe, then drop out that oh-so-annoying sticky rudder bearing) then we're dropping the rig at the start of next week.

Anyways, this time in six weeks we'll be motoring out of this marina and heading west. Almost there...

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