Mushrooms in Autumn

A new mushroom vent has sprouted over the Taylors. I thought this would be a good idea as the paraffin leaves a fine soot on the deck head which is difficult to wipe off as it get everywhere. You can see that the coach roof is now painted and looking good. The varnish work is gleaming. She is starting to look like a yacht again!

Much Painting

There is simply loads of painting happening on the yacht at present. I only have the paint shed for 5 more days and then she is out in the open. Cockpit had has two coats of pre-kote - and excellent undercoat. This after the first coat of Toplac thinned with Owatrol for flow control - another coat tomorrow and then the cockpit sole goes in. Deck will be painted over the weekend when nobody is walking around on her.

Varnishing fiddly little bits takes time

Painting of the Coachroof

I seriously underestimated this task! Sanding back the old paint, brushing down, hoovering the dust and masking off all those fiddly bits took the best part of a day! Anyway, two coats of paint on now.
There is still a lot of traffic on the decks, but hopefully I can get that done too - but the nights are getting colder and the paint taking longer to go off.

Some Links to the Panarai Transat Classique

www.paneraitransatclassique.com



http://apo.r.mailjet.com/nl/llv1/s3ws7.html?a=b2WUvL&b=0606c530&c=llv1&d=c2fa3d06&e=8644c4a3&email=tudorito%40gmail.com

New Hatch coming along

Note upstand  for a Standard Horizon 180i Chart Plotter - basic unit but useful on deck for single-handing. Some people have asked about the type of varnish I use. I did use Blue Peter from International paints but now I use International Schooner Gold which seems to be fastest to go-off and can be re-sanded the next day. Other brands seem to take longer....

Boom Crutch

Boom crutch now being re-leathered. Italian leather from an old sofa that was cut up! From supporting bums to booms; nothing like a bit of re-use!

Cockpit Tidy Up

 The cockpit is the most used part of the yacht and it has had some wear and tear in its time. What do you expect when she has crossed the Atlantic over 25 times! Considering this she one would expect a complete rebuild, but no. Good drains and solid construction have helped stem decay apart from two areas. The first is the bottom edge of the lazarette locker. New pieces of marine ply being laminated up here. The second area of concern is the Starboard side cockpit seat. There used to be a generator room under with a opening lockers. In the 70's this was converted to a quarter berth and the lockers gave way to a solid cockpit bench. Whoever built it did not add a camber or slope so now water pools in the forward outboard corner and eventually leaks into the yacht. In order to avoid a complete rebuild I have decided to add a drain here. There used to be a anti-siphon loop with drain overboard at the rear end of the quarter berth, but this is no longer needed as I have a Vetus loop now, so this now will be used as a handy drain for the seat.

Cockpit Varnish On

There has been so much traffic in the cockpit it has been quite hard toget it varnished. Well the varnish is on now. 7 coats - but really for exterior areas with high wear on a boat you need around 15+ coats - oh well. This will do for now.

I have added a copper band on the coamings. This is a high wear area. The copper band is a bit "bling" at present but will verdi gris nicely. I have, ofcourse, use bronze screws - brass screws are of no use on a boat as they will dezincify within a year and you will eventually have to drill them out.

Note: Always place a power drill on its side when not using it!

Classic Boat Festival London

Even though I did not manage to get Rosie down to London, I did manage to get down there myself and it was a fabulous event. The boats were great, the weather was great and so was the Youth Jazz Orchestra. The Bravas Tapas bar has the best tapas I have ever had - even in Spain - so that was a welcome surprise. I would have prefered being onboard Rosie rather than staying at a hotel, then I could have had my own Tapas! Even so, it was a welcome break from sanding. The work on Rosie has been a long old slog and I cant even hold a cup of coffee now as I have done so much sanding that I have no skin left on my fingers and the heat goes straight through!

What happens when you dont use enough or mastic.....

When bedding fittings on any boat. Many have been asking me why the refurb is taking so long. The answer is solving little problems like this where they may potentially become even bigger problems in the future. This is a an eye in the deckhead. Water has been trickling through the handrail bolt holes where the amount of mastic used was pitiful. The water then has found an outlet through this eye which is conveniently located above where the sleepers head would rest on the bunk below!

Newly varnished cupboard doors

All the cupboard doors have been removed for revarnishing. The catches, some of which would not hold, have been serviced and all the surrounds sent off to the re-chromed. Most of the old chromed brass hinges have been condemned and therefore being replaced with new stainless ones which should last the life of the yacht.

New Main Hatch Garage

I have been busy last week making a new hatch garage. The old one was getting worn, but more importantly could not stand the weight of a man as heavy as myself when stood on! The rebuild has also given the opportunity to add a flat facia on the aft edge of the garage where a small Standard Horizon chart plotter can be installed.

An extract from the Survey and some of what I have been doing!

Survey Requirements from Sept 2011

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following items in need of attention or comment were noted; to assist in their evaluation they are divided according to the categories:

(A) Items requiring attention as soon as is practicable

(for structural or safety reasons)

(B) Items which will require non-urgent attention in course of maintenance

(e.g. to rectify defects or to inhibit deterioration in future)

[Note: Recommendations are intended as a guide only, and further information can be provided if required. Additional suggestions concerning minor items of routine maintenance or improvement may also appear in the main section of the report, but are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive in this respect (e.g. cleaning and repainting, general maintenance and servicing). Items or areas where some deterioration is evident but which do not necessitate remedial measures at present are also included in the main body of the report, with a recommendation for monitoring periodically in future.

Recommendations in section (A) should be carried out as soon as is practicable, whilst those in section (B) may be fitted into a normal programme of maintenance to be completed within the next year or so (unless another time scale is suggested within the report – some recommendations require the vessel to be ashore, or would be easier to attend to in this condition). Routine actions such as obtaining a new licence for the VHF radio are also included within the report.]

(A) Urgent requirements

1. Free off and service cockpit drain seacocks, and improve access to them in future. (See A.6).

Two new blakes seacocks installed 2014. New cross over hoses and clips to new cockpit sole drains with inspection hatch. New teak grate over.

2. Tighten the connection of the engine‟s fuel delivery pipe at its union with the engine-mounted fuel

lift pump, and re-secure the union of the armoured hose and copper tubing nearby. (See F.3).

Completed in engine service 2014

3. Remove the mainsail cover in order to repair its detached zip tabling and thus enable ready access to the mainsail. (See A.5). Completed before purchase delivery 2011

4. Strap batteries in position to prevent any possibility of movement in extreme conditions. (See H.1).

Completed in 2014 – batteries now in plastic boxes

5. Ensure that safety equipment appropriate to the intended use of vessel is carried on board when yacht is in commission (e.g. in-date distress flares, additional fire extinguishers, etc.). (See G.3).

EPIRB and Liferaft added in 2014. Extinguishers new in 2011. New carbon monoxide and smoke alarm

B) Requiring attention

6. Carry out further investigation of condition of screwed plank fastenings at garboards and below-waterline hood ends, anticipating the need to renew most of these as a precaution (estimated about 80 in total). (See A.4) Completed by Kings in 2013

Also carry out further investigation of the condition of strap floor bolts by removing samples for inspection, and reinstate the missing or corroded bolt found aft on port side (this will require removal of the engine and its drip tray for internal access). (See A.4).

Completed by Kings in 2014 – All strap floors regalvanised apart from the one under the negine which was epoxies and the one under the forward bunk that required cabin furniture destructions to gain access.

7. Renew the copper tingle over the starboard side of the rudder‟s tie-bolt gallery. Secure the tiller to prevent movement in the tiller hood, and to ensure that no moisture ingress into the tiller‟s timber occurs. (See C.1).

Completed in 2014 - new Ash tiller 2014 - old one being repaired and will act as spare

8. Clean off superficial rust from some fittings, wherever found (e.g. strap floors, quarter knees, engine mounts, etc.). (See A.3, F.1).

Completed in 2014 – and repainted white for leaks to show more easily in future.

9. Tighten the wind generator strut stays to limit movement of the strut, and improve its bracing to the sternguard. Rectify deck leaks wherever found. (See D.1, D.4, H.1, J.2).

Will complete when re installed  - removed to get into paint shed.

10. Renew both perished portlight seals. (See D.3).

Completed in 2014 – Classic Marine serviced all opening ports and cleaned the surrounds of the closed ones. New armoured glass.

11. Check condition of mast fully when next unstepped, with particular attention paid to apparently minor softening in way of a graving piece inserted in its forward face close above the heel, as well as at a cleat on starboard side (also secure this cleat which is loose). Give cosmetic/protective attention to the main boom and staysail boom, particularly at their outboard ends. (See E.1).

Completed in 2014 Epoxy repair to mast. Cleats on mast rebedded. Mast Coelaned.

Main boom revarnished. New end fitting for roller reefing. Rot under fitting was consolidated with epoxy.

Staysail boom: New scarphed spruce end. New galvanised clew fitting over.

12. Rectify leakage from the seals of the manual bilge pump and galley handpump by fitting new seals. Consider the provision of a modern diaphragm-type bilge pump for easier operation. (See G.2, I.2)  Completed in 2012 – new thru-deck Whale Gusher - strum fitted to intake. One extra auto electric bilge pump added for emergencies and taking up (2014) - drains through cockpit. Main auto electric pump has had a air pressure float switch fitted with new hull fitting over Port side (2013).

13. Renew the sacrificial zinc hull anode when the vessel is next ashore (not urgent). (See F.4, H.6).

Completed in 2014 – moved aft to repair softening of wood around previous bolt holes.

14. Carry out minor refurbishment within and rectification of deck leaks into the accommodation. (See J.2).

Completed in 2014

15. Provide an outboard motor bracket for the inflatable tender (if the outboard motor is to be utilised). (See G.5).

Completed yesterday!

Rosie in the paint tent at present

Rosie is back in the paint shed. I had too many jobs and not enough time to launch her ready for the Classic Boat festical in London next weekend. Instead I will travel down by train. There is plenty to do on the inside including some rewiring and much repainting and re varnishing. So looking at an October launch now.

Fore Hatch work

The fore hatch was basically been held together with varnish. When stripped of the old varnish the hatch just started to crumble before our eyes. So luckily, with the help of some epoxy it has held together and looking respectable covered in very generous layers of left over Coelan from the mast job. It will last out a couple of seasons but am aware that a new one needs to be made sometime in the future.

Working on the boom

This week has seen a bit of work on the spars. The clew fitting to the main boom has been redipped and the rot in the boom under it graved in. There is also a new laminated mahogany capping end. I did varnish it to a nice a shiny level, but sadly the dew got it and now it is cloudy. Sadly the season for painting and varnishing is over.