Launch!

Got back to the boat Thursday at about 11h00 after going home Wednesday night... Immediately set too in polishing the topsides..... 2 complete coats of Poliglow later and the shine was back!.... I am very pleased with the results.... could definitely do with more coats yet, but that'll have to wait until a calm day when she's afloat.... I then painted another coat of antifoul on.... plus a further coat around the boot topping, the bows, front of the keel and the skeg... I was nervous about putting masking tape onto the newly poliglowed topsides, but all was well.... I finally, by about 17h30, masked off and painted the stern.... in the same colour as the coachlines.... looks terrific.... really needs another coat after flatting this one, but its a good start, and looks soooo much better than it did before.... While all this was happening, I fitted the two propshaft anodes (two this year as last years had all but dissappeared when she was lifted - admittedly it was a smaller one) During the evening, I set too in servicing the seacocks.... the blakes were easy (except one where the bolts were a bit hard to get at) and soon greased and pinched up.... the others without exception weren't serviceable... they couldn't be taken apart.... I removed the first one entirely from the through hull fitting to see if I could apply grease through the main pipe fitting, but couldn't really get enough on to make it worth doing, so just checked the remainder by ensuring that the pipes were healthy, double clipped and that the seacock turned freely... the one that had been worrying me turned out to be nothing more than a slightly rusty handle... the seacock body was corrosion free and it turned perfectly.... I will however start a programme next lift out of replacing all these seacocks with serviceable ones... perhaps 3 or 4 at a time.... they are expensive, and there are 10 of them! Day break, and I was ready to be lifted back in.... the yard however weren't going to be ready until early afternoon, needing to move other boats and with other commitments already made, so I fiddled.... as it worked out, this was fine, as I got several other jobs done... I fitted 3 stainless U-bolts that I have previously bought to make three strong harness attachment points in the cockpit (these are 10mm diameter, so should be up to the job!), finally used the sikaflex to reseat the cockpit speaker (another job that had been niggling me, worrying about it leaking into the wood core of the hole - needlessly, the wood was as dry as a bone), sikaflexed the plug hole in the heads washbasin which was leaking slightly and finally fitted the new reefing lines.... these are a new set of lines that go up the luff through the existing cringles, so that the main can be reefed from the cockpit.... it entailed fitting two eyebolts onto the gooseneck (to capture the lines and prevent the reefing cringle pulling ever downwards towards the deck when reefing) and leading the lines back alongside the leach reefing lines and through the same clutch port.... the line I have used is 6mm.... I'm not sure if it will be strong enough, but time will tell, and besides, I still have the reefing horns if it fails.... and secondly, its a bit too thin for the clutch which doesn't 'grab' it, so I need to whip it to the existing leach line to capture it.... Finally, after I had offloaded several tons of tools and other junk while the car was close by, she was lifted.... while she was in the air, Peter, the yard foreman kindly stopped for his lunch to give me time to scrape the small areas under the cradle pads and stick some antifoul on, plus antifoul the bottom of the keel where she had sat on blocks, and then they popped her in... I nervously ran straight below to check the integrity of the seacocks and the new anode bolts, but all was well..... I motored her the 100yds or so to her berth, and a combination of 25kts of wind up the chuff and being out of practice, gently nudged the pontoon on the bow.... no harm done, other than to my pride.... Soon had her secured, filled the water tanks, and washed up properly for the first time for a week (previously only been able to rinse before you all say errgghhh!), checked everything over again, reattached the shore power, and departed... Maggie is back in the water, and ready to go!!!!!! yeehhaaaa Although, no sailing this weekend..... M has a footy tournament Saturday morning, and birthday party to attend on Sunday, and besides, the forecast is rubbish!