ST50s and all things nautical

Today, the ST50 compass from BigNick arrived.... best I don't forget to remove the exchange GPS this weekend.... he's a big fella....Sails and cockpit tent sent for repair are ready to be collected...I got a teak binocular holder, a sailmakers repair kit (including a palm) and various other great goodies for my birthday, along with some excellent looking reading matter from the likes of Tristan Jones... plus a set of signal/code flags....Also, I have a lovely pile of vouchers to spend with chandlers.... a pair of decent binoculars, a teak compass holder and a replacement chain to anchor shackle are on the list... and perhaps a few more wooden bungs so that I can finally get round to tying one to each seacock as an example of good practice!On top of all this loveliness, Shotley got back to me today with a super deal for me paying the rest of the annual marina fee now rather than in instalments... a few more quid saved.....I have nothing but praise for the staff at Shotley.... they really seem to make an effort.SWMBO has bought me a terrific camera for my birthday, a SLR style digital with lots of flash functions..... expect much improved picture quality this year.... (well... I can dream can't I?)...So....wahoo..... a few days, and we'll be on board again!

this years challenges

With the boat about to drop back in, my mind has been drawn to considering what the big challenges are for this year....A few have clear priority...i'm determined that this year, as the kids have grown a bit, and in particular, as C has got a bit stronger, that they'll be muvh more involvedf in running the boat.... i'm planning to encourage much longer stints at the helm, much greater involvement in sail handling, and starting to take close quarter maneouvering more seriously... i'd like C for example to have put the boat into the lock by the end of the season at least... and if she doesn't struggle with that, then to put her into her berth.... i'll encourage M to work on less challenging (but no doubt just as exciting!) things like picking up and departing from a mooring...I'd like C to spend more time doing basic chart work... nothing serious... just plotting fixes from the GPS and making sure she develops the spacial awareness and understanding of where we are relative to the ground... M will do some basics like taking a 3 point fix with the hand bearing compass... C is quite capable of calculating things like CTS and EPs.... but I suspect that she'd be better taught by a 3rd party as part of a formal course rather than from dad!!!!It seems that SWMBO is left out... so she'll get the same treatment!... actually, its just a case of building upon what we've already done..... so longer stints on the helm... more navigation... all part of ensuring that i'm not the only one that can do something, from both safety and equally importantly enjoyment purposes all round.Outside of boat handling... I bought a sextant last year, and have just bought a 'how to' book...so this year will see me 'bringing down' the sun.... seeking Jupiter and calculating sun-run-sun EPs....Destinations wise, we'd like to reach Normandy this year, and then the Solent.... as much as we love Holland, we just can't do it three years in a row!... on a slightly less adventurous basis, for weekend jaunts, we are keen to do some of the east coast rivers and ports that we have thus far avoided.... a long weekend to the Medway is on the cards (including a visit to the museum), we must go up the Blackwater.... SWMBO is keen to go up the Ore/Alde to Orford or even Aldeburgh and we hope to finally cross of Lowestoft at some point too....Other than that... the main target is enjoyment!

dinghy in the davits

Today's challenge was to attach fittings to the dinghy so that it can be easily attacged to the davits.... the davits have a snap shackle on each arm, so I have bolted two large eye bolts to the transom of the dinghy with a rope loop and soft eye at the top... thats the stern dealt with.... the bow looked a little more troublesom... the plan was to use eyelets in the floorboards near the bow.... only, i've reverted back to the Plastimo dinghy, and forgot that the floorboard don't go all the way to the bow!!!!...So, i've used the eyelets that are glued to the lower side of each hull near the bow, and normally used for the towing line..... if i'd just tied a bridle to these, it would have led the lines tight over the sides and no doubt have worn through the inflatable sections in no time...what i've done instead is to fashion a long bar (using of all things an old aluminium roof rack bar), fitted an eyelet either end to which a rope is attached with a snap shackle on it... these clip to the eyelets on the boat... and then a central rope loop to clip to the davits.... this spreads the load out wide and takes the ropes away from the hull.... at least thats the theory... we'll see how well it works!

whoops

I did forget (remember that word - forget - its a recurring theme) to mention that i've come to an agreement with another ybw'er to mutual benefit.... I have a GPS ST50 unit that is of little practical value to me, but don't want to renmove it as it'd leave a hole above the chart table... the only key piece of info that I don't have at the chart table that would be useful is a compass heading..... and as it happens another forumite has an ST50 compass unit that is surplus to requirements, yet would quite like a GPS unit..... a match made in heaven!So we've agreed to swap.... he's recovered his compass, and today, I was to recover the GPS unit..... only...... yes.... that 'remember 'word..... ah.... dreadfully sorry Nick.... i'm just glad its not a rush job for you, otherwise, i'd be doing a 200mile round trip for it...... :(I won't forget next time.... promise....Also... one other thing that I haven't mentioned.... I think i've layed my hands on spinnaker pole..... its telescopic from 3.5m to 5.5m.... its currently with a 32'er, but a bit heavy for that, so could be ideal for Morgana.....I hear you all aski, why on earth does he want a spinnaker pole... he doesn't have a spinnaker....!OK.... I want it to firstly pole out the genny in light winds, but probably more importantly, to use as part of an emergency steering arrangement should the rudder fail...... last years steering failure drama brought home my lack of emergency options.... so it'll be a pole with a sole board u-bolted to it....

done and dusted

OK... she's ready to go back in.... final side is polished.... pipework is refitted to engine.... shower unit is reconnected.... everything below is carefully restowed so that it won't end up everywhere when she's lifted..... just a few days, and she's back in the 'oggin!I'm not completely happy with the polish... I think she could do with another couple of coats.... but no time.... so i'll do it by hand when she's in the water....I also got the time to go round all the bottlescrews (or at least the ones at deck level) and remove the tape covering the split pins (to prevent constant scratcges and cust from them) and check them over, and then retape them.... so thats another job crossed off the list...Finally, I brought the tender home... we're going to put the other one we have on board temporarily until we can get a rigid of some sort... I just need to fit the eyelets for the davits.... the one i've brought home will be up for sale...

paying up

The marina fees came due on 15th December, which isn't the best date really to find just over 4 grand.... so we took the option of paying a large deposit, and then paying the balance monthly between Feb and August....it costs a bit more, but beggars can't be choosers..... we now however have a bit of money to pay it off, so have asked, and are waiting to see what Shotley will offer in terms of reduction for early settlment...Also, agreed the exact relaunch date.... 25th Feb....

final details

The launch is confirmed as 25th Feb, so i'll be watching the forecast like crazy for the 1st/2nd March... we may well go down and just stop onboard anyway!i've given up on trying to find somone who sells 32mm water pipe locally.... they only seem to sell 'boy racer' bright blue silcon pipe at £ouch per metre... so i've taken the old bit of pipe, cleaned it up, and I reckon it'll be OK.... just need to but two jubilee clips....Only a one day visit this coming weekend.... polish the final side, clean and polish the transom, and get her ready for a lift back in....I've sold the Icom VHF I removed to a fellow ybw forumite.... so thats going to a good home, and adds a few quid back into my heavily depleted boat pot....Not down the following weekend.... minor event gets in the way.... my 40th birthday party!... good news is that my family have finally sussed me out..... pressy list has been checked in advance to ensure suitability, and includes dress flag set, and liberal quantity of chandlery vouchers.... bless 'em!What do I want to spend this on?.... well I still have a huge list of things I need/want to add.... top of list for 'reasonably' priced goodies is a Navtex, and I also want to add a long length of warp to my existing anchor chain..... got to decide how to attach it.... ideally i'd splice it on... but quite like the idea of having a heavy long warp available for other uses, so may go down the shackle route.... I could cope with the little bit of windlass hassle....

nearly ready to get wet

A full weekend of work (well until mid afternoon Sunday) has seen me complete a good few jobs...The VHF is in, connected to the GPS and the remote mike is all in and working.....The elbow for the fridge drain is fitted (it was 1/2"), and the shower fitting was 3/8ths for the transom shower... but both fittings are female (pipe end and shower head), so i've bought a 3/8ths male-male fitting on the way home... that'll take just a few mins next weekend...Both sides of the boat are well cleaned.... one side of the boat is thoroughly polished.... the whole thing is antifouled....The prop anode is fitted...Just got to nip down next weekend, and polish the second side, and the transom (which also needs a bit of a clean), and we're away... all thats left before she's dropped back in is to clean up the prop.I've still got a list of things to do as long as your arm, but they can mostly be done when she's back in the water.... a matter of prioritising..

delivery

OK... so most of the bits I need have turned up... a few issues to deal with....The engine bits have arrived... perfect... but the hose they've sent is exhaust hose rather than water hose.... so its about twice the diameter I need.... I've decided to hange onto it though.... a spare 1/2m of exhaust hose, plus two big jubillee clips isn't a bad idea to have on board.... i'll source the right size from a chandler/motor factor over the weekend... the thing I really needed (and have) is the small casting and gasket.....Everything else is here... the extension cable for the VHR remote mike, the BSP 90 degree pipe fitting to allow the fridge drain to be completed (I wasn't sure if it was 1/2" or 3/8ths... so as they were just £1.30 I ordered both!).... The only thing that hasn't arrived is the antifoul and cleaner..... as it happens, I have a full tin of antifoul from last year, and also 2 or 3 tins of partially used.... so I poured them into one tin, and now have nearly 5 ltrs!.... maybe I was hasty in ordering!I also had one other thought..... i've taken the loop out of the fridge drain that was stopping it from draining properly (the top of the loop was higher than the bottom of the fridge) and it now runs downhill all the way.... only, the seacock is below the water line.... and if the bottom of the fridge is too, then it could get messy!.... maybe that's why the loop was there....?And one other thing to think through.... where on earth do I put the mike on the steering pedestal... only place where there is really room is on the side.... maybe its a bit vulnerable to being knocked?, but its pretty protected by the wheel.... will think it tthrough a bit more before drilling....So.... car is loaded.... lots of stuff to take down.... I've got three quarters of the cushions in the car... figured that its close enough to relaunch to start taking them back down... plus various other stuff... scrapers, rollers, polishing machine, the Plotter (its the GPS source for the DSC VHF).. etc etc etcOwning a boat is a good exercise in project management!

fitting out

The speakers are in!.... I couldn't test them though, as the radio has a removeable fascia, and muggins here left it at home!It was a tad cold working in the cockpit, so was pleased when the job was done....Next task was to fit the new VHF... the hole needed enlarging, which I did with the jigsaw... easy enough, and then spent an hour emulating a gynaecologist, trying to tighten the flush mounting bolts through a small hole alongside the new radio..... it was wired up easily enough, and connected to the aerial, and voila... it fired up quickly and easily....I then spent the next two hours routing the extension cable for the cockpit mike.... eventually it was in place.... and as per the law of sod, was 4 feet too short.... FInally, I removed the offending component from the exhaust elbow..... fortunately, it appeared that the problem was with the smaller part, and so this was removed.... and broke in two in the process... confirmed as the problem!.... the pipe to which it attaches (not the exhaust, but the water feed) wasn't in great nick at the end either... but I'm pretty sure that the flexible pipe will sort that out...By now, I was fed up and cold.... so went home!A full weekend next weekend.... I'm hoping that the weather will ease up a little so that I can get the polishing and antifouling started.... only two weekends left.... the other jobs might have to wait until she's back in the water...Addendum.... new exhaust bits, VHF extension cable, antifoul, anodes, cleaner and polish