Summer Scrub

Robinetta is currently on the Hard at Tollesbury, having been hauled out on Tuesday for a pressure wash. The marine growth was not too bad given she has been in the water since March 2018, mostly weed round the waterline, so the TeamacD did a good job.

The main reason for the haul out was to give Robinetta a new coat of antifoul, and Toplac all over, so she looks smarter before we set off on our summer cruise at the end of next a week. She is due back into the water today so there was not much time to do more, but a couple of non-cosmetic jobs were also done.

I had a look at the top rudder pintle that I had noticed being worn when launching at Bristol. It survived last season without mishap, but the metal is even thinner now so something must be done soon. Luckily Paul Drake the shipwright who did a lot of work on Robinetta when she was based at West Mersea was on site, and came over for a look. He agreed that the pintle needed work, probably replacing at the end of this season, but was more concerned about the next bracket down, that moved when the rudder did and had a screw head projecting. He tried tightening the screw up, and found it was broken. Further investigation revealed that only one of the screws holding the bracket on were doing their job, with the others being so corroded they broke on removal. He drilled out the remains, then re-fitted the bracket firmly with new larger screws. An hours work from a skilled shipwright that might prevent a disastrous rudder failure.

The depth gauge has been unreliable lately and there was no time to embed a new transducer in the bow, so Julian bought a transom mounted Garmin unit. This can be linked directly to our chart plotter so the electronics are easy, as is the fitting. My only worries are about how easily it might get caught up on things, or damaged in its rather exposed position on the stern.