Back in the water

Detail of rudder fitting

I got to the yard at half nine, and had a look round Robinetta prior to launching. The state of the rudder fitting is a concern, but I was assured by Slava that the wood inside the cockpit where the fixing goes through is sound.

We will have to see what it looks like at the end of the season to decide if repair is an urgent concern.

Bubbles beneath the paint in the cockpit

The paint in the cockpit had looked really good on Friday, but problems manifested over the weekend. The paint used here is water based, and when the covers were lifted to let us have a look on Friday snow got onto it. It seems that the cold weather had slowed down the drying time to such an extent that the damp got underneath and raised blisters. The whole cockpit will have to be repainted.

Horse replaced and new beading on bulkhead

The cabin top and foredeck paint is oil based, and survived without problems. The block bearing horse has been refitted, new glands put in place for the electrics, and new beading fitted at the base of the bulkhead. Slava also put new bulb fittings in the nav lamps, and made it possible to remove the lamps from the fittings. I have not had a look at this yet, or checked they work.

When we had a gas cooker our insurer demanded that we should have a gas locker that drained overboard. We had one fitted, and an opening put in the hull. This had to be quite close to the water line to ensure it drained, which sometimes led to water getting into the locker when we heeled under sail.

Now we have an alcohol stove the gas locker is used for other things and the drain hole is unnecessary. We decided to have it closed up to prevent the water getting in. There is no sign it was ever there on the outside, and only a wooden bung visible in the locker. We will keep it obvious, in case there is ever a need to put a thru hull in that position again.

Our old spice bottle masthead light stopped working two years ago. We have replaced it with a commercial one, since the cost of LED lights has come down hugely. Julian checked that the wiring was not the problem, and hopefully this one will last well. I really don't want to have to go up the mast to fix it!

Lifting Robinetta off her blocks

The marina operators came along with their 20 ton hoist at about 11 am and lifted Robinetta off her blocks, before carrying her very slowly down to the dock. The slowness was due to the remote control for the hoist. The engine cut out every 5 metres, so it was a stop start progress until the operator changed to using the controls on the hoist itself, which was not easy, but at least kept the machine moving.

Lowering Robinetta into the water

Once in the yard Robinetta was transferred to the main hoist, which lifted her into the water. The weather was quite good at this point, about 7 C and dry.

I went to the car and got some extra mooring lines, since springs were needed to keep Robinetta still as the mast was lifted in. While the Rolt's guys and I rigged the lines, the Bristol Marina workers hoisted up the mast then lowered it into position.

This is when the whole process went west. No one had done a final check on the mast before it was lifted. I had rigged the ropes on Friday, but not thought to check that the wire loops that hold their blocks on the mast were in the right position. They were all labelled and should have been replaced as they were removed. However what the labels could not say was which loop lay on which side of the mast.

As a consequence all the loops lay in a single direction, which made getting the shrouds, forestay, backstays, and topping lifts into the correct position a nightmare. I had tied the ropes together into loops to make sure nothing got lost up the mast, but these got undone, and the gaff throat wire headed up the mast with no gaff attached.

Isaac  heading up the mast

Isaac headed up the mast to collect the gaff throat wire, and to try and sort out the lay of the shrouds. This proved impossible, and in the end the mast was pulled out again, and the tangle sorted on the ground. This also made it possible to unhank the burgee halyard, which had been left in a bundle right at the top of the mast.

By the time the mast was back in and the shrouds positioned it was 16:45, and the end of the yards' working day, but Isaac very kindly stayed on board to help me move Robinetta onto her marina berth. I checked the oil, turned the handle on the raw water inlet valve, and turned the key in the ignition. The engine coughed, but there was obviously not enough juice in battery 2, so I switched the batteries to "both". The time it turned but did not start. Giving more revs solved that problem, but no water came out of the exhaust. It turned out that the raw water inlet had been open before I moved it...

Robinetta arrived in her berth just as the rain started to hammer down. Isaac very sensibly left as soon as the bow and stern lines were on as he had no coat. I wanted to charge the batteries a bit, so left the engine on, but the gear release push button, that had worked without problems only quarter of an hour before, would not depress. Charging the batteries does not work well in idle, but I left it running while I sorted out the mooring lines. Then the engine fuel cut off cable pull would not move. I had to take up the cockpit floor to get at the cable. Not difficult, but it was getting dark, and I was cold and wet....

I wanted to put the solar panel on, but it had been cut off, rather than unplugged, when the yard needed it out of the way. It is simple to fix, but needed more mental energy (and light to see by) than I had. The yard had not finished installing the mast, and would be doing it in the morning, so there was no point putting the covers on. Water would get into the bilges, and the batteries (which I could not charge) will get drained when the float switch turns on the bilge pump.

I left Robinetta at 18:20, having to get home for Tuesday. I will be driving down again on Wednesday to get the battery charging situation sorted out and the covers on. She might be closer to home than for the last few years, but three hours there, and three back is a lot of driving....

re-launch looms

Julian and I braved the snow and drove to Bristol to dress the mast with the halyards. Robinetta is due to be re-launched on Monday, and the mast put back at the same time, so we needed to get it done.

compass re-mounted in the cockpit

While there we had a look at the completed work. We did not ask for her to be made "as new", so although the rebuilt bits look great the rest still shows her age, and work is still needed to prepare her for the season. The masonry paint on the decks has been replaced with off white Teamac gloss, and the rebuilt wood in the cockpit had been coated with le Tonkinois, like the mast and new fore hatch. I will need to work hard on the older bits to make them as shiny as the new.

Mark Rolt pointed out the top rudder mount, which looks on its last legs. Unfortunately no one noticed it until the hull was being painted at the end of the yard's work. Getting at the mount will be difficult without taking the cockpit apart, and it has only just been rebuilt...


Inside it is impossible to tell the ribs have been sistered without knowing what they looked like before, while the new bolts in the scarf joint in the bow are a lot more obvious.

The carving on the deck beam looks much neater than the original. Apparently it was Isaac's first attempt at carving, and I think he did a good job.

I did not look at the foredeck, since I will get to see it on Monday and it is currently still under cover.

More History

After posting the Blue Book, Mike Beckett who sails the beautiful Nobby derived yawl Bonita checked his 1947 Lloyds and notes that the Watermota engine is listed as having been installed in 1938.

We went checking and discovered that we have never written up the November 1937 Yachting Monthly article which has some good photographs. Alison has now rectified this and you can read it here.

But the 1938 RCC article only mentions that the single cylinder engine had been made to work.

So it looks like the Watermota was installed after she returned to Liverpool, and possibly even at Gallows Point after she was laid up for the winter.

So it might never have been used until after the war.

We decided against the brass plaque and have had the old registration number carved on the new beam. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Paperback publishing

I've been laid up after a foot operation for the last few weeks, and spent the time reviewing the collected blog books. Amazon have started to provide a print on demand service, so I played around with creating print, not just electronic copies of a couple of the books. They are 9"x 6" format, and practically every page has a full colour photograph on it. They also have maps of our route. The cost is high for their length, but this is down to the colour throughout.

Day Sailing Round Ireland: Fair Winds and Calm Seas . £15.99 ($22 in America)  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1977055427

Gales Every Weekend:  £8.99 ($12). https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1976907969

These links take you to the UK sales page, but the books can be purchased direct from any of the Amazon sites.

I don't know if any one will take advantage of the paperback availability, but if there are sales then I will probably publish the other volumes in this format too.

Robinetta's Blue Book

I got around to scanning in Robinetta's Blue Book. I haven't done the back page yet which has details of the sales but by stitching three chunks together it is at least readable.

The part 1 registry has lapsed of course. I believe it is possible to get it back, but a survey is required.

When Mark Rolt's team replaced the forward cabin beam, the original hull number carved into the old one was a casualty. We are looking into replacing it with a brass plaque.

Reading the page I discovered we have more information about her first two engines than I had realised.

The registration details indicate a 1932 single 3 3/4" cylinder Amanco with a 4" stroke.

The 1948 survey says she had a 1934 twin 2 3/4" cylinder 2 stroke Watermota with a 3" stroke.

I don't know when the Watermota replaced the Amanco.

Visiting Robinetta in Rolt's yard

I went to Bristol today to visit Robinetta in Rolt’s yard. She was moved there at the start of the month and they have been working on her ever since.

The rot in the cockpit ply has proved to be more extensive than we realised, and had infected the rear deck beam, among others. This means the main sheet horse and all its associated deck fittings had to be removed to give access. It will be necessary to keep cutting back the ply until no more soft areas are found, hopefully this does not mean the whole of the starboard side of the cockpit too!

The deck beam beneath the forward end of the cabin needed to be totally replaced, as did its “sister” behind it. Both were rotten. I had expected the main beam to need work, but there was no way to examine the sister beam before the main was removed.

It was necessary to remove the turning block horse to repair the beam, and it turned out that the wood around the bolts that hold it in place was beginning to go soft. This had been repaired, and the horse will go back in a slightly different position.

The bolt through the scarf joint was very wasted, but the wood itself is sound. The scarf will be filled with lead based putty before being re-bolted. With a new bolt of course!
The garboard caulking was very wet, and has been scrapped out and will be replaced. Once again the hull itself is sound, which is good news.
Some of the scantlings in the main cabin are cracked, and the shipwright working on Robinetta thinks they should be repaired. They have been in that state for a while without causing problems, but it is best done now if we can afford it. 
 
The leaks round the main hatch still need to be addressed. The leaks in the cabin ceiling were the reason we brought Robinetta to the yard in the first place, and we thought of having the glass fibre removed and replaced. With the rest of the work that is under way the glass will stay where it is, but the grab rails I fitted when we first bought Robinetta are going to be professionally re-fitted, which I hope will stop the drips on Julian’s head when we are in bed!
The mast looks absolutely amazing, all shiny and smooth. By the time it is finished it will have had 12 coats of varnish, with time for it to harden fully before being redressed. The very top, that Julian remade, will be painted white, since there is no way to colour match it to the rest of the mast if varnished. One of the hounds was damaged, and a new one had been made, the same for one of the cleats, but the remaining old cleats are also undergoing re-varnishing.

The new fore-hatch is made of sapele, rather than teak. It was cheaper to make a new one than repair the old, but it will use the same bronze surround on the porthole, so look very similar.

I am going to have to do some serious work on the rest of the bright work to match up with what I saw today. 

When I left Robinetta shrouded in plastic and undercover, with her cabin toasty warm to dry out the paint and glue, I knew she was in good hands.

New Blog Book

This is the time of year when I attempt to pull the blog entries together into a coherent narrative. This year's volume is called "A Strait, some Sounds, and a Sea" and is available from all the usual electronic book retailers:

Apple iBook

• Kindle
• 
  
• Kobo
• 
  
• Nook
• 
  
• scribd

The book contains maps of our progress that are not in the blog, as I have found it useful to put these in. It is also helpful to have a version of our journeys in a form that reads forward through the year.

I have also published a new edition of the second book in the series, from 2013 "Robinetta; There and Back Again". This should hopefully now read much more smoothly that the first edition, which was a straight rip of the blog. If you bought this previously through Amazon you should be able to update to the new edition without charge should you wish to do so.

I can not guarantee that either book is free of spelling mistakes, but there should be far fewer than in the original blog (although new ones always seem to creep in!).

I welcome any comments and reviews (even negative ones which will help me do a better job next time) and will always endeavour to correct any errors.