Boat Show Buying

I used to want to go to the Boat Show so I could go on board the yachts and dream of owning one. Now I go to man the OGA stand and buy things we need....

The show seemed smaller this year, and there were far fewer boats on the water. The ones that were there were almost all historic, including the barge Melissa which we had been aboard when she was serving as the Royal Harwich YC Clubhouse.

Mostly I wanted to look at cookers, and soon came to the conclusion that there was no way we could fit any sort of proper marine oven/hob combination in the galley as it is. There is no way I want to rebuilt it this year, so I'm still searching for the right cooking option. I've ruled out a diesel stove though; too much like an electric hob and too expensive.

We came across a lovely little pump gizmo. You set it up on the mooring line, and the movement of the boat against the mooring operates the pump. We bought it to use in Worm in the hope that it will pump the rain water out of the dingy while we sleep. Fingers crossed that it works!

We need new fire extinguishers as ours have expired, and while we were on the OGA stand Richard off My Quest stopped by and showed us one he'd just bought. It's rated for flammable liquids and gasses, as well as electrical and kitchen fires, but uses inert gas rather than powder to smother the flames. In other words, it does not make a mess! Its only a little more expensive than dry powder, so Julian went off and bought a couple. The guy on the stand told him that they had bought 1000 to the show, and only had five left. Not bad with only one day of the show to go!

Sail Scotland were there as we hoped, so we raided their stand for local booklets, then headed for the book shop for pilot guides. Julian wanted to get the Orkney Pilot, even though we're only going there if the weather is just right. It will help us decide if it is! I got seduced by a chart holder. It's the same size as our Imray charts and holds them flat and fully visible, being magnetically sealed round the edges. It's also rigid, and as we don't have a chart table and normally work with the charts laid out on the seats it should make that easier. I'm waiting for that to be delivered as they only had the display model in stock.

All in all it was a good show, with members and interested strangers keeping the OGA stand busy all afternoon.

First visit of the year

Finding the right day to visit the boatyard can be difficult in January. There's lots to do on the boat, but its mostly painting and varnishing, so there's very little point in starting anything even when its a sunny day. Its still too cold for the paint to dry before it gets damp.

I talked myself into going today to remeasure the galley since we want to look at cookers at the boat show, and got a nice surprise. Paul has finished the work we asked him to do. All the little bits of caulking repair and re-stopping have been done, and the main hatch looks very smart. There was a letter waiting when I got home, detailing what he's done and with suggestions for what should happen next.

1) He's put three coats of varnish on all his wood, and while it looks lovely this is not enough to protect it through the summer. It will need sanding lightly in the spring, before getting a few more coats.

2) He had to burn off most of the paint from the covering boards on the foredeck before he could caulk the seams, so this will need repainting when its drier. He used sikaflex rather than red lead stopping here, but it can be painted over in the same way.

3) The stopping that had come out was probably because the hull got power washed before the stopping was really hard. This can take  a few years! Looks like we'll be hand scraping our fouling off for a while...

4) There seems to be some weeping from some of the bolt heads in the iron floors visible on the hull planking. This could be a problem in a couple of years, so we'll need to keep an eye on it. It's a shame if so, since the floor bolts were replaced just after we bought the boat!

Collected Blog on Kindle

Once again I have collected the year's blog posts together, edited it, and added a little, (like my side of what happened at Rye). It's now available to buy from Amazon for reading on Kindle and/or Android devices. Since its only about 26,000 words I've priced it at the princely sum of 77p including VAT, so if anyone wants to be able to browse the blog off line, please buy!

Just search for Robinetta, There and Back Again, the 2013 log, and it should pop right up! It follows on immediately where the first volume left off.

About 20 people have bought Robinetta: her five year mission to seek out the places everyone else says are good, and we got a 5 star review off one of them in America, which is very pleasing given it is very basically formatted.

I've changed the cover, so it matches the second volume a bit better.

Tidal Surges and ongoing work.

We went to Robinetta today since it was our first chance to check on her after the tidal surge flooding last Thursday. Everything was fine, it almost looked as though nothing had happened until I found fresh seaweed caught in the sail cover which I had wrapped around the boom which is currently stored under the boat. The cover was a bit muddy too, but since there was a 2metre tidal surge we got off very lightly. Talking to people who live on Mersea, and were up overnight to keep an eye on their property, its obvious that lessons were learnt from the tidal surge of 1952; all buildings constructed on Mersea after that had to be raised above the level of those floods. The chandlers made sure to seal up their letter box, and had five layers of sandbags blocking the door. The water got up to the fourth one before retreating. The surge peaked before high water at Mersea, and the wind had dropped too which helped minimise the damage.

It's always difficult getting the winter work under way, but luckily this year it's not just me doing it. Paul has been getting on well with the things we asked him to do, and the boat is looking smarter already.

When Paul took a good look at the sternpost he found the bolts in the lower end were corroded away. He has replaced them with galvanised coach screws that refasten the stern post to the dead wood below the sterntube. He also fitted a stop water, which is a large dowel fitted to intersect the joints of the keel and sternpost. This stops water creeping up the joint and inside the boat. He then used bitumin mastic over the whole area, and fasted copper tingles over the whole thing. This will prevent damage to the area when we scrape off weeds and barnacles, which tends to take the anti-fouling paint with it.

He has also re-caulked the area of garboard seam under the mast which was leaking, and refitted a copper tingle over the engine bed bolt... little things that came make a big difference to the amount of water in the boat.

The rotten iroko capping where the cockpit seats meet the transom has been replaced by a lovely bit of teak, but the most striking teak is the new rubbers to the cabin top. I shall have to work hard to get the teak grab rails and the varnolled pitch pine of the cabin sides shiny enough to match the rubbing strip!

The floor in the forepeak is also back in place, so I'll soon run out of excuses for not getting on with Robinetta's interior.

Paul starts work

We ended up not going to the boat on Monday 28th  as it was a bit too windy (gusting 60 m/h). We went on the Tuesday instead and met Paul to discuss what we wanted done. He did not give us a start date, but when we took advantage of a sunny day to go to Robinetta today he had already got a good start.

We had decided that the stern post should be pulled in at the stern, to stop the movement that is probably causing the leak at its base. That means removing the rudder (which is in the way), and screwing a very long screw through the stern post and into the keel to pull the two together. We were planning to take the rudder off today, but when we got there it was already off, with the area to drilled marked up.

Paul has also cleaned out the stopping and caulking that had failed, to let the seam dry out before he recaulks, and taken off the leaking tingle to check beneath.

We also wanted him to replace the teak strips that hide the join between the cabin roof and sides. They have been rubbed quite thin in places, and were no longer tight to the joint. He has removed the old ones, probably to use as patterns.

Inside the forepeak we wanted him to check the iron floor just beneath the bits. Its bolts were not replaced when the others were due to access issues, so we thought it should be done. That's gone too. Ever since I first looked hard at where the lowest plank in the bow met the floor it had been crooked. I had always assumed it was the plank, but now that the floor is gone so is the crooked joint. So it must have been the floor.....

He has not drawn the stem bolts yet but he's certainly made a very good start!

Julian had been planning to take the rudder off, but instead he got on with clearing loose paint off the bulwarks. He's never done that before, but soon got the hang of it. He also planed off the top of the port bulwark to make it a better fit for the cap rail, and screwed it in tighter on the joint with the older portion of the bulwark.

I washed the inside of the "wardrobe" locker, then cleared off the loose paint. The hull inside the locker has never been painted by me, and its down to bare wood in places. Once its dried off properly I will paint it!

We managed to get in to the Company Shed for lunch (by turning up at 12). One more couple made it, then the next were put on the waiting list and told to go away for an hour. We only had one dish each (delicious crab cakes), then headed back to the boat. It's nice to be able to eat there once in a while, and you don't have to go mad and pig out!

We brought the tiller and rudder home to work on, and the seat cushions too. That's the last of the things I expect to have in the house over the winter. The cabin's looking very bare.

Most of the things I want to do for Robinetta now are best done at home, or after Paul has finished. She's looking a little sad and shabby tucked away in a corner of the yard, but by next spring she'll be all spruced up again.

Emptying the anchor locker

Went to Mersea with Julian today, not nearly such a nice day as Thursday; it was raining when we got there, and felt as though it would stay that way all day despite the forecast. Luckily it soon dried out, and we got all the things done we wanted to.

The forepeak is now empty of its anchors and anchor locker, with the bolts though the stem finally accessible for checking. The floor bolts that were not replaced in the bow when the ones in the main cabin were done back when we first bought Robinetta can now be reached too. I think we'll ask Paul Drake to check them and replace if needed, he's coming to have a look at Robinetta on Monday.

Julian did some epoxying at the stern where the cap rail had been pulled up, and he also removed the rotten strip of iroko that covered the gap between the fibreglassed deck and the transom. That will have to be replaced, but its a simple enough job once we find the right bit of wood. After that he sanded down the mast where it had been damaged by the gaff saddle.

A good days work once the weather relented. The more we can get done this early in the maintenance season the better!

The diesel leak has been traced by Olly, when he winterised the engine for us. The fuel lift pump diaphragm is leaking. We've decided to get a new pump rather than just the diaphragm as the costs are pretty similar once the labour is factored in. Julian will buy it, then Olly will fit it when he gets the engine ready in the spring. He's pretty sure that that is the only leak, but time will tell.

Where the water comes in

Today was my first chance to get to West Mersea for a while due to work and weather, but it was a great day to go. Bright warm sun shine, and only a little breeze. The yard had moved Robinetta again, as the car park had been shrunk to only fit about ten cars, and she should not need to be moved again this winter. That meant I was able to get the electric hook up in place, so now I'll be able to brew up with the electric kettle.

The decks were damp with dew when I got there, but since I'd brought the heat gun and now had power I could burn the loose paint off the foredeck bulwark, which dried out the wood before I smoothed it down with the sander. I last painted this area before we left Shotley, and its not in bad condition overall, so I did not try to strip it totally. It's got a coat of grey metallic primer on all the bare bits now, and I'll probably leave it like that until the spring.

There is a distinct gap between the deck and the hull on the port side of the foredeck. The stopping has failed, and the caulking beneath is very loose. This may well be the source of one of our leaks this summer. 

As the wood of the hull dried out in the sun it was possible to see where a couple of areas stayed damp, as water trapped inside the hull leaked out. Paul had packed the one at the stern with bitumen when he recaulked it, but it looks as though it will need more attention this winter.

 

With the weather so perfect for it I sanded down where the mooring had abraded the antifouling down to bare wood and gave it a coat of underwater primer. The wood was in good condition and dry, so it made sense to get paint on it.

The old cooker had to go, so that went in the car to take to the dump, then I put the cover on the foredeck. There's rain forecast for tomorrow, and I want to keep it out of the boat as much as I can.