Back on the Water

The lift back into the water went well on Tuesday, in fact by the time we got down to the harbour at 9am she was already on her berth.
The mast was stepped back in place later that day and we've spent the rest of our time to date getting the rigging back in place and making adjustments.
I took advantage of the rain showers on Tuesday and treated the deck with the first two stages of Teak Wonder (cleaner and brightener) and then followed up with the final step of the sealer yesterday as the sun had come for most of the day and dried it out to finish that particular job off.
We managed to get the jib on yesterday with the help of a break in the breeze and are pleased to report that a triangular fixing that the other half rigged up when the mast was off seems to work really well; the halyard no longer twists.
The cockpit cover fits well now I've rigged up the elastic fixings to final size and it was tested for water pooling points on Tuesday as we had heavy rain overnight.
The forecast today is light winds so we're planning on bending the mainsail on and even going for a quick sail to test things out.
It's all coming together at last, but it's great to be back on the water and the right side of Summer!

Sail Cover in Production

Nearly at our launch date so I'm having a break from woodwork and doing some sewing!
I made a sail cover last year by making a very simple 'boom tent' design that protected the cockpit as well as the sails.  That worked well, but we decided that a separate cockpit cover and sail cover would be better.

Having been inspired by the 'Sewing Bee' programme on the TV I have now set about altering the boom tent into the cover for the cockpit.  I've also started work on the sail cover with the fabric I had left over from our original purchase last year (we bought enough to do a sail cover too if we needed it).

Mum taught me to sew on an old Singer treadle sewing machine as soon as I could reach the treadle and I've kept it ever since; it still comes out on occasion for jobs like this!

I'll post progress as I go on a new Page .....

Long Time No Update ....

Time flies when you're busy and up against the clock!
We've booked our lift back into the water on the 22nd of this month so we're on serious countdown now to get things done.
We had a week off work recently with a plan to get us well on our way to completion but true to form the weather wasn't brilliant so we were restricted in terms of what we could do.
Good news is that I've finally managed to get to my 7th and final coat of varnish on the cabin and cockpit and Toplac on all the white areas.  I'll post photo's on the relevant pages when I get a chance in the next day or so.
In the garage, we managed to sand down the bilge covers and re-treat with Teak Wonder so they're back to looking loved and sanded down the locker covers ready for 7th (final) varnish coat and primed the undersides with Pre-Kote ready for Toplac.
Busy, busy, busy.......

A Beautiful Weekend...

So this weekend was the first since the back end of autumn that we've had two consecutive days of dry, reasonably warm weather;  the sun was out, clear blue skies and 15 degrees on both days!

Also for the first time we were able to tie the winter cover fully up and out of the way so that sanding yesterday and varnishing today was done in relative comfort - a great relief to my back!

Link to Winter Cover

At this point I should probably mention that this was the first time I've ever varnished when my working surface was warm and there was a gentle, but steady breeze.  This was a whole new experience!

I decided that this weekend would be a good time to give the cabin entrance woodwork a refurbishing coat as it had a reasonable chance of drying by the time we locked up at the end of the day.  Glad I opted to varnish this area before starting on the rest as it gave me a good idea how quick and slick I would need to be in doing the major stuff.

I was amazed how quickly the varnish started to dry, to the extent that I ended up using a slightly thicker coating so that my leading edge didn't dry too quickly.  Too little loading on my brush resulted in a distinct drag so I needed to increase it in order to avoid that.  I wondered whether to add a very small amount of epifanes thinner to help but decided against it.

I have ended up with a few small runs but am not too unhappy with this as they will be sanded out next weekend before the 6th coat.

The pictures I have uploaded this weekend show my efforts but I have also added in a couple just to show the varnish close up and how it isn't entirely perfect just yet. Again, I'm not too worried about this, the main thing is that I'm building up valuable microns of varnish depth.

Link to Cockpit Refurbishment

Finally, after running out of time last weekend I got the Locker Covers varnished with their 5th coat, and a refurbishing topcoat for the cabin cover.

Link to Locker Covers

On a final note, what a treat to spend the whole weekend in the sun, in short sleeves for some of the time and avoiding a red face by remembering to put some sun factor cream on!

A long day

The weather forecast for yesterday was better than today so domestic chores were ditched and off we went to the boat.

Charm has never been fitted with an anode so the other half set about lining up and drilling holes in the hull to install one we'd bought earlier.  Remembering the most useful piece of advice ever given in practical life; "measure twice, cut once" the anode has been installed without incident!

I carried on my usual task of sanding and varnishing so can now safely say I'm over half way! Yesterday took longer because I was working on my own for most of it (as the other half was otherwise occupied). Rain arrived towards the end of the afternoon but luckily I'd done the cabin sides and was able to finish the cockpit under cover before I finally lost the light.

Shopping and locker covers today so will update photos from this weekend's efforts on the relevant pages later.....

Another Weather Window...

Forecast for yesterday was dry, mild, a few rain showers and getting windier in the afternoon.  We were down at the boatyard by 9.30am!
We took the risk of tieing both sides of the tarpaulins up, which made life much easier.  Everything was lightly sanded to provide a key with 180 grit, vacuumed down and varnished with Epifanes at 85%. We were home by 2.30pm in time to watch the rugby!

Link to Cockpit Refurbishment Page

Calm Follows the Storm...

A full day today working on the boat!  The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and the tarp came off to do some sanding and get the second coat of varnish on.  The boat is booked to go back in the water in April so we're hoping the recent stormy weather over the past few weeks will now abate so we can start to build up those valuable extra layers of varnish.

Work today on the cabin sides and the cockpit ... Link to Cockpit Page

What to do on a Stormy Weekend ........

Simple really ...... you can't do anything on your boat at the boatyard as it's too windy and wet (apart from go to see that everything is secured and tied down), so you work on the stuff at home in your garage!

Third coat of varnish on the locker covers......  Link to Locker Covers page

Night Shift ...

So the night shifts begin ... locker covers sanded to 180 grit and second coat of varnish applied (75%).

Link to Locker Covers Page

Long Time No Report ................

What a frustrating few weeks! Sorry I haven't updated my blog but there hasn't been much to tell as the weather here, like elsewhere in the UK, has been shocking! The endless storms have meant that we have had to take advantage of any weather windows we could to get down to the boat to do some sanding.  We were hoping to be much further forward at this stage!

Our deadline has been relieved a little though as we've talked with Sam Heard (the son of the original boatbuilder) and decided to replace the gunwhales next winter.

Still, that said, good news today was that we were sufficiently sheltered enough in our spot on the quay to get the first coat of varnish on the cockpit and cabin sides!  Now we're cooking!  :-).  The nice thing also was that when the sun shone there was actually some warmth in it.........

Link to Cockpit Refurbishment Page

At home yesterday I got the first coat of varnish on the locker covers so good weekend all round really!

Link to Locker Covers Page

To be continued.....