VARNISHING - WHOOPEE

The wind is gusting 25 knots, making Lady Cate twist and turn at her moorings. It's lovely to be in this lively weather. (Well, when moored up!)

A boat is an endless project of maintenance and improvement. That's what's (!) been filling my time.

Varnishing

 Lady Cate's wheelhouse and topside fittings have been in need of a serious refurb
 for some time. So now I'm getting down to it, starting with the starboard side of the wheelhouse and the starboard bulwark strake. Preparation by endless sanding down is the key. Sanding is very tedious, making potato peeling for an army quite preferable.

[Perhaps George Herbert, (17thC poet, priest and hymn writer) got it right with his poem now known as The Elixir. (http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/elixir.htm)  Turn tedious actions into praise by taking a new perspective on the task.]

This is the area of activity. I have already sanded down and varnished the section forward of the door. Please note the shine.

I took off the sliding door retainers and the step up to the poop deck.These I could work on inside. The door itself is in fine condition, so I'll leave that 'til later.

Outside has to be timed with the weather. The BBC Met Office forecasts have been notably accurate this week.

  

 

But, as you can see, the strake is in parlous condition.

 

Now looking much better.

But there's much more to do!

More soon.

AIR HEATER, DREDGER, VELVET SCOTERS

12 02 16

Air heater

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The heater has arrived from China. It’s far smaller than the old one and, at 5kW, twice as powerful.

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Problem: it won’t fit in the cupboard space of the old heater as the burner air inlet and the exhaust have to fit beneath or on the side of the heater and run outside the living space but there is insufficient headroom as the air inlet outlet level is right at the top of the cupboard. 

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Big re-think and I’ve decided to fit it high in the wheelhouse on the bulkhead astern. Mounting it high up will mean that the circulating inlet air will be taken from the warmer used circulating air and re-circulated, making the heater more effective. The burner air inlet and exhaust will pass through the bulkhead to the fresh air outside. I’ll get some anti-vibration foam sheet to make a vibration free mounting. Both the burner air inlet and exhaust have silencers. The fuel pump will have to work harder to lift the diesel up from the tank, but this is within spec..

I’ll get a marine surveyor round just to confirm my ideas are OK. I don’t want the insurance survey due next year to tell me that I’ve got to change it all.

The warm air ducting is a bit of a challenge. Some of the old system is still there. Must decide whether or not to replace it with new. Tony has found some insulated ducting 100mm dia. as against the plain 80mm dia. standard ducting. Decisions, decisions.

A little move and a little dredger

Simon is expanding his marina by dredging a bit each winter, so Lady Cate has had to move along to a temporary mud berth. It is right by the river with far better views. The electricity supply is through a cash meter. That’ll drive home how much I am using! I’ve loaded up with 20p pieces.

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Here is Simon on the marina pontoons as he takes them across to park out of the way on the mud on the other side of the river. See the little dredger top left, ready for action.

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The dredger is a little monster, very aged and rusted all over. I’m intrigued to see it work for a few minutes. I suspect its noise will drive me quite mad quite quickly. I must plan some trips away!

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The dredger drill bit is out front just breaking the surface.

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This is the drivers cabin. Boys’ toys!

More anon.

Velvet scoters

Great delight! I’ve not heard of this bird before, but I saw four this morning. Had to look them up in the reference book and got a 100% recognition. No doubt. It helps to boost the case for the suspected Scoter chicks I referred to a blog or two back.

Google images

Shelving, varnishing, air heater progress and weird weather.

27 01 16

Galley shelving

 

Yesterday I completed the installation of some extra working storage space in the galley.

   

I’d had the idea ages ago. The crockery storage on the left looks nice and it would be a small job to fix a shelf on top of the main strake running above the basin. The problem was getting the strip mahogany. No one had any. The nearest would be in Colchester. 

Then good luck struck as I was clearing out Rafiki. Pop had used two beautiful pieces of mahogany as legs for his work table in the studio. I took slices off them using a circular saw (I knew that workshop training some 50 years ago would come in useful one day.) varnished them up and stuck them in place with screws and glue. Looks and works fine.

  

                                                                                        Must get the camera flash working!

 

Varnishing

Lady Cate has lots of varnished wood both topsides and insides. Preparing the wood for the galley storage got me started. Varnishing will be an endless maintenance chore, which I don’t mind, as it is restful work. Apart from the shelving I’ve practiced on a few areas in the wheelhouse. Makes a dramatically shiny improvement.

Can't get going on the outside until the weather's better. April is the earliest they start.

 

Air heater

At last I’ve ordered and payed for (PayPal) the air heater from China, $590.00 including air freight. Can’t wait to get going. I’ve been lucky with this mild winter.

 Weather

Although very mild it has been very windy, regularly up to force 7. Lady Cate rocks about happilky at her mooring, which I love, though I can't say why!

Bye for now.