Jesolo 2015
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Jesolo 2015
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Most outstanding jobs fall more into the category of "routine maintenance" than that of "essential repairs" like in previous years, with possibly the only exception of putting back into operation the original integral water tanks, that the first owner for some reason replaced with two smallish 60-liter jerrycans, definitely inadequate for a sea-going boat not equipped with a water-maker. Consequently, we begin the season with the reasonable hope of managing, at last, a couple of months' cruise, preferably not in August when everybody else is vacationing and there's crowd everywhere. The season begins! ANCHOR-CHAIN REPLACEMENT:
Last year we shortened the existing anchor chain, cutting off 40 meters which were quite rusty and weakened, which we replaced with as much rope. Quite reasonable, that's the arrangement we had on Shaula3, and only in very few cases we had to pay out the rope on top of the 60 meters of chain; furthermore, this way we reduced the weight in the bows. The remaining 60 meters of chain were not entirely convincing though, so at the end we decided to replace the whole chain. 100 meters of 8mm chain weigh about 150 Kg, so the replacement job is better done with the boat on the hard, carrying the new chain on the car just straight under the bow and then lifting it with the electric windlass; before that though, we mark the chain every 10 meters. A portion of the old chain is recovered for use with the spare bower anchor (the somewhat rusty CQR which was on the boat when we purchased it) which we will store in the newly-created space under the forward bunk; the rest we throw away.
PROPELLER REPLACEMENT: Last year the Nanni engineer drew our attention to the fact that the engine looked like it had been overloaded, presumably due to a wrong propeller pitch; we had tried to have the propeller's pitch shortened (something that can be done only for small changes) but subsequent sea trials showed that the engine was unable (by far) to reach maximum revs. At this point, our only option was to replace the propeller with one having a much shorter pitch, as confirmed by the calculation which suggested a 200mm pitch instead of the existing propeller's 260mm. Despite a bit of perplexity, due to the large difference, we ordered the new propeller and it's now time to install it. It would have been interesting to install a folding-prop, like a Maxprop or Kiwiprop, which also allow to change the pitch, but apart from the not-negligible cost there is no room enough for the propeller which would hit the rudder's skeg when feathering.
WATER TANKS MODIFICATION:
We finish painting the interior of the water tanks: the
purpose is to avoid corrosion on the tanks' sides, some of which are just the
inside of the hull, better to avoid holes there! This is a
well-known problem with integral tanks in aluminum boats, and the accepted
solution is to just paint the tanks' interior with food-grade paint. AUTO-PILOT REMOTE CONTROL: Last year we found out that managing the autopilot via the buttons on its control head, installed down low in the cockpit, was not very practical especially during manoeuvres, so a remote control like we had on Shaula3 would be a welcome addition.
The remote control's radio terminal (left), and... ...(right) the remote conveniently stored in the companionway Unfortunately Raymarine has stopped making simple, wired
remote controls since many years, so we have no other choice than to adopt a
complex, expensive wireless remote control: we choose the simplest one among the
two available ones, and we proceed with the installation, not without a few
difficulties. HULL CLEANING AND ANTIFOULING: Last year we had to spend a full month to polish the topsides and remove as much as possible the old blue antifouling paint, in view of changing color to white; this year the work is simpler but nevertheless it takes several days to be ready for launch.
RE-RIGGING: It's hard to believe, but putting back all running rigging, reinstall the instruments, putting back the sails, the outboard, clothing, the works, takes a hell of a lot of time! In the meantime, we finish the: MODIFICATION TO THE WATER SYSTEM:
The new pipes, sometimes running in nearly-impossible places.... ...and the new foot-pump in the toilet compartment All the original pipework was removed by the first owner when he decided to decommission the existing integral tanks, so we had to reinstall everything, and in some places this was far from easy, with pipes to be run through nearly inaccessible places: did they build the boat after having laid the water pipes?? Now at last we can enjoy water in the toilet compartment, where not only the pipes but even the foot-pump had been removed, perhaps to replace a faulty pump in the galley. Unfortunately the existing electric pump which was feeding the
shower in the stern failed to prime from the main tanks (which sit much lower
than the jerrycan previously used), so we have no choice than to replace it with
a new one, which works just great. REARRANGEMENT OF FORWARD STORAGE SPACE:
The space under the forward bunks, initially taken up by the water tanks... ...and now reorganised
Meanwhile, we reached July: it's now clear that the much-anticipated cruise is postponed to September, hoping that the weather will not deteriorate too quickly, and in the mean time we keep ourselves busy with a few odd jobs.
The new sun-cover for the stern mooring-rope drum hooks to keep the table flaps in position
The outboard fuel tank, now stored on deck A piece of waterproof cloth becomes the sun-cover for the rope on the stern drum, and another cover is used to protect the outboard's tank, that we prefer to store in the outside for security considerations. Two plastic hooks are used to keep the main table's flaps from
swinging and banging when the boat's motion gets rough. MAINSHEET RAIL: The much-anticipated cruise turns out to be a disaster (read the - short - report on THIS PAGE) and we had to come back home with a major repair to perform: replacing the mainsheet's rail which broke in half (and therefore also the car)!
The broken mainsheet rail (left)... ...and the new rail and car (right) A couple of weeks to choose the replacement parts and get them from England, then we proceed with the repair, made somewhat more complicated by the fact that the replacement is different from the original and cannot fit into the existing holes. The end result is not bad, but this experience leaves us a bit poorer but especially doubtful concerning the strength of some parts that we never questioned before!
During the same rolly night we also developed some play at the
autopilot's rudder actuator; this problem we managed to fix already during our
stop in Ancona, using a rowlock housing which was a perfect fit! COMPASS REPAIR:
Refilling the compass with liquid after the repair ....like new!! When we bought the boat, the port-side steering compass was empty, having somehow lost its damping liquid: we were taking for granted to have to replace it, but then decided to have a look before discarding it: it turned out that the bowl had a crack that we could fix with epoxy glue. Having restored water-tightness, we refilled the compass with a mixture of distilled water and food-grade alcohol (mainly as an anti-freeze) and now the compass looks like new!
The new sun-covers (needless to say, the original ones were
not on the boat!) complete the job: another item to tick on the to-do list! HATCH COVER: The sliding hatch cover has a terrible problem: a loud screech whenever we move it, and especially at night this can be very embarassing!
We remove the hatch garage, hoping to gain access to the
cover's slides for a much-needed cleaning and lubricating: we do what we can,
but access is not good, quite likely the screech will come back!... ALSO THIS SEASON IS FINISHED, WE GO BACK HOME!
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