Wow, September since I posted something.
Lest assured I have been on the boat, it's just that life is getting in the way. The cover is on for winter, although I have a bigger cover in the boot of the car ready to fit at some point. But it's a really boring post if all I say is that I've put the cover on for winter. The bigger cover is a cheap eBay one that may last the winter and afford me a covered cockpit with more than kneeling space.
A little windfall I had this month will hopefully allow me to buy a chunk of hardwood that I can use for the mast beam. Also money for the window rubbers, if I can find someone to tell me what size rubber I need. Fingers crossed.
When I'll get round to doing it is anyone's guess. I have work stacked up elsewhere that I need to attend to, with not a lot of time available to do it all.
We'll see I suppose, as the New Year unfolds.
As it is, I'm rushing around over Christmas. As I do most of the time it seems.
It's pretty clear that the goal I had for getting the boat in a yard or Marina on the hard is totally out of reach. The plan will have to be beach-based. Certainly I can lower the mast and sort out the mast beam on the beach. I don't know whether it's realistic to think about anti-fouling, not if the boat gets wet between tides.
Roll on 2020. I'll have had the boat 7 years next year.
Monday 23 December 2019
Friday 6 September 2019
Yacht Design.
I know I'm late to the world of yachting, but like all things mechanical, yacht design does interest me.
I've commented before on the plague of insufficiently supported keels snapping off offshore yachts (possibly the worst type of yacht for this to happen to).
This is a more positive post.
Looking at the latest racing yachts, starting with the one most local to me, Alex Thompson's new Hugo Boss IMOCA boat.
Some interesting design features on that boat already. It looks like the philosophy around the bow on racing boats has changed in the past couple of years. The Mini-Transat boats, with their bulbous bows for increased buoyancy up front are no translating to the bigger boats.
Some good picture of the boat here: https://www.sail-world.com/news/220602/The-new-Hugo-Boss-boat-hits-the-water
If you look at the picture of the box, it's quite bluff and has a whaleback to disperse any water that gets on top of it, so the bow is designed to travel over waves rather than the wave-piercing design previously used.
Makes sense in a boat that is designed to fly or foil, rather than sit on the water. I assume the idea is to get the bow on top of the waves as soon as possible, so the boat can foil. The same bow profile seems to have migrated to a few other racing yachts that have been announced in the paste few weeks.
The bulbous bow design can be seen on the latest Jeanneau IMOCA boats, although they don't foil, I assume the increased buoyancy at the bow helps to stop the bow digging in and slowing the boat. It will also help stop pitchpoling at high speeds.
In fact the new Jeanneau SunFast 3300 has the same bow profile. A very tasty looking boat that... Just need the lottery win...
Finally in the bluff bow category, we have the newly-launched Team Emirates New Zealand AC75 Americas Cup boat named Te Aihe. Maybe not quite as bluff as the European boats, but still has the essence of the design philosophy.
Moving back from the bow, the hull profile has started to flatten out. I assume because the boats (except the AC75) will be mainly travelling at an angle (the bluff bow also makes the buoyancy even along the hull when heeled) or if not heeled, then foiling. Here, drag is the issue, so drag reduction is the key in order to get the boat up to speed quickly. For the foilers, getting up to foiling speed is the primary function of the hull profile.
The AC75 seems to have a flat section apart from the centre, where there is a bulge in the hull. The AC75 has two massive foils that are down all the time and are ballasted. The boat is designed to sail flat and then foil so reducing wetted area in the centre reduces drag and gets up to foiling speed quicker.
The new Boss Boat seems to be entirely flat, although the long pictures of the hull seem to indicate a long concave to the hull. But that could be due to camera optics. This is definitely designed to sail heeled.
In this regard the Jeanneau IMOCA boats take the design a step further and add concave sections to the hull. Getting the hull away from the water reduces drag.
Finally we come to the foils. The Jeanneau boats are not designed to foil, being a cheaper entry to the IMOCA class.
First it's interesting to look at Charal, Jeremie Bayou's new boat. It can be classed as a transitional design. It has the element of the latest IMOCA design rules, like big adjustable foils able to change angle of attack, but the hull profile (especially the wave-piercing bow and hull bottom) is rooted in the previous designs.
The New Hugo Boss boat takes the New IMOCA rules to a totally new level of design. The boat is currently running large adjustable foils, but I assume they are not the final design. Interestingly, there appears to be no pictures released of the boat foiling yet. I do know it's been out in the Solent, but I assume the pictures give a bit too much away about the hull's interaction with the surface of the water. Scrub that: seconds after I wrote this footage appeared on Social Media of the new HB boat in full flight.
Of course the AC75 has just been launched, so not pictures of it actually sailing yet. But the test mules run by the different teams across the globe show that the boats will be big, fast, foiling and not too easy to control. It should be an interesting Americas Cup when the final designs run off against one another. I do hope that it will be available on free TV somewhere and not behind a paywall or subscription.
Another interesting feature of the New Hugo Boss boat is the amount of solar panels installed. Virtually the whole boat's top surface is covered by a bespoke solar installation. This allows more electrical kit to be used without having to use diesel to generate it or having to have a draggy water-powered generator. Looking at it, the boat is designed to be run from inside. The aft end of the boat doesn't look to have any equipment for human interaction at all. How that works out when having to trim sails mid-ocean I don't know, but by 'eck it will be fun to watch.
So, there you go. Yacht design at the top end has evolved yet again. The SunFast 3300 looks to take the latest design philosophy and cram it into a 33ft boat. Very, very tasty. Out of my league, but then again so is an old Westerly Centaur!
Still, it doesn't stop me appreciating these new designs and any traits they have filtering down to boats even mortals can afford, even if it's for millionaire mortals. Those flat-bottomed designs would translate well to sitting on mud moorings like mine, all they need is a retractable keel. Now then, I need plywood for a mould and a ton of carbon fibre and resin... anyone got any going spare?
.
I've commented before on the plague of insufficiently supported keels snapping off offshore yachts (possibly the worst type of yacht for this to happen to).
This is a more positive post.
Looking at the latest racing yachts, starting with the one most local to me, Alex Thompson's new Hugo Boss IMOCA boat.
Some interesting design features on that boat already. It looks like the philosophy around the bow on racing boats has changed in the past couple of years. The Mini-Transat boats, with their bulbous bows for increased buoyancy up front are no translating to the bigger boats.
Some good picture of the boat here: https://www.sail-world.com/news/220602/The-new-Hugo-Boss-boat-hits-the-water
If you look at the picture of the box, it's quite bluff and has a whaleback to disperse any water that gets on top of it, so the bow is designed to travel over waves rather than the wave-piercing design previously used.
Makes sense in a boat that is designed to fly or foil, rather than sit on the water. I assume the idea is to get the bow on top of the waves as soon as possible, so the boat can foil. The same bow profile seems to have migrated to a few other racing yachts that have been announced in the paste few weeks.
The bulbous bow design can be seen on the latest Jeanneau IMOCA boats, although they don't foil, I assume the increased buoyancy at the bow helps to stop the bow digging in and slowing the boat. It will also help stop pitchpoling at high speeds.
In fact the new Jeanneau SunFast 3300 has the same bow profile. A very tasty looking boat that... Just need the lottery win...
Finally in the bluff bow category, we have the newly-launched Team Emirates New Zealand AC75 Americas Cup boat named Te Aihe. Maybe not quite as bluff as the European boats, but still has the essence of the design philosophy.
Moving back from the bow, the hull profile has started to flatten out. I assume because the boats (except the AC75) will be mainly travelling at an angle (the bluff bow also makes the buoyancy even along the hull when heeled) or if not heeled, then foiling. Here, drag is the issue, so drag reduction is the key in order to get the boat up to speed quickly. For the foilers, getting up to foiling speed is the primary function of the hull profile.
The AC75 seems to have a flat section apart from the centre, where there is a bulge in the hull. The AC75 has two massive foils that are down all the time and are ballasted. The boat is designed to sail flat and then foil so reducing wetted area in the centre reduces drag and gets up to foiling speed quicker.
The new Boss Boat seems to be entirely flat, although the long pictures of the hull seem to indicate a long concave to the hull. But that could be due to camera optics. This is definitely designed to sail heeled.
In this regard the Jeanneau IMOCA boats take the design a step further and add concave sections to the hull. Getting the hull away from the water reduces drag.
Finally we come to the foils. The Jeanneau boats are not designed to foil, being a cheaper entry to the IMOCA class.
First it's interesting to look at Charal, Jeremie Bayou's new boat. It can be classed as a transitional design. It has the element of the latest IMOCA design rules, like big adjustable foils able to change angle of attack, but the hull profile (especially the wave-piercing bow and hull bottom) is rooted in the previous designs.
The New Hugo Boss boat takes the New IMOCA rules to a totally new level of design. The boat is currently running large adjustable foils, but I assume they are not the final design. Interestingly, there appears to be no pictures released of the boat foiling yet. I do know it's been out in the Solent, but I assume the pictures give a bit too much away about the hull's interaction with the surface of the water. Scrub that: seconds after I wrote this footage appeared on Social Media of the new HB boat in full flight.
Of course the AC75 has just been launched, so not pictures of it actually sailing yet. But the test mules run by the different teams across the globe show that the boats will be big, fast, foiling and not too easy to control. It should be an interesting Americas Cup when the final designs run off against one another. I do hope that it will be available on free TV somewhere and not behind a paywall or subscription.
Another interesting feature of the New Hugo Boss boat is the amount of solar panels installed. Virtually the whole boat's top surface is covered by a bespoke solar installation. This allows more electrical kit to be used without having to use diesel to generate it or having to have a draggy water-powered generator. Looking at it, the boat is designed to be run from inside. The aft end of the boat doesn't look to have any equipment for human interaction at all. How that works out when having to trim sails mid-ocean I don't know, but by 'eck it will be fun to watch.
So, there you go. Yacht design at the top end has evolved yet again. The SunFast 3300 looks to take the latest design philosophy and cram it into a 33ft boat. Very, very tasty. Out of my league, but then again so is an old Westerly Centaur!
Still, it doesn't stop me appreciating these new designs and any traits they have filtering down to boats even mortals can afford, even if it's for millionaire mortals. Those flat-bottomed designs would translate well to sitting on mud moorings like mine, all they need is a retractable keel. Now then, I need plywood for a mould and a ton of carbon fibre and resin... anyone got any going spare?
.
Tuesday 27 August 2019
The Not-an-Upgrade
Well, since I got my cheapo new sail it's been blowing a gale. Go me, commander of the weather!
Anyway, the wind finally abated at the end of last week and on Saturday I could go and do a test fit.
The results were not good. Even though the sail is laminate one from a Fireball dinghy and the measurements were close, the sail is actually too big to fit on the mast. The leech is way to full and interferes with the backstays. Not just in a small way: the top batten jams in the backstays as the sail tries to tack.
I've taken a few pictures. The first pic shows the sail a bit short of the top of the mast and still overlapping the backstays:
At the bottom end the news isn't much better. The boom is at the bottom of the mast and still loads of bag in it.
Anyway, the wind finally abated at the end of last week and on Saturday I could go and do a test fit.
The results were not good. Even though the sail is laminate one from a Fireball dinghy and the measurements were close, the sail is actually too big to fit on the mast. The leech is way to full and interferes with the backstays. Not just in a small way: the top batten jams in the backstays as the sail tries to tack.
I've taken a few pictures. The first pic shows the sail a bit short of the top of the mast and still overlapping the backstays:
At the bottom end the news isn't much better. The boom is at the bottom of the mast and still loads of bag in it.
Not much scope to tighten the outhaul either, the sail foot was as long as the boom:
So, being a £20 sail, do I mess about with it and have a go at trimming bits off, or forget about it? Can you even mess about with a laminate sail like that?
Not sure yet. I'd have to take a significant chunk out of the foot of the sail to lose some height and even then the sail may catch the backstays.
Back to the drawing board for now. I do need a flatter sail though.
In the meantime, the original went back on:
Looks better at the bottom as well:
At the end of the boom the original sail has more scope to tighten the outhaul. Still some space left at the end of the boom:
One thing I did notice is that the last 12 inches of lift started to get very stiff and I had to sweat the halyard in order to pull it up that last 12 inches.. Looks like the pulleys in the mast are getting a bit stiff. Possibly some lubrication needed or a duff bearing. So now add that job to the mast beam replacement when the mast has to come down.
Ho Hum... The hunt for a decent sail continues....
Did I mention that the boat is completely rewired now? Got to feel positive about something... right?
In the meantime, more watching on eBay for a sail about 5m luff and 2-ish metres on the foot.
Sunday 4 August 2019
Upgrade?
I got a bit of an eBay bargain this week, which I picked up today.
I got a new main sail. Well, not new, I am the skint sailor after all! But it was cheap!
But If it fits (and I hope it does) it should provide a welcome performance upgrade compared to the baggy main that is fitted at the moment.
I'll see what transpires next weekend when I've fitted it.
No photos as the garden isn't big enough to unfurl it. They'll have to wait until I raise it up the mast.
But I have had just enough time today to unstick the sail numbers and the insignia from the sail.
I got a new main sail. Well, not new, I am the skint sailor after all! But it was cheap!
But If it fits (and I hope it does) it should provide a welcome performance upgrade compared to the baggy main that is fitted at the moment.
I'll see what transpires next weekend when I've fitted it.
No photos as the garden isn't big enough to unfurl it. They'll have to wait until I raise it up the mast.
But I have had just enough time today to unstick the sail numbers and the insignia from the sail.
Saturday 3 August 2019
Six Years.
As of today I've owned Sprite 2 for six years. Saturday the 3rd of August 2013 I picked her up from the previous owner, Pam.
Funds haven't allowed a quick restoration, but things like today's new fuse box fill me with a sense of progress and accomplishment. I can see things are progressing.
Let's hope I'll be done before the next 6 years are up.
Funds haven't allowed a quick restoration, but things like today's new fuse box fill me with a sense of progress and accomplishment. I can see things are progressing.
Let's hope I'll be done before the next 6 years are up.
Fusebox Finished.
Finally the fuse box is finished. The battery cut off switch has been fitted to the side of the box and easily identifiable and accessible. Not like the previous switch which was a white household switch with a fuse fitted round the back of the bulkhead.
This one looks the part:
It makes a nice compact unit now.
The on/off positions are easy to see:
The switch's party trick us it has a third position where the switch knob can be removed. It allows you to isolate the battery and keep it isolated as log as you have the switch knob in your pocket.
I've tried to tidy the negative posts too by having two posts and splitting the negative connections between them. The negative wiring looks a lot less chaotic.
Overall I'm pleased with the result.
Not that expensive either. The box was a tenner on eBay and the switch 14 quid on Amazon. The fuse panel was the original with thicker wire tails soldered to it. The only other cost were the terminal blocks. They were less than a fiver for the pair.
The thick red wire I've had for at least 14 years, from when I did some caravan wiring.
Now I can carry on and finish wiring in the horn that started the whole fuse box saga.... And the LED stern light.
This one looks the part:
It makes a nice compact unit now.
The on/off positions are easy to see:
The switch's party trick us it has a third position where the switch knob can be removed. It allows you to isolate the battery and keep it isolated as log as you have the switch knob in your pocket.
I've tried to tidy the negative posts too by having two posts and splitting the negative connections between them. The negative wiring looks a lot less chaotic.
Overall I'm pleased with the result.
Not that expensive either. The box was a tenner on eBay and the switch 14 quid on Amazon. The fuse panel was the original with thicker wire tails soldered to it. The only other cost were the terminal blocks. They were less than a fiver for the pair.
The thick red wire I've had for at least 14 years, from when I did some caravan wiring.
Now I can carry on and finish wiring in the horn that started the whole fuse box saga.... And the LED stern light.
Saturday 27 July 2019
Floating Picnic
Last Saturday of the grandchildren came aboard for the day. She wanted to come aboard for a birthday treat. It was too windy for sailing, being F5-ish. Tipping the boat on it's side and scaring Granddaughter half to death probably isn't the best introduction to boats. Instead we stayed on the mooring and had a floating picnic.
It was sunny but windy. The combination that burns even with sun cream.
But we had a good few hours eating the picnic and watching the world go by.
Thursday and Friday of this week I was on the boat after work. I finished off wiring the port and starboard nav lights.
I found out why the old ones weren't working: the feed to the nav lights went to a chocolate block in the forward bilges from there it split to the port starboard and aft nav lights. Unfortunately the block has been underwater for some time and the port and starboard wires had corroded away. The aft wire was a thicker gauge and hadn't corroded.
So the next job is to replace the wire to the aft nav light, running a new wire from the new fuse box and get rid of the chocolate block connector. I also got an LED stern light and I'll fit that to complement the LED Port and Starboard lights.
I also looked at the wiring to the mast lights. The wires in the cabin roof connector looked a bit black, but other than that intact. The running light works fine and there is power to the anchor light. Unfortunately I can't see if the anchor light is working during the day, the angle from the boat is too acute.
Once the wire to the stern light has been replaced, I'll have replaced all the wiring in the boat apart from the short wires from the fusebox to the mast light socket.
Everything has been replaced with thicker gauge wiring, the fuse/junction box has been replaced for more space and better connections and eventually all the lights, including those on the mast I hope to replace for LED versions.
Eventually I'll have to look at those big jobs I've been putting off for years: the window rubbers and the mast beam. Gulp!
UPDATE:
I was on the boat until 9:30 last night waiting for some semi-darkess to see if the masthead light comes on. Indeed it does, so that's another tick in the box.
While I was waiting I epoxied some plywood pads in the Starboard cockpit locker, ready to screw some p-clips onto for the stern light wire. The autopilot wire follows a similar route so I may route that through the p-clips too. I may even get some thin trunking and run that along the locker if I can get trunking small enough to be held by p-clips.
It was sunny but windy. The combination that burns even with sun cream.
But we had a good few hours eating the picnic and watching the world go by.
Thursday and Friday of this week I was on the boat after work. I finished off wiring the port and starboard nav lights.
I found out why the old ones weren't working: the feed to the nav lights went to a chocolate block in the forward bilges from there it split to the port starboard and aft nav lights. Unfortunately the block has been underwater for some time and the port and starboard wires had corroded away. The aft wire was a thicker gauge and hadn't corroded.
So the next job is to replace the wire to the aft nav light, running a new wire from the new fuse box and get rid of the chocolate block connector. I also got an LED stern light and I'll fit that to complement the LED Port and Starboard lights.
I also looked at the wiring to the mast lights. The wires in the cabin roof connector looked a bit black, but other than that intact. The running light works fine and there is power to the anchor light. Unfortunately I can't see if the anchor light is working during the day, the angle from the boat is too acute.
Once the wire to the stern light has been replaced, I'll have replaced all the wiring in the boat apart from the short wires from the fusebox to the mast light socket.
Everything has been replaced with thicker gauge wiring, the fuse/junction box has been replaced for more space and better connections and eventually all the lights, including those on the mast I hope to replace for LED versions.
Eventually I'll have to look at those big jobs I've been putting off for years: the window rubbers and the mast beam. Gulp!
UPDATE:
I was on the boat until 9:30 last night waiting for some semi-darkess to see if the masthead light comes on. Indeed it does, so that's another tick in the box.
While I was waiting I epoxied some plywood pads in the Starboard cockpit locker, ready to screw some p-clips onto for the stern light wire. The autopilot wire follows a similar route so I may route that through the p-clips too. I may even get some thin trunking and run that along the locker if I can get trunking small enough to be held by p-clips.
Monday 15 July 2019
Nav lights fitted
I spent Sunday down the boat fitting the new (4 year old!) LED nav lights to sprite.
The ex-cordless 12v drill came in handy once again. I can't believe how many times I've used that drill now. Converting it to run off the boat battery was a stroke of genius. Especially as the lead length allows me to use the drill in most places on the boat.
The first step was to come up with a solution to the fact I was fitting the lights myself. Now I don't have long arms, but I bet the tallest person in the world hasn't got the reach to hold a nut inside the cabin whilst simultaneously turning the screw from the outside.
The solution was to glue the screws into the light fittings: just a light sliver of glue because there wasn't such a big gap between the screw and the hole. Here's one waiting for the glue to set:
The next step while the glue was setting was to offer up the rubber gasket for each new light and drill pilot holes:
Then the correct hole sizes for each hole. 4mm for the screw hole and 5mm for the wiring hole.
Once the correct hole sizes were drilled, the area around the wire and the screw was given a dollop of polyurethane sealant. The wires were fed through and the screw was pushed into the screw hole. The advantage of drilling a hole just big enough is the light stays in place while I crawled in the cabin.
I fitted the nut (and a big penny washer to spread the load) on the end of the screw and tightened it up just enough to compress the gasket and spread the sealant.
Here's the light in place on the starboard side:
The white gelcoat filler shows, but another round of sanding with some wet sandpaper will get rid of the over fill and I'll just be left with a small white dot.
The same was repeated for the port side.
I've yet to figure out the wiring. As the switch box is on the starboard side, the wiring for the port light will have to run through the bilges. I seem to remember many years ago, when I did the wiring from the engine, I left a loop of string in the bilge so I could pass wire to and fro.
Lets hope it's still there and not rotted away, otherwise it's going to be pretty difficult routing the wiring across the boat.
Next weekend one of the grandkids wants to come on the boat as a birthday treat, so I shall be distracted somewhat. No work being done next weekend.
As it is I spent a good couple of hours on Sunday clearing up all the tools and rubbish from wiring up the fusebox so there will be space in the boat.
The ex-cordless 12v drill came in handy once again. I can't believe how many times I've used that drill now. Converting it to run off the boat battery was a stroke of genius. Especially as the lead length allows me to use the drill in most places on the boat.
The first step was to come up with a solution to the fact I was fitting the lights myself. Now I don't have long arms, but I bet the tallest person in the world hasn't got the reach to hold a nut inside the cabin whilst simultaneously turning the screw from the outside.
The solution was to glue the screws into the light fittings: just a light sliver of glue because there wasn't such a big gap between the screw and the hole. Here's one waiting for the glue to set:
The next step while the glue was setting was to offer up the rubber gasket for each new light and drill pilot holes:
Then the correct hole sizes for each hole. 4mm for the screw hole and 5mm for the wiring hole.
Once the correct hole sizes were drilled, the area around the wire and the screw was given a dollop of polyurethane sealant. The wires were fed through and the screw was pushed into the screw hole. The advantage of drilling a hole just big enough is the light stays in place while I crawled in the cabin.
I fitted the nut (and a big penny washer to spread the load) on the end of the screw and tightened it up just enough to compress the gasket and spread the sealant.
Here's the light in place on the starboard side:
The white gelcoat filler shows, but another round of sanding with some wet sandpaper will get rid of the over fill and I'll just be left with a small white dot.
The same was repeated for the port side.
I've yet to figure out the wiring. As the switch box is on the starboard side, the wiring for the port light will have to run through the bilges. I seem to remember many years ago, when I did the wiring from the engine, I left a loop of string in the bilge so I could pass wire to and fro.
Lets hope it's still there and not rotted away, otherwise it's going to be pretty difficult routing the wiring across the boat.
Next weekend one of the grandkids wants to come on the boat as a birthday treat, so I shall be distracted somewhat. No work being done next weekend.
As it is I spent a good couple of hours on Sunday clearing up all the tools and rubbish from wiring up the fusebox so there will be space in the boat.
Friday 12 July 2019
Nav Light Upgrade
High tide is just after I finish work this week, so last Night I stripped the old Nav lights off Sprite and filled the old screw and wire holes.
Wierdly the wires for the nav lights were routed into the gap between the glassfibre fillets holding the cabin bulkhead in place. There's no way I can route new cables the same way, so some rewiring will be in order when I fit the new (actually 4 year old) LED light units.
I'm also looking at changing the stern light to LED as well. eBay have them available at £14-ish, which is cheaper than the people sell the LED replacement bulbs.
Once that's done I'll have a look at the roof plug and socket for the mast lights and see what's up there.
So another trip to the boat tonight to hopefully mount the port & starboard nav lights. Then more time at the weekend on hands and knees routing new wiring.
Wierdly the wires for the nav lights were routed into the gap between the glassfibre fillets holding the cabin bulkhead in place. There's no way I can route new cables the same way, so some rewiring will be in order when I fit the new (actually 4 year old) LED light units.
I'm also looking at changing the stern light to LED as well. eBay have them available at £14-ish, which is cheaper than the people sell the LED replacement bulbs.
Once that's done I'll have a look at the roof plug and socket for the mast lights and see what's up there.
So another trip to the boat tonight to hopefully mount the port & starboard nav lights. Then more time at the weekend on hands and knees routing new wiring.
Monday 1 July 2019
New Fuse Box For Sprite
It's nice to be able to do some work on Sprite for once. A small job, not one of the big jobs that will have to be done at some point in the future.
This weekend I fitted a new electrical fuse/distribution box on Sprite.
I put her on the beach yesterday (ease of access to tools etc) and spent Sunday between tides doing the work.
What spurred this on was recently I started wiring a horn in (the button was fitted to the house for the radio when that was fitted, just never wired in). But during wiring the horn in, when I got to the distribution box there was no more space to fit the wiring in. To give you some idea, here's the state of the old distribution box:
It was good enough with the old wiring. The wiring was pretty thin gauge and in poor shape and over the years I've upgraded to thicker gauge wiring. The bad news is the thicker wire takes up more space.
Another issue was that some of the tails from the fuse panel were corroding and getting weak.
So in the end I decided to revamp the installation with a new box and just a little upgrade to the fuse panel.
A £10 waterproof plastic box from eBay provided the housing. All I needed to do was solder new tails to the fuse panel and fit the panel to the box. At the same time allowing each connection to have at least one spare terminal for future expansion (except instruments, which has all the connections in place now-famous last words!).
So, I spent all day yesterday doing the deed and came up with this:
Chunky tails soldered to the fuse box, doubled up on the connections to each section and a chunky negative post for all the negative returns to common to. In fact I thing all those negatives are the worst bit. I might look to changing that for something else, or spread the load across two posts instead of just the one.
Here's a close up:
Don't worry about the funky angle of the box, it wasn't screwed to the bulkhead properly.
There is a sticker between the two terminal blocks saying which set of terminals is for which function, but it got covered by all the wires. I'll sort some more labels out another time.
And nearly everything worked afterwards! I've not switched the nav lights on in probably two years and it looks like the wiring for those has corroded away. Certainly the port/starboard lights didn't illuminate, but the rear one (that I wired up after I got Sprite) did work. So more wiring on the cards.
Plus the running and anchor lights on the mast don't work. I checked and there is voltage to the socket on the cabin roof, but I suspect that water has rotted the wiring in the plug to the socket or there's an issue in the mast itself.
Anyway, next on the list then is installing the LED port/starboard nav lights I bought several years ago and possibly converting the rest to LED at some point too.
I'm also toying with the idea of moving the battery isolator switch to the right hand side of the box, so it's all in one and the switch is nicely visible.
It's just nice to be able to spend a decent amount of time on the boat again.
This weekend I fitted a new electrical fuse/distribution box on Sprite.
I put her on the beach yesterday (ease of access to tools etc) and spent Sunday between tides doing the work.
What spurred this on was recently I started wiring a horn in (the button was fitted to the house for the radio when that was fitted, just never wired in). But during wiring the horn in, when I got to the distribution box there was no more space to fit the wiring in. To give you some idea, here's the state of the old distribution box:
It was good enough with the old wiring. The wiring was pretty thin gauge and in poor shape and over the years I've upgraded to thicker gauge wiring. The bad news is the thicker wire takes up more space.
Another issue was that some of the tails from the fuse panel were corroding and getting weak.
So in the end I decided to revamp the installation with a new box and just a little upgrade to the fuse panel.
A £10 waterproof plastic box from eBay provided the housing. All I needed to do was solder new tails to the fuse panel and fit the panel to the box. At the same time allowing each connection to have at least one spare terminal for future expansion (except instruments, which has all the connections in place now-famous last words!).
So, I spent all day yesterday doing the deed and came up with this:
Chunky tails soldered to the fuse box, doubled up on the connections to each section and a chunky negative post for all the negative returns to common to. In fact I thing all those negatives are the worst bit. I might look to changing that for something else, or spread the load across two posts instead of just the one.
Here's a close up:
Don't worry about the funky angle of the box, it wasn't screwed to the bulkhead properly.
There is a sticker between the two terminal blocks saying which set of terminals is for which function, but it got covered by all the wires. I'll sort some more labels out another time.
And nearly everything worked afterwards! I've not switched the nav lights on in probably two years and it looks like the wiring for those has corroded away. Certainly the port/starboard lights didn't illuminate, but the rear one (that I wired up after I got Sprite) did work. So more wiring on the cards.
Plus the running and anchor lights on the mast don't work. I checked and there is voltage to the socket on the cabin roof, but I suspect that water has rotted the wiring in the plug to the socket or there's an issue in the mast itself.
Anyway, next on the list then is installing the LED port/starboard nav lights I bought several years ago and possibly converting the rest to LED at some point too.
I'm also toying with the idea of moving the battery isolator switch to the right hand side of the box, so it's all in one and the switch is nicely visible.
It's just nice to be able to spend a decent amount of time on the boat again.
Tuesday 25 June 2019
Bye Bye Buoy
Yes, I've "lost" yet another mooring buoy. Less than a month after I fitted the last one with 8mm chain and a padlock, it has been nicked.
Bloody expensive things they are. So I've replaced it with my trusty old fender-as-mooring-buoy.
Fitted with chain and shackles and seizing wire.
Just as a stopgap.
In the meantime, if anyone sees a large orange mooring buoy with Sprite II or E032 on it at any of the boat jumbles, please let me know.
It's times like these the bikini-clad Caribbean sailor on Patreon turn to their patrons with puppy-dog eyes and suddenly replacement parts turn up in the post...
I'd try it, but I look hideous in a bikini....
Bloody expensive things they are. So I've replaced it with my trusty old fender-as-mooring-buoy.
Fitted with chain and shackles and seizing wire.
Just as a stopgap.
In the meantime, if anyone sees a large orange mooring buoy with Sprite II or E032 on it at any of the boat jumbles, please let me know.
It's times like these the bikini-clad Caribbean sailor on Patreon turn to their patrons with puppy-dog eyes and suddenly replacement parts turn up in the post...
I'd try it, but I look hideous in a bikini....
Friday 7 June 2019
Lidl Bargains
Just a quickie. Lidl have got some handy little electrical kits:
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/MiddleofLidl.htm?articleId=22858
£3.49 each.
A box of scotchlocks or a box of crimp terminals with heatshrink, or even a box of Velcro cable straps.
Update:
Got a couple of them:
Quite handy little kits.
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/MiddleofLidl.htm?articleId=22858
£3.49 each.
A box of scotchlocks or a box of crimp terminals with heatshrink, or even a box of Velcro cable straps.
Update:
Got a couple of them:
Sunday 26 May 2019
Sailing at Last!
On Thursday the weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend was good and with 3 clear days, I had time to do some work on the boat and satisfy family requirements. :-)
So, holiday form for Friday handed in, and plans made:
Friday: scrub the hull and re-fit the sails.
Saturday: Sail the boat.
Well, Friday started well.. up at 2:30 am to get down the boat for a 3:30 high tide. Yeah, that's how desperate i was to get some sailing in. Hard-core dedication!
In the end, it worked out that the pre-dawn twilight was bright enough to see the bottom and avoid concrete mooring blocks an hour after high tide, which was fine. I was on the beach at 4:30.
An hour later the tide had ebbed from the boat and I started scraping two years worth of growth from the boat. The last time I'd scrubbed the hull was the same time in 2017.
No pictures as I've done scrubbing the hull pictures to death on here. This years it was just a quick scrub to remove growth. The plan this year is to at some point get the boat out of the water for a few days in a boatyard and cleaned so that I can get some primer and anti-foul on it. Fingers crossed that I can save the money to do that. I reckon around £400 is needed to get the boat hauled out, pay for a week on the hard and then lifted back in again. I've got the paint to do the anti-foul, but I'd like to replace the windows and the mast beam at the same time and possibly replace the wiring in the mast, so I need probably the same again for parts.
I've already holidayed in Devon, so no holiday on the horizon. The wife is sating her desire for a foreign holiday by going away with her darts team buddies next month, so I have a chance of saving the money up. :-)
Anyway, back on topic:
Boat scrubbed and back on the mooring by 5pm. Off to pick up the wife from work, then dinner and bed to rest my aching muscles. This body of mine is really letting me down in the stamina stakes... must be my age. :-)
The original plan was another early high tide start and a trip into the Solent, but considering I'd just re-fitted the sails and not tested the outboard since I serviced it, a shake down cruise up Langstone harbour and back seemed a more prudent option.
So that's what I did, taking Jim along for the ride. Just a few hours making sure the sails worked correctly (the jib needed adjustment) and the engine was reliable. Ready for the summer season.
So, that's what I've been up to this weekend. today (Sunday) I'm resting. Tomorrow the wife wants a trip out somewhere.
So, holiday form for Friday handed in, and plans made:
Friday: scrub the hull and re-fit the sails.
Saturday: Sail the boat.
Well, Friday started well.. up at 2:30 am to get down the boat for a 3:30 high tide. Yeah, that's how desperate i was to get some sailing in. Hard-core dedication!
In the end, it worked out that the pre-dawn twilight was bright enough to see the bottom and avoid concrete mooring blocks an hour after high tide, which was fine. I was on the beach at 4:30.
An hour later the tide had ebbed from the boat and I started scraping two years worth of growth from the boat. The last time I'd scrubbed the hull was the same time in 2017.
No pictures as I've done scrubbing the hull pictures to death on here. This years it was just a quick scrub to remove growth. The plan this year is to at some point get the boat out of the water for a few days in a boatyard and cleaned so that I can get some primer and anti-foul on it. Fingers crossed that I can save the money to do that. I reckon around £400 is needed to get the boat hauled out, pay for a week on the hard and then lifted back in again. I've got the paint to do the anti-foul, but I'd like to replace the windows and the mast beam at the same time and possibly replace the wiring in the mast, so I need probably the same again for parts.
I've already holidayed in Devon, so no holiday on the horizon. The wife is sating her desire for a foreign holiday by going away with her darts team buddies next month, so I have a chance of saving the money up. :-)
Anyway, back on topic:
Boat scrubbed and back on the mooring by 5pm. Off to pick up the wife from work, then dinner and bed to rest my aching muscles. This body of mine is really letting me down in the stamina stakes... must be my age. :-)
The original plan was another early high tide start and a trip into the Solent, but considering I'd just re-fitted the sails and not tested the outboard since I serviced it, a shake down cruise up Langstone harbour and back seemed a more prudent option.
So that's what I did, taking Jim along for the ride. Just a few hours making sure the sails worked correctly (the jib needed adjustment) and the engine was reliable. Ready for the summer season.
So, that's what I've been up to this weekend. today (Sunday) I'm resting. Tomorrow the wife wants a trip out somewhere.
Monday 6 May 2019
The Third Man (or Buoy)...
So, one of the things I haven't really blogged about on my local moorings is the amount of Piracy.
Not Olde Worlde Piracy, with Beards and Swords, but the odd bit of pilferage. I did report some years back that a few boats had been broken into and at that time I put a strengthening bar in the bar of my washboards, to avoid them being kicked in easily. I bet the knee joint of anyone that tried would come to grief on the teak beam bolted into the middle of them.
Anyway, over the past couple of years when I've been able to afford one, I've fitted a decent mooring buoy. The last (second) buoy was a rather large one. Half of a pair I got on eBay for the ridiculous price of £15. I thought a pair would come in handy if the Pirates struck again.
And they did about a month ago. Buoy number 2 disappeared. Given the buoy was shackled in place an the shackles were seized to avoid them coming undone. To see the stainless shackle and the buoy missing was a bit depressing.
So, the second twin, the third buoy was fitted to the mooring chain this weekend.
Here's the installation...
Yes, that's a bloody padlock. I don't care if it turns into a ball of rust inside. That's actually better, because no-one will be able to force the lock. They'll have to cut the chain. But this time, no easily-undoo-able shackles, no cuttable rope. Nope, 8mm chain and a padlock. Lets see if that's secure now.
Take that, Mr Pirate....
Not Olde Worlde Piracy, with Beards and Swords, but the odd bit of pilferage. I did report some years back that a few boats had been broken into and at that time I put a strengthening bar in the bar of my washboards, to avoid them being kicked in easily. I bet the knee joint of anyone that tried would come to grief on the teak beam bolted into the middle of them.
Anyway, over the past couple of years when I've been able to afford one, I've fitted a decent mooring buoy. The last (second) buoy was a rather large one. Half of a pair I got on eBay for the ridiculous price of £15. I thought a pair would come in handy if the Pirates struck again.
And they did about a month ago. Buoy number 2 disappeared. Given the buoy was shackled in place an the shackles were seized to avoid them coming undone. To see the stainless shackle and the buoy missing was a bit depressing.
So, the second twin, the third buoy was fitted to the mooring chain this weekend.
Here's the installation...
Yes, that's a bloody padlock. I don't care if it turns into a ball of rust inside. That's actually better, because no-one will be able to force the lock. They'll have to cut the chain. But this time, no easily-undoo-able shackles, no cuttable rope. Nope, 8mm chain and a padlock. Lets see if that's secure now.
Take that, Mr Pirate....
Sunday 17 February 2019
Passing of Time.
I had to go up North last weekend. Sadly my Stepfather was very ill and we went up to say our last farewell on the Saturday.
Sadly a few hours after we saw him he passed away. However, as he was 102, not entirely unexpected and he'd had a pretty good innings. We stayed up North for a few days to support my mother.
Whilst up there, the wife wanted to see some more of my old haunts. So on the Monday we went up to the Macclesfield canal at Poynton, where my father kept his Dawncraft cabin cruiser.
Now the last time I was on board that boat was 30 years ago and I know it had gone through a few different owners and most likely wasn't still at Poynton, so the last thing I expected as we had a walk up the towpath was to meet it again.
But meet it I did:
Not bad for a forty year old cruiser (dad had the shell delivered to his back garden for fit-out around 1980), especially as you see so many of the same vintage on scrapheaps. It's nice to see it's still around and being cared for.
I went to see my father later that day for lunch and he was amazed and quite happy to see it still around.
So thankfully a happier ending to a sad weekend.
Sadly a few hours after we saw him he passed away. However, as he was 102, not entirely unexpected and he'd had a pretty good innings. We stayed up North for a few days to support my mother.
Whilst up there, the wife wanted to see some more of my old haunts. So on the Monday we went up to the Macclesfield canal at Poynton, where my father kept his Dawncraft cabin cruiser.
Now the last time I was on board that boat was 30 years ago and I know it had gone through a few different owners and most likely wasn't still at Poynton, so the last thing I expected as we had a walk up the towpath was to meet it again.
But meet it I did:
Not bad for a forty year old cruiser (dad had the shell delivered to his back garden for fit-out around 1980), especially as you see so many of the same vintage on scrapheaps. It's nice to see it's still around and being cared for.
I went to see my father later that day for lunch and he was amazed and quite happy to see it still around.
So thankfully a happier ending to a sad weekend.
Saturday 12 January 2019
Costs for 2018 and a Review of the Year.
Here's the yearly roundup of costs, which this time are pretty meagre:
As usual first are the basic expenses.
£137 Mooring Fee
£180 Insurance.
Close to last year. Just small increases.
Apart from that, about £20 in incidentals. For instance the bit of wood to lift the roof. No fuel, no toys and not many visits. No sailing at all. The sails have been safely tucked up inside the cabin most of the year avoiding UV damage.
Total for the Year: £337.
Despite being one of the warmest years in recent times and a long stable warm period, I did no sailing. As I've already said we visited friends and family in Dubai and then Australia just before Christmas and that trip took up a lot of money. But it was a once in a lifetime trip.
The Australia trip was fantastic, so worth the privations it caused during the year. The lack of parking space down at the boat thanks to the traveller encampment really put a downer on trips to the boat. There were several days where all the available parking spaces were full and cars filled the grass verges. All I could do was drive there and check the boat on a drive-by basis. Now they've been moved (the CCTV camera van has stayed there all this time to enforce parking) and as long as they stay away everything should be back as it was in previous years.
But Sprite really needs some TLC spent on her this year.
Hopefully I can get the money together in 2019 and start getting her back up together.
The window seals and the mast beam are priorities definitely. Tides suggest that the weekend of the 17th & 18th of Feb is the first time that tide and sunlight allow putting Sprite on the beach and work to be done.
That date may be a bit too soon to get the money for the window seals together, but I can at least drop the mast and clean the hull.
But if nothing else, 2018 shoes that just keeping the boat ticking over and just using it as a floating man-cave for chilled out coffee sessions only costs a fraction of my salary.
As usual first are the basic expenses.
£137 Mooring Fee
£180 Insurance.
Close to last year. Just small increases.
Apart from that, about £20 in incidentals. For instance the bit of wood to lift the roof. No fuel, no toys and not many visits. No sailing at all. The sails have been safely tucked up inside the cabin most of the year avoiding UV damage.
Total for the Year: £337.
Despite being one of the warmest years in recent times and a long stable warm period, I did no sailing. As I've already said we visited friends and family in Dubai and then Australia just before Christmas and that trip took up a lot of money. But it was a once in a lifetime trip.
The Australia trip was fantastic, so worth the privations it caused during the year. The lack of parking space down at the boat thanks to the traveller encampment really put a downer on trips to the boat. There were several days where all the available parking spaces were full and cars filled the grass verges. All I could do was drive there and check the boat on a drive-by basis. Now they've been moved (the CCTV camera van has stayed there all this time to enforce parking) and as long as they stay away everything should be back as it was in previous years.
But Sprite really needs some TLC spent on her this year.
Hopefully I can get the money together in 2019 and start getting her back up together.
The window seals and the mast beam are priorities definitely. Tides suggest that the weekend of the 17th & 18th of Feb is the first time that tide and sunlight allow putting Sprite on the beach and work to be done.
That date may be a bit too soon to get the money for the window seals together, but I can at least drop the mast and clean the hull.
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