I'd got a job on so stayed down at Fambridge an extra day. However, the customer didn't materialise so I put the day to good use sorting out a couple of outstanding maintenance tasks on Erbas
The first job was to remove the one remaining existing stern fairlead and fill all the old screw holes with epoxy.
Whilst that was hardening, I set about the potentially mucky job of sorting out the sticking waste seacock. It's got progressively harder to shut of late to the point where it had become impossible to fully shut it off.
With the outlet being well above the mud (I'll come to why shortly) I was able to get at it from the outside and check for any blockage but nothing was to be found.
So I removed the handle and spindle bearing and squirted a good dose of WD40 down the shaft. Working the handle and more oil eventually did the trick and I was able to close the cock although it was still rather stiff.
A trip to the supermarket procured a couple of litres of vinegar, a sovereign cure for gunged up waste pipes, which was duly poured down the pipe from the anti-syphon loop.
Leaving that to work it's magic, I set about cleaning up and flattening the stern rail capping where the fairleads fit to get them properly seated flat
Some delicate work with a file and sander did the trick. Then it was on with the new fairleads slightly offset from the old positions to avoid the existing holes.
They look a treat and being handed are an improvement on the old ones...
With the tide rapidly rising, there was just time to open the seacock and drain the vinegar out then close it again and pour a dose of vegetable oil down the pipe to lubricate things internally
Once I had water above the mud berth inlet, I opened the cock again and added another slug of vegetable oil to the toilet pan and pumped it through.
That seems to have done the trick with both the pump and the seacock operating freely.
Then it was on with dinner. I've given up on the boil in the bag rice, which was working nicely until recently, because I just can't get it to cook properly. I don't know what's going on with it but since I keep having to return it to the pan and cook it further, even if I give it way longer in the bag than suggested, I figure I might as well save some pennies and just buy loose rice and cook it in the conventional way
The rice went nicely with a tin of Chicken Korma and that was dinner sorted
After dinner I decided to get the cockpit tent up as it'll create more space when we're in Liveaboard mode. Added to which there was a stiff Easterly breeze which, as has been the case all summer, was unseasonably chilly and the tent offered some welcome shelter from it
I was in two minds about bothering with the pub but decided to wander up for a pint about nine-ish. The yacht club were having a meal, or I should say had had a meal, and I joined them in the restaurant for a couple of drinks.
On the mud berth front, left to her own devices she's persistently settling with a slight heel to port. It's not uncomfortable but it would be nice to be upright.
Given that the hull is hardly digging in at all, hence the access to the waste outlet mentioned earlier, I'm pretty sure that the keels are sitting down onto fairly solid ground under the mud
I don't have time today and I haven't got the means either but I think the next step will be to pop the boat out of the berth for a tide and get in the mud to try and dig out the ground under the starboard keel a bit.
Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the berth and if Jane approves I'll discuss making it a permanent arrangement with the marina. It's going to be a bit uncomfortable on board in an Easterly gale whilst the tide is in but those are rare beasts and at worst it'll only be bouncy fit four hours every twelve
We do need a stern mooring before the winter and the buoy dropped for the mooring is too far out but Wiggy will move it at some point (although I'll probably have to nag him to get it done!)
Today I'm heading for home shortly until the next batch of work comes on stream. We really need to get moving on sorting the house out to sell it so I've got to get stuck in and get on with it!
It's a beautiful day here at Fambridge and I'd much rather stay put if Jane was here but that's only going to happen if we, especially I, get on with making it happen!
The first job was to remove the one remaining existing stern fairlead and fill all the old screw holes with epoxy.
Whilst that was hardening, I set about the potentially mucky job of sorting out the sticking waste seacock. It's got progressively harder to shut of late to the point where it had become impossible to fully shut it off.
With the outlet being well above the mud (I'll come to why shortly) I was able to get at it from the outside and check for any blockage but nothing was to be found.
So I removed the handle and spindle bearing and squirted a good dose of WD40 down the shaft. Working the handle and more oil eventually did the trick and I was able to close the cock although it was still rather stiff.
A trip to the supermarket procured a couple of litres of vinegar, a sovereign cure for gunged up waste pipes, which was duly poured down the pipe from the anti-syphon loop.
Leaving that to work it's magic, I set about cleaning up and flattening the stern rail capping where the fairleads fit to get them properly seated flat
Some delicate work with a file and sander did the trick. Then it was on with the new fairleads slightly offset from the old positions to avoid the existing holes.
They look a treat and being handed are an improvement on the old ones...
With the tide rapidly rising, there was just time to open the seacock and drain the vinegar out then close it again and pour a dose of vegetable oil down the pipe to lubricate things internally
Once I had water above the mud berth inlet, I opened the cock again and added another slug of vegetable oil to the toilet pan and pumped it through.
That seems to have done the trick with both the pump and the seacock operating freely.
Then it was on with dinner. I've given up on the boil in the bag rice, which was working nicely until recently, because I just can't get it to cook properly. I don't know what's going on with it but since I keep having to return it to the pan and cook it further, even if I give it way longer in the bag than suggested, I figure I might as well save some pennies and just buy loose rice and cook it in the conventional way
The rice went nicely with a tin of Chicken Korma and that was dinner sorted
After dinner I decided to get the cockpit tent up as it'll create more space when we're in Liveaboard mode. Added to which there was a stiff Easterly breeze which, as has been the case all summer, was unseasonably chilly and the tent offered some welcome shelter from it
I was in two minds about bothering with the pub but decided to wander up for a pint about nine-ish. The yacht club were having a meal, or I should say had had a meal, and I joined them in the restaurant for a couple of drinks.
On the mud berth front, left to her own devices she's persistently settling with a slight heel to port. It's not uncomfortable but it would be nice to be upright.
Given that the hull is hardly digging in at all, hence the access to the waste outlet mentioned earlier, I'm pretty sure that the keels are sitting down onto fairly solid ground under the mud
I don't have time today and I haven't got the means either but I think the next step will be to pop the boat out of the berth for a tide and get in the mud to try and dig out the ground under the starboard keel a bit.
Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the berth and if Jane approves I'll discuss making it a permanent arrangement with the marina. It's going to be a bit uncomfortable on board in an Easterly gale whilst the tide is in but those are rare beasts and at worst it'll only be bouncy fit four hours every twelve
We do need a stern mooring before the winter and the buoy dropped for the mooring is too far out but Wiggy will move it at some point (although I'll probably have to nag him to get it done!)
Today I'm heading for home shortly until the next batch of work comes on stream. We really need to get moving on sorting the house out to sell it so I've got to get stuck in and get on with it!
It's a beautiful day here at Fambridge and I'd much rather stay put if Jane was here but that's only going to happen if we, especially I, get on with making it happen!
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