A make and mend day today
We could, in fact, have escaped the attractions of Burnham, the weather having moderated, but with no pressing reason to do so and a few jobs to tackle on board a further day in port suited
My first job was to sponge out the gallon or so of water that has accumulated in the keel roots. These don't drain to the bilge when Erbas is sitting level and over time condensation trickles down and sits there. It's not a problem, it just needs removing from time to time
This is the aft end of the port settee berth and you can see the recess where the water gathers. I've already sponged it out. You can also see the fresh water pump and pipework and the mud berth seawater intake.
The fresh water systems in this locker need moving to a less useful space, the mud berth intake is giving me pause for thought. Whilst we have no current use for it, it's entirely possible that Erbas could find herself back in a mud berth in the future.
It's also potentially useful to have a secondary seawater intake in case the primary intake becomes blocked.
I need to put a base in this locker and some form of protection from damage around the seacock (we currently store wellies in this space)
On the starboard side, the aft end of the settee locker is occupied by the third of our three water tanks. The plan is to convert this into a black / grey waste tank. We don't realistically need the extra 11 gallons of water capacity and we do need the holding tank facility.
I can't get an off the shelf tank to fit any of the available spaces and all that's needed to convert the existing tank is the necessary fittings, valves and some rearrangement of the plumbing. It'll be quite a big job even so
My next mission was an unsuccessful attempt to repair the sink drain sump pump. You may recall this stopped pumping due to a faulty float switch a while back. The plan was to install a solid state switch in place of the faulty switch and in so far as it went it worked
However, in such a confined space, the sensor kept getting false triggers and worse the slightly weepy sump lid had now become a very leaky sump lid
That's the result of trying to do something on the cheap I'm afraid. There's nothing wrong with the modifications we made in principle (accepting the downsides of a sump system such as periodic filter cleaning), we just bought a piece of rubbish. And in the rubbish is where it's now gone.
I'm now contemplating two possible solutions. One is simple and cheap, move the pump switch from the v-berth into the heads, and perhaps even add a second switch at the galley. The other is expensive but more sophisticated which is to fit a top quality pump and sensor setup. Undecided on that one
After putting the cabin back together, it was up on deck to fit the new heaving line holder
Up until now, the heaving line has lived in a cockpit locker. I wanted it right to hand without delay because that's the best chance of quickly retrieving a man overboard.
I then made a little modification suggested by Chris of Tomahawk which was to drill a small hole in the Dan Buoy flag cover and fit a lanyard between it and the backstay.
This ensures that the cover comes off and the flag is deployed when the Dan Buoy is launched. It also, usefully, turns out to be a handy additional securing point.
Finally, I took a good hard look and lots of measurements of the hatch and sprayhood fittings. Ian wants to make a similar arrangement for Apogee and I'd promised to send him some photos (which I'll do when I get home!) and this is where I want to mount as large a solar panel as possible
I'm going to have to make either a complete hatch garage or a frame that sits over the hatch, I haven't made up my mind which yet, but either way we should be able to fit at least 40w of solar panel which is not bad
We need to wean Erbas, and her crew, off the current addiction to shore power as future plans will involve a lot less time in marinas and a lot of nights at anchor. More of that another time though
With the afternoon wearing on, it was time to tidy up the boat, shower and tidy up ourselves before heading out for a meal. To our annoyance, the Swallowtail had now acquired a "closed for private function" sign which hadn't been out an hour or so earlier.
Undaunted, we set off down the river bank and fetched up in Ye Olde White Harte where the beer was good and the food, in the restaurant was excellent. Not cheap, although they do very good and much cheaper bar meals too, but worth every penny.
After a final drink in the bar we staggered back to the marina and soon after that we were tucked up snug in the v-berth
We're on the move, at last, tomorrow!
We could, in fact, have escaped the attractions of Burnham, the weather having moderated, but with no pressing reason to do so and a few jobs to tackle on board a further day in port suited
My first job was to sponge out the gallon or so of water that has accumulated in the keel roots. These don't drain to the bilge when Erbas is sitting level and over time condensation trickles down and sits there. It's not a problem, it just needs removing from time to time
This is the aft end of the port settee berth and you can see the recess where the water gathers. I've already sponged it out. You can also see the fresh water pump and pipework and the mud berth seawater intake.
The fresh water systems in this locker need moving to a less useful space, the mud berth intake is giving me pause for thought. Whilst we have no current use for it, it's entirely possible that Erbas could find herself back in a mud berth in the future.
It's also potentially useful to have a secondary seawater intake in case the primary intake becomes blocked.
I need to put a base in this locker and some form of protection from damage around the seacock (we currently store wellies in this space)
On the starboard side, the aft end of the settee locker is occupied by the third of our three water tanks. The plan is to convert this into a black / grey waste tank. We don't realistically need the extra 11 gallons of water capacity and we do need the holding tank facility.
I can't get an off the shelf tank to fit any of the available spaces and all that's needed to convert the existing tank is the necessary fittings, valves and some rearrangement of the plumbing. It'll be quite a big job even so
My next mission was an unsuccessful attempt to repair the sink drain sump pump. You may recall this stopped pumping due to a faulty float switch a while back. The plan was to install a solid state switch in place of the faulty switch and in so far as it went it worked
However, in such a confined space, the sensor kept getting false triggers and worse the slightly weepy sump lid had now become a very leaky sump lid
That's the result of trying to do something on the cheap I'm afraid. There's nothing wrong with the modifications we made in principle (accepting the downsides of a sump system such as periodic filter cleaning), we just bought a piece of rubbish. And in the rubbish is where it's now gone.
I'm now contemplating two possible solutions. One is simple and cheap, move the pump switch from the v-berth into the heads, and perhaps even add a second switch at the galley. The other is expensive but more sophisticated which is to fit a top quality pump and sensor setup. Undecided on that one
After putting the cabin back together, it was up on deck to fit the new heaving line holder
Up until now, the heaving line has lived in a cockpit locker. I wanted it right to hand without delay because that's the best chance of quickly retrieving a man overboard.
I then made a little modification suggested by Chris of Tomahawk which was to drill a small hole in the Dan Buoy flag cover and fit a lanyard between it and the backstay.
This ensures that the cover comes off and the flag is deployed when the Dan Buoy is launched. It also, usefully, turns out to be a handy additional securing point.
Finally, I took a good hard look and lots of measurements of the hatch and sprayhood fittings. Ian wants to make a similar arrangement for Apogee and I'd promised to send him some photos (which I'll do when I get home!) and this is where I want to mount as large a solar panel as possible
I'm going to have to make either a complete hatch garage or a frame that sits over the hatch, I haven't made up my mind which yet, but either way we should be able to fit at least 40w of solar panel which is not bad
We need to wean Erbas, and her crew, off the current addiction to shore power as future plans will involve a lot less time in marinas and a lot of nights at anchor. More of that another time though
With the afternoon wearing on, it was time to tidy up the boat, shower and tidy up ourselves before heading out for a meal. To our annoyance, the Swallowtail had now acquired a "closed for private function" sign which hadn't been out an hour or so earlier.
Undaunted, we set off down the river bank and fetched up in Ye Olde White Harte where the beer was good and the food, in the restaurant was excellent. Not cheap, although they do very good and much cheaper bar meals too, but worth every penny.
After a final drink in the bar we staggered back to the marina and soon after that we were tucked up snug in the v-berth
We're on the move, at last, tomorrow!
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