Looking better and much more up to the job of ship and crew protection.
High tide and practically afloat
We aren’t quite ready for the launch yet so hopefully Canute will turn the tide for us.
On the way to the tip
Main Cabin ripped apart
OMG! I leave Alan for three days and look what happens. He has ripped out all of the port side of the main cabin including the navigation table. It was mostly rotten but what a change.
The old engine
Would you believe that this is the engine that used to run Anne-Marie? It’s a Perkins 4.108 diesel. You can see that it is rather rusty and has seen better days. It’s missing a good few pieces but I do have the gearbox and water pump in another shed. This is a job for the summer. Maybe.
That sinking feeling
These are the three through-hull fittings that link the toilet and wash basin to the sea. They are supposed to be shiny and clean.
The two large ones are stainless steel and the smallest is bronze. The large ones have been fixed by galvanised steel nuts which have rusted to nothing.
When I tried to remove the smallest it turns out to be brass. Now brass is an alloy very rich in zinc and this corrodes away in seawater through electrolysis called de-zincivisation. Only the zinc disappears so the metal becomes very weak. I tapped it with a spanner (as you do) and it crumbled into pieces. The pink colour is the brass after zinc loss.
This is not reassuring. If it had broken at sea we would most likely have sunk.
So three new sea-cocks at £150 each! Yuk.
Watched over by an Icon
I found this on board and originally thought it was a soap dish. An unusual soap dish but a soap dish. A bit of a clean shows in fact that it is an icon of Jesus. On the back is a torn piece of paper (below).
It says something like ” this icon is painted by hand …..”
Anyway as soon as possible it will go back on board to continue it’s job of watching over Anne Marie and all who sail in her!
Upright at last (Oct 2015)
Before the masts are down we need to straighten the boat up so it’s no longer leaning at a jaunty angle against the sea wall. I have purchased six boat stands from Boat-stands UK (www.boat-stands.com) and slowly cranked the boat level using a spirit level across the cockpit combings. Although not necessary we have linked the stands together with chains to prevent any movement. As the boat is sitting on the banks of the River Rother I think it’s a sensible precaution. I also tied the main halyard back to a secure fixing on land to minimise the risk of the boat falling outward which would have been an embarrassment.
Boat-stands UK helped with selection of the stands and delivered them in double-quick time so great job thanks.
Preparing for mast removal
Well so far we are concentrating on getting the boat ready to have the masts down. We tried to get up the mast to remove the triatic stay (between the top of the two masts – see photo with starlings!) but the bottom sheave of the topping lift shattered due to excess weight! Note to self…. I have now had a new sheave made by Versatile Marine (www.versatilemarine.co.uk ) which I will fit later
. It’s the second sheave they have made for me – the first being for an outhaul on the mizzen boom and jolly good it is too.
The triatic will have to wait for the crane to provide the lift when we remove the masts on 22nd October 2015. The main mast is going to act as the ridge pole to the over-boat full length cover.
Access (Oct 2015)
If you read Practical Boat Owner you will see that I got a mention in the October 2015 issue. Fed-up with climbing ladders I found an old wooden staircase in my local architectural salvage yard, Symonds Salvage (www.symondssalvage.co.uk) in Bethersden, Kent. A bit of sawing, trimming, hammering, screwing and stuff and I now have the most elegant access arrangements I could wish for. Again a great service from a really interesting and friendly business.
Saving Anne Marie 