A Week Of Work And A Weekend Away

One of the rare sunny days

It’s not easy to achieve a lot of work in the boatyard when it is raining.  And it’s still raining, but thankfully not as much as it was before when Joaquin passed by to the east.  But we (the royal “we”) still managed to keep chipping away at the jobs.  Sim removed the: oil cooler, heat exchanger, cooler pipes, fuel filter, fuel pump and alternator from the engine to overhaul them, or in the case of the engine drive plate and heat exchanger, as it turned out, to replace them.

Sim stripped down the oil cooler, pipes and heat exchanger - we are replacing the heat exchanger and repainting the rest.

We have chipped away at our steel hull as best we can in awkward places with the chipping hammer. Ideally we would use the compressor and needle gun but the compressor is still on the blink and we are still waiting for parts.

The rudder has been dropped, paint removed  and layers of new paint are being built up before we put it back into place with a new modified stuffing box.

Sim grinding the old paint off the skeg so we can start to build up the paint layers that protect the steel.

And here is a photo to prove that my shells do come in useful - especially when we need measuring spoons in a hurry to mix the two part paints.

The top sides have had an acid wash to remove the dirty brown build up deposited by the murky waters of the ICW. Who knew that good old lemon juice is nearly as effective as “the Works” toilet cleaner (with its mild muriatic acid base) to remove the nasty stains, it’s not nearly as harmful and doesn’t remove the wax.

Our friend Jim very kindly came and picked up our chain and anchor to be galvanised. So it’s all systems go.

The kitty has been helping out when she can, or chasing giant spiders! Sim loads up Jims truck with our chain and anchor.

 But all work and no play make Sim and (especially) Rosie very dull. So we took a very short vacation to see Jim, Linda and Jennifer at their home near Apex in North Carolina. Apparently a relatively short 3 hour drive away in local terms (Obviously not UK terms!).  We hired a car (US$9.99/day – over the weekend with Enterprise car rental – what a bargain – they even picked us up and dropped us off for free - a 20 mile drive each time from their office to Bock Marine) and we drove with cat (and all her paraphernalia) over to see our friends.  They live in a very rural and bucolic setting amongst tall pine trees, just a few minutes’ walk from a lake. It was the perfect antidote for a boatyard get-away.

Jennifer and clan introduced us to the delights of biscuits and gravy for breakfast - which in English terms translates to crumbled sausage meat in a white sauce over a greasy scone! - It was good!!

Jim cooked an amazing BBQ and then we had "smores" (a toasted marshmallow sandwiched between a piece of chocolate and a couple of graham crackers) around the fire.

They very kindly let us bring Ali with us - and the kitty and puppy became the best of friends......well almost ;-)

Jennifer teaches us a little archery - Sim pretends he is Robin Hood!

Jennifer shows me how it is done on the trampoline

Opus (we collectively refer to all our boat friends by their boat name) - have a very cool backyard.

This gorgeous walk is literally out their back door and hang a left down to the lake.

They even had a snake in their shed!!! - Yikes

The plate of slow cooked pork at the last supper!

Back In The Boat Yard At Bock Marine

Wandering Star back in the boatyard at Bock Marina

We are back, hauled out in Bock Marine in North Carolina – a rather timely affair in some respects with the threat of hurricane Joaquin hot on our heels....though I believe the forecast models are finally in agreement and have him tracking out to sea. And though we are grateful that there is no imminent danger, it does not mean we are not feeling the side effects.  Rain! It has rained almost every day since we have arrived here.  The days it didn’t rain were so hot and humid our skin stung from the sweat. And now it’s forecast to rain some more. Already rivers run through the yard.  The inside of the boat feels damp and yucky. The cockpit is sodden.  The states of North and South Carolina are on flash flood alerts. Much of small downtown Beaufort is underwater.  But I guess this is nothing compared to how the poor islands in the central Bahamas are doing.

The current prediction taking Joaquin off shore.

So we plod on with the work, albeit at a slightly slower, wet pace....  We hope to be out of here in a month (a relatively short haul out for us!) weather permitting. During this time we want to:

• ·         Drop the rudder (tick) to install a rubber bearing in the shaft to stop it clanking around....there has never been one. So Sim has to design it himself. - I have just been told that this involves grinding and welding in our cabin (bedroom)! This means emptying the whole cabin as the dust gets into every nook and cranny :-( =not happy!
• ·         Replace gearbox drive plate – which has been taken off already and replacement from UK ordered.
• ·         Over haul engine cooling system.
• ·         Fix leaks from heat exchanger.
• ·         Relocate heat exchanger so as not to foul alternator.
• ·         Inspect, chip and paint (if needed)  interior steel hull under battery boxes and galley floor – This was a huge job taking the batteries and battery box out, but it looks OK underneath. In the galley we had to cut the floor out – suspect this area hasn’t seen the light of day since the boat was built. A small amount of rust but nothing the needle gun and some fresh paint won’t fix.
• ·         Anchor and chain dropped, ready to be galvanized.
• ·         Scrape, sand and anti-foul bottom
• ·         Change anodes
• ·         Clean and polish topsides.

Not boatyard jobs but while we have an address:

• ·         Replace radar cable – the radar has not worked for the last year – it could be a multitude of things but suspect the cable that takes a convoluted, twisty turny route through the boat. - Cable ordered.
• ·         Replace parts for Katadyn water-maker – we have to have one of the smallest outputting water-markers out there (less than 3g/hr)  but the spare parts are the most expensive.  We went for 9 years with no water-maker on Alianna, even in remote parts of the world like the San Blas Islands we still managed. But ‘managed’ is the word here.  2 new membranes and a seal kit cost approx US$850.  You can buy a lot of water for that amount of money. But coming into our 12th year of full time cruising it has become one (of the many) luxury items we like to have and since we can run it off our solar panels without having to run a generator we figure (read I), its not so bad.

The containment zone as Sim cuts into the galley floor to inspect the hull underneath.

Cleaning 26 years of dirt under the floor boards!

In the mean time the security officer (aka the kitty) so far has not escaped the boat to go and stalk the yard cat or to lose herself in the tall pine trees of the woodland behind us but this probably has something to do with how wet it is outside. Yet another praying mantis appeared under the boat, this time a pregnant one, laying a cocoon under one of the wooden chocks. .......we waited (a long time) for her to finish so we could move her and continue scraping  and sanding the bottom without covering her in toxic anti fouling paint. 

We spent an hour thinking this menace had wandered off into the depths of the woods behind us only to be found later hiding under the kayak!

Our spot in the yard on the hot, sunny, humid day between all the rain

An early morning in the yard thick with fog.

Another praying mantis graces us with her presence

She lays a cocoon that can hold up to 100 baby mantises

Sim scraping the barnacles off the propellor

The day we hauled was wet, gray just like all the other days so far.

The End Is In Sight!

We're still here!

I know, this is getting boring now. Believe us when we say, it’s wearing thin for us too now. We are still here, in the boatyard, working our little butts off.  (Ok, That’s a joke about the little butts).  But this has been one epic haul out and a HUGE learning curve for both of us.  But the end is in sight. We still have no floor boards and absolutely nowhere to sit inside the boat and we are surrounded in a chaos of large storage boxes and ‘stuff’ piled high. But everything is ready to go back together.  Our new water tanks have arrived, the old fuel tanks have been tested and painted for protection and we have finished painting the inside of the boat. – Yippee. I can’t tell you how many gallons of paint we have slapped against that steel hull and what a relief it is not to be painting in there anymore. Of course we now have to work out how everything goes back together and Sim has several new improvements and modifications to add in to the mix. The tanks are proving awkward to put back in as the boat has shifted slightly while we have been out of the water and millimeters make all the difference with our snug fitting tanks; don't even mention the floor boards. Now the hot summer days have gone and brisk, bright autumn days have arrived we are feeling the pressure to get out of here and head south to warmer climes.  We are aiming with all our heart for the beginning of November.

Our old aluminium fuel tanks were cleaned up, etched and painted for protection.

There is still so much to do from re-installing the tanks, the bilge pumps, re-wiring and re-plumping everything that ran down the center of the boat, re-installing the floorboards and the furniture.  Making a new sofa with storage lockers inside as we threw the old swivel chairs out in lieu of a bunk with a lee board.  Repairing and repainting the swim platform.  Not to mention everything on the outside of the boat – priming, anti-fouling the hull and buffing and polishing the topsides.  We haven’t got around to the cosmetic jobs we wanted to achieve and to be honest we’ll probably look scruffier leaving the yard than going in.  But our hull is in better condition and we feel we know our boat more intimately. 

Sanding the bottom

There are still areas of the boat we didn't gain access to like behind the fridge and freezer and in our aft cabin and heads so we have a loose plan (because we are gluttons for punishment – and because we like this yard so much) to come back next year for a repeat process.  Plus we feel we have not had our fill of the states and would like to spend some more time here after we return from our little jaunt to the Bahamas.

Sim re-instaling the diesel heater,( aka waist deep in chaos).

Sim and Randy about to sandblast a couple of areas

Sim priming the areas that were sandblasted

Our paint station under our neighbours boat.

The miserable escapee.

This was taken today - Sim installing water tanks.

These are squid (yes, squid!) that our neighbour on his sports fishing boat 

next to us has painted on his hull to attract the fish. Brilliant.

9 1/2 Weeks.....And We're Still Here!

The view outside the boat is much better than the one inside 

I got it wrong and it seems I did speak too soon.  Sim and I have not been singing from the same song book. The sofa was not being put back together for me to luxuriously drape myself over, nor was it put back together so that as this weather gets colder we may have a little comfort from inside our boat – that I am currently dubbing the hull from hell.  No – the sofa was put back together so we may take another area of the boat apart and have somewhere to pile the stuff while we chip, scrape and grind more of that loathsome paint in areas that have not seen the light of day before.  I can’t tell you how disheartened I was when Sim told me (in no uncertain terms) that the inside wasn’t being put back together any time soon.  Honestly I don’t know how I got it so wrong – I mean he even proof read the previous blog.  Just goes to show that his mind is firmly fixed elsewhere.....like permanently on the job – to which I am grateful.  So as boring as it must be for you to read that we are still, chipping, sanding, grinding and painting – imagine how we feel? And add this to the mix; its getting cold and wet now too....

Lovely freshly painted bilges

  Now the weather has turned, the hot humid days are gone. It’s actually a great time to be working on the boat without dripping in sweat, only the days are damp and soggy and we can't paint as much as we would like. Come the evening we sit in the cockpit al fresco style with our hoodies up and our slippers on and rain plummeting down all around us, it isn’t quite so much fun. So although we are more aware then ever that we need to step up the pace before the weather really turns we have frustratingly slowed down a little. . Our blankets are out, our toes are cold even the cat is curling up in corners trying to keep warm. 

Sim replaces a couple of floorboards

But even though it has been tough at times as usual we have had fun.  John and Shirley from Khaya Moya are anchored 10 miles down the road (in the river of course, not the road) in Beaufort.  We have managed to meet up with them and bumped into our friend Jim from Opus out for a few days solo sailing as well.  Beers and catching the end of a free wine tasting with goodies to give away ensured a good evening.  Kay from ‘Bad Bunny’ is back and we have managed a few walks again between the showers. I still love the area especially now the colours are slowly starting to turn with autumn.  Sadly for us but great for Jon and Kay – Bad Bunny is re-launching at the end of the week.  I hope that we won’t be far behind them but I suspect we are going to be a while longer yet...

Only to pile stuff on top of it.

In an effort at dust prevention Sim is working under the sheet

Sim is a hero working in a tiny little space

It rained so much my shoes floated away

A Preying Mantas entertains the cat!

We had a great time catching up with John and Shirley

And a fab meal out 

The security officer has resigned until warmer weather

I still love to go for my walks and bike rides