Forward cabin

After making and fitting the supporting timbers I trial fitted the port side locker front panels these are an even worse fit than the starboard side unless I am missing something about the original installation. The port side panels are a good 25mm short on height I really cannot see how they were originally fitted with such a large gap at the top.

Port side panels showing gap at the top

I think that I will have to replace the panels on both sides at the moment on the port side the top securing screws will completely miss the support timber even allowing for the lining carpet being wrapped around the panel top and bottom and a varnished timber trim piece at the top. There is still a bit more work to be done before the panels can be permanently fitted the navigation light wiring needs to be installed and there are still a couple of leaks into the chain locker to be sorted.

Over last weekend I made the adaptor for the engine sea water system the nylon came from a company called Direct Plastics first rate service and they will supply small amounts the parcel also contained a small packet of sweeties unfortunately the children have grown up, or so they claim, and left home so I had to eat them all myself. The engine sea water system is now complete so it just needs some fuel in the tank before I can try and start it that could well be interesting as far as I am aware it could well be at least seven years since it last ran.

The washboards to both companionways require some remedial work basically they require taking to pieces, sanding down and reassembling.

Saloon washboards

As can be seen each board is built up and the glue joints to the side pieces have failed they only needed a gentle tap with a mallet before they moved.

I made up a temporary one piece washboard from some old shuttering ply that came with the boat as a temporary cockpit floor while the engine was out it has seen much better days but will do the job and once the saloon washboards are complete I shall cut it down to fit the aft cabin so that these washboards can be refurbished.

Temporary washboard

The saloon washboards are this weekends homework job I have taken off most of the edge pieces all except one which refuses to budge I suppose it is possible that it has already been attended to and if it won't move after whacking it with a mallet I shall leave it otherwise I could end up doing some damage.

All ready for sanding

New Morning has a deck stepped mast the mast step is mounted on a timber cored area of the coach roof similar to most boats of this type. I had some concerns about the possible condition of the timber core, a common problem is that water leaks in and rots the core allowing the mast to drop and although there were no signs of the timber having rotted, cracks in the gelcoat around the mast step, a while ago I drilled a hole up into the core in way of the mast from underneath and the timber appeared to be dry in this area. Today I decided to investigate further one area where water is likely to leak in it is in way of the cable glands for the various cables attached to equipment on the mast as the holes for the cables had just been drilled through the deck and the core. A better way of creating access for the cables is to drill the holes out over size and then fill the hole with thickened epoxy and then re drill the hole through the epoxy once it has cured. To this end I removed the old cable glands and used a hole saw to open up the cable access holes I figured that it would enable me to get a good idea of the core condition at this vulnerable point and if it was in good condition all I had to do was refill the holes with thickened epoxy and re drill the access holes for the cables.

Cable access holes opened out

The ply core was in a good dry condition and so after giving the holes a good clean with acetone I laid up several layers of glass cloth and epoxy on the underside and primed the wood inside the holes with epoxy, once this had gelled I filled the holes with thickened epoxy. To stop any rainwater ingress I shall leave it at that until the mast goes up I will then fit new cable glands and drill the access holes for the cables.

Tea up

I have been looking around for a butane cylinder so that I could get the cooker up and running but there don't seem to be any spare ones about so last weekend I had to bite the bullet and buy one the law of sod says that two free ones will be along shortly but hey ho. The next problem was to obtain a suitable kettle everybody and his dog will sell you an electric one but try asking for a proper kettle that goes on a gas cooker, eventually found one at a local branch of B&M made in China but it's a kettle. Monday morning saw the gas cylinder installed and the pipework tested with soapy water I found a couple of small leaks which only needed nipping up a bit more the cooker works fine and best of all I can make tea on board no more hot water in thermos flasks.

Kettle is on

Gas locker

Now that I can boil water the fitting of hoses is much easier just dip the end in hot water so the next job was to replace the hoses for the anchor well drains the existing hoses had seen better days. The hoses are only short and 1.5" hose is not particularly flexible over that length, I found the easiest way to do this was to remove the drain fittings in the deck first then clean it all then up put it back through the deck and fit the new hose to it then slacken the nut right back and push the fitting up, run some mastic around the sealing face then warm up the other end of the hose and push it onto the overboard skin fitting, the nut for the deck fitting can then be tightened down, fit the Jubilee clips and the jobs done. I think the explanation makes sense I suppose a few more photographs would have been a good Idea.

Existing hoses

New hose on starboard side

Now that the anchor well drain hoses have been renewed I am able to get on with the rest of the fore cabin these hoses are pretty well inaccessible once the locker front panels are in place. For the moment I am fitting the original front panels to see how they fit and if all is well I intend to line them with van lining carpet which should give a nice warm feel to the fore cabin. I managed to get the starboard side in place today the fit was not brilliant but I think that with a bit of fettling and once the lining carpet is glued in place they will look quite presentable. 

Starboard side lockers temporarily in place

I have not decided on a colour yet I was thinking of possibly a darker shade of grey to that used for the head lining.

This weekends homework job is to produce an adaptor to connect two different size hoses so that I can complete the engine sea water system I have sourced a piece of 32mm nylon rod which arrived today the minimum order was 500mm so there will be a bit left over but these things are always handy to have.  

Back to work

I have been off sailing again which has meant two short working weeks so this post will be somewhat short, before going away I finished up in the battery locker I had a couple of ratchet straps handy so I shortened them down and used them to secure the battery I used one for the service battery and the other one will be for the engine battery when it is installed.

Space for the engine battery

Service battery secured

Battery locker

The crocodile clips on the battery are for the small solar panel that I use to keep the battery topped up the plan is to install a much larger panel before the boat goes in the water.

The other project this week has been to remove some of the bolts from the stemhead fitting for inspection I removed a total of four bolts which were all in good condition there being no signs of crevice corrosion I did however replace them with new bolts. This was a particularly awkward job as it meant crawling into the chain locker and reaching round the anchor well but it was worthwhile doing giving some peace of mind.

Stemhead fitting bolts replaced

The stemhead fitting still requires cleaning up once the mastic has cured I will give the whole thing a good clean up. There is a bit of making good to be carried out on the port bow some of the cracking to the gelcoat can be seen in the above photograph the bow has obviously had a bit of a clout at some time as far as I can see this is superficial damage to the gelcoat there is no evidence of damage internally.

The rest of the time has been spent clearing up some loose ends in particular the engine sea water pipework I was not happy with the first attempt with the pipe clipped to the port side of the engine space there is little enough room down the side of the engine as it is so I moved it so that it runs under the engine. I have also installed the anti siphon for the sea water system  but I still have the final connections to make to the exhaust elbow. I really must bite the bullet and get on with getting the engine running the installation is almost complete just a couple of sea water hose connections to make and put some fuel in the tank.

Finally I obtained some more Jubilee clips so that I could finish of the waste pipe for the galley sink and heads washbasin