Chain Plate Removal

Lucy M's chain plates (the strong point that the shrouds that hold the mast up are attached to) have rusted and lost their strength. At some point replacement chain plates were fabricated and bolted to the outside of the hull. Unfortunately with this configuration, it is difficult to get a fair lead for the head sail sheets. So I am having to chisel out the rusted chain plates and get replacements made and glassed back in. A long slow job - ho hum!

Happy birthday to Lynn!

Happy birthday Lynn!

Lucy Morales makes a voyage

Well not exactly a voyage, but she managed to extricate herself from the pontoon and court disaster at the bottom of a spring tide, with neighbouring yachts aslant at grotesque angles, and where lug worms were being disturbed by their keels burrowing into the river bed. With the single cylinder Watermann engine puttering away, the result of some mighty swings on the cranking handle, she motored round to the fuel barge and took her fill of diesel fuel. Then she puttered back; a voyage indeed!

What is that!

After the excitement of getting Lucy M's engine going, a little task arose from the experience. The rotating shaft had caused a small trickle of water to find its way into the yacht. This was easily halted by squirting some grease into the stern gland (where the propeller shaft goes through from the inside to the outside of the hull), but the only way to do this was to squeeze through a narrow gap and attach the grease gun to a grease nipple and try and pump in the grease. An easier solution was needed. So I purchased a stern gland greaser and after a number of trial and error attempts, managed to attach the grease tube to the stern gland. Now I can apply grease easily from the cabin. The object in the picture is the very greasy stern glad - minus nipple!

Christmas Time

We had a pleasant surprise on Christmas morning to receive a phone call from Dan (son)at 8am, who was walking with Sarah and their dogs on Hayling Island - no Christmas Day lie-in for them! Dan, Hannah and Sophia (aged one year, one week and one day on Christmas day) visited for the holiday. What fun to see them, but Lynn, Lyd and Julez all had the flu!

Strange Day!

In the midst of this cold spell we are all enjoying with snow and sub-freezing temperatures, we awoke to an amazing sight a few days ago. Everything was bright white even though no snow had been forecast. As dawn brought some light, we realized that the earth was covered with a heavy hoar frost. Beautiful!

All hands to the pumps!

Last week was exciting! Vaughan, a fellow yacht taxi skipper and general good egg aided me with his superior knowledge and upper body strength in swinging the engine of Lucy Morales, our yacht (currently under restoration) with the ancient cranking handle and bringing the cold lump of steel to life. Flushed with success, I let the engine run for 40 minutes or so to charge batteries, give it a good run etc. As I closed everything down to go home I noticed a tiny trickle of water, which I traced to the stern gland (the area where the propeller shaft goes through the hull of the yacht). "Only a trickle" I thought, merrily going home. A few days later I went down to do a bit more work only to find the bilges full of sea water! Forty minutes later all was dry again - but ... oh dear! I gave it one more night to sort itself out only to find the bilges half full again. Time to sort it out. After a bit of contortion and the locating of a greasing nipple, a couple of squirts of grease stopped the trickle (now visually located) in its stride. A stern-gland greaser will be the answer - another little job to do. On a more positive note, Lucy M's new wash boards look splendid!