Decided: we go bronze!

Sunday 20 Oct, HHN day 9: Rain rain rain… Visit HR53 Arielle in Annapolis and success on taking the old fittings apart.

We wake up to the sound of pouring rain on the decks. Very tempting to turn up the heating, roll under the duvet and go back to sleep. But we have things to do, even if it’s Sunday and miserable outside.
First thing we do is check the state of the freshly filled holes in the hull and pleased to find the resin dry – always a risk with epoxy, that it won’t cure correctly.

Then Glen ventures out to the Weaver workshop to use their big vice in an attempt to take apart the engine and watermaker intake fittings (to check the sizes). No success though. HR certainly didn’t want any of these fittings to ever come undone.

Mid-morning we drive to Annapolis to visit Bassam and Rachel, fellow Hallberg-Rassy owners of sister-ship Arielle HR53. Over the last couple of years Bassam has been a continuous source of practical advice and information, and we were looking forward to meet them in person after all the emails interaction. We have a very nice chat with them for a couple of hours and get a tour of all Bassam’s innovations on board. We are particularly interested to see his solar panel set up on the bimini.

And while in Annapolis, we pay a visit to Fawcett where Glen spends some time looking at various types of bronze skin fittings. He is still pondering whether to order them all from Sweden or from local suppliers. He now has a better idea of what’s available on both sides, only needs to decided which way to go.

By mid-afternoon we are back at Cloudy Bay, warming up with a cup of tea while flipping through parts catalogs and making lists of items to order. Then off to the workshop again, for another go at taking the fittings apart. Which is successful this time, with the help of a blow torch. Glen is beyond himself with excitement. And it is now decided: we go all American and bronze on the new thru-hull fittings.

Back onboard is part two of resin filling. This time on the inside of the hull. Applying another 6 layers of glassfiber and epoxy, this time while dangling upside down under the galley sink!

And for the evening entertainment we head to the customer lounge to use the internet. We are in desperate need for it. Hence the first order is an internet dongle which will hopefully work with our UK data sim once it arrives on Wed.
We then go through the Sailrite catalogue and collect a long list of materials to add to our sewing machine order. I guess we feel over-enthusiastic, one would imagine we are starting a canvas workshop business looking at that list 🙂 But secretly we are looking forward to start working on some sewing projects, like the sides and back sunshades for the bimini or cover for our new dinghy. And most importantly, the fixings for the new solar panels! Hopefully we can save money doing these ourselves, though looking at the Sailrite bill we are going to be sewing for a while to pay it off!

When we finish with all orders and emails it is passed midnight. And as our heads hit the pillows we think that was yet another full day!