Monday 18 Nov, HHN day 38: Sealing window and vents, then the bombshell about the PC: it’s dead. Follow by a flurry of Amazon activity to find a new one with quick delivery.
First thing in the morning its off to the IT repair shop in Deale to discover the status of my PC (which would not wake up last Thursday). This is a critical issue to be resolved before we can depart. Annoyingly, the technician (who was only briefly in on Friday and not in at all over the weekend) will not be in the office until midday. So we again have to wait on the verdict.
Meanwhile, it’s a beautiful day. Chilly but bright. So it will be a good day to pull out the saloon window that is leaking and reseal it. Having done the aft cabin main window last year, we know the routine. The 20 small inside bolts are removed and the window is easily popped out. There we find, as expected, the thin sealing strip to have been breached. The bad thing is that like the other window, the sealing strip appears to be very small and simple for the job. The good thing that being that way allows it to be easily cleaned off ready for some new sealant. After masking off the window and surround, a generous amount of Sikaflex is put on the window frame then it is reinserted and bolted back in. As the bolts tighten, the excess Sikaflex oozes out proving a good seal. Probably so good that it may even break the frame to ever get it out again. But we will likely not be doing that again in our ownership! After cleaning up the excess the tape is removed and the window nicely resealed. A job of about 2 hours. Not bad as jobs go.
While in the sealing-things-up mode, I then move to the vent on the bow cabin. We replaced this 2 years ago and it’s been a constant source of annoying leaks whenever we are full-on into waves. And in any case the damned thing doesn’t stay on vent, or closed, even when you want it to. So today it gets sealed …. Permanently! With the cowling off the problem is obvious. It had a totally inadequate sealing ring which is not only distorted but made of simple foam, not even rubber. And this on a bow deck vent? Come on! So that silly seal gets a permanent seal with a good dose of Sikaflex. There, take that Mr.Vent! Now, while it still looks like a vent, its actually not. Psss don’t tell anyone!
Early afternoon we get an email saying the PC motherboard is dead and therefore the PC rendered worthless. They offer to sell us a new PC and transfer all my data over. But instead we get into Amazon and soon have a new one ordered to arrive Wednesday. Again, only in the USA! But getting all the data and software reinstalled will for sure take me a full day, maybe more. Meaning we are unlikely to depart before Friday now ☹
More deliveries from Amazon, one being the replacement keyboard for Oana’s laptop. Which comes already bent, so have to return and wait for a replacement. Not a good day on the IT front ☹
Before today’s daylight fades, we Epoxy the fittings on the top of gas bottles to stop them from further corrosion. And with leftover epoxy the dinghy padlock gets a light coating too, being careful not to get the padlock itself sealed.
We are a bit down about the PC and it’s quite late now, so we really cannot face running around the supermarket. And in the evening rain comes, lashing on the cabin, so a good job we didn’t go out after all. This rain is a good test for the newly sealed window. And thankfully, it holds up well. Not a drip in the boat. I think we have a water tight boat again. Whoopy!
For the rest of the evening we keep busy doing checks on the Raymarine systems and the AIS, all in good order. Then we test the generator to make sure it starts ok, all good there too. And after doing the routine checks on oils & water and top up the coolant, the engine room door gets shut and in theory we shouldn’t go back in there for a while. Well, maybe to grab the vacuum hoovers only.
Last task for today is to do something about the new galley rug which we bought from Home Depot few days ago. Oana has been wanting a new softer rug for quite sometime, and when we found this one (of a very unusual size) I was so very happy to cross this item off the shopping list.Trouble is,is not as soft as she would’ve wanted. So we placed it on top of the old one. But it rides and curls at the ends. So this evening I stitch them together and I have one very happy boss 🙂
2 comments
Sikaflex always seems to do the job. Don’t really like the idea of having to break the frame if ever need redoing though. But permanent leaks can be exasperating. Don’t know which is worse…
Agreed – sikaflex hold things tight and waterproof – but also a pain to access afterwards. SO considering this, I put a rubber seal around the edge of the pedestal panel and just placed a very thin film of white sikaflex around the edge. This makes it fully waterproof but can easily be entered again by just running a knife along the sikaflex, which is likely only 1/16″ thick.
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