Monday 15 Nov, re-launch 2021, HHN day 47: All day clearing cockpit and re-packing cockpit locker, and test run emergency bilge pump.
As we are poised to launch this week, it’s about time to clear the cockpit of all “building materials” and get the wheel back on the pedestal!
The cockpit is fully enclosed by the cockpit tent, so when the shrink-wrap was removed a few weeks ago, the cockpit became the dumping ground for anything and everything. But mostly paints, painting material, resins, tools, rags, polishing things … the list goes on and on. What isn’t in the cockpit is the steering wheel, which will be kind of useful to have once we have launched! It is currently removed and on the side deck, to give me more room to be messy!
Most of the items need to be repacked into the cockpit locker, which goes out the full width of the boat. It’s like a cavern in there. Things we use every day are near the hatch, and things we only use in maintenance periods are buried deep at the back. The trouble is, after such an extensive maintenance period, there is much more to go back in than originally came out! And on top of that, we were kindly delivered a box full of goodies from TotalBoat: resins, fairing compounds, bilge paints, silicon, tee shirts ….! It’s all got to be stowed somewhere ☹
Once I have everything out the locker (which makes the cockpit situation even worse!) I physically climb in to see where I can squeeze some more stowage. And I find it! There is a large gap between the gas locker and the inner bulkhead that is currently unused. It will stow multiple paint-pot size items. Perfect.
So, in everything goes. And bit by bit the cockpit is getting cleared of all my “rubbish”, as Oana likes to call it 😊. That locker really is like Dr.Who’s Tardis for the volume of things that can fit in there. And while re-stowing, I make sure we have nothing in the locker that is no longer needed. So a lot of things get thrown out too.
One of the bigger items in the locker is a gas powered (petrol driven) emergency pump. Given its importance in emergency, we keep it close to the entrance, along with things like flares and grab-bags. We haven’t run it for a while so it’s time to take it out and do just that.
It’s just a cheapy-pump bought from a Spanish hardware store 5 years ago. And despite liberal helpings of WD40 from new, it is starting to get a bit rusty. With it down on the ground I kind of hope it won’t start and I can throw it away and buy a better one, like a Honda. But one swift pull and it fires into life immediately. And to try the pump itself, I put the suction hose into a nearby dinghy that is full of rain water, and pump it out. Which is does with super efficiency.
The only question I have about this pump is: will I actually have enough time to set it up if the boat is sinking. I guess first I would have all other pumps already operating. Or maybe, with an electrical failure, we would only be down to a bucket and this pump anyway?!
Anyway, I digress. The problem with this pump is that it needs to be primed before it will suck any head of water. And in a panic, that priming can take time. But once primed, it sucks like an Olympic sucking champion, with a full stream of water coming out of its 1.25” hose. Of course, it is one of those many things we hope never to use, but it’s good to see it still works with just one pull.
With the cockpit finally clear it’s time for a wash down. And as it turns from storage/workshop area to a yacht cockpit again, it’s a real pleasure to clean. Maybe we will even get the cockpit cushions out and have tea at the table!
Lastly, the wheel is put back on and the job is complete. Cannot believe it has taken me the whole day.
In the evening the last coat of varnish is applied to the teak trim for the bow cabin deck hatch. So tomorrow, if the water is still not high enough to launch, will be re-installing the Lewmar 70 hatch. And we will be all water-tight and ship shape again – ready for the ocean.