Tuesday day 26 Oct, re-launch 2021, HHN day 27: Success on turnbuckle procurement, IridiumGo antenna installed, chain deflector project completed, and a USA cinema experience in the evening.
As usual we wake up with keen scanning for emails from our wonderful support, Ludvig, in HR-Parts, Sweden. Today he has truly exceeded all our expectations.
His first email is a disappointment. Apparently, Selden no longer manufacture turnbuckles like ours, in stainless steel. Their new replacement turnbuckle is made of bronze. Bronze is OK, but what is not OK is the length, they are 10cm longer than our current set up. This would mean the mast would have to come down again (noooooo!) to shorten the main V1 shrouds to accommodate this 10cm. Jeeeez! The alternative is to bite-the-bullet and buy the very expensive turnbuckles, same as ours, from Selden-USA @$3,500. Darn it.
Then comes a second email from Ludvig. He has just walked across to HR manufacturing (where they build the new boats) and in some dark corner found a new pair of turnbuckles exactly like ours! Packaging is tatty but clearly unused. Probably left over from the last HR55s they commissioned (they no longer use this turnbuckle on the newer models). He is offering me these with 50% discount (~$1,000 for the pair) which amounts to 70% cheaper than the US ones. Clearly this is our lucky day! Ludvig …. What can we say? He always goes the extra mile. And again, I wonder what other yacht manufacturer provide this kind of support to their boat owners?
And my luck continues. At the Annapolis boat show we had purchased an external antenna for the IridiumGo. I intend to try is on our old Inmarsat coax cable that is already installed in the radar pole back to the nav-station. But the connector on the radar pole end is not the right one. So it’s a trip to MTS to ask them to come install the correct one, at no doubt $150 labor charge, or more. But before initiating that, I casually ask if they have an adapter rather than making a new connection. He disappears into the workshop, returning 5 minutes later with the exact adapter! Which I am over-the-moon to pay just $20 for 😊
Now I go install the antenna. Apart from the fact that I have to stand on the davits on my tip-toes to reach up to the top of the radar pole (which is at least 6m above ground level) it’s a pretty easy job to do. I get the 3 mounting bolts in place, but on the last one I drop the washer. I instantly look below to see where it falls to … but it doesn’t. Then I look back up and find it spinning like a coin on top of the radar dome. When it stops, and falls flat, it ends up half-on, half-off the edge and stays there. Yes, the lucky day continues.
In the afternoon, I complete the project to create a “chute” that will feed the anchor chain more into the middle of the anchor locker, rather than just down the side of the forward bulkhead, where it often mounts up and jams in the hawse-pipe. In the spring I had created the chute using a piece of household gutter pipe, some plywood and epoxy resin. Then, over the summer, Ray had made a stainless-steel insert, which will take the wear of the moving chain. Screwing this insert into place is an easy job and completes the project. Can’t wait to see how our newly galvanized chain runs now.
Talking new chain, while at the bow I decide to take the windlass apart and clean it. It’s full of rust particles from the chain (prior to being re-galvanized) which are causing brown staining on the surrounding decks. While I have the windlass apart, I find the gypsy is rather worn. So it is another item onto the shopping list for HR-Parts. If the gypsy ever fails to grip the chain, we are in deep do-do.
In the evening we treat ourselves to a trip to the local cinema. Which is not actually that local. It’s a 20-mile drive south. We watch the latest James Bond movie “No time to die”. The usual 007 movie format, all totally unbelievable yet very entertaining. But the best experience is the cinema itself. There is not much seating for the size of room because the seats themselves are HUGE! And the spacing is so big we can’t even reach our feet onto the seats in front of us, like we usually do in Europe’s cinemas. How are we going to sit with our legs dangling for 3 hours? And we joke that next time we will bring our foot-stool from the boat! Then Oana finds a button, the seats recline and a very big footrest extends out in front of us. Foot-dangling problem solved! OMG, what an amazing comfort experience. We feel like we must have bought a First-Class ticket or something. But as our lucky day continues, we just happen to have arrived on a Tuesday-special deal. Only $6 per ticket! Finally, something in USA cheaper than Europe!
Back at Cloudy Bay, the wind, which has been raging all day, is continuing to buffer the boat. But inside, with the heating on, we are snug and cozy. It was so nice to have an evening with no boat works for once.