Tue 20 Apr, HHN day 7: Today is forecast perfect warm weather, before a storm tomorrow and colder weather for the next week. So best to get out there in the fresh air while I can, today.
With the table that Ray has lent me it almost feels like I have got a workshop under the boat. And first item into my shop is the CV joint which gets a thorough de-rusting with wire brush, and then painted with a rust neutralizer, just like I did on the hydraulic outhaul piston. Surprisingly, that takes me most of the morning … in between coffee breaks.
Under the shrink-wrap cover it’s greenhouse temperatures today. So, I set up an electric fan at the entrance door to try to push some of the hot air out. It makes me realise that I will be roasting Cloudy alive in the summer with this cover on. Mental note to self: make some big ventilation holes in the cover before I leave, or we might just find a molten heap of plastic and metal when we get back in the fall! However, inside the boat is surprisingly cool. Only 25 degC, compared to what must be 35 degC on the deck.
Once finished with the CV joint, I head to the bow thruster. Like all Hallberg-Rassy, our bow thruster has 4 thin bars across the holes each side of the thruster tube. And usually, sometime in the season, at least one of those bars pops a screw and needs attention. I had thought of putting insert screws so I could secure the bars with bolts rather than screws. But I suddenly realized that no other boat had bars like ours. While the bars may stop children being sucked into the bow thruster, we know that they certainly do not stop rope getting sucked in. And once rope is wound around the thruster props it is really difficult to sort it out with the bars there. So …. Decision made: the bars have to go! We will just have to put a sign “swimmers keep away” next to the thruster. Hallas, for the last time, I remove the bars (never to be reinstalled) and I will sand and epoxy fill the screw holes. But for today I just remove the 2 thrust propellers ready to antifoul the thruster tunnel. After giving the props a quick sand, I antifoul their blades and also apply the last coat (of 4) inside the stern tube, while the prop-shaft if removed.
I’m really determined to tick jobs off my list today …. rather than my usual of having multiple projects on the go all the time, with none actually finished. With this in mind, I call Ray to help me install the new mainsheet and track rope clutches. Directly after work he turns up and we get to it. We Sikaflex the clutch bases and he screws in the bolts on deck and I play Houdini in the ceiling voids below, getting the nuts on. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take long … probably because I was fully prepared and ready to roll.
With this done, we also get the life raft down and deposit it directly into his pickup. Tomorrow I will deliver to Marine and Safety services in Baltimore where it will get serviced.
The rest of the day is taken up with finishing off the clutch project. First, reinstalling all the head lining in the aft bathroom, then putting the main winch motor back in, wiring it up and reinstating the head lining. Then, now that the Sikaflex had dried, I remove the masking tape and install the clutches on their bases. Ooooh …. New clutches on those nicely wrapped blue bases look pretty sexy! There, done! That was one hell of a job. And all because of one bad gybe when we were on passage back from Cayman. Lesson learned. Prevention is easier that cure.
Tomorrow I have a leisurely morning driving to Baltimore. Which I need. Today has been full-on. I go to bed exhausted!
