Projects / Maintenance

Saturday 7 Nov, HHN, boat winterizing day 38:
Today I made a list of things to be done. It was a very conservative list, but most importantly I was determined to ONLY do what was on the list and not get side-tracked like I usually do. It seems to have worked because I had quite a productive day.

After what feels like a long time working on them, the top spreaders are finally ready to be riveted back together. End fittings are polished, internal corrosion cleaned out and the anodized surfaces polished. But I don’t have enough rivets to reconstruct them today, it will be a job for next week. I decided to drill 2 small holes in the inboard end, hoping that water will be able to drain out this time. Unfortunately though, there is not much I can do to improve the mess created by the careless electrician, when he put retaining loop screws direct into the aluminum, other than to clean off the corrosion. Maybe I’ll put some paint there once they are back together.

Next task is the hydraulic piston. I know …. again! But today I finish it, ready for re-installation into the boom. With new plastic under them, I re-rivet the hangers then put the heavy-duty buffers back on. These buffers stop it moving too much inside the boom, especially when the boom is removed and in any other position than its normally top-side-up, when the piston is happily suspended on its hangers. Unfortunately, the re-installation will only be temporary though, it will have to come out again next time I’m back, because I have found both the outboard end sheave and one of the inboard end sheaves need replacing. Both badly damaged, likely through the sheer force of the hydraulics and me trying to trim the sail to the max. [note to self: be more gentle and stop trimming the sails like we are out front in a race]. When I look up the replacement sheaves on Selden documentation, I find the sheaves they show are at least double the working load rating than the broken ones I have here. Likely they learned a lesson and increased the specs. For sure these new 100mm, 5 ton replacement sheaves are not going to be cheap ☹.

Just as I’m finishing up, Mario and his family pass by, again bearing gifts. Mario has come to show his family the HR43 that we looked over last week, and on the way he has picked up a beef-rib dinner for me. So very kind. Normally, I don’t eat till the evening, but the smell of that beef has got me drooling. So dinner is brought forward while I still have some saliva left. OMG it was absolutely delicious. And quite a change from the canned food I’m living off these last weeks, as I attempt to get through all the food on board that is going out of date.

After my early dinner, I have one more riveting job to do (for the very few rivets that I have). I rivet back in place the 3 internal guide sheaves in the boom, which were previously seized up. A bit like the spreader situation, where these sheaves are placed, the water cannot drain and it pools up next to the sheave, causing corrosion. When reinstalling, I paste the corroded area in my new discovery: Lanocote. It’s a natural grease that is super sticky and should stay in place giving protection for many years. It comes from sheep apparently, and it has a weird small that reminds me of old aircraft. Additionally, I back the fitting with a thin sheet of HDPE plastic, to keep the stainless steel of the fitting away from the aluminum of the boom. And lastly, I drill a small hole in the drain channel, upstream of each fitting, to allow water to drain out and not pool. With the 2 metals separated and the water allowed to drain, I’m hoping not to see the problem again, at least not while I own the boat. I think Selden should hire me on!