Sunday 10 Nov, HHN day 30: All day trying to get the burnt clingfilm off the furlers. Evening is toilet tasks.
Next big job, on the path to sailing again, is to reinstall the 3 hydraulic furling motors. We had removed them back in June and sent them to Selden in Florida for servicing. But on arrival, the technician told us he cannot service the motors alone, what he needed was the entire furling mechanical section, not just the hydraulic motor. Well, that was impossible because the forestay would need to be cut to get them off and mast down to get the mainsail furler out. So the motors were returned in the same condition we had sent them. What a faff, this we didn’t need. Add to the annoyance, we had covered the furlers in clingfilm to keep the water out over summer. But the summer sun has literally melted the clingfilm onto the furlers leaving one very tough brown mess to be cleaned off. We didn’t need that task either!
To start with I’m gentle, using a metal buffer. But it doesn’t touch the stuff. Then scotchbrite. That doesn’t do it either. Finally, it takes a very abrasive wire brush on a drill to finally remove the brown mess and get back to the stainless steel. The result is that our beautifully mirror polished furlers now look more like brushed stainless steel that you find covering your kitchen fridge. Arrrgh! From this brushed stainless look, it’s fine wet and dry followed by the metal buffer to try to get the shine back. It does eventually shine, but amazingly that damned clingfilm has actually etched itself into the stainless. Bottom line, it will never look quite the same again. Well, not to me at least ☹
Doing this to both the forestay furlers took all day and left me rather annoyed and covered in dust and metal polish. Before it gets dark I just manage to reinstall the motor on the cutter stay before its time to go inside again for warmth. It sure does get cold as soon as the sun goes these days. Hard to believe we were in shorts and tee-shirt just a few weeks ago.
Evening activity is toilet-time. Our bow toilet is the main one that we use when cruising because it is a seawater system and doesn’t use our fresh water supply. It’s still good, but the bowl had lost its ceramic finish and was difficult to keep clean, the base is really grubby and the seat not so good these days. So having got a good deal from Defender, we purchased an entire new one. The old one comes out easily, because we leave in place the electric conversion kit and all the piping. And the new Jabsco slots directly into place. The seat is a bit different, but other than that it’s the same toilet. Oh, it does have one cool feature, a soft close seat and lid! After the frustration with the furlers all day, it’s nice to have a straight forward job with no unexpected challenges.