 | 18 th of December to 19 th of March 2006 - Winter Maintenance 2005/2006 |
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| Crew : | Helen and Andy |
| Destinations : | Shotley. |
18 th December 2005
1st Winter Maintenance Day, Helen and Andy on board. No sailing today, just some hard work. Needing to get Ocean Mist ready for lift out in January. Main tasks today:
- Diesel engine service, carried out by Helen under Andy's tutelage
- Warmed up engine Emptied dirty oil.
- Changed oil filter.
- Filled up with clean oil and left to settle.
- Changed diesel filter Andy then cleaned the sediment trap.
- We then bled the diesel pipes.
- Helen cleaned around the engine locker.
- Checked the oil level one last time
- Started engine successfully.
- Took off the sails and folded neatly. Very cold fingers.
- Removed the log and cleaned that bilge.
- Drilled hole in dehumidifier drain.
- Had two cups of tea.
7 th January 2006
2 nd and 3 rd Winter Maintenance Days. A very cold day with sleet and rain and near freezing temperatures. Helen and Andy went down to the boat to begin the maintenance of Ocean Mist's hull now that she is out of the water. Not the ideal weather for polishing, but we had been advised that we should polish before applying anti-foul. It was collllldddd!
Only one polisher meant only one job for only one person. The cold and too much polish meant that we ended up with smeared polish over the hull which took most of Sunday to wipe off and she wasn't looking quite as shiny as she could have done. Ho hum that was one of many lesson's to be learned and will be improved upon next year.
Helen managed to take the headlining off in the starboard aft cabin so that the Velcro could be glued back in place to prevent it falling on unsuspecting guests in the middle of the night. Also the wooden strip at the companion way step was removed to give it a good rub down and polish at home.
Andy explored how to connect the new chart plotter. Looks like it involves drilling more large holes in the boat.
14 th January 2006
5 th and 6 th Winter Maintenance Days. Bright and warm (for January). Andy and Helen went down to start the anti-fouling. Unfortunately the anti-foul we were using could not be done in damp or frost. On the Sunday it was still wet so we postponed the second coat.
This gave plenty of time to drain the sail drive of oil and replace it with fresh stuff. Andy fitted the new feathering propeller, along with the newly acquired anode, and the sail drive and propeller were given a coat of ordinary hard anti-foul.
We finished in good time allowing for a trip to Jimmy's farm shop where we bought some fabulous loin of pork, which gave us the best crackling possible.
29 th January 2006
7 th Winter Maintenance Day. We went down to Shotley prepared not to get any anti-fouling done due to the forecast of frost. Instead Andy spent most of the day establishing how to wire up the new chart plotter. We had hoped to drill a big hole for it to fit into, but more checks are required on the wiring before we take drill and saw to the precious wood work above the chart table. While Andy used his brain, Helen was the brawn, stuck outside in a north easterly taking the old tape off the hull. With Andy's help the new tape was replaced and Ocean Mist given a brand new go-faster stripe. This again will be much easier next time with less bubbles, hopefully.
In addition Helen scraped the glue from the cockpit where some non-slip tape had been. Next time she will apply some lovely new stuff. The guard wires were measured in order to buy some new plastic cover., which we don't know the name of, but we know they sell it in Fox's. That's another one of Helen's jobs for next time.
We replaced the headlining in the starboard aft cabin and left early for home and a roast beef supper.
5 th February 2006
8 th Winter maintenance day. We went down to Shotley hoping the temperature may rise. Sadly it remained around 4 degrees, so again we have had to delay the second coat of anti-foul. Andy spent more time trying to connect the chart plotter but at the moment it seems the old chart plotter is still required to get the new one to work with the radar and VHF radio. The problem is related to the NMEA output, which for some reason won't talk to the radio.
Whilst Andy looked at this I stuck some more non slip tape in the cockpit, cleaned the windows and started to clean up the stainless steel on deck, ready for a good polish. We didn't hang around for long as we were both suffering with colds. We will return when the weather allows us to anti-foul.
18 th February 2006
9 th Winter maintenance day. After lots of pontificating we finally set off to Shotley. With lots of complaining from Helen, the second coat of anti-fouling was finally completed (hurah!). We weren't the only ones working on the boat today, which suggested the weather was suitable. The other Moody S38 in the marina, Chaika II, has also come out of the water and the yard very thoughtfully put her next to Ocean Mist for company. We celebrated with another trip to Jimmy's farm where we bought a couple of partridge.
25 th February 2006
10 th Winter Maintenance Day. Helen and Andy paid a visit to Ocean Mist. Andy had finally been given some useful advice on how to get the chart plotter working after Fox's went and had a look at it. It seems the new GPS needs to be fitted for it all to work. (Andy will explain somewhere else soon what all this was about.) Helen cleaned the transom and after some faffing with the GPS, it was clear that four hands would be needed and it was cold so we went home.
4 th March 2006
11 th Winter Maintenance Day. Helen and Andy went down with Pete, so Andy had a knowledgeable helping hand with the electrics. Ocean Mist was now back in the water so things were a bit more sheltered on deck. Helen, as usual, was in the cockpit servicing the winches. (More than an hour each winch and there were six of them!). And of course it snowed. Helen was, needless to say, rather tired and emotional by the end of the day, especially when she had to take one of the winches apart again, having forgotten to put oil on the pawls.
11 th March 2006
12 th Winter Maintenance Day. Helen and Andy went down to Shotley. The chart plotter is finally in it's place. However, the CD changer will have to find a new home, if we still want it. The radar scanner has been taken away by RJ Marine to be fixed so we weren't able to play with this. As usual, whilst Andy was down below, Helen was on deck cleaning all the blocks in fresh water and filling the water tanks with Puriclean. After lunch, however the two of us serviced the furling gear and put both sails back on Ocean Mist in a blizzard. The new sail cover looks very smart.
18 th /19 th March 2006
Last of the Winter Maintenance days. Andy and Helen went down to the boat for a final spring cleaning weekend. A lovely warm heater made it possible to stay for two nights in our cozy, favorite starboard aft cabin. Spent most of Saturday cleaning and sorting out down below. On Sunday we finally took her out for a sail. It was rather cold so we headed for Pin Mill where we turned round and went back to the marina. Andy then had the pleasure of using his birthday present and Ocean Mist was given a good wash with the pressure hose. A few jobs are still left to do but Ocean Mist is booked on her first charter next weekend with Andy as skipper.
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