Bloody snow

Although I usually enjoy a bit of snow, this one is proving to be a right pain in the backside. As it has effectively brought the SE of England to a standstill and I am really not likely to want to try sanding the toerail in freezing temperatures any work on the boat or even a bit of messing around is now on hold.

Oh well, we should be able to get down there sometime soon anyway.

Pre boatshow update

Not a lot of activity of course but we have been thinking about what to look for at the boatshow (apart from AIS of course).

I have also been making arrangements for Sarah G to be grit blasted and copper coated. We have become firm converts to Coppercoat after putting it on our last boat Kemara.

I have also been doing some testing on a revamped AZAB web site which should be going live soon so I will be linking to it from here.

I spent the commute into work this morning going through the ISAF Special Regulations and highlighting in green the things we will have to check on and probably spend money on as well.

Happy times!

Aries work

We started looking at our Aries today. It is basically fine though a couple of the alloy castings are cracked. The springs in the ratchet controller are a bit ropey but generous doses of WD40 are working their usual wonders. Critically, the main bearing on the rudder appear to be fine. All in all it is looking good. We have a few parts to buy from Helen Franklin and we need to replace the control and tiller ropes but a visit to a chandlers should sort that out.

The Aries really is an amazing piece of equipment. There are literally less than 90 parts to it though some of those are quite large and industrial like. It will be fun getting to grips with it and we will need a name for it. Captain Haddock is one but not a very original one. The autopilot has already earned the name of George so we need something different for Aries - perhaps something to do with a star near Aries in the sky.

On other fronts, I think that we have solved the problem of what to do with the AIS. Silva make a transponder that has it's own display so will not require the purchase of a chartplotter or new radar. Reports from others are that AIS is a fantastic invention and makes traditional radar more or less redundant. If this truly proves to be the case, I could recoup some of the cost of the AIS by selling the radar on ebay. I will have to have a close look at all the options at the boat show.

Time is passing now we are in 2010. 18 months to the start which is making things seem nearer anyway!

Christmas Update

Now Christmas is over (well mostly anyway) It really is time to start thinking about the coming season. We have some plans afoot. As per the posting earlier, there is some work to do before we launch but nothing too arduous. Easter is quite early in 2010 so we will, hopefully, be delivering to Plymouth over Easter.

The big thing for this season is to get to know Sarah G and also to do the qualifying passages demanded by the entry requirements of the AZAB. This is going to be twice the work for us as we will have different crew on the outward and return legs.

I will probably look to take a week off in June and do some sort of triangle with Matthew, my Brother and Audrey and I will have to do a long passage as part of our regular holiday, currently scheduled for August.

Bargain of the Christmas period was an EPIRB with GPS. I found it on the Mailspeed (no affiliations here) website. It is a posh one with built in GPS but was half price owing to the fact that it was one year into it's five year lifespan. Now all I need to do is find a similar bargain for an AIS transponder and all the expensive electronic expenditure will be done leaving us free to spend money on stuff that really matters.

We will go down to Emsworth on Monday and see how she looks and make sure the engine has survived the trauma of the recent cold weather.

Oh yes, time for another picture methinks! You can see some of the chips in the gelcoat that need repairing in this one.

The other thing to get our attention at the moment is the Aries Windvane. I have been looking at it recently and it is not as badly off as it originally looked. None of it seems to be seized thankfully. Nick Franklin has a web site with some notes on how to refurbish them that talks about the violent things you have to do if the main bearings on the servo shaft are seized. They do not seem to be seized though I am sure they need some attention. We need a new vane but that will be easy enough to make and it needs a thorough clean as well as having the lines replaced. It is a brilliant bit of kit. It weighs a ton and, according to the web site has only about 80 odd parts. We will have to spend a lot of time getting used to it though I am sure.

OT for this thing but a picture of our cat here.

Pictures of the boat

I am putting a couple of pictures here of Sarah G as she stands. That said, she is out the water now and has the mast down as well but I haven't visited since that. Anwyay, boats look better in the water with their masts up.

We also managed to find a bagain EPIRB. This has always been a piece of technology that I have liked the sound of and the opportunity to get a half price one with built in GPS simply could not be turned up.

I have been mentally compiling a list of things to do to get ready, both for the next season and the race in 2011.

Here is a taster of it!

1. Adjust/replace guard wires
2. Repair damaged hole in aft end of mast step
3. Fit and repair catches to cockpit lockers
4. Install EPIRB
5. Aquire and install AIS transponder. GRRR!!
6. Repair scratches and chips in gelcoat
7. Finish winterising engine:
i. change pencil anode
ii. replace primary and secondary fuel filter
iii. check exhaust coupling
iv. probably other stuff as well
8. Check all running rigging on mast while it is down.
9. Clean teak in cockpit.
10. Varnish teak toerail.
11. strip antifoul and apply coppercoat.
12. Valet sails
13. Change zinc anode
14. Ensure that propeller is adequately protected.
15. Replace broken breaker switches on panel.
16. Get her back in the water and get sailing!!

Of course, as is the way with boats, the list will keep growing. In fact:
17. get new longer oars for dinghy.
18. Check for damage to dinghy and repair.
19. Service and fit Aires windvane.

And so it goes on.

Time to knock off now and think about Christmas

Time to start again and a new direction

In true boring blogger fashion, this online diary now has a new direction to follow.

Since the last time a lot has changed and we now have a new home and, in particular a new boat.

Sarah Giddings is a beautiful dark blue Rival 34. As well as now having our dream boat (or as close as it gets anyway) we are also down to enter the 2011 Azores and Back Race starting from Falmouth on 04 June 2011.

This should be a chance to keep a diary of the run up to this auspicious event.

The entry was easy enough but the rules have started to prove a bit onerous. These sorts of race are classified as Offshore Class I by the International Sailing Federation which means you have to comply with a whole raft of rules and such like. Most of this is non contentious and is all good sense. Fundamentally, you have to have a soundly build seaworthy boat that is capable of completing the event in which you are entered.

There is however one bit that is causing me a lot of annoyance and others as well I think. Basically, there has been an update to the ISAF Class I rules which states that the carrying of an AIS transponder is now obligatory rather than merely recommended. While AIS is probably going to be a very good thing and I have been thinking about fitting a receiver I do not feel that sending broadcasts of your speed, course and such like is going to be of much use in the middle of the Atlantic. The expense is considerable with £500 odd for a transponder. Then, there is currently no way for me to display the AIS data on any of my instruments so we are looking at an upgrade of the radar or fitting a new plotter - all of which will cost quite a lot of money :-(

Anyway, I will endeavour to keep updates of how things go here.

At present, Sarah G is laid up at Emsworth and we have a bunch of more mundane work to do.

The big project is to get the antifoul stripped off and coppercoat applied as we had very good experiences with this on Kemara. The zinc anode needs attention, the guard wires need adjusting or some such so that they are not so slack. Finally, we are going to refurbish and fit the Aries windvane that she came with. I hope that is all we have to do this year though.