Work In Progress
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Sun 20 Nov 2011 01:35
|
It's been a busy 3 weeks on boat work. After 3
attempts, due to wind and rain, the blue line round the
cockpit has finally been painted. Hallberg Rassy brush paint it on new
boats and we had it brush painted 4 years ago, but this time we've had it
spray painted and it looks so much better, and they reckon it will last longer
before fading. As the paint would be sprayed, it was necessary to
cover the surrounding deck area and whole cockpit with plastic sheeting, so
much so that we couldn't get in or out and had to use the forward
hatch. Having completed all the painting we could
start using restoring paste and wax of the topsides. This is a
job that makes the boat seem to grow in size! To do it we were
able to use scaffolding that gave a walkway 6ft or so off the ground around
the boat. It's the first time we've had this available and although
it makes it so much easier, it's still a long job. But it's done and
the topsides now sparkle in the sun! Yes, we have had sun and for most of the
last week, no rain. When the winds out of the north it's hot
(24C), but when in the south it can still be very cold. The extremes
of temperature here are much greater than in the UK. But with the summer
approaching, we hope there will be a lot more hot than cold!
Our package from HR in Sweden finally arrived - the
replacement windscreen panel and bottom rudder fixture, or shoe as HR call
it. They were sent in 2 specially made boxes and were quite a package. The
shoe should have been a straight replacement, but comparing them it was obvious
that the original had been machined to fit, so we had to get the new one
machined in the same way. Oh, and the holes didn't line up, so the old ones had
to be filled and new ones will have to be drilled. Boat building is not a
precise business! The shoe is not yet back on, as having removed it
(which involves cutting fibreglass away), it makes sense to change the
rudder seals higher up and change the cutlass bearing (a bearing where the
propeller shaft comes out the boat). That sounds easy, but both
are quite involved jobs. To change the seals involves taking the
steering systems apart and dropping the rudder down, and then putting it all
back together again - it will take some
time!
With the windscreen panel we've removed all the broken glass -
thousands of little, sharp, squares of glass - and are digging out the old
sealant in the frame; both painstaking tasks. It came with some scary
instructions which started by saying the whole windscreen construction would
have to be removed from the boat. That's a major job, but talking to the makers,
in Norway, they think it should be possible to do it leaving the rest of
the windscreen in place - we hope they're right! So a lot of progress in the
last 3 weeks, but still a lot to do. It looks like we will be
in Tauranga for Christmas!
Some good news on the Rena front (the container ship
stranded on a reef 12 miles outside the Tauranga harbour
entrance) - after over a month, all but a very small amount of the
oil in the fuel tanks has been pumped off and the threat of
further oil spills has reduced considerably. It's looking much safer
for us to go back in the water. They're now starting to remove the 1300 or
more containers from it, but it's difficult
and dangerous work that can only be done it in fine weather
and at only a few a day, they reckon it might take another 7
months!
 The new rudder shoe is not actually that big in
size, but it's a
substantial construction, weighing in at
around 46lbs!
  You have to get used to working up in the air, and
be careful not to walk off the planks, but it's much
easier than going up and down
ladders!
 All shiny, with the reflection of the road
and cars going by.
 The broken glass panel we're
replacing.
|