Day2 in the yard
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Thu 11 Aug 2011 17:41
Yesterday the hydrovane was completely removed and taken to the workshop and apart from some nicks in the metal casing here and there it looks good and straight. It had to have a new stainless steel strut to replace the bent one.
Today was meant to be the day for the relatively straightforward job of fixing the water towed generator (we have gone 'green') on the pushpit and wiring it up. It needed a frame fabricated and some wires run through to the batteries. I am not " sparky" so a job for the specialist but they did not get going until nearly 4 pm by which time patience was wearing thin.
The windex is still a live issue. The trip up the mast the other day was a waste of a climb as I could not get the existing fitting unscrewed. The yard say the stainless and the aluminium will have corroded and formed a weld and that an impact hammer/wrench will be required.
That is tomorrow's activity but sparky from the yard is going up to do it.
They brought a big motor boat in this morning which had diesel bug in it's 3,000 litre tanks. They have been circulating the diesel through various tanks all day to rid it of bug. At 1.49 euro per litre to replace it is rather expensive if it has to be thrown away!
Hopefully we will be away from here tomorrow and get some sailing and swimming. As it happens we have not missed a lot as there have been easterly gales in the Straits of Gibraltar that have caused a 2 to 3 metre swell along this coast. We did in fact bale out of our Monday night anchorage late Tuesday afternoon. The morning was flat calm and we watched the kids sailing their optimists and generally having fun as part of their holiday watersports. The swell gradually increased as forecast and then they forecasted the wind to blow from the south east----we were going to be on a lee shore with a horrible beam on roll. The marina seemed a good option for a good night's sleep especially as we had to be in the yard by 0830 on Wednesday morning.
Hopefully the next blog will be more interesting!!
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