Job done
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Tue 11 Dec 2012 12:25
|
Progress on our work programme has been
depressingly slow, but we have completed one major task - stripping the hull.
This was a massive undertaking which we couldn't have done on our own. I did a
good chunk of the initial scraping off of the antifouling but the next task was
the physically very demanding sanding of the whole underwater hull back to the
fibreglass surface, which we left to our assistants Jason and
Aaron.
Here is Jason lying on his back on a scaffold
plank, sanding above his head. Looks easy, perhaps? It isn't. The blood drains
from your arms after a while and it becomes very hard and painful
work.
 The pure white bits are the gelcoat surface that
we're aiming for. Note the vacuum tube - it's compulsory to use a vacuum sander.
NZ has very strict regulations about antifoul and glassfibre residues which must
be properly disposed of. Quite right too. It's the same in the USA; these are
nasty substances. Sadly in the UK no such controls apply.
And here are the dynamic duo, nearly finished. Note
the protective clothing, ear defenders and breathing masks:
 Meanwhile at the pointed end, here is half the crew
of the vessel attempting to clean the bowthruster tunnel:
 This is a terrible task. It's about a metre long
and about 30mm diameter, coated with thick layers of antifoul. It's impossible
to get a normal scraper in, let alone an electric sander, so the job has to be
done with a nasty messy paintstripper and cloths. It took Ali over a week
to get it right.
But finally it was done:
 Jason on the left, Aaron on the right. Great guys,
and really hard workers. The rain has stopped and the smiley face is about to
vanish too. That's the bulk of that job done - but final detailing is still not
complete over a week later. Then it dries out fully, and gets painted in
March.
In the meantime, I've taken out our water boiler
and replaced it with a new one. It was designed in Italy, built in Bulgaria and
sold in NZ. But weirdly it has US fittings on four of the five outlets (the
whole of the rest of the world uses one standard, but the US has to do its own
thing as usual) which are very hard to get in NZ. But the fifth one is a
different type altogether which appears impossible to get here. I've gone half
mad trying to put together a leak-proof system (including a truly spectacular
geyser in the engine room when I forgot I had the system pressurised when
removing a hose); I have not succeeded yet, but with luck suitable parts will
arrive tomorrow in which case I may delay burning the boat to the ground and
claiming the insurance. Or I might not.
|