Repairs and snags
RAVEN - Atlantic Circuit 2021-22
Richard Foulkes
Sat 21 May 2022 12:13
Tuesday was spent diagnosing the problem with the plotter, which came down to a badly corroded connection, so waiting on spare parts for that. New furling line for genoa has been fitted.
I had been suspicious for a while that more water was going into the bilge than should be the case, so on Wednesday I embarked on a Leak Hunt. Not easy when the boat was still wet and salty from the gale and it was raining heavily, with water coming down inside the mast into the bilge. Table and floor boards needed to be dismantled for access. The worst case of a keel bolt leak was eliminated by Thursday evening, which I thought was good news but when I started looking further “upstream “ on Friday, by taking boards up under my bed I discovered the leak comes from a patch of “weeping hull” close to the rudder. It looks to be a problem of some vintage as there were old stain marks, but the rate of flow has certainly increased recently.
The amount of water ingress is not really a problem, but the potential for a structural weakness near the rudder is a more serious snag.
I had a swim down yesterday and couldn’t see any obvious cause, tried to arrange a diver who wasn’t available so current plan is to have RAVEN lifted out on Monday so we can properly see what is going on.
The new crew of Allan and Simon have been stars and are still flying out as planned to arrive on Sunday and Monday respectively ……though Simon might turn around at Lisbon if we know the worst by then.
So fingers are crossed, meanwhile I am not doing food shopping just yet!
