Fitting out begins

So the question now was where to begin. The last three years were spent on steel work and now I had to re program my mind to think about the various sub systems that I needed to install before launch. First thing was to fix all the batons onto the frames, bulkheads and floor beams. These in turn would take the plywood covering and this in turn would take the furniture fixings. I worked out that I needed 500m of 50mm by 25mm wood for the batons. This arrived in due course and I started the long drilling, painting and bolt tightening operation that was required to fit all of the baton wood. I had seriously underestimated the amount of wood required and in the end it took 1600m of wood to complete the battening. That’s a mile of wood just for that. Next I painted the bilge area with three coats of bilge paint. The next job was to fit the 25mm marine plywood which would be the side and bottom of the diesel and water tank mounts. These were fastened in place with stainless steel screws and nuts and bolts. Meanwhile the tanks had arrived and they were mounted in place. Then the plumbing was started. All plastic fittings where used including plastic tube for cold and hot water. Once the plumbing was competed and tested the diesel tanks were connected and diesel fuel hose was run into the engine room. Next followed the bilge pumps and their respective hoses. After this was completed a gulper toilette pump was fitted and a number of 3 way valves were connected in such a way that the pump could discharge either from the black water holding tank or from the grey water holding tank through a 2” seacock. The cabin sole was fixed to the beams and cut outs were added to enable access to the various hatches.

It was now time to order the masts. The reason why I say order is that initially we were going to make them ourselves. However, I had been trying to buy two untreated telegraph poles for a couple of years now with no success. All were already dipped when they arrived in the UK so we had to go to plan B. Plan B was that Noble Masts of Bristol fame were to build us two hollow masts one 14 meters and the other 11 meters long. To be delivered complete with masthead fittings by second week in July. No problems Noble Masts said so we placed the order. Cost £6000 for the two. Cheap at the price.

Now that all of the work under the cabin sole had been finished and the cabin sole had been laid I could get a company to spray foam insulate from port cabin sole line all the way up and over to the cabin sole line on the starboard side. The cost for this was £1400. This was completed in a day. Of course the operator of the spraying equipment had little control over the spraying operation and all of the batons were covered an inch thick with foam. This had to be removed by scraping. This was one of the worst jobs I had to do. It took a complete week to complete. The thickness of the foam ranged from 50mm to 75mm and this £1400 was later to be one of the best money spent in the build.

Once the cabin sole was in and the foam insulation sprayed I next turned my attention to the engine compartment. Our engine was to be a 2.5 litre 61 hp Ford, marinised by Lancing Marine. It was a tedious job to get Lancing Marine to not only quote me for an engine but also to get them to supply a complete engine system that had all the parts that was required to make a yacht an auxiliary yacht. They were helpful but very slow. I had to persevere as they were £2000 less than all of the other engine suppliers. I also thought that having a Ford engine, in fact it was the same base engine as was fitted to the Transit Van, this I thought would make buying spare parts more easy around the world. Transit vans are everywhere. To cut a long, long story short Lancing Marine eventually got it right and delivered the engine. A crane lifted it in and I drilled the holes for the engine mounts and then fastened them to the engine bearers.

Next followed the lining up of the prop shaft to the gearbox. What a nightmare it took two days to get right and in the end there was a difference of two thousands of an inch all round. The completion of fitting the engine was a milestone. I could now start on the interior furniture and walls.

Unfortunately Ann’s Mum died on the 14th February 2001. She was a wonderful woman who had had a great life we still miss her dearly. We did not feel like doing any more work on Spray. Ann’s brother, Nigel arrived from South Africa where he had been living for 25 years. Not the best of times to show off our yacht. But enough of that.

Ann and I sat down a couple of weeks later and discussed recent events. We both decided that Ann’s Mum would have wanted us to finish the boat a get away. So we decided to both work on the boat full time. The plan was to work on her until the aft cabin, heads/shower and kitchen were fitted then we would move onboard and complete the fitting out working 12 hours a day. It took until May 2001 to do this.

We move on board

Then as planned we moved on board. Ann and I, Mitzi and Monty our dogs. We worked from dawn to dusk every day for the next three months. Whilst working one day down below Ann carried Mitzi down the ladder so the dog could run around the yard for a few hours. Ann came back up the ladder and continued her varnishing job. The next thing I knew was that Mitzi was jumping down the companionway steps. I asked Ann if she had carried Mitzi back up the ladder, she said no. So we repeated the procedure carrying the dog down the ladder we returned to the cockpit and watched. In front of our eyes Mitzi climbed up that 14’ ladder one rung at a time waggling her tail all the way up. We could not believe our eyes we had never seen a dog do that. This was how Mitzi got onto the boat every time she was in the yard and wanted to rejoin us on deck. After a few days we never gave it another thought. Then one day we heard shouting from the yard. A woman was standing there mouth wide open unable to utter a word. Hm, Ahm, uh, your dog just climbed that ladder she said finally regaining her speech. Yes Ann said she does that. The woman was Rowan Warner fellow yacht owners. Grampus their 37’ Colvin Watson motor sailor was also in the yard. Rowan and her husband Roly were in the middle of a refit. She told us that as we had a dog that could climb ladders we must be decent people and promptly invited us to dinner that evening.

Over dinner we discussed their boat and of course our plans. Rowan asked when we would be launching. I said in July. She laughed and said July next year, right? No this year I replied. They were not convinced. They thought we would never make it. I was a bit unsure myself but soldiered on.

Then it was time to paint the boat. So I telephoned Blakes Paint and was put through to their advice department. I was told to buy a hygrometer to measure humidity and a thermometer to measure the air temperature. No problem. I then was advised not to paint if the humidity was over 65%. Ok I can understand that. Also the temperature must not be below 15 degrees centigrade. OK again. We also must be careful that there is no dew, due. In addition to that we had to key in the first coat using wet and dry sand paper then wash off with fresh water, let the surface dry then paint. This we did. We could only paint between 8am and 2pm as before this there was dew and after this time the dew would start again. We soldiered on completing the topsides and then the walkways and then cockpit and last the deck. Starting aft we painted the deck and let it dry. Next day the complete top coat came off in sheets. I phoned Blakes. They said there was contamination on the deck. We had done all they said. They told me to wipe the surface with degreaser and start again. This we did after scrapping the first coat off. The paint stayed on although I could scrape it with my finger nail. Blakes said that this was normal and we needed to let it cure completely which would take a week. We completed the painting using the technique above and were very happy. Next we antifouled the boat which was very quick.

Over the next month I fitted all the electric cabling, engine electrics, wired up the navigation. My father came up from Weston and wired the main switch panel and all the 220 volt electrics. I also wired up and built the cockpit engine and navigation panel. Then I ran the cables for the navigation lights. The windlass came next. My good friend Franc had got hold of some armoured cable which was perfect for the windlass. It had to be of the largest cross section I could lay my hands on and would run 8 meters to the bow of the boat and 8 meters back. Franc helped me fit it and tested it as he was a electrician. No voltage drop at all he said.

The inside of the boat was nearly complete. The locker doors were fitted next, then heads door, shower tray, shower, wash basin, cocker, kitchen work surfaces ( I’m not allowed to call it the galley) kitchen sinks (2), taps and drains, and all of that other stuff we needed.

Steering Problems

After all this was finished I fitted the hydraulic steering and the rudder. Ann and I then commenced bleeding the system. Ann had to turn the steering wheel one way while I filled the reservoir. Ok no problem we thought I filled then Ann turned. A big bang and we had hydraulic oil all over our nicely varnished interior wood. Ann was not a happy bunny. A phone call was made to Lancing Marine, who had also supplied the steering system, they said the pump was broken, it happens sometimes. Not to me it doesn’t I was furious. They could not have tested it prior to supply. Lancing Marine calmed me down and advised that they would send me a new pump and that it would arrive within three weeks. Three weeks I wanted on within the next three days launch day was the 31 July and it was the 21 July. I would deduct £150 per day that they were over the three days from out final payment. That got things rolling. The pump arrived on day 5 so they were not going to receive £300. So be it. Next I connected the hydraulic ram to the pump and connected the ram head to the tiller arm. This is the bit that fits onto the top of the rudder shaft and is used as a lever for the ram to push or pull against and thus move the rudder. Well it did not work. There was about a 10 degree travel of the rudder in each direction I was baffled. I checked the fitting instructions again and again. No fault there. So another phone call to Lancing marine. Oh, they said must be a to short tiller arm. They could get the correct one and deliver it to us. Delivery date two months. I stayed calm for about two seconds and then exploded. You can imagine what I said or maybe you can’t but I can not repeat it here. Lancing Marine gave me a number for another supplier. They advised that I send all the dimensions to them they also told Lancing to provide them with the layout drawings Lancing had made at the design stage. Again to cut a long story short Lancing had made the wrong calculations, they had not taken the size of the rudder into effect or the size of it. Well we needed a hydraulic ram 6 times the size of the one Lancing marine had delivered. This of course meant a bigger pump. Luckily the hydraulic piping was OK.

The new pump and tiller arm arrived four days later. The fitting and bleeding process started again, this time all went well. Next the engine was fired up and all seals etc. checked. All was OK. We sent out the invitations to the launch which was to be held on the 31 July 2001 as planned. We had three days to go. The masts arrived the next day and they were beautiful. Worth every penny. Noble Masts had done a great job and I was very pleased.

These were stepped on the 30 July 2001 the day before the launch. It took half an hour to step the main and two hours for the foremast. But eventually they were in. We were ready to launch.

The Launch

Ann’s daughter, my sister, my mother, Roly and Rowan, Wendy & Franc and other friends arrived for the launch early the next day. For ten months we had heard the roar of the travel hoist going backward and forward collecting boats for launch and today was our turn. The final cup of tea was had on land and at 11 am we walked behind our yacht towards the launch area. Ann held a bottle of champagne I held on to the dogs. I was a little worried. Thoughts like will she float right? Will she float at all? I kept telling everyone that should she sink then we will own a submarine. No one was listening though all eyes were on the travel hoist. It finally settled over the water. We tied a line around Ann’s waist and she leant over and smashed the champagne over a cleat. Her words were, “I name this ship Ruffles Spray and may god bless all those that sail upon her”. My eyes were watering as the hoist went down. All eyes were on the waterline as Ruffles Spray touched the water. Down she went and the water rose up until she floated. The slings were removed and I went below to check the hull and bilge. No leaks. No water coming in from anywhere. So far so good. I started the engine and checked the systems. Roly and Rowan tied on the fenders and Ann released the lines. I motored ahead and slowly steered Ruffles Spray into a berth in Nayland marina. I was sweating a lot but managed it without any damage.

Everyone was on the pontoon and we opened more bottles of bubbly. The party had just began.