Winter Maintenance in London Year2 #1

Hi everyone,
Another long time no post situation.  Two topics today.

Presentations

Over the years we've been asked to give presentations by various organisations.  We've put the PDF versions of the slides online for reference.  They can be found on Dropbox here.

It's interesting that the most common topic is use of satellite imagery in marine navigation.  Our posts on this topic are amongst the most popular.  These can be found by searching the blog for "kap", the result of which is here.

Perspex

Last year we decided to upgrade our perspex washboards.  Washboards fit in the companionway to either lock up the boat or to keep water out of the cabin at sea.  In the past we've "copped greenies" which cascaded water down into the cabin.  In one incident we flooded the cook top and a gas sensor below it.  With closed washboards that shouldn't happen.

Washboards are often in two pieces so that one can be fitted, allowing crew to clamber over it when going on deck or going below.

We have two-part wooden washboards which have steadily reduced in thickness at each refurbishment.  They're now oiled and look good but are a little thin.  The top half has vents which are good for ventilation in harbour but not good in the face of solid water at sea.

We also had a one-part tinted perspex washboard.  This was quite thin and so not up to the job either.

Late last year we ordered new perspex washboards from Project Plastics.  They are 15mm thick and fit perfectly - measure N times, build once!  They are tinted and in two pieces.  The upper board had a cut-out to transfer an inspection hatch.  We transferred other fittings too, including the latch with which the companionway can be locked.

New washboards

The inspection hatch is interesting.  It's purpose is to allow crew on deck to unlock the two barrel bolts below which secure the sliding companionway hatch cover.  It's a sensible safety rule that companionway locks must be operable from on deck and below.

The increased thickness of the new perspex meant we had to rebuild the s/s latch mechanism.  The photo below shows the "kink" we needed in the s/s bar.  Thanks Dave!

Modified hinge

We still have the canvas cover we installed in Darwin some years ago.  It folds up to rest atop the hatch cover.  It's great for privacy, for keeping the sun off computer screens below and for keeping the rain out in light-moderate following winds.

Canvas cover unchanged

Our winter projects are electronics.  We're currently working on SaiLog, an app to display realtime data from our NMEA-2000 network.  More on that in due course - hopefully soon!