St Katharine's Dock Departure Preparations

Hi everyone,
Spring has sprung and we're preparing to depart St Katharine's Dock Marina in London.  After 18 months here it is time to set sail.  We've got a lot done while here, but suddenly there's a lot of prep to do before setting sail.

A week ago we moved from the eastern basin to the centre basin.  Even closer to The Dickens pub now!

Zen Again in SKD Central Basin

USB Power Outlets

Over the winter we replaced our ageing laptops.  The new Macbook Airs have only USB-C power and data interfaces which required different power connections.  We installed two power outlets for them (and our iPads and iPhones) in the pedestal / cabin table, and another in the navstation.

Two 18W USB-C + 48W USB Power Outlets

Interior View

iPad Mounts

We use our iPads for navigation using iNavX.  Previously they've been loose in the cockpit.  We've now installed mounts and waterproof iPad cases from Armor-X.  Very pleased with them.  In fact we like the cases so much we're getting iPhone versions too.  The mounts are compatible with GoPro mounts which allows us to combine them.

Armor-X iPad Mount

Port side iPad running iNavX on mount

Starboard side iPad running Vesper WatchMate

Headsail Cars and Mooring Cleats

Our jib & staysail cars were original, so about 35 years old.  The pin lifting mechanism of some of them was in poor shape and one was completely jammed.  Twas time for an upgrade.

We purchased a Barton 32mm end-stop and tried that for size successfully.  Recently we purchased four Barton cars and two track-mount mooring cleats.  We've wanted midships mooring cleats for years and finally have them!

Removing three of the old cars was easy.  The fourth was more fun, needing the Dremel to grind off the pin housing...

Old car with jammed pin housing ground-out

With the cars off we could clean up the track.  Wet'n'dry proved a good way to smooth and clean them, and give them a bit of a shine...

Clean track

Unfortunately the Barton track doesn't exactly match our old track.  Our track is slightly thicker.  The Dremel came out again to shave 0.5mm off the inside of the nylon inserts.  That done, everything fits!  And very importantly the cars can't reach the coachroof windows.

New cars and cleats mounted

Nice new moveable mooring cleat

In addition to the above we've done numerous other smaller jobs.  Some of these were...

• Clean under all cabin sole boards
• Inspect house batteries and all heavy-gauge wiring
• Rig headsail sheets, staysail & reaching sheets
• Rig boom brake
• Rig jackstays
• Rig mainsail reefing lines
• Rig MOB / outboard hoists
• Check all deck-level shackles
• Mount PVC tube to hold boat hooks, dinghy oars, broom etc
• Replace worn shock cord on our boom tent
• Replace various UV-degraded fittings
• Inflate dinghy
• Test inflation all life jackets
• Add/check batteries in torches, hand-bearing compass, temperature sensor, multimeter etc
• Test EPIRB, AIS MOB & electronic flares
• Inspect pyrotechnic flares
• Inspect bilge pumps
• Fit mounts for new video cameras

We also filled three empty diesel jerry cans when the fuel barge conveniently turned up nearby.  This was our first new diesel since filling in Dunstaffnage in Scotland.  We serviced the engine at the start of winter and ran it for an hour each fortnight during winter.  Recently we also swapped an empty 13kg propane tank so now have two full tanks aboard.

Our floating home is reverting to a sailing vessel at last!