A Visitor from Japan

Hi everyone,
Last week we were very happy to host Mr Gen Michiyama aboard Zen Again.  Gen owns an ST27, the 27' version of our ST34 (aka ST10.4).  He was visiting London on business and found time to spend an evening aboard Zen Again.  Gen found us from our blog.

Gen is a big fan of ST yachts (as we are) and knows both the designer Ken Hayashi and the builder Mr Yamazaki.  Mr Hayashi is involved in Japan's America's Cup bid.  Mr Yamazaki closed Yamazaki Yachts some years ago but still has a keen interest in the boats.  We compared notes on our yachts with Gen.  We showed Gen the many modifications we have made over the years.

Stinger Fans

One interesting fact that emerged in conversation was the origin of the "ST" in the class name.  Apparently it is short for "Stinger".  So we have a Stinger 34 - who knew?!?!

A very nice gift

Gen very kindly presented us with a gift of Japanese whisky.  We'll keep its opening for a special occasion.

It was really nice to chat with another owner of an ST yacht.  Especially so with one who is such an enthusiast and knows both the designer and builder.  Visit again Gen!

Summer Maintenance in London #2

Hi everyone,
We've been busy over the last two weekends completing our head compartment makeover.  Here's how it went...

We applied 3 coats of Epifanes epoxy primer.  This was followed by 3 coats of Epifanes multi-urethane top coat in "arctic white".  We used both brushes and rollers.  The finish isn't perfect but it's clean, bright and appears hard-wearing.

Topcoats complete

We removed the four locker doors and gave them a quick sand and revarnish.  Huge improvement for very little work.

Locker doors & surrounds varnished

With the painting complete it was time to put everything back together.  The masking tape came off then we refitted the Blakes Lavac and new hoses.  New hoses were necessary since the previous near-new hoses had to be cut off.

Of course this work was done on the hottest day of the year so far - 34C.  Inside the head it was high 30s and then I turned on the heat gun to help push on the hoses.  Twas like being back in Fremantle in summer.

Heat gun for hose attachment

Next we could fit the new sink - a nice deep s/s unit.  It is held in place by sealant which needed compression while curing.

New sink sealing under compression

 The locker doors went back next.  They look great!

Locker doors back in

The last locker door went in, followed by fitting the loo roll and loo brush holders.

Last locker door and grating fitted

A new larger electrical junction box was fitted, allowing much easier connection of all thru-deck cables from the mast.  Most of the cables run through lengths of poly pipe which is much neater than the old cable-tied bundle.

New junction box and reorganised wiring

We fitted a new mirror with light above, and a towel rail.  The revarnished teak battens which hold up the head lining look good too.

New mirror with light and towel ring

Around the new sink we have soap and toothbrush holders.  Freshwater is pumped by the foot pump below.  The splashbacks look neat too after tidying up their edges with sealant.

Big improvement!

Our head compartment refurbishment took longer than expected.  The Epifanes paint was excellent.  It took us a little while to figure out how best to use the small rollers without them "shedding" debris.  We're very pleased with the result.

Summer Maintenance in London #1

Hi everyone,
Yes we should be sailing in summer but instead we're filling the cruising kitty (aka working) and working on the to-do list.

In May we spent two weeks home in Perth.  That 787 Dreamliner certainly does go to windward like a dream.  We had a fantastic holiday spending time with family and at our home club - Fremantle Sailing Club.

Back in London we got started on our major project for the summer - refurbishing the head compartment.  During the winter we replaced the old electric toilet with a Blake's Lavac toilet.  Now we're refurbishing the compartment as a whole.  It's still in its original form - circa 1986.  The moulded GRP "shell" had started life cream in colour but became brownish over the decades.

This post describes the first three weekends of the project.

Ready for a make-over

We started with removal of the teak trim.  There was trim around the GRP headliner, a fiddle along the worktop edge, a grab handle, and the four teak locker surrounds.  The trim and fiddle were secured by "buried" screws.  We removed them by drilling out the teak plug then unscrewing.

Old deck-head GRP panel stripped of teak, light and dorade vent surround

The next step was removal of the moulded sink which we've never liked - too shallow and the flow-coat was badly cracked.  Our trusty Dremel did the hard work with ease.

Cutting out the old sink

The moulding of the old sink extended up the wall by about 25mm, so we knew we'd need a "splashback" to cover it.

Old sink gone

Next we removed the Blake's Lavac and got to work sanding.  That was dusty work!  We sanded by hand using 150 grade paper.  We did a lot of filling to hide 30 years of holes for old fixtures.  Our Dyson vacuum did a great job cleaning up after the sanding.

Ready to sand

We then applied Epifanes epoxy primer overall.  750ml gave us 2 coats over most of the compartment with the dregs used to paint the locker below the sink.  We used left-over rollers which "shed" so we'll be using foam rollers for the next coats.

The next step was to cut out a new GRP panel to cover the holes used over the years for hoses to and from several toilets.  The panels we used are about 2.5mm thick with one side having a painted finish.  A tenant saw did a nice job on the linear cuts and a hole saw likewise for the hose penetrations.  We made a paper template of the panel first!

Painted GRP panel

In keeping with the "bling" style we've adopted in the saloon the panel was screwed in using cup washers.

GRP panel fitted (screwed and glued)

While working on the compartment we were also working on the teak trim.  They were sanded back to bare wood and then 4 coats of varnish applied.

Revarnished teak trim

While waiting for additional primer paint we got to work on the new "worktop".  A paper template was used, and the first panel layer was screwed and glued in place using counter-sunk screws.  This gave a good level surface when supported from below by a marine ply board mounted to the wall.

First layer of GRP panel worktop

A second GRP panel was fitted to give a more rigid surface.  It was glued in place without screws to leave a clean surface.  It needed compression...

Second layer of GRP panel under compression

Next we needed to create the cut-out for the new s/s sink.  The Dremel with its radius arm did the job easily.

Hole cutting with the Dremel

Finally (for this episode) we fitted two GRP panels as "splashbacks".  Each is screwed and glued in place with the necessary "bling" look.

Splashbacks in place

Over the next few weekends we hope to complete the job.  The remaining work includes more coats of primer, several coats of topcoat, and refitting old and new fixtures.  We're happy with how it's coming along.

Trust all's well where you are!