Haul Out Days 11 - 14

Hi everyone,
Another busy four days.  Great progress with painting cockpit lockers, installing gas system, and registering as a WA boat...

Registered!
Note the gas cylinder is now inboard since we expect to do some racing

Here's what we've been up to...

Saturday:

• Applied second undercoat in the lazarette
• Applied first undercoat in the main cockpit locker
• DHL tracking shows our new shaft seal has moved from Miami to Cincinnati

Sunday (at home):

• Applied two undercoats to one side of the five boards which live in the two lockers
• DHL tracking shows the seal is in Hong Kong

Monday:

• Applied first topcoat in the main cockpit locker
• Applied part of first topcoat in the lazarette
• Applied first undercoat to the other side of the boards
• Checked on mainsail service at Extreme Sails
• Purchased the last new hose needed to replace the very old, brittle hoses in the lazarette
• DHL tracking shows the seal is in Perth

Tuesday:

• Full On Gas fitted our new gas system
• Applied our WA registration number and this year's rego sticker
• AusPost tries to deliver the seal - missed it but can collect tomorrow

We were lucky with the weather for the painting until today when a cold front crossed the coast and made painting impractical.  We got enough of the painting done for the gas system tubing to sit nicely on top of new paint through the two lockers.

As mentioned previously, SailForce installed new knuckles last week.  Here they are...

Refitted gooseneck bracket with new knuckle.
Note the two "ring" fairleads for the reffing tack lines.

Refitted vang bracket with new knuckle

We'll organise fitting of the seal as soon as we've collected it.  Hopefully Zen Again will be back in the water before the end of the week.

Haul Out Days 8 - 10

Hi everyone,
Three busy days on board...

• Removed the old gas tubes and associated fittings
• Cut off long bolt ends which were snag and injury hazards in the main cockpit locker
• Cleaned, sanded and masked the lazarette and main cockpit locker ready for repainting
• Applied nearly one full undercoat in the lazarette

They say painting is all about preparation.  It took two days of hard work to clean and sand the two lockers.  They lockers are huge - perhaps 2 cubic metres each - with very complex shapes.  I now understand why they haven't been repainted since 1986!  I emerged from today's painting session with less paint on me than the locker, so that's a success.  Someone could earn a PhD optimising the painting order for maximum quality, minimum time, minimum contortion and the avoidance of head-butting wet paint!

I'm using water-based domestic paints for the lockers.  This will save quite a lot of money and as they're intended for use in bathrooms they should be fine in our nice dry lockers.  They dry quickly and washing out brushes (not to mention hair) in water is so much easier.

Yesterday SailForce fitted the new knuckles to the gooseneck and boom vang, and refitted the boom to the mast.  The new knuckles look very good and the boom can no longer rattle around as it previously could (and did).  Hopefully the new parts will last another 20 years.

Tomorrow we plan to complete undercoating the lazarette and will hopefully get well into undercoating the main cockpit locker.  This locker may better suit a roller (vice brush) which should speed up the process.

Dampier Day 3

Hi everyone,
We've been busy since arriving in Hampton Harbour.  Happily the boom bracket problem has now been fixed.

On Wednesday we cleaned up the boat and went ashore to clean ourselves too.  Hampton Harbour Boat and Sailing Club offers free temporary membership for short-stay cruisers and has clean showers, laundry, beer and good food.  We had a very good dinner in the club with Graham and Anne from Kakadu.

Zen Again anchored at Hampton Harbour

On Thursday Nicki and I removed the boom from the boat and took it ashore with Graham's assistance.  Bill and Janey from Jezebel gave us a lift in to Karratha with the boom on their wagon's roof rack.  We went to KAW Engineering in the light industrial area and got some helpful advice but they weren't able to help us until next week.  We decided we'd use Graham's tools to drill and tap the old (stripped) holes out to take 10mm bolts.  Additionally we'd put a single 10mm bolt all the way through the boom and bracket to stop it detaching if the new tapped holes strip out.

From KAW we went to Atom, a sort of mega-Bunnings for tradies, where I bought the bolts needed for the boom repair and also a spare V-Belt for the engine.  On Thursday evening an old friend Mark came down to HHBSC for a few drinks.  He offered us the use of his car over the weekend which we very happily accepted.  Twas good to catch up.

This morning I topped-up the main diesel tanks with 60 litres from our jerries.  At 0900 we went ashore and Graham and I drilled and tapped the boom and bracket.  The bracket appears to be very solidly attached now, but given recent experience I'm still not convinced about the tapped holes.  The thru-bolt is worthwhile insurance just in case.  We returned the boom to the boat and re-rigged it.  Then we replaced the No 2 jib with the No 3 jib in preparation for tackling the west coast.

Dampier lookout

With all today's jobs done we went for a walk up to the Dampier lookout, then the others visited the Dampier Seafarer's Centre while I collected Mark's car for us to use over the next two days.

Over the weekend we plan to do a little local touring using Mark's car.  Then early next week we hope to head west.

Towards Bali Morning Day 8

Hi everyone,
What a night! Shortly after sending the preceding blog I went on deck and shook out the first reef since the winds following the squall were abating rapidly. A few minutes later I started hearing strange noises and noticed the boom was moving. The gooseneck fitting had pulled away from the mast entirely. The squall was the first strong winds we'd sailed in since our refit. On this passage I had been visually checking the mast fittings, but hadn't checked bolt tightness with a screwdriver. Apparently a big mistake. We are currrently at 06 09.6S 113 39.7E heading 140.

By that time it was dark and the sea quite lumpy so we decided to take down the main, lash everything down as best we could and wait until morning. With that done we sailed on under the headsail only at 2-4 knots all night. Quite a few squid boats about and a few cargo ships. We both spent our watches dreaming up cunning plans on how best to effect a repair.

In the morning we figured out the best plan and set to work. We removed the detached bracket from the boom and found all 10 bolts used to secure it. All 10 tapped holes in the mast had been completely stripped. We "bulked up" the bolts with gas tape and fitted the bracket to the mast with the bolts pushed through their holes. We secured the assembly in place with sail repair tape. We then used about 15 metres of VB cord to lash the bracket tightly to the mast and to provide a base for the final securing with hose clamps. We connected several hose clamps to each other, forming four long clamps in all. These were fitted around the mast over the top of the VB cord. The result looks pretty strong and we're very pleased with the result - the main is back up and our speed is back up to 5 knots in 12 knots of SW wind.

The Jury-Rigged Repair

When we finished the boat was surrounded by a large school of fish jumping out of the water. Natural applause! ;) We have about 60 miles to run to the passage E of Madura Island, and 230nm in total to Benoa. Just a Geraldton!

Jumping Fish

Trust all's well where you are.

Back at Mooloolaba Marina

This morning we departed Lawrie's Boat Services yard and motored down the canal to Mooloolaba Marina.  Three weeks of hard work completed.

The mast was stepped on Thursday.  Very straight-forward operation when done by experts with a crane!

Mast approaching

The mast was stepped after warping the boat into the travel-lift bay since the engine was still in bits.

Mast up (note unpainted spreaders)

The engine was restored to operation on Friday.  Thanks to Mick from Ashby Boat Builders.  We decided to spend the weekend at Lawrie's so that on Monday Jason from Ashby's could finish work on sealing the head compartment bilge.

Alongside the work jetty at Lawrie's

So we're now at Mooloolaba Marina and will spend two night here.  On Thursday we intend to head towards Pancake Creek (~30nm south of Gladstone).  While Lawrie's was close to the big shopping mall, the marina is close to the beach and the town centre.  The latter has many cafes and we intend to sample one or two before leaving.

On B jetty at Mooloolaba Yacht Club Marina

While our stay at Lawrie's was fun, it's great to be away from the noise and dirt of a boat yard.  'Twill be even better to set sail...

Mooloolaba Work Nearly Complete?

Zen Again is still alongside the work jetty at Lawrie's Boat Services.  We're booked to have the mast stepped at 1330 tomorrow.  Wish us luck!  If all goes well we'll be in the yacht club marina tomorrow evening.

Fabrication of our mast repairs has been carried out by Aqua-Tec, based on advice from rigger Greg Gilliam and project managed by Adam Ashby.  Here are some photos...

New mounting plates, deck light and polished lower spreaders

Reinforced upper spreader trailing edge

And here's a photo of the masthead featuring a new VHF antenna and no wind instrument...

New masthead fittings

On the engine front, we now have a new exhaust system and the engine is being fully serviced by Adam Ashby's mechanics.  The water pump bearings and seal are being replaced, and we've replaced the high-pressure oil pipes as well as the usual oil, filters etc.  Replacing the exhaust was an adventure since the old wetbox/waterlock was hidden in a compartment behind the engine.  Yours truly was the only person skinny enough to get at it...

Old waterlocks (metal unit in foreground and blue plastic in background)

Old waterlock removed from "coffin-like" compartment

New Vetus waterlock (grey plastic) installed

While the local experts have been at work we've got a number of jobs done ourselves.  Installed two new water bladders in the forepeak, doubling our fresh water capacity.  Installed an electric bilge pump controller which provides central control over bilge pumps in the head, main cabin and engine sump.  Removed and lubricated the Aries vane gear.  Fabricated a new floor to fit in the lazarette to support the life raft.  Polished the deck gelcoat and stainless fittings.

In short, if we get any more jobs done the to-do list will be looking positively short, which can't be a good thing.  Nearly time to go sailing again!

Mastless in Mooloolaba

Boat maintenance continues at Lawrie's Boat Services in Mooloolaba.  On Thursday morning we warped the boat into the slip and the travel-lift crane was used to lift the mast out of the boat.  We had done almost all the preparatory work so it was a quick job.  Before we knew it the mast was heading off into the yard and the boat was looking "strange".

Mast "in slings"

Mastless in Mooloolaba

The rest of Thursday was spent inspecting, planning work on and cleaning the mast.  We decided to sand back all four spreaders so they all look similar after the work, and started work on that.  We decided to replace the masthead VHF antenna since it is a very short stubby type, to replace all light globes with LED versions, and to rewire the mast entirely.  We also decided to remove the wind sensor since it has never functioned well.  It reports random direction and about half the real wind strength.  We'll try fitting it to the pushpit where we can play with it more easily.

Old masthead fittings

On Friday we spent most of the day sanding the spreaders back to bare aluminium, making templates of the new plates required, and lining up for the local stainless steel fabricators to do the required work on Monday.  Below is a picture showing the s/s pins which have been digging into the aluminium mast.

The offending pins "eating" the mast

On Friday morning previous owner Rex visited us and gave us the plaque from (then) Zen's participation in the 2007 Brisbane to Gladstone Race.  Thanks Rex!  It was fun pointing out the work we've done on the boat over the last year and discussing the boat's eventful history.

On Friday the replacement high pressure oil line for the engine arrived, plus the new wetbox/waterlock/muffler and exhaust hose.  We walked along to the local Whitworths shop (chandlers) and spent way to much money on boat stuff - principally LED globes, new LED deck light and hose for the new water bladders.

Today we continued sanding back the spreaders (nearly done at last!), installed new LED globes in the masthead lights and rewired the mast.  The new tricolour LED globe required some "remodelling" of the existing  mounts to accommodate the new globe.  It fits with about 1mm clearance - phew!  The new light will hugely reduce our power consumption at night since it uses 3.5W and the old used 25W.  The wiring was completed without a hitch, including fitting mousing lines to pull through future cables if necessary.

This afternoon we took the bus into Mooloolaba and collected our mail from the yacht club marina, then had a pleasant sundowner with Gary and Nat, owners of a very nice new Hanse 44 "Mocean".  Their boat is being commissioned near Zen Again at Lawrie's.  After that we enjoyed a huge Waygu rump steak for dinner aboard Zen Again.

Hope all's well where you are!

More from Mooloolaba

We're now alongside the work jetty at Lawrie's Boat Services.  Zen Again returned to the water on Monday afternoon as scheduled.  The shipwrights did a nice job fixing the delamination in the head compartment.

Topsides polished, antifoul "activated"

Tuesday was spent having the engine serviced, stanchions straightened and working on the GPS/VHF interface.  The engine service didn't go entirely to plan, with a high-pressure oil line breaking.  On inspection it was found to be very rusty.  We're waiting for a replacement to arrive (ETA Thursday).  Otherwise all is OK with the engine.  We're also waiting for a replacement exhaust system (wet box and hose) to arrive.  We had planned to replace the exhaust here.  The stanchions have been bent since we bought the boat and it was good to have them sorted.

Ready for launch

The GPS/VHF interface problem was one which had been frustrating us for months.  We were able to send GPS data to the VHF so it could transmit our position when required.  But we had never managed to get AIS data from the VHF to the GPS chartplotter.  AIS is the Automated Identification System which allows us to display large ships on our chartplotter, together with their name, size, type, course, speed etc.  Very helpful in identifying collision risks.  A call to Garmin technical support in Sydney resulted in an email detailing how to connect the two units.  Pity the manuals don't explain it, but their phone support was excellent.

Launching

Today we started installing additional fresh water tanks (150 litres in two bladders) in the forepeak, rearranged the circuit breakers to better suit the equipment we now have installed, started installing a bilge pump controller box, and had the rig inspected.  The first three went very well, the last went well but revealed two issues to be fixed.

The rig problems are damage to one of the upper spreaders and two s/s pins wearing the side of the mast below the lower spreaders.  So tomorrow morning we're having the mast taken out to have these problems fixed.  The mast can be lifted out with the boat in the water so we'll stay at the work jetty.  It's a shame issues were found, but better to find and fix than to be blissfully unaware until the mast decides to fall down!  We expected to stay in Mooloolaba for a while, but we expect it's now going to be 2-3 weeks in all.

Alongside work jetty at Lawrie's Boat Services

We spent much of this afternoon preparing for the mast lift.  We removed the boom and vang, the storm jib and furling jib, and pulled through all the halyards and coiled them on the mast.  Then we loosened all the shroud lock nuts and straightened out all the split pins.  All so the lift can be as quick (and therefore cheap) as possible.  This evening we disconnected most of the electrical cables which enter the mast.

I guess all those rum and cokes while anchored off tropical beaches have to be earned!!!