Departure day slips again...

Another eventful week of  extended deadlines and delays.... we thought that it might've been possible to set off with a grand party to wave us goodbye on Saturday.... sadly that will not be possible... But, looking on the POSITIVE side of it all, it has meant that we are now more prepared than we would otherwise have been. 

We have; 
  • refurbished the rear lazaret seals and latches so that they should be watertight and are now lockable. 
  • supplemented the existing anchoring equipment by adding a new length of chain, 60m, together with 40m of anchor rope to create a new main anchor rode. This should allow us to anchor in depths of up to 30m. We removed the old 35m of chain from the forward chain locker, attached a new 45m anchor rope to make our secondary anchor rode, and relocated it to the starboard lazaret.  We have always commented on the slight list to Port due to the position of the generator and hope that putting the chain on the opposite side of the boat will reduce the listing a bit. 
  • had the old fridge compressor and cooling plater emplaned and the fridge reconfigured to provide dedicated freezer and fridge compartments. Each compartment has its own thermostat and the freezer should be able to get down to at least -10C if not further. The new compressor has the added benefit of being almost silent when running, a boon for those who will be sleeping in the saloon on occasions.
  • watched John and his team struggle with rejigging all the existing cabling and pipe work around the new engine. They are doing a good and thorough job but we can't help wishing it was all done and dusted!
  • had the centre plate sanded and anti fouled whilst Tin Tin was suspended in slings. It was interesting to see the shape of the plate fully extended as she floated in mid air.
  • tested the new hydraulic pump fitted to raise and lower the centre plate.
  • postponed various work parties of friends.
  • restarted the Iridium subscription and tested the position reporting which will allow our track to be published online.
  • attached the new fender suspenders ;-) bought at the Southampton boat show.
We still have to;
  • undertake seatials and test all new and modified equipment
  • do a massive clean above and below decks
  • stow all the stores which are waiting patiently in P&A's garage
  • refresh our memories on the workings of the SSB radio, the Iridium connections for email, weather and the occasional voice call.
  • get the refurbished main sheet car fitted and the forestay tightened a fraction by Jerry the Rigger.
  • have the radar transponder fitted
  • get the compass swung and corrected
One day fairly soon I hope to be able to report on our departure....
Tin Tin being maneuvered ready for hanging in slings overnight

last test of the newly painted bowthruster

removed, reshafted, refurbished and realigned


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3rd-6th August

3rd-6th August Set off from Anne's house, 10 people in two cars, and headed north. I traveled with Anne and her two children, Corbin 4 and Harlow 14 months. The cars were crammed with cool boxes full of camping stoves, utensils and an assortment of bear defences ranging from bells through pepper spray to a tazer. We drove for about an hour before stopping at a giant roadside stall of fireworks. There are a whole series of these at this point as it is just outside the city jurisdiction where it is illegal to sell or let off fireworks. There were a couple of old split screen VW Combis, a double decker bus with a scoreboard dated 1776 and the score USA 1: UK 0. Having resisted the temptation to buy giant rockets and multiple mortar launchers (Mike couldn't and bought a whole load of pyrotechnics), we continued on to Byers creek camping ground at mile 144 and set up camp with two large tents and my little one, with a large tarp set up over the camp table next to the fire circle
Read more

Wolverine creek (67.61265N, 152.26408W) from my tent at midnight on the 9th Aug.

Wolverine creek (67.61265N, 152.26408W) from my tent at midnight on the 9th Aug. This is day two of our river float down the John river. Fairbanks to Bettles. Sat 7th Aug After meeting up with Tim and Michelle in Fairbanks on Saturday we drove North in convoy along the Dalton Highway which will be familiar to those who watch 'Ice road truckers'!! The majority of the road is gravel and snakes it's way north through rolling hills of stunted Sitka spruce and tundra. The road stays mostly on the ridge lines, occasionally dropping down to the water courses where the road is usually heavily patched and bumpy as t it sinks in the boggy ground. The alaskan oil pipeline snakes alongside, usually within a mile of the road raised up off the ground on pillars each with radiator vanes on top to stop heat being transferred down and melting the permafrost. We crossed the mighty Yukon river on a long sloping bridge surfaced with timber and filled the cars with fuel at a pump that had
Read more

Mon 8th Aug. Float day 1

Mon 8th Aug. Float day 1 We woke to a dry day and started preparing the rafts . This took some time as we worked out how all the stuff would be divided between the rafts. It was a good thing that we had left some stuff behind as we seemed to be piled high as we set off down river and learnt the basics of raft control from T and M. We paddled hard to avoid the trees that have fallen into the water as they are undercut by the river, they are referred to as 'sweepers' or 'widow makers'. We didn't travel far before we stopped to set up camp as we had started quite late. FD2 Tues 9th Aug We struck camp and went for a hike up the hills behind us. We started through Sitka spruce with deep moss and some alder undergrowth then as we moved up the slope we lost most of the Sitka and the bushy alder became predominant with blue berry, cranberries, crowberries underneath. Then the alder disappeared and we were left with the moss and stunted fruit bushes making a very soft base
Read more