Winter work 2011/12

Quite a bit of work was done on Charmary over the winter 2011/12. Water had been leaking into the aft cabin during the 2011 season through the steering pedestal. Richard helped me with a temporary fix with large and messy amounts of sealant while we were in Brighton in June 2011 and that lasted the season quite effectively. However, a more permanent fix was needed. So, the steering pedestal was removed, everything clean, the pedestal ‘plasticised’ and then refitted. While it was off, the cockpit teak flooring was replaced as well as water had leaked under that and it was starting to separate from the glass beneath. On taking the pedestal off, we also discovered that the throttle cables had been chafing against the stainless tube and these were replaced (with larger radiuses where they curve around to make the run fairer) and sealed properly.

A holding tank was fitted on the forward bulkhead of the port cockpit locker with a pump out valve and breather on the port cockpit coaming. A diverter valve was fitted in the aft heads along with a new outlet to empty the tank at sea.

The mast also had quite a bit of work done. The visiball radar reflector was removed, a new VHF aerial fitted with a new wire, a new spinnaker block and the main and genoa halyards and reefing lines were replaced with dyneema. One spinnaker halyard and the topping lift were also replaced but with standard polyester braid. The carbon spinnaker pole was, on the riggers advice, coated with two-pack polyurethane varnish.

While Richard was over from Australia he also helped me fit a Garmin Montana hand-held chart plotter, a new Easy Navtex, a charging cradle for the handheld VHF as well as servicing all the winches and resealing the hatch garage. So – everything should be ready to go for the season – nearly …