So… water on a boat. Most of the time you don’t want it but in one case you do: the water-tap in the galley. It had been dripping since mid-November and it was one of those jobs that should be easy but in the end are one of those never-ending stories.

When I noticed that the water pump would make a funny noise from time to time, it turned out that the drip caused the pressure to drop and the pump would kick in slightly. Given the history of these pumps, I’d rather not do funny things to them. So should be easy, get a washer, take tap apart, replace washer. It was very corroded and I couldn’t open it with a vice. Nope.

So, let’s find some time to go to Homebase and find a tap I like there. It’s a pretty long bicycle ride but it’s essential as far as I’m concerned. I find a nice tap but when I come back to the boat it has a 26mm hose opening and not 21mm. I would need to enlarge the hole near the sink and get a adaptor from the existing hose. Nope.

OK, so maybe I should get a caravan water tap in that case. I don’t like them, they look flimsy but given the COVID circumstances better a flimsy water tap than a dripping water tap. But when I got it by mail order 2 weeks later it was also not a good idea it turned out. I couldn’t connect my existing hose on it without an adaptor. Nope.

Right at that point it was a beautiful Sunday morning and I was fed up. I took the fancy taps I bought (oh yes they come in pairs and I only need one) to Homebase and take my existing tap and see what can be done.

I found a friendly kitchen salesperson, explained my predicament and he found (almost) exactly the drippy water tap I had brought with me. In pairs. I could go to the surplus area out back to find one but it may have missing bits. I’ll get the pair and fitted it in. Cleaned the old hose and washer inside. Connected it, turn on the tap. Water everywhere. Now that washer is leaking. Fortunately the washers I bought earlier worked even though the opening was a bit too small but now the pump needs to build more pressure and it can handle it. Case closed. Cross fingers.

The tall ship Ilen is visiting our marina this week. Reminds me so much of my favourite tall ship Enterprize back in the good old days when I was living in Melbourne!

I’m doing a rope splicing course online through Premium Ropes located in Amsterdam. Absolutely brilliant. I had all the tools on board but was planning to get to know them. Now I do and there are a number of jobs I have to do over the winter to make things better!

Here’s what they have to say on it:

Premium Ropes organizes workshops in Splicing Modern Ropes for yacht clubs all over the world. In two separate webinars we explain the various materials and rope constructions for modern ropes. We will also explain which rope is best to use for a specific application. But this webinar is mainly about ‘Doing It Yourself’. You will learn how to splice ropes consisting of Dyneema® or Stirotex fibres, splice with double braided polyester lines and make soft shackles. Many practical examples are also shown on how to apply this to your own yacht. During the Webinar there are opportunities to ask questions. At the end of the training you will have a better understanding of the materials of which ropes are made. You will grasp the basics of splicing and with the learned techniques be able to optimize your ship. Whether you are a cruiser or a professional regatta sailor: this is a workshop you don’t want to miss.

And here you see my results:

When I got out this morning to get my weekly Bread41, this is the weather that greeted me. The water on deck was frozen so I had to be careful getting ashore!

There is still a thing called fax that is being used on boats and ham radio. It is actually called weather fax and I got a licence for MultiMode this week to help me decode all kinds of interesting signals.

So just now I went to 4608.10kHz to Listen the the Northwood (GYA) UK weather fax transmission. And it works great!

And here is the previous weather report for the Atlantic:

May I remind the dear reader that I had to replace my fresh water pump back in March? Well, about a week ago this new one gave up the ghost. It happened when I went to bed and I decided to sleep on it and try to fix it the next day. Well, I fixed it for about 15 minutes (not knowing exactly what I did other than fiddle with the water hoses and fill the water tank). And after I put everything away, it stopped working again. Looking at the manual that stated there are no user-serviceable parts inside, it must have been the pressure sensor. Fortunately I hadn’t bought this online but through a local shop in Dun Laoghaire, Solas Marine, I called Tom and a replacement would be ready in a few days.

Today I cycled to Dun Laoghaire to get the replacement. Nice cycle ride and it is much better to cycle there compared to before the pandemic! (I also cycled because I need the exercise as the swimming pool is still closed for my aquarobics classes).

I installed it and I have water again! Civilisation has returned (for as long as it lasts). The sound is also different from this one even though it’s the same model, I hope that is a good sign…

And a photo, because that is what you were looking for?

As you may know I had to buy a new mainsail since the last one started tearing apart a year ago (it must have been at least 20 years old).

This has been a process with lots of stumble blocks (like most things with boats). The full sail looks amazing but reefing is a problem with the spray-hood up. The boom drops onto it and it is very difficult to tighten the reefpoint close to the boom so I had to lower the spray-hood. And in general when you have to reef the main sail, this is because it is windy and wet and you want some protection from the elements at the helm.

For the land lubbers out there: what does reefing the main sail mean? It is the process of reducing the the surface area of the main sail so the boat is not overpowered, it is the sailing equivalent of depressing the gas throttle but it is a bit elaborate and not as quick. Here is a nice article that tells you how it is done on my boat. I have 3 reefing points so I can use the main sail in terrible weather.

Also the cars are attached to the main sail with some flimsy plastic bits and tiny screws that just don’t work. The sailmaker promised to replace these:

Since I want the boat to be ready for single-handed sailing, I also bought a new sail cover with the lazyjack bag system which will look like this:

I can’t go up the mast yet but I did fit the bag. There are a few issues but at the moment it looks quite nice:

But the spray-hood is a problem again. Now I need to wrap a sail tie around the area to prevent chafing underway. I think I need to lower the spray-hood by cutting off a couple of centimetres of the hoop:

Incidentally, this is with the first reef properly set up!

P.S. Lazy bags image stolen from: www.sailmagazine.com/diy/lazyj…

Ever since March when I threw my old cushions covers out during the lockdown, I wanted to get new ones. During the same lockdown I’d also ordered some waterproof LED lighting strips that never arrived (no surprise there as they had to come from China but for 10€ I figured it was worth a gamble, I lost). I did order new LED strips with a fancy kit to hook them up in different ways.

Now that we have a new partial lockdown in Dublin till at least October 10 and I have issues with my main sail (in a following post), I don’t see this boat going anywhere. So I’m “stuck” in Dublin, at least I can use the WeWork office of my job and it is relatively cheap to live on the boat so I can safe lots of money so make good use of when we will be free next year (maybe, if we survive this one).

So today I bought some new mustard and black velvet cushion covers. Admire my showroom interior puny humans:

And with the LED “mood” lighting activated (it is finally becoming a bachelor pad):

Finally I have some decent light in the navigation and galley areas:

The advantage is that it is USB powered so I can use it with both shore power and battery power! And when I change it to red, I have light for sailing at night that doesn’t destroy your night vision. I also installed it in the V-berth so it is everywhere! Now I feel at home because these things were bothering me since I started my live aboard adventure in Scotland 3 years ago!

I saw a gentleman doing a paint job on another boat and since I knew the owners of that boat, I asked about the painter (John). We got to talk and he was willing to do the job, as long as I had the paint. Fortunately, before restarting my new job, I did buy new paint for the roof in case the weather was agreeing with it. I never got to do it and the last two days were perfect weather for it! And John had time to do it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Look at what a professional can do:

The new roof is shining beautifully:

This job really needed done for the last two years and definitely before winter. I’m so happy it got done. Thanks John!

I like it dark when I sleep. Currently in the v-berth it is too light. Remember I did try to do something about the roof hatch. So I needed something better. You can get some very fancy Plastimo blackout blinds. But I figured I can do something similar for a lot cheaper. I went to Eason to get an A2 portfolio binder for papers with black plastic covers. I cut the covers into the right size for my hatch and port holes. Then I cut some holes in for some suction cups and voilà:

Cost: < 10€ !

😴

Today we did another sail with Gil and Paddy. Look at the new main sail:

Unfortunately there are a few problems with it which I hope work out with the sailmaker:

• When reefed, the boom is too low so I have to lower the spray hood. This wasn’t the case with the old sail. And must be fixed because I’d like to keep a dry cockpit and cabin entrance in bad weather!
• The block for the main sheet on the boom is doing funny stuff because the boom can’t freely rotate. I think this happens because the clew of the main sail is now attached to the boom and not the boom plate. I will change this (against the wishes of the sail maker but he should have given me a copy of my old sail).
• I managed to pop the rivets off the boom vang inside the boom. But this was always a weak spot. I’m going to design a bigger plate with 8 rivets so it will take a huge force to get that out!

Here you can see the Poolbeg Light House on our way back into the river:

I took the loss of the winch handle last Saturday as an opportunity to properly fix something that had been bothering me for some time:

So when we got back from our sail yesterday, I plugged in the shore power because I had a full fridge and needed to keep it cool. But lo-and-behold: it didn’t work. Again. WTF!

I bypass the new fuse system, and still doesn’t work. By this time it’s getting dark and I was hungry and frustrated. By now I have learned my lesson and I kept the fridge on the topped up battery and went back to the club for some dinner.

This morning I applied Occam’s Razor to my problem and I come to the conclusion that it must be the plugs on the shore cable that cause the issue. Look what I found:

No wonder nothing was working. Why did I approach the problem from a software engineering perspective where you know the problem is in the most complex system. But here it’s mostly mechanical stuff and there was too much tension on the cable the way I had put it together back in Scotland 3 years ago. But look what vaseline on the copper does for you: it looks like new! So I checked the plugs on both ends, cleaned and greased them. Put the fuse system back in, and everything is fine. So, I didn’t have to replace that system at all (but at least this one is IP67 rated and not IP55 so it will survive a flooded boat. 😏

Conclusion: I am an eediot, man!

Today was a good day: with a pleasant crew (Ana and Gil) we went for a sail on Oleander. As it was quite gusty we put the main sail on the third reef so to make sure things were very safe. With an inexperienced crew (and that includes myself because I don’t know the new main-sail yet) I don’t want to overpower the boat and get in potential trouble.

Unfortunately one crew member lost the winch handle while tightening the main sail and as it floats we had to do a man overboard procedure! We did get alongside it but didn’t have anything ready to scoop it up so I hope someone will be able to use it at some point in time.

It was a great sail and Ana even tried to confuse the local ham radio community by making a QSO on the Dublin repeater with her callsign EI/EA7KMA/MM 🤣

Thanks to my new AIS class B transponder I can actually see exactly what we have been doing via the MarineTracker iOS application:

We made it to our home port safely with everybody intact. A nice shower to get everything wet when we were cleaning up the boat just added a bit of zest to the good experience! 🌈

Tuesday around 11am just before high tide we managed to motor away from the slip post and did a little victory tour on the Liffey. It’s alive!

We put her back on the slip. I hook up the shore power and… nothing happens. I flip the Test button on the Safety RCD and… nothing happens. It was working Sunday.

So no fuzz, order a new one and 2 days and cycle trips to Radiocity Ltd in Rialto I have a new one that is IP67 and works.

I did have to work in the WeWork office because I really needed to get something done for work. But now I have moved back on the boat and we can go sailing again!

Beautiful sunrise (after I anti-fouled the propellor because first things first).

No worries, it was by design!

About a month ago I couldn’t move the boat even with the engine at full throttle. This was causing me a lot of anxiety and bad feelings towards Oleander. Fortunately two of my friends moved back home for a month and welcomed me to their place. So that’s where I went. The boat and I needed separation and counselling.

The weather was not cooperating with two storms causing me to cancel 2 trips this month!

Finally today seemed like a good day to put the boat on the slip and check what’s going on: does she still have a propellor? What does the bottom look like after having been at sea for almost 3 years?

This didn’t look too bad:

However, when I got closer to the propellor:

Too many barnacles, no wonder the propellor didn’t work. After hosing down and scraping it off:

I will do a better job later this coming winter I hope but now I have to put a bit of anti-foul paint on tomorrow very early for some protection against the nasty barnacles.

But overall she looks amazing after such a long time in the water:

She’s a fine vessel, lovely lines:

Tomorrow she goes back to the berth, and this time I hope under her own power!

Earlier this year I finally took some time to create a movie about the sail from Scotland to Dublin that occurred in June 2017. Enjoy!

The antenna I ordered for my transceiver was made for cars and trucks. The reason I bought this one was that I’d figured I could mount it on the rack at the back of the boat. So I designed a mounting plate and and thanks to a local sailor (thanks again Roger) with access to a laser cutter, it was created in no time whatsoever!

This is where the antenna sits now:

You can also see the new NavTex antenna as well.

I didn’t have an FM radio on board and it’s lockdown, what happens if the zombie war starts and my mobile phone is not working? How do I know what to do? What may still work? Something must be done! Can I get a radio on the boat with the lockdown and the marina closed? Where do I let them deliver it? I was looking for multi-function shortwave receivers but then I got a better idea…

A long time ago, in a country far away, there was a nerd who found a safe space in the ham radio club of his secondary school. It had the call sign PI1GOE and it was an amazing place to be. The stuff we were able to do without adult supervision most school children can only dream off (like cycling to school on a Saturday morning at 3 o’clock in the morning to meet a couple of other students so we could “work” the 80m and 40m bands where the propagation was the best at that hour, no teacher in sight.) Since we had no teacher with a radio-amateur licence I decided that I should get one (I was 15-16 years old). I got it and became PE1KOO. When I left the Netherlands to work in the USA I left my licence by the wayside but always wanted to reactivate my licence. In the last 3 years I managed to find the necessary paperwork but life was far too busy to do something about it.

So I will get a shortwave transceiver and put it on the boat. That way I can also use it for email when sailing and lots of other uses! After a lot of research I found the radio I wanted and an antenna to match it. And the company was willing to ship it to me and ask the delivery company to call me when they arrive at the marina…

(There was a problem with the phone number but fortunately the general manager was in on the time of delivery):

I unpacked it and rigged a temporary antenna:

It’s great! Almost back in business…

The weather is beautiful, the boat really needs some love on the woodwork. I don’t want to varnish anymore, I want to use Owatrol D1 oil. But I still have a bit of Woodskin varnish left. Waste not, want not…

One of the things that have been annoying me madly ever since I bought the boat: water dripping inside. So I swore an oath to keep the boat dry whatever the cost! Today a new battle has started. The area under the kitchen sink where I keep my cutlery would get wet. That is not fun. I made sure rain couldn’t get in anymore, but water would still get in from the edge of the kitchen sink. Time to fix this properly so I removed the screws and ripped out the sink from the tiny bit of silicone that kept it “dry.” The horror to the filth I discovered!

A proper cleaning was required:

And now put it back with black silicone (it was the only tube I had left on the boat: waste not, want not):

This is a proper quantity of silicone to make sure it seals properly. After 1 day of drying, I cut it off and now my cutlery is dry! Score another one for me!

(As I have been laid off from my new job I have lots of time to work on the boat! Yay!)

I have noticed that the hatch in the heads (that is toilet for you landlubbers) would stay up when I opened it. It used to do that but I guess it is being used more so I needed to do something. And suddenly I got an idea. Remember that you should never throw something away?

I had a couple of pieces of wood lying around from the Dutch flag I had bought. One bit was particularly useful as it turns out:

Way, way, way back in 2008 when I sailed on Oleander for the first time in the Mediterranean, we had a problem. The NavTex unit didn’t work even though the antenna was there. And we needed the weather reports in Italy and Spain. Being the only one with a smidgen of Italian, French and Spanish I was shanghaied to listen to the VHF at the designated times to write down these weather reports. This was not easy. Moving forward people tell you that with your mobile you can get everything from the internet. But what if you don’t have reception? Bring back the trusty NavTex unit please! So I’d bought one in Scotland. But I never took the effort to install it because I had to replace the old antenna (which had broken off last winter in a storm) and it is a bit of work.

Feeling empowered with my new-found skills, I decided I was going to do it now! Here you can see it in action:

I had to reduce the number of messages I received from all over Europe, such as Belgium, Spain, Germany. The Belgium one is ordering no recreational boat traffic is allowed in Belgian waters because of COVID-19. However, I do get the Irish Sea weather reports now. (And the unit only uses 20mA, so it is running all the time!)

Remember the old water pump hanging by one screw? There was a rubber bit that was supposed to dampen the sound of the pump (it doesn’t really work, same with the new one). But I saved it because it might come in handy. Especially when you want to put up a shaving mirror temporarily over the sink!

You see the ridge is just the right size for the wire of the mirror.