Welcome to the Maunie of Ardwall blog

This is the blog of Maunie of Ardwall. After a six-year adventure sailing from Dartmouth to Australia, we are now back in Britain.

Thursday 17 January 2013

Winter maintenance and boat improvement projects

This morning we left the Marin marina and came round to the nearby boatyard for Maunie to be hoisted out of the water for a few days. Boats need a dose of annual maintenance, on top of the regular work we do when we're afloat, and at home this involves shivering in some bleak, windswept yard in the midst of winter trying to get jobs done as quickly as possible. It's therefor a bit of a novelty to be out in hot sunshine, trying to keep in some kind of shade as we tick off a list of things-to-do after around 6000 miles of sailing.
 
The good news is that Maunie came out of the water looking very good. The brilliant Coppercoat antifouling that we had applied by the great team at Baltic Wharf Repairs in Totnes last November has lived up to expectations – no weed and just a few barnacles whose grip on the hull was very poor. So it's great not to have to apply any noxious antifouling paint and, after quick hand-wash down, our below-the-waterline jobs are limited to servicing and re-greasing the folding propeller and replacing a sacrificial zinc anode.
 
The other reason for being ashore is to get our new projects done – all being well, Patrice the Fridge Man will arrive tomorrow to convert our fridge to water-cooled (we'll be delighted to not have its hot air venting into the already hot galley, and the power saving will be substantial) and Frank the Stainless Steel Welder is all set to build us a frame to carry two solar panels which Bruno the Electrician will wire up for us on Wednesday. Fingers and toes are crossed in the hope that this will all go to plan.
 
Meanwhile we have been busy with the sewing machine and have a new rain cover over the deck hatches in our cabin and the galley. A heavy rain shower last night showed that it works – we were able to leave the hatches open without getting drenched below.
 
Our friends Penny and Peter on Roysterer arrived here yesterday so we had a lovely meal out with them last night. They are also thinking of a few boat projects so we were able to share some of the contacts that we have made here.
 
The only downside of all of this is that we are now in a slightly shabby boatyard with distinctly poor toilets and a view of some industrial buildings so we'll be counting the days until we re-launch on Monday.

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