Long range communications at sea

When we bought Maunie she came with this SSB (single side band) radio as well as the normal VHF 2-way radio carried by most boats. The advantage of the SSB is that it uses medium and high frequencies which allow the radio waves to bounce off the ionosphere to deliver very long range - we've received transmissions of propaganda news from China - where the VHF only has a range of about 50 miles at most.

Because of this world-girdling range, the SSB requires a special Long Range Radio Certificate so Graham has just completed the course and has passed the exam. Over the summer we'll be practising with the radio and it'll be used for daily radio 'nets' during the ARC transatlantic. The radio allows multiple boats to listen at the same time and, of course, provides another safety channel whilst we're at sea; we'll carry a satellite phone, as well, which will enable us to share emails, photos and, of course, to keep the blog up to date..

Working through the pre-launch jobs

We plan to re-launch Maunie just after Easter so the focus is on a few important maintenance jobs that can only be done whilst she's out of the water.

We've decided to replace all the seacocks. These are the below-the-waterline fittings for the water intakes for the toilets, engine, generator and watermaker and the outlets from the sinks. Over time the bronze fittings can suffer something called de-zinctification in the salt water environment (particularly if there are stray electrical currents around) which can make them brittle - not a good thing! So this is a selection of the new fittings; it's not a cheap operation to replace them but provides very valuable peace of mind.

 

The other job was to polish the clever Brunton feathering propeller - we've tried a new coating called PellerClean which is supposed to prevent barnacles adhering to it. We probably won't have the boat out of the water for another 2 years so we just hope it works.

The list of jobs is slowly diminishing, thankfully, and we're really looking forward to Maunie being back in her natural environment.

Progess, of sorts, and the training begins

Dianne has just started a 9-day ship's medical course in the Hamble so that we can embark on our voyage with confidence and a full medical kit. As I write she's just completed day 2 (burn and breakages); at the end of day 4 the students get an assessment on the first aid element before they go on to the second, 5-day element of 'second aid'.

Meanwhile, I went down to Totnes on Saturday to try to resolve the stiffness in the steering system that began to be noticeable at the end of last season. Getting access to the bottom of the wheel pedestal and the gearbox below it involved climbing into the cockpit locker and taking apart the box that covers the central heating system. I'm really too tall for this kind of thing!

The downside of bigger boats is the amount of extra kit that gets fitted - lovely when it all works but another maintenance chore. In previous boats the cockpit locker was just that - a space to put ropes, fenders, and if you were lucky, a deflated dinghy. Maunie's locker has all sorts of plumbing for bilge pumps, toilets, sewage holding-tank and deck shower as well as the diesel blown-air heating system (which looks and sounds like a small jet engine!)and a vent fan which extracts stale air from the bilges:



I finally got to the root of the problem - removed the electronic autopilot motor and gearbox from the main steering gearbox and suddenly the wheel moved smoothly without a hint of friction. So the faulty autopilot has now been left with the local expert for repair. Whilst it was a tricky job to get the thing out, I'm pleased to have found the fault and am now planning a modification to the locker to allow better access in future.



The top of the rudder post after removing the autopilot motor. The grey round unit above is the steering gearbox.

Back home on Sunday the wonderful Sailrite sewing machine has been well used again - repairing the 'stackpack' cover for the mainsail and fitting a new zip to it. Over the years sunlight had rotted the stitching, though the materieal was still perfectly sound, so I had to replace quite a lot of seams but it should be good for another few years now. Another job ticked off the list, but lots still to do!

Signed up for the ARC 2012 - and a minor (?) problem

Well, we've finally bitten the bullet and announced that we're off on a big sailing adventure this Autumn. We're leaving work at the end of June and aim to sail off at the end of August. We've signed up to join the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers which leave the Canaries for St Lucia on the 24th November. All very exciting and slightly scary!

So the to-do list has reached epic and compelling proportions. Di is about to go off on a 9 day medical course and we're both doing an Ocean Safety course in April. Graham will go on a SSB radio course in July and we're looking at options for satellite phones, email access and so on.



Meanwhile, the boat work continues with routine maintenance to follow the repaint. Unfortunately, a check of the steering system has unearthed a problem with seized bolts and a binding bearing so the next trip down to Totnes will involve much swearing as I access the bottom of the wheel pedestal from the cockpit locker. The ideal boat engineer is 4' tall with 6' long arms; this is not me so I sense a struggle ahead!

Missing the sailing!

We're really finding it hard not having Maunie in the water at the moment; normally we get some great winter sailing. Having said that, we were pleased to have her safely tucked up in the sheltered boatyard during the gales of the past couple of weeks.

We're looking forward to getting back aboard around Easter time and, in the meantime, this video keeps us going. If you haven't seen it, it was filmed coming back from Ireland in 2010, with spinnaker set, autoplilot in charge, bright sunshine and 'Perfect day' on the stereo.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itBxYD9-eS0

Sorry the hyperlink may not work, so you'll need to copy it into your web browser!

Making our own entertainment!

A few months ago we bought a Sailright sewing machine - a wonderfully solid bit of kit designed to sew sails and canvas. So far we've made a couple of covers, done some running repairs to the bimini (cockpit sunshade) and have plans to make other bits and pieces for the boat.

However, we decided that we'd have a shot at making some Christmas presents so set about the old staysail from our last boat, Gentoo of Ardwall, with the scissors. After some trial and error we've build 4 bags from the sail, complete with(largely decorative) top flap which uses one of the bronze sail hanks as its clip.








Very pleased with the results (as are the recipients we're glad to report) and we've enjoyed the project.

Out into the cold and damp

After a few weeks in the shed, all the work is now completed so Maunie's back outside for the winter. Luckily, the previous owner had a wonderful three-part tailored waterproof cover made for her so, after a bit of sewing to repair zips and a couple of minor holes, we spent Saturday fitting it (slightly easier said than done!).



The boat's no longer anonymous, with her new lettering applied to the transom.



We'll spend weekends over the winter sorting odd maintenance jobs but she's already well prepared for the coming season.