But I digress. For this first blog post of the season, I will document the various operations which must be executed whilst ‘fitting out’ - a nautical expression - the boat after 9 months on the hard over winter. Below is a daily log of our activities, mainly to help us remember exactly what’s involved for next year, memory not being what it used to be... So despite the occasional anecdote, this may not interest the majority of readers; you have been warned!
Day 1 (Wednesday): arrival at Tidewater 16:30, just 30 mins before the office closed. Boat cold but not damp, thanks to special gel with tee tree oil...but chaos reigned in the cabin.
Out to dinner at Rye Street Tavern next door - a huge venture which includes a whisky distillery, all the brainchild of Kevin (Under Armour millionaire). Bed quite cold!
Day 2 (Thursday): first sorted out some of the cabin chaos. About 11:30 borrowed courtesy car to drive to Harris Teeter, the nearest supermarket for provisions. Found they had a lunch deal on offer: $9.99 for a huge slice of roast beef, generous helping of rosemary roast potatoes plus mixed veg, horseradish and gravy. We bought one and shared it....plenty for two normal appetites. After lunch on board, stowed provisions and more stuff. Skipper then concentrated on draining the water tank which had had anti-freeze put in it over winter to prevent freezing. After 3 rinses decided to half-fill and use water just for washing despite it being slightly pink. After this he tackled the much hated job of replacing the impeller into its position in the engine: ‘not enough room for this!’; ‘silly system’; ‘why don’t they make it easier to fit?’ and similar comments. After a couple of hours he managed to get it back into position. Late dinner followed....
Day 3 (Friday): Skipper climbed mast without safety line 🤦🏼♀️ in order to reinstate the topping lift. Also replaced anemometer and tested anchor and tri lights at the top. Climbed mast 3 times and was pretty exhausted. Someone told the management that he had been up and was told afterwards that climbing mast whilst on the hard is forbidden! After lunch, First Mate set about cleaning gulleys which were caked with seeds and general dust, whilst Skipper set about removing the jib self-tacking rail (STR); it has been leaking at starboard end as Northshore failed to insert a metal plate under the extreme starboard pair of bolts. It was a very tough job since it had been glued down onto the deck. It needed to be put under tension using the topping lift to help it remain elevated whilst he chipped away at the rest of the glue. He eventually triumphed just before darkness fell. However, as the end stops had been removed, when the rail finally came free the traveller flew off the end and scattered all the ball bearings which it contained all over the deck and the ground. Disaster!
Day 4 (Saturday): beautiful sunny day. This was lucky since we both spent considerable time off and on during the day looking for the missing ball bearings in the gravel below. Imagine searching for a brown pea in a mass of multicoloured stones of varying shapes and sizes, some larger, some smaller and some the same size as a pea. Not counting the 15 found on deck, we did manage to recover a further 40 during several searching sessions over 2 days. Pressure climbed 20 mb overnight. Skipper worked on the bottom of the boat, going over quite a few patches, which had already been rubbed down to the fibreglass layer by the staff here (unusually, the preparation and painting of the hull bottom for anti fouling is included in our winter storage fee) with anti foul primer paint. We decided not to get the yard to apply bottom paint but instead to put that labour cost towards polishing the hull. Once the primer was dry, First Mate washed the whole topside with special deck cleaner. Came up like new and soon dried in the sun. But it is back-breaking work.
Day 5 (Sunday): another glorious day. Must make the most of this dry spell to get the deck sealed again. Skipper touched up the anti foul paint on the bottom on places where the primer was applied yesterday. FM cleaned up the deck under where the STR had been, removing all glue and mastic with chisel. Meanwhile, Skipper cleaned the actual rail and its 12 bolts. Then he attempted to restore Duogen to its position outside pushpit on stern rail but the essential ‘horseshoe’ part to which it attaches could not be found! The business part of it was instead slung into position and held with a rope. Spent much time searching and worrying about where the horseshoe part is hidden! Once this done, life raft could be hoisted out of cabin using the topping lift (see above) and restored to the pushpit. Several lines were then rigged. This involves tying the actual line (=rope) to the end of the mousing line which was secured at the point the line emerged from the mast or boom when it was removed, and pulling it through with the mousing line attached to the other end of the channel belonging to that particular line. Other outdoor equipment (danbuoy, man overboard rescue sling, life ring) brought up from below and restored to positions on deck.
Day 6 (Monday): the forecast is for this to be the last dry day before the next low pressure system arrives from the south. Early start to ensure we get outdoor jobs finished before the rain comes later tonight. Jeff, the service manager came over to test the fibreglass under the STR.
Day 7 (Tuesday): Skipper tightened all the nuts protruding into the cabin roof from the STR. This was difficult because of confined space in which to operate spanners etc. Next problem to solve is the refilling of gas bottles, required for our cooker. In Europe the connectors between the bottles and the refill tanks are standard but not so in US. An unexpected bonus to the gas refill problem is that Skipper, in his search for all the bits and pieces connected with gas, found the missing horseshoe piece needed for the correct assembly of the Duogen! Borrowed car to go in search of solution to refill calor gas bottles. After visiting 3 different places, realised it was a wild goose chase. Headed to Harris Teeter for provisioning then back to Follyfin in time for afternoon visit from engineer Paul who had worked on our engine but failed to ensure reverse gear worked and failed to align ropecutter correctly on prop...he seems rather glib! He will return tomorrow with tools to fix the problem.
Day 8 (Wednesday): At last found a solution to the gas connector problem! The Custom Coach Company in the outskirts of Baltimore, together with Flowline near it, can between them supply the parts to make up a suitable connector! One part will have to be ordered but should be here by Friday. Also visited the US Customs and Border Agency office in downtown Baltimore to renew our Cruising licence. But after going through rigorous security checks were informed that they don’t do Cruising licences there any more... this function has now moved to the international airport (of all places!) located about 12 miles south-west. These shenanigans took all morning and early afternoon. Late lunch back on the boat. Reinstating the Duogen took the rest of the day since the first attempt to slot it onto its spindle failed - a bush inside the tube was misaligned and required ‘treatment’ from the Skipper involving a 3 metre 2x4 piece of wood and a hammer. Celebrations in order when the tube eventually spotted neatly into place and marked the end of a long day’s work.
Day 9 (Thursday): Blue sky and sunshine bode well for today’s activities. Just the Hydrovane to reinstate and then Follyfin will be ready for launch...apart from having the hull rubbed down and polished. This job historically has been one for FM but the last occasion was in Trinidad when the heat was overpowering and Caribbean Flu had reared its ugly head, neither circumstance being conducive to FM rolling up her sleeves to polish the hull. So she chickened out and paid for it to be done. That was lovely! So lovely, decided to repeat the exercise this year in Baltimore. Job was ordered on Monday but the company which provides this service is very busy and won’t be able to come to us until early next week, so launch will have to wait until then.
Day 10 (Friday): Raining so perfect for concluding several ‘open’ projects: renewal of Cruising licence -took 45 minutes walking through BWI airport before we found the insignificant door to US Customs and Border Agency -, refilling of gas bottles and refilling portable diesel and petrol canisters. Relief!
Over the weekend, while we wait for our polishers to appear, we will complete rigging the boat, checking skin fittings, other little jobs only the Skipper knows about and getting the mainsail back in place on the boom. The next post should be sent when we are back on the water. Until then...
