Tuesday 4th June Today I finally managed to get out to the boat with the A frame and pushpit support ready to drop the mast sometime in the near future to fit the anti-wrap line. During the row out the problem oar lock fell apart again although I could still row due to the stainless steel wire reinforcement. At last I have the required stickers on both the tender and main boat. These were due in April so have taken me 2 months to get them across around a hundred yards of water.
While out at the boat I managed to drill 12.5mm holes most of the way through both sides of the mast step. The drill eventually slipped out of gear which made me think the gearbox was broken. I didn’t realise that was the underlying cause until long after I got home so there will need to be another attempt at that job. I will also see if I can find a larger bit to use if the current one turns out not to be large enough.
A slight change is needed before I can resolve the halyard wrap as I will need either longer and smaller diameter pop rivets or similar size stainless steel self tapping screws ( 25 mm long x 4mm diameter) to fit the cleat. The twisted shackles that I ordered were also smaller than are needed (4mm pin instead of 6mm) so the shackle is too narrow to fit on the sliding bearing.
Thursday 6th 
After lunch I started another repair on the oar lock for the tender. This time I am aiming to use some of the thin stainless steel to reinforce the repair and hopefully spread the load a little more widely than was achieved with the wire. I still need to find or make a piece of suitable ‘tube’ to replace the missing bits of the original plastic moulding.
Saturday Off to Christchurch Sailing Club at 5:45 for the rally dinner. There were 5 boats from LSC moored against the visitors’ pontoon. Several more members attended by road like us. Apparently 5 boats is a good turnout given the distance of the rally.
For those sailing, it had been an easy downwind passage today with enough wind and only a few reporting gentle drizzle on their way. Everyone enjoyed the meal which included spotted Dick or chocolate Torte as desert.
Thursday 13th June I have bought a replacement oar lock for the tender as I finally managed to identify what looks like the right one on the Rib Store website (https://www.ribstore.co.uk/collections/oars-paddles-locks-rowlocks-spares/products/pvc-oar-lock-rowlock-with-t-type-pin-hinge-bar-oar-retainer-scoprega ). This is due to arrive on or after the weekend and will be a longer term fix than my attempt at a repair.
Monday After lunch I went to LSC. The first job was to fit the replacement oar lock which I got late this morning and I then spent the rest of the afternoon taking down the mast, adding the cheek block and cord as an anti-wrap device, finishing drilling out the 12mm bolt hole in the tabernacle and then putting the mast back up. I didn’t really have time to investigate the stuck wind speed unit but it sounds like a contaminated bearing or some debris inside the unit. That will have to wait until lift out as it seems likely to be a rather long fix and I don’t want to lose any parts into the water while investigating further..
I also finished off the repaired oar lock by drilling out the 18mm bearing hole through the cast epoxy repair. This will be my emergency backup spare.
While launching the tender I had borrowed a trolley, the wheels of which rubbed on the port tube and caused a leak. I had to re-inflate it three times during the work on the mast so the dinghy had to be deflated, rolled up and brought home to get fixed. Fortunately I had found the repair kit among storage items last week and brought it home so it was an easy enough mend.
Tuesday The car is booked in at the dealers at 8:45 this morning for diagnosis and repair of the vanishing coolant. They may need it for tomorrow as well, just depends on what they find and whether any parts need ordering. I delivered it on time and Grace managed to find the dealer to pick me up. I ended up driving home in her car.
I started off by checking on the boat patches and then ordered a set of launching wheels which will bolt or screw onto the transom of the tender. I am going for the plastic ones because they seem to be fairly widely available and are easily retractable. These should arrive on Thursday or Friday and, as I may not have the car back before then, I am likely to wait and fit them before taking the tender back to LSC.
Our car turns out to require a replacement water pump which may not arrive until late tomorrow so it is likely to be Thursday before we get the car back. They have also offered to sort out the oil change service which is due in around 900 miles which will save us having another day without the car in a few weeks time.
This evening I have done another two patches on the tender because the opposite side tube has been deflating as well – Much slower but enough to cause noticeable softness after 24 hours and to blow bubbles when I coated the fabric with glue during the repair.
Wednesday The repair to the second side of the tender seems to have worked as all three compartments seemed to be equally soft this morning probably due to the cool weather.
Thursday 20th After lunch my parcel arrived with the dinghy wheeler so I spent around an hour installing the two wheels on the tender. The only slight problem was that the instructions referred to them being marked ‘bottom’ which was not true. As a consequence I got one the wrong way up initially. I realised there is a latching tab to keep the wheels down when pulling the boat along so had to flip the first one that I had fitted. I still have to cut off the excess bolt length and do something to protect the floor from being punctured when I roll the boat up but otherwise I am now ready to go back to the boat and finish getting organised to sail.
Friday Our car now wont be back until Monday at the earliest because the replacement part was also faulty and the dealership is having to get another one. We have organised a rental car while we wait as Grace now wants to go back to Norwich on Sunday. The rented one is a nearly new car and much too clean to be putting a muddy tender in it so I will use Grace’s car tomorrow and try to get the remainder of the boat jobs started while I am at the club.
Saturday The post arrived with my stainless steel machine screws and plastic caps. I finished off the wheel mounting bolts properly in place of the temporary job I had done this morning. These should prevent any remaining sharp edges from damaging either the floor or flotation tubes when the tender is deflated and rolled up.
I then used Grace’s car to take the tender back but, as there is only about one hour of tide left, there was no sensible opportunity to do the other bits of work on the boat. The tender wheels certainly make it a lot easier to handle the tender on land.
Sunday Grace and Helen are staying at the bungalow for the afternoon but I organised sandwiches and went to the boat. There is a decent amount of water up until after 4pm so I get at least 3 hours to make progress.
First job was launching the tender of course – Massively easier with the wheels and I didn’t even need to add any air to the tender.
Next job was attaching the new cleat to the mast for the anti-wrap line. I was tempted to put up the Genoa and finish organising the roller reefer but one of the other jobs is fitting fairleads at the bow so I don’t really want sheets in the way while doing that.
Next I screwed the remaining three cleats onto the sides of the cockpit and the tiller. These will enable me to lash the tiller in position while motoring or sailing and help me achieve things like picking up moorings and adjusting sail trim while single handed .
I have fitted the first of the fairleads on the starboard stern – Not fully tightened up yet but the screwdriver bits that I had with me have chewed up the slot on one of the mounting bolts so I need to replace that one and install a shorter one at the stern end of the fairlead because the bolt interferes with the ones that attach the spinnaker blocks on the side. It will do the job at present though.
I also needed to re-attach the port mini stay as it has somehow come undone since I put the mast back up. That was probably not locked originally and may have had twists in the wire from when I originally put in the new bottle screws. I also checked all the others were properly locked.
Tuesday 25th June The father’s day / birthday present from Beth & Grace has arrived so I spent an hour or so fitting the protective screen and then loading the tablet computer into the waterproof protective housing and attaching the mounting bracket. I now need to work out where I am going to install it on the boat. It seems very robust as you would hope for something intended to improve the life of a piece of delicate electronics which is outside on a boat.
First published 21/6/2024 Updated 28/6/24