Maintenance and repairs

Care and maintenance: the job list is almost endless. Every item on board needs to be fixed once in a while, or it leaks, or... Electricity and especially electronical instruments are extremely vulnerable, as you can imagine combined with sea water. So they cause us lots of trouble. Sometimes the solution is quickly found (as with the modem, thanx to Hans, our engineering shore manager and helpdesk), and sometimes the fixing is expensive if possible at all. 03/2008 Pump toilet; rope clutch and winch mainsail halyard. 02/2008 More actions against leaks; check engine, quadrant and steering cable; autopilots (electrical and Windpilot); new LED reading lights in doghouse; INSTALLATION FURLEX FURLING GEAR and sail; LED-lamp in navigation light; battery monitor, etc. 01/2008 New rudder bearings; fixed trimrudder; transducer log replaced; antifouling, hull cleaning; maintenance engine; maintenance winches; general actions against leaks. 11+12/2007 New outboard engine as the impeller melted, and a new one was not available. Cleaned fuel and water tanks; fresh water filter replaced; carburator aircompressor repaired; new cockpit table. 10/2007 Outboard engine: no cooling as the impellor was completely gone. Replaced with spare one plus new impeller house (on stock on board). 07/2007 Outboard engine: pulling chord starter was broken. We placed a new chord but not without the spring coming off... always difficult to get this thing under control again. 05/2007 Improved connections in the electrical circuit between battery and starter engine: battery poles were cleaned and greased with vaselin and the cables were securely connected to the battery poles. 03/2007 Engine was overheated as a result of sticking cap on expansion tank of the cooling system fluid; leaking windows solved, gas cable outboard engine, re-mounted a bus in the Windpilot that had come loose. 02/2007 On the hard: reparation rudder bearing, antifouling and several small jobs. 11/2006 In turbulent current, our dinghy chafed against Domburg's stone jetty with as result a tear of 20 mm plus an area of worn-out hypalon around it. Patched up with the contents of the Zodiac repairkit, which contains lots of patches but not too much of glue! (The glue is finished now.)

10/2006 The cover of the dinghy was after 2 years completely worn out and the fabric completely decomposed by the sun. So a new one was made of denim: 1.50m x 4.50m, extra strong nylon thread (ordinary polyester thread is not UV-proof), costs of material 20 euro's. Plus 9 hours of labour and perspiration by P. 09/2006 Outboard engine starter cord replaced. Dinghy: leaking O-ring in valve. Water inlet of the toilet was blocked. Repair charge controllers solar panel/wind generator/towing generator after we connected them wrong (by Hans Coelers, Sunfish, the Netherlands). 08/2006 Revision seawater pump; again Rob did the job, and without his help we would never have been able to fit the new roller bearings on the new shaft. Because how could we possibly have known that one has to heat the bearings? 07/2006 New starting motor mounted (by Rob Hollander, Torn Too). Gear handle. And again one of the two service batteries replaced. This one lasted only one year. 05+06/2006 Cockpit table re-glued and covered with glass/epoxy. Bathroom door, drawers. Re-inforced anti-musquito nets (wear & tear). Several leaks solved. Print with a.o. 16 LEDs and light cell mounted in armature and implemented in electrical system. Starter battery replaced. 03/2006 Forehatch mounted the other way round: opening on the foreside. 01+02/2006 Engine: we took valve out of the air vent and connected a hose so the sea water is directed to the deck (the problem of water in the carter might have been a result of the valve that might have been stuck). Mounting of the oven in the galley; fresh water pump in the bathroom; tent over the middle hatch so we kan keep the hatch open during sudden heavy rain. Radar. 12/2005 The fore hatch (again); now with marine silicon sealant from 3M and 8 bolts tapped through the window and the aluminium frame. Toilet outlet hose (38 mm) was completely jammed with kettlestone; JW took the whole lot apart and beat the stone out with a hammer. Mounting diesel tank improved with polyurethane foam. Main sheet traveller broke; repaired (now much stronger than it used to be). The steering installation dismounted and cleaned. And last but not least: the engine (sea water pump) with associated problems: water into the cylinders etc. 09-10/2005  Pump Lavac toilet cleaned; fueltank re-fitted; valves and hoses checked; new gipsy (for 10 mm chain) fitted into anchor winch, connectors mounted to new anchorchain (10 mm); new rubber strips cockpit lockers and improved cockpit drains. Dinghy bag repaired and re-inforced; new leecloth pilot berth; anti mosquito net in the entrance; rigging; winches; stainless steel; fishing gear; hull cleaned underwater. 06/2005 Reparation car of mainsheet traveller with nylon strip instead of roller bearings. New rudder for the Windpilot: plus spare. Sanding and varnishing saloon table and galley. Re-arranged cockpit drains.

05/2005 Replaced two service batteries (out of 3).  Windpilot: quadrant removed; steering ropes along the transom doubled and now running through blocks on the pendulum (result: bigger rudder angle). Revision gas handle; heavy stuff removed from the cockpit lockers and stowed midships; chainplates re-fastened. Sewing machine revised due to salt water bath of 5 cm deep, as a result of leaking chainplate. 04/2005 Engine: valves adjusted (with help from Peter from "Leviathan"). Outboard engine: fuel/air inlet adjusted (Peter again). 02/2005 Connector electrical system of the engine; forehatch; revision Windpilot autopilot. Block mainsheet on doghouse refitted (no leaks anymore); connection Autohelm 1000 to Windpilot improved; sanding and varnishing cabin floor etc.  Anti insects devices for all the hatches. Gas bottles painted with anti corrosive paint; same with rusty spots on bicycles.  New sail covers for mainsail and mizzen. New elastic shoulder straps in sailing trousers. 01/2005 Oil leak from sdaildrive; water IN the saildrive; rope cutter damaged and anodes disappeared. All this as a result of lots of rope in the propellor. The saildrive can only be drained ashore, so we had a complete refit in Los Cristianos, including antifouling, hull polishing, and much more. 12/2004 The quadrant of the windvane autopilot was torn to pieces and needed fixing. With glass/epoxy. 11/2004 Forehatch repaired (the window had come out). 10/2004 Our Autohelm 4000ST+ is too light to steer the boat under sail. It was bought to steer the boat in calms, when we use the engine and when there are no waves. But it never worked, until a Raytheon dealer in Cascais solved the problem. Reset, plus free software upgrade and he also spotted and solved another electrical problem. 09/2004 Spinnaker winch was blocked; dismantled and cleaned. 08/2004 Modem initialisation failure. Supplier SCS gave instructions on how to reset the modem with the help of ASCI-commands. And it works! (This problem has repeated itself, but the solution was at hand). 07/2004 Engine: circulation pump internal cooling circuit was leaking, due to missing gasket (?!). Leaking fuel injectors, although they were revised only three months ago (?!). Water tank cleaned and improved. Electrical bilge pump. 06/2004  Engine: new propellor (after losing the old one). Headsail #4 big tear repaired (sail maker).

Updated 01/2008
Next subject