10th August 2012 - Still Afloat, Some Problems Solved

Jeff's blog of his life living aboard a yacht, at anchor, in the UK, with his wife, a dog and a baby.

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10th August 2012 - Still Afloat, Some Problems Solved

Post by Jeff »

Been a pretty hectic couple of weeks down here. Lots of problems and stress and not a lot of nice weather.

We sorted the engine by the simple change of one of the three in-line fuel filters, but I felt very unsure about using the engine knowing that clearly we had mucky fuel. So we put in 200 litres of new fuel on top of the old with the idea of diluting the muck a bit (on advice from engineers). 100 litres in each of our two tanks.

Then I fretted some more that the muck was still in the fuel and so we had Darthaven suck out the entire content of our tanks and "polish" it all down to 2 microns - a minascule particle size. It turned out that there was a total of 250 litres in the tanks. 200 of which I had put in. Which meant we were running on the very dregs of the tanks which was a surprise because the fuel guages and the previous owner informed us that we had about 300 litres in there already, when in fact we had 50!

So we'd have been better off simply dumping the tank's content, and refueling. Ah well. At least we know now. Also changed all three filters this time, learned how to "bleed the fuel lines", and got a double-sized filter element put on the primary filter. So we have much cleaner fuel, and a filter system that will take twice as long to clog - so touch wood, we'll be OK for a while.

While all this was going on, both of our toilets failed. Much grunting and disinfecting my hands later, and a trip to Plymouth, we are now the proud owners of two brand new loos, properly installed with anti-syphon loops etc, which it turned out the old ones weren't, which is quite bad!

And at the same time as all of this we discovered more leaks of rain through the deck.

And it was cold and raining and windy.

And then we got really really miserable and booked into a hotel that allows dogs, at a crazy price for a Saturday night, of £59 total. We showered, shaved (well I did), and watched the olypics on the tele all night. And it was the night of all the gold medals for the UK so it really cheered us up. Not that we're particularly patriotic or anything but it was just so nice to see such happy people. It rubbed off on us a bit - as the grime of two weeks toilet work rubbed away.

Then Nina got a temperature of 39.2 and we had a horrid night of her crying and looking very sorry for herself while we phone the hospital and administered Calpol. Rose felt that the added time to get to shore before we could then drive to hospital was a worrying thing for this and potential future emergencies. We all got pretty miserable again quite quickly, back aboard.

Then when we went to the launderette an old woman with a bag of washing literally ran past me as I approached the door in order to beat me to the machine, and informed us it would be at least 2 hours before she was done, which meant we couldn't do our washing (which is growing in magnitude rapidly).

Some good things then began to happen...

Nina was diagnosed with tonsillitis and given antibiotics which seemed to have an immediate effect - perhaps partly because they taste of strawberries.

So Rose felt happier.

So I felt happier.

Then engine didn't fail when we moved back to the anchorage.

I found the best place yet to drop the anchor so we're not swinging into things any more (for now).

I fixed the final through-deck leak! Which is such a relief because I did it without having to take the boat apart as I thought I'd have to!

I realised that the solar panels I installed are actually keeping us topped up with charge even with the fridge on all the time (which we're now having to do in order to keep Nina's meds cool).

And we found a launderette in Dartmouth which will take your washing in, do it for you, and then you just collect it, for not a lot of dosh.

And the sun came out!

So I had a barbecue or two.


Unfortunately the forecast for later shows some stronger winds coming our way so I may decide to move which is a pain. I've decided that if the forecast shows winds of over 20 knots, we'll move to the visitors pontoon. This is annoying as it costs us £10 a night there for the mooring (anchoring is pretty much free) and it's quite a distance from town so we also end up using the water taxi a lot more rather than rowing like usual, which again is free.

Anchoring though has its disadvantages. We have to be aboard every 6 hours for the tide turn, and there's the constant worry of swinging or dragging into something. We're super keen not to put the harbour master out in any way so are being very diligent.

On my list of things to do this winter though is definitely to upgrade to 10mm chain (we're on 8mm now which is somewhat lacking for a boat this size) and also going to buy a whopping great modern anchor. We're on a 20kg Delta at the moment which is oversized for our boat and has not dragged a mm so far, touch wood, and it does well in anchor comparison tests, but not as well as some of the modern alternatives.

Peace of mind in the anchorage is so underrated, especially at 3 in the morning in the rain when the wind's up and you have work the next day and it's cold and the anchor drag alarm keeps going off (because it's stupid, not because we've dragged).

The neighbours...
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Nina's Cell
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Nina in her LJ

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Post by Discus »

Sounds like all the fun is to be had in Dartmouth. Always a bit miserable working your way through a jobs list, especially when you add more than you tick off. By the way, welcome to summer 2012, bit special this year, lovely if you like rain and wind above force 6! Our boat has spent a disproportionate time on the mooring and now sports a fetching green goatee on the bow from all the lovely weed. It's been so wet, we have sprung new leaks, necessitating two new hatch seals and a regular mop up in the bilge. Nice to hear you have the optimists fuel guage fitted, always full so cheap to run! Result! We have a delta, don't knock em, seem to work fine and easy to fit on the roller. Well hope Nina is feeling better and you are getting more sleep. Certainly brings a new dynamic to living aboard. At least you are aboard, I'm laid up at home in the Forest of Dean nursing some torn ligaments in my foot so no sailing for me for a while. Hope September is better on the weather front, I need a holiday!

See you afloat (not wet and miserable)

Rob

By the way, Nina looks the spitting image of you, but without the serious look. Uncanny!!
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Post by Jeff »

Hehe cheers Rob :)
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Post by Jeff »

Hi rob, how's the foot doing? And how did you tear ligaments in it? You back on the water yet? Not missing much in the way of weather if not!
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Post by Discus »

No, still not back at the boat, but that might be more to do with the weather than anything else. Hoping early September is better as we have the week off so hoping to hop down the coast for a bit. Foot issues were the result of an imploding step ladder, when I was on top of it. Wouldn't mind so much but I wasn't even decorating our own house! Normal service is forecast to resume next weekend, albeit with an annoying flat footed limp. Glad to read all is holding up well and there are no more breakages. Are you staying in Dartmouth for a while or planning to move on...... weather permitting?
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Post by admin »

I think we'll be here for the rest of the summer and into the autumn. Not got round to putting the sails on yet, so I think we might not even bother this year. We have great plans for adventures up the river. We might poke our noses out of the mouth of the river - and then dash back in again - if we feel brave :)

Collapsing ladder sounds bad! Ouch!
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Post by Discus »

Ladders - not my friend! Perhaps I should go on a diet! Safely tucked up back on the boat this evening so trying to remember how everything works.
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Post by Jeff »

You should come to Dartmouth, it's fabulous here at the moment. Regatta is brilliant!
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Post by Discus »

I suspect its packed to the rafters there too. Must admit we avoid the regatta weeks as its often difficult to find somewhere to moor up. I don't even fancy the town anchorage after hearing about all the boats dragging. Not sure where to go this week, might go east if the winds are from the west. So far I have only managed some lazy time. Will head off tomorrow am and see where we end up. Are the red arrows there this year?
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Post by Jeff »

Red arrows yesterday. But also loads and loads of other air displays including multiple types of fighter, aerobatics, helicopters (different types) and most notably a fast low fly by of two Tornadoes which apparently broke windows! Very very awesome!

All day today, the main day, boats of all sizes are arriving and requesting a berth from the harbour authority, and I've not heard a single one get turned away. It's a great party atmosphere here. Well worth it.
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Post by Discus »

Sounds like a tactical error being in Plymouth then! The only flying things I've seen today are some Canada Geese, a noisy swan and a bunch of seagulls - who gave us no display at all but did demonstrate some tactical aerial bombardment of the boat next to us. Most impressive! See, bet you weren't stuck at the boring old Dartmouth regatta after all. Don't you just hate missing out? :cry: :o
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Post by Jeff »

Hehe :P
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