Last week we talked about returning to Turkey and taking people on as crew to experience life aboard before purchasing their own yacht. We also mentioned we’d have to get A B Sea ship shape and back in the water.
This week, we’ve been busy. Partly with boat jobs of the ever-increasing list. And for myself, partly experimenting with uv resin and making more pendants and keyrings. But before I show you my latest offerings, I’ll bring you up to speed with what we’ve done on A B Sea this week. And it’s a good thing we’re living in the studio nearby because the inside of our boat-home looks like a builder’s yard!
Wet surprise
While Baz was sanding the keel to discover the reason for the weeping water, I went to the forward locker to see if I could find the spare anodes as we wanted to replace them while we were working on the keel. Baz couldn’t remember where he’d stored them and I thought I’d look in a very unlikely place, the forward sail locker. Well, I say ‘sail’ locker. There aren’t any sails in there. It’s more like a corner in your garage where you store all the stuff you don’t want in the house. We’ve got our suitcases in there, yoga mat, anchor buoy, beach chairs, all the fun stuff that you have to rummage through when you’re trying to find something.
Well, I opened the hatch and immediately noticed that it smelled musty in there. Then I saw salt crystals on the aluminium legs of the folding chairs. Uh-oh. I pulled those out along with the two matresses for sunbathing on the forward deck and climbed down into the locker. I touched one of the folding suitcases. It was damp. Not wet. But damp enough for me to be concerned.
I had to get everything out to dry before it went mouldy, and
Damp meant leak. And you don’t want a leaky boat.
After scattering everything on deck so the sun could get to it (and thank goodness it was a warm, dry day), I went down to get the Cap’n. He wasn’t happy that we’ve now got another job on our Boat Job’s List, but came to investigate. I’d noticed a wetter area where water may be getting in and he confirmed that it’s likely where the wiring comes in from the windlass’s up and down switches. “Fill holes” got put on the list and while Baz went back to the keel area, I got stuck into cleaning all the mould off the top, sides and floor of the locker.
I did also find another problem concerning the black water holding tank, but I’ll save that bundle of goodness for another week.
Changing the anodes
We eventually found the spare anodes – and also the spare sparkplugs for the outboard. They were in a box in the storage under the central saloon seat. Of course, it took a while longer than we expected to change the anodes out (as everything seems to when we try and fix stuff lol). The reason for this was because the bolts for the prop anode were a tad too short and it was very difficult for Baz to get purchase with the nut on the other side. A bit of hammering and patience later and they were on nice and tight. Good job too because the old anodes were looking quite worn.
Desulfator for the batteries
De-what? It turns out that the desulfator is a little unit that you attach to all of the house batteries and it pulses through them. This causes any sulphates to jiggle off the plates inside the batteries and helps them to last longer. Thanks to Ant & Cid Sailing for that tip.
Finally the keel bolt issue
It’s been on our minds for ages. The water that’s seeping out from the hole in the keel, has it ingressed to the keel bolts? Are the keel bolts rusted? Will we have to go to the expense of dropping the keel to get them replaced?
Nikos kindly lent us his power tools so we were armed and ready to saw off the fibreglass and look at the bolts. Access to these is via the bilge in the saloon underneath the central saloon seating. We had to lift off a couple of the sole (floor) panels to free up the seat, and then we were able to lift the seat back, exposing the bilge area and many of the keel bolts.
The bilge was filthy – where does the dirt come from? We got stuck into cleaning that first (see how every job takes longer?) and once we’d done that Baz used the oscillating saw to remove the fibreglass from one of the bolts. It was quite tricky because the confined space and angle but eventually the fibreglass came away and we saw the top of the bolt. It was shiny steel. No evidence of rust at all. Baz tapped it and it sounded solid. Not wanting to dig deeper and possibly damage the bolt or nut which was much further down, Baz called it and said he was happy with what he was seeing. I’ll probably take my new uv resin and cover the top of the exposed bolt with that to prevent any water getting in from the bilge.
The bilge itself has always been disgustingly dirty, so while I was there I gave it a good scrub while Baz got on with another task. It was a dirty job but I’m glad I did it. Now that part of the bilge is almost clean enough to eat your dinner off. Please note, I said “your dinner”.
Is our kicker (boom vang) upside down?
We’ve got rain water collecting in the kicker as we showed you in last week’s vlog, and some of our subscribers reckon it’s been installed upside down. But we can’t figure out how we could turn it around as the pulley is attached to one end. If you’ve got any more of a clue about that little issue, we’d love to hear from you. Ta.
Weeping water
Baz sanded away more of what looks like filler from the keel where water’s been seeping out. He’s exposed what looks like the bottom of the bilge but we don’t think the water’s coming from there because we know the bilge is dry and also the water coming out of the crack is salty. I know, I’ve tasted it. Bleh.
So where’s the water coming in? It could be coming from the keel/hull join which was also wet when the boat first came out of the water. Whatever the reason, it needs to be dry before we seal it back up, so Baz has put a wire into the hole which is acting like a wick and allowing water to seep out more quickly.
I’m wondering though, if we ought to flush it out with fresh water first to get rid of the corrosive salt? Or will that just cause it to be wetter for longer without any real benefit?
Again, if you can answer this one, do let us know.
Squeezing in my uv resin
In the down time between all of these projects, I’ve been experimenting with a new medium for me: uv resin. I’m attracted to it because it looks like water and I can embed shells and seaweed into it to make sea and rock pool effects. I also like the uv resin because it dries much more quickly with either sunlight or a uv light. I bought myself a uv torch and a uv nail lamp, a few silicone moulds, and the all-important resin itself. I got them from Amazon.co.uk and will probably order more of the resin because I’m not sure how easy it will be to get once we get to Turkey.
Any hoozle, I’m loving what can be made with the stuff! Here are some ideas I’ve tried and watch this space for more ideas over time.
Until I upload them to my Mermaid’s Treasure shop, I’ve posted my latest designs on A B Sea’s Facebook page if you’re interested. Or email me and tell me which you’d like. (As always, our Patrons get 20% discount on all items). I’m loving that my creations are going to great homes all around the world! I’ve included a preview of the items below for you to look at. (The photo takes you to our Facebook page, and there are a few more pics of the different items from this main one).
And of course, if you’d like to see the video that accompanies this blog, just click here.
