Dear Readers and friends,

To Pack and untie the lines to leave this dock seemed so easy for us. Unfortunately nothing is simple. With all the paper work and then medical ops for Stephen things have gotten delayed. The weather is showing no signs of being kind so we took the advantage to do more preparation and work on the boat. This post is rather technical. To remedy the problems what we have found and what is going on in the past two weeks. When will we leave? Everyday our friends keep asking the same question. I have remember this question since the last July 2013 onward. We will let you know. Real soon now! Best wishes

Mast |Continued from previous post

This piece has given me sleepless nights for months! It is a storm sail tang. it comes in 2 pieces held together with the 2 bolts. The 2 l shaped pieces with the bolt holes have to be fitted into a grove cut into the mast and then bolted

Luckily I had had had a minor operation so sitting in slings for 4 hours was not going to work.

Honestly this was a precision job. I put it off because I knew I would struggle. Ralf measured to the millimetre cut drilled and then bolted the beast in place.

Now this was not a warm day and he never complained. The mast has to be drilled blind allowing for the thickness and curvature of the mast for the 8 retaining bolts. All fitted! This was on a mast in the harbour with wind ,waves and wash moving the boat almost constantly. What a job!

More in my line. Measure re measure mark and then cut wrong. However it did relieve the pressure on the furling drum.

Wind generator taken off to be fixed

We were noticed that wind generator does not work properly. It was very loud noise when it catch the wind. We use four wind generator which is powerful to make energy for the boat.

Steve changed the bearings and put new brushes in. Allan our friend from the dock, has use the same Four Winds generator and he knows how to make it work properly. Allan drove up from Smitthers after he say good bye to us many times.

The generator is heavy and the blades and wind brake make it very award to remove and hold onto with one hand.

A quick twist made it very clear that the bearings were toast.

The tube slots over the pole which has contacts to take the power to the batteries.

This is the rear bearing it was in rough shape.

A tarp on the dock stops little bits disappearing into the Ocean.

A thing of beauty, new bearings. Twenty dollars and for once in the first store I tried.

Allan drove 4 1/2 hours to make sure I had it sealed up properly. Rain and salt is what killed the last bearings

A simple device that will produce much of our essential electrical power while we are underway.

Once assembled I cleaned off all the old paint and tape.

I knew if I kept this wire brush I would find a use someday

looks good. Allan suggested covering the seams and holes with adhesive aluminium foil.

Then a water repellant quick dry spray paint that acts as the primary water barrier.

propellor rechecked and bolts locktighted.

attached to the halyard, which made it 3 times easier to remount

The last job is to slide and attach a ring that stops the generator taking off in strong winds.

Here she is as good as new. Paid $150 . $20 for bearings and 20 for new brushes. Replacement cost $300

Winches checked | taken apart cleaned and greased.

One day Rolf came up to our boat and noticed about the winches had not been properly installed. He then volunteered to check it. This lead to him completely stripping all the winches and clean and greased them. He work very quickly and took them apart, cleaned, then attached them back together. I can compare it to like watching a cooking show.