Find Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter
popular tags
Monthly Archives: March 2005
Launch And Naming Ceremony!
It was a perfect Bodrum morning. The sky was blue, the birds were singing and everyone was smiling. We had agreed to put Esper in the water after lunchtime, around 2ish, bearing in mind that in Turkey “around 2 o’clock” is a very elastic concept…
Boat Stereo Entertainment System
We had more fun and games sourcing a solution for our entertainment system than any other issue with the boat! Whilst there are expert marine electricians, carpenters, rigging experts and so on there appears to be a lack of information on marine stereo solutions.
Boat Plumbing
There were two major plumbing jobs that we left to Yat Lift: the replacement of the holding tank and converting the electric toilet pump back to a manual one.
Boat Electrics and Electronics
With the addition of stereo, new VHF and various switches and monitors the left and lower dashs in the nav table area had to be redesigned. We decided to take out some of the old electronic equipment, either because they weren’t working or because they were dated and would one day be replaced with new kit.
Boat Power Sources
After reading the yacht-owner’s bible (Nigel Calder’s ‘Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual’, published by Adlard Coles Nautical) we had a serious rethink about our power sources. Eventually we will be looking to install solar panels but in the short term we had to make an educated guess at what our daily power consumption would be and put that within the context of buying new batteries and battery charger.
Running & Standing Rigging
A common problem on Oyster 435s (apparently) is leaking chain plates. We left Yat Lift to look at this and upon our return they had recaulked the fittings.
The Deck
The initial survey report had indicated that a few of the deck planks required replacing and recaulking, whilst we were aware that some of the stanchion bases had come loose. Indeed two of the stanchion bases were leaking slightly, so we got eleven of the twelve bases replaced, and replaced two of the planks.
Hull, Epoxy, Gel Coat & Other Things
One of the biggest jobs we left Yat Lift to complete was applying a new gelcoat. These additional few layers of epoxy (300 microns, to be precise) help strengthen the integrity of the hull. If you can afford it, it’s money well spent.
Introduction to launch
Heart atack at Heathrow Airport! I loaded my cases onto the check-in scales and it turned out I was carrying over eighty kilos, fifty over the allotted amount! Credit card in hand I took the excess baggage hit, which came to over two hundred quid, and that was with 20kg taken off because the check-in girl fancied me or something.