Maintenence
Fresh water systems
So we had somebody interested in trading ERIK for their larger boat, plus cash. He came down to look at ERIK and, as you do, wanted to have a look in the bilge. I think it’s been about four years since we cleaned the bilge, and about a year since we pulled the cabin sole … Continue reading
Back in the water at last!
We got back floating this morning. After a minor hiccup with a busted attachment point on the forklift (not ERIK’s fault), Rowan at the DSS dropped us in nice and smooth. We tied her up, loaded the dinghy up on the housetop, got the engine started… Hang on, where’s the ignition key… “Honey! Have you … Continue reading
Day 6 of our 5 day Haulout
Very productive day today! Put the 5 litres of anti foul on, that was supposed to go on yesterday… Painted the rub rail it brilliant red, that was supposed to happen yesterday… Put the anodes on, that was supposed to go on yesterday… So, we are a day late, but my oh my, doesn’t she … Continue reading
Day 5 ain’t last day after all…
Rain stopped play. Can’t paint in the rain, so no going in today. The DSS don’t do in/outs on the weekend, so it looks like we won’t return to the sea till Monday.
Day Four of that crazy Haulout thing us boat owners do
Hauling out at the DSS, we have had quite a number of old salts wander past, admiring ERIK and giving us the benefit of their experience… Albeit while we are swaddled up with breathing masks, eye protection, gloves, toxic chemicals all over the place… What better time to have a chat? That aside, there have … Continue reading
Día Tres de Haulout 2014
We’ve just finished watched the early Vin Diesel 2003 film “A Man Apart”, and blistering barnacles, it was decidedly average. Full of unsubtitled Spanish speaking Mexican drug lords and their henchmen… Hence the title of this blog post. How did Day 3 go? Today my arms fell off. We’ll, they feel like they have, at … Continue reading
Day Two of Haulout 2014
We got stuck into the hull below the waterline today, scraping all the loose anti foul off first, cleaning out any daggy putty in the seams then caulking, puttying, and priming bare wood where exposed. The white rings is part of our usual modus operandi; we walk around scraping, sanding and chipping away at paint, … Continue reading
2014 Haulout – Day 1
We hauled out this morning at the DSS for the first time here, and the first time since the Tamar, two years ago. We dropped the car off down at the DSS last night, then got up bright and sparky (before dawn!) to get the boat ready for the slip and sail the boys to … Continue reading
Electric Light Orchestra
We have had an issue in ERIK of late, made worse by the deepening dark of these winter nights. Whenever we fire up the DVD/media player, or the refrigeration kicks in, the lights dim and flicker horribly. It started off as a mild phenomenon, hardly worth commenting on. Last night it was so bad the … Continue reading
Listening to your wife
When we were cruising, we would try and do a job a day, to stay on top of the maintenance required to keep a vessel in good shape for her travels. Now I’m working five days a week, and the crew are busy with school, we can’t do that. We have “jobs” every Sunday morning … Continue reading