Waiting for the Out

It's April, and we're in the marina in Penarth, preparing Vagrant to leave on the morning tide. We've no big plans this year, but we have bought the cruising guides for the west coast of Ireland.

The winter has been long and mostly wet, but hasn't not stopped us from boat bothering. Here's a partial list of our achievements.

• The 35 Kg Spade anchor and chain has been re-galvanised. This was a challenge because a third of the weight is lead which had to be removed before galvanising and later replaced. This and many of the things below wouldn't have been possible without the skills and ingenuity of Aston Engineering Services in Worcestershire (Phil's dad). Also, there is only one place in the UK that can galvanise chain properly but thankfully it is close to Sara's mum's house.
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We've investigated some weird corrosion we found on the Sparcraft vang and found it was caused by the internal massive rusty mild steel spring. We needed to buy a new tube, but replaced the spring with a stainless steel gas strut – a great and inexpensive suggestion by Andy Freemantle of Freemantle Yacht Rigging.
   
  
  
  

  

  
  
• We replaced some of the anchor bow rollers, turned out of Delerin by AES.
• The outboard had a big birthday. It had a new fuel pump, its water pump was serviced, cosmetic items such as throttle handle and the kill switch cover were replaced, and Phil made a new lifting harness for it. We also added a water separating filter in the fuel line.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Schenker watermaker went to the dealers for an overhaul. He replaced a component of the energy recovery valve with a later upgrade. It worked well on the bench and we're crossing our fingers that this will restore it back to full performance, but won't be fully testing this until we've escaped Bristol channel. The installation has also been improved, with a new shelf for the pump and new output valves.
• All the hatches and portholes are now fitted with IKEA blinds.
  
  
  
  
  
• The long saloon bench has a lee cloth which will make it much more useful on passage.
  
  
   
• The galley has gained a shelf to keep the sides clear of our electric kettle, complete with straps to hold it in place, as well as a new fiddle bar so we can stow trays below the oven.
  
  
  
  
  
• The NMEA interactions between the various navigation devices have been fully documented, optimised, and the physical connections have been improved, with a 3D-printed cover to house various the connectors. 
• The port running light has been replaced. 
• Four of the winches have been serviced. 
• Our Refleks diesel stove has a new H cowl on its chimney. This works much better in gusty winds, but does look a bit "Arnold Rimmer".
  
  
  
  
  

The wind is looking good for Tuesday. Hopefully our next update will be from a sunny anchorage.