Still going with a quick sailing post.

I'm still alive, just haven't got around to posting for the last four months. I'll not bother with a myriad of excuses, but instead post some pictures of sailing the Sona.

It hasn't been a very good season, I've been really busy with work and then it always seemed to poor weather whenever I had time off. I've only managed five outings which makes for a very expensive hobby this year!

The interior modifications have held together and the new solar charging and electrics have worked faultlessly. The usb sockets charge my phone quicker than the mains charger at home. The only problem has been a small but persistent leak. I'll need to rebuild and replace the windows over the winter and hopefully that will cure it. But I also plan to get the boat craned up onto blocks so I can check the keel box.

Its a lovely boat to sail but the genoa is a bit of a handful when single handing, so fitting a furler is another project for the winter.

I think the above photo was in May. Anyway, that's Stuart on his yacht Seline. The photo below was a week ago during the Rudkin Memorial Race. I was late starting then retired after an hour of drifting along at half a knot. In the end, there were only two finishers.

There's a big rock under that iron pole!

Back into the narrow harbour entrance and there's an expectant face waiting.

Sona's launch

Back in January I set a target date for rebuilding and launching the Jaguar 23, Sona, on Good Friday, the 3rd of April. Well the day came and went and the crane launched most of the other boats at Dunbar Harbour. I wasn't ready but after an awful lot of work over the Easter weekend, Sona was finally launched on Monday 6th.

First thing was to move it to the slip where it would be launched. Some good friends and a little tractor and off she goes.

Then for the next three days I was up early as the sun started to warm the harbour and kept busy all day, painting, sawing, drilling, fabricating and generally fixing up the boat. Friends and passers-by came along to offer advice watch the progress and generally chat amongst themselves (and enjoy a cold beer) in the hot sunshine. 

Lots of little boxes of collected useful things; and they did come in very handy as I rebuilt the rudder, outboard bracket, rigging, wiring, and engine.

The outboard bracket got a whole new lump of mahogany ply laminated up, then cut varnished and drilled to fit.

The mast foot was re-attached with monel rivets,  and all the hallyards were sorted to fit the blocks and exit for the best runs to the cockpit jammers and winches. Then, whilst there were a few willing helpers, the mast was hauled up into position and I had a minor panic when I couldn't find locating pin for the foot. Fortunately I had a suitable pin in one of my wee boxes!

Monday morning saw a quick coat of antifoul, fitting of the engine, fuel tank and anchor, then at high tide Sona was launched. Harbour resident Kenny took these photos as I scrambled around on board and wound the keel down. Stuart had drawn the short straw and was in the water.

Everything worked!! no leaks and I was soon onto my new mooring.

 

It has been a lot of work but its worth it when I look at these photos. There's still a lot of fettling and learning to come but she's in the water and only three days late. I'm well chuffed.

Still going, still busy.

Life seems to have been conspiring against my blog over the last month. First I lost my wallet and when I cancelled my cards, I missed a payment on my Blogger wallet for media storage. The new cards didn't turn up for twelve days, and so everything was shut down. Once I got everything sorted my computer decided to go into retirement and now I have intermittent router problems.

But despite all this, work continues toward launch day for the Sona. Progress has been made and the 'mighty' Heron was sold a couple of weeks ago. It's going to remain in Dunbar which is good news and hopefully the new owner, Alan, will get as much enjoyment from it as I did over the last nine! years.

On the Sona I've been doing some major cleaning which can be seen in the above picture of the cabin sole ( halfway done). After a lot of experimenting, the cleaning product of choice is Dettol Mould and Mildew Remover, a stiff scrubbing brush, lots of elbow grease then Flash wipes to clean up.

I've also turned my hand to minor carpentry to extend the bulkhead to the keel box. I made up the lower part today and have stained it to match. I know that the grain is running in different directions, but that was the way the ply was on both sides. The fake brass clock and barometer will be fixed to it along with a couple of shelves for mugs, books etc.

The re-wire is also coming on, although every now and then I find new mysteries to confound me. Above is the supply and return for the VHF with fuses on both sides? I've also managed to get the Mariner 6hp going again. There was a fuelling problem at the remote side which was fixed easily enough by cutting away de-laminated hose and cleaning up the breather on the tank. I've also ordered new cap-shrouds from Jimmy Green Marine.

And speaking of engines. I yet again got roped into the annual task of putting the saab diesel back into the yacht Carioca. It was out for new engine mounts this year.

It is a cramped engine compartment and the only way to access it is to hang upside. Long arms and a lot of patience is required! Outboards definitely have advantages.

So just a couple of weeks to go. I still need to get the mast put together and a test raising to see how the new rigging will work out. I also have to make up various new bolts and pads for the outboard mount, and the rudder box is still awaiting welding. The sea also needs to be reminded that the sailing season is about to start!

Sunny Saturday and a grim Sunday.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and I got some tidying done on the Heron as I continue to hope to sell her. I also took the chance to take some photos of the locker lids for the benefit of Steve on his blog, 'Yacht Sparrow'

I hope the pictures are pretty self explanatory, the wooden tongues go in under the back of the locker moulding so there is no need for hinges.

 

 

Fly was enjoying the sunshine too and we had a good wander along the shore seeing what the spring tides had washed up. I should really have taken advantage of the weather and got the LHT out for a cycle but I was in no rush as I had a plan for Sunday when using the bike would work out perfectly. Unfortunately the weather changed and by Sunday afternoon it was snowing and as the day wore on the rain hammered down.

 

Bit of a disappointment, but there's always next weekend.

More progress on the Sona - Jaguar 23

It's about time I did a cycling post..., but not this week. I'm still busy with the Sona and as always seems to  happen, the more I do, the more jobs I find to do. 

First a quick diversion.  The above pic is of the remains of Dunbar Castle which is looking even further undercut by the winter storms. There could be some homeless Kittiwakes when they come back to nest this year.
But back to the Sona. Last weekend was a little warmer so I gathered some useful tools together (see below) and got started on the the ever growing list of jobs.

 I removed the forward bulkhead to check the anchor-well drains. I was pleased to see decent hose and stainless hose clamps, and also that they were crossed to allow the drain to work when healed.

But then the bad news when I gave the hoses a tug and the drains sheared off. Still, they're not too expensive to replace and it's better they fail on dry land.


 

Another task was to replace an area of the sole (technically, a floor in a boat is a rib). This had been removed years ago to re-glass an area around the keel box and never replaced.

The woodwork had to be removed, the mould treated, and then I stuck the section back down with big blobs of silicone. I'll fill the cuts with silicone too. Only problem is that it shows how dirty the rest of the sole is.

Up at the bows, and I've noticed that the fore-stay fitting seems pretty loose. It is near impossible to access but I managed to fit a camera into the void behind the water tank and this is what the camera saw. 

The long stainless eye bolt is the one causing the worry, but after seeing this picture, it looks like there is some resin to stop it coming undone and there is a reasonable backing plate. A Jaguar 23 is supposed to have a fixed fore-stay with no bottle screw, so perhaps it is intentional to have a bit of movement in the fitting. I'll ask about.

Whilst I had the camera handy I opened the access hatch on the water tank and took a picture of the inside. Oh dear. It looks like its going to need a lot of scrubbing with Milton fluid and even then I think it will just be for washing water rather than drinking.

On deck I've resealed the eye bolts the the chain plates and tightened them up against each other.

I also opened up the keel box to check the lifting mechanism which, although it looks dirty, is actually quite well lubed and seems good for another season.  So that at least was put back together and left alone.

I also fitted a new battery but this just highlighted that a complete re-wire is needed. So things are slowly getting there and the cabin is slowly filling up with odd tools and cleaning materials and I am quickly running out of time.

 Good thing I have plenty of willing helpers!

 

Some progress with Sona

For the last couple of weeks I've been stressing over a piece of formal coursework and wondering what on earth I was doing studying again.  It was finally submitted on Wednesday and I had booked a couple of days off work to relax but frustratingly got called in on the mornings. So here's a quick summary of what I did manage to get done.

One of the first jobs was to give the Sona a good scrub. There was a lot of grime and a worrying amount of mould and mildew which can be tough to shift. Stuart was happy to lend a hand and the first scrub was with Bilgex and some sort of liquid detergent we found in a locker. 

It was freezing with the occasional flurry of snow and, despite some good progress, we didn't stick at it for long.
 

So it was back into the cabin where I ripped out the corroded gas stove and temporarily fitted the stove from the Heron.

Ahh, heat! and a working kettle!

Inside is also needing a bit of a clean where some standing water must have collected. This was sprayed with some mildew remover from the local pound-shop with little effect. I'll need to get something a bit stronger for cleaning (bleach and oxalic acid) and I also need to get the sails out of the boat and properly folded.

And whilst I am on the subject of sails, we opened up the spinnaker bag to find this. Hmmm...you can make up your own mind about the colour scheme.

Back in the workshop, and I have cleaned up the mast foot and freed off the halyard blocks. I reset the m6  stainless studs but the aft stud had stripped so I tapped an m8 thread into the back of the alloy casting.

After re-threading the halyards, the whole assembly fitted back into the mast. The 50mm sq plates that I'd carefully engineered (bent in the vice with an m10 bolt for a former) look like they will be just the right size and I now have to make the decision to rivet it all together or to use screws.

 If I rivet it and something doesn't work, then it will be a real pain to strip down. However if I use screws, there is a risk of them catching the halyards inside the mast. I still have to fit the narrower alloy plates fore and aft on the mast so there is no rush.

Busy busy, but the sun is getting a little higher in the sky each day which means longer daylight hours and hopefully some warmth, but also means that I'm another week closer to launch!