Progress
This morning was the scary task of making the new holes in the bottom of Vida (ironic given how much time was have spent filling old holes). Fortunately, the old raw seawater intake for the engine was positioned so that it is easier to access (not tangled up with the
Plans
So we have a clean and painted bilge below where the electric motor, batteries, motor controller, inverter, battery balancers etc are all going. Our "only" problem, before fitting everything, is that the bilge is gradually filling with water. There are currently quite a few sources of this, none
Progress
Today was another windy day, fortunately it had been quieter overnight so we had a better night's sleep. All the fibreglass that we did on the outside of the 11 holes yesterday had hardened nicely, no visible air bubbles. We are going to wait until we strip off
Progress
A very stormy last night. The forecast said we were going to get gusts of 52mph (Force 9) and we can believe it. No damage but it was shaking the boat a bit and very loud. Slightly calmer this morning with gusts in the 40's (mph) but sunny
Cooking
First, some good news. All the epoxy work filling the holes yesterday worked better than we dared hope. Everything has hardened nicely, very little slumping. Going to be straightforward to put the fibreglass cloth on both the inside and outside. As the forecast was for heavy rain from about 11am
Electric
A few people have been asking for product information about our electric plans. Bear in mind that this isn't yet fully implemented and certainly not proven by us. Also that our choice is to be fossil fuel free and live with the impacts. If it means we can&
Environmental
The weather changed our plans today, and kept changing them. We thought it was going to be wet most of the morning and then it wasn't. So we cracked on, then it become more and more clear that from late morning tomorrow is going to be very wet.
Progress
Today has been drier than forecast. So we have been getting on with hole related jobs. First I have turned the old fitting that held the stuffing box (the not quite waterproof, old fashioned way of sealing a propeller shaft) into a clean flange for a PSS Pro dripless seal.
Cooking
We like cheating how long a holiday feels by being able to leave the evening before. So I was working on Sunday but we were able to leave by 7pm. We were fortunate to beat the rain and get the van basically unpacked (food, clothing) and carried onto the boat
Progress
It is very wet in Wales this morning. So it is very nice that our refurbished hatches are not leaking. Plus we can see out through it and the cabin is getting a lot more light. The combination of no hatches or windows leaking plus them all being clear (the
Environmental
Some eagle eyed people might have spotted a new toy in the back of our van in the last post. Recently we were looking at the most environmentally safe way to remove the old anti-fouling paint. What we found is Peelaway Marine which sounds a lot better than the most
Plans
We can't easily fit a whole sheet of plywood in our van. To fit it has to be lifted at the front to rest on top of our headrests and then slope down to the back. It doesn't feel very safe and it doesn't