Appliances
The need. Once we start cruising our plan is to spend the vast majority of time at anchor when we are not sailing. Partly this is to save money :-) For example, the nearest marinas to us at Conwy currently cost about £35 a night or £215 a week. A
Plans
In my last post (Deck repair question) I was writing about the inadequacies of our chainplate and particularly of the backing plate that have caused the only cracks in our deck. I shared it on the Rival Association's private FaceBook group and got some really helpful responses. It
Plans
We have some slight cracking around one chainplate (although "chainplate" doesn't feel the right description for what is essentially an eye bolt). When you look at the backing plate the reason for the crack is obvious. Two stacked backing plates and one has moved. I'
Electric
So we are coming to the end of our staycation. Managed several walks, one food shop, one visit to the pharmacy. Cushions Plus Jane has made lots of progress on the cushions. She has nearly finished all the ones we have foam for. That is all the backrests for the
Appliances
With the our commitment to Zero fossil fuel sailing we have been having to review and update our initial Solar plan. Designing our Solar Arch has been part of that. The traditional "passive" approach to solar is not going to work for us. By that I mean the
Electric
Progress on the Electric motor frame is very visible now. We have both end plates finished enough to fit them (loosely) to the motor and put the propeller extension shaft in. As the pulley on the propeller extension shaft extends below the frame I tipped the whole thing on it&
Electric
We have been trying to work out a design for a solar arch for a very very long time. Designs have come and gone multiple times. When I wrote our Solar Plan back in September, I said "I haven’t quite given up on putting panels off the back
Electric
So on holiday this week but still at home. Very much trying not to take risks or push boundaries of the rules. So today Jane has finished another Saloon backrest: We have also been making more motor progress. Working on 2 frame back plates, I finished drilling the end stop
Electric
I'm really pleased with where we have reached today. I took the plunge and started the other panels for the motor frame. Both the front and back panels are made up of 2x 3mm panels as I couldn't find 6mm sheet stainless steel. Turns out that
Electric
The front panel is coming along nicely. We have been able to check the positioning of the lower pulley and start the preparation for fitting the shaft that will connect to the propeller. Here is the front panel resting on top of the motor. All the bolts fit in the
Electric
We have got to use the new Dremel, it turns out that Jane manages to cut about 10x as much as me with each cutting disc. This is the first of two identical front panels. It needs 5 slots cutting in it (4 for motor bolts, 1 for the motor
Motor
Just got a new toy to help with the electric motor frame. A cordless Dremmel to cut and smooth the slots needed in the stainless steel. More cutting blades on order. Seems a popular "essential" tool according to a number of sites.
