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| Daisy IV hibernating! |
It has been a busy Spring. Daisy IV had been rather neglected at the start of last season due to us moving to the coast, and having so many other things to do. I never really caught up with the various things that needed doing. So, late in February this year, I brought her, from her winter hibernation at the boatyard, back to the house to do a number of much needed pre-season jobs.
One was to replace, once again, the auto bilge pump. The bilge pump is an absolute necessity since, unlike previous boats, the boats design means that the bulk of any rainwater, when n her mooring, generally doesn’t drain out through the scuppers, but rather gathers in the bilge. The one I purchased last year, a Whale Supersub, was frankly next to useless. The auto function never really worked properly and either didn't come on when required or, when it did work, forgot how to suck out the bilge water and, having sparked into life, refused to turn off... So, this season, I purchased a new manual Rule pump and linked it up to a 'Waterwitch' float switch, and this finally seems to have worked well. Time will, of course, bear true testimony to this claim…
Meanwhile, I am trying to regenerate a cover which came with the boat and might potentially be useful in diverting rain away from the bilges. More on that in due course…
Whilst working on the bilge pump, I took the opportunity to overhaul the modest electrical wiring in the boat, building and installing a wooden mounted box housing the fuse box, so that all the wiring is now hopefully kept better organised and safe from any accidental problems - such as water gathering in the bilge!
I also spent some time working on the centreplate downhaul which, when removing the cover for inspection, turned out to be showing alarming signs of wear. This will be covered in a separate post since the saga continued post-launch.
The next thing was to fill an alarming number of deck holes which had been deliberately, one might say recklessly created by the previous owner, with his various mad projects. So, making use of a fibreglass repair kit, these were made good albeit that I have erred on the side of functionality rather than cosmetic finishing - the looks of it all can wait for another day - but I couldn't wait until the start of the new season.
The final thing was to fit a brand new sprayhood and tent. Unfortunately this hasn't been quite so successful as hoped since the tent Anglia Yacht Brokerage had ordered for me was incorrectly fitted, and so has had to go back for some important changes. I remain ever hopeful that this will return in time to get some serious usage later in the summer.
And then there was the usual wood treatment, cleaning and polishing, prior to the first launch date which is due to take place on 20th March, well within my notional target to be afloat before All Fools Day.
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| Launch day! |
