Replacement of through hulls under waterline
All through hulls below waterline were replaced in 2015 and these were actually looking good. However, for our own confidence, we decided to replace all 6 through hulls under waterline as well as the through hull of the forward sonar. We discovered that one of them had a tiny infiltration of water and the balsa tree was also humid. We took opportunity to dry the balsa as much as we could and add a layer of epoxy to avoid water infiltrating balsa tree in case of leakage through the sikaflex.
Replacement of sanitary hose and water hoses
We replaced the odourless sanitary hoses, water discharge hoses in the kitchen and bathroom and the hose connecting the water tank to the water plug on deck used to fill up the water.
Replacement of electrical cable in the mast
We replaced the cables for navigation lights, deck light and motor running light. During dismantling, the glass of the deck light just fell off. From outside, all looked good but inside, the metallic frame holding the glass was heavily corroded and the glass was just waiting to drop. Good to deal with that now and avoid having to repair it when the mast is up.
As we were working on cables and had to open the engine running light on the mast, we took the opportunity to replace the traditional incandescent bulb that was installed with a low consumption LED one. Current consumption is not really a concern when running on engine since the generator is delivering plenty of it but the destiny of an incandescent bulb is to fail so why not reducing the risk of having to replace that bulb while at sea for the price of a LED bulb?
Replacement of motor raw water cooling hoses
Some hoses getting old started to delaminate causing full stop of cooling water flow. The faulty hose was replaced by the previous owner but since all these hoses had the same age, we decided to replace all the remaining ones. Replacing the hose connecting to the gearbox inlet was a real challenge. The only way was literally to dive in the motor room head down … it was all about acrobatic skills and team work.
New sprayhood and lazy bag
Our lazy bag started to get a bit old so we ordered a new one to CB Marine in Västervik and we took opportunity to replace the sprayhood as well. That one could have been used for another season but we didn’t want to have a shiny lazy bag over an old sprayhood. CB Marine really did an excellent job.
Repack of liferaft
We had the life raft checked and repacked at Viking Life Saving Equipment AB in Stockholm. Since it was actually time for the air bottle to be replaced, Viking team inflated the liferaft in front of us. It was a very good opportunity to see how the mechanism works, how the liferaft looks like when inflated and what is inside. Now we have it stored on deck and hopefully we don’t have to inflate it again …
Re-covering matresses
We wanted to refresh a bit the interior and give a personal touch. CB Marine in Västervik helped us re-cover them. We chose one color ”sand” for the front and aft cabins and 2 nuances of green for the sofa. We just love the result! The contrast with mahogany wood is beautiful.
Replacement of curtains
The curtains were discolored by the sun so we replaced all of them with new ones matching the new colors of the covers of the matresses. Now we have fresh curtains ready to take a lot of Caribbean sun.
Check and replacement of running rig
We pulled through the mast a halyard for inner forestay that was missing and one lift line for one of the whisker poles that was also missing. Mouse lines were dragged for both of these so the installation was quick and easy. We checked the conditions of the rest of the running rig and found a damage on the main sail halyard where the rope clutch is usually locking it when the sail is up so we replaced the halyard. The halyard of the gennaker and the steering lines of the wind vane where also quite old so we replaced with new ones. We found the rest of the running rig in good conditions.