Boatyard

Haulout in Almerimar

This was the first time we had seen Azzy out of the water, and initially we were very pleased. 

Nice calm day to reverse into the dock

On the move

It was not until she was on the chocks and jet washed that we discovered the previous people to anti foul her had applied the paint over hundreds and hundreds of barnacles, what were they thinking!

It took three days to remove each one before we could start to prep the hull properly.

Next up was a look at the Gori folding prop. What an amazing piece of engineering. Not only does it fold up when we are sailing, therefore producing less drag, but it also has an overdrive position so we can change the pitch of the blades to allow the engine to run at less RPM.

Apart from needing regressing, the three rubber stops that prevent damage to the blades looked in poor shape so we replaced those. Or should I say our friend Les came along and replaced them, as it was a devil of a job to get the new ones back in place.

New rubber stops in situ

Waiting to be greased

The old rubber stops on the right

The main purpose of the haul out, apart from painting, was to change the rear heads holding tank seacocks which had jammed shortly after taking delivery last June.

We had a similar issue with this part on Scarlet, and had been very pleased with the replacement design which was made of glass reinforced nylon as opposed to bronze.

We decided to replace both the jammed one and the good one at the front, just in case.

This involved grinding the old skin fitting away from outside of the hull, which made it easier to remove the seacocks. Of course this is a boat, so a simple sounding job took a vey long time as even with us removing the toilet, there is only a very small amount of space to work with.

Skin fitting ground off

OMG, a hole in the boat!

The offending seacock totally jammed

Eventually both seacocks were replaced, and at that point we decided to replace the rest of the plumbing. Basically, the plastic waste pipes get furred up inside (hope no one is eating a meal at this juncture), and clog up. You can pour brick acid down the loo which will remove some, but the only way is to replace. Not knowing if the job had ever been done before, we thought it best too do it all.

The pipes are bent and shaped using a hair drier to fit back into the limited space, and yes it really did take us two days to do both heads!

Lynne bending the pipes into shape

Next up was the dripless seal on the prop shaft. This seal is designed to prevent water coming into the boat at the point the prop shaft enters the hull. They should be replaced about every 5 to 7 years, so ours was due. We had also noticed salt water in the tray underneath the seal and salt crystals in the corner, tell tale signs of sea water ingress.

The shaft had to be removed from the back of the gearbox, and pulled back enough to allow the old seal to come off and the new one to be fitted. Chris and his assistant Kevin made this look very easy, although they did need to use a blowtorch to pop the shaft from the gearbox.

Looking down at the propshaft and gearbox

Propshaft gearbox coupling

Once all that lot was done it was simply a case of preparing the hull and applying the anti fouling, oh and the hull got a quick polish as well.

All done for another season

Not sure when and where we will next have Azzy hauled out. It will probably need to be before the Galapogos, as they send a diver down to look for barnacles and will send you away if you have any, as they want to protect the surrounding waters from contamination. Not too sure what Charles Darwin would make of all that.

Only a few more weeks scheduled in Almerimar and then the voyages begin.

Looking forward to having Phill join us from Almerimar to the Mar Menor in early May, and then catching up with the family when we arrive. 

Spanish Admin

Admin

You have to love Spain!

What is not to like? The people are in the most part friendly, in Andalucia you get Tapas with a drink, and the climate is not too shabby either. Is it any wonder fellow Brits come here following retirement for a better quality of life. Well, that is until you get involved in Spanish Admin.

Now when we visit a new marina for the first time, the check in procedure is relatively straightforward. We hand over our passports, yacht certificate of registry, insurance document, and then pay. All simple and painless. During this process our 20 questions along the lines of where is the supermarket, laundry and shower facilities etc. are answered with enthusiastic help and guidance, in the forms of maps and even timetables. Splendid!

Our perception of admin changed recently when we needed to get some vaccinations sorted.

The travel clinic in Almeria is about an hours drive away by car, or three if you go by bus. No big deal as we are finally getting through all boat related jobs, so we caught the bus.

On arriving at the clinic we were handed a form each to fill out. Again no big deal, just the usual stuff, in fact all plain sailing you might say. Then we were ushered into the consulting room to see the doctor. OK fair play he did nearly fall off his chair when we showed him the list of countries we intended to visit, but he singled out Panama as the most likely place to contract a heinous disease. With this he arranged for us to have a jab straight away for Yellow Fever. The next part took us by surprise as we went to hand over cash to the receptionist, only to be told we had to pay it into a bank.

He then printed off three forms which we both signed, and then set off down the High Street. The first bank we came to was not far away, so being good Brits we joined the queue for the teller. 

Of course in Spain each customer likes to feel he or she has value for money when engaging in conversation with the bank staff (this is the same at supermarket checkouts too), so we waited patiently whilst the people in front of us took turns in much gesticulation and shouting (another observation - the Spanish don't talk, they shout... all the time). When our turn eventually came the teller photocopied our documents, filed them, printed three more which we had to sign, filed two and gave us one. We then went back to the clinic and gave it to the receptionist. Smiles all round. We then saw a different doctor who administered our vaccinations, and then explained that Yellow Fever was the only one they could do. For the rest, and there are many, we need to visit our local doctor, the same one that told us she could not do the injections hence us having to visit the travel clinic, Doh!

Anyway, we went along this morning with our new vaccination passports, and the receptionist said she needed copies of our passports and EHIC cards. No problem as we had the originals with us. She then explained when we tried to hand them over to her, that only photocopies would do. No problem we thought, as a huge photocopier was on her desk beside her. But, you have to make your own copies as we are not allowed! WTF, I mean seriously, how much effort would it have taken for her to lift the lid? So we trudged off to the local Chandlers, got the copies and went back to hand them in. Then we were told we have to come back in two days time to see the doctor to make an appointment to come back and see another doctor. In between the first and second visit we need to order the vaccinations at the pharmacy, and no doubt then find a bank to pay in the money for them. The doctor will also charge for the administration, so another trip will be required to the bank in between the final consultation and the injections.

There is a lot to be said for the NHS on reflection.

Rigging

Rigging Check

Part of our rationale in coming to Almerimar was to reacquaint ourselves with Andy Parkinson, the expert rigger we had used two years before on Scarlet Lady, and soon after we arrived we made contact to book in a full rig check. As our sailing is evolving from relatively short hops around the Med to an Atlantic and onward Pacific crossing, we wanted to be doubly sure the rig was up to the job. As it turned out for the most part everything was fine, but the amount of movement fore and aft in the mast was a cause for concern. Whilst it would probably have been perfectly OK, and after all Aztec already has one Atlantic crossing under her belt with her previous custodians, Andy felt we could improve the integrity, and therefore safety still further by making some modifications.

Our mast is well supported at the top and sides as you would expect, but would clearly benefit from extra support slightly lower down.

Andy carrying out a rig check

Aztec Dream, like Scarlet Lady before her, is a fractional sloop rigged yacht as is common with many production yachts that you can buy today. Very different to the square rigged ships of old that could only sail downwind. Those ships came into their own running downwind on the 'Trades' transporting all sorts of commodities like tea in the case of the Cutty Sark, that could manage 17 knots downwind, but the upwind performance was not good at all.

Modern sailing boats have good allround performance thanks to the Bermuda Sloop rig, with its low drag and high lift to drag ratio. In addition, instead of needing large crews, most yachts these days can be easily handled by just two people and it is not uncommon to see yachts of 50 to 60 feet with just two aboard.

Types of rig

Andy recommended the fitting of a 'Stay' at the height of the second spreaders, running down to a strong point on the deck. This would be complemented by additional adjustable 'Backstays', which combined would give the support for our intended use. One of the options we discussed and ended up going for, was rather than just have a bare wire which is what the stay would be, we could fit a furling jib. This would be a sail much smaller in area to the genoa. It would turn Aztec Dream from a sloop into a cutter, and the pros more than outweighed the cons.
Not only would it provide a greater sail area and therefore more speed, it could also be used very effectively when conditions turn nasty. In very strong winds we could furl away our genoa and just use the jib, which would give us better stability. Hopefully with this new sail and all the others at our disposal on board, we should have something for just about every kind of condition we are likely to encounter.

The only downside is that when both sails are deployed, the genoa has to be furled before tacking, as it will not fit in the newly created slot. Not really a big issue as we are not racing, and most passages tend to be on one tack anyway.

We have specified a furling system made by Selden called Furlex, which is very high quality and has a good reputation. We could have gone cheaper, and then again could have spent a lot more, but this one seemed to be a good choice.

The first thing we did was to change the padeye fitting that the new stay would attach to, with a heavy duty one that was custom fabricated for us in the local stainless steel workshop. To take the extra loads, the deck was reinforced below this with a thick sheet of stainless, again custom made to fit Aztec.

We turned Aztec around to make it easier for Andy to fit the new Furlex system. This involved another trip up the mast to secure the fittings in place, and to measure the wire forestay. The Furlex option we went for came with an adjustable section which allows for fine tuning, and after cutting the wire to length and swayging on the fixing terminal, all was done.  Only issue was the new deck fitting for the staysail has meant we have lost a place to tie down the rib at the front. It appears that we should be able to fit a new pad eye just to the side, and use this to secure it. We will also have to move the bowsprit chocks to the starboard side so the tack line does not interfere with the new staysail furling line. The bowsprit itself could really do with being about a foot longer, but that would mean buying a new one which probably won't happen. Being a little longer would give us extra clearance for the anchor when flying, and bring in the chute and spinnaker. Nothing is ever straightforward!

New Furlex 200S inner forestay

Talking of the new sail, Andy did a great job of taking all the measurements and on his advice we chose to go with Hyde Sails in the UK. We have specified a cruising weight Dacron, and now that it has been fitted we are delighted.

Hyde's have been making sails for more than 50 years

New cutter configuration

Staysail deployed

New coachroof track

Ceiling panels had to come down

Holes in roof under mast track, where the deck is 40mm thick.
These holes are in the inner moudling behind the ceiling panels

Andy also took down the forestay for the genoa, as on the last sail around the bay it became stiff to furl the genoa. As much as possible was stripped back and lubricated, and it is a little better now. We are going to monitor it from when we leave here, but have an option to replace the furling drum on the way back past should we need to. 

We had to stop traffic to get this off!

This part connects to the top of the mast.
The large plastic ring is a rope deflector

The furling drum was taken away and soaked in diesel for 2 days!

Removing the old Helicoil

In the meantime we have removed the old damaged helicoil unit from the mast, and the new one does not fit! The manufacturer has changed the material in the spiral to a newer one that is more UV resistant, but in the process the unit has ended up 3mm longer. As far as we are concerned it may as well be 6 feet longer as nothing lines up, and it is impossible to get it back in the mast. Having sent many emails back and forth to the UK supplier, we began going round in ever decreasing circles until the final email from the MD who suggested we force it in!
We then contacted the manufacturers in La Rochelle, France, who could not believe the poor advice and have promised to make us one that fits. To this end we have sent back the complete unit and the old part, and are now awaiting their findings. Hopefully it will not be too long as we can't fit the mainsail until we get it back, which is taking up valuable storage room in the aft port cabin.

One of the last jobs will be to upgrade the fitting that holds the boom to the mast. The design is poor, and relies on just one clevis pin to stop the boom falling off. Our intention is to enlist the skills of the local metalworker, and the design idea from Andy, to come up with a better solution. We have also spoken to the manufacturer, who admitted they had changed the specification since Aztec was built.

At the time of writing the we have just taken delivery of a spare fitting which has gone off to me modified. All being well we should have that back in a few days time.

As this is the first post for a while, it would be fair to assume we have had our feet up and spent most days relaxing in the sun, with a nice hike in the mountains at the weekends. Well, apart from the hiking that could not be further from the truth, in fact we have spent just about every day doing something boat related, but more of that in the next instalment.

We are looking forward to using the new sail, and it will be interesting to see what differences there are on the various points of sail. No doubt we will convey that in future posts.