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.