More Boat Repairs and Getting Ready to Leave Ramsey

Monday 17th May

A lot of long distance cruising people will tell you that the lifestyle is mainly about fixing boats in exotic places, mainly because boats are forever needing things fixing.  Not sure if Ramsey qualifies as an “exotic place” but there is definitely a lot of boat fixing going on at the moment.  At the moment we seem to be working harder than we ever did when we had proper jobs, but at least progress is now being made.

Today meant putting the first coat of primer on the hulls, Nimrod is now a very fetching shade of grey, looking a bit like a battleship.  Chris M has been rebuilding the fibre glass to the keels, so it really does look like things are moving in the right direction.  Even the weather has been ideal for getting the jobs done, it is forecast to stay warm and mainly dry for the next few days.

Nimrod in Battleship Grey	Rebuilding the Damage to the Port Keel

Tuesday 18th May

Another coat of primer went on the hulls today and Chris M has continued to build up the fibreglass to the keels.  The fibreglass work can only be done in stages to make sure it is all properly cured and up to full strength before more layers are added.  Chris M will put on no more than 3 layers of woven mat / chopped strand at a time, he then leaves it to cure for at least 3 hours before adding another 2 or 3 layers.  Apparently if you add to many layers at a time the laminate can get too hot because of the curing process and the strength is badly affected.  Consequently it will take a few days of gradual laminating to build the keels up to their proper strength and thickness, then it is all sanded smooth and finally gelcoat is added to finish the repair.

I have also removed the lower rudder support brackets so we can lower the rudders down to give us access to the joint between the rudder skeg and the hull.  This joint has some cracks around so Chris M wants to grind away the surface to check how far the damage extends, he is then going to reinforce the joint with glass reinforced filler.  Unfortunately when I took the brackets off it revealed some serious crevice corrosion to the bolts and brackets, see the photos.

Severe Crevice Corrosion to Nuts and Bolts	More Corrosion to the Bracket

This crevice corrosion happens to lower grades of Stainless Steel when it is isolated from oxygen, better quality Stainless drastically reduces the likelihood.  The bolts in the picture are only A2 Grade, they should be A4 for use under water, the steel used for the bracket is also not good enough for use under water.  We will have to repair any corrosion to the brackets by welding and then paint them with epoxy paint, then use some decent sealant and A4 bolts when it is all put back together.

Thursday 20th May

Well, yesterday did not go quite according to plan – does anything, when boats are involved?  The plan was to give the primer a quick rub down with wet and dry to “flat” it off prior to top-coating and then get the first coat of blue on.  Unfortunately the rubbing down took an awful lot more work than anticipated and took all day even with the help of an industrial orbital sander from the hire shop.  Finally both hulls were as smooth as a baby’s bum and ready for painting.

Today was painting day !!!  A really bad start when we opened the first tin off paint to find it was the wrong blue – Sue not happy to say the least.  We were told the colour by Broadblue some time ago, they said Awlcraft Flag Blue and I still have the email to prove it.  After much ummming and aahing we decided that the colour difference was not too much and we would go ahead and put the paint on.  After making a start it was quite obvious that the new colour was quite a lot darker but we carried on anyway – too late now!!!  After more deliberation we have decided that we have enough paint to give the inner hulls one coat as well so Nimrod will now be a new colour all over.  After putting the first coat on the outer hulls the quality of the finish is very impressive, all the different shades of primer, blue, gelcoat and filler that were showing after rubbing down the primer coat have been completely covered by the one coat and the depth of gloss is amazing, we are putting two more coats on the outer hulls so the finish should be even better then.  Seeing as the paintwork on the inner hulls is in very good condition we only need to give it a thorough clean with Scotchbrite pads and soapy water before solvent cleaning and painting with the new paint colour.  One coat should give a great finish.  After all the hassle Sue has decided she likes the new colour better than the original so all is well!!

Chris M has been continuing with his repairs to the keels and rudder skegs and everything is just about ready for final shaping and sanding prior to reinstating the gel coat.  All now on schedule to go back in the water next Wednesday, the crane is booked complete with spreader bars to ensure the lifting straps do not cause any more damage to the boat, especially our shiny new paintwork.

Not a bad finish for the First Coat !!	Keel Shoe to Stbd Keel Ready for Fitting

Saturday 22nd May

Yesterday was another bad day – they seem to be a bit too common!!!  This time it was the weather that decided it was not going to co-operate, we were going to put on the 2nd coat of blue but it stayed misty, murky and cool all day even though the rest of the UK had blue skies and high temps.  There was no point painting in those conditions – the paint would not dry properly.  We did manage to complete a lot of other jobs so the day was not totally wasted.  Weather forecast was not good for Saturday – more mist and not much sun – not very promising.

Up early today with plans for tarpaulins and space heaters to try and beat the murky weather, fortunately none of this was needed because the sun was out and the weather was gorgeous – if anything it was a bit too hot but we didn’t complain.  The port side of the boat was right in the sun and was very hot so it was a bit of a frantic job to get the paint rolled on and tipped off before it started to go off.  We got both sides of the boat painted and looking really good, one more coat to go tomorrow.

Chris M has now got gel coat on all the repairs and tested the keel shoes for fit, Nimrod is finally starting to look as if she might be ready to go back in the water.

Hi all Sue here

As you know from last blog my job was going to be tipping off the paint but unfortunately I was relegated after the first two strokes!!  My new job was topping up paint tray and handing roller or brush to Chris as he needed them.  I did come up with one good idea though, flies kept landing on the fresh paint and making a right mess, I suggested getting my tweezers and plucking them off.  So that became my job as well.  Sunday was last coat of paint day to whole boat so we started painting at 7am and finished at 3pm it was a mammoth job but looks great now.  When we were painting the last hull a breeze blew up and not only flies were landing on boat but loads of dandelion fluff!!  I was kept very busy on the scaffolding planks with my tweezers in hand then disaster struck, I tripped on a plank and put my hand out to save myself leaving a handprint on the freshly painted hull!!  Chris was very good about it and managed to repair the damage but tactfully suggested that maybe I was making more mess than the dandelions!!

There is a lovely cat here that someone has left behind and so has become the boatyard cat. She seems to have taken a fancy to our boat and it gets quite entertaining when every time Chris climbs of the boat with her as he gets back on she jumps back on behind him. He’s given up now just have to make sure she’s not on board before we leave.

Sue with the Yard Cat / Stowaway!

We have been so lucky with the weather and when I think Chris is not looking I do a bit of sunbathing on the nets but it’s never long before he finds me!!  Not long now though and we will be having a well deserved rest in Scotland and I can relax and have a glass of wine or two knowing that I haven’t got to be up at 6am to start work.

Monday 24th May

Well after a 13 hour day yesterday, today was another busy long day – we really need a rest now!!!  The keel shoes were fitted with loads of sealant and bolted through the keels just to be sure – they will not be coming off anytime soon.  Our folding props were stripped and greased, oil was changed in both saildrive legs, keels were drilled and filled with high density foam to give more strength and stiffness, holes were then resealed with high strength filler and glass fibre.  All repair areas were gelcoated and sanded smooth where ever they needed it and finally the waterline was masked off ready for painting the boot topping line.  It does not sound like much when you write it down but it was another 13 hour day and you all think we are enjoying ourselves on our boat!!!

Tuesday 25th May

On the final push to get everything finished ready to go in the water tomorrow, started today thinking “only a few little jobs to do” but it still managed to stretch to another 12 hour day.  We sanded and gelcoated the holes wed made to put the foam into the keels, masked off and painted the waterline with two coats of red boot topping and anti-fouled all the repair areas and the keel shoes.  Cyril appeared late in the afternoon to put our name back on the hulls and transom so we are “Nimrod of Malvern” again.  Chris M finished off the repairs to the deck.  One of the biggest jobs was tidying up all the tools and equipment that had been used over the last few weeks to make sure everything went back where it belonged.

What a Pretty Behind !!!	Finally Shipshape and Shining Ready for Splash Tomorrow

 

Wednesday 26th May

Splash Down Day!!!

Yet another early start to make sure everything was ready for the arrival of the crane to put us back in the water.  We collected the spreader bars from the Shipyard and concocted a cunning plan as to how everything was going to work – nothing to it!!!  Dave arrived with the crane, on time at 0930 and proceeded to get set up in the right place to give himself maximum lifting capacity while Den, Brian and Bill moved a couple of boats to create enough room alongside the quay.  Lots of carpet had been acquired to go between the lifting strops and our new paintwork so this was hung over the sides while the strops were put into place.  Getting the spreader bars into place and making sure the strops were in the right positions and everything else was OK took a while, but there was no need to rush, best to get it all absolutely spot on first.  Dave slowly took up the load on the crane while I checked everything was OK, eventually Nimrod was clear of all her wooden blocks and chocks and ready to swing over the water.  Dave was excellent on the crane and everything was done extremely smoothly and we were lowered into the water with the crane alarm only going off for the last stretch over the water – much better than the lift out.  We had a lot of people on the boat yard watching or helping and I think everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief as we were safely lowered into the water.

The afternoon was spent washing all the muck off the boat, some minor finishing jobs and more tidying.  We had Chris Machin on board for a meal in the evening, I think Sue has fed him most of the last few days with bacon butties, tea and cakes.  We had a tour of Chris’ boat, White Lady, she is a “work in progress” as Chris is preparing her for sailing away but she is a very cosy boat that reminded Sue of an Alice in Wonderland adventure.  She is a 50’ steel boat that Chris bought as an incomplete project and he is definitely making progress – it could be a while before she is completely finished though!!!

“Hold Your Breath Time” as Nimrod is Swung Out Over the Water	Finally Back Where We Belong

 

Thursday 27th May

We decided to stay in Ramsey another day because the wind was forecast to be NW F4-5 that was not very good for our passage towards Scotland.  The forecast for Friday is a much nicer SW F4-5 so we thought another day would not make much difference.  We have moved through the swing bridge to the outer part of the harbour so we can set off as soon as we have enough water tomorrow.  We are planning to head towards Portpatrick for our first hop and then up towards Islay, it all depends on the weather as usual.

Before we leave we must say a huge thank-you to all the people who have helped make our stay in Ramsey as pleasant as possible in the circumstances.  We have met an awful lot of very interesting people who have all been so helpful to us, too many to name individually.  We will mention Ernie, Dennis and Brian at the yard for everything they have done, Keith and Martin the Harbourmasters for their cheerful assistance, Kelvin at the Shipyard and a very special thanks to Chris Machin who has worked extremely hard to make sure we made it back in the water on time as well as helping with lots of other bits and pieces.

Our blog updates may be a bit more sporadic over the next few weeks since Internet access might be a bit hit and miss around the Scottish Islands, but we will keep you updated with our adventures as often as we can.

 

Boat Repairs Begin !

At Work in Ramsey

Hi all Sue here

Surveyor came last Friday and after amending a couple of things he gave us the go ahead to start work on Nimrod.  I can’t begin to describe the mess after both back cabins had to be virtually dismantled to enable reinforcement work to be done to both hulls, this is where Nimrod was damaged when we were craned out as spreader bars weren’t used.  They will be used on the lift back in!!  After they had finished grinding down and reinforcing the whole cabin was covered in a fine white dust which got into everything.  I donned my overalls, equipped myself with lots of scrubbing gear and got stuck in.  Chris then put everything back together and I moved all our things back in.

Sue Hard at Work, Rubbing Down	A Dirty Job – Grinding out the Damage

Chris has started sanding the hulls down ready for painting,  I did help with the rubbing down but don’t think I did very well as Chris went over wherever I had done, I think it’s a man thing!!  Paint has arrived so that’s good, only thing is I have got to watch the DVD that came with it as my job is to do the “Tipping Off”.  Oh dear this doesn’t bode well!!

Got to give it to him though Chris has worked really hard this week getting all preparation work done and making steel shoes to fit onto bottom of keels for when repair work has been completed,  When he came in last night he looked as if he had had a blue rinse after sanding down the paintwork, very fetching indeed!! Don’t know what he looked like most my late nan or a smurf!!

Although it’s been a bit trying here these last few weeks we are lucky that we have good family and friends who have kept us going with their texts, emails and phone calls so thank you all for that.  If the work keeps progressing as it is now we should still be leaving here around the 26th May.

Port Side – Lots of Sanding and Filling	Starboard Keel – Ground out Ready for Laminate Repair

Chris’ Turn Now !!!

It has been a very, very busy 10 days working on the boat.  First job was to make steel shoes to protect and strengthen the bottom of the keels for the future – they should eliminate any risk of similar damage.  We bought the steel from the shipyard next door and hired a welder from the hire shop and then spent 3 days welding and grinding to get the shoes completed.  Sue forgot to take some photos of me hard at work so we will post some photos of the shoes when we put them on the keels.  Finally the shoes were moved round to the workshop and painted with two pack epoxy.  All told it took 5 days to get them completed.

Next job was to prepare the hull sides ready for painting – this was a real marathon job!!  As you may know the preparation work is the most important part of any painting job so it had to be done right.  First the hulls were rubbed down with Scotchbrite pads and plenty of soapy water to get rid of any polish, grease and dirt that might have been on the surface.  Next was sanding down the surface to make sure it is nice and smooth, any blemishes, scratches and cracks were ground out and filled followed by more sanding.  Hopefully the four days work have produced a smooth, flawless surface ready for painting.  Finally the hulls were washed off with very fine Scotchbrite and lots of soapy water, then sponged clean again and flushed off with the hosepipe.  Painting starts on Monday provided the weather plays the game – the forecast is good for the beginning of the week.

Chris Machin and I have ground out all the damage to the keels and Chris is going to start the fibreglass work on Monday.  He is confident he can make the repair stronger than the original build and together with the keel shoes there should be plenty of strength for the future. 

We need a week of reasonable weather to get the painting and fibreglass work all complete, there will then be a major clean up required to get Nimrod back to her best.  We hope to be back in the water 24th or 25th of May – fingers crossed.

Frustrated in Ramsey!

A quick update to let you all know what is going on here in Ramsey, unfortunately it is not very much just yet!!!  We managed to get the repair estimate completed and sent off to the Insurance Company, they decided the total cost meant they needed to send their own surveyor over to confirm the extent of the work and the costs before we can get on with the work.  The surveyor is supposed to be here on Friday, we are hoping that his flight does not get cancelled due to Icelandic ash clouds.

Once the surveyor has done his inspection work can start in earnest to get us all shipshape and back in the water.  The actual work involved should not take too long, but some of it is weather dependent, let’s hope the sun shines!!  As usual everything to do with boats always seems to take longer than you thought, we have had to get used to this over the last couple of weeks and try to accept that things will get done in their own good time – all well and good but it is a bit frustrating at times when you just want to get on with things.

At least the delays have allowed us to catch up with some of the outstanding jobs on our “never ending” To Do list, so the time has not been completely wasted.  Spent yesterday afternoon with some big jacks borrowed from the next door shipyard and lots of bits of wood – we had to jack up the aft end of Nimrod to get the keels well clear of the ground to make the repair work as easy as possible.  We are now about a foot higher and best of all we are now level so we are not constantly living on a slope.

We have managed to do a bit of exploring on our bikes and we had to try out various local pubs to make sure the beer was up to scratch – not too sure on that yet so will probably have to try a few more!  Went to a lovely little restaurant called the Harbour Bistro for Sue’s Birthday and had a really nice meal, we met a South African couple there who have just got back from a Round the World holiday – they did it in about 100 days and they really enjoyed themselves.  The way things are going at the moment it might take us that long just to get to Norway!!

Spring has Sprung in the Isle of Man	Mooragh Park, Ramsey

Mooragh Park is just a couple of minutes walk from the boat and is very impressive for a Council facility, it has a huge lake that is used for Sailing, Canoeing, Rowing etc, there is also bowls, tennis, kiddies playgrounds, skateboard park, mountain bike course, cafe, crazy golf and, best of all, outdoor gym equipment all round the park (not used these yet!!!).  All in all a lovely park and immaculately maintained by the staff. 

Bank Holiday Monday the Park was host to a Bike show for all sorts of motor bikes and also on display were some of the Trophies for the Isle of Man TT, they were very impressive at over 4ft high.

Some Harley’s at the Show	One of the Early TT Racers

Hopefully our next update will give news of our speedy progress with repairs to Nimrod.

Hi all Sue here

As Chris has said living on a boat yard waiting to get thing’s done has proved very frustrating to say the least!!  Up until yesterday we were on a slope but now Chris has jacked Nimrod up ready for repairs we are back level, so no more frantic showers trying to stop the water overflowing the shower tray and pans escaping whilst cooking!!

I have had one little mishap though, I’ve managed to split one of my yellow buckets, I was so upset as you can imagine.  Then Chris said not to worry and produced another one, I wonder how many he’s got stashed away!!

Had a very nice surprise on my birthday as Joe and Vikki, my son and daughter, put together a video for me on face book. It included them, my granddaughter Courtney, my mum, my niece Liz and Lotty (mums spaniel). It was lovely and very much appreciated.

Can someone please tell me why when men plan bike rides and tell you it’s a nice gentle route they have planned it always ends up with lots of hills!! He keeps trying to tell me that for every uphill there has to be a downhill but I can assure you this is not the case!!  To make matters worse I hadn’t put my special padded cycle shorts on so I was not very happy by the time we got back!!

I am still looking forward to going to Norway but it might now mean a quicker dash through Scotland. Not to worry we can take our time on the way back.  Hopefully we will be leaving here 26th May so keep everything crossed for us.