What have we taken on?

It’s a 1997 boat – although actually it sat for 3 years in Moody’s yard before it was commissioned and sold, so effectively 24 years old, and little used since 2020.  It is nevertheless a boat – and boats almost always come with a list of things that need doing – even sometimes new boats, and new owners have new ideas and always want to change things.  In the case of Dulcinea we decided that we wanted to get things in good order before we took her up to Kerrera  Marina opposite Oban next year, and to set her up so that with luck we don’t need to do anything major for a few years (of course realising that it won’t happen that way!).  So here is a list of the jobs that are done, ongoing or to be started:-

New engine and saildrive – the old engine was burning oil, leaking and appeared to lack power – so rather than spend on diagnosis and  repairs with no guarantee that it was going to last we went for  a complete replacement to get peace of mind, particularly since major repairs would have incurred the not insignificant cost of taking the engine out of the boat and putting it back in.  Burned in my mind is the trauma of battling head winds and tide to get back to Stornoway before the fish and chip shop closed,  in a very underpowered boat!  Next time it might actually matter…..

New anchor and chain – the old chain had rusted into clumps, and the old  CQR anchor is not as reliable at setting as newer designs.   Before replacing the chain we put a wooden ‘duck board’ in the base of the locker as the old chain had been sitting in a puddle much of the time.  We now have 60m of  solid galvanised grade 4 chain and a 15 Kg delta anchor that we intend to replace with something ‘better’ and at least 20Kg when we can discover what ‘better’ is!

Installing the diesel heater – the previous owner bought it years ago but never got round to completing the installation since the boat was mostly used in Brittany and didn’t need one.  Most of the necessary ducts were built into the boat by Moody so it wasn’t too much of a problem – the only downside being that Moodys didn’t insulate the ducts and now it would be almost impossible. I had to 3D print a few custom joining ducts in carbon reinforced nylon to complete the installation.

New Genoa from Kemp Sails .  The genoa was the original sail – we took it to Kemps for a wash and check up, and got a quote for laundering the sail and replacing the sacrificial strip that had pretty well perished – which is after all it’s function!  Being a bit surprised at  the quote, I got them to quote for a new sail, which turned out to be little more than twice the price of fixing the old one, due to a 20% Black Friday discount – so no brainer!

VHF radio – we wanted to fit the boat with AIS ‘B’ that lets other ships see your position and speed etc. as it is an important safety feature, so we fitted a new VHF radio with AIS B built in (B&G V60-B, the only VHF that has AIS B).  I fitted an antenna on the stern for its AIS so it can also be used for the VHF if the masthead VHF antenna is damaged. I’ll get an antenna sharing device to keep as an emergency measure.  The GPS output of the VHF will replace the old FURUNO GPS that gives position to the other instruments.  Funny how many instruments come with built in GPS  – VHF, chart plotter, tablet, ORCA, phones etc – I would guess there can be at least 12 GPS  working receivers on board at any time.

Upholstery – the saloon had two armchairs in place of a settee on the starboard side that had been added at some time.  We didn’t find them that comfortable as we both like to put our feet up in the evening, and also because it would be handy to be able to use the settee as an additional passage berth, so we are having it put back to the original layout and the saloon completely re-upholstered.  We’ll make lee cloths – mostly for the voyage to Scotland when we will have some night passages.

Windows – or portlights in boat speak – As is to be expected in boats of this age, almost all the portlights had small leaks, mostly due to what might be classed as a design fault.  I replaced the saloon and aft cabin fixed lights with 10 mm Perspex that allowed more light into the boat and were a lot cheaper than having the original frames reglazed (see another page).  The opening portlights we replaced with the newer design of the same – they are better designed and let in a bit more light too. See separate page link below photo at top of this page.

Instruments – the existing instruments work – except for the speed log, which almost never works on boats because the ‘works’ gets gummed up with fouling, – and there is even a working radar on the boat, but the chart plotter is down below in the cabin, and we usually navigate from the helm using a tablet computer running Navionics charts.  We are planning to add an ORCA core that will allow us to tie in all the boats electronic systems into the tablet display, possibly even the engine data, so we’ll have to put in a more up to date NMEA 2000 data network.

Batteries – The new engine has an alternator that puts out over 100 Amps – twice what the old one did, so it might make sense to think about using this extra power by revisiting the existing battery arrangement of lead acid batteries – one for engine starting, one aft for domestic and one AGM battery forward for the bow thruster run in parallel with the domestic battery.  It’s tempting to change to lithium batteries as they last much longer and can be discharged much deeper than lead acid.  Also it is relatively easy to lift lithium batteries in and out of the boat, whereas lead acid battereries are a real pain to handle in boats at about twice the weight for a given capacity. The engine starting battery almost never gets discharged  significantly as starting the engine takes less than 1% of the starter battery power unless there is something wrong with the engine, so it is probably OK to stick with Lead Acid for that. (I always find it wierd when I do the calculations that to start a diesel engine you need  less power than contained in a standard ‘D’ cell – less than 1 AHr – so at say 20 amps charging, it will recharge in a couple of minutes! )

Binnacle – I need somewhere to put a tablet that can be used while at the wheel, but without blocking access to the stainless tube  hoop handhold.  I’ve designed a new and taller stainless tube to fit in place of the  original one so that I can put a plastic or fibreglass  stand to take the tables and also the VHF remote handset and still leave enough room to grab the hoop for stability.  Its being made a Foxs Marina.  I did the same on Sepiola and it worked well.

Myriad small jobs – e.g. Cabin joinery – the Navigator’s seat was too low for me to work comfortably on the chart table, so I made a 10 cm. box to put under the cushion that will contain ready use tools and bits and pieces kills two birds with one stone..  When the table leaves are folded down there is nothing to stop things falling off the bit of the table that’s left, so I made a couple of fiddles that can be put in place to stop things sliding off if one or both leaves of the table are f0lded down. The M40 has a very useful counter top on the fuel tank under the companionway steps, so we put a draining rack and a storeage tray there, and made a Perspex screen to stop water or dirt falling onto things as the steps down into the cabin have open treads.  Heads – so far I’ve changed the whole pump mechanism on the aft sea toilet, Still got the forward one to do.  I’ve put a new bilge pump in the saloon bilge and connected in its wiring and new plumbing – the Moody 40 is a real pain to insert wiring or plumbing as access to anywhere under the floors or behind the furniture is almost impossible. Another job on the list is a shelf in the stbd aft locker to take 4 x 10 ltr diesel cans for standby fuel supply – fuel is sometimes difficult to find in the Hebrides.

3D printing:  Having a 3D printer and CAD software to design parts its inevitable that the Dulcinea will have lots of plastic bits and pieces, although I have sworn off covering her with loads of unnecessary clips and hooks.  I designed big hooks that take a loop of rope to hold warps etc. and I’ve put up a row just inside the starboard aft locker so all the warps can be hung up where they can be  got at quickly. A row of similar hooks in the pilot berth cabin take 4 lifejackets on the engine side and keep them tidy and easily grabbed – each person can have their  own hook to avoid muddling them up.  I’ve also made a couple of clips for torches, so that one can be reached from the cockpit ( see on the 3D Prints page)  No doubt there will be other bits and pieces.  See other pages for more on 3D prints.

Lights – the lights in the boat still had old tungsten bulbs and use loads of electricity, so I’ve started replacing them with LED bulbs or complete fittings.  The boat was mostly used in Marinas so was geared around having shore power available, so there was no necessity to have LEDs.  We will need them as we will probably be anchoring most of the time.  Amazing how many lights there are :  I counted about 40 tungsten bulbs in the accommodation.  Fortunately  the 17 recessed ceiling lights can have an LED array put in place of the halogen bulb, the rest will likely need new fittings, some of which I have bought already.

Running rigging – the running rigging had been exposed on the boat for some time , and was stiff with dirt and mould/algae.  We took off  what we could and washed it in warm water, which got most of the muck off – the genoa sheets we replaced, and the rest went back on- we might change more later.  The halyards and topping lift are wire spliced to rope, as was common practice before Dyneema came along.  They probably need changing – the Genoa halyard definitely does –  I’d change them for rope halyards but I don’t know if the blocks at the masthead are suitable – we will get a rigger to inspect the standing rigging and the masthead before we go to Scotland.

Coppercoat  antifouling – This is on our wishlist, but its not a cold weather job and it was difficult to see how we could fit it in before Scotland, and there seemed to be enough things going on without that so its on the maybe list for later,  We’ll get a better look at the hull when she’s out for the engine change,  She is booked for a normal antifouling at that time.

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