Thursday 23 May 2013

Cleaning her scabby bum...

Hurray and up she rises.
What a hectic week we have just had, as mentioned last week, Lesanda was coming out of the water on Friday for scraping and anti fouling.  Nine o'clock in the morning was the appointed time and with the assistance of Jeremy, we took her to the other end of the marina to have her lifted.  All went well and we were soon off the boat to allow the guys with the travel lift to take fer for her pressure wash and then onwards to be propped up in her new temporary home.

The marina staff pressure wash her nether regions.
  At first glance she was much cleaner than I thought she was going to be and the guy with the industrial pressure washer did a good job of getting at least the loose stuff away along with most of the barnacles and coral worm.  Then they started to take her to where she was to be propped.  We had asked if we could be in a relatively dust free environment and on a solid (concrete, tarmac or paved) surface.  Instead we ended up on compacted gravel where the dust flies at the slightest excuse.  We were not in a position to complain though as we were getting the lifts and washing done for free.

On the left new anodes, on the right old.
 As it happened the small wind changed direction and came from the south and as we were at that end of the yard any dust contaminated people further down the line from us and left us unmolested.  On closer inspection we were going to need some new anodes and some primer for the keel where in places bear metal was exposed.  The two round keel anodes were nearly completely eroded and the rectangular hull anode would have lasted for some time to come but I decided to change it also and then we could gauge the wear rate in the future.
On hers stands with her hull cleaned and keel primed.

 I sent Sandra off to the chandlers to get the appropriate bits whilst I started to scrape off the remaining barnacles and anti-foul paint.  By seven O'clock in the evening we had her completely scraped off, rubbed down re-washed and keel primed ready to start applying the anti-foul paint the next day.  In the meantime Sandra had decided she was going to cook our evening meal aboard which was lovely but we hadn't really given much thought to what we were doing with the grey water from the washing up, normally the grey water goes out through a sea cock directly into the sea.  Buckets and cart them to the nearest drain was the answer, after which we ate out for the duration of our stay "on the hard".
No free ride in this game, keep em working.

 The next day, almost windless, allowed us to get all masked up and two good coats of paint on her and three or four in areas of hard wear like the rudder, keel, water line and bows.  We also fitted all the new anodes as well as checking and lubricating all the sea cocks (underwater valves or taps), you really don't want one of these failing when you are in the sea it's like having a huge hole in the boat bottom!  Pleased with our days graft, we went out for something to eat and retired for the night.  We had bought a couple of litres too much anti foul but that'll keep although it's expensive stuff and I shall not do that again.

 
All finished and ready for back in her element.
 Sunday morning up like a lark (well a rather stiff and un-energetic one) we set about cleaning the top sides (the sides above the waterline) with oxalic acid to remove some very stubborn ingrained stains, then fill in and rub down some minor blemishes and scratches prior to a good wash and polish.  You all know haw hard polishing a car can be, well magnify that by a factor of ten and your getting somewhere close, sweat!!!.  While I was doing that Sanny got to work on the propeller making it as clean, smooth and shiny as she could.
Rollers in Vasiliki this morning.

We both worked like little Trojans for three solid days and believe me we are not used to it but at least it was all finished and out of the way.  Sandra hated every minute of it I'm sure but that's because she hates heights and getting on and off the boat meant going up and down a ladder and all the bits above the water line were out of reach unless you were on our improvised scaffolding.  So thanks Sanny for putting up with it all without too many swear words.

We did have another hard days graft once we were back in the water cleaning and polishing all the cockpit and decks after the hammering they got whilst out of the water.  And then of course two or three days later we get the bloody red rain so it want's washing again Grrrrrrr.

Last night was quite windy and because we are still recovering we decided to have a ride around the island this morning a great way to relax enjoying the beautiful scenery and lovely coves and resort on this amazing island.  Come and see!

Just a quick reminder to our eldest Grandson Dale, (or his dad).  Please send us your passport details ASAP.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.