Brisa October 2009

Well it has been a hot and hairy month with more going wrong than right. I hit a rock.....reef or other large unmovable object while scampering into the mangroves in front of Hurricane Bill....of course Bill didn't hit that hard...so it was an excercise in shallow water manouvering and what not to do next time I run the boat onto something. I bent the starboard rudder and dinged the bottom of the boat with the edge of the rudder...however......it was a good thing in the end...not cheap but good anyways. When we pulled out the old rudder and ripped it open we found that the old rudder shaft was corroded badly and the thing had been repaired badly about 5 times, the last time using epoxy that never went off....so I guess it needded to be replaced anyways.....now I'm just sucking up the courage to replace the other one aswell......but I figure that next time i'm sneaking anywwhere in 3 feet of water i'll stick the port side over the shallow stuff and it will take care of itself. This month has seen it's share of improvements. And as everyone has been asking whats taking so long and whats been done...I figure I'll list whats on the top of my mind below. The plan for this coming week is to sneak off tomorrow PM and test the rudders and the steering and the new auto pilot............. Get back in the evening bridage and then next weekend head off to Saba Bank for some more serrious fishing and spearfishing.

List of repairs.

Remove, sand blast, repack and or replace 7 through hull fittings, remove old engines and saildrives...replace with new, custom build engine mounts install new propellers,redesign the engine water intakes so not to use the saildrive intakes Remove old stainless bolts from stern swim platform and replace with new, remove old dingy davits, repair and rewire solar pannels x 2 ( we bypassed a broken cell and got almost the same power from this panel as the other), install new wind generator, Remove and rebuild steering blocks and pulleys ( custom build them from scratch ), grind and reapair delammed fiberglass in the aft locker then repaint it, Remove, repair and reinstall cockpit drains, build bulkheads for the cockpit floor to reinforce it, custom make drain covers for all through hull drains, remove old auto pilot and build a cover for the hole it left ( keep it as a spare just in case ), Remove, and rebed millions of fittings that go through the deck to stop any leaks ( basically any screw or bolt that has been left since the boat was new in 1994 needs to be removed and the sealant replaced to stop it leaking, Remove and repair the delam under the mainsheet block, remove the sallon interrior and replace every wire on the boat, new batteries, new circuit breakers, new autopilot, replace all heavy use light bulbs with LED ( huge electrical saving same light, remove the mainsail and replace the battens and old batten cars, remove the boom and all the fittings, repaint and replace all pulleys and fittings, go up the mast and remove old wind instrument and replace with new, change masthead lights for LEDs. Replace all hallyards and ropes on the mast, remove windlass, service it, replair the deck under it, build a new teak block for it to sit on with a cutout core in the middle of reinforced fiberglas to stop the monster of a windlass pulkling itself into the deck again, rewire said windlass and include a remote at the helm, remove fromnt cross beam, wooden trampoline, replaint crossbeam, reinforce the hulls where it bolts on with carbon patches, reinstall and install net trampoline, remove old fuel tanks, redesign fuel/anchor locker, build in reinforced bulkheads and clean and simplify fuel tanks, build chain storage and repaint anchor locker, remove all floorboards, scrub and paint bilges, remove old manual bilge pumps and hoses and replace with new, remove automatic bilge pumps and hoses, redesign and include automatic switches, rebuild and replace toilets ( thats always fun ), replace all rigging turbuckles, custom build and replace chainplates, replace ssb antenna, and as I think or more stuff i'll list that too. Of couse it looks like a lot...but if you actually sat there and watched how many looong weekends and the guys who worked for me doing all this stuff it is even worse than reading this list!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'll try and find some before and after pictures and keep adding to the list as it goes on!