That's Cape George Harbour, 5 minutes later!
What took me so long to get moving? You may well ask. Well, this is what Bonny looked like on my arrival in
St Peter’s on the evening of the 22nd May.
How long does it take to get a boat in the water and the mast back on it? Well, those jobs only take a few hours
each but the all the related chores take for ever. First off Bonny had overwintered in sub zero temperatures for
probably the first time in her 50 years and back in August of last year, it was the first time I had ever prepared a
boat for such conditions. So what’s the big deal? Ice! Anything with water in it had to be either drained or filled
with heavy duty antifreeze in order not get burst open by ice. The engine and water maker were obvious contenders.
The water tank too. I remembered those thank goodness - a cracked engine block would have been a disaster!
I decided the batteries should be fine and too my great relief they were. However, I overlooked the shower
mixer tap - the ice split it open...
- and the drinking water filter canister suffered the same fate...
I was able to repair the drinking water filter canister but not the shower mixer. They’re very expensive here and
of course they don’t use metric fittings. So I’ve asked Vincent to bring a replacement from home. No, I haven’t
got the drinking water system working - a persistent airlock has not yet been resolved but I can survive on bottles
of drinking water for now. I can't test the water maker until in the open sea due to the need to only run clean ocean
water through it.
I had to bring a hull anode out from the UK because the Canadian ones are completely different. It was a simple job to install it and then patch up a few areas of the copper coat anti-fouling.
I replaced the internal engine anode and the water pump impeller - the old one I removed last year and was badly
damaged. Would the engine start? To my relief - yes on the first push of the button. I ran it for a couple of minutes
with the inlet stuck in a bucket of water.
I’d packed all my clothes and bedding into plastic bags and they all needed to be re-stowed. There was some mold around the sinks in the galley and head which succumbed to bleach but to my relief the soft furnishings were fine and not damp at all.
Of course the whole boat needed a spring clean which I did it dribs and drabs - there are still some lockers that to be cleaned. I fared better than my German friends, Michael and Sabina who arrived back the day after me. A family of mice had taken up residence in their boat whilst they were away and they had a major battle on their hands to clean up the mess.
Somehow, I was busy every day up to launch day on the 29th May - oh yes I did some jobs on the mast too - I fitted a new AIS (automatic identification system) antenna. I had to splice in a new piece of cable to the existing one before being able to connect the antenna and I was not particularly confident that it would work. I wouldn’t know until the mast was back up and all the connections made. Then I had to re-rig the mast. The first job was to remove it from the mast rack where it was stored over the winter along with a couple of dozen other masts. That needed serious muscle power. Everyone mucks in on such occasions and I soon had a team of helpers - some of whom - unlike me - knew what they were doing and we got the mast over to the working area without mishap. I then had to re-attach the various bits of string and mast spreaders - I had left the wire stays attached to the mast.
There was a hic-up with the launch lorry during the launch itself - the alternator failed and Gerry the Marina Manager had to hitch up his car to charge the battery.
The mast was lifted halfway before someone spotted the back stay had got tangled up and it had to be re-lowered to sort the mess out. The second time it went smoothly enough. The mast was suspended on the step, then the forestay was attached followed by the backstay and shrouds. Then the crane could be disengaged, but the strop had got stuck on a light fitting and after much ineffective flapping of lines I eventually had to climb the mast to release it.
The next couple of days were spent setting up the rigging and bending on the sails. Then came the job I was most nervous about - re-connecting all the cables that run from the boat up the mast - most challenging of all was the radar. The instructions for the radar warn the owner - "whatever you do don’t cut the cable". However, there’s no way of avoiding doing just that in order to remove the mast. So I then had to join the two ends of the multi-core cable which should not have been cut. There were about a dozen individual wires some very thin, some shielded with foil and all wrapped up in a braided wire sleeve and finally encased in a plastic sleeve. The electronic connections had to be perfect in order for the radar to work and I was a complete bungling amateur. This would have been Mick’s job if he was here but he wasn’t and so I had to get on with it. Fortunately, before leaving home I had stumbled on a handy YouTube video by someone who was using some clever soldering gizmos - plastic tubes with solder inside. Once placed over the join, one heated the plastic tube, the solder melted and made the connection and the plastic shrank over the join and provided additional protection and support. Brilliant. I therefore came equipped with a whole set of different sizes. Stripping the thin wires without breaking them was probably the most tricky part of the whole operation. After a few hours I had re-connected my own miniature spaghetti junction.
Next the big test - would the radar work. To my amazement and disbelief it did. I gave myself a very big pat on the back and felt quite smug.
The rest of the electrical connections were straightforward apart from completing the connection of AIS cable. I
had had to cut the old cable in two places - just above the deck and just below it because the deck connector
fitting was corroded solid. I had come armed with a coil of new cable. The plan was to join this above deck and
somehow waterproof the join and then run the new cable through the deck and the boat back to the AIS Transceiver
and so dispense with the old cable below deck. The first challenge was that the old cable was so old that I couldn’t
find the connectors needed to join it to modern thinner cable. I therefore had to trim the internal insulation
surrounding the inner core so that it would fit a modern male plug. The mesh shielding was also too bulky to use
in the male plug in the standard way and so I had to use a different method. Then I had to solder the inner core of
the two male plugs (one on the old cable and one on the new cable) outside on a breezy day! Luckily I had a
sun umbrella which I was able to use as a wind break and after quite a few attempts I succeeded in soldering both
plugs on the cables and completed the joint with a female connector. Then I wrapped the joint in self amalgamating
tape and secured it to the mast step block. When the AIS subsequently worked I was almost as surprised as
when the Radar did. The joint on the deck is a weak link but ….
A whole host of other jobs followed - well at least I think they did because I worked all day every day for days doing something, before finally, on 12th June - 3 weeks and 2 days after arriving in St Peter’s I was able to leave. Michael And Sabina helped me slip my lines at 1515 local time and I motored Bonny slowly up St Peter’s Bay and into the Bras D’or Lake. I didn’t have a destination in mind - I just wanted to get a few miles completed. I motored through the narrows separating St Peter’s Bay from the rest of the lake and then unfurled the genoa and sailed north for a couple of hours. The sun was out to start with but then it clouded over, got cold and started to rain with thunder in the distance. I decided to stop at Cape George Harbour where I had stopped on my first day out of St Peter’s last year. I was glad I did. We got caught in a heavy rain shower on the approach, then after anchoring the sun came out and then another heavy shower swept over the harbour. Before it did I was able to take a video call from my friend Gary who was 70 miles south of Bermuda where he would stop for a couple of days before heading to Nova Scotia and then Newfoundland. Hopefully we’ll meet up ove the summer.
My time in St Peter’s was most enjoyable - the locals are all so helpful and friendly and Gerry, the Marina
Manager and his staff couldn’t be more obliging. My friends Michael and Sabina, whom I had first met in
Bermuda last year, were so kind and fed me a number of times. I returned the favour only once.
They have been delayed by the need to repair their rudder, but will hopefully be sailing again in week or so. There’s a good chance we’ll meet up again over the next few weeks. Tomorrow (Friday 13th) I should meet up with Canadian friends, Ian and Susan from Toronto, whom I met in St Peter’s last year and who also fed me before they left last week.
No comments:
Post a Comment