Hoist the Blue Peter.
After many, many hours Tutak II is finally (nearly) ready for sea again. The last trip, with its multiple cooling problems, have finally been solved. We now have an accurate temperature gauge and an alarm that does work when it gets hot and not just randomly. Access to the engine has been improved by having a removable front section. This had always been screwed and plugged. I have enlarged the cut out for the starting handle (have you tried hand starting a Bukh) to have excellent access to the water pump. In the past changing the impeller was done by feel and lots of lost screws.
The new intake filter has a clear top and water flow can be monitored under way. I am thinking about a Perspex window in the floor and leds so that the precious liquid can be seen in all its glory at night too. Maybe a little too far.
New sail covers incorporating zips and nylon hooks and eyes instead of lacing makes fitting so quick. They only took me a couple of days to make on my new American Sailrite walking foot LSZ1 machine. I bought the Monster Flywheel to go with it, 16 layers of acrylic canvas, sews bone quite well too!
I fitted a new luff tape to a secondhand furling genoa along with a lightweight acrylic sacrificial strip in white as tan seems to suffer rather quickly. The main and mizzen just had a quick fettle with some new stitching here and there.
The anchor chain was reversed and remarked. I could have just cut the first worn link off but the galvanising is getting a tad thin on the old working end. It's done thirteen years so not too bad.
I managed to get a Plastimo triangular flexible water tank to replace the one that burst off Skye. Not as big as the original and I have to carry 40 litres in cans now to supplement the 120 litres in the tank. I have not had much luck in finding a replacement as Air Cushion who made the old tank have disappeared, probably since the demise of the cross channel hovercraft service.
Sorting out the water tank brought another problem to light, a frost crack in the water pump! That will teach me.
I noticed the heads door was binding under the mast step. Removing the headlining revealed a multitude of leaks. The deck is balsa cored with a king plank added in the laminate of ply through which the mast step is bolted. When it was built holes were drilled for a tabernacle which was not fitted so the holes were filled with polyester putty and gelcoated over. These had let go and six leaks had soaked the balsa and ply. The ply dried out ok but the balsa had to be raked out and the whole area drilled and injected with thickened epoxy having jacked up the support beam. Tedious and time consuming but needs must. A large new deck gland was fitted out of the way of the mast. The balsa around the hole was raked out and filled with epoxy as a precaution; at least is was dry in this area.
I will not be taking a hard dinghy this time. I towed it for 2000 miles, is it the only dinghy to have made it round Muckle Flugga? It was good to be able to row it properly but it did get in the way rather. I will however be taking, along with the inflatable, a Dancer kayak.
It fits nicely on the side deck when in port. It can stow athwart ships aft of the cockpit or on a very short tow. The liferaft will be left behind too as the inflatable will be at least half inflated when at sea. Space is tight on a long journey and even the redundant berth cushions are being left behind to make more space. A folding bike has been added this year, a cover being made from all the offcuts acrylic canvas from jobs over the winter.
Where bound I hear you call, well, north, hopefully back up to the Shetlands and if the weather is kind maybe the Faeroe Islands, but the North Atlantic will have to be kind to me. Back in the autumn all being well.
