The slip adventure

[Troppo]

Windchaser has been on the boat club slip since Friday 6 May. I was supposed to go up on Wednesday 4 May but the boat that was on there, a catamaran called 'In Flight' had a hole in the keel needing fixing and so the shipwright had asked me if I could give him two more days. And this is where it becomes interesting.

I told the shipwright that I had a keel problem that would be best with three or more weeks on the slip but I was only taking two weeks and the only way I would give him two days would be if he got the boat after me to delay for two days. In that way I would not be using time I could not afford to give. He said he would contact the next owner.

The next day when I went to the slip to see what was happening, the shipwright told me it was fine, the next boat would shift two days. That meant I would come out on Friday 6th and be going back in to the river on Friday 20 May.

Last night (Sat), I phoned the owner of the boat after me as I wanted to confirm I had the extra days. I am a suspicious sod. He told me he was coming out on 19th May, Thursday. I was very surprised as Thursday was his original day on the schedule for coming out. I asked him if anybody contacted him about shifting his haul-out day to Saturday. Nope, nobody had contacted him. Crikey!

I feel the shipwright has lied to me so he could get his work done. However, the shipwright has now vanished so I have not had the chance to ask him face-to-face what is going on.

So I am very time pressured and just lost two critical days. I had to get the keel repairs started today.

To cut a long story short, I used the heat gun I had bought for drying the keel a lot today. Not only for blowing 70 degree C air through the keel for hours on end as I have been doing most days but when I got to the point I felt I could start using epoxy, I speeded up its setting by warming it the same way. The warm air did the trick. Meant I could do about three layers of wet epoxy on gelled up epoxy and I have now completed the patches for underneath the keel and for the access hole I cut on the side. Tomorrow I will sand and paint with primer.

I will just get the antifouling done to be okay to go back in on Wednesday. Decided to use the Wed night high tide as I think the day tide is a little too small. Also that will give more time for the last coat of antifoul to dry. Gunna be a bit tricky picking up my mooring in the dark but have no choice.

Not everything I need to do will get done. I really needed the extra time. However, I was able to get the keel sealed so that is a positive. My first priority is making the boat safer, my second priority is making her look pretty.

troppo

[Phillip]

Just the joy of slipping Troppo, something always gets missed!!

Good to hear that you have sorted the problem because as time goes on

I think you may only be the first to do this sort of work as our Top Hats age!

[Ianb]

Something to ponder- If you were slipping in Sydney, two weeks on the slip is going to cost around $2500. A current ad for a MK1 is a sell price around $3500. Running costs are so great now, soon boats will be given away, and after that it might even be a case of paying someone to take them away.

No wonder that Gumtree bloke in Seven Hills (Jonathan?) that "buys" boats is so busy.

Sorry to be so gloomy...

[Troppo]

I spoke with the shipwright at the club today, asked him nicely if he had spoken with the guy using the slip after me. He said he had not actually spoken with the owner but when he was looking for the owner, a member of the Club Management Committee had said he would sort it out, basically telling the shipwright the change in days was fine. So, it seems the shipwright was not lying to me as he thought it was a done deal. The member of the Management Committee who said it was okay, he would sort it out, apparently did not sort it out. Ah, the joys of clubs.

Today I sanded and checked my keel repairs. All good! Painted them with primer. Did one coat of antifoul but not over the primed patches as they need more time to set.

Phillip: I was thinking a similar thing today. I was thinking about what Bear has said several times, "Top Hats are getting older" and when I look over Windchaser I see lots of little things needing doing. Like every time she goes up on the slip I see more little cracks in the gelcoat in various places which I need to keep an eye on, some of them may need repairing. Every time I unbolt something or take something off I find new things which could do with a little fixing.

IanB: When I was working out ways to fix the keel, I went to a commercial slipway that had plenty of vacant land for sitting a boat, acres of spare land, and asked for a quote to have Windchaser lifted out of the water and sat in a cradle. Would have cost me $8,000 just for the crane lift and cradle and that is not counting my costs with doing the fixing. Obviously I started looking at other ways to attempt the repair, such as use the club slip for a two weeks and speed the keel drying process by getting a heat gun and cutting an access hole in the keel.

Unfortunately, the costs with repairs seems to be growing more painful. I am just glad today I have got as much done as I have on Windchaser. She has to go back in the water on Wednesday ready or not. At least she is watertight.

troppo

[Phillip]

Well done Troppo,

We haven't yet, by a long stroke, reached the point where Top Hats will be cut up and sent to the dump

Down the line we will have another boom which will let more people into yachting and then once again
the price of Top Hats will rise.

Remember the low prices are not a Top Hat problem alone, but affects the whole second hand yachting industry.

In the meantime I'm out there maintaining my SEAKA and sailing as much as I can find time to do so [over 12 months worth, over the last 10 years ]

Part of this voyage is looking after our Top Hats.

[Troppo]

Windchaser went back in this morning. Didn't think there would be enough tide height but Les the slip expert thought there might be. He was right.

The trolley actually stopped rolling several times. Les just got the crowbar out and we used it to lever the trolley and it started rolling again. Thankfully when it stopped out in the water, Les pulled the trolley up a metre and let it roll down again. Several times of this and the trolley kept going.

s 2016 slip_198.jpg (544.37 KiB) Viewed 2791 times

Overall, I am happy with what I managed to achieve. The hairline crack under the keel is repaired and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Would have like to get more jobs done but then, there is always next time on the slip.

troppo