Making Ex-Racer My Cruiser . . . Am I Mad ?

[Weyalan]

Nice work - head them off at the pass. Mums the word. 2 if by sea, etc! ECM might just shake 'em off.

[Weyalan]

Another small update, if anyone cares. More photos will follow.

So, the new floor is in, and though I say so myself, it looks bloody good. 3 coats of timber preserver then 3 coats of 2-pack varnish certainly brought out the shine. Incidentally, I was going to brush the varnish on to get the best possible mirror-finish, but in the end I decided a mirror finish probably wasn't very desirable on a floor that would be, at times, both wet and at an angle, so I used a 4" mohair roller, which still gave a great finish, but with a slight pattern to the surface that should make for better grip (its only floor after all). The fixed panels are stuck down with silicon - the theory being that, if it ever becomes necessary, there is some chance I will be able to remove them without destroying them.

The engine is back up and running... new fuel tanks, hoses, ball valves plus oil change and all new oil & fuel filters... seems to be running pretty smoothly.

I spent a fair chunk of the weekend cutting and polishing the hull... it came up really nicely. I had to re-spray a couple of areas. The red "boot top" stripe touch up came out perfectly. However the re-spray on the middle of the hull isde is a bugger... the "white" spray paint turned out to be rather less white than the white of the hull Oh well, I'll just have to respray over the respray when I find the "whiter-than-white" spray paint!

The bottom is ready for anti-foul, although that will not go on until the day before we re-launch.

At this stage, it looks like going back into the water in 1 week. I am excited!

[Pblais]

Am I being a complete fool?

Even if you are you still could be right.

[Weyalan]

Well, what do you reckon:


Looks ok, I think. Still a bit to do... a couple of the floor panels will need a bit of packing on the supporting beams to get them to sit perfectly flat, but that is no big deal. The fold-out table for the engine box should be ready by Christmas. The water tanks will be going in during this week, which will alow us to put the bunk tops back on. Exciting times!

I am pretty happy. I turned 40 today, so this is a pretty good birthday present for me

[Jon D]

Nicely done -- congrats

[tdw]

Lookin' good mate, lookin' good.

How did you go with the winches ?

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by tdw

Lookin' good mate, lookin' good.

How did you go with the winches ?

Thanks cobber.

As per your advice, I spoke to Allan Hutton. He e-mailed me some good drawings of the winches (thanks a bunch for that). What with all the other stuff going on, I haven't had a chance to pull any of the winches apart yet... I'm thinking that this will be a good job to do after Christmas, anchored in a quiet bay down the bottom end of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, with a line over the side and a 6-pack on ice...

[Auspicious]

Looking very good.

Enjoy the summer a bit for us up here on the other side of the world. They just turned off the water on my dock this past week.

[Charlie]

Weylan:

Looking like a new boat there mate. Enjoy the summer too though. And happy Birthday. Just had my 3rd anniversary of my 40 a few months ago and I would have loved a present like that.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

Well, what do you reckon:



I am pretty happy. I turned 40 today, so this is a pretty good birthday present for me

Remiss of me dear boy, Happy Burfdy end awl that.

[Weyalan]

We are putting Insatiable back into the water today. Needless to say, I am pretty excited. It seems like so long that the boat has been on the hard (probably because it has been so long!) I am even looking forward to the 1 hour motor-sail to the new (temporary) berth.

I would like to say a big "thank you" to everyone here who has offered advice, or just put up with my ravings!

[Joli]

Looks great Weyalan but remember........didn't happen if we get no photos.

B

Oh happy birthday. Can't imagine much more fun can be had on a birthday then messing around on a sailboat.

[soul searcher]

Well, what do you reckon

I recon you have something to be very proud of.

Are you sure you wont miss that old chick magnet interior?

happy B-day

[Weyalan]

Well, time for a quick update. Summer is here, the weather is warm, the beers are cold. So no work, all play on Insatiable. We have been cruising most weekends and have even been entering the old girl in our yacht club's mid-week twilight races. Even though Insatiable is 23 years old, we have to race in Division 1, with all the "big boys" in their new, or near new Farr 40-ODs, Northshore 38s, etc. But we are having fun!

This is us in amongst the action near the start (being rolled-over by a new Farr 40 OD)


Here we are, powered up, approaching the windward mark


As you can see, we take it pretty seriously (not)


Even though we are on "playtime" mode rather than "worktime", there is still plenty of small jobs being completed. We stripped a couple of the winches, cleaned and regreased them and reassembled them (it was a warm summers day, we were anchored in a quiet bay, the beers were cold, so it wasn't exactly hard toil!). I have also serviced or replaced quite a few of the old blocks.

The next job is going to be replacing the runner blocks. Really, all the other blocks on the boat are not "critical" in that if they broke it might be a right-royal pain in the arse, but it is not likely to cause a major catastrophe, whereas if a runner block fails we will most likely lose the mast. The current runner blocks are, I'm pretty sure, original vintage from 1984/85, so it is well past time to replace them. Hot damn; new blocks that are rated at 10,000lb breaking strength are expensive... its gonna be beans and rice for another month!

Anyway, life is good. The racer turned cruiser is proving she can still be a racer and the cruising is excellent!

[Joli]

The boat looks great Weyalan and you sure are having fun. Enjoy the summer cause winter sucks, well at least around here.

And don't ask, I won't sell you our titanium runners.

Fair winds.