4th July

Just a quickie.  Very late and tired.  Nuts finally got transported to the marina park and lifted onto its keel.  All bolted down and sealed.  Rudder on and waiting for antifouling paint touchups.  Lots of photos and video but late and tired and off to bed so they will be shared soon.  

Lots of thanks to Bryan, Graeme and Bernd for helping with the messy stuff and many others with moral support.

Building up an iceblock supply to keep bubbly cold for Monday!!

 23 rd June.

Still ticking along.  Done a few bits and pieces on Nuts.  Added another 50kg approx of foam buoyancy under cockpit.  There is still space for 2 small bags of chain and at least one anchor.  Got strong U bolts to secure them.

I made up a stainless steel hoop to make a small dodger over the companionway so the top washboard can be left open when it is raining.  Mrs Nuts still has to do some sewing to finish it off. Pics will come soon.  I cant get on board at the moment as Nuts is balanced on 2 little car supports aft and a gas bottle on the tip of the bow to do the antifouling and dont want it to fall over!!

Just finished the second/third coat tonight.  Leaving the antifouling to the last moment as I dont want it to be on land for too long.  Going for 3 to 4 coats on the waterline and under the stern area.  2 over the rest.  Ablative being used.  On previous boats the  barnacle problems only appeared under the stern and above the antifouling - especially aft.  I am painting the antifouling quite high above the waterline.~

Putting keel onto trailer.

My mini tractor was at its limit to lift the keel at its furthest reach to position it in the middle of the trailer.  Was a bit iffy as the back wheels wanted to lift off the ground when I got off.

Made it!!

All tied down and secured for transport to the marina.

Transport truck has some issues.  That is why going a bit slowly at the moment.  It is going for its inspections this week so has been out of action for service, inspection etc.

Crane for lifting at the Clube Naval has been organized and everything is just waiting on the truck.  Mast is all dressed with rigging,  halyards, topping lifts etc.

Hopefully towards the end of the week all the bits will be transported to the marina and I can mount the keel.  Clube Naval is closed over the weekend (for the club crane) and dont want to launch on a Friday so looking at Monday.  Weather is a bit iffy over the weekend so we will see!!

 4th June

1 month since last post!!  Bad me - but you dont need info on garden work and tree felling and log splitting.  Had crappy weather for most of the month but summer has arrived in the last week.  When Nuts is in the water I wont be spending much time in the garden so got to keep Mrs Nuts happy now.

Bits for the trailer arrived (eventually) from Vevor.  Most packages take about 1 month to arrive here except from Amazon which can be from 3 days to 3 weeks.  Temu about 1 month but free shipping to the middle of nowhere which I think is a good deal.

I ordered 4 acrow jacks which I had to cut down as they were too long.  I welded bases and support struts so I could bolt them onto the trailer or use them as a cradle on the ground.  My trailer is not street legal so the plan is to load it onto a car recovery lowbed for transport to the marina (and bring my fishing boat home).  I also plan to load the keel onto the trailer first and position Nuts above to be lowered down for the bonding.  Maybe it will be easier to lift the keel up to the bottom with threaded rods to be removed once the main keel bolts are in position.  I went down the road this afternoon and measured the heights of overhead wires for clearance.  There is 1 electric wire and 1 internet fiberoptic cable that might be a problem but can push them up while passing underneath.

Finished splicing the guardrails and fitted this afternoon.  6mm Dyneema. Pullpit and stantion bases got their overdrilled holes epoxy filled and re drilled before fitting with SikaFlex.

 I reprogrammed the Victron MPPT for LiFePo4 charge profile as recommended by the battery manufacturer.  Now I just have to swap out the battery.  They are the same size so my mounting does not need to be changed.

My buddy Lex had lots of fun fishing on my little boat.

Ive been out a few times and off to sea again tomorrow with Sister Nuts to try some deep drop (250m) to see what is lurking down there.

 4th May

Just a quickie.  Pullpit and bow cleats mounted and drilled and removed for epoxy saturation in the mounting holes.  Epoxy cured.  All shiny and ready to Sika Flex on.  Stanchions all bent and mounting pads and supports cut and drilled - just waiting for me to weld, fit, polish  and drill for epoxy coating on mounting holes to be ready for final fitting.  Then a bit of Dyneema splicing for the rails and done.

Old friend Alex here from Netherlands for a fishing holiday with a friend so checked out my little fishing boat - Eco-  for him to use.  Also been painting garage floor and doing stuff in garden - including destroying my ride on mower - so have more repair jobs to do!

Still waiting for trailer parts to arrive.  Spent my remaining pension fund on antifouling!!

I wanted a white bottom and the only available white antifouling on the island was from a UShip outlet here in Horta.  They have a very good selection of marine equipment and charge the same prices as in Europe even though we are in the middle of nowhere.  I get a small discount as a local boatbuilder and grateful for that -  still scary on every purchase though.

Going with ablative which is easy to remove if  it doesnt work out. Nautix A3.

 23 April

Finished and painted the gas storage box.

It ended up pink because it is what paint was left over.

The inside is yellow as ran out of pink and had a bit of yellow left over!  All epoxy coated before 2 coats of epoxy primer and 2 coats of polyurethane topcoat.  Should last longer than me.  The box is on a teak slider and can be removed.  Plenty of space for butane canisters for my cooker plus a separate space for other goodies.  Each butane canister is vacume bagged and sealed to prevent rust and check for leaks).  Took many days to finish but not many hours of work.  Paint and epoxy takes its time to cure!!

The stern is complete.  Everything bolted and sealed.

Got busy on the pullpit.  With lots of help from Mrs Nuts holding the tubes at the "correct?" angle under my misguided instructions while I pulled on the pipe bender.  Was a bit of a mission to work out the angles but made many templates and got it close enough.  

Welding the bits together.  Tomorrow job is to weld the mounting pads on the end of the legs after final fitting and the loops for the guardrails and start the fun job of grinding, sanding and polishing. 

Inside is pretty much done.  Just got to stock the bar!!

Looking aft.  Been fitting fixing points for leeboards, washboards, and bungees for holding stuff in position.  A 5m boat is not going to be a smooth ride.

Looking fwd. Sail storage up to port with general storage below.  Below bunk level is filled with foam buoyancy in the fwd half and  storage for water bottles in the aft half.

Mrs Nuts made me a bunch of beanbags.  They are filled with polystyrene balls inside waterproof fabric.  I think Im going to ask for some more sewing.  (Got to be nice to Mrs Nuts!!) I bought 200 liters of foam balls so might as well use them.  I think Im going to fill the aft lkrs in the quarter berths  with foam filled bags for extra buoyancy.  A bunch of small bean bags weigh nothing but might be useful to jam me in to stop me getting smashed up in a storm.

My target is to finish the pullpit and stantions by the end of the month and have them bolted on.  Only got 5cm clearance on my workshop door to wheel Nuts out once pullpit etc is bolted on.  I have to remove the windvane mount though.

This is the last major job to do other than fitting the keel and antifouling.  There will still be plenty of small jobs to do though - like connecting solar panels, second VHF antennae, etc, etc.

Parts for making the trailer are on their way and should be here in a week or so - Azores time.

Most of the skippers (including me) entered in the SAC were hoping to use LiFePo4 batteries which were outlawed under the lithium ban due to fire risk.  Because of the advancement of the safety of LiFePo4 batteries and minimal fire risk they have been allowed provided the batteries are of a sufficient quality and have good protection.  

After a lot of research and reviews from reputable people (Will Prowse etc) I have gone with  Li Time Trolling Motor 50Ah Bluetooth. The reviews from independent teardowns with extensive testing of the BMS have satisfied me.  The inside protection of wiring and connection insulation against vibration looks excellent. It is not the cheapest but not the most expensive either. With Bluetooth you can monitor the balance between cells and the status of the BMS.  That should give you a warning if things are going sideways.  I have ordered battery terminal fuses that mount directly onto the battery ( 30Amp) that should open  before any overload issues.

I am going to be using a trolling motor for getting in  and out of marinas so need a battery that can deliver a bit of power for a short time.  I have several 100Ah AGM batteries but they weigh a ton - non starter. (over 50kg -ex submarine)  The 32Ah Marathon AGM batteries (got 2) are OKish but can only use 1/2 the capacity before doing damage to the cells. They could keep Nuts alive but only just.  LiFePo4 - can use the full 50Ah without doing damage (and they weigh less).  I will have 2 x50Ah LiFe Po4 batteries on board.  One for the boat supply and one for the motor.  I will only have 2x25w solar which will be used for the boat power which is in keeping with the SAC philosophy.  I dont want to take petrol onboard.  My dinghy will be an inflatable canoe and if the shit hits the fan I will use the paddle to move.

 15 th April

Tick tock - summer is on its way.  (I hope)

Port side aft is done.  Welding, bending, cutting, grinding and polishing stainless steel is almost as bad as sanding fiberglass.  My welding skills have deteriorated with old age so required more finishing / patching up .  Fitting the nuts and washers on the very aft corner was a mission.  Had to tape the nut and washer into a ring spanner and hold it with a vice grip to reach.  Mrs Nuts on the outside to screw it in.  All fitted and nice and tight.  (got a long handled socket on the nut once it was threaded on) Also got mounting ladder brackets sealed and bolted on.  All home brew bits.  I added a U bolt on the cockpit edge for using as a tiller fixing point to lash the tiller or add a bungee for self steering as well as main sheet fixing option.  Maybe when running under two jibs I can fix the boom to one side to stop me banging my head when climbing out of the cabin.

Aft compartment refilled with flotation foam and closed off.  Mrs Nuts sewing skills on show.  Had many complaints about the fact there was a frame butting into the cushion but she did an amazing job even though the slot is at an angle.  Lee boards and spray dodger still on the cards (but dont tell her yet - got to keep her happy!!) 

Opened up the Stbd side and removed some of the foam so I can seal and bolt up the Stbd tab holder, outboard mount and the railing.  Tomorrow job and then can refit foam and close up.

Running out of jobs to do.  Cockpit gas storage box (plus space for other goodies) just needs its topcoat.  It might end up pink as I have some pink paint left over.

Been going through navigation stuff.  Printed up a bunch of plotting sheets (only A4) and the almanack for sun Dec and GHA.  Still have my sight reduction tables for air navigation and going to take a plastic sextant.  Hope I dont need it but if the shit hits the fan and GPS goes down Im fine. (or total power failure).  Have to motivate the brain to go back in time but it could be fun.

 4th April

Spring a bit slow in showing its face.  Dodging hail showers today.  Still ticking along here though.

Bolted some hand holds in the cockpit (also inside).   Epoxied two support/sliders for a box to be slid against the transom.  The box is for gas cannisters for the cooker as well as whatever I decide. It will be well secured and also easily removable.  It will be on runners so even if upside down it is not going anywhere.

Box under construction.  8mm ply .  200mm fore and aft and 350mm deep and the width of the cockpit.  Will be able to store plenty of gas canisters as well as other goodies.

In the process of bolting the tab brackets.  So far only the port side finally fixed.  I had to remove all the buoyancy foam through the hatch at the foot of the quarter berth and bolt on extensions to my arms to reach the eyebolts to fit the nuts and washers.  Mrs Nut outside to hold the eyebolts in alignment.  Sikaflex 291i all squished out so should not leak. 

Tab fits very well.  After glassing the mount and even after 2 coats of epoxy primer I was not happy with the fit.  Even though it was snug it was not tight.  I decided to grind off all the primer and glass another 5 layers of 200g/m2 with the trailing edge clamped a bit closed without the tab inside.   After curing for a few days I did a test fit and it was nice and tight.  Then slapped on a couple of coats of epoxy primer and with a 2 day window of nice warm, no wind and low humidity weather gave all the bits a couple of coats of PU paint sprayed on.  Also gave an old aluminium tube I had a couple of coats of epoxy primer after a good sand and it also got the spray treatment.  I will have 2 running poles - one  50mm dia with proper end fittings and one 38mm(od) with homemade delrin end fittings.  Both poles are 2.4m long just because that was the length that I had.  If they are too long it is very easy to shorten.  3m was recommended by a skipper that has already crossed the Atlantic but got to go with what I have. 

This is the hatch Im working through.  So far the first layer of foam as been refitted.  I forgot to number those pieces so it was a bit of a jigsaw.

This is the rest of the foam for the port side aft.  I decided to do each side separately so there is no chance of mixing up the foam pieces.  Still got to finish the boarding ladder mounts and the pushpit so they can be bolted on before closing up the port side and moving over to the stbd side.