S/Y Aquarius

Weblog of a Hallberg Rassy 31 Monsun

19/05/2012
by Dennis
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Selden furling boom system

Today we went out to the marina again. We brought the sails so that we could put them on and we had decided to clean the deck. First we installed the Jib which went on fine. The only thing is that our furlex was dismantled and inspected. And that it now rotates the other way round. Which is smoother since the line feeds in nicely now. But the drawback is that the jib’s sun protector doesn’t roll up like it should.. But we don’t care since that sail really needs to be replaced.

Then we installed the main sail which went fine until we tightened the sail slide casette. That thing broke and all the slides fell out again.. “ah crap!”.. It’s an old thing, and we weren’t happy with it anyways. So I decided to roll up the sail using the furling boom. I’ve never tested that thing before, but the sail rolled up nicely.

So we are now really thinking about our options: We could continue with installing a smoother sail track system. Or we could just buy a new main sail without sail slides and use the furling boom system again!
It looks really nice, and we don’t need to use the lazy jacks anymore.

It would be nice if we could get some feedback from other Monsun owners who are still using the furling boom system. Any thoughts on pro’s an con’s? Comments are welcome!

After this hassle with the sails we decided to enjoy the sun and scrub the deck.. She’s looking nice and clean again..

17/05/2012
by Dennis
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VHF cable installation and heater removal

Today we had a day off and the weather was pretty good to do some work aboard Aquarius. I started out to measure and drill the hole for the VHF connector.
I’ve placed it on the port side of the mast. Since the starboard side already has two holes for the deck and steam lighting wiring.

The roof is pretty thick so the red saw holder touched the deck, but we’ll paint that white again some other day.
It was a nice clean cut, and also on the inside its nice and clean. No rough edges.

Next we pulled the VHF cable through and mounted the connector with some sikaflex and some screws.

It fits perfectly! Then we connected the cable from the mast to it and started working inside the cabin.
I decided to route the cable outside of the halyards..  But the port side are not really used so the cable is not in the way of anything.
And I wanted this position so the cable wouldn’t come out in the cabin.

 

Here is a picture of the inside:

Then we started thinking about routing the cable to the VHF transceiver.. And we decided on something which I wanted to do for a long time now.

We removed the entire old heating system.  We feel it was a safety hazard to keep operating that kind of system. So we removed it all which gave perfect holes to route the VHF cable through.

The heater is gone! But we still need to fixate the cable. This will be done tomorrow or the day after..
After only 2 hours of hard work the entire plumbing of the old heater system was removed, and we had a big pile of junk at the helm.

We threw this stuff in the trash since we didn’t want to sell it and be responsible for some other poor bloke’s death..
Burning lamp oil in a confined space with poor ventilation is a bad idea! And the removal of all this stuff saves a bit of weight.

In the future we’ll have a professional install a diesel burning webasto system just like on modern yachts..

Thats it for today! We’re tired and hungry! Comments are welcome as usual!

16/05/2012
by Dennis
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VHF connector

This morning I went to the marine store to get 10 meters of RG213 VHF coax cable. The same cable used in the mast. I did not want to switch to a smaller diameter cable since we need the transmitting power when out at sea. I’ve just attached the through-deck connector to the cable. We hope that the weather will be good tomorrow so we can try to see if we can find a good spot where to drill the hole in the roof. It will be a challenge on positioning and on drilling itself since the hole diameter has to be fairly large. Approx 16mm since the cable is 10mm..

Also routing the cable inside the cabin will be an issue since its a very stiff cable and cannot bend in tight corners. So a lot of thinking and planning will be done before we start drilling. But 10 meters will be enough to route the cable no matter which route we choose.

The black rubber part on the picture sticks out on deck and thats where the connector of the cable in the mast will attach to. We hope to finish installation during the coming weekend.. If the weather doesn’t turn bad.

08/05/2012
by Dennis
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Floating again!

Four weeks ago Aquarius was craned in the water. It went smooth as usual and the engine fired up without a hitch.
But fitting the mast had to wait for a while since we had found a specialist to install the VHF antenna on the top of the mast.
It was an easy install, and took only a couple of hours.

Yesterday morning we finally were able to get an appointment with the new service company in our marina. So we were happy to see the mast go up.

Getting the mast off last year went smoother than putting it back on. But the team did a great job and it looks like a sailboat again.

We still need to fit the boom but that’s an easy five minute job. Also we need to figure out where to drill the hole for the VHF deck connector.
I don’t want to run the VHF antenna wire in the cabin so the connector will have to go forward of the mast.  So that the wire comes out in the wash/toilet area.
But we have loads of time to think about a good solution since the weather here is pretty bad.. And I’m not going to drill a hole in the roof when it’s raining.

Also I’m very busy lately with my company, and another hobby of mine. So we’re going slow on the boat progress.. It helps a lot that there isn’t a deadline for some sea voyage!
This year we’ll board a plane to some remote island or something..

My only “to do” item this year is to cross the North Sea to England, just for fun.. But I haven’t planned it yet.

10/04/2012
by Dennis
3 Comments

Almost ready for a new season..

We’ve been pretty busy last weekend. Friday we started to clean the hull below the waterline, and gave it a new coat of anti fouling. All the hard work of last winter paid off because we didn’t have to do much to prepare the surface. And the anti fouling was easily applied. I’m still not a big fan of Epifanes Foul Away but since I had a new can in stock which I didn’t want to throw away I decided to use this for one more year.

We were done pretty early on Friday so we decided to buy a “new” car for Doreen.. She had been driving a rust bucket for a while now and it was really time to replace it.We bought a nice black peugeot 206 with sunroof. It isn’t a new car, but it looks good! Drives fine, and doesn’t rust or fall apart like the old car.

Saturday we stayed at home since we had other things to do. Sunday we got back at the marina to clean and polish the hull above the waterline. It was still very dirty of last year’s trip so we had our work cut out for us. But this also went easy since we used our secret cleaning solution. So we were done in just a couple of hours!
Also I removed the toilet seacock and cleaned it with diesel and greased it again.. That will be good for another season also.

I’ve uploaded several photos so you can see how good she looks.. Nice and clean! Ready to be put back in the water!
We still have some work to do on the mast, but the service company doesn’t respond to my e-mails nor do they pick up the phone.. So my guess is that they don’t want to make some money. So on Friday they can put the mast back on and we’ll do the repairs somewhere else.

After all this happy news, there is also some sad news.. During the night of Sunday to Monday Doreen’s nice little car got vandalized.
Some $%@#$$# used a screwdriver to scratch the passenger side of the car, from the door mirror all the way to the tail light..
Thanks a lot you @#@#$@#$%$#%#$..

The estimate cost to repair the damage: 700 euro.. and the Police couldn’t care less about this incident.. So those guys are totally useless.
That’s an happy Easter right there.. :-(

19/03/2012
by Dennis
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Update: Bow repairs

Today I drove past the marina to have a look at the boat. I’m making a to-do list for the coming weeks. And I saw a nice new piece of wood mounted on the bow.

So I climbed up to have a closer look! And I was so amazed that I almost fell off!

It looks really good! Just like new! I couldn’t have done this myself.. Such high quality! I’m very happy with the result. I’ve contacted Cees Olgers about the color because it seems to be sanded and painted, and now I want all the wood looking as good as that.. :-)

So I can highly recommend Cees Olgers: http://www.olgerstimmerwerk.nl/ :-)

14/03/2012
by Dennis
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Calling all monsun owners

Today I received a message from Johannes who lives in Sweden and he’s compiling a list of all Monsun’s and their home port.

Visit his site to see if your Monsun is listed, and list yours if it’s not on the list.

06/03/2012
by Dennis
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The snow has left.. spring is coming!

We’ve had some snow and freezing temperatures during winter, but nothing big. Now that weather has left us and you can see signs of an early spring coming. Crocuses are popping up along the roadside and temperatures are increasing! Yes, It’s time to start thinking about the new sailing season.

Today the Hiswa boatshow in the Amsterdam RAI has started and I’ll be attending it this weekend. Going to look for some new gear for our ship and I want to have a chat with Rosch Marine for the sail track system recommended to me by Henk de Velde. Rosch Marine kindly supplied us with two tickets, so we’ll definitely be looking them up.

Currently I’ve contracted Cees Olgers http://www.olgerstimmerwerk.nl/ to repair the damaged bow and I’ve got good confidence that the result will be great!

We’ve also received a date when our Monsun will be put back in the water.. Friday April 13th! :-) Luckily I’m not superstitious, so that will be fine! We hope the weather will be great so that we can make a small trip to the waddeneilanden at the end of April/beginning of May..

superstitious

17/01/2012
by Dennis
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Reservation made at Amsterdam Marina!

Today we’ve confirmed our new berth at the Amsterdam Marina. We have reserved berth 16 at the D pier.

Construction of this marina has recently been started and they expect to have the berth available in October 2012. All other facilities will be available in spring 2013. When we get final confirmation and sign some documents we’ll contact our current marina and end the contract there. Both Doreen and myself are very happy and proud to move to this exciting new location in our nation’s capital. This location is an ideal starting point for short weekend trips on our inland lakes (markermeer, ijsselmeer) and for longer trips at sea.

During construction I’ll see if I can make pictures of the site and post them here. If you are ever in Amsterdam, make sure you visit this new Nautical Center of The Netherlands!

http://www.amsterdammarina.com