Adam F

Give me a ring tomorrow, I've got all the old cables from the refit here.

I think we are well ventilated enough. Nothing in the a mikuni installation details that states keeping away from batteries?

It's all pretty well vented, but what issue could I have?

21st May update. Picked up the stainless from Pete this week. Looks superb, very much look forward to bolting this on at the weekend. The mountain of ply, resin and glass has been cleared from the workshop and has been replaced by lots, and lots of boxes. My debit card has melted, and I've a lot of work to do. The final stage now starts, which is the wiring and installation of a complete new wiring system, new hydraulics, electronics and water system. All new. Lots of work. The past few evenings I've done the head linings. These are made from 1/4" ply, which is then resin coated to stop mould, before being wrapped in foam backed Champagne vinyl. Holes are them trimmed for the flush fit 12v led downlights. They look awesome, even if I do say so myself. This evening I've started putting the Mikuni heater back in, on properly machined brackets, the bespoke battery boxes have been bolted in too. Back in the engine room, I've stripped out every last bit of hose and wiring. The D4 looks pretty lonely at the moment! The hydraulic trim pump bracket is off awaiting paint stripping and epoxy re-painting (rob?!) the Racor is off and in its place will go a Separ Duplex filter to give redundancy and the option of instant switching at sea with the engine running to a new clean filter. A new Parmax 4 to be added as deck wash pump, lighting, gas struts.... The list goes on.....

I'd love to be based out of Portland, even for a try for a season or two.... But it makes a long journey even longer for boat partner Ian. It's a cracking Marina, with great access to some awesome fishing. Do they dry stack Matt?

That's interesting. I wonder if Cobbs can dry berth mine at 28'? If they could it would be worth a quote... I'll be in the market for a berth again in a few weeks.... Don't every fancy being back in the water though, dry is the way forward I feel, esp. With an Outdrive.

Don't forget little old Parkstone Bay... Cheaper, and closer to the entrance, no bridge to contend with, fuel and brand new Marina facilties... Plus closer to home?

A few little updates. Mainly little jobs now as I wait for the huge amount of cable to arrive to begin wiring up. Al popped over this week to being me a turbot from the Alderney trip, and whilst here helped me bolt on the new bow roller and refit the window surrounds. I've also fabricated the galley splash back, and a matching duct to run the cables come off the roof. I've measured up and fitted the foot rest. Which makes the new helm seat measure up perfect. Finally trimmed up the head lining panels today, and hope to get then vinyl trimmed tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Switch panel is being fabricated this week by Precision Units. The switches are on order too. For the fuse panel, I've opted to move away from blade fuses, which are a pain if they need changing at sea. Instead I will have a bank of MCB's protecting the boats electronics. Sunday? Worth more than my life mate to be on the boat on Isla's birthday..... To be honest I'll be grateful of a day off!

Busy few days recently, as the end draws nearer, the effort increases! First off, Pete came up last week to lend a hand with getting the sidelinings sorted. A job trickier that is looks and Pete made it look easy. What a difference this makes, and transforms the wheelhouse into something that looks nearly finished. He also bought with him a few bits of the new stainless to check for size. Amazing the difference properly fabricated and sized rails makes, compared to bog standard ones simply bolted on. I've then been flat out the last 2 days. Pete left his compressor so I've had a whirl at the sidelinings and managed well, so have done the bunks and fore cabin. I've then been cracking on with installing the mountain of kit which all needs holes cutting.... New flush mount compass, bespoke shallow ducting for the new hot air heating, trims tab controls, wiper controls, numerous hatches, speakers, 240v sockets.... The list goes on. I must admit though, after the toil of the past few months, fitting the toys is a job I'm enjoying! http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/10/4a6f18878e1dd69bf561b767bfe3c606.jpg http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/10/41c1ccc6b7de78e0ed7f52f22b7e2795.jpg http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/10/03b196c9a23eae857d1b6f4019ac0efc.jpg http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/10/672bc4d8666eebc574b0dca3a278b863.jpg http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/10/04e82c8cb9cb57835f3a75271a1c5476.jpg

Another vote for Malcolm Elvey... Although he is a busy man. Pretty good at calling you back.

Just spend a rather enjoyable few hours wriggling around under the deck giving it all a new coat of flow coat. Firstly to freshen up the old stuff and secondly to match the rest of the boat. Looks ace. The saving grace that enabled me to work on into dark has been this little puppy: http://www.myfloodit.com/pro6/4582193517 I picked one up from work this afternoon as they are new in... Awesome bit of kit and I would recommend them to any diy or tradesmen amount us. So an LED flood light but powered by a lithium battery which holds a 4 hour charge. Can be charged by 240v or 12v ciggie socker. Fully adjustable, magnetic feet etc, and being led it's pretty bomb proof! Got some help tomorrow from Pete, so expect the interior trim and stainless to take a leap forward.....

I've taught rob, so let him have a whirl. I'm sure you understand Tony, but this isn't a priority job at the moment, I'm just pushing flat out to get her launched again.

Cut out the apertures for the hatches that will go in the wheelhouse bunk tonight. This needs to be done before the lining trim goes in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After all the good progress this past few weeks, have had to take a few steps back this weekend. What started as a quick job, touching up the flowcoat in the battery locker, ended up in a full blown project and a weekends work. The Mikuni heating system had been installed dangerously wrong... Cable ties holding it to the wrongly drilled brackets, a cable tie holding the diesel feed in place, duct tape sealing the hot air ducts..... So the whole lot has come out for an overhaul and proper refit. Next the locker was reglassed to provide extra strength for the battery shelf. Finally it was all flow coated to give it a new uniform finish. Finally I tackled one of the dog jobs I've been putting off. Since we got her the engine room has leaked. This is a major PITA, and not good to have £20k of engine sat in a damp saline environment. The original engine box had wide flanges that had been bonded and screed to the deck. Problem was that over time the bond had let go causing any deck water to enter the engine room. Today I ground off the flanges, and reglassed using 3 layers of 600gsm mat followed by flow coating over the top. It looks 100% better and with a 300mm upstand we could take a ton or so of water in the cockpit without issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another small step forward tonight. Got the dash console trimmed in grey vinyl tonight. Really pleased with the result. Thanks Hooky for the tip to go to Gerry at Southern Sails... Didn't work out with cut n cover[emoji22] but he was great today and now doing the upholstery. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seat porn.... A very, expensive seat... But very comfy! The new Kab 554 with integrated 12v air suspension. Plush.

It was like boys in a toy shop today! Gone are the days of dust, resin and grp.... We are now into fitting electronics and the mechanics. So basically got all this measured and cut in today ready for the wiring and connections to run into it all. I've placed the last few big orders, so a huge box of wiring bits will be here in a few days, I'm picking up the uber luxurious Kab air suspension seat from Kent tomorrow. Also got the deck mounted touch screen in today, really pleased with how that looks.

Amazing that some seemingly small jobs take a huge amount of time. Today I fitted the main navigation console, took ages fiddling around getting it flush, then templating the Garmin unit and making sure they both sat square. The multi tools was invaluable in cutting the apertures, it avoids scratching the laminate that you would get with a jigsaw and enables you to cut a square hole.... Anyway, this is now done and just needs trimming in vinyl before it can be bonded and screwed down. Another step forward!

Thanks Mark, not bad for a pen pusher!

Wow! What a treat today to spend a day working on the boat but not be covered in resin and grp! I've got the kids this weekend as Rach is away so spending too much time on the boat is tricky but today I've been running the first few hydraulic lines and electric cables. I've also been fabricating a bracket to rear mount the front mount hydraulic steering pump. With a new purpose made rear mount pump at circa £300, it was worth a few hours fabricating a timber template that will later be made from stainless. It works great and means much more space behind the wheel. I've also started to work out the positioning of the multitude of controls. The main switch panel has 30 switches and that doesn't include the wipers, heating etc....

Indebted to Rob once again for his hard work on JV again today. I was on daddy day care, and working from home duties as Rach is away, but rob worked like a Trojan again. Jv is now fully flow coated, i fitted the toilet door frame, and whilst I was out this afternoon, rob ground out the old roof, cleaned down and re flow coated it in grey. So that's it, a move tomorrow onto fitting electronics and running wiring, fitting the new fuel system, heating system to be installed, hob, oven and water system to go in, new stainless to be fitted, headlining panels to be made, side lining to be fitted, wiper system to go in, and a hundred other jobs. Getting there but a long way to go!

MILESTONE! Tonight saw the last piece of grp completed, so now all the fibreglassing in the wheelhouse is done. I'm really pleased with the current progress. It feels rock solid - all the work has 3 forms of fitting, bonded with sika flex, screwed or bolted and then glassed into place. This lovely warm weather has been glorious but has caused two issues. The first is that the resin now 'kicks' so much fast so working times are limited, the plus side is that the pace of work is quicker as I'm not waiting for pieces to dry. The second issue is that working on the boat on a still, warm sunny day makes me yearn to launch her again and get out fishing!