May 18, 2005
The Winter Jobs
Ninjod arrived back in the UK one week before Christmas. My father Phil, Uncle Chris and I sailed her back from Holland, it was very cold. She arrived called Tzigane and had the most horrendous Mini Mouse stickers stuck down each side of her.
The work schedule started in January and required every weekend until her launch during the 1st week in April. Aside from all the paperwork (registration, insurance, sail numbers etc.) there was a lot of work to do both outside and in. Our aim was to make her completely compliant with ISAF Category 2 before putting her back into the water.
Externally...
My father and I decided it would be best to remove all traces of stickers, anti foul and filler and get a good understanding of what we were working with. There were 16 mini mouse stickers on each side and each one took around 10 minutes to remove. The hull, rudder and keel were completely stripped sanded and cleaned in 4 days.
Internally..
Things were messy internally. Some stuff worked, some stuff kind of worked and the rest would never have worked. All of the key electronics connections were made and interfaced with the pilot system. A mast head VHF antenna was installed. Bow and stern navigation lights were added. A power management and shore power system were installed. A second battery was installed. A second bilge pump was installed.
So she arrived looking like
And went back into the water looking like
Phew....
Posted by ninjod at May 18, 2005 04:13 PM