It started with some Irish friends coming for a visit, they had been staying in Lyttelton (the epicentre of the big NZ earthquake) unfortunately they were delayed in Wellington for a couple of days due to David ending up in Wgtn hospital, very fortunately as it turned out.
They missed being in the middle of NZ"s biggest disaster by 2 hours.
When I phoned to find out how they were, David was being given a speeding ticket halfway on the way back to Christchurch.
You could say 'just the luck of the Irish!'
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Monday, 17 January 2011
New Portholes
The progress on the 'project' has moved on with the fitting of the replacement portholes and the repainting of the topsides, there's still a lot to do, the main hatch has now been rebuilt, the hull still needs painting and the new electronics need to be fitted.
The boat project is now moving a bit slower as I have taken on another part time project of restoring a cottage in Wellington, I'm a sucker for a challenge but this one has a firm time frame, that's the end of March(2011!)
The boat project is now moving a bit slower as I have taken on another part time project of restoring a cottage in Wellington, I'm a sucker for a challenge but this one has a firm time frame, that's the end of March(2011!)
Monday, 20 December 2010
Early Start to Summer
Working on the inside of the boat has been a bit of a mission over the last 2 weeks, as summer in NZ has started early, with temperatures inside TC getting up to about 35c!.
The heads are now white, not the trendy 80's cream, it could have been worse, avocardo, how tastes change...
The heads are now white, not the trendy 80's cream, it could have been worse, avocardo, how tastes change...
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Thursday's Child
Thursday's Child poem
Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
The Name
This is one of the most serious discussions Mr & Mrs DIY have had about our boat project, to change the name of Thursday's Child of Lee, or leave it as it is.
The names considered were - Crispy Bacon (a family joke) and it related to this boats past, Duamara - a name that had a lot of memories for Mrs DIY, Indecision III - the name speaks for itself!
The first one was ruled out as being to 'cute', the second still a possible, the 3rd I ruled out as I got sick of people asking me who was the indecisive one! - the name of our last boat was Indecision II.
So at this point it looks as though we will keep it as Thursday's Child - I quite like the song and Mrs DIY, the poem.
The names considered were - Crispy Bacon (a family joke) and it related to this boats past, Duamara - a name that had a lot of memories for Mrs DIY, Indecision III - the name speaks for itself!
The first one was ruled out as being to 'cute', the second still a possible, the 3rd I ruled out as I got sick of people asking me who was the indecisive one! - the name of our last boat was Indecision II.
So at this point it looks as though we will keep it as Thursday's Child - I quite like the song and Mrs DIY, the poem.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Portholes and More
The portholes are slowly being replaced,-(finished yesterday!) the system I'm using/used is to replace the aluminium framed units with pieces of 6mm dark grey acrylic cut to shape and glued and bolted to the outside of the deck using Sika 259Uv adhesive. 
- it gets everywhere, with the added bonus of the black primer melting my gloves - I now have a couple of very attractive black fingers...
It's a bit fiddly doing without help, one large porthole means at least 20 trips down below to move the nut clamps - a compulsory step aerobic class.
The end result looks ok- I think almost as good as the original and the boat now has sunglasses.
The inside is moving along, with the first coating of varnish, now applied, the next section of the refit is the upper bulkhead (ceiling), we are covering it with wood (tongue and grove), this will cover the fittings, wiring and hold the insulation and LED lights in place.
The next challenge will to be to sort out the wiring, although the switchboard was completely demolished in the fire, all the wiring which was below chest level is ok, if a bit messy in parts, being sprinkled with sticky melted vinyl.
- it gets everywhere, with the added bonus of the black primer melting my gloves - I now have a couple of very attractive black fingers...It's a bit fiddly doing without help, one large porthole means at least 20 trips down below to move the nut clamps - a compulsory step aerobic class.
The end result looks ok- I think almost as good as the original and the boat now has sunglasses.
The inside is moving along, with the first coating of varnish, now applied, the next section of the refit is the upper bulkhead (ceiling), we are covering it with wood (tongue and grove), this will cover the fittings, wiring and hold the insulation and LED lights in place.
The next challenge will to be to sort out the wiring, although the switchboard was completely demolished in the fire, all the wiring which was below chest level is ok, if a bit messy in parts, being sprinkled with sticky melted vinyl.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Woodworker
I was trying to decide how I was going to cut the new curved sections that go on the ends of the bulkheads and doors (hatches) and had decided to ask the local joiner if they would be able to cut them out of the timber that I would supply.
No problem, in fact they let me do it myself using the equipment in the factory - it's nice living in a small village.
The boss said come back anytime if I needed to use any of the equipment.
No problem, in fact they let me do it myself using the equipment in the factory - it's nice living in a small village.
The boss said come back anytime if I needed to use any of the equipment.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
P118 Progress
That's the number of the hull, I just found it and now see them everywhere, transom, stern...
I had a call from the 'nice man' at Volvo Marine to tell me our engine was very sick and the best think we could do was to sell it or use it for a paper weight.
Oh well it's not that I hadn't expected something like this, the poor old thing was quite old.
We have now completely cleared the insides, the new galley has been fitted.
The engine bay has been re-lined and now looks new and shiny, with it's new soundproofing.
The hull has been fully insulated and re-lined and the internal furniture is starting to be fitted.
All the plywood seat covers are sanded and varnished.
Last weekend the weather was perfect and we were able to take all the usable swab foam out of the container together with the newly varnished covers out in the sun, the newly painted covers were dry within an hour, role-on summer.
To date my biggest mistake has been the repair of the portholes - I should have followed my instincts and done them the same way as our last yacht (Farr 1020), which was to seal and bolt them through the glass hull.
So it's do it again
An expensive mistake, lets hope this is the only one!
Just had a good news phone call, the motor has been sold to someone who wants the gearbox, so from a complete loss I have now have a $1000.00 to put towards the new engine, only another 11K to go!.
I had a call from the 'nice man' at Volvo Marine to tell me our engine was very sick and the best think we could do was to sell it or use it for a paper weight.
Oh well it's not that I hadn't expected something like this, the poor old thing was quite old.
We have now completely cleared the insides, the new galley has been fitted.
The engine bay has been re-lined and now looks new and shiny, with it's new soundproofing.
The hull has been fully insulated and re-lined and the internal furniture is starting to be fitted.
All the plywood seat covers are sanded and varnished.
Last weekend the weather was perfect and we were able to take all the usable swab foam out of the container together with the newly varnished covers out in the sun, the newly painted covers were dry within an hour, role-on summer.
To date my biggest mistake has been the repair of the portholes - I should have followed my instincts and done them the same way as our last yacht (Farr 1020), which was to seal and bolt them through the glass hull.
So it's do it again
An expensive mistake, lets hope this is the only one!
Just had a good news phone call, the motor has been sold to someone who wants the gearbox, so from a complete loss I have now have a $1000.00 to put towards the new engine, only another 11K to go!.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Galley
The galley is almost ready to be installed, only some final sanding and varnishing.
The bench tiles have been removed as we both have a aversion to 'brown' the new black ones are ready to be fixed, Note: the glue/adhesive made it a difficult job to get them off, I'm still finding bits everywhere.
Most of the remaining Teak ply that has not been replaced with the Maple has now been painted, this is making the inside of the boat a lot lighter and 'modern'.
Mrs DIY is discussing the new upholstery fabrics with my interior designer sister, I'm sure it will look great when we get to that part of the fix.
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