Wednesday, April 28, 2010

sunny then the rain


Just when we thought all was going our way disaster struck. We now have the sails on and the hull cleaned and looking prety good. I tried the electronics and all was well until I tried the auto pilot. We have an old (25years) WP5000 NAvico Wheel Pilot that has given sterling service but today I switched it on and NOTHING! Having tested all the wiring and power supply its DEAD as a DODO. I phoned a number of companies that repair them and was told, Sorry Mate its Bu*&^@#d but we can sell you a nice new one for £1200. Well money does'nt grow on trees for us so no pilot for now. Then we had some good news a friend in England found a company that thinks they can repair it and Jackie a French friend here has a mate who thinks he can repair it. So looking on the bright side we might get it repaired for alot less than £1200. It looks like we are going to be a bit lonley after the 10th May as 2 of our friends are taking their boats to holland to live as they want a change. Ah well I suppose we will see more come here as the price in England is now so expensive. We had a bit of luck yeaturday. I have been wanting to get rid of the big heavy chair in the pilot house ( you can just make it out in this pic) as it nearly breaks my back every time I have to move it. I looked on the net for a light weight chair high enough for Sal to be able to steer the boat and see over the instruments. They were about £200 but on one of the pages we saw an advert for IKEA so had a look. YEP we found just the thing for €30 so went to IKEA at Brest got the chair and had a lovely lunch (€12) for the 2 of us so a good day. Well thats the little moan for today. Will keep you informed on the pilot issue. Fingers crossed and good sailing. Enjoy the sunshine.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy Bunnies




Whoopee! Yep the calorifier arrived today just as promised. It fitted to an inch and was connected in 5 mins. We heated it up for 1/2 hr and it reached the 65c promised aaaannnnddd NO LEAKS,NONE, NOT ONE. At thr risk of repeating myself you wont get better service than from Matt at SURECAL. I have put a couple of pics of it in place so you can see the tight fit. In the other pic is Sal in the aft cabin making a new ensign as we refuse to pay £60 for a new one. The reason Sal was in the aft cabin is because I was varnishing everything in the shower and galley so all looks like new now. Just wash the hull and fit the sails and we are ready for the off. Our first trip is as usual to Guernsey to see Maud Sal's mum and all our friends. Thanks for looking at our Blog and hope you will find it interesting this year.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

brilliant service

You know when you buy something after reading the advert for it and then you find that it isnt anything like it, Well ! this happened to us. We bought a calorifier that was advertised as being able to cope with a water pump of less than 1 bar pressure (14psi) I fitted it all connections correct water supply and electric just as the information said. Yes it heated the water , and LEAKED. I contacted the company only to be told that they had supplied the wrong thing but we could send it back for a refund. Good news! I thought I would search the net and found a company that said they could supply just what I wanted. Well to cut it short, after 3 E-Mails and 4 quick phone calls to Matt a very polite young man whom I asked a thousand questions and got all the replys without once hearing todays stock response ( we dont care) Matt asked me to measure the space I had and the hole where I would have to put the calorifier in. Having done this he said that they would customise one of their calorifiers to fit my space and supply special fittings to make it easier for me to fit it. When I asked him what the extra cost would be ........Wait for it.....here comes the shock...............Nothing extra Sir we are pleased to be able to help you. Bugger I nearly dropped dead. So we have a new calorifier coming next week which is 10 times better than the other one 10 times stronger and less money and brilliant service. The Name of the company is Surecal E-mail address is sales@surecal.co.uk
I feel that today we moan when we dont get what we want but tend to forget the ones that go that little bit further so I sent an E-Mail to Matt's boss to thank him for the wonderful service I received from Matt. So if you are in the market for a calorifier give them a call.

Monday, April 5, 2010

A final decision from Sally

Well here comes the sun summer is on the way and we all know what that means "SAILING"
Now we are retired its great to just sit back and wait to go sailing.
WRONG! So far we have redone the standing rigging on a yacht. Fixed leaks on another 3 yachts.
Re rigged roller furling on another one and because Dutch and Brenda are taking Ilsham to
Holland for good this year we thought it would be a nice parting present to rebuild the 10 year
old 1GM10 Yanmar for them. Now all we have to do is Degrease and wash, Polish (2 coats on topsides and hull)
Check all the standing and running rigging and Sails then service the engine and check all our safety gear and the
dinghy. Then stock up with all the stores for the summer and we can then go sailing.
Plus I have finnished the design work for 2 junk rigs for American clients and finnished the designs for a 34ft yacht for
a New Zealand client. But the good thing is that We or should I say Sally has decided that this year is my last year working for
other people. Its now 14 years since I had my heart op and have decided to take things a bit easier.
Sally says " Yea Right" now only 60 hrs a week. NO I have promised that from May this year it is ALL about
quality time together. SO looking forward to sun sail and anchorages where we can bbq fresh caught fish
And be lazy in the sun. So keep an eye on the Blog and we will try to keep it interesting.