So it has been a long time since the last blog and a lot has happened .....not all of it good. Having got back to the boat after a great week in Gibraltar visiting Sarah, John's daughter and her family and then a week down in Kent dog sitting for my sister, we were pleased to see that the interior was mould free and whilst she needed a good clean nothing too serious. However, the heat had taken a toll on one particular area of the interior. John and I had spent a long time when we were in Gibraltar all those years ago replacing the headlining and relieving Orion of what is known by other Amel owners as 'Amel droop'! It was a pig of a job but we took comfort in the thought that it was a job once completed would no need to be revisited.......how wrong could we be. The intense heat of both Colombia and Panama has taken its toll and now virtually all of our efforts those years ago in Gib have been in vain.....the bloody linings all coming off! The problem is not the adhesive but the sponge lining has just degraded to dust with the combination of heat and humidity. I have to admit I shed a tear with the thought of having to do that particular job again!
Well we decided we would come out the water replace the anodes and check the bottom. Once out we replaced the anodes no problem but we were dismayed to find small osmosis bubbles start to appear once we had been out a day or so. I know that boats don't sink as a result of osmosis but we had a decision to make do we grind all the bubbles out ( around 30 or so mainly on one side and around the water line ) and then leave the to dry or do we carry on? After a lot of deliberation we decided to grind the buggers out and leave the boat on the hard for a couple of months. Returning back to the UK for a couple of months would enable John to get his eyes fixed, something we had been toying with for a while. John has glasses that fix in the middle over the bridge of the nose with tiny magnets joining up the two halves......leaning over the compass with those glasses ......not a good idea when trying to navigate! They drove the compass wild. The plan was to have lens replacement in both eyes but we needed to be in the UK for at least three months to get the surgery done. The procedure itself takes no more than a day but the after care would involve regular check ups. This seemed to be the ideal opportunity to get the work done.
We left Orion on the hard but not before discovering yet another problem. When we leave her John always empties all the anchor chain out of the anchor locker and when we attempted to do it this time we discovered that having been in the Marina for so long and as a result yet again of the humidity rain and heat ....the last forty metres of chain was just one massive rusty clump impossible to free and get out of the anchor locker! Access to our anchor locker is via a small locker in the bow so armed with a lump hammer and hacksaw John wriggled his way into the locker and tried to hack solid ball of rust free. There was much sweat, cursing, swearing and blood sweat and tears but with a taxi due to take us to the airport in a couple of hours he had to admit defeat. The job would have to wait until we returned when we would also have to buy new anchor chain. Bliss and Joy! Something to look forward to on our return!
Well we decided we would come out the water replace the anodes and check the bottom. Once out we replaced the anodes no problem but we were dismayed to find small osmosis bubbles start to appear once we had been out a day or so. I know that boats don't sink as a result of osmosis but we had a decision to make do we grind all the bubbles out ( around 30 or so mainly on one side and around the water line ) and then leave the to dry or do we carry on? After a lot of deliberation we decided to grind the buggers out and leave the boat on the hard for a couple of months. Returning back to the UK for a couple of months would enable John to get his eyes fixed, something we had been toying with for a while. John has glasses that fix in the middle over the bridge of the nose with tiny magnets joining up the two halves......leaning over the compass with those glasses ......not a good idea when trying to navigate! They drove the compass wild. The plan was to have lens replacement in both eyes but we needed to be in the UK for at least three months to get the surgery done. The procedure itself takes no more than a day but the after care would involve regular check ups. This seemed to be the ideal opportunity to get the work done.
We left Orion on the hard but not before discovering yet another problem. When we leave her John always empties all the anchor chain out of the anchor locker and when we attempted to do it this time we discovered that having been in the Marina for so long and as a result yet again of the humidity rain and heat ....the last forty metres of chain was just one massive rusty clump impossible to free and get out of the anchor locker! Access to our anchor locker is via a small locker in the bow so armed with a lump hammer and hacksaw John wriggled his way into the locker and tried to hack solid ball of rust free. There was much sweat, cursing, swearing and blood sweat and tears but with a taxi due to take us to the airport in a couple of hours he had to admit defeat. The job would have to wait until we returned when we would also have to buy new anchor chain. Bliss and Joy! Something to look forward to on our return!
Oh I feel sorry for you. Hope the eye surgery went well.
ReplyDeleteWow what a year, here's hoping 2017 is so much sweeter for you:)
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