PROJECTS

This is a list of jobs that have been undertaken on EIVIVA. I have not included yearly maintenance such as engine servicing, general maintenance and all the things that have to be done on a rolling basis. These are projects that have improved the boat, some are repairs or upgrades and some are new installations.

Don’t worry, l know what I am doing………..

Winter 2023-24

Over the winter I carried out all the usual maintenance jobs including servicing the engine and polishing the fuel. The fuel tank was free of diesel bug with a small amount of residue from the fuel cleaner that I sucked out.

List of jobs done

Replace nylon companion way track. New outboard bracket as the old one fell apart. Replace the ensign as the old one was getting tatty. Replace the defective Rutland wind gen remote, sadly out of guarantee. Repair the galley tap. Sort out the punctured tender (Alice, you owe me £1,000). New spinnaker bag. Replaced the cutlass bearing and anodes. Both fridges had stopped working so Penguin Refrigeration fitted some dryer filters in the systems and flushed the pipes out with nitrogen before refilling with refrigerant, working again now. New anchor rode counter and control gear on guarantee. Replaced the T bolts holding down the solar panel with stainless steel. New aft head door latch. Rigged the inverter into the 240 volt socket circuit so that there is mains power throughout the boat. Packed the boom gooseneck to hopefully stop it creaking. Had a boom slider made to replace the broken one that attaches the vang to the underside of the boom. Built a hanging rail for the aft heads shower so that wet waterproofs have somewhere to drip. Replaced the yankee furling line, the staysail sheet and the main sheet as they had all suffered damage last year. New one piece spinnaker pole, the extending one that I used over the last two years was a two man job to extend, or a very difficult one man job that was not the sort of thing you would want to do on a rolling foredeck. The sails were sent to be cleaned and repaired with new UV covers for the foresails. The chain plates were re packed as towards the end of last season they were leaking slightly, it will now be a yearly maintenance job. Starlink installed.

All the ones on the right started out on the left! I will reload the board for next winters fun.

Mooring bridle

In Falmouth last year EIVIVA broke free from her mooring when the rope that I had used to attach her to a buoy parted in strong winds. I looked a getting a mooring bridle on the internet but they are quite expensive as I would have to get one custom made in the size I wanted. I purchased some 35mm 8 strand nylon rope, a stainless steel loop and some anti chafe sleeve and built one myself. Getting my head around an eight strand splice took some doing but once you get it started it sort of repeats. Each splice took half a day to make. I now have an 8 meter mooring bridal with a 40 ton breaking strain that can also be used as an anchor snubber in high wind situations as nylon has good stretching properties. Also good for towing or being towed.

Mast boot

The mast boot, which is the weatherproof cover where the mast goes through the deck, was leaking last year. I removed the old plastic boot and sealed the hole with Sika Flex and then rapped it with self-amalgamating tape to make a flexible weatherproof seal. This has worked well over the winter but it is not very pleasing to look at. So I used a section of the old bimini fabric and stitched up a new mast boot. Not as easy as it sounds as the shape of the boot is a cone that wraps around a rectangle with rounded corners. I had to draw it in 3D and flatten the shape to make a pattern. Looks very neat in place.

Restitch grabrail leather

Whoever stitched the leather cover on the spray hood handrail when it was covered two years ago did a rubbish job of it. The leather cover had become loose and twisted and required restitching. Once again I You Tubed the correct way to cross stitch a cover and spent a happy day doing needle work. It will be interesting to see whether my job is any better.

Fuel polisher

I found diesel bug in the fuel tank the year before last so dosed the fuel with Marine 16 diesel bug killer. I have kept the dosing up with every tank fill and the engine has run as it should. The Marine 16 leaves a sludge at the bottom of the tank that does not block the filters and can be burnt as fuel. For peace of mind I decided to build a fuel scrubber and clean out the tank. I wrote to Island Packet and they sent me a drawing of the fuel tank design that confirmed that the lowest part of the tank was under the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge can be unbolted leaving a 50mm access hole to the tank insides. After a lot of You Tube research, I purchased a rip-off Chinese version of a Racor filter for £25, a car fuel pump and some hose and jubilee clips. The filter is a good copy and was £375 cheaper than a new Racor unit! Total cost of the fuel polisher was under £50. It works like a treat and removed a lot of the sludge form the lowest part of the tank where it collects as it is heavier than the fuel.

Convert interior spotlights to LED

The spotlights, all 15 of them, were old school tungsten lamps so they used a lot of power compared to LED lights. One tungsten bulb draws the same current as all 15 replacement LED bulbs together. To convert the spots required removing the old dimmer switch, installing a new push button switch, adding some wire and soldering it all together. I took the opportunity to polish up the stainless steel whilst they were off the wall. With warm white LED bulbs installed they give the same cosy ambience as the tungsten bulbs but with negligible power draw.

Leather on vang

The block on the underside of the vang hits the aluminium tube of the vang when it is tightened. Over the years this has started to put a groove in the tube. Nothing structural yet but it looked untidy and could possibly become a problem if the groove got deeper. I brought some 5mm thick leather cut it to size and punched holes so that it could be stitched around the tube. I then soaked the leather in water and laced it tightly with sailmakers twine. When it had dried out the leather went hard and shrunk back to grip the tube. It will be interesting to see whether it lasts the season.

Autohelm

Last year I noticed that there was a clicking from time to time from the autohelm linear actuator. As I solo sail quite a lot the auto helm is an important crew member. The thought of being a couple of days, or more, offshore with no autohelm is something that has always concerned me. I would have to hand steer the boat constantly, not that feasible over a long period. A new unit is about £2,000, a second-hand one about £1,300 on E-Bay. In the end I got a new one and installed it. At the same time I upgraded the mounting bolts to M10 from the M8 bolts that held the original bracket. The old unit is now onboard as a spare.

AIS on WiFi

I installed a Digital Yacht NMEA (boat instrument data transfer) to WiFi unit. I am no expert in NMEA wiring so I spent hours on the internet and You Tube working out which wires connected together to make it all work. Success, quite easy really once you get your head around it. Only two wires. I now have AIS and positioning data from the boat overlayed on my iPad Navionics, really useful.

Radar mount

In the Faroe Islands 2022 we lost the radar from the front of the mast. The new stay sail is cut slightly fuller than the previous one and is not baggy at the top so it was touching the radar dome as the boat tacked. Not a problem in light winds but in the 50 knot winds we experienced that day the sail broke the radar mounting and the whole unit went overboard.

I decided to mount a new, second hand, radar dome onto the stern arch. I sent some drawings to the boys at Lat Bros and they built a support mast to match the wind generator mast that they made for the port side. Running the wire from the chart plotter to the radar dome was a challenge but everything now works and the radar functions as it should with no gap in signal even though it is behind the mast.

Solar install

I was dubious that a solar panel would produce much charge current to the batteries. The technology has come quite a way in recent years and I managed to find a double sided panel that had a claimed output of 530 watts. The panel is made by LG and is a Bi-facial NeON. Relatively simple to install once I managed to get it in place on the arch. The usual faff with wiring. I chose a Victron Energy MPPT solar controller that has bluetooth connection to an app on my mobile. Happy to see that my fears of under performance were unfounded as the panel produced a healthy 25 amps to the battery with low sun in March in the UK. I have a feeling I will see 35 amps in the summer.

Lithium house batteries install, November 2020

I removed the old lead acid batteries and left them by the loos in Brighton Marina with a note “working please take”. Gone in the two minutes it took to have a wee. Installed 4 x 100AH (amp hour) Relion Lithium HP100 batteries. They were the same size as the original batteries and dropped into place. Each battery has its own BMS (battery management system) that stops them over heating and over and under charging. I rewired the battery connections in parallel so that the positive terminal came from the first battery and the negative from the last. This should help balance out the charge of the batteries so that each is the same. I went for the Relion HP100 batteries as they are dual purpose and can work as deep cycle house batteries and high load start batteries to power winches and engine start etc. Although the amp hours are the same as the original batteries the discharge curve is flatter so the batteries do not fade as they run out of power. Also 80% of the battery power can be used before charging as opposed to 50% for lead acid. They also last for 10+ years with 5,000 charge cycles before they require replacing. New tech…….we shall see.

Lithium batteries with connection at each end of parallel bank.

The old lead acid AGM batteries wired in parallel with connection from last battery.

Stern arch, February 2022

I sent an email to Kato Ltd, based in USA, who build excellent solar arches for boats. They cost an arm and a leg in the US, when shipping and taxes are added on the cost was eye-watering. When Kato sent me the quote they helpfully added a list of all the tube sizes and thicknesses they use to fabricate the arch. Excellent! So following the general lines of the Kato Arch I designed my own solar arch in CAD. It is now being manufactured by Lat Bros on Hayling Island. Ongoing project.

Steering pedestal bearings replacement, January 2020

What a nightmare this one was! Another thing the surveyor didn’t spot when we purchased the boat. The upper steering bearing had turned into rusty dust and as a result there was about 50mm play at the wheel. The bearings had rusted because directly above them is the main boat compass and this was never bedded into the pedestal, so it leaked water onto the upper bearing. Design fault me thinks. I designed and had a compass mounting 3D printed that sorted the leak (almost). Changing the bearings required removing the whole 40kg pedestal and getting it into the workshop. To my horror I found that the steering arms were welded into place. So out came the angle grinder……….. The images are the instructions to the welder who welded it all back together. Removing the old bearings was another story altogether and to painful to relate. A month later it was all re installed and working like it should. No slack in the steering and a newly powder coated lower pedestal to boot.

New anchor windlass, February 2021

As we are going to spend a lot of time at anchor, I thought that it would be a good idea to upgrade the anchor windlass to something with more grunt than the one that came with the boat. I wanted a deck mounted windless as, although they are more exposed, they are easier to maintain. I went for a Maxwell HRC10 with a capstan drum for ropes alongside the chain and inline with the second bow roller that comes standard with the IP440. Also, I like the look of it. Used it all last season and so far so good, a big step up in power. The optional remote control with rode (chain) counter makes paying out the right length of chain super easy.

Replace ceiling lights with LED, February 2021

Now this was quite time consuming. There are 18 down-lights on the boat and they were all fitted with tungsten bulbs. Typically the small LED bulbs that should fit were to big. So, I purchased new LED down-lights of the right size and rewired everything. These new lights are quite good. When you switch them on they are red to preserve night vision. Switch them off and on again within 1 second and they turn warm white. Worth the effort.

TV for Carol & Alice, January 2021

Never thought that I would see the day. I have been known to watch it, but only when no one is looking. Attached to EIVIVA WiFi and streams on 4G through a ROKU dongle. The telly is made by Avtex who make them for mobile homes. It just happened to be exactly the right size to fit the gap in the furniture.

Electronics cupboard door replace, September 2020

When I upgraded the battery monitoring system it required getting behind the chart plotter. Unfortunately the screws that held the plotter in place were only accessible from behind and the cabinet face had been fixed into place with glue! It also had a wood finish that looked out of place next to the original black ones next to it. The holes were the wrong size for the new monitor anyway so I fabricated a new cabinet face with a black melamine finish. Looks good.

New panel on the left with the chart-plotter and battery monitor

Removal of chart plotter at the helm, October 2020

I hate having a chart plotter over the helm. It’s like playing a video game when sailing. So when the steering pedestal was removed to do the bearings I decided to remove the Ramarine E80 plotter from the helm grab-rail. New grab-rail, without the fixing holes, was installed in the pedestal and the whole lot put back in place. Looks great! The only trouble was the helm chart plotter was the primary plotter and wired with one very long and very multi cored wire directly from the radar dome half way up the mast. The chart plotter at the chart table was the slave unit. Not wanting to rewire the mast, a massive project, I cut the multicore wire and did a proper solder junction job of rejoining it with the wire that went to the E120 plotter at the chart table.

Simarine Pico battery monitor install, November 2020

A shunt is a thing that reads volts or amps or temperature. So all you have to do is install a shunt wherever you want to measure stuff. So this is the main house bank amps, volts and temperature, The same for the starter battery. Just volts for the generator starter battery. Individual amp shunts for the fridge, freezer, autohelm, and navigation electrics. The shunts all talk to each other through network cables via a splitter box that is plugged into the display. Hardest part was running the wires, once it was all plugged in it just worked. Having said that the settings for the new lithium charge parameters are still an ongoing source of amusement.

Alternator replacement, February 2021

When we purchased the boat someone had unplugged the charge light, the one that tells you the batteries are not being charged by the alternator. We discovered this when the house batteries went flat half was across the Channel on the way back to the UK. We fired up the generator and charged the batteries with the 240V battery charger so no worries. Having checked out the wiring continuity and not finding any obvious problems I took the alternator to be tested. The testers said it was OK. It had to be the regulator then. I replaced the regulator with another Balmar Max-Charge, the latest one that has a lithium charge setting. Still didn’t charge, but lots of smoke from the alternator. Replaced the alternator and everything worked. 70 amps charge current, excellent. Then the starter battery wouldn’t charge so I changed the battery, it still wouldn’t charge. I changed the Balmar Duo Charge for a new one and it all works as it should. The surveyor should have spotted the charge light malfunction. I should have taken the alternator to a marine tester not an automotive chap as what they look for in output is different, at higher revs. At least I have a good understanding of the battery charge system now!

Balmar Max Charge and Duo Charge replaced

Charge system. Please comment if you see anything dodgy.

Coppercoat application to underwater hull, March 2021

I liked the Coppercoat that I had painted on the bottom of my last boat. It stopped marine growth successfully and just required the same amount of cleaning as anti-fouling through the season. The biggest advantage is not having to anti-foul the boat every year. Good for the pocket and the environment. From a cruising perspective the hull can be dived to clean and the boat can stay in the water throughout the year.

Max Prop install, February 2021

The boat had the original fixed prop when we purchased her. After a lot of research and contact with Island Packet I went for a four blade feathering Max Prop. There is a noticeable improvement when sailing in light wind speed and there is more power in reverse due to the symmetrical nature of the propeller. However not as much prop-walk as the fixed prop so more revs are required when stopping to swing the aft to port. But so far so good.

Canvas renew, November 2020

The original canvas sprayhood and bimini was falling apart when we bought the boat. The material was faded and starting to weaken and the stitching had degraded in the sun and was only half there. The boat was in Brighton marina when I received a call saying that the sprayhood had ripped in a gale that went through the night before and was hanging in the water. I had Tecsew, based in Portsmouth, build me a new sprayhood and bimini from Sunbrella fabric. They arrived with a digital scanner and scanned the existing cockpit and canvas. Sent me images of the new canvas for approval and installed six weeks later. I also got them to make new cockpit cushions at the same time so that everything matched. Great quality and nice people to deal with.

Wind generator install, November 2020

Environmental power! I went for the biggest output wind generator I could find. The Rutland 1200 had great reviews and blades that have been designed to be almost silent running. Under way with 15kts of apparent wind it will supply about 7 amps of power. This is enough to keep the fridge and the autohelm running without depleting the batteries. The maximum I have ever seen is 20 amps in a big gust. In a sheltered anchorage it doesn’t do much to help at all. It it quite silent on deck but even with anti-vibration mounts on the support legs it transmits a whine into the aft cabin loud enough to require it to be switched off overnight. I installed a monitor panel that allows the unit to be turned off easily and gives real time and history readout of amps produced. The unit is electrically braked when off, it also auto stops in high winds.

No nose cone yet. With 4G aerials for the WiFi mounted on supports. Now removed for arch installation.

Painting out some beige, March 2021

Island Packets are lovely boats but the Interiors are a little beige for me. So I painted the forward cabin wall and behind the bookcases in the saloon. Looks great and lifts the interior considerably.

Cockpit table, February 2021

The IP440 has a small cockpit table compared with modern boats as the cockpit is designed in the traditional enclosed way to feel secure in big seas. I purchased a larger table that can be fitted whilst at anchor so that 4 people can dine in comfort, we have had 6 with a bit of a squeeze. The table fold up and stores neatly on the wall of the forward cabin whilst underway. When the table is not deployed the attachment bracket doubles up as the support for a much needed mug holder. The existing small table remains in place on the pedestal.

New Parasailor spinnaker, June 2021

I had this sail for the second half of 2021. It flies well from dead down wind right around to code zero territory. The wing inflates and stops the spinnaker collapsing and the hole takes out the gusts and the tendency of a normal spinnaker to roll the boat. First launch was on my own in about 12kts of wind, after a few nervous minutes waiting for something to go wrong I relaxed and made a cup of tea, the Parasailor looked after itself for the next six hours without any input from me. Its scarily big though, the total white sail area of the IP440 is 105 m2, the Parasailor alone is 150 m2. Usually flown without the mainsail, apparently.