Keelin It

Haven't posted anything in a long while.. Engine beds are ready to glass in, just waiting for a quiet moment. We finally have our new mooring in Little Sirius Cove. Picturesque spot in the middle of the harbour, though it's very exposed, particularly in any southerly. It also cops a fair amount of swell. But trusty harbour legend Hugh Treharne has laid our mooring, so we can rest easy. We are currently in the shadow of Paul Allen's superyacht 'Octopus', which is in town for the holiday period.

Grinding out the engine beds.

The new (second hand) engine :) You be-u-TY!

The old Volvo Penta 2003, on her way to the metal recyclers. New Yanmar is hopefully in her way soon :)

Sanding, removing rotten ply, water blasting, grinding. Got bored, invited some friends to come sit on the mooring and drink some beers instead.

Some Christmas time inspiration

Engine - goooooooooone

10th December 2014. This is the first time the nauti girl (lolzers) has been alongside a wharf since she was slipped in May. Jasey and Salt smashed out some more priming and undercoating over the previous weekend, attempting to finally remove engine over the next few days. Still on the lookout for a reco.. She's starting to look respectable. Antifoul is holding up perfectly too! ;)

Still no word on an engine, but were working on it 😎👍

We’ve also been discussing the option of purchasing a brand new Yanmar Diesel engine, rather than source a second hand/reconditioned engine (which is like flogging a dead horse). Contact this blog if you would like to make a donation :D

It’s been a while since we’ve done some work.. Jasey had a day in lieu from work, and despite a ripping hangover managed to punch out a good load of sanding. At the moment we’re concentrating on the area forward of the furthest forward bulkhead, which includes the v-berth, the dunny and a cupboard/clothes rack. First step was sanding the inside skin of the hull and applying a fresh coat of flow coat, it's looking like a different boat already. Now we just need to figure out how to install the rotating bed in the v-berth…

The first time we’ve looked at the bad girl since she came around to Shell Cove. Despite all the rain we’ve had over the last month she was pretty dry, and the antifoul is holding beautifully. The three of us spent a few hours clearing out the resting the junk in cabin. Every compartment was full of rubbish, from soggy, exploded flares to soggy, mouldy sleeping bags and shitty old life jackets. She’s now sitting about 4 inches higher put of the water than when we first got her. We did stumble across a perfectly good sun awning though, which fits across the boom (see first 2 pictures.

17th May 2013, she's back in the water after just over two weeks on the hard stand. We're stoked with the results! So that's stage one complete. Next step is to find a suitable replacement for the old Volvo Penta engine, and start the interior fit out. We're now starting to realize the joys of owning a boat...

Progress so far..

One final sand, re-masked the waterline, rubbed the hull down with epoxy thinners, and she's ready to prime and antifoul. We're using Altex no.1 epoxy primer with Altex no.5 antifoul

Almost finished the filling and fairing. Didnt help that today was Mother's Day... The restaurant next to the boatyard was full, and the easterly breeze was blowing out dust right onto the balcony. Tarps slowed it down a little bit. We've been using International HT9000 epoxy resin with q-cells as the the filler compound. It's a bastard to mix the q-cells into the resin, but it's easier to fill and sand than microlight filler, and hopefully it will hold better. 👌