Getting bored

[paulbrown22]

Jobs on the big RIB have made some progress, but I spent most of the Easter holiday pulling apart the wiring harness on my Series 1 107" Land Rover to add in support for indicators... And playing with my little TomKat RIB, replacing two of the dash instruments and the fuel tank sender, which had all gone faulty over the last few years.

On the Ribtec, the manual dash switch for the bilge pump is now wired in and working for the first time in my ownership, a WaterWitch electronic sensor has also been wired in to give a working automatic bilge pump, also for the first time in my ownership! And I've tidied up a load of wiring, replaced with properly organised runs through conduit, now just need to secure it all. Trim gauge is all wired in and working (for the first time in my ownership...), but I do just need to adjust the trim sender a bit, as it currently reads partially off the gauge. The bilge alarm I ordered > 3 weeks ago still hasn't arrived, but when it does, the wiring is all ready to plug that in.

Not much left to do on the RIB then, although I was debating a lightweight solar panel on the T-top just to keep the batteries topped off...

[lakelandterrier]

Sounds like you've been keeping busy.

I spent time last weekend cleaning the hull and cleaning / polishing the S/steel - didn't realise how much of it there was on the boat! A-Frame, backrests, pod locker hinges / catches, grab-rails etc.

[lakelandterrier]

Now on a wet Saturday have descended into updating chart corrections on the paper charts I use as back up in my key cruising areas...dust off that parallel rule!

That is boredom!

[Lee argyle]

Bored, bored, bored! Lol

[Lee argyle]

One more....

[Ferryman]

[paulbrown22]

A good use of time lakelandterrier - you'll be 110% ready to go boating when things open up again, and up for new navigational challenges!

I've been playing in the garage with our little TomKat RIB today, which we've had since new back in 1999. The kill cord switch I found to be nonoperational at the end of last year (second time in 20 years, so can't really complain!), and a replacement (non-Quicksilver) switch arrived during the week which needed some modification to the pins to fit in the Quicksilver dash housing as usual ( but is a tiny fraction of the price!). But even after doing that and connecting it up, the kill cord still didn't work, and I ended up taking the console and seat apart and tracing the wiring back to a dodgy connection under the seat. Sadly the factory had ended up cutting and extending some wires in the loom and used some dodgy quick connect solder fittings, one of which seems to have failed. I've redone all that wiring now and checked continuity, just need to get the hot gun out tomorrow to seal it all up, and then put the dash back together. Assuming that goes smoothly, TomKat will be back to 100% then, and ready for it's next outing.

It's very strange fixing all these little problems, some of the minor ones e.g. with gauges have been hanging around for years but are now finally getting done!

Tomorrow might end up being car washing day...

[lakelandterrier]

Yes, it's surprising how many "little" jobs you can find. That said I prefer to be out enjoying time on the water more then doing maintenance jobs that aren't strictly necessary, so I guess they mount up, and some are not things you want to / can do on a cold wet January day.

One of the attractions of a rib for me is the minimal maintenance compared to something with a cabin & sails. My brother spends far more time sitting on his mooring fixing heat exchangers, exhaust piping and all sorts of other things than he does sailing the thing. Each to their own.

[lakelandterrier]

The TomKat goods good - bet it's fun to pay with

[Allye]

No getting bored for me today.

[paulbrown22]

Yes, TomKat is great fun, but only really a "fun" boat. You get pretty wet on it, and the shape of the catamaran hulls seems perfectly designed to squirt it right in your face, so definitely not for cruising. When we first bought it we used to put on dry suits and go out all year round, but now I tend to wait for the warm sunny days to take it out! It's pretty light, super easy to launch, and given it only has a 30hp 2 stroke goes really nicely.

After this afternoon it now has a working kill cord switch again, and it's back to 100% readiness for post coronavirus fun :-) . I even had time to do some more work on my Land Rover...

But completely agree with your previous comment lakelandterrier - whilst I do enjoy pulling things apart and fixing them, my primary reason to own boats is to go boating! So similarly, unless it's something safety related, it may have to wait until I get the time. We do have a sailing yacht as well, and whilst I always have plenty of spares onboard and don't mind doing jobs in sunny anchorages in Brittany if I have the time, they aren't going to stop me getting there. That's why the fuel gauge on TomKat hasn't worked for probably 10 years now... I know if I fill the 45l tank to the brim it has enough fuel to run for a whole day, and I tend to only use it for 1-2 hours max each time, and always in company of another boat, so not having a fuel gauge didn't worry me. Until now, when having all this time at home means I want everything to work perfectly :-).

Good work on the patching Allye, that's coming up really nicely!

[Orwell boy]

As this seems to be the thread to post lockdown projects ,here is mine ,i had a plan to stengthen a 750kg trailer i bought last year and already had a 1300kg new axle kicking about ,i planned to adjust the width to fit narrower swing beams (which i had already made ) to alow the axle which was narrower to fit ,by bending the main trailer arms out . soon realised that the bending bit was,nt happening so reviewed what i had kicking about !
spare winch post and winch ,set of rollers from a rollerbunk system i had bought and not used ,swingers i had already made , and 1300kg indespension axle i bought cheap from indespension chuck out ebay shop ,two small ifor wheels and tyres with the right pcd (5xm12x112 ) with a 900kg each capacity
Time to build a new super sturdy "yard trailer" for my 5.3 ,would be easier i think and will end up with a complete 750 kg spare
so going to try and post a few photos

[Orwell boy]

Sorry for some reason i never understand i cannot upload pictures that i have only just uploaded from camera ,so will put further pics up as soon as i can .
on the words front all sent for gavinising wednesday and returned friday las week ,also mudguards deliverd ,all now pu together and ready to go except lights (which of course i wont need on a yard trailer !

[davej]

This video of the loch Moidart area takes me back to the early and mid 90s when I went to the area a number of times on MOD training exercises and travelled about that very area, camped on beaches, dived off Eigg and saw plenty of Whales in the sound between Eigg and Arisaig. They were brilliant times as my job was running a rigid raider. However, the ticks, midges, mosissies and clegs are something to experience in mid summer. One day I will return although a few years ago I did have a family holiday with RIB based in Arisaig. Wonderful times.

[Orwell boy]

return from galvernising

[willk]

Tidy - nice job cranking the rear beams.

[Callum B]

Wow....good job.....looks like new!!

[jeffstevens763@g]

top job that

[Orwell boy]

Thanks for the positive comments people ,i am well pleased with how it turned out ,
i must confess i didnt do the bending myself ,since i had a corneal transplant my better half will not let me near the gas ,or welder !
i am very lucky to have three working generations of blacksmiths in my villiage ,and they were happy to bend the swingers and side arms for me ,all being (80x40 x3mm ) no mean feat on the swingers across the wide dimension ,wont be surprised to tell you that was the youngest elder at nearer 80 than 75

[paulbrown22]

Very fancy for a yard trailer - nice job. Smarter than many peoples' road trailers I think!

I was back on electrical duty today on the Ribtec, having Sika'd in a new piece of marine board in the console last week for mounting the junction box for the plotter/radar, as I didn't like the previous somewhat dangly arrangement from when I bought it. Whilst doing all that I replaced all the wiring involved as a precaution with proper tinned cable and rerouted it so that it can be much better supported. I then started replacing, rerouting and properly supporting more wiring from the other dash switches, but still a few more to go for next time...

The new Rule bilge alarm and float switch I ordered > 6 weeks ago finally turned up on Thursday, having apparently been sent to a doppelgänger by the same name in completely the wrong part of the country. I already had the wiring prepared for that weeks ago, so plugged it all in and mounted the new dash unit, and all works perfectly and is nicely audible with the engine running.