Contessa Christmas

Father Christmas visited the Contessa rather earlier than usual as you can see, the main cabin is now full of equipment awaiting installation over the holiday period. It all came together last friday after a disappointing series of calls with suppliers, especially the electrical bits. With several uninterrupted and peaceful days available to work on the boat between Christmas and the New Year I'd planned to do all the wiring but was told that many  key parts such as the Blue Seas DC Panel and the Hager AC consumer unit would not arrive before the yard closed at 12:30 last Friday. 

In order to make the most of the time available I'd then hurriedly planned to fit out the engine compartment and start on the varnish work. I'd managed to get some marine ply, engine insulation, all the ancillary fittings as well as 5 litres of highly recommended two pot varnish; plenty to keep me occupied.

However, whilst visiting the yard last Friday (well before 12:30) to pick up the last of these bits a surprise shipment from Furneaux Riddall and then a second from Merlin arrived out of the blue! Just about everything was now there to complete the all the electrics, no more holdups! Suddenly the outlook had a more positive feel and with everyone at the yard winding down for a 10 day break it really did seem that Christmas had arrived.

It doesn't last long though, next day it was back to reality finishing off the locker painting. In total 10 tins of Danboline have disappeared into the interior, much more than I'd expected or allowed for. There's also been rather more repairs to the bulkhead bonding than I'd anticipated or that had been identified by the surveyor; in all ten areas have had to be sorted out. They ranged from some significant delamination around the stiffeners in the bow to some relatively minor movement around the internal dividers. The minor problems are easily  addressed by squirting in resin with a syringe and screwing the glass matting and divider back together; the more significant areas need cutting back and re-glassing which I'll leave to the yard. Yet another learning experience, I should have realised that it was such a big job that just can't be short changed if we're going to end up with the result we're seeking.

So now it's time for a short interlude of Christmas carols and family fun before the wiring starts in ernest on the 27th.