It's just great to be back outside away from all the dust of the osmosis shed. It has been convenient to be under cover but now the hull is finished and watertight it's so much better to be outside. Even though the weather is rather cold and wet, at least most of the work to be done is down below. We're now on the far side of the other workshop in a sheltered position, and most important of all, adjacent to a power distribution panel to gain advantage from the work over Christmas installing the shore power system! The rain has washed away most of the dust leaving the hull sparkling after Bassie had done such a great job of polishing it a few days ago. At long last it's starting to feel like a yacht again now that it's more complete and after the removal of many of the boxes inside. The new instruments and compasses give her a very different feel outside, still traditional Contessa but updated.
The last big job got started this week, the removal of the floor which we'd left to the last. Naturally there was a bit of a horror story underneath but nothing that's been too difficult to remedy. The floor bearers have delaminated and are caked in baked on engine oil and dirt. It's now cleaned up, repaired, and with a new hatch making the area look like new; hopefully James will be able to give the floor itself the same treatment as well as strengthening it and tidying up the access panel surrounds. The countdown to re-launching in mid April is generating a sense of urgency now! there's too much to do and only a few days left so it's time to have a hard look at priorities and defer all the other things that can be done later when she's in Chichester.
On the positive side the galley really has started to come together. The corian top that's now in place complete with new fiddles all round looks both smart and practical. It may not be the cheapest way to go but we really wanted a change from tiles. Eggo has made a particularly neat job of the cold-box lid which fits snugly and the infill for the sink has a chopping board in the reverse side; a nice touch of luxury! The job now is to put in all the plumbing, connect those taps up and get the water system working.
After much too-ing and fro-ing with the Registry of Shipping and Seamen we've finally got the name sorted out. As it's fully registered, not just on the small ships register, we've had to choose a unique name and most of the obvious ones have already been taken. After Shamal, Meltem, Lebeccio and Alize we just had to name her after a wind and Levante, a breeze that blows around Gibraltar sounded right. FIrst we tried four different spellings but they were all taken, then a few other more obscure winds, we were trying to resist the suggestion from the Registry folk that we add "of Chichester" to the name. None of this worked but we finally thought of "Lively Levante" which, we think, is particularly fitting for a Contessa and that proved to be unique and is now her name. With this critical decision behind us it's now possible to get on with all the other bureaucratic stuff like radio licences and the more interesting choice of the sign writing on the stern.
I
t's difficult to be immune from feeling the ups and downs that are inevitable with a restoration project like this, especially as this is now month 6 of what was intended to be a six month project. Fortunately there's no desperate need to get her into commission on a set date and things are steadily coming together. It's just that that phrase "everything takes four times longer than you think" keeps echoing in my head.
Progress on the electrics, which is the more interesting part of the project, has had to be put on the back burner while other things like making her watertight take priority. With the work on the bottom largely complete we've got to be ready for a move outside which would be less than ideal without any windows in place. We've been screwed up by screw sizes; the windows were shipped with ones that were never going to fit, much too short. The problem is that the inner fibreglass liner has sprung away from the deck moulding in places so some quite long screws are needed to pull them together, at least on a temporary basis. I ordered some A4 quality screws on the internet that were great price wise, arrived promptly but were the wrong length; fortunately ABC Marine next door had plenty in stock, I should have tried them earlier. Naturally, putting in windows is a two handed job, and my first offer of help had to be cut short due to the screw problems. Fortunately a good friend, Clive, jumped in at short notice and together we were able to make a really good job of installing them. I'll be very surprised if any water gets in after the care we took to get a really good layer of sealant in place all round all eight windows.
The next priority has to be finishing off the engine compartment which also means fitting and commissioning the heating system. Once all this is done we can get the engine back in and put her back in the water. With time running out I left the engine clean up to Dale, the resident engineer who's been particularly helpful. Now that it's all cleaned up, repainted, serviced, and fitted out with new piping, it looks very different and ready to be the centre piece of the rebuilt engine bay.
Even though we only let Z-Spars know some of the final specifications a week or two ago the mast has now arrived all neatly wrapped in polythene and looks very good too. With new rigging and halyards it's going to make the Contessa look much smarter and, hopefully, will mean that we don't have any maintenance problems. Even better Richard has found a buyer for the old mast, it may not be much but saves the effort of chopping it up with an angle grinder and putting it in as skip! It does set another priority though, stripping off the winch and furling gear that we plan to re-use.
The one thing that we're totally dependent upon for the success of the project is the efficient operation of the burger van which provides delicious bacon baps at lunchtime that are indispensable to us all. Can you imagine the consternation when, just at the busy time, 1pm, the power failed and the hotplate went cold? We stared disaster right in the face. The burger lady was despondent as it was after 12 and she assumed that the workshop where the power was controlled would be locked up. Fortunately we're working in the workshop and even have some spare fuses; everyone has a moment of fame and that was mine, the day was saved and a smile came back on the burger lady's face!
After much too-ing and fro-ing with the Registry of Shipping and Seamen we've finally got the name sorted out. As it's fully registered, not just on the small ships register, we've had to choose a unique name and most of the obvious ones have already been taken. After Shamal, Meltem, Lebeccio and Alize we just had to name her after a wind and Levante, a breeze that blows around Gibraltar sounded right. FIrst we tried four different spellings but they were all taken, then a few other more obscure winds, we were trying to resist the suggestion from the Registry folk that we add "of Chichester" to the name. None of this worked but we finally thought of "Lively Levante" which, we think, is particularly fitting for a Contessa and that proved to be unique and is now her name. With this critical decision behind us it's now possible to get on with all the other bureaucratic stuff like radio licences and the more interesting choice of the sign writing on the stern.
