With a bank holiday weekend extended to have the whole week off we'd hoped to be able to go out and have a sail to christen "Lively Levante" and get her back into commission. Nothing too ambitious, just a trip around the harbour with a few nights at Sparkes or Northney. The cat had been booked into the cattery from Tuesday onwards to allow the first few days of the week to be spent getting her seaworthy. Naturally the weather intervened to upset our plans; although initially bright and sunny soon 50 knot winds were forecast, and did set in from Thursday onwards. Turning adversity into advantage we decided to give the work outstanding a real bash and also spend a few nights on board to get organised.
The sails proved to be one of the most awkward tasks to finish off. Whilst it didn't take long to set up the headsail after being shortened, fitting the stackpack on the boom was fraught. After several attempts and conversations with the sailmakers and Z-spars we took out the feeder at the end of the boom (rather brutal!). We then had to fashion a smooth entry in the extrusion and with a little help from a former Storm competitor that we'd met, managed to fit pull the bolt rope at the foot of the sail through boom with the material of the stackpack around it. With the sails up and after a day spent compounding the deck she looked so much better.
With several wet and windy evenings in prospect we thought that we'd spend what we'd save on marina costs on the interior and get the main bulkhead between the saloon and the heads sorted out. We gave in to the temptations to buy not one but two ludicrously expensive but very attractiveDanish oil lights. Together with the downlighters that now replaced the fluorescent strip lights and some strategically placed reading lights we had all illumination options imaginable from bright working conditions to atmospheric. There's nothing nicer that being snug down below when the wind and rain are raging outside, it was just a shame we were in a boat park and not safely tied up in some more remote part of the harbour like we used to be on the Beaulieu River.
Eventually most of the jobs were completed, as always most took longer than expected. I'm really impressed with the NMEA 2000 instrumentation, it all worked straight away after being extended. Finishing off the portlights and fitting blinds was the opposite; I couldn't face replacing all the screws with ones that were the right length so just ground them off but it was a long messy job. With most of the restoration materials and tools taken off the boat it was possible to build up a stowage plan and fit in all the bits and pieces we'd grown accustomed to having on a cruising yacht. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" is the theory but putting it into practise took many trips to various shops and chandleries, yet another dent in the credit card and lots of time but we did get there and are now, at least, are reasonably organised. We've found that a boat is just like a house, you have to live in it for a while to find out what works and what doesn't.
It felt good putting the charts and all the other navigation stuff back in the chart table, we could imagine being out to sea even if we couldn't be there yet. Now that the electrics are largely finished and from a sailing perspective it's only the deck organisers that we're waiting to fit (which we can easily improvise) we're ready to go as soon as the weather improves.We celebrated being "back in commission" and hoped for better weather sooner rather than later. There's still rather a long todo list but it's mainly things that are non critical that can be deferred; it's time to see how she sails! So frustrating not being able to take her out yet after working solidly over the past eight months; as Paul (The shipwright) said "its time for her to start paying you back".
Looking back over the last week, I feel it's better to focus on the result rather than how we got there, it was a tad stressful and touch and go to say the least! The good news is that Lively Levante is now safely moored in Chichester marina as we had hoped and in time for a week's holiday we've planned starting from the bank holiday next weekend.
We knew it was going to be challenging as everyone in the yard has been under pressure from owners to get their boats back in commission and in the water by the weekend to catch the tide to be ready for the bank holiday weekend, just like us. Due to the bad weather during March most owners had given up trying to get the season started with an Easter cruise so the yard was jammed full. Boats had to come out in a pre-defined order and if one had problems...
The start of the week was relatively calm with the engine being craned in which happened
without too much trouble. Having been cleaned up and with new ancillaries in a refurbished engine bay it looked like it should do with everything in good shape and in sharp contrast to it's original state. Paul managed to finish off fitting the cooker and to install the anchor winch; he also managed to fit the collar for the mast on the coachroof by Wednesday.
The difficulties then started with the mast when Barry, the rigger, identified a number of additional items that had been missed out; fortunately he had been able to get a mast coat which could have sunk our plans, without that we would have been in trouble. With all the halyards rigged and the mast dressed he was ready for the hoist which should have been at 11am on Thursday.
Unfortunately the crane was stuck on another yacht that had problems with the fitting of a new keel that wouldnt fit. Eventually in mid afternoon the new mast was raised into
position and, just as it was about to be lowered, the crane came to a halt! Barry requested valium, other jobs were slipped and after more sitting on hands the crane eventually got re-started setting the mast in position on top of the keel. Naturally much of the work that need to be done to set the mast up had to slip to Friday, the day she was meant to be going into the water.
Although many boats were being queued up for launched our slot came up on time just after mid day and Lively Levante was gently lowered into the water with the rigging still being completed. This was just as well as there's less than a two hour window when there's enough water to take her to a berth. It was a wonderful moment to see her back in her element at last as she was towed away to her berth, looking just resplendent in the bright sunshine. Seeing her from astern her beamy hull was deep down in the water, so different from more modern yachts that seem to sit on the water rather than in it.
That afternoon the plan was for Dale to run up the engine and make sure she was ok for the trip, yet another emergency intervened and despite the best of intentions
Dale didn't arrive. Soon the water had disappeared and there was no chance of completing this task, it would have to be done just before we left on Saturday.
Barry finished off his work as far as he could without parts such as the fitting to take the strut for the boom; we'd just have to manage with an improvised kicker. It was now up to us to set the sails and flush out any issues before we were due to sail away the next day. Naturally enough there were surprises such as a lack of mast slides and a boom that would not accommodate the stack-pack; however after a quick dash to the Marine Super Store we got on top of them. The more significant problem was that the shackle on the Furlex was much higher above the deck that the old Hood furler so we couldn't tension the genoa, not much sailing tomorrow, it would be for emergencies only!
The following day Dale arrived just as the water was flooding in and soon got the engine running sweetly. Re-assuringly it started with the first flick of the switch and water was soon splashing out of the exhaust, showing all was well. After a few more improvisations and safely stowing everything on board we were ready to go the moment there was enough water to leave the berth. Impatiently, we tried an hour and a quarter before high tide but couldn't get out, 15 mins later it was a whole foot deeper and enough to clear the mud around the berth. I was pleased to have Clive on board who knew Mill Rythe well as we followed the narrow, shallow channel out to the deep water mindful of the yacht, Sparkle, that we'd watched go aground the previous day.
We were free of the Yard at last but this pleasure was tempered by the wind suddenly piping
up from 10 knots to 25, not exactly as forecast! Despite this It didn't take long to motor round to Chichester which was all we could do really and with the lock in free flow were soon in the marina. The gusty northerly winds made mooring a final challenge but we got there in the end. It had been touch and go all week but thanks to the many players who had helped us overcome a succession of problems we'd stayed on track, she was now afloat and safely in her new home at Chichester.
It's a bit muddy out at Mill Rythe where Hayling Yacht Company is so with a deep fin keel we need a spring tide to be able to get out into the main channel. The next full moon is on Thursday the 25th so the following weekend is ideal to get Lively Levante over to Chichester; the high tide is 5 metres at 1pm, perfect!
The only difficulty is that there is still rather a lot to do before we can get her into the water and seaworthy. I've managed to finish off the electrics and electronics, so we have an echo sounder now which is highly desirable. The instruments all worked immediately on switch on, the NMEA 2000 bus is fantastic compared with all the faffing about that was needed to make the earlier systems work. The yard need to finish off the installation of the cooker,
install the anchor winch and re-spray the stern; good job the weather forecast is for dry conditions so this should be complete in the next couple of days.
The main priority though is to crane the engine back in together with the mast. The engine should be straightforward as all the ancillaries are there, it's just a matter of shiming up the engine mounts to get the shaft alignment right so that the SureSeal will do it's job and keep the water out. The Mast is more problematic with several key parts we still need that could delay hoisting it. The first problem was the furlex, which was in short supply; fortunately some prompt intervention by Richard, who runs HYC, in the form a sprint over to Hamble, seems to have solved the problem. Hopefully all other bits and pieces needed, in particular the mast coat, the kicker and the highfield lever for the inner stay will appear whilst the mast is being dressed over the net couple of days. A brief meeting with Barry the rigger and Paul the shipwright the previous week turned out to be invaluable in planning what's needed to set the mast up; it was only then that we realised how much work was needed to fit the collar to the deck that made this mast different (but much better) than the original. It's all nail biting stuff but we're optimistic that the she will be in the water by the end of the week.
The new floor and a couple of coats of varnish has transformed the interior from a building
site into something altogether more civilised. II'm really pleased we did take the floor out and refurbish it as that was the only way it was going to become really solid again. There's no dodgy give now when you stand on it and it looks really smart and appropriate for her age, shiny but with a few imperfections to give the "patina of age". I'm equally pleased with the varnish work which has now sealed the woodwork and put an end to all that dust from the sanding. The two pot varnish has been a great success as it meant that it was possible to put four coats on over the weekend. The saloon is now starting to look warm and inviting; hopefully the surface will be really hard wearing too. The only disappointment was the main bulkhead where some marks are left from the various bits and pieces that had been tacked onto it over the years. We'd sanded it as far as we dared go but there is a limit, we didn't want to go through the veneer, so we'll just have to find something to fit on it and cover it up!
There's change in the air, thank goodness the cold spell has been broken and we've had a bit of sunshine for a change. The boatyard has become much busier as everyone who didn't get their boat in the water for Easter scrabbles around to finish off the antifouling whilst they can. Last Saturday the riddle of the mooring at Langston was solved; in the autumn all the boats suddenly disappeared, why? Driving past it all became clear, the owners club together to get a crane for a day and have a hauling fest; suddenly it's a hive of activity and they're all back in the water.
On Lively Lady it's been a bit of a slog to get all the systems installed but now there are real signs of progress which is just as well as time is slipping away so quickly. The Hydronic heater is now installed neatly in the engine bay and just about up and running apart from a few problems with air in the pipework. It's just like a home central heating system really with two fan assisted radiators (like car heaters) from Kurunda installed, one in the saloon and one in the forepeak. They're both connected to the tiny eberspacher heater unit using car heater hose and a gazzilion jubilee clips. You can just see one of the blowers on the right under the port bunk all boxed in so that the air gets sucked in from the saloon ducted to the blower, nicely warmed up and out again. Can't wait for a chilly evening out on an anchorage to try it out for real!
This is also where the domestic pressurised water pump, the accumulator to smooth out the flow and the piping for the tank has now been re-instated. It's been a bit of a faf to find sensible places to locate and fit everything in but this arrangement seems to work alright. As the water tank has osmosis which will taint the water we've installed two filters under the galley, one standard one and a ridiculously expensive one that's apparently guaranteed to take the taint out of the water. The remainder of the installation is in the forward end of the sail locker where the little calorifier (the blue hot water tank in the photo on the right) sits at the bottom surrounded by pipework and ancillaries. I can't get over how many jubilee clips were needed, we're now over 100, I always seemed to be at the ABC chandlery next door to get more. At least there are plenty of drain and venting points which should help long term, hope they don't leak!
The other systems that have taken an age to install are the electrics. All the heavy current and charging equipment is now installed so the switch panel is live which was cause for celebration. On the left you can see the new battery boxes for the starting and domestic batteries, the 110 amp/hr battery here is paralleled up with another in the forepeak which should give us plenty of capacity. It's all industrial strength, fused and switchable to avoid any problems later on; hopefully this will all just stay under the covers and never need to see the light of day. Next it's finishing off the low current wiring from the panel and the NMEA network; the end is in sight!
The change of the seasons has been really noticeable, especially as the evenings are now so much longer. The geese seem to have noticed too, they were around in huge numbers a little while ago but have now left for the summer. It was quite difficult to concentrate on one day when there must have been a thousand or more geese feeding on some unfortunate farmers land adjacent to the yard. In desperation he set off a maroon to scare them away; it made a mighty crack and sent them all up in the air, at least for a while, an amazing sight!
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!
Now that the last few areas of the hull are dried out it's time for the completion of the osmosis treatment which has resulted in the hull looking like it was when it was first built. The first step was to grind off the last of the last of the old gel coat around the skin fittings and edges of the skeg, the hull was then steam cleaned to drive out the contaminants that had accumulated with the moisture. Not surprisingly this highlighted a number of areas that had delaminated and needed to be rebuilt, apparently not many, but one did rather deep, almost to the bulkhead inside.
The top layer of fibreglass that had been peeled off earlier was then replaced by sheathing the hull with a layer of 400 gram biaxial cloth. A bit like wallpapering but needing great care and plenty of help as timing is critical, not for for the faint hearted! The epoxy resin has to be mixed up and applied quickly before it starts to set, the pre-cut sections of cloth are then laid over it and another thick coat rolled on. This is when Jim & Steve's years of experience pays off, it all went on first time without a hitch.
The following coatings have to be applied after the resin has gone off but not cured so that a chemical bond develops between the coats. First there's a layer of gel shield then the filler followed by more gel shield. Putting the filler on is like plastering, it's spread thinly over the cloth filling up all the indentations; several layers are needed in some places to achieve a consistent smooth surface, all done by eye. It will take several days to cure and as there are no supports it's not possible to work on the interior, result: a weekend off!
With little to do I've been casting around on the net to see what other people are doing and came across a really interesting note "Fundamentals of Restoration Projects" by David Pascoe (http://www.docksidereports.com/fundamentals_of_restoration_proj.htm). He's a surveyor that has clearly seen more than a few yachts being restored; some successfully and some less so. His insight is amazingly accurate, wish I'd read this before starting the Tipsea2Levante project. "Automatically understand that every job takes 4 times longer than you thought it would" is typical of his views, it's jam packed with insights that I've had to learn the hard way and thoroughly endorse. Strangely it's comforting as I've ended up doing most of the key things he considers important such as making the engine compartment a central feature of the restoration despite the effort involved. He suggests that "highly desirable" yachts with that "something boaters love" are the only ones worth this level of attention; I think that the Contessa falls into this category, or certainly hope so...
With several wet and windy evenings in prospect we thought that we'd spend what we'd save on marina costs on the interior and get the main bulkhead between the saloon and the heads sorted out. We gave in to the temptations to buy not one but two ludicrously expensive but very attractiveDanish oil lights. Together with the downlighters that now replaced the fluorescent strip lights and some strategically placed reading lights we had all illumination options imaginable from bright working conditions to atmospheric. There's nothing nicer that being snug down below when the wind and rain are raging outside, it was just a shame we were in a boat park and not safely tied up in some more remote part of the harbour like we used to be on the Beaulieu River.
Eventually most of the jobs were completed, as always most took longer than expected. I'm really impressed with the NMEA 2000 instrumentation, it all worked straight away after being extended. Finishing off the portlights and fitting blinds was the opposite; I couldn't face replacing all the screws with ones that were the right length so just ground them off but it was a long messy job. With most of the restoration materials and tools taken off the boat it was possible to build up a stowage plan and fit in all the bits and pieces we'd grown accustomed to having on a cruising yacht. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" is the theory but putting it into practise took many trips to various shops and chandleries, yet another dent in the credit card and lots of time but we did get there and are now, at least, are reasonably organised. We've found that a boat is just like a house, you have to live in it for a while to find out what works and what doesn't. 
It felt good putting the charts and all the other navigation stuff back in the chart table, we could imagine being out to sea even if we couldn't be there yet. Now that the electrics are largely finished and from a sailing perspective it's only the deck organisers that we're waiting to fit (which we can easily improvise) we're ready to go as soon as the weather improves.We celebrated being "back in commission" and hoped for better weather sooner rather than later. There's still rather a long todo list but it's mainly things that are non critical that can be deferred; it's time to see how she sails! So frustrating not being able to take her out yet after working solidly over the past eight months; as Paul (The shipwright) said "its time for her to start paying you back".
