Spoke to a mate before on the phone that brought a old floating racing yacht a few years back. He till this day has still not had the sails up or had it out of the water. Last Christmas was the first attempt but unforantly with me on board I exploded his backstay!

Any ways with work commitments and the bitterly cold down south weather,The only job so far above decks he's been able to perform is fixing the backstay and today fitting a new mainsail bag with lazy jacks.

So I started to steer him in the right direction asking him has the bag got a zip...and now you can prepare to hoist the mainsail when there is no wind...and started to explain that he needs to lubricant the sail track....etc ..... But he cut me short of this and then started telling me the jib tracks need to be finished and the windows need to come out and replaced and this and that and what! I said stop lets just focus on getting the main going up and down first and then we will move to the next job!


Moral of my story is work on one job at a time and complete it. Do not congest you head with a million jobs and ideas or Working a bit here and a bit there! Prioritise the main important jobs and cross them of the list before starting the next job.

A lot depends on where you are restoring a boat on a swing mooring its hard and the weather alters your choice of jobs to do pending wind and waves.
Last weekend was the first bit of sun shine on a weekend down south for a few months . I have orgainized a person to cut and polish the deck some time in the future( next month or two but I need to so all the bright work on the deck also polish the stainless before he cuts and polishes. So I fit it in when the weathers ok.
The wiring loom I do it at home during the week .Much the same with the Engine control and engine panel Side jobs bonuses if you get them done as well as the rest of the boat.
I have some insulation for the mizzen bulk head in the engine bay that I want to cut and I keep forgetting my tape measure at at work we have a commercial foam cutter so I will use that , make a nice neat job.
For me Ive been procrastinating about moving the head from the original place in the forward cabin . Now Ive started and have thought about for a few months and visulized it in my head. Also I was never happy with the amount of excess to the engine bay . Now I have access on two sides and can actually reach every area in there with out a problem . So my will start at the engine bay and work my way forward . Once thats finished Ill finish off the sinks and work back to the stove and the head. Ive ran all the wiring for the cabin lights. Once the main cabins completes Ill start on the forward section. Ive given my self the next 4 months to achieve this . Hopefully Ill have a couple of weeks annual leave to help me along during this time .
I was 1 1/2 hours getting on board while on the mooring now its 5 minuets drive and I go past the boat on the way home so I can drop in there and measure if I need to where on the mooring you would loose a week if you over looked some thing.
For me I write down 10 things to do a day if I get 5 of those done ,anything after that is a bonus .
Plus I like to try and sort thing out long term what I mean is forward planning less mistake and alteration later .
example of this for me would be the original engine panel it became redundant when I made the decision to move the head from its existing spot this also meant moving the original battery box and relocating it .
When its time for mast and sails ,sail bags etc Id really like some help to set it up

southace said..
Well as long as your enjoying yourself in the process I guess thats the main thing...and the pride and trust you well get from the finished project will not compete with a off the shelf second hand boat. Keep at it and stop forgetting your Tape measure!

There is a spare hammer and a bunk here if you get sick of the weather up there

Btw HG02 what your thinking by moving your heads to a aft position Is completely the opposite to what I done. The best place I think is in the bows. It's also great to have a forward facing opening hatch for star gazing at night while disposing bowels after dinner.

"the two happiest days in a mans life....... The day he buys his first boat , and the day he sells it "

southace said..
Btw HG02 what your thinking by moving your heads to a aft position Is completely the opposite to what I done. The best place I think is in the bows. It's also great to have a forward facing opening hatch for star gazing at night while disposing bowels after dinner.

That V berth will make a nice cosy bed in a quiet anchorage some where south ace and I wont have to pull the V berth apart to use the head.
I usually quietly row across to Jeanneau owners and use there forward deck what sort of boat you buying south ace?

I removed the V berth! Seriously a design floor! How many quiet anchorages do you expect to find? That grinding on the roller will keep you up all night!!

Sleep on the lounge at midships. Have your heads as a wet area, storage, wet wether gear, holding tank....etc . I geuss in your boat it depends on the headroom up forward. Anyway it worked for me I also liked the fact I had 3 skin fittings in the bow and 3 in the bilge rather than having them all together.

Na, go the scorpion !

MorningBird said..

What does one do when motivation is lacking?

Go sailing and see what breaks first. That will tell you what the next job is.

southace said..

Moral of my story is work on one job at a time and complete it. Do not congest you head with a million jobs and ideas or Working a bit here and a bit there! Prioritise the main important jobs and cross them of the list before starting the next job.

That is an excellent strategy. Fix up the things that are there first in their order of priority, one thing at a time to completion. Then move onto the next priority.

On Second Wind my current priority is the engine. I am doing everything to it short of pulling the head off and doing a top end rebuild. That may happen a year down the the track.

Next priority:-
The mooring.
Electrics.
Plumbing.
Rig.
Sails.
Electronics.
Fit out.
Lika Loka.

southace said..
I can do up to 45 single handed no problem. but I have crew available most of the time.

That is not an answer to the question I asked.

Learning how to single hand our yachts is something we all do.

The same question another way.

When you go long term sailing, how many people do you intend having on board?

Or

Why do you feel the need to have a 40+ foot yacht with huge beam and multiple cabins unless you want to do private charters??

I had a good look over Lexmark's S&S 36 (Prestige 36) the other day and it is a brain snapper of a yacht that polished up will draw compliments at any marina.

Beamy as you like, sails like a witch and will sleep up to eight people.

southace said..

Sounds like abother rebuild in the making!

You may have to rename it 3rd wind!

I just wanna go sailing !

Hardly what one could call a rebuild considering all the work I am doing on the yacht is while she is at anchor.

Yes we all "Just wanna go sailing." but in case you have forgotten I remind you that yacht maintenance is part and parcel to sailing.

A friend of ours with a Catalina 375 had a look at the Morgan in Melbourne about six months ago. His comments were that the photos don't show up the wear and tear but that it was a nice boat, even has a small bath apparently.Not enough to entice him to sell his 375 though, although he does have his charter 375 for sale in the Whitsundays at the moment.

Nah, you need several jobs on the go at once so when you run into the inevitable unforeseeable problem you have something else to do with the time you have left (rather than rowing to shore, driving to store). And there's a natural priority of tasks from safety and structural through to aesthetics and would-be-niceties; i too would be (have) replacing windows before lubricating my sail track!

on the topic of motivation, I've gone through a low patch through winter with my missus out of action with torn tendon and after replacing the rigging somewhat unexpectedly, leaving all the other work pushed back. So, I'm taking a holiday away from the boat to help the missus whilst pretending for a while that I don't own a boat. And occasionally king the new rig out and enjoying it again (with the security of knowing I can cane it and it will stay up). Rejuvenate, then hit it again.

southace said..
I know of a number of towns in Australia with tourists but lack of good sailing charters.

Yeppoon would fit that category and the cruising grounds there are great.

cisco said..

southace said..
I can do up to 45 single handed no problem. but I have crew available most of the time.

That is not an answer to the question I asked.

Learning how to single hand our yachts is something we all do.

The same question another way.

When you go long term sailing, how many people do you intend having on board?

I always go sailing with three POB namely; I, me and myself!