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Forgive me if this gets a bit verbose, but I'm going to try and keep
track of the maintenance performed in getting Popeye ready for sea here on the web site.
There were two corroded propane bottles in the aft locker.
Getting new ones is proving hard, and swapping them over into the locker will be harder. While the two presently in
the locker may suffice for the trip, I would hate to run out. The prospect of no coffee is too horrible to contemplate.
All of the sails have been removed. Five were declared to be in
good condition by the sail maker, but he is repairing both genoas, and I have finally decided to replace the main - at enormous
expense. Blowing it out part way though, would be an annoyance. The booms and spinnaker pole have been removed
as well, and all of the turnbuckles loosened in preparation for pulling the masts. I will need outside help with the
furling gear, this being my first experience at maintaining it. It took five goes up the mizzen mast to cut the antenna metal tie between the mizzen back stays and
the triatic, and to release the triatic and lower it to the main mast. Every time I got to the top using the mast steps,
I found I needed another tool, and with only so much energy to go around, discretion mandated a later trip.
I managed to figure out which switches go where to charge from
the generator, but the belt driving the water pump failed shortly thereafter and I suspect the impellor is now in bits since
I cannot rotate the pump by hand. New parts have been ordered from Germany. All of the interior lights have had the
incandescent bulbs replaced with LEDs. A great current saving for the batteries. The anchors and spare chain have been removed
and have been regalvanised. The main anchor chain is 238 feet and the spare 104 feet. There is a 45lb CQR (although
when I weighed it, it came in at 50lbs), a 35lb pseudo-Danforth and a 12lb dinghy anchor. They look very shiny and new
now but will remain off the boat until after hauling. New moorings lines have been made up. They are 34 feet long and three strand nylon. Nearly
all of the existing ones are double braid, which has almost no stretch, and is not conducive to standing up to any sort of
surge. As per the Australian
marking instructions, the name has been painted on each side of the bow, and the stern has been marked with the name and home
port.
Both of the sail covers have been repaired and generally reconditioned.
I've had a water catcher made up, and tested. It is slung under the mizzen boom and secured to the rigging.
There is a through hull fitting in the middle that feeds a hose that goes to the water filler. I have been unable to find the side curtains for
the cockpit hard top and so have had new ones made up. Bill (the previous owner) couldn't find them either, and in rain
squalls coming down from New York, they would have been really nice. The LVM wind generator has been removed and disassembled.
The shaft and bearings were shot and and have been replaced. It turned out that the wiring had been reversed and it was
not charging. That has now been fixed and with the strong winds of the last couple of days, it is doing a great job
at keeping the batteries charged. I have tidied up the wiring and repainted a portion of the area behind an aft panel
that houses the regulator and load shedding resisitors.
"Popeye" is now Australian Registered Ship Official Number
859033, with a home port of Melbourne. I have been issued with US Cruising Permit 1801-2009-00016. This latter
was required as soon as she became a foreign vessel. An Australian call sign for the marine HF radio has been issued,
VZW2075 and my amateur station (VK4MI) address changed to maritime mobile aboard Popeye. I no longer
need a reciprocal US amateur licence but am able to operate under the Australian one, "portable W4". The government paperwork is about the hardest part
of this whole thing. The covers over the bolts which attach the hard top were disintegrating
(due to sun light) and have been replaced, and the wheels on the boarding ladder, which also were severely sun-affected have
also been replaced. The drinking water filter has been renewed and a spare kept aside. All the Lewmar winches have
now been completed (including the frozen stern winch) and the main haly'd winch which has a drum brake. One of
the genoa sheet Lewmar 48s was missing 2 pawls and had a collapsed spring. Both 48s were missing washers. Parts
were obtained from "winchspares.com" who seem to be the only source of older winch parts. They were magnificent,
Lewmar themselves being unable to point me at anyone. I have cleaned out the anchor chain locker which had a
quantity of New York mud festering in the bottom. I have now reached the bottom of three (other) lockers and am starting
to repack them after junking quite a lot of stuff, mostly very old French cleaning materials. The anchor locker has
been cleaned and repainted. Very pretty - no one will know about it, however, but I will. All the new running and standing rigging has come back
from Seco South. The HF fax antenna on the mizzen has been replaced with a backup VHF antenna and the wiring replaced.
The mizzen has been rerigged and if ready to be restepped. The minor welding on the main has been completed.
The mast shoes have been
cleaning and coated with lanolin so they should not corrode and the masts should come easily next time they need to be
removed. A silver dollar has been epoxied under where the mainmast will go. Damned traditionalist. I am starting to get to the electronics.
I have junked the old flaky GPS set and the weather fax and have discovered the original VHF set which I will get tested.
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