Dad's been polishing. I think when we relaunch, Calstar is going to be the prettiest, shiniest Westerly Griffon on the Bristol Channel. For a week or two, at least.
And other than the one trip down to provide the necessary muscle to help him rehang the rudder, he's pretty much taken care of this year's dose of TLC all by himself. I am very conscious of the imbalance in our nautical relationship. Basically, we sail things, I break them, he fixes them.
Including a drawing. I'm not sure if it counts as a technical drawing, but it looks technical to me. And Dad's eyes lit up when I showed it to him. Turns out you can buy a set of replacement bushes to fit in the gudgeons for about £60, but Dad was concerned that due to the wear, a standard set wouldn't fit properly.
The true test will be at the end of the month. Calstar is booked for the lift at 1500 on Friday 28th. I have no gigs that weekend and so, weather permitting, we'll lift her back in on the Friday afternoon, then on Saturday take the 1230 lock out and sail over to Cardiff for the evening.
Polishing aside, the major achievement was replacing the bushes for the rudder.
The old ones were so worn away that we couldn't really see how they were supposed to fit, so I went begging for information from the Westerly Owners Association, and, of course, a wealth of guidance and advice came flooding back.
Including a drawing. I'm not sure if it counts as a technical drawing, but it looks technical to me. And Dad's eyes lit up when I showed it to him. Turns out you can buy a set of replacement bushes to fit in the gudgeons for about £60, but Dad was concerned that due to the wear, a standard set wouldn't fit properly.
And, between you and me, I think he simply loves any excuse to disappear into his workshop.
With a fresh, custom measured set duly turned up, he had a bit of a challenge getting the remains of the old ones out. He initially designed a puller to try and do it in-situ at the yard, but all he achieved was to strip its thread.
So he took the hanging straps off the rudder and brought them home to his workshop, where he then turned up what he tells me is called a step mandrel that he used to punch them out.
It worked. And the following week I helped him rehang the rudder, which now appears to turn smoothly on its locking bar.
The true test will be at the end of the month. Calstar is booked for the lift at 1500 on Friday 28th. I have no gigs that weekend and so, weather permitting, we'll lift her back in on the Friday afternoon, then on Saturday take the 1230 lock out and sail over to Cardiff for the evening.
Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to it.
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