Mariadz, when we first got her, had a SOBA 
washing machine which is small and apparently designed for the yachting life. However, Maria wanted to see if there was a portable solution that would work on the boat, in the motorhome or in Italy before the main house was finished.
In the end, 
she decided on a PORTABLE 230V MINI 3KG WASHING MACHINE
I have to say though, that I am looking to see 
whether the Drumi a low-water usage, foot-operated washer takes off. It looks a really good design but a bit pricey. The price may come down over time so I am keeping an eye on it.
Some of them do not have great access so someone with small hands is best. Firstly Houghton It is very important to completely empty the coolant before you start! We don’t want a messy bilge…. Each removed pipe is labelled so that we know what we have replaced and jubilee clips are replaced as required. As part of this work, various engine parts were cleaned up or replaced including the thermostat. By the end of this process we will have a pretty new engine 🙂 it takes quite a bit of time to do all of this work.
I now get to see what I have to deal with… The entire mechanism is glued together with calcium, salt and lots of old grease which has hardened. The whole thing was solid and it is difficult to see how the thing moved in the first place.
The bearings are equally bad with no movement. At this point I have to admit that the act of cleaning these things up and getting them back together is incredibly therapeutic and does give a great feeling of satisfaction when it is all back together again so thoroughly recommended. When I was young I used to try and fix broken alarm clocks. In common with a number of people I would take them apart and put them back together again, they never worked again and there were always a few spare parts lying around at the end of the process. It is important that this isn’t the case when rebuilding a winch! A nice way to try and stop this happening is to be very organised as the winch is taken apart. 
I laid out paper towel on the deck and had each group of parts on a single piece. I found this really helped to make sure that I put it back together in the same order as it came apart. As you can see, there was a lot of work required to clean these up and the whole process, with a few interruptions, takes a number of hours. There is no way I am getting the second one done on the same day.
That said, the whole area had been lightly bathed in WD40 and plusgas for most of the previous 72 hours so it may not be enough. That still doesn’t work so we will be leaving the thread in their for a few weeks soaked in plusgas and have a go at a later date.
We had found that a bolt had sheered which held the casing of the alternator together. This had come out and had significantly damaged the vanes of the fan, which also explained the noise Maria heard. So we get the alternator off and I will take it to the local specialist to see what can be done. On investigation the alternator is fried and badly damaged which makes it uneconomical to repair. A replacement is available and should be with us within 24 hours.
There is a problem, it appears the bolt holding the engine earth to the negative bar is loose (right hand side of picture). This has caused arcing between the cabling and therefore heat build up with some scorching. In fact one of the negatives has corroded and melted the insulation so much that it has melted through another wires insulation and these are welded together. That will be what caused our problems and it could even have been what damaged our alternator. In some respects we were probably lucky the alternator went rather than continuing to build the heat up and potentially start a fire under the bed. This doesn’t explain why the old alternator used to provide the earth to the engine and the new alternator doesn’t, despite being identical. The current view is that this was as a result of the damage to the alternator which provided that earthing thereby by-passing the corroded engine earth. But I will update with more information as it is available.
As we pass Shotley we notice our good friends the Thompson family from Ipswich, coming back up river. They have taken on an amazing project and are living aboard while they renovate their boat before going off travelling. It is an ambitious project but they are committed and we are really pleased to think of them as friends.
We anchor in a familiar spot and have a quiet evening. 
The traditional arrival drink, a beer, is ready and this time in our new hand painted glasses! We also got some good news about a potential new role for me so all is right in our world as we settle down to a dinner of steak.
The other end could be held on a masthead cleat and I have been able to set up the hammock in a way acceptable to her majesty, siting on her throne at the chart table.
Maria is not one to say I told you so but within ten minutes the rain is lashing down, the wind has turned and it is blowing over 30 knots. Not the best weather to go on the foredeck and put out the anchor. We decide to float around while the thunderstorm passes, Maria also points out that where we were is still bathed in sunshine and it wasn’t her idea to move! She points this out quite vociforously. With limited visibility, I take over the boat and decide to check out exactly where we will be anchoring when the weather improves. 
Quite a few people ask us about how the cats are on the boat, 
particularly when we are doing longer journeys or the weather isn’t good. Bonnie and Clyde have grown up around boats and are very relaxed, on passages they will generally be in the cockpit with Maria and I or asleep downstairs. You can see how stessed they were at the height of the storm. It isn’t long before the thunder stops, well after three storms roll through, and the weather starts to improve and Maria takes over so that i can set up our anchor gear.
the strain on the boat and anchor, and several other snubbers making sure that even if we have a problem the windlass is never exposed to the yank of the chain. Anchor ball up and we are ready for our evening. When the rain was lashing down earlier, we had taken a look at our BBQ food and thought we may be in trouble here! With 
the change in weather we decided to have a Thai dinner rather than cooking in the rain and wind.
Later that day, we are “hanging”. It’s a lovely day, but a bit breezy. However, my hangover is not shifting and I go back to bed for a little while. While I am asleep, Maria chats to Amanda Furber, and agrees that we should all get together – I just need to pick them up from Harwich (4 miles away) in the rib like I am a taxi! I’m still not in a great state but I am sure the river ride will sort that out! While deploying the rib, there is a momentary stutter from the Davits as the motor stops and just clicks. But it comes back, so another one to put on the list of things that need to be checked. Just before leaving, Maria asks me how we are doing for fuel. On the rib, we have the main tank that feeds the engine and a reserve five litre can which is always full. The wind is blowing down the river towards Harwich and there is quite a swell. This doesn’t bode well for the return journey but getting there should be fine. We have only done a few miles so I’m sure the fuel is fine…..of course I get a mile downriver and the engine cuts out as the main tank is empty! so it’s lift the seats get the two cans out and transfer fuel from the reserve to the main tank, all while being rolled around, beam onto the waves. 
Refuel complete, I can restart the engine and get to Halfpenny pier to pick up my fare. Amanda and Mark are waiting on the pier when I arrive. I throw the rubbish into the bins and am ready to go. But Mark has a cunning plan, he will drive the car to Wrabness, slightly up river from us and I can get him there, it will be a shorter journey. Amanda joins me in the rib and we start to head off back to Mariadz. I may have mentioned that it was blowing 15-20 knots and the waves are quite deep, probably a metre from the tip to the bottom. We are making progress but it is not particularly comfortable. On the way to collect Amanda, I had remained dry for the entire journey, that wasn’t the case on the return. Amanda acted as a good water and wind break but I still got wet. Her back was also aching from the constant banging up and down and together we arrived at Mariadz wet and tired. Reading that last sentence back I should probably reiterate that this was a journey in the rib and nothing rude! I drop off Amanda and call Mark to find out where he is. He is on the far side of Wrabness with the beach houses and the mooring buoys. He has waded out to knee height as I approach and climbs in and we have a comfortable ride back to the boat with the wind and waves at our backs. On return to Mariadz, we go to the stern and decide to lift the rib back onto the Davits to avoid the rib banging the back of the boat overnight. We are clipped on but the stutter we had previously seems to be here to stay and the davits wont work. The rib is up enough for overnight and we decide to check it out in the morning.
promising ourselves and we all settle down to a lovely evening in the cockpit chatting, eating and drinking. Mark is quite tired and bails responsibly early, i.e. before midnight, but Amanda has the bit in her teeth…. and a few drinks in her tummy. It is 3am (again) when we eventually all decide it is time for bed – someone will be feeling a little worse for wear tomorrow. The next morning we are up reasonably early since we need to get Mark and Amanda back to Wrabness. At this stage, Mark and I are beginning to think that since I added the 5 or 6 litres of fuel into the tank we have travelled six miles to and from Harwich and a couple of miles return to Wrabness which is now being repeated. It should be fine…. and I will fill up both tanks when I return to Ipswich. We get enough from the davits to drop the rib again but they are still playing up. It is a bit calmer for the journey back to Wrabness and I am able to drop them off quite close to the beach at high tide and they wade back in.
It is a sight. I call Maria to come and take a look with Mariadz on autopilot and tracking down the middle of the Stour. As we return from the bow, Maria notices more white smoke than is usual coming from our exhaust. We check the temperature of the engine and it is above the normal working temperature. We reduce revs as I go down below to check out what is going on in the engine room. I am greeted by quite a warm engine room. At the best of times the engine room is a “no shirt zone” and this was hotter than usual. The water strainer on the aft bulkhead is completely green inside and it seems obvious that this is blocking water getting through to the engine. I explain the situation to Maria and we decide to get some sail up quickly and switch the engine off while I try and fix it. The clear lids on water strainers on Marine engines are great things, they allow you to see exactly what is going on. However, they do have a tendency to stick fast, especially if there has been any heat. Needless to say I can’t budge it.
We test the engine and we have flow and a six inch piece of weed goes straight into the strainer! At least we know what happened. Having removed this, the lid comes off without the threat of “the rope”, and put everything back together again we’re ready to go.
Now leave it on the side for two weeks shaking and turning it each day.
now we like watching TV sometimes but a) how will you see that from the other side of the room and b) who would want the TV on display the whole time anyway! When we had viewed the Moody 49, Mornin’ Gorgeous, prior to buying ours, we had admired the simple setup that hid the TV safely behind the seating. 
That was now our solution and it would allow us to have a large enough TV that we could both see and watch films on.
So we looked at lifting cages with remote controls that would achieve the same goal, somewhat more stylishly. These cost more than the TV :(. But work really well and are more stable – quite useful for a boat 🙂 In the end we went for the 
) and I had also bought an 
for our bedroom. These are very good quality TVs with excellent resolution, a built in HD Freeview and satellite tuner. I have also been very impressed with the customer service throughout the three year warranty period which has the TV collected and then returned by courier within a few days. I decided to go for the 
. Unfortunately, the original fitter for the lifter had kept the bars that allowed the larger TVs to be mounted so I needed to get some stainless bars made up by East Coast Stainless to help with the mounting. We are very pleased with the result, in fact the earth loop, the buzzing noise from the speaker, also does not happen with the Avtex – that was getting a little annoying!
on some of the teak on board. This is a varnish-like finish that allows the wood to “breathe”. It also doesn’t need quite as much preparation as varnish with only a light sanding needed to get additional coats on. Once we are away, we will be doing this on a six-monthly basis to protect the wood and keep it looking good.
This would then give a smooth finish for the woodskin to soak into. However, it is best to do this with your eyes open and not how I appear in the photo!
So I started this on the Friday and soon had the handrails back down to a finish that was more acceptable. Having had issues with the woodskin getting onto deck, stainless etc as part of the application, I decided to use masking tape across the bases of each of the handrails. This did take time, since I wanted to make sure that the tape was shaped around the curved handle and provided the protection needed. By late on Sunday, after a glorious sunny day, I was ready for the first coats of the woodskin. The plan would be to apply a minimum of four (light) coats but realistically as many as we can since the depth of colour and protection gets better with more coats. The touch dry time is 4 hours and then 24 hours for it to be fully dry, so a reasonable week of weather and it will be done. I apply the first coat on all four handrails and it looks great so I can settle down, relax and admire my handy work. Five hours later, the first of the rain hits 😦 grrrrh! Fortunately it looks like the woodskin was dry enough but we waited for everything to dry out before adding the additional coats. So three coats down and it has consistently rained five to six hours after I have done them!
You know it is bad when you can’t tell what the colour the line was underneath the dirt! The picture shows mid way through cleaning, the bottom green part of the line had already been soaked for a while and was a lot cleaner than when it started – although still disgusting!
Our technique was to have a hot bucket of water with mild washing powder and fabric conditioner in it. Spray down the line with a hose to start with and then immerse it in the bucket for some time. Having given the water some time to get into the rope, I then painstakingly went through each metre of line with a soft brush, cleaning off the dirt. 
The final touch was to spray down the line with more cold water. It is tedious, hard work but very rewarding when you see the difference at the end, with the lines looking like new. They are also not stiff anymore so we should find that they work smoother and better than they did.
We have a lovely sail down the Orwell as the sun reaches the horizon. 
In fact Bonnie is taking her “watch” very seriously keeping a look out for traffic and dangers. 
However, we are late and sunset, in our wake, is a full half hour before we arrive.
We mention what happened the night before but the other yacht has got away early and didn’t bother to pay, hmmmm the problem with the honesty system I discussed during our Easter trip. Mike remembers us from previous visits and reminds us to make sure the boat is locked with the keys away, not because of any crime issue in Harwich, just because he likes Mariadz and would be tempted to take her out :). Mike’s also part of the RNLI at Harwich which is one of the charities we always give to, hopefully not for selfish reasons! 
We hope we never need their help but what they do, and the bravery they show, is amazing. I mention to Mike our plans for the weekend with Jean and he says he will put out the “no mooring” signs so that our berth is protected if we go out. The wind is blowing a southerly at 15-20 knots, perfect for a little sail down the Stour and back, but it will be Jean’s first time on the boat and we don’t want to run before we can walk.
Toward the back end of the day Queen Galadrial, a Thames barge, takes her place on the outside of the pier. Apparently she is normally at the west end but today she takes up the space between us and the ferry berth. 
As she is coming right at you with the battering ram that is her bowsprit, you hope that they stop before they hit you. Needless to say there is nothing to worry about and she finishes a metre off of Mariadz’s bow.
The local fisherman also come in with lobster and crab. We are strangely conflicted here because the lobster will be amazing but when you are sailing you have to be very careful of the, sometimes poorly marked, lobster pots. 
So one minute you are celebrating the fishermen and at other times you are cursing them. On the whole though, the lobster is too good to miss out on, and the fishermen are always very good with their boat handling, so respect and gratitude is due. Today in Harwich, we had another “water-user” too. A group of jet-skis came in from the sea entrance. In common with a lot of things, there were two types of person in this group. 
The responsible, considerate person wearing a helmet and the idiot with the fountain of spray from their exhaust, that didn’t seem to notice or care, where their spray or wake went. One thing we have learnt is that this second type of inconsiderate person are always around, unfortunately. They go without causing too much noise or trouble but it is unusual to see the two types of person in one group, in an often criticised form of water sport. Other yachts, and passers by, come and go and we also have the regular 
ferry journeys to Felixstowe and Shotley. It is always interesting to catch up with these people and to understand their stories as well as discuss our hopes and plans. Around about lunchtime on Sunday, Jean has to go home, but we all agree it has been a nice time and a good first meeting with Mariadz. Jean has promised to return and we will take her sailing and also get her behind the wheel.
decide we will leave early afternoon and sail up the river with the gusty south easterly behind us. However the winds are gusting well over thirty knots and so we decide that we will only have a third of the main and the headsail out, this means a little slower progress but also means that a strong gust will not overpower us. As we enter the River Orwell, we make the turn past Felixstowe towards Levington and the wind is nicely on our beam. Even with little sail, and no engine, we are bounding along at eight knots with just a little help from the river. As we go up river, the wind angle does present some challenges though. One of the things we have been taught, and learnt well, is to rig a gybe protector. This is required if the wind is behind you, because a relatively small shift of the wind can catch the other side of the mainsail, smashing the boom across the boat. This is dangerous for people – do not get your head in the way of a flying boom – and also for the boat, because of the power being thrown around and the potential impact on the rig. So we tie a line from the back of the boom tightly to the forward mid-cleat on that side which is enough to stop the boom crashing across if the wind shifts. Of course coming up a river with hills, trees etc, there are lots of wind channels that can throw the direction of the wind so we always rig this as a precaution. We are having a lovely, and safe, sail up the river, in fact we are working quite hard, as we tack the headsail around from time to time, sometimes goosewinged, with the two sails on opposite sides of the boat, and sometimes sailing with both sails on the same side. Progress, since that first tack with the wind on the beam, is slower and we take a couple of hours to get up the river. Obviously not so slow that another cruising yacht overtakes us….Maria wouldn’t stand for that but still slower than we are accustomed. As we approach the lock there is no let up in the gusts, which means that Mariadz is being pushed away from the pontoon in the lock, but Maria has it all under control.
