Having lived in a marina for a number of years we have become used to filling our water tanks from the Marina supply. This water, for all the right reasons, has a lot of chlorine in it and we have habitually used a Brita filter, or equivalent, for our drinking and cooking water. But we shower in the unfiltered water which isn’t great.  Talking to a friend of ours, Rob on Warisha, uncovered how he resolved this when filling up his tanks in the Caribbean. He used an in-line filter (High Capacity Water Filter Kit 10) which works an absolute treat and is very low cost (especially for anything that can be used in a marina setting!). We bought a filter and have the option of fitting this in line with the outlet from our water tank. Instead we have decided to make sure that the water is clean going into the tank by buying hose attachments (quite posh ones). Having emptied the tanks before refilling with the new filter, it took two flushes of the tank but the difference is unbelievable with no smell of chlorine.

Maria is also saying that her hair feels better when she washes it. Definitely a cost effective and useful addition to Mariadz.  Our thought, like Rob, is not to fit this in line with the fresh water system but to filter the water going in.  One thing to remember though, when swapping filters, don’t lose the rubber o ring…. or you will be sending Maria to our local o ring shop to find one! Needless to say she was successful and also bought a spare.

Previously, I have talked about the need to keep the grey water box clean because the waste of soap and shampoo forms a white mush that can block the float switch and stop it working. Causing an overflowing box and dirty grey water in the bilge. Not an ideal situation to say the least.

We have been good at doing this every three to six months and have had no problems.  The gulper water pump has also not been a problem and still empties the box in about ten seconds, if that changes we know there is a problem, especially since having a couple of plastic screw covers effectively acting as valves in the past which meant it took 45 seconds.  We changed the gulper to be the black water version which has wider pipes than the one designed for grey water, I have no idea why that is but it is a set up we prefer.

Now the pump is not noisy at all, especially compared to our water pump, So it is a bit of surprise to return to the boat after putting something in the car to find that the pump is running and nothing is coming out.  As I get on board, I leave it a few seconds to check that it wasn’t about to stop but it is going on. Clearly a problem that needs an immediate fix – how often is that true on a boat!

I open up the grey water box expecting to see the switch stuck in the up position and jammed with the white soapy scum.  It’s a little dirty but not too bad and the switch is down. Hmmm. Now to check if this is a problem in the switch or the pump. It doesn’t take long to determine that the float switch is the problem since it seems to be powering the pump irrespective of its position, although interestingly more power when the switch is activated.  Our friend Mark pops over and is also keen to understand the problem. Using a multimeter we can see that there is some power even when the switch is meant to be off.  It’s a sealed unit, and relatively inexpensive so we decide that we will replace it.  Maria will be shopping at Fox’s chandlery tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we can use it as long as we do it manually at the wall, not ideal.

The next day and Maria has bought two Rule-a-matic Bilge pump float switches,we like a spare! On my return from work, I settle down to the “ten minute job” of replacing the switch. An initial test outside of the box proves that we have made the right decision so now it is getting the wiring in the box and fixing the float switch to its holding bracket.  Running the wires is easy enough.  The wiring on the boat is actually well done, although in places we have water damage from early in the boat’s life.  This area is perfect and I just need a couple of spade connectors to connect up the switch.  But first recheck it is working by jamming the wires in.  All works well. But I can’t find my spade connectors and crimper anywhere.  They are not where they should be. Now, Maria is famous for tidying up things and putting them out of sight rather than where they should be. It is a source of some frustration because there are so many nooks and crannies on a boat that the search takes ages. Anyway, no one can accuse Maria on this count so I am hung by my own petard! Anyway, I wanted a different crimper and there weren’t a lot of connectors so I will buy loads  and that will sort it.  Next day delivery on amazon prime, jobs a good ‘un.  I tell Maria it’s fine to use in the meantime too, and that was my first mistake.  Having washed up, I empty a bowl of greasy water down the sink and wait for the inevitable whoosh whoosh of the pump.  And I’m waiting, I’m waiting…..I’M WAITING! Nothing 😦 so it’s carpet back, floor boards up and look at the low capacity grey water box surrounded by a pool of water in the bilge. Great! And I can also see the gleaming wires of my new switch nicely hanging away from the pump wires. Reconnecting these and the pump works as it should. Right, in true Basil Faulty style I am going to sort this out. Some industrial tape will do this and then they won’t come out. Second mistake, since when I return the next day to do the crimping, the tape is really difficult to get off and is a mucky job! Anyway, spade connectors crimped onto switch wires and plugged in and we have a permanent fix – now to clean the bilge that should never have needed it!

Oh did I mention that, in between taping up the wires and returning the next day with the spade connectors, I found my original crimper and connectors in a bag in a reasonably logical storage location! Typical.

You may be aware that we bought some beautiful teak chairs a couple of years ago and used these most of last summer which means that the oiled dark teak had been sun lightened. Now although these chairs are originally dipped in oil to get their beautiful colour we will need to do some work to get them back to their best. Not least of all because they were a present from Maria’s step mum.

We decided to do this using teak oil that we bought from the original manufacturer of the chairs although any teak oil would have been fine I’m sure. The instructions were to make sure the teak was clean and then to apply the oil using a soft cloth. You could tell how important it was to Maria since she was right next to me doing a chair :). You can tell the difference in the picture where the work is part done and we were so pleased that we decided to do the same for our teak table.  Unfortunately the preparation of a dirty table that we have had for a few years was a bit more intense. We used teak wonder to remove the dirt from the table and then did the same with the teak oil. The most difficult part was getting the teak oil into all the nooks and crannies of the open mesh table, it took time but was worth it. The process doesn’t take long especially with two of you but I imagine we will have to do it again towards the back end of the season.

Fresh from this success and with a little time as she looks for her next role, Maria decided that our teak decks need to have the vagaries of winter cleaned and should be returned from a dirty grey/green to a glorious grey/brown…  previously we had used Wessex two part to do this but Maria had the Teak Wonder product recommended which confusingly is also a two part product with a cleaner and then a brightener. Sorry no before pics but the difference is marked and when wet they go brown rather than green 🙂

Maria worked hard scrubbing the decks with a soft brush, across the grain obviously, and was pleased with the results which actually got even better after we had washed the boat again afterwards.

The best jobs are those where you are happy with the result, remarkably infrequent in my experience.

It is always interesting to know what the range of your fuel tank is likely to be.  Although, that would normally presume that you run the fuel tank dry and after 17 years of use, and filling up in some less than savoury places, I imagine there is some junk in the bottom of the tank.  A friend of ours hadn’t considered this and was new to boating and emptied the tank.  This caused all sorts of problem for, in his case, a heater but could easily have been his twin engines.  A very good reason that one of the tasks before we go will be a complete clean of the fuel tank and to filter all fuel before it gets near the tank.  The general advice for ch coming fuel use is to take a note of the engine hours when you refill and compare to the last reading to get a view of average fuel economy. This becomes a little more complex when you also have a secondary use of the fuel such as a generator or diesel heater.

However, I think over a couple of fills you would have enough data to get a view of what the generator was using and what the engine was using, differential equations are your friend and had to come in useful some time! You could be compared to the manufacturers figures as a sanity check.

The last time we filled up was during the winter and I took a note of the engine hours so it was a little disappointing to see that these had not changed when we next came to fill up in July.  I had noticed this earlier obviously but it was absolutely confirmed.  Our usual seasonal hours on the engine is 125-150. Overcoming my disappointment at guessing at fuel economy again, I set about diagnosing the issue. The engine hour meter works off a 12v supply from the engine and this is powered when the engine ignition circuit is switched on.  Pulling the two wires that feed the meter out was harder than I thought but revealed the problem.  We had twelve volts across these when the circuit was on but no clicking of our counter.

So it looks like a replacement counter. I have tried to get one very similar to the original fit and they are a lot cheaper than you think. Fitting the Engine Hour Meter should be quite easy and then power the circuit to test it. As you will see there is hardly any difference in the counters but it was a shame that I couldn’t spin it forward by the number of hours we already had rather than starting at zero. Well I guess I could if I connected it to a 12v supply for about 130 days!

Anyway, thanks to amazon prime, the new meter arrived the next day and I was able to go about fitting it. Having already checked the supply it was a simple job to crimp the wires and connect it up.  The advantage of having a similar design was it fitted into the existing hole perfectly. A quick test with the ignition circuit on and all is good – proven completely when we went out for the weekend and ran the engine for 4.85 hours on our way to Hamford Water.

I just need to remember to mentally add 3,300 hours to it or try and convince Maria that I replaced the engine as she wishes we had done at the start! Now to prepare for my differential equations…..

We love Ian and Rob at East Coast Stainless but….. the problem with stainless steel is that it tarnishes over time and you need to look after it.

With a weekend away planned, Maria decided that we would also be doing boat chores. This week she wants to clean the stainless steel, all of it, which is why I cursed our friends at ECS! if they didn’t do such a good job maybe we would have less to do.

Over a couple of hours we cleaned everything Dorades (funnels), pushpit, pulpit, two mast pulpits, eight cleats, two davits, one anchor and a solar panel frame. Not all of this has been done by East Coast Stainless but that won’t stop me blaming them 🙂 . I need to check what the guys use to clean up stainless because it always looks immaculate after they have done it but for us HG Steel Polish

Of course on return from our weekend away, I have to wash down the boat. That will be water stains on our immaculate stainless so Maria informs me that we need to go around and quickly clean the stainless to get it looking right again. I can see this is going to be a regular task now! 😦

On our return from Hamford Water to Ipswich, we suddenly detected a change in engine noise. Actually, if I’m honest, Maria had mentioned that when the engine started, and I was on the bow, she thought she may have heard a whine from the engine that she didn’t recognise. 

One thing we have learnt on a boat is that any noise you hear that is different to usual needs to be investigated. A pump going off in the night, the high pitched whine of a slightly slipping fan belt or a different tone to the pump for the toilet. All of these need to be checked out or they could be a bigger problem

We were on our way back from a nice weekend away, just approaching Felixstowe when Maria and I both heard a slightly different tone to the engine and a slight whine. I was down below immediately. Opening the engine room doors and there is a bit of heat and a distinctive smell from the fan belt. I call to Maria to reduce revs while I try to understand what is going on. Another check and I can see shiny bolts on the clean engine room floor. Hmmm.

The alternator is fixed to the engine by two bars, one at the top which holds the generator in place and one at 90 degrees at the bottom which provides the adjustment to tighten the fan belt.  Initially I look at the bottom bar because of the slipping belt to find that the bolts that push the alternator out are loose and the bolts on the outside have come off the bar. We’re going to need to switch off for a little while so I can adjust that. The top bar also looks wrong….. it is out at one end and there are no bolts on it at all. That is a big issue.  If the bar comes out and the alternator drops we could have some real issues. This top bar is the first one that you put on when fitting the alternator and so to adjust it I will need to take off the fan belts, the locator unit and try and locate the side of the alternator correctly to refit the bar. I can’t do that with an engine that has been running for an hour, it is just too hot. I can tighten up the adjustment bar and hopefully this will pin the generator until I can let the engine cool and fix the generator properly.

We’re all tightened up and Maria can restart the engine and we can gently get home with me rechecking the engine every thirty minutes. It’s a nervy trip back to a Ipswich and a little slower than we like but we return safely enough. 

After a couple of hours, the engine is cool enough to work on and I can take the alternator off and refit it properly. I have also decided to add extra locking bolts onto the bars too, we’re not having this problem again!

Those who know us well will know that, like most pet “owners”, we are controlled by the cats and they generally get whatever they want. We have a cat flap fitted to a shower door so that they can have privacy when they need to go the toilet! We also let them roam when we are around and rather than fitting a cat flap to the companionway door, we came up with another solution for the winter. A single heavy curtain goes across the companionway which the cats can push past, if they can be bothered – Bonnie! However in the winter, this is too heavy. We have usually just left the door open but this is an entrance for flies too.  Having fitted mossie nets to all open windows, we decided to fit some net curtains to stop any flying insects but still let air through. 

Finding a suitably plain net was easy enough and we only need a couple of square metres so not too expensive. The last task we want to do is to weigh down the bottom edge but in a way that the cats can still push past.  That is assuming that they are brave enough to try – Clyde.

So now we have a net curtain equivalent of our heavy curtain which acts as a cat flap and all for the princely sum of four pounds.

We have very much got used to our in-mast furling system on Mariadz, having learnt with this system ten years ago.  We generally have our techniques for avoiding sail jams despite having one for the first time in years a few weeks ago.

However, one of the issues with older sails is that the flap of sail that pokes out from the mast when the sail is away is exposed to the elements.  It gets filthy.  We hadn’t noticed this before because we had always been on newer boats or boats with newer sails but we decided something had to be done.  I tried to clean this last year with a neat solution of detergent and a lot of scrubbing and it came up a little but still looked weary.

With the recent success of Dettol Mould and Mildew Remover on the cockpit tent and the anti-slip on the deck, where the black marks in the grooves were removed, I decided we should try this on the exposed part of the sail.  Mould and Mildew is a mild bleach and so I was keen to make sure that it wasn’t on the sail or any of the deck for too long before being washed off.

So mould and mildew was applied, scrubbed and then washed off with lots of water.  Afterwards, all of the decks were washed down so hopefully we won’t get any bleaching elsewhere.  This didn’t take too long and using lots of water and a couple of applications has really brought the sail back up.  I am almost tempted to try another application in a few days but the current results can be seen below. Maybe a need for a little more effort on the bottom of the sail….

You will also notice the fold down step-ladder that Maria got me for my birthday. She really is an old romantic!

I seem to remember getting told that a lot when on holiday, so it is fitting that Mariadz has been told this.  Today is the start of the annual lift out and maintenance period for Mariadz.  A chance to check a few things and do some fixes that aren’t possible in the water.  This year we are planning to keep the boat out for three weeks, living in the motor home, which means the cats will be ok (not great with ladders) and the work can be done without cats or people under your feet.

I asked the team to move the boat so that I could video it, especially as Maria has been working really hard recently, and the weekend having worked through the night on consecutive nights, and was in no state to take on Mariadz.  The preparation takes ages though.  I have to clear out the boat for everything we need for the holiday.  The fridges and freezer will be switched off and so need to be cleared.  We have work going on in the forepeak which means the bed storage area needs to be emptied, as does the galley cupboard under the sink.  Maria also wants the recently cleaned carpet up so that it doesn’t get too dirty while work is being done. Finally the cockpit needs to be cleared  with most of the cockpit tent down too.  Then there is the minor matter of two cats to move – they love their home and need to be taken off whilst afloat rather than down a ladder once ashore.

We get it all done and it is a wonderful still day when Mariadz gently leaves her berth and heads to the lift out.

The lift out gives us an opportunity to check and resolve some issues we have had.  We will be able to understand the cause of the vibration from the prop.  We suspect that this is barnacles on the prop potentially stopping it fully deploying into drive mode – it is a Bruntons Autoprop.  We also need to understand what is happening with the keel cooler.  We know this has a leak anyway but recently it hadn’t been working at all which was why it was disconnected.  The coppercoat needs to be checked and rekeyed. We also need to check anode loss since we were almost completely used up in March after nine months, we need to understand if excessive snide loss is occurring which could mean there is an electrical problem. However, the main point of the lift this year is to check and replace, if necessary, all of the underwater through hulls.  I had been told by Stevie to get these from Fox’s chandlery who gave me an extra discount.  However, their supplier is ASAP who you can buy from direct but since we are likely to return some of the bronze fittings (nothing is too good for our girl), going to fox’s provides some convenience when we need to do this.

It is a very smooth manoeuvre from the lift crew, Mariadz does look good as she slowly moves across to the lift, and before long she is lined up and the lift can start.  After a couple of false starts and a consultation with the manual to check for lifting points, she is up and we can see that there is a lot of growth on her especially since she has only been back in the water for four months.  That said after some of the issues we have had, we probably haven’t taken her out as much this year so far.

As part of the service a high power pressure wash of the hull is performed which generally takes her from quite covered in marine life to squeaky clean.  As part of this I can check the prop both before and after the wash and I can see nothing blocking the folding mechanism but a fair few barnacles on the prop itself.  Maybe these were enough to cause the slight vibration we could hear in the aft cabin when under power.  Definitely something that requires more investigation.  The original keel cooler was completely covered up with barnacles which explains why this wasn’t working but we need a new one anyway because of the leak.  While Paul from Haven refrigeration is on board, he can also fit the PCB for the forepeak aircon unit.  This was tricky to order from HFL, but google translate was my friend and we were able to get everything sorted via email – let’s hope i have right one and it works!

Mariadz is put into her spot overlooking the rest of the marina and having located and attached a ladder, she is ready for the work to begin.

This year, we have asked Terry Clarke, to do our work having shifted from Stevie at Watercraft UK.  We had originally planned to use Stevie but he is very busy (obviously a good thing for him).  I got concerned a couple of weeks before the lift when I wanted to speak to him about what we wanted done.  He stopped me to say that the through hulls that we had previously discussed would be done but anything else on the list would have to be “prioritised” ….for me that means – not done or done after we come back.  Most of the jobs we try and get done at this time of year are best done whenever we are not living aboard so clearly we need to consider carefully whether we are happy with this.  In view of the likelihood that certain important things may be deferred, we decided to speak to Terry Clarke, who has done some minor work for us before.  He can fit us in and so we decide that we will go this way for this year.  I have to break the news to Stevie, who wasn’t happy but I do feel that this is as a result of his workload and in the past we have not been top of the priority list.  With Terry, who has a very good reputation, we’re hopeful that everything we need will get done. The list is reasonably extensive…

• Eighteen through hulls serviced or replaced
• coppercoat rekeyed
• topsides polished
• teak treated with two part treatment
• galley fiddle sanded undercoated, painted and protected

in addition, I have a few things that’s I am keen to get done personally.

• sort out the holding tank breather
• put lagging on our water pipes to stop our “cold” water ałways being hot
• try and remove the remains of that pesky bolt from the starboard side sheet winch
• sort out the swim platform switch
• understand why our new domestic alternator is not charging

Come back in a couple of weeks to see how we did….

We like Mariadz to look good as well as being in good working order. So she gets a regular clean from us but sometimes you feel it needs a little more. We’re not OCD (well mostly), but we think, since Mariadz looks after us, we should look after her and make sure she always looks pretty.

This blog is about some of the products which we have found really help us. Firstly, windows. Back when we had a house, it had a gym and we had mirrors fitted along one wall. The conpany that fitted them did a great job but the mirrors were filthy when they were first put up. We looked on and thought “that’s our first job”. However, the team from Kent Blaxill had different ideas and produced a cleaner in a white aerosol. A spray and a quick wipe and the mirrors were perfect. No elbow grease and no smudges or streaks. It was amazing and we have used their glass and mirror cleaner ever since. We use this on the windscreen and all hatches and we do think it comes up great. Well at least until the next spots of dirty rain! 

Next up, the antislip. This was getting black dots all over it and looked filthy. I generally clean the boat down with car shampoo, with added wax, and a soft brush. However, this wasn’t touching it and the black spots remained. Last year, I had addressed this problem with a nail brush in the direction of the grooves.  This was back breaking stuff but came up well. There had to be a better way though. Going onto the forums and speaking to our neighbours came up with a mild bleach that would help and so we used the same as we had on the cockpit tent, Mould and Mildew Remover. I did use the nail brush too but it didn’t take as much elbow grease.  I was also very careful to wash it off very quickly from the teak using a lot of water to dilute it as much as possible. We don’t want discoloured teak! This process is a lot easier to do but time will tell whether this the product has cleaned it or just changed the colour of the marks from black to white! Still the anti slip has come up gleaming and looks like new which I guess is the point of doing it!

Although, we refresh the teak using Wessex Teak Cleaner & Renovator every year or two, this is not something you do every week. We hose down the teak after a good trip out, especially if there has been sea water over the decks, and I will generally try to make sure the teak gets thoroughly cleaned using the hose. It is amazing how much dirt is just lying on top, although that may be because of where we are adjacent to docks. I use a soft brush across the grain so hopefully I am preserving my teak. She is a 16 year old boat though so I imagine at some stage in the future the teak will need to be replaced. Hopefully, we will be able to do that where teak is especially cheap as we tour the world.

Readers of the blog will be familiar with the stainless steel work we have had done. We have mast pulpits, solar panel frame, life raft holder, davits, pushpit, pulpit, main anchor, stanchions, dorades (or funnels), protection for dorades and a bbq holder! Now it’s payback time for all of these features – cleaning…. The stainless gets dull over time and water spots make this look even worse. We have tried a number of stainless cleaners and have generally found the clear liquid ones to be rubbish but the cream ones to be very good. So this weekend, Maria set about polishing the stainless and it looks excellent. We have yet to find the perfect product for this yet so any suggestions more than welcome.

Another trick which we discovered early in our boating career was how to remove black scuff marks from the hull. We discovered this when the day skipper candidate on the school boat we were on hammered the yacht into halfpenny pier at Harwich. We stopped and the skipper got out another cleaner, Cif Professional Cream Cleaner, this removes all those little pontoon scuffs to a reasonable state, at least until you can haul out and do the job properly! Of course the skipper didn’t let anyone else have a go, he decided that one accident was enough for that trip. This lack of opportunity pushed us to buy our own boat so it ended well.

We have also noticed from time to time blue marks on our top sides. These may have been from the hose, the electricity cable or a blue sheet for our sails.  Either way, these marks were incredibly difficult to get off.   Much scrubbing ensued with no real progress.  That was until we found Magic Sponges. These little white blocks remove the marks really well although they do waste away quite quickly – I guess we might use them a lot! They are also substantially cheaper than exactly the same product available in the chandlery!

So the only thing left to add to this blog in the future is how to clean up the exposed corner of main sail that pokes out when you have in-mast furling. This gets dirty over time.  Neat car shampoo did a reasonable job but I have a cunning plan for how to fix this. I will update the blog with progress….. but for now that is how we keep Mariadz so clean!