23rd February 2006 - Palma - Slipping Swagman
Posted at 7:27 AM, Sunday, February 26, 2006
Just spent 4 days in Palma getting Swagman her annual 'lift' to check and clean her undersides.
We booked into the Saratoga Hotel for this period and if others are ever looking, it is a good value 4 star within walking distance of the yard. Cost around 140 euros per night for two half board and no fuss with our spattered sailing clothes.
It had been recommended that we use Audac's Yard alongside RCNP as opposed to the Palma main boat yard. Both a very busy in Febraury but Audac squeezed us in OK. The yard guys did a good job of lifting her out and setting her up securely on Monday. Total cost of lift / hardstanding for 3 days / bottom blast / launch around 400 euros - it is calculated on vessel length.
We found our CuproCoat antifouling had worked as they said and it took only a blast with the water gun to reveal a clean smooth bottom. The saildrive leg, prop and some unpainted throughhull fittings were covered in barnacles and coral worms, we guess a result of the very warm waters experienced this past year in the Med, but a good benchmark to measure how well the CuproCoat had worked.
We replaced the sail drive rubber we'd cut off last year when diving, we painted the worn keel base and our drive leg with regular black hard racing antifoul, then touched up and then polished out the small Awlgrip paint scratch we picked up on our starboard side. After replacing all anodes, on Wednesday we slipped her back in.
Took advantage of the clean hull plus a very still day to check out and recalibrate the log outside the harbour mouth. Other 461 owners might be interested in the speeds we recorded for thier own planning purposes. We've the 75hp Turbo Yanmar larger engine with the 'standard' Hanse 18 inch Flex O Fold prop.
1500 revs - 5.5 knots
2000 revs - 6.5 knots
2500 revs - 7.5 knots
3000 revs - 7.9 knots
3400 revs (max) - 8.4 knots
Once back in the berth we also exchanged the 60 ah alternator for an 80 ah version - plus added a Stirling Smart Regulator. This set up now delivers to the batteries 14.2 volts with 62 amps at 1,500 revs. Much better than the 12.8 volt / 45 amps we got before. Hopefully this was the final step in concluding our past charging issues. Time will tell.
Checked the watermaker installed by Erich and all looks in order well hidden under the floor. Decided not to test it now as one has to pickle them when not used for more than five days. So we aim to test fully once we arrive end March and prior to our departure on 2nd April.
Met up with and agreed design of a stainless bowsprit to be made by another local German tradesman (Kurt). Sounds like it will be strong and not look too bad. We need the sprit to set up and fly our furler stored Code 0 headsail. Looking forward to giving the sail a real go on the delivery trip as well as the rest of the summer.
Collected our Simpson Davits sent from the UK to Hanse local office - but could not fit as backing plates were missing. Shame.
Fiddled around with other simple jobs below and finally cleaned all the exterior teak using some of the vast volume of Wessexs Chemicals we've carried with. She looks like new - but with rate of dilution and current usage, we'll still have the 2 x 20 litre containers in the lazerette twenty years from now!
Packed up and carried home the old alternator, plus the spinnaker snuffer. It was jamming last year so we wish to see if Quantum can maybe enlarge it to make spinnaker use easier. Again - let's see what can be done.
The weather in Palma during the visit was OK. Not too cold for a February and I even wore shorts / no shoes on deck cleaning duties. But a couple of heavy downpours, plus a lively electrical storm, literally added a dampner to an otherwise nice week.
Cheers
JOHN