ON THE TECHNICAL SIDE

with Frank Rendell

One of our EYAV Sponsors, Graeme Geary Marine are the local agents and swiftly had the case apart and an instrument check confirmed a fault in the Fluxgate Compass. My heart sank, that sounds expensive. Still 80 % of my sailing is done solo & I find not only am I able to do other things as I sail, I have learnt an enormous amount about tuning the sails to minimise strain on the helm. I need it!

The total cost of repair including trouble shoot, new Fluxgate Compass, fit and replace and recalibrate was $120. Great news, & I learnt a lot about the Fluxgate.

What's inside & what's wrong. Careful analysis with the specifications & test gear showed that the Fluxgate compass had received damage.	The new Fluxgate compass being fitted pior to checking and final assembly. Great care must be taken to ensure the gaskets are water tight.	The Fluxgate compass using 8 small electro magnets to feed tiny electrical currents to the circuit board to calculate magnetic direction
I am much more careful with the treatment my Autohelm receives now. It is a valuable piece of equipment and with proper care, will provide me with many more years of service.

E26 Rainbow Connection has recently joined EYAV. A number of our Sponsor Professionals (http://www.users.bigpond.com/msheahan/eyavsupport.htm) were responsible for work carried out.

Ready for the work to begin, E26 Rainbow Connection sits on the cradle at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.	Original BMW D12 engine removed for replacement while new engine bearers were prepared by Bernie Webber.	Bernie completes the engine bearers while Jim Need from Mariner Engineering takes over the new engine installation.
		EYAV chose the most experienced professionals for our Sponsors, all of whom know and understand Endeavour yachts. Whenever you require marine services, help or assistance, you will be assured of a welcoming response from these Professionals. Check out the website for more details
The new Yanmar 2YM15 ready for Jim to install.	Rainbow Connection complete with new Seldon Furler from Bernie Webber & furling Headsail from Frank Hammond at Horizon Sails. In the Pen at the Anchorage Marina, Scott O'Hare

Geondy H59 - REFIT 2005

by
Geoff Shone

At the end of the 2005 summer sailing season Lindy and I decided that it was time to start on the long planned refit and repaint of Geondy. As some of you will know Geondy, had previously been brush painted by the previous owner and the paint finish left a lot to be desired.

With the help of John at HBYC we slipped Geondy on Friday 20 May and by day's end on Sunday with the help our trusty crew Ric Howells, we had completed the task of removing the mast, all deck fittings and hatches. The following Saturday Ric and I with the help of Ric's son Ben commenced the sanding process to remove all of the old paint. What a mess, we identified no less than 9 layers of paint above the water line and you guessed it, all enamel. That was the last time Ben volunteered to help strip paint. Below the water line the saga continued, we stopped counting at 13 layers of antifouling. I must mention at this stage the incredible warranty that GMC offers on its range of power tools, full replacement in the first two years, we managed to destroy a total of 4 random orbital sanders. When I returned the last one the salesman offered to refund the full purchase price as he felt that the product was simply not up to the job, what the heck, we had finished sanding.

It was now the end of June and we were well behind the planned completion date and still no new paint had been applied. I had selected Northane 2 pack polyurethane paint for both the hull (dark blue) and deck (ocean sand) as I had previously used this product with good results. Unfortunately Mother Nature decided that it was time for winter to commence and despite using a temporary shelter to protect the hull from the weather my first attempt to apply the new paint resulted in severe blushing and minor blistering. It was decided that in order to achieve a satisfactory finish we would need to ensure that the temperature of the hull was maintained above 15 deg. and not be exposed to high humidity. Once again Ric came to the rescue with the use of one of the outbuildings (light aircraft hanger) on his property.

We were now confronted with a whole new list of obstacles that needed to be resolved regarding how to transport Geondy to Ric's hanger. After investigating the normal boat transport options I eventually decided that the only option was to modify my existing tandem trailer to do the job. I spent a bit of time with a tape measure, pencil and paper walking around Puff in her hard stand and subsequently came up with a fully adjustable support structure which I could build and fix into my trailer. The four support legs were adjustable for both rake and height and bolted through the perimeter chassis and cross members of the trailer. All up about $150.00 worth of materials and days work. The next step was to plug all the holes in the hull to make sure that she did not sink when refloated, and with John's help inspect Geondy's lifting eye to confirm that it was in good condition, all OK was the word from John.
We decided to play it safe and rig a couple of safety slings around the hull prior to slipping Geondy back in the water. All went well with the re-launch and John towed me around to the dock crane where I had positioned the trailer in readiness. All went well with the lift and Geondy was lowered into the trailer resting on her Keel and the support legs only needed minor adjustments to contact the hull. Two x two tonne ratchet straps were positioned for and aft over the hull to secure her in the trailer for the trip. Both John and I were surprised and pleased that the weight distribution over the trailer axles appeared to just right with about 180 Kg on the tow ball.

With Geondy now located indoors we placed a couple of fan heaters inside the hull to raise the temperature to the required 15 deg. These were left operating on a safety circuit over night. The next day I applied 4 coats of paint layered up wet on wet to the hull and left it for 5 days to harden sufficiently. Next to be painted was the deck and the same technique was adopted. This proved to be harder than anticipated and I became quite a contortionist applying subsequent layers of paint to the cockpit area.

While all this drama with removing old paint and applying the new was taking place I had all of the stainless steel polished. The pushpit was modified to incorporate a seat that Lindy had deemed to be compulsory. It was decided to replace all of the existing timberwork as most of it was beyond redemption. New aluminium toe rails were fitted which was an exciting operation that involved the use of a block and tackle attached to the roof trusses of Ric's hanger. The Endeavour hull has a compound bend required in the toe rail towards the bow. Next I fashioned new grab rails, tiller and companionway slides from timber off cuts from our recent house renovations, the finance department was becoming a little hard to deal with by this stage. With all of the painting now complete we commenced replacing all of the deck fittings and hardware. The old bilge pump which was an internal model which had been modified and installed in the cockpit and continually snared our sheets when tacking was moved to it's original location inside the hull and a new flush mount model installed in the cockpit. All new seals were fitted to the hatches in an attempt to seal the hull. At last we decided that we were ready to return Geondy to the water, this decision was prompted by a comment from Lindy which went something like. Will you get that damned boat finished and back in the water where it belongs before we have to start renovating the house again.

Geondy was returned to HBYC on Thursday 22nd. September and with the help of Frank (crane operator) lowered into the bay. We had decided to raise the water line by 25 mm when painting to overcome a problem of marine growth on the line. We were quite surprised to see Geondy actually floated with the water line approximately 140 mm. above the water. I suppose I should have allowed for the weight of all that paint which we removed (80 - 100 kg.). With the help of Ric we had the mast stepped by 4.00 PM. and Geondy was at last back in her pen and ready for a test sail. The test sail ended up taking place on opening day in a good wind and we were satisfied with her performance.

I have been asked by a lot of people whether I would undertake this task again and I always give the same response. It is a task that I recommend that every boat owner should experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, however, when I eventually go looking for my next boat I will ask a few questions like.
1) Has it been painted? If yes sorry not interested.
2) Does it need painting? If yes, sorry not interested.

Right. Geondy looking like new, presents a pretty picture moored back in her pen ready for plenty of action.