The Cornish Puffin

[V41LEY]

Steve_D said:

J3JCV said:

.....This means you are unlikely to take a prop of one boat and fit another unless it is like for like.

I think the inference was that it would be 'weighed in' rather than used.

Steve

although you would like to think your honest 'scrappy' might raised an eyebrow at a mint new prop being handed in !

[GTIAnni]

Saw this whilst in Cornwall and thought you may like to see it.

B-)

[J3JCV]

GTIAnni said:

Saw this whilst in Cornwall and thought you may like to see it.

B-)

That's funny, where did you see it?? I guess they recycle the boat licence numbers but I'm keen to find out which cove it worked from so I can look for old photos if any exist.

[J3JCV]

After an amazing summer of mostly doing this;


I decided to take her out early as Im away for the rest of the month. So last weekend I had one last camping / fishing trip with a bunch of school friends (from over 20 years ago

Parked up with a friends Hurley and it was a beautiful evening;


Woke up to this view;

The ripples / lines in the middle distance happened to be three common dolphins who spent a few hours feeding in the channel, it is very deep in that part of the river.

I paddled the dinghy out to try and get a good photo, but not enough light and a phone camera resulted in a series of very blured images. Shame as a big seal came close as well, it is amazing what is swimming around so close in at 0700 in the morning!
I took a photo of the boats in the distance and our camp was just behind the beach on the right.


Anyway the fun had to end, so yesterday she was hauled out ready for winter and hopefully a lot of developments on board.

Edited by J3JCV on Tuesday 17th September 21:39

[J3JCV]

So the message here is; fix the boat up a bit and we can have this standard of picnic! (At the moment its a bit pasty in bag and can of pop affair)!

[mickrick]

Merry Christmas Mate!
Maybe see you in the New year?

All quiet here now until around 7th I recon.

Doing quite a bit in STP now...

[J3JCV]

Cheers Mick, Merry Christmas to you to!

I ended up back on the Riviera for most of my travels this winter, as a lot is going on out there. I'm long overdue a trip to Palma so expect to be out there soon.

Have a good new year and catch up in Jan.

[Ayahuasca]

Nice little boat. What it is missing are some flags!

[J3JCV]

So she is back in the water with a few modifications for this season...

I took the mast off, cut it down and re-mounted it on the Pilot house roof with nav lights added. I have also changed all the grab rails to stainless and added a VHF antenna too.
Before..

After..


I have also properly installed two batteries with a fuse panel and switch, this meant I needed to situate a second battery somewhere in the cabin, so I chose against the bulkhead behind the helm. This has allowed the steering gear to be boxed in as I was always worried about the kids fingers when they play in there!
Before..

After..


I have also added a VHF and Plotter/fish finder combo along with changing the blue to white for a cleaner look.
Before..

After...


I have also had a stern locker added to clean up the cokpit area, but have not had time to paint it yet!
Before..

After..


The weather hasn't been quite right for a family trip out yet, so I took it for a little run up this weekend, just as it blew up to 35-40kts!!



Looking forward to some sunny days now.

[Fishtigua]

I hope you and the family really enjoy her this summer.

She looks proper.

[Simpo Two]

I notice you lost a foot of cabin space by boxing in the battery - could it have gone anywhere else?

[J3JCV]

Fishtigua said:

I hope you and the family really enjoy her this summer.

She looks proper.

Cheers for that, all we need is the weather now!

[J3JCV]

Simpo Two said:

I notice you lost a foot of cabin space by boxing in the battery - could it have gone anywhere else?

It could have gone under the seats in the cabin, but there is more space than we need down there. Cabin wise all I have left to do is fit a sea toilet fwd, get some cushions made up and paint it all up. Really its just a place to get changed, shelter from weather etc - its no saloon.

I also wanted the leisure battery and all the cables / switches in an easy to access and dry location, plus I was always going to box in the steering gear and this is only 4" proud of that, so hopefully it all works out well.

[zed4]

Great work, it's looking superb. But you should have come to me to get your GPS, fishfinder and VHF radio!

[mickrick]

Smashing! Nice work As above, she´s "Proper"

[J3JCV]

So had a great summer in 2014 and all is well, but there was always one modification that was required to keep all the crew happy......a decent toilet.

The cabin moulding made it clear that the fwd under seat void was the location of choice, so I set about finding one that would fit. Initially I thought the smallest type with the plunger pump on the side would fit, but that certainly wasn't the case and in the end I needed a Blakes Lavac Popular, which although double the price is still worth it. They are far better and the dreaded pump out system is far more robust being a proper vacuum driven by a decent hand pump.

First challenge was the base, so I cut to shape 3 pieces of 12mm ply, lagged them in Bonda G4 and individually glassed them in one on top of the other.


Once that was done and cleaned and repainted the whole void out in white Bilge and locker paint, I set about putting in a bulkhead that would hide the pipe work, provide a location for the pump but also still allow quick access to the anchor chain.

Template

First fit

Fitted, showing large hatch that can be uncrewed for maintenace (I can fit my upper body through it). and pump location.

Toilet and seacocks, after much deliberation I used these great tru design plastic ones that ended up being about 1/4 of the price of the Blakes bronze ones.


So I'm taking the boat off her winter berth today up to the mooring in Falmouth and lets see what the season brings.....still an awful lot to do in the cabin and even the rest of the boat before she is "finished"!

Info on the seacocks, I highly recommend them;
http://www.leesan.com/index.aspm=3&cat1=3&...

Edited by J3JCV on Saturday 16th May 07:54

Edited by J3JCV on Saturday 16th May 07:56

[Fishtigua]

Blakes' stuff is so overpriced, they are sold only on their name these days.

The new plastic seacocks and fittings are great, did some on a mate's Mitchell fast-fisher. Laminating in the backing pads took the longest part of the work due to the shape of the hull. We finished the instalation with Odorsafe hose and a charcoal filter on the holding tank.

2 years on, no pong.

[paintman]

Looks good.
Link doesn't work for me

[J3JCV]

paintman said:

Looks good.
Link doesn't work for me

Probably easier to look at the official website, http://www.trudesignplastics.com/marine

But Leesan is where you can buy the stuff here in the UK.

[paintman]

Thank you