New Ross Boat Yard

Time is Flying; But My Head is in the Clouds

Or am I flying and that’s why my head is in the clouds?

Such weighty questions, so little time.

What else is new, as my friends would say?

Nice view of the River Barrow & Stratocumulus clouds

I did make a list of all the things that still need to be done between now and the next few weeks. It’s a long list. Most of the small things I will do, as few big things are being done by the painter Gary and the Boat Yard. So, what’s still to be done:

Electrical
1. Run new VHF cable to the two radios
2. Replace plugs for Navigation lights
3. Add Name Board lights
4. Install new Driving lights
5. Add USB ports in salon and second cabin
6. Add new switch and breaker panel for fridge/freezer in pilot house
7. Add switch panel for solar panels
Forward Bilge
1. Complete hookup of New Vetus holding tank, with new fittings and electrical
2. Install new bilge pump (old one becomes spare) with new check valve
3. Make additional fresh water hookup and run hose to forward compartment for Raritan Purisan
4. Check connections for salt water pump (new, hasn’t worked since installed)
5. We found a bare wall bulkhead in front of old holding tank. Gary sealed it and put Gelcoat on it.
6. Check all clamps for the multitude of thru hulls in this area
Anchor Locker
1. Pull all the chain and rode out for both anchors
2. Vacuum the bottom of chain locker
3. Replace two deck fittings for fresh & salt water connections
4. Re-mark and reverse anchor chain
5. Add 90 feet polypropylene to end of chain rode (this is because it floats, making it easier to find should I have to abandon anchor with no time for anything else)
6. Paint anchors
7. Find third anchor for stern
8. Make up a new, longer chain snubber
Paravanes
1. Restring birds to new line, 3/16” Amsteel, so that I can modify the depth of the birds.
2. Boat Yard is making rocker stoppers for me to use while at anchor
Wood Trim
1. Teak “eyebrow” around pilot house has been scrapped and sanded thanks to Leonie & Martin. I will put Tung Oil on it and see how that works.
2. Oil all the benches that have been sanded
New Ross Boat Yard and Gary are completing:
1. Port fuel tank sealant and new inspection ports
2. New bottom job, with two coats of epoxy and one of a tie-coat
3. New anti-foul by International, a semi-hard coating that is made for slow boats like Dauntless and should last at least a few years.
4. Painting of the hull from the cap rails down, including the bow pulpit
5. Fixing on of the side doors that while latched open this past winter the winds ripped if off the hook and broke the entire frame. (winds this winter were higher than 100 knots or 110 mph.
6. New Bow thruster blades

That’s pretty much it for me! I figure realistically, this list will be complete my 2018, though I will strive to get most of it done sooner.

Just goes to show that one thing I do well is plan; not so well, do.

I need a real doer in my life.

Two Inside Projects on Dauntless, Part 1

This winter has been the first real refit since we bought Dauntless three years ago. When we bought this Krogen 42, she was in great shape, in fact the best shape of the 8 KK 42’s I looked at. She had the lowest engine hours, only 1650, and some features we wanted: dual heads, four windows in the rear salon and no built-in furniture in the salon. The Flexsteel leather furniture that the previous owner had gotten for the boat was like new. The nicest leather we had ever felt. We talked about that leather for two years before we actually were in a position to get D.

Middle top is fuel intake. behind it with the rust pattern underneath is the fuel vent.

But with this little use, comes issues that are a result of that little use.

The port side fuel tank started leaking this past summer. It was coming from the forward inboard seam. On opening up the inspection port, it had a lot of rust. More rust than I had seen in the starboard tank.

Now since I had had the boat, I’d had problems with water getting into the tank. During the last days of my Atlantic Passage, this became a critical problem that had me changing or emptying fuel filters every few hours. You can read those details here: Dauntless-crosses-the-north-atlantic-the-post-mortem

Last summer in Holland, with the help of Marinus, another Krogen owner, I finally figured out the source of the water was the stink’in fuel vent. In one of the few poor decisions Kadey Krogen made in the design of this boat, the fuel vent was under the rub rail. As the Krogen rolls its way across the Atlantic this became an issue when I was in very big seas and the stabilizers were not working as well as they should for reasons related to operator (ME) error.

To fix the tank issues, we decided to add three more larger inspection ports. This will allow the two-part epoxy sealant to be applied.

the rust pattern underneath is the fuel vent.

Looking at the pictures of the opened tank, one can see the rust pattern from the water getting into the vent.

Also, when I had purposely overfilled this tank by about 10 gallons, in part to see what would happen, I had the unpleasant surprise to see fuel leaking out of the tank into the bilge. It was not apparent where this fuel was coming from. This picture shows the fitting itself was poorly installed and the screws used rusted and basically left small holes for fuel to get out or even rain water that was on top of the tank to get in.

From the amount of rust, this tank was not sued for quite some time, years, but left with some water. Once I got the boat, this tank had been the problem child, therefore I had a tendency not to use it as much, which ended up exacerbating the problem.

Here are some before pictures. The after pictures will come when done.

Dauntless Gets a New Bottom Job

In October when we pulled her from the water, we found both old and new damage.

That long repair is the result of the second rock.

The new was from my second rock encounter in Finland. In the first Finnish rock meeting, Dauntless rode up the rock on her keel.

But the second one was more egregious in that I hit the side of the rock with the side of the hull that left a four-foot scrape in the hull which was deep enough to cause a hairline crack all the way through the hull. Me Bad.

So in looking to repair that damage, we also

found some old damage that had been repaired, but not well or not completely. How do I know? Because in the three years I have owned her, whenever it rained, I had water entering the forward bilge. In addition, the paint on the bulkhead that separates the forward bilge from the amidships, had peeled, since water was coming in behind it.

Both those issues have been repaired and even though Dauntless sat on the hard in the wind and rain all winter, only in the last days was she put into the shed for painting, the forward bilge has remained bone dry.

Dauntless in the Shed. The Shed looked much bigger before she went it.

Now, the engine room bilge still has rain water getting in there, but I actually think that is as normal as one can expect in a 25-year-old boat.

I am also very pleased that everyone who has worked on the Krogen for the last 6 months has commented on the quality of: the workmanship, the design and the build.

I decided to paint the entire hull, since three years of docking was starting to show. And the incentive of a new, different for a Kadey Krogen, paint job will make me both more careful and thoughtful.

In the next weeks, I will enumerate the other jobs we, I have done for this coming season. That we have many, many miles to go, makes me feel even better about the preparation we are doing now.

The pictures show Dauntless outside when they had finished the bottom rehab, which meant repairing all the nicks and gouges, new fiberglass along the keel, gel-coat along the keel, then preparing the hull for two coats of epoxy and one of the tie-coat, which allows the anti-foul to adhere to the epoxy.

After two layers of epoxy, the beginning of the tiecoat (that allows the anti-foul coat to bond to the epoxy) is going on.

See some of the boats that kept Dauntless company for the windy, Ireland winter.

All boats were blocked AND STRAPPED DOWN for the winter winds, that were greater than 100 knots!!!

Just across the boat lift bay from Dauntless. I don’t think she is going anyplace this year either.

It’s not called the “North Atlant

One of the Fastnet boats in the yard. They are based in Waterford.

ic” for nothing.

One of the Cats of the New Ross Boat Yard. The Travel lift was moving as he nonchalantly walked past. — One of the Cats of the New Ross Boat Yard.
The Travel lift was moving as he nonchalantly walked past.

This boat was a winner in the around Ireland race back in the '70's — The Sea Hunter was a winner in the around Ireland race back in the ’70’s

Dauntless was just put in the shed for painting.

Glimpses of Ireland

Working on the boat this week, getting her ready for painting. That story and pictures will come soon.

And in a sudden development, the Cruise Plan 2016 & 2017 has been radically altered. I’m working out the numbers now, so stay tuned to this channel for the exciting details.

So in the meantime, here are some relatively random shots of Ireland taken over the last three weeks:

	Adam G R Berry on Ice, Ice and More Ice: My Days…
	Laura Perryman on Liverpool, Learning &…
	Rab on Where is Dauntless Now?
	GREG HARRINGTON on Where is Dauntless Now?
	kapnkarl on Wanna Go to Mexico? Or the…