Tag Archives: boatyard

Eileen of Avoca’s refit

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Yarmouth Marine Services on the Isle of Wight

Yarmouth Marine Services is currently working on making Eileen of Avoca ready for her Atlantic crossing. The to-do list is ambitious, but I’ve the know-how of the people who originally built Eileen on hand, so I am confident the work will be of the highest standard. I guess I’m betting my life on it… hmmm… looking it it that way, I vow to haunt anyone responsible for cutting corners or shoddy workmanship if it leads to my untimely demise… 😉

How’s that for an incentive?

The job list goes something like this:

  • Fit new 13.5HP Beta engine and ancillary equipment.
  • New rigging
  • Deck and mast fittings acid dipped and re-galvanised
  • Stanchions removed and re-mounted to prevent leaks
  • Mast and teak areas varnished / painted to handle tropical heat
  • Inner linings waterproofed
  • Companionway washboards strengthened
  • Hatch locking mechanism reworked
  • Companionway step reinforced
  • Pushpit lockers waterproofed
  • Fiberglass stress points reinforced
  • Seacocks and cockpit drainage pipes replaced where necessary
  • Second (internal) bilge pump fitted
  • Second VHF aerial added
  • VHF radio tested and repaired
  • Solar panel mounted
  • AIS receiver fitted
  • Life raft serviced
  • Tillerpilot to vane gear fitting in addition to the existing mount.
  • Anodes replaced
  • 3 coats of antifoul
  • Dodgers made
  • Foresails serviced
  • Non slip decking material re-painted
  • Jackstays replaced
  • and more…

If I have any money left over I’ll buy a new EPRIB and some extra anchor rode / chain… ha! big if…
This list will be updated as it changes, and as soon as I get back to the boat I’ll take photos to show everyone how the work is progressing.

Tropea – spectacular

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Tropea, Italy

Tropea, Italy

Tuesday the 29th of April

Most of the day was taken up playing tourist in Tropea, a spectacular town accessible by climbing a long stairway from the marina. The evening was spent hunting for some EP 90 oil to lubricate the propeller shaft (lo and behold, the staff at Delta Italia hadn’t bothered to top this up and there was only a small amount left in the delivery hose). I know the type of oil because I gave David at Yarmouth Marine Services a call to find out whether I could fill it with olive oil in a pinch.

Apparently you can!

However the helpful staff at the nearby boatyard gave me what I needed (no charge) and I was able to use the correct product after all.

Checking the tide table for the Messina strait, kindly provided by a helpful north bound Englishman, (I’d not downloaded the 2008 tables from the Internet and only had 2007 in my Mediterranean almanac), I found I needed to arrive at dawn near Capo Peloro. A nearby Italian registered boat (Velenosa) was planning to leave at midnight but I left Tropea before sunset in order to take my time and do some real sailing.