Keep microbeads out of the ocean

If you're angry about the ubiquitous and utterly useless microbeads that are flowing into our oceans you may like to sign the petition organised by the  campaigning organisation Greenpeace at
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/ban-microbeads?source=fp&subsource=fp33secsmicrobeadsvid1
Why not sign up ?

Discarded plastics in the ocean...

I was struck a recent greenpeace post,
http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/20/more-plastic-than-fish-in-ocean/
on the subject of plastics trash in the ocean.
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I couldn't help thinking that at time when charter prices for bulk carriers are at an all time low and many of them are just swinging on their anchor rodes, could they not just...

New venture in to making purpose made GRP parts for Annabella

The weather is seasonably bitter and the days short, so there's little daylight to do much aboard Annabella. Even if I did, it's so cold that things break easily and screwdrivers fly off the screw heads and into adjacent bits of boat or boater. So I've stayed at home and concentrated on finishing a project which started last year:

The engine control panel is on the port side of the wheel

At the start of last season we moved the engine control panel away from its position below the binnacle -  where it was vulnerable to the seaboots of clumsy helmsmen / women - to the port side cockpit pocket. This all worked brilliantly and had the advantage one the rev counter was actually in view, but left a hole in its old position, which was temporarily covered by 4mm tufnol sheet cut to size - looking okay but just a bit ramschackle. 

So for the last few months I've been working on replacing this , and some other parts, with GRP (fiberglass) parts made to fit, and the Christmas break gave me the time needed to build the moulds.

Mould on the left & part - with blue PVA film - on the right

The cover plate for the engine panel was a good choice for the test piece, because it was fairly quick to make and if it all went wrong it would be easy and quick to try again.  To cut a long story short, it was my first attempt at making - rather than repairing - a GRP part and I quite satisfied with the result, Now much more confident to go onto more complex parts!

The finished part - after being cleaned up

Just to also add, there's lots of advice on the web or in books on the lamination process, but the best advice is always from those that have done it themselves. Many thanks and you know who you are...
Watch out this space for more parts coming soon!

Underwater imaging

 

A short video clip, created this summer, at a point we were wondering if there was to much growing on the rudder. An instinctive responsive rather than being crafted - but how useful is this ! This winter I'm definitely making a boat hook adapter - sorry, a remote imaging subsurface probe.

That's it.....

 

...we're out of the water 

That's another season over then. Here's to next year !

The Pontoon Bar again....

You can see my boat from here:

Another super supper at the Pontoon Bar on Saturday.

Solar panel update

Sun peeping through 95% cloud cover and panel knocking out up to 3.2W !

A heated debate

Bit of rainy grim morning in Pw, so stayed below and polished our

cabin heater ( and that's not a euphemism ). 

Came up quite well I think, but there was Brasso everywhere (Wiggins)

Solar charging

It's a bit of a grim day to try out the new solar panel...

New buoys

The new green-o-matic mooring system in action.
















Works brilliantly.