Maintenance progress Winter 2011/12

This has not been a friendly winter for boat maintenance. The heavy rains of November gave way to the cold of December into January. As a consequence it was some time before we were even able to strip the gear off the boats. Barnabas has been in the Penzance Wet Dock since October. Fortunately we have been able to rig a good waterproof cover over much of the boat and insert the steel grills to allow air to circulate through the boat. Nevertheless in the autumn the boat was very wet below and resulted in a lot of mould forming on the paintwork. Once the air has got circulating the situation is much better.
Softwing was taken to a mud berth on the Mylor Creek in mid October and the spars have been taken ashore for maintenance. The two smaller boats Ellen and Softwing were moved to a covered barn, courtesy of Neville Noye, in October and stripped of all their gear. The ballast has been taken from Ellen and stored.
Although working parties were called for on all Saturdays when the weather has reasonable there have in fact been only three days on which we were able to muster hard working volunteers to work on Barnabas. These days have been quite productive and the following tasks have been undertaken:
  BARNABAS
- Mooring and other cleats, damaged at Portreath have been re-secured
- All running rigging has been taken down and awaits refurbishment of blocks and re-painting
- The rafting irons have been modified and re-galvanised
- The tiller has been taken off and is in St. Ives being repaired and strengthened ( more Portreath damage)
- Work has started to rub down the capping rail and sheer strake and painting with undercoat
- The masts have been oiled down with linseed and turpentine
- The head has been repositioned on the port side and an aperture cut to gain access to the fish hold
- Some electrical connections made to the bilge pump
- All lifejackets have been checked and re-furbished as necessary
- The two 8 person liferafts have been collected for re-furbishment
SOFT WING
- The cutlass bearings and gland seal have been replaced and the engine realigned.
- The rudder has been removed to allow the bottom pintel bearing to be repaired.
- Spars have been removed for varnishing

ELLEN and SEA URCHIN
Very little work has been undertaken on these boats so far but it is hoped to start rubbing down the hulls inside and out at the next gathering of a working party. Some of the removable parts of Ellen have been taken away to be worked on .e.g. rudder, stern sheets.. One of our visiting members from Bristol has been doing repairs at long distance and has provided a piece of rubbing strake for Sea Urchin that was damaged at St. Ives.
An inspection of the repairs done to Ellen’s ribs shows that they should be suitable for the 2010 season, although this needs verification. The caulking in the underwater parts of the boat require cleaning out and refilling with putty.