MV Dirona travel digest for Southampton 2018

Every other time we've been lifted, we've driven the boat into the lift area then disembarked before the actual lift. At Saxon they prefer to instead pull the boat into the lift with lines. That way there's no risk that prop wash will rotate the lifting straps. We're going in stern-to to allow easy access to the prop saft in the yard since it will be coming out for a cutlass bearing change.

1/8/2018: Steve Moran

Steve Moran (left), the lift supervisor at Saxon, had asked for exterior hull photos of Dirona so he could assess where to place the lifting straps. Here he is referring to the photographs to position the straps. This was another first for us—we were impressed with their care and attention to detail. We like the care taken by Steve and the crew when moving boats.

1/8/2018: Straps

The lifting straps going into place.

1/8/2018: In the Air

Dirona high in the air above the water. This one of the risky parts of the operation—a strap failure here could total the boat.

1/8/2018: Bottom Growth

We last had the bottom cleaned seven months ago in Newport, RI. There's surprisingly little growth for that period, and mostly just near the water surface.

1/8/2018: High-pressure spray

Saxon cleaning off the hull with a high-pressure washer before moving Dirona into the yard proper.

1/8/2018: Jump Gone Bad

Position: 50°54.74'N, -1°22.69'W

The new owner of this RIB had taken it out for the first time and some friends were out with him, jumping his wake in their jet skis. One of the jet ski operators made a giant boo-boo and landed on the back of the RIB, doing severe structural damage. Fortunately nobody was hurt. The boat will be back with the manufacturer for some time being repaired.

1/8/2018: Blocking

Dirona in the yard "berth", about to rest on large blocks of wood. Overall the bottom looks unusually good—everything is in great shape. The work done at Cracker Boy in Florida appears to have been excellent.

1/8/2018: Zincs & Propspeed

The Propspeed foul release coating we applied to the wing and main propellers in Palm Beach is in great shape, as are their various zincs.

1/8/2018: Paint Experiment

Everyone says not to paint the keel cooler because paint reduces the cooling efficiency of the cooler. But marine growth reduces it even more. So we experimented in Palm Beach and painted it. It has cooled well and the paint kept the growth off. So we plan to repaint it this time around. The zincs on each end are pretty much done.

1/8/2018: Bow Thruster

The Propspeed on the bow thruster isn't in quite as good shape as on the wing and main propellers.

1/8/2018: Tools

James with a puller set at top and a lot of other tools attempting to remove the thruster propellers. They were on there really solidly with red Loctite. Removing them likely is going to require some heat, some patience, and a lot of skill.

1/8/2018: Old Zincs

A pile of old zincs removed from Dirona.

1/8/2018: Polishing

James polishing the wing propeller with a grinder. The best way to get Propspeed to adhere well is so start with a very clean base. Saxon is very safety-concious—everyone in the yard area, even if just walking around, must wear a high-visibility jacket or vest.

1/8/2018: Prezzo

Position: 50°53.90'N, -1°23.90'W

After a big day in the yard, we had an excellent meal over a bottle of D'Vine Cabernet at Prezzo Italian restaurant on Oxford Street, a short walk from our hotel. We knew we'd be back.

1/8/2018: Dolphin Hotel

Position: 50°54.01'N, -1°24.22'W

We finished the day with a relaxing Guinness in the pub at the Dolphin Hotel, where we are staying.

1/9/2018: High Street

Position: 50°53.99'N, -1°24.23'W

Looking south along High Street from just outside our hotel. The anchor is from the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), whose home port was Southampton. On the left is the shell of Holyrood Church that was bombed in World War II. It was built in 1320 and was one of five churches within the original walled city of Southampton. Partially visible on the right is the ornate facade of the former National Provincial Bank building, erected in 1867.

1/9/2018: Roland Mcildowie

Roland Mcildowie of Proteum is "the man" in the area for complex or delicate mechanical work. He'll be replacing the cutlass bearing and opening up our crane.

1/9/2018: Bow Thruster

We're still trying to get that bow thruster propeller off. Roland Mcildowie eventually managed it with what we expected it would require: heat, patience and skill. We don't recommend red Loctite on the press-fit surfaces.

1/9/2018: First Smell

Spitfire getting his first smell of the yard. Normally he isn't that keen on having other people around, but he's been surprisingly comfortable here and has been charging around the boat exterior while people are working. The only problem is he doesn't wipe his feet before he comes back inside.

1/9/2018: Rudder Post

James using our largest torque wrench to loosen off the rudder arm bolt in preparation for rudder bearing inspection and replacing the rudder packing.

1/9/2018: Packages

For our yard visit we're working with Nordhavn Europe, whose offices are a short distance away at Hamble Point Marina. They have been accepting packages for us over the past few of weeks and brought them all over this morning. Looks like we also got a pair of black ears.

1/9/2018: Nordhavn Europe

Anthony "Biscuit" Bisset striking a pose while Yannick Thompson looks on as the two work on removing our muffler for replacement. Yann does commissioning and after sales for Nordhavn Europe and Biscuit was formerly a commissioning engineer with them who is often contracted for service jobs.

1/9/2018: Accessing Muffler

In order to remove the muffler, the enclosure we installed in Palm Beach first had to be removed.

1/9/2018: Debris Catcher

Biscuit installing bags around the exhaust in the engine room to catch the rust flakes and other debris that will fall out from above as the muffler is removed. Seen below, Proteum is disconnecting the propellor shaft coupling from the transmission.

1/9/2018: Wing Prop Removed

The Gori wing propeller disassembled.

1/9/2018: Waxing

Osmotech at work waxing the boat. In Seattle boats typically are waxed in the water at their slip, but in most places we've visited around the world, it is more common to wax the boat while out of the water in the yard. The superstructure is just as easy to clean in the water as out, but the hull is much easier to clean in the yard. Because the yard is a dirty place, we'll only do the hull and other hard-to-access places.

1/9/2018: Removing Main Prop

Roland Mcildowie and Jack Woodford of Proteum removing our main propeller in preparation for changing the cutlass bearing.

1/9/2018: Main Prop

Our main propeller hasn't been off the boat since we took delivery. It's a hefty beast.

1/9/2018: Mmm .. tools

Roland Mcildowie has some really excellent tool sets.

1/9/2018: Main Prop Shaft

The main propeller shaft with the propeller removed. The plate just above is where the Spurs shaft-mounted cutter system mounts. This is designed to cut small lines that might tangle in and disable the prop.

1/9/2018: Main Cutlass Bearing

A close-up of the main shaft at the cutlass bearing. You can see some rust and pitting in the main shaft, but the two inches of cutlass bearing wear surface is looking excellcnt.

1/9/2018: Vans

Between Proteum, Osmotech and Nordhavn Europe, a lot of vans are underneath Dirona this morning.

1/9/2018: Stack

The stack with all the vent grills and hatches removed.

1/9/2018: Looking down

Looking down into the exhaust stack from the boat deck.

1/9/2018: Looking up

Looking up to the top of the stack. The silver cladding visible in the earlier picture has been removed from the exhaust—we'll have that replaced while we're here.

1/9/2018: Bolts

Large bolts from the couling betweein the propellor shaft and the transmission flange.

1/9/2018: Unbolting Exhaust

Biscuit unbolting the muffler from within the stack at the boat deck.

1/9/2018: Galley Y-Valve

Normally our galley drains directly overboard, but we did install a Y-valve to direct the outflow to our grey water tanks if we're in a location where grey water discharge is not allowed. So far we've only used it when in the yard, but it's nice to have to keep the galley operational while we're in the air.

1/10/2018: Dolphin Hotel

Position: 50°54.01'N, -1°24.19'W

The Dolphin Hotel where we are staying is the oldest hotel in Southampton at 500 years old. This is looking out to toward the front entrance through the walkway beside the Tudor-style older portion of the hotel. We love the character of the place and it's super-convenient to the area's shops and restaurants. We typically stay on the boat when in the yard, but while hauled out at Cracker Boy Boat Works in Florida we stayed in a hotel because it was so hot on board and it's nicer not to have water restrictions etc. The boat yard we're using doesn't allow people to stay on their boats, so we're again using a hotel and it's working out fine.

1/10/2018: Tesco Express

Position: 50°54.13'N, -1°24.26'W

A well-stocked Tesco Express grocery store, with a large selection of ready-to-eat foods, is minutes from our hotel and opens at 6am. We stop in every morning to pick up lunch and other provisions for the day. So far we've not had any rain when we've been outside and it's a pleasant walk as the city is just coming to life.

1/10/2018: Costa

Position: 50°54.12'N, -1°24.23'W

Our morning coffee from Costa, across the street from Tesco.

1/10/2018: Sweet Hope

Nordhavn 64 Sweet Hope coming out of the water at Saxon Wharf.

1/10/2018: Mike Homer

Mike Homer of HMS Upholstery taking measurements of our pilot house settee. The cushions and ultraleather are pretty tired after seven years of use, so we're replacing and recovering the cushions.

1/10/2018: Melted Wires

We'd noticed a burning smell in the galley and found the source after taking apart the socket. We replaced the socket and the wires to it with the largest gauge the socket will accept.

1/10/2018: Melted Socket

Heat damage at the faulty socket.

1/10/2018: Tight Quarters

Saxon carefully moved Nordhavn 64 Sweet Hope into the yard inches off our stern.

1/10/2018: Prop Shaft

Our main propeller shaft out.

1/10/2018: Corrosion

An Aquamet 22 shaft should last well and show very little corrosion with even extended use. For some reason, this shaft is badly corroded and some of the pits run quite deep. It'll need to be replaced. Update: Although the current Nordhavn 52 specification uses an Aquamet 22 shaft, it turns out back in 2010 Aquamet 17 was used. Understanding its not Aquamet 22, the failure isn't that surprising. Current-generation Nordhavns will experience much better lifetime.

1/10/2018: Muffler Removal

Biscuit on the left and Yann on the right of Nordhavn Europe getting ready to remove the muffler.

1/10/2018: Wing Cutlass Bearing

James holding the old wing engine cutlass bearing. You can see at the bottom the inner rubber material has come free from the outer housing of the cutlass bearing so it needs to be replaced.

1/10/2018: Cutlass Bearing Failure

You can see how the cutlass bearing has come apart and the rubber has slipped down.

1/10/2018: Keep Cooler

The keel cooler all cleaned up and ready for repainting.

1/10/2018: Two Nordhavns

Nordhavn 64 Sweet Hope in their yard berth at Saxon Wharf just behind us.

1/10/2018: Shaft Coupling

The propeller shaft-to-transmission coupling resting in the lazarette. It's been removed to allow the propeller shaft to be slid out of the boat.

1/10/2018: No Shaft

It looks a little odd in the bilge without the propeller shaft there where it should be.

1/10/2018: Disassembling Crane

Roland Mcildowie and Jack Woodford of Proteum preparing to disassemble the crane. The crane has developed a wear problem between the boom and the boom extension.

1/10/2018: Muffler Out

The muffler partially slid out of the stack enclosure.

1/10/2018: Lowering Muffler

Neil Russell, Director of Nordhavn Europe, guiding the old muffler off the boat from the ground with Yann, Biscuit and Jack on deck.

1/10/2018: Spur Cutter

James holding the spur cutter and talking with Roland Mcildowie and Neil Russel. We'll need to replace part of the Spur line cutters since an overzealous diver stripped the threads on the zinc attachment. Crated in the trailer behind is our prop shaft, with our old muffler beside it.

1/10/2018: Removing Extension

Roland Mcildowie and Jack Woodford of Proteum about to remove the crane boom extension.

1/10/2018: Crane Boom Extension

Here you can see the top of the boom extension where an anti-friction pad had come free and the crane has subsequently worn badly in that area.

1/10/2018: Extension Bottom

The crane boom extension seen from the bottom side.

1/10/2018: Forklift

The Saxon Wharf lifting team worked with Proteum to lower our davit boom via forklift.

1/10/2018: Lowering Extension

At bottom left, Saxon Wharf lift supervisor Steve Moran overseeing the lowering of our davit boom extension.

1/10/2018: Arundel Tower

Position: 50°54.17'N, -1°24.36'W

In the 14th century, a 1.25-mile (2 km) was built to completely enclose the town of Southampton. Much of that original wall still stands. This is Arundel Tower, at the northwest corner of the medieval town walls. Beyond is the modern and expansive West Quay Mall, built at the turn of the millennium.

1/10/2018: City Walls

Position: 50°54.13'N, -1°24.40'W

The medieval city walls extending south from Arundel Tower.

1/10/2018: West Quay

Position: 50°54.15'N, -1°24.39'W

The atrium at the center of West Quay mall. Like many of the malls we visited in the UK, this one seems to be thriving even though worldwide malls are in decline.

1/10/2018: The Real Greek

Position: 50°54.14'N, -1°24.40'W

We had an excellent meal, with a wonderful presentation, at The Real Greek restaurant at West Quay Mall overlooking the old town walls. We're only a 5-minute walk from our hotel and will definitely be back to sample some of the other many restaurants in the area.

1/10/2018: Shanghai 1814

Position: 50°54.09'N, -1°24.24'W

Dramatic exterior lighting at the Shanghai 1814 restaurant, in an ornate former 19th-century bank building just up High Street from our hotel.

1/11/2018: Starbucks

Position: 50°54.33'N, -1°24.27'W

We were up a little earlier this morning and Costa, our usual stop, wasn't yet open. So we walked a little farther to get our breakfast at Starbucks in West Quay Mall instead.

1/11/2018: Through-hulls

Our through-hull covers all polished up.

1/11/2018: Exhaust Lagging

James discussing the plan for replacing the exhaust lagging from the boat deck to the top of the stack. Before leaving Seattle in 2012, we replaced all of the lagging in the engine room.

1/11/2018: Gori Prop

Roland Mcildowie of Proteum reassembling the Gori wing engine prop.

1/11/2018: Warming Paint

The last time we had our bottom painted, at Cracker Boy Boat Works in Palm Beach, Florida, we definitely didn't have to warm up the paint prior to application.

1/11/2018: Painting

Yann Thompson of Nordhavn Europe painting the hull.

1/11/2018: Painting Stern

Biscuit carefully painting around our underwater lights.

1/11/2018: Waxing

Osmotech is waxing the port side while Nordhavn Europe is painting the hull on the starboard side.

1/11/2018: Rudder Foot

We removed the rudder foot to check the bearings. It looks like we're going to need a new cutlass bearing and a new lower bearing on this stop.

1/11/2018: Crane Linear Winch

The linear winch in our Steelhead ES1100 crane was suprisingly heavily worn. We'll replace most of these parts.

1/11/2018: Franco Manca

Position: 50°54.16'N, -1°24.38'W

We had an excellent meal of all-organic products, including the wine, at Franco Manca in West Quay Mall. Their focaccia was superb.

1/12/2018: Muffler

Nordhavn Europe raising our new muffler up to the boat deck. Our old one wasn't in bad shape, and might have gone a few more years, but and we couldn't really know the state of the muffler until the cladding had been removed and we've seen enough Nordhavn 47s with mufflers failing around ten years that we wanted to get it changed just in case. A failed muffler can damage in-stack navigational system wiring and make a real mess.

1/12/2018: Crane

Position: 50°51.00'N, -1°18.70'W

We brought our Steelhead ES1100 crane to the Nordhavn Europe workshop at Hamble Point Marina for repair. The crane is in remarkebly poor condition. The ram-to-extension bolts were siezed due to lack of Tuff-Gel application on the stainless screws in the aluminum casting; the linear winch has worn away all its bearing material, damaging the sheaves and the inside of the extension; the extension lower-bearing pad wasn't installed in our crane (probably an early build issue on the ES series), yielding fairly serious damage along the entire length of the boom/extension interface; and pictured above is the damage done by the extension upper-bearing pad coming free due to adhesive failure. Solving this will consume a big parts order and a lot of labour.

1/12/2018: Oxe

Position: 50°51.00'N, -1°18.69'W

Proteum, based at Hamble Point Marina, is doing most of the mechanical work on Dirona during this yard visit. Proteum has wide skills and experience and is also the distributor for the innovate Oxe diesel outboard. Oxe uses a proven General Motors diesel engine as the powerhead for a commercial-grade outboard.

1/12/2018: Keel Cooler

Our keep cooler almost ready for repainting.

1/12/2018: Waxing

Omnitech waxing the hull—it's looking great.

1/12/2018: La Baronia

Position: 50°55.25'N, -1°23.73'W

We had a great meal at La Baronia mexican restaurant on our way to the Southampton Airport. We'll be spending the night in the airport hotel before taking a 6:40am flight tomorrow morning.

1/13/2018: Flybe

Position: 50°57.05'N, -1°21.73'W

We're making a crazy trip to Seattle for the weekend to attend the 50th birthday party of a friend of ours. With the boat in the yard and us needing to be there while the work is being done, we originally didn't think we could make it. But Jennifer got creative and found a flight from Southampton to Paris and then direct to Seattle that would depart Saturday morning at 6:40 and land in Seattle at noon on Saturday. We'll attend the party Saturday night, then take a noon flight on Sunday that would have us back in Southampton at 10am Monday morning.

The Southampton to Paris portion of the trip is with regional airline Flybe. Here we're on the bus that will take us from the Southampton airport terminal out to their turboprop plane.

1/13/2018: UPS Store

Position: 47°36.22'N, -122°20.11'W

Since we'd be back in Seattle, albeit briefly, we took the opportunity to bring back some parts and spares. We had everything shipped to our UPS mailbox in downtown Seattle and picked them up when we arrived. The large red bag pictured was rolled up and stowed in our carry-on bags on the flight out. For the flight back it's stuffed full of parts and supplies. In fact, it is so stuffed that the box James is leaning against also is going back with yet more parts and supplies.

The biggest part of this shipment is two Lenovo L1900P monitors to bring our spares supply up to four. We have four of these monitors installed in the pilot house, one in the salon and one in the master stateroom. One had failed recently while we were in Falmouth and even though we have only had a single failure of the monitors in eight years, we decided to buy two more spares from Amazon. It's crazy to have four spares but with six in use and this monitor no longer in production, it seemed like the right thing to do.

1/15/2018: Heated Mattress Pad

One of the items in that big red bag of parts that we brought back from Seattle was a heated mattress pad. We used one on Dirona while in the Pacific Northwest and just loved it. Keeping the stateroom warm enough during the day that the bed isn't cold when we go to bed consumes way too much power, but we hate a cold bed. We can turn on the mattress heater about a half-hour in advance and retire for the night to a toasty warm bed with minimal power consumption.

We'd stowed the mattress pad when crossed the South Pacific in 2013 and pulled it out again in Liverpool a few weeks ago. Man, that's a nice addition. In fact, such a nice addition we've decided it's mission-critical and bought a spare. We put the new one into service and stowed the old one as a backup.

1/15/2018: Door Removal

Yann Thomspon of Nordhavn Europe removing our Diamond Seaglaze pilothouse doors while James supports them from below. We're having trouble with large sections of paint peeling away. Yann will take the doors back to their workshop to sand off the corroded areas and repaint them.

The paint first failed during warranty, but the repair didn't last long and the corroded sections are now quite large. This touch-up is far from a permanent solution, but hopefully will get us a couple more years before we have to replace these doors.

1/15/2018: Cover From Inside

Yann is a carpenter and built impressive plywood covers to seal off the pilot house while our doors are out. We're almost wondering about skipping the paint on aluminum issue and just painting these white :).

1/15/2018: Cover From Outside

The starboard-side plywood covers from the outside. Yann does really nice work.

1/15/2018: Crane

Jack Woodford of Proteum disassembling our crane to bring the boom, bottom center, back to the Nordhavn Europe workshop for repair.

1/16/2018: Bargate

Position: 50°54.15'N, -1°24.24'W

Bargate, built in 1180 and extended in 1320, was the grand entrance into the medieval walled town of Southampton. We see it every morning when we go to pickup breakfast and lunch.

1/16/2018: Nordhavn Europe

We plan to spend the day at the Nordhavn Europe workshop in Hamble Point, working on our crane.

1/16/2018: Batteries

Our new set of eight 8D Lifeline batteries waiting for install when we finish at Saxon Wharf and bring the boat down to Hamble Point. Transporting them to the yard and carrying them up the steps to our is not high an anyone's list of things they want to do. On top are our thruster propellers in preparation for sanding of the existing Propspeed prior to reapplication.

1/16/2018: Doors

Yann Thompson with our pilot house doors laid out on the workbench.

1/16/2018: Scraping

Yann scraping off the damaged areas on the doors. We'll not remove all the paint, just where it's corroding, and repaint those areas.

1/16/2018: Boom Damage

The damage to the boom where the extension has ground against it. The boom extension lower bearing pad was not installed at the factory so the crane ran aluminum on aluminum (we suspect this was either a build error or a design change that went in after our early serial number was built).

1/16/2018: Cleaning

The problem with the missing lower bearing pad became apparent in early 2013 shortly after we'd arrived in French Polynesia. We addressed it by grinding off the galled-up balls of aluminum and heavily greasing the friction area. It's worked well for the five years since. Here James is using break cleaner to remove the grease prior to preparing the friction surfaces.

1/16/2018: Sanding Boom

Position: 50°50.97'N, -1°18.65'W

Jennifer sanding the interior of the boom with a power sander to get a smooth, flat surface for the bearing pads we're about to install. It's a bit of a challenge in that you can't get an arm in and see the work at the same time.

1/16/2018: Sanding Extension

James sanding down the outside of the boom extension.

1/17/2018: E. French and Son

Position: 50°52.42'N, -1°21.20'W

At E. French and Son to pickup a new lower rudder bearing they fabricated. It's amazing how much machinery they can fit in such a small place.

1/17/2018: Neighbourhood

Position: 50°52.45'N, -1°21.26'W

E. French and Son in the village of Abbey. It's unusual to find a machine shop in a series of row houses in a small town. They've done several jobs for us during this refit.

1/17/2018: Loctite

After discovering the problem with the missing lower bearing pad back in 2013, we reported the problem to Steelhead who sent us some bearing pad material and Loctite 5512 adhesive. The Loctite is several years old, so we weren't keen to use it given we'd already had an adhesive failure. Steelhead has since changed to a different Loctite product, but it's flammable, can't be shipped air freight and none of them are available in the UK. We contacted Steelhead and for the UK geography they recommended the use of Plexus.

1/18/2018: Lower bearing pad

James inserting one of two lower bearing pads strips into the bottom of the crane boom. We'll secure them with tape for a dry-run test.

1/18/2018: Upper bearing pad

The new upper bearing pad secured with tape on the boom extension for a dry-run. We're adding about three times as much pad as was there before. You can see we've not yet sanded out the damage inside the boom extension where the linear winch ground against it.

1/18/2018: E. French & Son

Position: 50°52.42'N, -1°21.21'W

The dry-run showed we didn't have enough clearance to fit the boom extension into the boom with the new upper and lower bearing pads, plus allowing at least a millimeter on each for the Plexus adhesive. So we brought the extension to E. French & Son to machine the surface down by 1.5 millimeters.

1/18/2018: Machining

Position: 50°52.42'N, -1°21.21'W

Our boom extension on the machine at E. French & Son. It barely fits in the shop.

1/18/2018: Beaver

Position: 50°52.42'N, -1°21.21'W

The Beaver milling machine adding 1.5 mm of clearance for the upper boom extension bearing pad.

1/18/2018: Trailer

Position: 50°52.44'N, -1°21.25'W

Neil Russel, director of Nordhavn Europe, securing our boom extension to the transport trailer after machining it at E. French & Son.

1/18/2018: Lower rudder bearing

Roland Mcildowie of Proteum test-fitting the lower rudder bearing that E. French & Son made for us.

1/18/2018: Shaft zincs

James installing the wing engine shaft zincs while Roland Mcildowie installs lock screws to finish off the Gori prop rebuild.

1/18/2018: Spur cutter zinc

James installing the spur cutter zinc on the main shaft while Roland Mcildowie is going to drill a small dimple into each side of the main shaft cutlass bearing to ensure it's properly secured.

1/18/2018: Strap cleaning

Saxon Wharf power-washing the lift straps after use.

1/18/2018: Sanding

One of the challenges of the crane rebuild is previous parts failure have led to metal-on-metal contact and large galled sections of aluminum need to be machined off or the new parts will fail quickly. It takes some creativity to correct the damage inside the boom and boom extension. Here we're using a power sander on the end of a boat hook to reach into the boom extension.

1/19/2018: Brrrrr

A cold and frosty morning in Southampton. We even had chunks of ice on deck from small puddles that had frozen and cracked.

1/19/2018: Muffler bottom

The bottom portion of our new muffler at the stack base.

1/19/2018: Muffler top

Looking down the stack from the top of the new muffler.

1/19/2018: Exhaust

The exhaust pipe heading up the stack. This is the original—we only replaced the muffler.

1/19/2018: Trump-Putin in 2020

Position: 50°53.57'N, -1°21.38'W

We get a good laugh out of this "Trump-Putin in 2020" sign every time we pass this bus stop.

1/19/2018: Deo Juvante

Position: 50°50.99'N, -1°18.62'W

Nordhavn 56 motorsailer Deo Juvante on the hard at Hamble Point Marina.

1/19/2018: Nordhavns

Position: 50°51.03'N, -1°18.60'W

Three Nordhavns on the dock at Hamble Point Marina. We last saw Nordhavn 76 Sweet Hope 2 in Baltimore just before it was loaded onto a freighter to be shipped to the UK for sale. It now has been sold and today will be loaded on a freighter to ship back to the US to its new owner.

Behind Sweet Hope 2 is Nordhavn 68 Vesper, whose owners Bob and Kathy Valleau we met in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. Nordhavn 47 Albatross on the right is the only one of the three boats we've not seen before.

1/19/2018: Engine room

Position: 50°51.07'N, -1°18.59'W

The beautiful engine room on Sweet Hope 2. Less common for a Nordhavn that size, it's a single engine configuration. Their wing engine, at the back on the left, uses the same base engine as our main.

1/19/2018: Colin Rae

Position: 50°51.06'N, -1°18.57'W

Nordhavn 47 Albatross owner Colin Rae saw us walking the docks and invited us in for a cup of tea. It was great to meet Colin and have a look at Albatross. We've not been on another 47 or 52 for a while—it's always surprising how similar and yet how different each boat is.

1/19/2018: Thruster propellers

Our thruster propellers at the Nordhavn Europe workshop in Hamble Point, all cleaned and ready for painting with Propspeed.

1/19/2018: Cleaning boom

Position: 50°50.98'N, -1°18.67'W

We've machined smooth the inside of the boom, now we're cleaning out the metal debris and getting the surface good and clean prior to gluing in the bearing pad. Here we're using a boat hook with a fabricated pad soaked in Acetone to sweep out the boom.

1/19/2018: Heating boom

We're in a cold room so we're heating up the boom and the air around it prior to gluing.

1/19/2018: Primed

The top of the boom extension coated with red Plexus primer in preparation for gluing on the bearing pad.

1/19/2018: Priming

You can just barely see Roland Mcildowie of Proteum applying red Plexus primer to the inside far end of the boom. The boom looks pretty rough still, but we've sanded down all the high spots and will be covering this area with the lower boom bearing pads.

1/19/2018: Upper bearing pad

Applying the two-part Plexus adhesive to the upper bearing pad.

1/19/2018: Placing pad

Placing the upper bearing pad onto the boom extension.

1/19/2018: Lower bearing pads

Applying adhesive to the lower bearing pads.

1/19/2018: Sliding into position

Because the lower bearing pads are so long and accessing the inside of the boom is difficult, we've attached the pads glue-side up to a board with two-sided tape. We'll slide the bearing pads into position on a board, then rotate the board 180° and lower the pads into position.

1/19/2018: Rotating

Rotating the board to place the lower bearing pads inside the boom.

1/19/2018: Pads in place

The lower bearing pads in place just prior to trimming.

1/20/2018: Mike Homer

Mike Homer of HMS Upholstery did a fabulous job on replacing and recovering our pilot house settee cushions. It's nice to see things starting to come back together rather than be taken apart. We have a lot on the go.

1/22/2018: Jack Woodford

Position: 50°50.99'N, -1°18.69'W

Jack Woodford with his beautiful Snap-On toolbox at the Proteum workshop.

1/22/2018: Broken rod

A large ferry diesel ferry engine with a broken rod at the Proteum workshop. Saltwater had gotten into the oil, one of the cylinders had rusted sufficiently that the piston was torn in half on the down-stroke, and the flailing connecting rod finished that engine off.

1/22/2018: Crane parts

The replacement crane parts we'd ordered from Steelhead last week just arrived. On the upper left is the old cheekplate that fits along the side of the linear winch head with the new replacement plate to the right. The cheekplates support the winch head and are the contact point with the boom extension as the winch moves back and forth. Perhaps due to design changes, the cheekplates required modification to fit in the extension and the new white inter-sheave spacers were too thick to use. If you look carefully, you can see what caused the linear winch to fail. The plate covering the end of the sheaves was too large in the original design so as the bearings wore, it quickly touched down, grinding up the bore of the linear winch and filling all the parts with aluminum chips.

1/22/2018: Crane line

The replacement parts included a new line for the crane. We actually did carry a spare that we'd ordered from Steelhead, but it appears the wrong part was sent. Here Jennifer is comparing the old line with the new at the Proteum workshop to verify the length is correct.

1/22/2018: Shaft delivery

Back at Saxon Wharf, our new prop shaft just arrived. It had been delayed for several days waiting for an appropriate length piece of metal.

1/22/2018: Shaft install

Roland Mcildowie and Jack Woodford of Proteum installing the new prop shaft.

1/22/2018: Rudder hole

Our rudder has a hole in it to allow a prop shaft to be removed without dropping the rudder.

1/22/2018: Transmission

The prop shaft just about to meet back up with the transmission.

1/22/2018: Bilge

It's nice to prop shaft reinstalled.

1/22/2018: PSS

Our new Packless Shaft Seal (PSS) in place.

1/22/2018: Sanding

Probably due to crane design changes, there isn't sufficient clearance in our crane for extension upper and lower bearing pads. Steelhead does use them now, and the chewed-up boom and extension wear surfaces in our crane were evidence the bearings really are needed. We installed them, but its a lot of work to get enough clearance to be able to use the bearing pads in our crane.

1/22/2018: Doors

Two parts of our pilot house doors painted with primer and our thruster propellers coated with Propspeed drying in the paint room at the Nordhavn Europe workshop.

1/22/2018: Cheek plates

The replacement cheek plates Steelhead had sent were too big for our boom extension, so here James is sanding them down to fit. The fun never ends with this job.

1/22/2018: Dry fit

Roland and James (out of the picture on the left), attempting to test-fit the linear winch into the boom extension with the new cheekplate facing out. With the work we did earlier on the cheekplates, it does fit in, but damage from earlier metal-on-metal contact is sufficiently severe inside that the center portion of the extension, where the linear winch runs, will have to be milled out.

1/23/2018: Extension

Back working on the boom extension to mill out the center portion to give clearance for the linear winch to run and ensure the surface is smooth.

1/23/2018: Winding line

We now have the linear winch properly fitting into the boom extension, so Roland is winding the new line in place.

1/23/2018: End plate

Steelhead has redesigned the linear winch endplate, addressing the fourth problem we had. The old endplate covering the end of the sheaves was too large in the original design so as the bearings wore, it quickly touched down, grinding up the bore of the linear winch and filling all the parts with aluminum chips. The new plate is smaller, and won't touch down as the bearings wear.

1/23/2018: Cheekplate

The new endplate interferes with the new cheekplate, so we needed to modify it to fit.

1/23/2018: Winch in place

The linear winch assembled and installed inside the boom extension. We're getting closer to having a functional crane again.

1/24/2018: Maid of the Harbour

The ferry Maid of the Harbour just came out of the water and is being moved behind us to a spot in the far corner of the Saxon Wharf yard.

1/24/2018: Exhaust Lagging

The new exhaust lagging being installed.

1/24/2018: Propellers

Both our propellers are now painted with Propspeed and in place.

1/24/2018: Crane arriving

Proteum bringing our crane parts in the trailer from Hamble Point.

1/24/2018: Boom Extension

The boom extension being lifted onto the boat deck via forklift.

1/24/2018: Boom

Transferring the boom from the trailer to the boat deck via forklift.

1/24/2018: Crane

The boom and boom extension back on the boat deck and ready to install.

1/24/2018: Steering Post

Jack Woodford of Proteum installing the rudder upper bearing.

1/24/2018: Lift

Position: 50°54.73'N, -1°22.71'W

Saxon lifted the boat today so we could remove the rudder to replace its cutlass bearing. The rudder cutlass bearing is worn out, which isn't that surprising given the hours on the boat, but it is strange that the rudder cutlass bearing is worn more than the main shaft bearing. We'll also paint the places on the hull where the supports were.

1/24/2018: Supporting Rudder

Members of the Proteum, Nordhavn Europe and Saxon Wharf crews supporting the rudder with a pipe while Roland Mcildowie of Proteum removes the rudder foot.

1/24/2018: Forklift

With the rudder shoe off, Saxon raised a pallet into place to support and lower the rudder.

1/24/2018: Lowering Rudder

Lowering the rudder out of the boat.

1/24/2018: Rudder Off

The rudder off. That's a first for us.

1/24/2018: Rudder Shaft

The rudder shaft appears in decent shape, with little signs of corrosion.

1/24/2018: Lagging on Muffler

The new lagging on the muffler looks excellent.

1/24/2018: Lagging on Exhaust

Looking up the stack to the exhaust covered in the new lagging.

1/24/2018: Shore Power Outage

Position: 50°54.68'N, -1°22.88'W

Shortly after arriving at Prezzo for dinner, we got an email from our automation systems indicating the shorepower was out on the boat. We called Saxon Wharf and asked if they could investigate.

1/24/2018: Shore Power Restored

Position: 50°53.90'N, -1°23.90'W

A few minutes after calling Saxon Wharf, we received another email indicating the shorepower had been restored. They found a breaker had opened on the shorepower pedestal we shared with several other boats. It sure is nice to have those notifications.

1/25/2018: Spurcutter

The spurcutter just behind the prop on our main shaft with a triangular zinc in place. The beehive-shaped prop shaft zinc is behind it.

1/25/2018: Engine Keel Cooler

The main engine keel cooler painted and ready to go. Everyone says not to paint the keel cooler because paint reduces the cooling efficiency of the cooler. But marine growth reduces it even more. So we experimented in Palm Beach and painted it. It cooled well and the paint kept the growth off. So we repainted it this time around.

1/25/2018: Hydraulics Keel Cooler

The hydraulics keel cooler also painted and ready for launch.

1/25/2018: Stern Thrusters

The stern thruster propellers painted with Propspeed and installed.

1/25/2018: Bow Thrusters

The bow thruster propellers painted with Propspeed and installed.

1/25/2018: Raising Rudder

Raising the rudder into place for reinstall.

1/25/2018: Installing Rudder

Saxon Wharf using a forklift and pallet to slowly raise the rudder into place. Mark, who is running the forklift, has an incredibly delicate touch.

1/25/2018: Rudder Shoe

Roland Mcildowie placing the rudder shoe underneath the rudder.

1/25/2018: Boom

Roland Mcildowie and Jack Woodford of Proteum installing the crane boom.

1/25/2018: Extension

Sliding the crane boom extension into the boom. The crane almost is back together.

1/25/2018: Rudder In Place

The rudder is in place, with the rudder foot painted, so we're ready for launch.

1/25/2018: Launching

Position: 50°54.74'N, -1°22.67'W

Dirona heading back into the water after nearly three weeks. Prior to this, the longest time we've even been in the yard is ten days. There's still some work left to do that's easiest done left in the water. We'll move over the Hamble Point Marina and Nordhavn Europe Ltd. will finish it up.

1/26/2018: River Itchen

Position: 50°54.58'N, -1°22.61'W

Heading down the River Itchen just past dawn on a one-hour to Hamble Point.

1/26/2018: Full Throttle

Position: 50°52.48'N, -1°22.91'W

Testing at full throttle is showing some minor vibration from the prop shaft area.

1/26/2018: River Hamble

Position: 50°50.91'N, -1°18.51'W

Entering the River Hamble from Southampton Waters on a calm, sunny morning. Hamble Point Marina is on the left, with the river extending north to the right. The distinctive forms of Nordhavn 68 Vesper and Nordhavn 47 Albatross are visible to the right of center.

1/26/2018: Batteries

Our eight new Lifeline 8D batteries, ready to install.

1/29/2018: Harrier Vets

Position: 50°51.71'N, -1°19.67'W

At Harrier Vets to pickup Spitfire after emergency surgery. He developed a serious abscess over the weekend. Harrier Vets saw him in within two hours of our calling and had him in surgery later that afternoon. They took excellent care of him and even gave us a ride home as Hamble has almost non-existent taxi service. The little feller is recovering well—we're lucky to have been somewhere where good service was so accessible.

1/30/2018: Sunrise

Sunrise over the River Hamble from our berth at Hamble Point Marina.

1/30/2018: Barge

The River Hamble has strings of offshore berths in the middle of the river, with small gaps between to allow access behind. The distance between the end of our dock and the offshore dock in the distance is at least double the beam of this barge, but he's working through in a heavy side-current with many millions of dollars in boats all around him.

1/31/2018: Crane

After all that work, it's great to see the crane operating well. It's running better than it has for years.

2/1/2018: Saxon

Position: 50°54.74'N, -1°22.64'W

The prop shaft has 0.023" of run-out and the current professional assessment is coupler-to-shaft misalignment. Dirona will need to be lifted out of the water and the prop shaft pulled out for everything to be remeasured and refit. So we're back as Saxon Wharf this morning.

2/1/2018: Extension Cord

Position: 50°54.76'N, -1°22.62'W

Our boat has a 90-ft 50-amp cable which is more than enough for the vast majority of marinas. But we have encountered situations where the closest pedestals aren't working or its an unusually long distance to reach a pedestal, so we have two extensions. The first is a heavy 50ft extension, and the second is a lightweight 16-amp cable that will give us another 75 feet. Here we're using the 16-amp cable to reach the blue power pedestal at Saxon Wharf way down where those people are standing.

2/1/2018: Lift

Position: 50°54.74'N, -1°22.68'W

On board Dirona for the initial part of the lift to get the lines and straps in place. They're moving the stern to the edge of the wall so we can get off for the lift to continue.

2/1/2018: On the Hard

As repeat customers, we now have the best spot in the yard, right beside the office and facilities.

2/2/2018: Hamble Propellers

Position: 50°53.25'N, -1°17.40'W

At Hamble Propellers Friday morning to investigate the prop shaft run-out issue.

2/2/2018: Both Shafts

To better understand the prop shaft run-put issue, we brought the new prop shaft, the old prop shaft, the propeller and the coupling to Hamble Propellers for inspection.

2/2/2018: Shaft

Position: 50°53.25'N, -1°17.41'W

We might have found the issue with the propeller shaft run-out. It appears there was some metal transfer from the old shaft taper onto the inside of the coupling. Certainly this would have prevented an accurate taper fit.

In the picture of the old shaft you can see a semicircle of metal came off. We don't know if this is the problem, but it's certainly a problem.

2/2/2018: Coupling

Position: 50°53.25'N, -1°17.41'W

There is a matching ridge of metal inside the coupling taper that appears effectively welded in place (see red arrow—click image for larger view).

Monday the ridge will be removed, the taper will be lapped in then checked with machinist blue to ensure greater than 80% contact. Then the whole assembly will be checked for run-out on a prop-shaft-jig and then again in the boat prior to launching.

2/3/2018: Megohmmeter

In the old days, shore power connections were never a problem. But, more recently, concern about electrical shock injuries in and around marinas have lead to legislation in many parts of the world require sensitive residual current devices (RCD) be installed. These are often as sensitive as 30mA and, as a consequence, shore power reliability can be impacted.

If the waves are up and a shore power plug takes a wave, the RCD may trip. Any small flaw in insulation that previously wouldn't be noticed can now trip the RCD. Even a boat that is 100% code-compliant with all good insulation can trip an RCD when initially plugged in. What can happen is large shore power isolation transformers will have sufficient capacitance that the shore power RCD can trip when the power is first applied.

Some shore power designs place the RCD at the head of dock rather than on each boat. These are particularly annoying in that just one faulty boat can take out the entire pier and these issues can take time to isolate by adding one boat at a time to the circuit.

We boated for more than a decade without ever having a shore power problem but, over the course of the last couple of years, we've seen three. Two were caused by old insulation with only 3 megohms between the phases and one was caused by a wave during a storm that filled a shore power plug with salt water. All have been easy to address but they can take some time to find.

We now have a Fluke megohmmeter to be able to test all of our shore power equipment, to notice any insulation deterioration quickly and early, and to be able to find problems quickly when an RCD trips. In this case, we're using a Fluke 1507, but a Fluke 1503 is less expensive and would be perfectly adequate for this task.

Thanks to Steve Coleman for recommending we use a megohm meter.

2/3/2018: Tap It

Position: 50°54.60'N, -1°23.09'W

We stopped in for a brew at the Tap It Brewing Co. near Saxon Wharf that we'd visited a month ago on our first day in the area.

2/4/2018: Franco Manca

Position: 50°54.16'N, -1°24.38'W

Back at Franco Manca in West Quay mall for their delicious foccacia and pizza. This is their 500°C (900°F) pizza oven.

2/5/2018: Frost

A cold and frosty Southampton morning in the mid-30s F. Saxon Wharf is incredibly precise with boat placement and yard-space management. Our bow is so close to the building in front we can reach out and touch it.

2/5/2018: Super Bowl

We'd managed not to learn the results of the Super Bowl before watching it last night over NFL Game Pass. Wow—what an exciting game, right down to the last few seconds.

2/6/2018: Oyster Yachts

Oyster Yachts is based in Southampton at Saxon Wharf, adjacent to the yard we're in. Up until this week, it's been a busy place with 160 employees. Yesterday afternoon at 4pm the company announced that it been unable to secure financial support to continue operations. Oyster produces very well-regarded, world-capable ocean cruisers. We've met happy Oyster owners all over the world. It's sad to see them ceasing operations, and Southampton just lost 160 jobs.

2/6/2018: Hamble Propellers

Position: 50°53.26'N, -1°17.41'W

Engineers at Hamble Propellers working on our new propeller shaft.

2/6/2018: TV Crew

Position: 50°54.67'N, -1°22.89'W

The Saxon Wharf front gates were closed for the first time since we've been here to keep the area around Oyster Yachts free of journalists and TV crews. This is a TV crew setting up just outside the Saxon Wharf gate.

2/6/2018: Dancing Man Brewery

Position: 50°53.84'N, -1°24.37'W

The fabulous Dancing Man Brewery is housed in a former 14th-century wool storage building. The wool trade was the basis of Southampton's prosperity in the middle ages. We had a great meal and excellent beer.

2/6/2018: On the Hard

Position: 50°54.71'N, -1°22.72'W

A night shot of Dirona on the hard at Saxon Wharf. We've really enjoyed Southampton, but we're past ready to be floating again.

2/7/2018: London Road Brew House

Position: 50°54.76'N, -1°24.20'W

We had an excellent beer and delicious pizza at the striking London Road Brew House. It seems we can keep finding new, interesting restaurants in Southampton for ages. But our new propeller shaft is back in place and we're hoping for a launch tomorrow.

2/8/2018: Brrrr

A cold morning just below freezing in Southampton at 30.0°F (-1.1°C). But a good day for a launch, with almost zero wind. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

2/8/2018: Floodlight

One of our two boat deck LED floodlights failed, so James replaced it with a spare. We use the lights to illuminate the boat deck for loading and unloading the tender or working on deck at night. The picture also shows one of the two side-facing lights, identical to the aft lights, that we use to help navigate at night in close quarters—they light up the area for a good two hundred feet on either side of the boat.

2/8/2018: Rudder

Position: 50°54.73'N, -1°22.71'W

It's not that uncommon for a trawler owner to look for more rudder power and we've seen many solutions including actually installing multiple rudders. This particular configuration is a bit weird in that it's a single rudder with twin screws so there is not a rudder behind either screw. This will negatively impact close quarters operation. What they have done in this boat to get more lift from the central rudder is install two additional rudder surfaces on either side of the main rudder.

This is one of the simplest of the after-market approaches we've seen to increase rudder lift.

2/8/2018: Launch