Monday 23 March 2009

Day 1 of Blacking (prep) (or cleaning a big dirty bottom)

I arrived at a rainy Great Haywood Marina, to be greeted by John and Jon I was to be the first boat pulled out. I helped John, for insurance reasons, John would sail the boat onto the trailer, basically if the boat was damaged or fell off the trailer I wouldn't be covered.














So by about 10:30 TRB was on the trailer being hauled out of the water. This is amazing to watch and is not an easy job, well I know I wouldn't want to reverse someone pride and joy and place it on blocks...... Anyhooo 8 large wooden blocks were placed under TRB and she was lowered onto them.





Once on them I made us all a cuppa and then I was shown the huge jet-washer, diesel powered and so strong that it is a fight to keep it spraying onto the hull of the boat. So for the next hour and half or so I was spraying the bottom of my boat, two and half years of grime and weed was just flying off, along with old paint and rust. With the help of very heavy rain, it was a very wet and messy business but highly enjoyable. The jet-washing job was done but it was raining and Jon and John had to go to do something away from the marina so I locked up a boat on stilts and headed home.

Tomorrow as long as it isn't raining too much the first coat of blacking will be going on.

To be honest her bottom wasn't too dirty and it would have lasted another year, but I am going on what I was told and that was 2 years should be the Maximum time between blacking's, she has never been blacked and I was really surprised that she wasn't as bad as I expected. One side had a heck of a lot of weed growing on it and some big rust pockets. It was also good to see first hand the propeller (read this link)

4 comments:

  1. I will be dragging WB out this autumn, by which time the blacking will be three year old.

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  2. It was about three years or very near since TRB was first put in the water, and too be honest the fowling on the hull wasn't bad but it was starting to rust, and I am very glad to get it out and cleaned.

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  3. Ooh Arrr - The Captain in me says that she looks a bit like a beached whale, up the on the blocks. I must go and get my harpoon! (The paint looks in better nick then WB at present).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Up close she looks quite bad, most of the original blacking is now off and she is a dull grey, I think the galvanic isolator is working !!!!! yay!!!! please don't harpoon her, I would hate to have to explain that to the insurance company :-S

    ReplyDelete

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