The Refit of SV Unladen Swallow - 2024

2024 will be another big year for working on the boat as it is a haul-out year.

Plans:

Bottom Paint – Copper Coat this time

Our AntiFoul needs to be refreshed. We are going to try some a hard multi-year solution this time. The boat has had Trinidad on it for many years. It works pretty well but if you have to scrape it because of sitting too long – which we are prone to do – you rapidly loose its effectiveness because it’s an ablative solution.

We started a conversation with CopperCoat USA and they recommended we try their solution which is supposed to give us 10 years of use. Sounds good to us. It’s not cheap and requires about a week to prep, apply and then give it time to cure.

We also stumbled onto 2 additional products from PropSpeed – LightSpeed and for Transducers – FoulFree. We have heard great things about these so we will try them out for $50 each.

Check back in the future to see what we found.

Electrical work

• Rebuild 12VDC patch panel

• Move 120VAC patch panel

Electronics Work

• New Master Alarm Panel and associated feeds

• Rehome Cerbo GX

Outboard for Dinghy maintenance

We definitely have a love/hate relationship with our outboard – it’s really back to not behaving itself (not idling, vaper locking when restarting etc) Hopefully the mechanic at Tyrell bay will have better luck restoring functionality.

Galley conversion from Propane to Electric

• Remove old Force 10 Propane Range

• New Induction Cooktop

• New Microwave/ Convection/ Air fryer combo oven

• New Gimbling mounting frame

Gasoline engine conversion for Scuba Compressor

Re-upholstery the salon cushions

This is a big project and we are using the sail loft “In Stitches” on Carriacou to do the work. We are going to have them make microfiber seat covers to make sitting on the vinyl more comfortable. The fabric is heavy/ bulky enough that we have to freight it to St Thomas.

Keel Cooler replacement – Freezer

We don’t know how old our existing Freezer Keel Cooler is but the covering has degraded enough that I poked a putty knife through it and punctured a cooling line cleaning it late Summer of 2023. Fortunately our Combo Engles Frig/Freezer is working great so we didn’t end up without a freezer. This should be a straightforward replacement other than needing to evac the system three times to ensure it’s dried out.

Lower Rudder Bearing

This one I am not pleased about. This is another carry-over from the issues that Fairhaven Marine left me with. Apparently the painted too close to the bearing when they applied the Antifouling and setup Galvanic Corrosion between the copper and the AL parts of the bearing causing it to swell and prevent the rudder stock from turning freely.

This is going to involve dropping the rudder out of the boat and then cutting out the old bearing and bonding a new one to the hull. I think we are looking at several days worth of work….

Fiberglass work in the cockpit

We have a bunch of different issues we need to address here. I don’t know how to do Fiberglass and wanted someone to help me/ mentor me the first time out. We are retiring a bunch of the original instruments (holes to fill), the Dodger is badly cracked along one edge and there are numerous other holes

Carpentry work in the interior

• Starboard AFT berth – convert to storage

• Navigation Station – convert to Engles pull-out slider, Tool chest and work area, update electronics and electrical systems there

• Salon table – reconfigure for storage, love seat and table, recover cushions

• V-Berth “couch” – reconfigure for storage & work space

Coppercoat is put on in 4 coats - you can see how the coverage gets progressively better