After we’d cleared up all the dust on Friday afternoon we put our lovely new sprayhood on. Will take detailed photo of it later.

Saturday 16^th May Bill fitted the winches and cleats to the port side which entailed taking the ceiling panels down in the quarter berth, the nav station and my wardrobe. Firstly the holes were drilled through the wood from below using the previous holes. The now hated blue tape (because every time I go out on deck I seem to see another piece of it) was used to mark out the position.   Bill placed the winch in position marked round it and pealed off the tape in the middle. Each piece will have a layer of black Sikaflex 291 under it and we don’t want any excess leaking onto the wood.

 

 

The base of the winch is fitted along with a cleat and finally the top goes on the winch. Bill said the sheet winches were in pretty good condition considering how much they’ve been used.

The smaller mainsheet winch and another cleat were fitted at the back of the cockpit along with one of the last of the new grab handles. I was able to help with this job because there were lots of bolts that needed nuts on them and I have to hold the bolt still with a screwdriver while Bill tightens the nuts from underneath. I love this photo it shows the shiny cockpit and the beautiful curved new seat.

Sunday 17^th we awoke to rain. Why does it always rain on Sunday’s all around the world? I still went for my run; I either get wet from the rain or wet from sweat it made no difference although it was quite muddy too. We pulled Camomile back over the pontoon so we could let the dinghy down onto it and then pushed Camomile back again. Bill spent an hour refitting the parts back on it. We let some of the air out so I could fit the new dinghy cover I made before I left for the UK. I spent the afternoon making an outboard cover.

Bill fitted a new piece of wood across the transom so the outboard won’t scrape the new paint. We re-launched the dinghy and fitted the outboard. I put its new cover on along with the new wheel covers.   It looks a bit homemade but as a lot of Camomile is homemade we prefer the term lovingly crafted.

So T bag the dinghy is ready for the off.

Bill spent the day fitting the starboard winches, cleats and the last new grab handle. To do this the galley ceiling had to come down and the ceiling in my bathroom. Everything was upside down and I couldn’t possibly make dinner so we had a meal in the Hard Dock cafe.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 18^th We had a new mystery object in the cockpit – more wood. It’s been marked with black pen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill got his circular saw out (they love him here!!!) and started cutting little groves in the wood.

 

This is the new wood laid out on the old seats – can you tell the difference? Apparently the old seats are a slightly redder teak but a blind man would be pleased to see it. We keep being asked if we are going to varnish the new wood or oil it. The answer is neither. Bill says once you start it’s a perpetual job so it’s just going to be left to weather with age.

The mystery object is going to be a wooden top for the instruments but the instruments housing is slightly curved so the little groves enable Bill to ‘bend’ the wood into place. You can see the gap in this photo –

 

 

 

 

– now it’s gone.

 

 

 

Bill and I spent the rest of the day fitting the bridgehead instruments with me holding the screwdriver on the outside and Bill tightening nuts underneath. We were so busy I didn’t take any photos but this is how it looked at the end of the day with all the instruments rewired back in place. To enable Bill to fit the wood top the VHF speaker had to be moved but it fits nicely next to the music speaker. So we have comms again. It was suggested we remove our old garmin GPS instead but that little gem has survived quite a few dousing and a lightening strike and still works magnificently.   So it has pride of place among the posh new Raymarine instruments.

My side looks just as nice with the addition of a cold glass of wine at the end of the day. We were supposed to leave today but obviously aren’t ready yet so I went to the office to book for another 2 weeks. We’ll be leaving Rebak on 1^st June – definitely.

Tuesday 19^th I went for my run while Bill was finishing the edging on the renovated seats. We took the ferry over to Langkawi for a day in town. First job was a hair cut for me. My hair has grown quite a bit since I’ve been back and it makes me hotter so it had to go. Chris and Keith had invited us to lunch in their cosy apartment so we spent a wonderful few hours catching up with chatter before finishing our day in the supermarket. When we got back we noticed our German friends had arrived on their Westerly Fulmar.   This photo is for our WOA friends who think their Westerly is too small to sail around the world Forty Two is from Germany and Carsten and Mercedes sailed her around the UK before leaving on their circumnavigation; and she’s a bilge keel!

 

Wednesday 20^th These are all the pulley blocks that were taken off the bottom of mast when Bill was painting the deck.   Bill put them all back on so I could rerun all the lines.

 

 

What a job, I think I did every one of them at least twice some three times. I got all the port side ones threaded through the front of the coaming and Bill realised he’d put the feeder on upside down so I had to start again. Grrrrr! The reefing lines on the starboard side were also wrong because Bill put their pulley block on back to front.

 

I found the start of a wasp’s nest under the front sail bag while checking the lines weren’t twisted. Luckily it wasn’t very big.

 

 

 

Eventually I got them all sorted. Bill fitted the rope bags in the cockpit and the lines were all tucked away. The winch handle pockets were also fitted, the winches are in them.

 

While I was doing all this Bill was fitting the Yachtleg lugs which meant me in the dinghy holding onto it while Bill was inside tightening nuts again. Sounds simple but nothing is ever simple on a boat. As the rubbing strake has been made wider Bill had to make a wooden plinth for them to sit on so of course the bolts weren’t long enough. He shaved a bit off the plinth so the bolts would fit but then the pin that goes through the two holes on the top and through the top of the yachtleg wouldn’t fit! So Bill had to plane a bit off the rubbing strake. Eventually all fitted. This type of thing is why we’ve been sat here for 16 weeks.

After lunch I changed into a swimming costume and scrubbed the decks. With a combination of airline fuel exhaust from the planes that fly over us landing at Langkawi airport and our dirty feet from walking on the dirty pontoons (for the same reason) the decks are filthy. Luckily most of the marks came off with just water and a scrubbing brush.   Bill wouldn’t let me use any detergent because it would take the wax off the hull. There were also streaks down the hull that luckily came off with a sponge.   I used the dinghy to clean the outside.   Camomile is gleaming again.

 

Thursday 21^st we emptied the deck locker.   Wouldn’t this make a great photo for a caption competition? This was half way through; we’d stopped for a coffee break.

 

When we’d finished unloading it our wonderfully tidy bridgehead looked like this. There were a number of jobs Bill needed to do the first of which was reattaching the locker lid. It was another job with a screw on the outside and nuts to be tightened on the inside but Bill hadn’t been able to reach them. Also the engine stop control had been disconnected for painting and he couldn’t get it back on from the outside. My bathroom backs onto the deck locker and the radiator was leaking so once everything was out Bill was able to disconnect that and take it outside for repair and respray.

Friday 22^nd After we’d finished with the water Bill emptied the water tanks so he could take the hot water tank apart to replace the immersion heater element, (another thing that had come back in my luggage) and the over pressure relief valve. The water maker needed attention too; Bill had to adjust the fittings on the inlet and outlet. The diesel eberspacher unit that powers the heating and the hot water had failed, so that needed replacing too but the whole system had to be drained first; nothing’s easy on a boat.

After refilling the water tanks we had a evening off and went to the music jamming session in the resort where a variety of yachties and their instruments get together and play, sing or whatever you feel like doing. As it’s also half price drinks at the bar it leads to a fun evening!

Saturday 23^rd Bill put my radiator back on and filled the system with a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. The coolant is antifreeze, can you imagine how difficult it was to find here but we found it in a local garage because they use it inside car engines to stop them rusting, which is the same reason we’ve used it. The system had to be turned on to check it was working but we turned all the radiators down and the air conditioning up first. All worked ok. We went across to the resort for coffee to celebrate. Came back and filled the deck locker again. It’s like a 3d jigsaw but each piece has a place and there’s a place for everything.   Bill and I have emptied and refilled it so many times we both know where every thing goes.

Poor Bill managed to drop one of the acrylic door panels on his foot. Unfortunately it fell between two of his toes and went through to the bone, he probably should have had a stitch in it but he wouldn’t let me try out my stitch kit!   I had to bandage it up for him because it was in an awkward place to put a plaster.

 

We’ve both in the wars because I managed to twist my knee so can’t run at the moment. I cycle my bike around the same circuit ending up at the pool and having a swim instead. I don’t lose lots of weight with my running it just keeps my metabolism stable and allows me to have the odd biscuit and a glass of wine when I want.

9 more sleeps here then we’re off.

Saturday 2^nd May was my birthday.   Bill had promised we would both take the day off and relax; something he hasn’t done since we arrived on 1^st February. We started with breakfast in the resort. Followed fruit, yoghurt, museli and a glass of bubbles courtesy of the resort with scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes, and beef bacon and best of all waffles with chocolate sauce together with a cappuccino. Won’t need to eat for the rest of the day now. Back at the boat Bill made ME a coffee while I read all my lovely facebook messages and emails. I had so many; everyone was very kind. Bill paid for me to have a reflexology foot massage and pedicure with leg massage in the resort spa. I was in there 1½ hours what a treat.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and finished the day in the pool. I decided to have a cocktail at the pool bar. The bartender took quite a while to make it but it was delicious when it arrived. I think it was called a Zombie and it had quite a lot of rum in it. I spoke to James in the evening and as I was birthday Queen I got to choose which video we watched so I choose the latest series of Downton Abbey that Thomas and Sonal had given me.

Sunday 3^rd it was back to work. Bill got up early and masked the windows and seats of the cockpit and gave it a first coat of primer. It was great to see the last of the old gel coat disappear.

 

 

 

The whole of the cockpit was painted including the mystery objects and the floor.

 

 

Bill managed to paint himself into a corner. We had to enter and exit out through the aft hatch that day. The primer is quite thin and dries quickly in the heat so Bill was able to get three coats of prima on altogether during the day.   I sat down below writing my blog. Our new sprayhood made by CJ Marine in Chichester, UK had arrived in the country with UPS and was sitting in customs in KL. It’s only taken 5 days to get to Malaysia from the UK. Will we have it soon?

 

Monday 4^th Bill got an undercoat on first thing. Being a bit thicker it took longer to put on plus Bill had to be more careful applying it. The sides of the mystery objects are now painted.

 

 

The undercoat takes 12 hours to dry, even in this heat, so Bill spent the rest of the day working on the stanchions.   First they had to be bent by 5 degrees, which he managed to do using the cleat on the pontoon with a metal bar inside them to stop them distorting. They slot into the bases that Bill had already fixed to the deck while we were on the hard. A pin secured them in place.   We have a stanchion, one down five to go.

 

Next we unwrapped the new guardrails and threaded them through the holes in the stanchions, something I could help with.   A forked terminal with a clevis pin through it secures them to the bow and they are lashed to the stanchion by the ‘garden gates’. There’s only one each side on the aft deck because we have the solar panels on the top rail. It feels much safer on deck now.   The weather had been good for the last few days with no rain; no sign of rainy season yet or our package from UPS.

Tuesday 5^th I had spoken too soon because we awoke to heavy rain. Even though we have the cockpit cover it was too damp to rub down the undercoat.   There were lots of other jobs to choose from on the list. Once it stopped raining Bill finished off the stanchion work and put the poles back in place. I put the cars back on their tracks and reran the roller reefing line and the genny sheets (different ropes) back down boat.

Bill did the final fix on the dolphin seat that he had made so I can sit on deck to watch the dolphins playing (have to find some now). The humidity level dropped in the afternoon and Bill was able to rub down the cockpit and put the second undercoat on while I sat down below working on my next blog, gradually catching up. UPS package still sitting in KL, it’s been in and out of clearing 3 times now!

 

 

 

Wednesday 6^th the undercoat was dry so Bill gave the whole cockpit a good rub down. Everything was covered in a layer of white dust including Bill. While Bill got the paint ready I gave everything a good clean and wipe down to stop any dust getting into the paint. Bill applied the first topcoat with his usual care and attention.

Thursday 7^th The first topcoat was given a very light rub down and cleaned again before Bill put the final topcoat on. We managed to get to the pool at the end of the day for a change. Nothing from UPS.

 

Friday 8^th After my usual visit to the Chinese veggie man followed by some nice chatting while waiting for the ferry I started removing the reams of blue tape. The paintwork has come up really well.   You can hardly see the mystery objects now. Shiny cockpit.

 

 

Bill spent the rest of the day starting to put things back. This is the engine start panel. The surround used to be all faded but has been painted with everything else and is gleaming now.

 

I thought I’d help by sorting all Bill’s little pots with bits in.  This is just some of the bolts and screws that have to go back somewhere. Unfortunately I didn’t realise Bill had pots for different areas and I ended up muddling them up. Oh dear!

Still nothing from UPS!

Saturday 11^th April was the first day that I started feeling like my old self. I had a shower, washed my hair and we jumped on the ferry to pick up one of Mr Din’s cars. Bill needed some more paint, sanding discs and other hardware bits and I needed to pick up some food and, more importantly, wine. I’d got a few bits in the marina shop and from the fruit and veggie man but we needed snacks, bread, and store cupboard stuff as well as the wine. We headed to Starbucks for coffee and later had lunch out.   Every day normal stuff to a lot of you but a treat for me. When we got back Bill started masking the stanchion bases ready to attach them the next day.

Sunday 12^th back to work again. We still didn’t have any stanchions or guard rails so the next job for Bill was fit the bases in between the new toe rails.   Bill was able to reuse some of the bases but I had bought 4 new bases as well as 6 new stanchions in Port Solent and brought them back with me. Bill attached the bases with bolts and a layer of sikaflex under them.

 

Unfortunately the stanchions can’t be fitted yet because they need bending to shape and that’s classed as an in the water job. We have so much to do we have to prioritise and stick to jobs that we’ve decided to do before we get dropped in, which could be next week. The deck looked great when he’d finished but still missing a lot of fittings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had managed to remove the blue tape from everywhere; it takes ages to remove it neatly. I changed the bed and fitted the lovely new mattress cover, fitted sheet, pillow covers and pillow cases I had brought back with me. They had been wrapped round the stanchion bases to protect them. I like putting my washing outside to dry. Bill had created a bit of a back yard for us. The boat to our left is an old tub that looks like it’s been there for years but on our right side the boats have been coming and going and our ladder always gets moved because it’s in the way so Bill has put it on the other side. Bill has his ‘workshop’ under the left hand side of the boat out of the sun. The dinghy is our front fence and I found a couple of old chairs lurking around the hard stand. So we have our tea breaks in the garden.

 

 

This is Harry the Hornbill, he’s beautiful and very young but he’s decimated the tree in front of us eating the new leaves. He watches us sitting in our garden.

 

 

 

Monday I got up early to start my joggy trots again.   I had bought some lovely new trainers in Kent with James’s help and wanted to try them out. It was like running on air. Bill spent the day waxing the hull, which is the last job he needs the scaffold tower for so we could hand it back.

 

 

Tuesday and Wednesday Bill worked on preparing more woodwork. Among other things he sanded down the cockpit grating. It came up like new, as did all the other bits he’s renovated. I removed the very last of the blue tape, I still keep finding bits, and continued writing my blogs trying to catch up. At the end of the day we went to the pool, the first time since I’ve been back.

 

Thursday was cockpit day. The winches, clutches and cleats had to be removed so Bill could start preparing the new teak decking that he intended to replace the treadmaster with. Unfortunately the bolts that had to be removed to get them off were covered by the headlining and Bill struggled to get underneath it. To take the headlining panels down is a major disruption, which is why Bill chose to paint around some things on the deck rather than remove them.

It took several hours but between us we eventually achieved it. You can see the contrast between the new paint on the cockpit combing and the old GRP in the cockpit. The cockpit painting is another ‘in the water’ job.

The big sheet winches had to be removed too, which had Bill contorting into awkward corners of the deck locker and under the headlining above his workbench. Eventually they were all cursed into submission!

 

 

Finally the treadmaster had to be ground off creating an awful dust cloud but leaving a lovely smooth surface for Bill to start creating his teak bridgedeck that he’s always wanted.

 

 

 

Friday I went for my usual trip on the ferry with my friends to do our shopping with the little Chinese ‘man with a van’.   When I got back Bill had started making the pieces for the new deck. The first piece had to be made curved and took Bill a while shaping it with a bobbin sanding head on his drill.

 

It fitted exactly.

For the next piece he used a jigsaw, he pointed out that he was using my Dad’s old jigsaw, I think Dad would have approved of its use, that’s if he didn’t cut his hand off in the process!

 

By the end of the day, after many times up and down the ladder, he had produced this; it’s going to look stunning when he’s finished it.

 

We were supposed to go back in water on Monday but we’re not ready so we’ll have the rudder put back on instead.

Meanwhile Bill is creating another mystery object, what can it be?

Continuing on with the story of the refit.

Saturday 28^th February Bill continued to remove the toe rails. The problem Bill had was that the toe rails could not be removed by removing their screws because they are glassed in underneath the deck and to remove them would turn into an extremely messy and lengthy job. His plan was to remove the screw heads with a special tool he bought in Australia. It works with a pump action sawing movement and within a minute the screw head pings off.

 

The next process is to get a crowbar and some screwdrivers underneath the toerail and gradually but carefully prise it off in one piece because Bill needs them intact to use as a pattern for the new ones.

 

 

Each one in marked with the position it came from.

It took him the best part of two days to remove them all and sand the deck underneath them all.

 

 

This is what the deck looks like with all the studs sticking up. He removed the grab handles in the same way. Meanwhile I was busy sewing the Velcro on the dinghy cover and fitting it onto the Velcro strip on the dinghy. It all fitted very well but I failed to take any photos. I took it off again because I don’t want it covered in dust while I’m away.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 1^st March after a sumptuous breakfast in the resort (one of our little treats) Bill put Camomile’s name back on the transom. We’d had the vinyl letters made when we were in the UK Christmas before last. It looked beautiful and really finishes off the transom; we are no longer anonymous.

We started striping the cockpit beginning with the cover and framework. The intention is to take the cover back to CJ Marine in the UK to have a new one made.   They made the original but we’ve had some modifications made to it along the way that we want them to copy.

 

I gave the cockpit cushions a good shrub and laid them out in the sun to dry. The halyard bags and the bimini cover and frame were also removed. The cockpit looks bare now. All the frameworks have gone over the davits.

 

 

 

I spent the rest of the day carrying the cockpit cushions and the saloon seating down to Norsa.   Bill intends to do some sanding inside the boat while I’m away and I don’t want them covered with dust. I also washed all the curtains and scatter cushions and took them to Norsa to store too and a box of my clothes and a box of bedding. Thanks Sara.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile Bill set his woodworking station up. He bought this pedestal base in Australia; it clamps onto his workbench with his drill fitted into it – instant pedestal drill!

His first job was to cut plugs out of the old grab handles. The teal wood is old and worn but underneath it’s perfectly ok. These plugs are used for filling the boltholes when the new handles are fitted.

 

 

‘Waste not, want not’ as my Dad used to say.

 

 

The old handles looked like this when he had finshed

 

 

Which became a pot of plugs.

 

 

 

 

 

Next job was to prepare the cladding for the rubbing strake along the side of the deck. If you remember again Bill can’t remove it because the bolts are glassed in on the inside of the boat so first he prepares the wood strip by drilling the holes ready to apply.

Then sections are glued and screwed and clamped into place.

 

Monday 2^nd March we got up early to apply the navy vinyl strip before it got too hot. It went on well. The secret was water, which I sprayed onto the surface and gradually removed the backing while Bill slide it into position before it got to stuck on. It didn’t allow you much time but we managed fairly successfully to get it applied.

Bill continued to apply her gold stripe or sash as we say. This is why he didn’t mask the top line.  Each layer of paint was gradually blended in and before applying the vinyl Bill thoroughly rubbed down the area so that there wouldn’t be a hard line.

 

 

Doesn’t she look beautiful? (This section doesn’t have the cladding on the rubbing strake yet.) When Bill was rubbing down the old stripe he found the original position of the Westerly name under the surface so he’s put it back where it should be.

 

 

We had a new neighbour today and they came over for a chat. His first comment was ‘the GRP has scrubbed up well’ Bill pointed out she had been painted to which he asked who had done that for us.

Bill said ‘I did it’

‘Really, is it sprayed?’

Bill replied ‘No I applied it with a roller’

They were very surprised but impressed.

Later that day we signed up for another month on the hard. We had been trying to get in the water but the woodwork will be easier to do under the shade of the boat.   Bill continued fitting the top cladding on the rubbing strake.

Tuesday 3^rd March Bill started making new toe rails by clamping his router to his work bench and passing the wood over it’s cutter to get the shape he wanted, using the old toe rails as guides.

 

These are the old ones he removed from the deck.

 

This is the new set, which will go on after the deck has been painted. Don’t they look superb? Camomile is going to look really smart when we’ve finished with her.

 

 

 

Wednesday 4^th March I spent most of the day sorting and packing while Bill continued his woodwork. We had one last minute panic. I had applied for a new passport for Bill on line and was taking his old one back with me to post in the UK. After going through our sets of passport photos we suddenly realised we didn’t have any good enough for an actual passport so we hopped on the ferry borrowed one of Mr Dins cars and drove into town to get some passport photos processed. Fortunately mission accomplished.

 

Thursday 5^th March I was off to the UK. I had lots planned – surprise my sister for her birthday, Mothers day, see baby Logan and my middle sister was getting married. If you’re wondering why I’ve got so many bags it’s because I’ve got the old chartplotter and instruments with me to ebay plus the cockpit cover plus all my winter clothes!