Bargain

Whilst browsing the internet earlier on in the week, we came across a genuine listing for a Volvo Penta Triangular Pennant 49cm x 20cm at a price of £2.50.  The listing stated "Unused Surplus stock item - new in plastic bags - have been in storage and may have musty smell".  These were definitely worth the risk of purchasing since they are very difficult and can be expensive to get hold of, so we ordered 2 as they appeared to be a bargain!.  They were delivered the other day and are as good as new, however we shall wait for the spring time to fly it, the additional one we shall save as a spare.

Pulling Teeth

The last three weeks have passed quickly with little time to spend aboard Moonshine, with work commitments along with university open days to attend for Laura our weekends have been very busy.

We have had a few projects on the go during this time, new toilet curtains have been made. The old curtains were starting to look very tired and were mildew stained, and after much deliberation we have settled on replacing them for shower curtain material so time will tell with this as to how these fair.
The stainless steel holding tank has also been removed as this was starting to corrode from the inside and had started to weep. The large tank is positioned vertically to the side of the port engine and was obviously installed prior to the engines going in at build stage. Due to the confined space to work in to remove it, the tank had to be cut away a section at a time using a fine blade on the angle grinder.

The large base you can see in the above photo, had not corroded as this section always had (for want of a better word) liquid in due to not being able to be thoroughly emptied due to the location of the waste extraction pipes, this meant air could not get to this area to make corrosion worse.  We have cut away the central baffle to make a shallow tank, this will be used for a future project if we replace the rubbing rail. A few inches of water will be put in the tank and a gas burner placed below to make the hard PVC rubbing rail sections supple for the bends around the bow and quarters...there is method to our madness most of the time!
In the mean time holding tank wise, we are going to replace this with a smaller Vetus nylon tank which will after careful measuring fit in the space past the engines.

It has been just over six weeks since Moonshine suffered impact damage caused by a Dutch yacht whilst moored in Brighton Marina.  During this time we have sought estimates as instructed by our insurance company for repairs.  Finally, last week we got the go ahead to have the repair work done in Hull. This was after a bit of toing and froing and the insurance company requesting road transport estimates as the estimate from Eastbourne had come in £1,000 cheaper than the Hull estimate. Not to mention the lift on and off transport charges at either end, we couldn't quite fathom how this would make economic sense, and felt at times like we were 'pulling teeth'.
Moonshine is now booked in for her repair work to commence on 2nd October, allowing 3 full weeks before our autumn term holiday...fingers crossed.