Category: Sailing
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Boat works 2025 – round 3
Saturday Another weekend, and another car rented and a one hour drive to Malahide. Went via the toll tunnel this time, learning from my mistake from the lift-out. The task list for this weekend included The yard had been unable to schedule the removal of the diesel tanks, so I opted to get as much…
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Boat works 2025 – round 2
Friday I took yesterday off, so that I could get more than just a weekend to tackle the works that needed doing. The yard had confirmed earlier in the week that the engine had been removed, so one loaded (remembered the latter this time) car and we were off to Malahide for breakfast. We passed…
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Boat Works 2025 – round 1
Blue Opal was scheduled to lift today at 10 am, so K and I came up the night before with bedding, replacement lithium battery (for the house bank), and a few other odds and ends. The drive up through Dublin was a right pain in the ass, with road works and long queues (due to…
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Responding to a Mayday Relay
The other Saturday, K and I decided to make the most of the warm weather in Ireland, and sailed to Killiney Bay, dropped the hook, and had lunch. As the tide turned, the movement became a bit uncomfortable, so engine on, anchor up, sails up, and we started heading back. Glorious wind and boat speed…
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Solar upgrade
As noted a while back, the solar panel I have on Blue Opal wasn’t working well with the Votronic MPPT solar charger. The panel I have is a 55 Wp panel, and the testing I did led me to the conclusion that it basically can’t put out enough voltage that the Votronic can buck down…
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Fuel senders
It turns out that Blue Opal has had an electronic fuel sender since I bought her, it’s just never been hooked up to anything that can display the signal. I’d noticed the wires going to the top of the fuel tank, but had concluded that they didn’t do anything useful. As it happens, this conclusion…