Category: Sailing

  • Debugging power gremlins

    Debugging power gremlins

    When I went on board earlier this year, I noticed that my batteries were well below a good resting point. Blue Opal has a 55 Wp solar panel hooked up to a Votronic MPP 250 Duo Digital. With the panel left on deck when I’m not sailing, it should have kept the batteries trickle charged.…

  • Fixing a broken Whale pump

    Fixing a broken Whale pump

    The other weekend, when K and I went to Blue Opal to spend the night (so we could go sailing before the club opened the next day), I used the head and pumped to the tank. There was a bong (which is normal for the tank), and then I heard water dripping. Alas, I very…

  • Winch greasing

    Winch greasing

    Noticed last week that the winch on the coachroof sounded “graunchy” when winching the main up. Realised I probably hadn’t done anything to the winches since I bought Blue Opal, so it would be a good idea to to something about that. Ordered some Lewmar winch grease (research showed it might not be cheap, but…

  • How to check the masthead light without a dinghy

    How to check the masthead light without a dinghy

    Having re-done some of my navigation lights, I figured it was a good idea to make sure I’d wired everything correctly. The LED lights don’t draw many amps, and so it can be hard to tell if the light has actually turned on. In the past, I’ve waited for nightfall, tied up alongside at the…

  • A cruise ship and a filter

    A cruise ship and a filter

    The air intake filter has been replaced; the old one was in a shocking state, and I can only hope that none of it went into the engine. Thursday afternoon was brilliantly sunny when I left the house, and overcast by the time I dropped my mooring into the water. Still, made for a nice…

  • Relaying a solenoid

    Relaying a solenoid

    As mentioned in a previous post, Blue Opal has had issues with the starter motor for several years – turn the switch, press the button, and nothing more than a click is heard from the solenoid. It’s intermittent, but I’d prefer to know that the engine will turn over on the first push. A proposed…