It has been a disappointing beginning with
Daisy III. The first launch, whilst showing her to be a fine looking vessel, identified a number of issues which needed fixing before any serious sailing trips could begin.
Centreplate
By far the most pressing problem was with the centreplate which wouldn’t drop properly - serious in that help would have to be sought to fix the problem. It dropped by about 40 degrees and then would get stuck, the downhaul having no impact.
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| Initial lifting of the boat off the trailer sufficient to show that the plate was sticking in this (sort of) 40 degree position, whereas it should drop the whole way down. |
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| A further centreplate issue - the correct-sized 10mm bolt had been replaced with a completely inadequate 6mm pivot bolt. This has now been corrected. |
To cut a long story short, Anglia Yacht Brokerage, through whom the boat was brokered, arranged for a nearby boatyard to hoist her up, remove the plate and sheer off some lavishly applied coppercoat antifouling. The view is that this problem had existed for some time, possibly since the antifouling had first been applied. However, the integrity of the seal was and still is secure and assurance has been given that this problem has now been fixed.
In the process, the lower pivot bolt was bent. . It seemed the former owner had exchanged the original 10mm bolt for a completely inadequate 6mm one which was causing some vertical play in the plate. Unsurprising, therefore, that it had bent. It would be interesting to know the logic behind the change of bolt but, at this point, the most sensible thing to do was to purchase and reinstate the original sized bolt.
Water ballast
I've read elsewhere that the forward two inspection plates for the water ballast are leak-prone. This certainly was the case when filling the ballast tanks for the first time, about a litre of water shipping just through a few hours afloat. On removing the covers later, it transpired that the rubber seal on one side was broken, and was completely missing on the other.
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| One of two inspection plates in the forward water ballast chamber. The previous owner left these with one O-ring missing, and the other one more like a U-ring. The gap was letting in loads of water leak out. Replacement O-rings have been purchased, and the edges of the plates covered in Vaseline in an attempt to make them easier to remove in future. |
For now, replacement seals have been sourced and fitted and this should, hopefully, improve matters. However, this looks like something to keep an eye on.
Tiller tamer
The tiller tamer was badly installed with an over-sized cord which kept getting stuck. A modified system involving a couple of stainless steel fairleads and a narrower bore cord should improve this.
Whilst fixing all of these things, the tiller received a much needed lick of varnish and the process began of attending to a number of scuffs and cracks in the gelcoat on the hull and cabin. This will be a continuing maintenance item.
Lastly, for some reason the cabin cushions seem to have been glued down. Most have now been removed and the undersides scrubbed and cleaned. The decking beneath has received a coat of primer to cover over a resinous substance.
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| V-berth with cushioning removed, and sticky glue remaining |
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| V-berth with a coat of primer (old tin found in the garage). I was going to put something else over this but it looked good enough like this so, not wanting to purchase anything unnecessary, it stays like this for now - and, anyway, cushions will hide it all. |
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| The underside of the cushions all looked similar to this one. |
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| Much scrubbing, white spirit and detergent removed most of the mess. Now, they sit in the cabin without sticking. |
Thus far, this seems to have improved matters.
