Some solutions to minor issues this year, which may help other sailors- ; This year we had the shower drain pump out hose come off under the shower tray with no means to access, but found the drain itself came out quite easily to allow removal/replacement of the old hose below- thanks to a tip in this forum. We had a small split in the outer hull, above but near the waterline, that had been there some time (Perhaps from an exposed bolt in a quayside) . Our contractor cut out the area, repaired & found no water absorption at all into the foam sandwich, showing a remarkable quality of construction (1997), so a small, easy repair. Leaky window seals needed only cleaning, washing & “working” between one’s fingers (with window open), in warm water, to regain the seal. Now all ok. We took 9 inches off the luff of the main, by our sailmaker, (taken off the leech) which now gives an excellent set. The original sail had been made the correct size with no allowance for stretch, so loose sail under load interfered with the in-mast reefing. Now is vg. After raising the jib recently, the top sections of the luff extrusion of the furlex jib furler were seen to open up, 5 ft below the top. About a 10mm gap. The drag of sail/ collar in/ on the foil was causing lifting of the luff foil sections by the halliard tension. Solution-, treating the sail luff, the foil track & the exterior, near the top, with silicon low friction spray to reduce friction & now all seems ok. Lastly the Volvo panel alarm, the non-specific alarm of the triangle with an exclamation mark inside, went off for no apparent reason. We changed the batteries. No difference, but then found on this forum a reference to the glow plugs. Examination showed the nut connecting the power line to the glow plugs had vibrated off, re connected, now all ok. Now the st60 echo sounder has stopped working- it never ends! But on the other hand, would we want it to?
