Sailing Vessel Froo Gal

10 December 2016

Frugal and Environmentally Friendly Eating

Lionfish is an is an invasive species in the Atlantic. Spearfishing them and eating them is therefore generally acknowledged to be a cheap and responsible source of protein. Monday Never's VLOG is an entertaining introduction to the topic. Many websites offer advice on the topic. Do your own research and come to you own conclusions!

The NOAA website states:

Since lionfish are not native to Atlantic waters, they have very few predators. They are carnivores that feed on small crustaceans and fish, including the young of important commercial fish species such as snapper and grouper.

Unfortunately, NOAA researchers have concluded that invasive lionfish populations will continue to grow and cannot be eliminated using conventional methods. Marine invaders are nearly impossible to eradicate once established.

A NOAA fact sheet states that young lionfish have been found as far north as the states of New York and Rhode Island.

The Guardian reports that they are now found in the Med.

Great advice on Saving Money

These kids () are savvy when it comes to saving money on boat work. Their VLOG Q&A advice is to do the work yourself, buy second-hand parts and if you are struggling seek advice. And, as a last resort pay for a specialist to diagnose problems and provide advice to allow you to do the work. All in all they say that they have saved saving thousands of dollars.

They also point out that doing the work yourself allows you yo learn about your boat and you'll know that the work is done right -- not something you always get when you hire others to do the work.

The Froo Gal crew is looking forward to their upcoming VLOG post on how they make money, whilst living and working afloat. They seek like great entrepreneurs.

23 October 2016

TREATING THE KEEL (PART 3)

Doing a proper job this time (Autumn 2016)

Well, the moment of truth; the hurried repair from last year did not seem to have made the corrosion on the keel any worse. And if anything the anodes had done their job, slowing the corrosion to next to nothing (although we lost the Saildrive anode altogether, but without any damage to the Saildrive or prop).

There were a couple of large blisters on the port hand side of the keel, where the incompatibility of the single-part red oxide primer with the two-part epoxy primer really showed.

The growth on the bottom 15 centimeters of the keel is a bit of a mystery, but the pressure washer took it off pretty cleanly.

The starboard side was different. There was damp solvent between the part layers, which caused about half of the anti-foul to peel off (easily) in large sheets.

Of course, the other half clung to the keel and would not budged with less than an aggressive grinding disc and wire brush on an angle grinder.


Two coats. Copyright (c) 2016. Froo Gal. All Rights Reserved.

This time, we took the starboard side of the keel back to bare metal, sanded then de-greased it with thinner, filled and fared the corrosion pits with West System 407 filler epoxy mix and covered it with four coats of Hempel two-part light primer. Great.

As a bit of an experiment (and to save time) we just patched the areas that had bubbled on the port side. With just a day of anti-fouling to go (after a week of curing), and adding new anodes we will have finished the job in three weekends, weather permitting.

20 August 2016

Re-Founded UK Maritime Mobile Net

Skipper Froo has been busy sailing during the summer of 2016. Among other developments in the UK good and bad -- a great Olympics performance by Team GB and Team GB sailors and Brexit -- the UK Maritime Mobile Ham Net has been re-founded on 14.303 MHz (alt 14.306): https://ukmaritimemobilenet.wordpress.com/

“This is G4FRN for the UK Maritime Mobile Net”
This was once a call familiar to long distance, ‘blue water’ sailors. For many years the UK Maritime Mobile net operated on the 20m amateur radio band at 08:00 and 18:00 UTC every day. Bill, G4FRN, Bruce, G4YZH and Tony G0IAN were regular net controllers. It was a place to exchange position reports, weather information and generally chat to like minded people. On occasion, the net also took on the important role of receiving distress or safety traffic and passing it to the authorities.
Although the net has been silent for a few years, we think that there is enough interest on behalf of radio amateurs both afloat and ashore to re-start the net. If you would be interested in getting involved, as a net controller or in any other way, then please let us know via the contact page.
We would be particularly interested to hear from anyone afloat who is a licensed radio amateur who might be interested in the net and would be willing to make test contacts with us on or around the old net frequency 14,303 Khz or the alternative frequency, 14,306 Khz.

Although Ham and Marine single side band radios (SSB) are not as popular as they once were amongst long distance sailors, as the more reliable satellite systems are priced comparably, a budget or second hand Ham radio marine mobile station, for the Full amateur radio licence holder could be the frugal option. The cost-conscious, long-distance, blue water or live-aboard sailor on a budget, living away from cellphone and wifi convenience, might choose this option. It could be fun to combine these hobbies (and be a little more ready for the zombie apocalypse).

9 August 2015

VLOG EPISODE #3: TREATING THE KEEL (PART 2)

TREATING THE KEEL (PART 2)

YouTube video: Episode #3: Treating the Keel

CopperCoated Keel. Copyright (C) FROO GAL, 2015.
All rights reserved.

CopperCoat delivered the resin, hardener and copper powder that we needed to complete FROO GAL's keel.

We were lucky to get an evening of dry weather where we lightly sanded the epoxy primer layer to give the CopperCoat a key. Mixing the CopperCoat was straight forward, as we had brought some cheap kitchen cooking scales, some plastic containers and a wooden spoon!

We mixed small batches and applied two coats of Coppercoat over a period of three hours or so. The crew made it light work.

The final product looked pretty good. But we'll only know if our surface treatment, coatings and anode help reduce corrosion after she has been back in the water for a while... fingers crossed!

The final step after a few days to cure, was to burnish the surface to allow that copper to take action, repelling all boarders. We also added the anode and added some clear epoxy to the bottom of the keel.

Take a look at our VLOG (Episode #3: TREATING THE KEEL) for the keel story.

We be grateful for any experience readers have on treating rusting keels, the benefits or otherwise (and compatibility) of Red Oxide Hammerite and other observations.

Out next VLOG is likely to be about selecting and rigging a cruising chute for about half the cost of a the typical retain cost.

27 July 2015

Saving £100s with DIY -- TREATING THE KEEL (PART 1)

You may have noticed from earlier pictures of FROO GAL's keel that it was rusting a little. So, when we lifted the boat for 10 days to get the seacock replaced (by a professional), we decided to repair the few patches of antifoul on the keel. What could go wrong?

Well, the lift out went fine. Then it rained like cats and dogs on the day that two of the FROO GAL crew had taken off work -- that's Britain in July for you.

We were up at 0700 the following morning; had a snack for breakfast and were working on the boat by 0730. On inspection, the small patches of rust weren't: most of the keel was suffering from corrosion or the early signs of it. The pitting seemed to be starting under the antifoul and had spread over most of the surface with 50% density over one side of the cast iron keel and perhaps 20% of the other side.

We don't know how why it is so bad, as the keel was professionally shot-blasted

back to bare metal and covered with an epoxy primer prior to the antifoul application, not two years ago. Was it galvanic corrosion, poor surface preparation or just one of those things? Perhaps we will never know. The yard had cryptically said that the antifoul might not adhere very well to the keel.

So what should we have done? We only had enough antifoul (which was special mail order and not available from local suppliers) for perhaps half of the area. And slapping it on top of the damaged area was not going to be a fruitful repair.

We had nice days spare with the boat out of the water, but with three or four needed to allow the antifoul to cure and full time jobs we were rapidly running out of time. A week of careful planning for the original scenario was rapidly replaced by ad hoc improvisation bordering on panic.

We had already decided to add an anode to the keel. We had planned this in advance and had brought an electric drill, special drill bits and die set. We had not bought the anode, but it would be easily sourced in from one of the local chandlers. So we decided to drill and tap an M6 threaded hole. The drill worked well, considering the hardness of the cast iron. The good quality die cut the thread easily... until one of the crew got a little too enthusiastic with the last turn, hit the bottom of the hole and snapped it off flush with the surface of the keel.

Fortunately, after having bought a cheap carbon steel tap and die set to replace

it (a complete waste of money is all likelihood), we found that the anode best suited for the application needed an M10 threaded hole. This aforementioned crew member cut without drama. We bought some A4 (316) stainless steel threaded bar, nuts and washes. Having cut the bar to length this job was finished, save the attachment of the anode, which would follow after the surface treatment of the keel. The broken tap would be left in place -- a fantastic new corrosion site!

We used the wire brush on a drill to remove the loose rust. Decreased the surface with white spirit and covered the whole keel with Red Oxide Hammerite primer, with a brush to get the primer into all the holes. (This primer layer may prove to be a mistake). We let this cure/dry for three hours.

After some GOOGLE research, we then applied two coats of two-part epoxy primer. The instructions on the tin seemed to suggest that this would be compatible over the Hammerite primer, which we had lightly sanded to provide a key. After the first coat, we had to let it cure for three hours (which turned into over four as it was still tacky after three). We then read the manufacturers free painting and treatment guide. This suggested that over-painting a one part primer with a two part primer is not compatible. But the guide does not say why or the effect of getting it wrong. Various yacht forums' threads say the rust treatment adds no additional value to epoxy priming. So it seems likely that the Red Oxide Hammerite will prove to be a mistake, as it may well cause the epoxy layers to lift and peel prematurely -- only time will tell.

Still doing it ourselves saved hundreds of pounds (sterling) of boatyard labour costs and we know exactly the condition of thew boat and preparation of the surface coating. And we now know how to do a good job when we inevitably have to do it again (perhaps next year).

We'll order more antifoul system and apply it later in the week... and pray for dry weather (it is raining again today).

26 July 2015

VLOG EPISODE #2: Changing the Prop

Take a look at our latest VLOG posting on YouTube -- VLOG EPISODE #2: Changing the Prop -- and tell us what you think.

Doing the work ourselves with a lift and hold overnight saved us hundreds of pounds. And we learned about FROO GAL.