Hamble SailZone[GK24 logo]


Forethought 1996 log

July 1996 Since we bought her, we have changed all the running rigging from 3 strand to braided as a precaution, bought an Avon inflatable (almost as old as Forethought) to get ashore, and spent a lot of effort on engine servicing, in an effort to stop a smoking exhaust. This seems in the end to be caused mostly by the propellor being the wrong type (as originally supplied and invoiced for!). The engine works too hard against it and so it smokes.

September 1996 We just changed the single battery electrical system to a more reliable twin battery system as we came to the boat after a week and found the battery was flat because I had left the VHF radio on.
October 1996 The latest is that we have found that the antifouling is falling off in places, as it is so thick. We found this out when we asked for a simple lift out and pressure wash. We are now scraping all of the antifouling off. As the antifouling is rather old it is of the extremely toxic variety. Stinging blue dust... And no epoxy coating.
November 1996 When all of the antifouling was off, we saw the dreaded osmosis blisters.
This meant that it was necessary to do something about it, like fix it. We were not surprised, but its certainly making a dent in the finances to do something about it. There's a lot of labour and materials in getting an osmosis repair that is done professionally and has some sort of warranty. (by summer 2003 out of warranty but apart from the rudder no problems returned)
We also decided at the time to get the keel shot-blasted and re-faired as it was rather horrible with filler and rust.
We also had a new propellor fitted (13" diameter by 7" pitch), in place of the 13" by 8" fitted before. This one was more a rectangular shape rather than the lobed shape of the original that had some signs of de-zincification.
During November, Forethought was in a shed in the boat yard without her gelcoat. She was drying so slowly that she was put outside for a month or so.