NAVICOM RT 210 hand-held VHF - and other things

So where are we? Midwinter and a boat a long way from launching – but launch we will even though the interior will probably be untouched. After a year, any kind of sailing – even just day sailing will be good.

Where am I at? Well the boat at the moment is in a hangar so, in theory at least, I can work on her despite the weather – The hatches are off and rotten wood has been cut away from them. At the moment I’m busy sealing the GRP that I sanded. I had to do a lot of research before deciding which sealing product to use – and it wasn't easy partly because different manufacturers use different terms and there ares big differences between them. I’ll post on this in the near future because it seems important (even though it’s a topic of little interest to more general readers)

I’m also repairing the main hatch with two 6mm sheets of Marine Ply, one glued on top of the other. 6mm ply is easier to bend to shape, but even then I have had to route a few grooves in it to make it take up the curve more easily. Over that I’m hoping to put some thin laths of a suitable hard wood to make it look good. Teak is almost impossible to find here but a friend has found a source of some other red hardwood. I’m told it’s a good marine wood but I don’t yet know the English name. Hopefully I’ll get a look at it this week.

The fore hatch is an ugly but functional GRP box lid. Commander Rayner, the designer was more interested in function that aesthetics, so I’m going to clad it in whatever wood ends up on the main hatch.

The twelve volt system is in place (more of that later also) and currently I have an expert putting a 240 Volt system alongside – as a means of charging the batteries whenever I have shore power.

So, things are happening – even though at times it feels like I’m walking backwards – uncovering more problems than I’m solving.

In the meantime I’ve been digging through bits of gear currently stored in the attic. I have found a  NAVICOM RT 210 hand-held VHF without an antenna. Internet searches have not yet located a source for a replacement – so If you have any ideas of where I can get one – or maybe one that is compatible – please let me know.

Meanwhile for more general news from this neck of the woods please visit my other site Frgal Living in France

Seaward