Tag: LadyCindy

Lady Cindy was fitted with a monitor wind vane steering system in 2006 by the previous owner. Just before I bought the boat it was removed and sold separately from the boat. Wind vane steering uses the power of the wind to keep a boat on course much like an autopilot would. If the yacht wanders off course, the perceived wind direction changes, which pushes a vane over, which adjusts the steering to bring the boat back on course. It requires no power so is perfect for long voyages.

I managed to contact the buyer to see if he had fitted it to his boat and would he be willing to sell it back to me. After several months, he agreed so today I sailed to Portsmouth, did the deal and together we fitted it back on Lady Cindy. Fortunately I was able to redrill out the original mounting holes so the whole process was completed in less than three hours.

The trip back was ‘fun’. 25 knot headwinds and 3-4 meter swells. I decided to motor back rather than sail and I am glad I did. Another yacht was under sail and had to tack about a mile to my starboard side and back several times. I overtook him and got back before him plus had a more comfortable ride with my bow to the waves, he had the waves on his beam giving him a very rolly ride.

I was involved with another emergency with the coast guard on the return. A mayday call came across the radio but the vessel did not respond to the Coast Guard calling back, a DSC distress message also came up on the radio. A short while later a yacht about 1/2 mile behind me made a pan pan call saying they were taking on water but pumps were controlling it. I thought it was all related but later the Coastguard put out a call asking if anyone else heard the mayday. It turns out they were seperate incidents. I reported what I had heard and gave the MMSI number from the DSC message. Later they reported the incident was closed.

I have spent the last two days ripping out the old sink plumbing, laying new hoses and installing new taps and water pumps.

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Originally there was hand operated pump taps at the galley sink and in the heads pumping fresh water from a 150L fresh water bladder tank. Have you ever tried to wash your hands and pump water at the same time? They leaked and the galley counter top has rotted around the taps. They had to go.

My options were a foot pump or electric pump, I found a water pump with a built in pressure switch, I was not sure if it would work without a pressure vessel but they were not expensive so thought I would give it a go. I mocked up a system before starting to rip out the old taps and it worked.. really well 🙂.

The taps are designed for hot and cold water supply, I don’t have hot water but I do have sea water, a very big supply of it. Most people seem happy with salt water washing and fresh rinsing so I plumbed the ‘hot’ supply to sea water from the toilet supply through hull. This line has its own seperate pump mounted slightly higher to keep it above the waterline (in case it leaks).

Both taps have pull out hose attachments so now I can take a hand held shower. Water can drain into the bilge but I will make sure most of the soap goes down the sink and I run a flush of water down afterwards. My bilge pump is in automatic and in testing coped well with the flow.

I read a lot of conflicting views online on using the bilge for this. Many reported no problems, others said yuck it will smell. Time will tell but my view is as long as I run lots of sea water through the bilge at the end of the shower, this may result in cleaner bilges.

Due to the rot around the old galley pumps. I sacrificed a chopping board to cover the old holes, create a mount for the new tap and provide a watertight seal to halt the rot. Visually it’s not great but it is functional. At a future date I will replace the entire counter top.