centaur275

[centaur275]

4 August 2020

5 years of hard graft, and finally she’s in. Can’t believe we finally reached this stage and cannot be more excited...not the end of the story as plenty to do over the winter but what joy at reaching this milestone...

[centaur275]

23rd/24th July 2020

Replacement panels going in and wiring in progress

[centaur275]

22nd July 2020

Quite excited today to install single line reefing on cockpit with new rope clutches, deck organiser and the Harken winches purchased 5 years ago! Gave the decks a good scrub, then spent ages trying to get sprayhood to fit - taken home for more adjustments. Wired up stern nav light, connected throttle cable and kill switch to the engine. Installed replacement battery box

[centaur275]

20th July

Exhaust pipe and throttle cable connected and engine display and log installed. Single line reefing set up. Spray dodgers installed

[centaur275]

16th July 2020

Slightly frustrating day - engine needs a little more adjustment but without the appropriate tools struggled to get it done. Did manage to give the quarterberths a good sand to get rid of the last of the headlining glue - a job we’ve been putting off for months!

[centaur275]

15th July 2020

Another day spent sorting the engine, another coat of varnish on the panels, installed the lazy jacks and hanked mainsail on. The sail cover can probably do another couple of seasons so no repairs needed just yet. Replaced the spliced ropes on end of the safety lines and added spliced rope to tack of the sail. Rigged up the kicking strap.

[centaur275]

13th July 2020

Finally the day arrived and engine was on its’ way into its’ new home. Using the boom and chain lift, manouvered it in several stages until it was almost ready to shift into place. But in the process of removing the old feet managed to shear off the screws so took a lot longer than anticipated. But finally got it into its’ resting place - such a relief. Also managed to give the panels another coat of varnish and sanded down the rubbing strake for a quick once over with oil.

[centaur275]

11th July 2020

After some preparatory work, we were back at the boat to install the newly ‘fabricated’ metal supports for the engine. Also managed to get another spar installed on the roller reefing - took much longer than anticipated about 2 hours in total having to cut down the inner plastic tubing but managed to get the genoa hanked on - finally a sail!

[centaur275]

8th July

Finally the day arrived - new engine! Using the boom we managed to lift it into the cockpit and forward into the cabin only to discover that the placement of the feet is much wider than we had anticipated. A lot of head scratching and lengthy phonecalls with the supplier and a solution found but it means another delay...

[centaur275]

7th July 2020

Big day today - moving Kings Gambit to her new placement right next to the entrance. Also managed to get a coat of varnish onto the floor panels, touch up a few bits on top and D spent rest of the afternoon fine-tuning the replacement panels

[centaur275]

4th July 2020

Back to the boat today to grin at the mast upright and get a few more bits done. Engine will arrive Wednesday so D spent some time getting supports in the right position. Boom on and mainsheet and tackle attached. General sanding/cleaning of paint off deck fittings and grabrails given coat of Danish oil. Drilled more holes(!) for the deck gland and wires for steaming light, VHF and tricolour through to cabin. She’s finally looking like a proper boat and starting to think about launching...

[centaur275]

And she’s up!

[centaur275]

3rd July THE DAY HAS ARRIVED

Finally after months of hard graft we are at the most exciting point - getting the mast up. With help from the fabulous Alan at Faversham sailloft and 2 strong lads after 3 hours she was finally up! Not a particularly good day as it was windy and very gusty but with a few heart-skipping moments she came good. We can hardly believe it!

[centaur275]

2nd July 2020

Exciting day today - moving boats around to move Kings Gambit forward. Got the mast lifted to the coachroof in prep for raising her tomorrow thanks to the JCB. Connected backstay and lower shrouds and raised the aft end of the mast as much as we could.

[centaur275]

29th June 2020

A bit of a delay before we can get the rigger to the boat so today was spent addressing some smaller issues - getting split rings fitted, spinnaker halyard, battens for headlining.