Moon – Koopmans 47 – 17t fully equipped
The repair work takes time… and we are stuck on the hard the whole year.
January – December 2013 Boat works on Langkawi, Malaysia.
January
1 – 7 January 25 weeks on the hard
The weather is quite dry – very good because the final painting starts now.
We past one milestone this week. One side of the centreboards casing is almost clean from plywood and the bearing is removed unharmed.
The engine has also got some work done. All hoses, pumps and heat exchanger are removed to get a better view over what needs to be replaced.
8 – 14 January 26 weeks on the hard
Weather – dry and warm.
Perfect for the paint job done during the week. Now it is sanding before the first top layer of polyurethane.
Centreboard casing still in focus. Engine parts under order.
15 – 21 January 27 weeks on the hard
This week we have been 6 long months on the hard! And we will be here at least two month more…
We have decided not to cut corners to save time ashore. What has to be done must be done now when we have a shed and most things taken apart.
The boat is now white again, but only the first layer of polyurethane is done. We have very warm, but dry weather with a lot of wind, a wind that will be exchanged for rain in some days. Either is very popular to the painter! Waiting for more favourable weather for painting, we concentrate on the centreboard trunk and rudder. We have made a pressure bulkhead for the aqua drive, a shelf in the chain locker for the tank to the outboard motor.
New dinghy and outboard is ordered. The old dinghy is sold to a fellow cruiser on the hard.
22 – 28 January 28 week on the hard
No painting. Sanding and touch up together with two holidays have made the week useless for painting.
We hope we can paint this week.
Rudder and centreboard got epoxy and laminate and the keel plank aft centreboard trunk is ready for epoxy and fibre.
The chain locker got some work done as have the engine, but most work have to wait for the painting to get finalised.
February
29 January – 4 February 29 week on the hard.
At last our paint contractor is done.
It has been though to have people working on the boat for a long time. Lots of our half done jobs haven’t been finalised, waiting for the paint to be ready.
The main remaining major issues are the cork deck, the centreboard trunk and bottom paint.
5 – 11 February 30 week on the hard.
Yet another three months period gone. We have been on a day trip to Thailand to renew our visas.
We really hope that next “visarun” can be made on our own keel!
The work continue and a lot of parts for the engine are ordered from UK.
12 – 18 February 31 week on the hard.
A lot of assembly work after painting has started. Portlights and skylights on the superstructure and through hulls including valves in the hull. Epoxy and fibre in the centerboard trunk, but only starboard side. We have to put the bearing in place using the port side as template, before we can finalize excavating plywood and bearing on port side. And of course a lot of other details are ongoing.
19 -25 February 32 weeks on the hard.
Having completed one side of the centerboard trunk with good result, we have started to get a good feeling that we are going to get the boat better then new.
Every piece that gets ready improves our feelings about the project. On top of that it comes out really nice looking!
But there are still lots of hours to go…
After some hassle with the local currier, the Swedish made cleats arrived.
Our working week 33 to 36 is missing – date 26 February – 25 March 2013.
March…April
26 March – 1 April 37 weeks on the hard
We have had heat record, 38 C degrees! But also just a little rain.
The yearly air show has been going on for five days with much noise and a lot of extra tourists and diplomats.
Our works have had relatively good progress. The moisture we measured in the centreboard turned out to be very limited and is now repaired. Water had reached the plywood through a crack in the epoxy glue around the stainless tube, due to forces when the shaft turned the tube and the forces were brought through the epoxy to the heavy, two metre long centreboard. We have replaced the wet plywood with epoxy laminate around the tube, all the way through the centreboard.
As always we are working on many “fronts” and none are ready, which of course gets us frustrated now and then. Most things on a boat are related to one and other and have to wait until next item has progressed…
2- 8 April 38 weeks on the hard
A week full of clouds made the temperature more reasonable. The wet season has started, but not so much rain yet.
A productive week. All frames for the six hatches on deck are nearly finished. Even the two lids on the aft deck are close to be done. The pedestal for the wheel has got its angled fiberglass support, copying the previous teak. The angle because the floor is heeling forward and the pedestal has to be vertical.
Laminating in the centreboard trunk is ongoing. The engine has got new hoses, new pumps, new engine mounts and the alternators, heat exchanger and starter motor are back in place.
In the engine compartment we have to drill new holes for hoses to the two bilge pumps, not an easy accessible place.
The tarps on the roof of the shed have started to leak again. Tarps that last longer than three months life span in this sun are not available in Langkawi!.
9 – 15 April 39 weeks on the hard.
Thunderstorms and lightning and on top of that heavy down pours. The good thing is the temperature. Makes it possible to work more effectively. Part of the roof waterproofing is exchanged and the roof are more or less water proof for now…
We have started with some repair work on the mast, mainly paint damages. Yes it’s a painted Holland Spars Handmade mast. Some of the stainless bolts are stuck in the aluminium and five of the 10 mm bolt in the foot sheered when trying to get them out, creating lots of extra work. Why can’t professionals use tefgel???
16 – 22 April 40 weeks on the hard.
A productive week with limited rain and sometimes shading clouds, with two exeptions.
One 12 hours heavy rain and one lightning right above our shed.
Still lots of different work going on at the same time, but some are closing up. The deck is now sanded, cleaned and prepared for the cork. Only the epoxy fiber support for all brackets, cleats and stantions are still missing. The teak cap rail are under repair, but the hull next to the deck is painted.
The port side of the centre board trunk are 95% done.
23 – 29 April 41 weeks on the hard.
The wet season is undoubtedly here, but that means also more clouds and “cooler” temperature which make it easier to work.
Almost no progress to report… although we have started reassembling the boat and some details are in place.
For those who wonder how we can keep on working seven days a week not losing our minds, we can tell you that our brains have a marvellous way to focus on the job, leaving the rest of the world at rest.
Even plans for the future have been put on hold!
What really keeps us going is that Moon after finishing the project will be a stronger, tighter (water) and a better boat compared to the one that was launched 2001.
Now and then we get e-mail from sailors and others, and of course we are then reminded of the world outside the yard, nice but a bit frustrating!
These e-mails make our life a little complicated because it is hard to resist thinking about all those fantastic trips we will make when Moon is ready for cruising.
But although complicated, we love these e-mails, specially the ones with encouragements and questions about the project.
May
30 April – 5 May 42 weeks on the hard.
Thanks to the shed we are able to continue working with the repairs although the rainy season is on hand.
This week we made a final agreement with the previous owner of Moon for the moister repairs around the centreboard, rudder and hull. The compensation covers our expenses for these parts, but the projects we planed to do before the moister damages extent become clear will cost us a great deal, out of our own pockets of course.
The port side in the centreboard casing has now got its final graphite epoxy bearing so now it is time to repeat the procedure on the starboard side.
Coming week we have to do another visa run, and we hope again to make it in one day and get three new months.
6 – 13 May 43 weeks on the hard.
After a “Visa run” to Thailand on Wednesday, we have now three more months to finish Moon, but we hope to launch before that… Have you heard that before?
A big event this week – we have started with the cork deck, finally. And the rudder is ready for painting. It has got three new bearings and a lot of new fibreglass as it was covered with a too thin layer of fibre with moister problems as a result.
But still no projects are fully completed so the list is as long as last week.
We have forgotten to tell you – since a couple of weeks we do our own bread using the bread maker that came with the boat and it is very tasty.
14 – 20 May 44 weeks on the hard.
We woke up this morning at half past five to a loud thunder right over the boat. Since then the rain has been pouring down for four hours. No wind so our deck is “dust dry”, that’s to say as dry as it can be in this humid climate. It will probably be a day of rest today…
We have during the week got the starboard graphite bearing in the casing in place and casted the graphite bearing surface on one side of the centreboard. The plan is to have a trial assembly, checking the play in the casing with the centreboard in place. After that we will decide the thickness of the remaining bearing.
Besides the priority work with the centreboard a lot of “small” work are going on such as the cork deck, rub rail and cap rail, support for hardware on deck (because the cork can’t take the load), paintjob on the spars and a lot more…
21 – 27 May 45 weeks on the hard.
All graphite bearings are now in place and we have tested the centre board in place several times with a little sanding in between. It looks really good.
It is not possible to check the alignments in fully extracted position – we are not high enough, so we have to wait with that test until we are hanging in the mobile crane. That is a little scary…
We have used up all epoxy and our distributer have problem to order, and after testing the local varieties with bad result, we had to make a decision last week.
Result – we take our backpacks and fly to Sweden for 7 weeks holyday. We are leaving the boat on the hard and hope to finish all deck work, take down the shed and put up the mast before we leave.
Meanwhile we have now published another album with 47 pictures from the rebuilding.
June
28 May – 3 June 46 weeks on the hard.
We are getting closer to the paint buckets again, centreboard and rudder are ready for some paint. As the mast and boom, they are painted and need some touch up.
Epoxy situation – we have got some more so we can finish the centreboard casing and most of the keel. The new stainless beams around the casing and along the keel are under preparation. The old once don’t fit any more.
The cork deck is waiting for all deck fittings to get ready. We made a small sample area and the material is just wonderful to work with.
We look forward for the 7 weeks trip to Sweden by the end of July, but it also puts a pressure on us to finish all on the plan…
4 – 10 June 47 weeks on the hard.
A dry and very hot week ended in heavy rain.
But we have plenty of jobs on deck under the rain cover and also sown in the boat, so we continue working.
The cap- and rub rail are almost restored and it looks very nice.
The replaced steel plate under the mast step is in place.
We have started some remaining paint job.
The lids on the aft deck are almost finished so we can start cutting the cork.
11 – 17 June 48 weeks on the hard.
Last weeks heavy rain ruined almost all possibilities for laminating, but we made some progress on deck with the beams for the anchor and the frames for the hatches.
Yesterday Annika started to cut cork for the aft deck and it looks very nice.
The quality of the tarpaulin is so bad here so we have now our fourth layer on the shed..
18 – 24 June 49 weeks on the hard.
A good week without rain and a lot done.
Hope you all have had a nice midsummer weekend.
25 June – 1 July 50 weeks on the hard.
We have had a productive week with almost no rain.
A lot of final assembling has luckily been done, as our trip to Sweden is coming closer.
July
2 – 8 July 51 weeks on the hard.
Once again we are defeated by the time. We will probably not be able to take the shed down before we leave for Europe as planned.
Last week we have experienced the heaviest rain so far, continuously for 14 hours. We are happy to stand on concrete! A lot of water damages all over the island as a result of the enormous amount of water.
The cork deck is now coming on relatively ok, but the adhesive dries too fast. We might have to use epoxy instead. Luckily the new epoxy will arrive next week.
All hatches are set, and we can now after almost a year lock the boat again.
9 – 15 July 52 weeks on the hard.
Yes – that’s right – we hauled out July 19th last year… Not much to celebrate!
Still no epoxy and another problem came up last week – the cork shows signs of bad mixing. We are now waiting for a warranty shipment from Holland.
It will come by sea fright and arrive in time as we are back from our visit to Europe mid September.
This means the shed will remain, we just add another layer of tarp.
On the positive side we can report that the teak- and rub rail are finished, pull pit and push pits are in place.
16 – 22 July 53 weeks on the hard.
A cloudy week and almost no rain.
We got the epoxy late last week, rather late to be able to finish some works before we leave next week.
The centreboard is now tested in place for the last time and will now come out for the last laminating of the keel.
The windlass is completed and tested, even if the electrical connection isn’t the final one.
The shed will get it’s fifth… tarp this week to be able to resist the rain and UV during our absence.
23 – 29 July 54 weeks on the hard.
A cloudy week and almost no rain – again.
We have worked as hard as possible but still lots left on the to do list – again…
Tomorrow afternoon we leave for some weeks well deserved time off.
It will be fun to meet old friends in Sweden again.
23 September – Back in Malaysia since a couple of days.
It takes some time to acclimatize to the heat and time change.
Luckily we had summer temperatures in Sweden almost all seven weeks, which means over or around 20C daytime.
We met a lot of friends in Sweden and had four nice sailing occasions.
What we now are facing is to work another 2-3 months before launching, which is the absolute first priority right now. The boat managed our absence without any problems.
24 – 30 September We have been quite productive the this week.
The last big laminating was done Thursday.
It was on the starboard side along the keel and it took about eight hours to complete. Almost 10kg epoxy and 10kg fibre glass was used.
The new cork for the deck arrived on Saturday and yesterday one bench in the cockpit was cut, but not glued. It looks really good.
After a dry week it started to rain on Friday, and still does.
That made it possible to clean mast and booms for the final paintwork.
The sun is just to hot so we have to find days with cloud cover to work on the rigging details.
In the time between work we are occupied with ordering sails and instruments, which is not easy either (nor cheap…).
October
1 – 7 October Just another week in Paradise…
The rainy season is definitely not finished. But we can still work under the tarpaulin with the cork deck and prepare for glassing on the hull, although glassing is not possible in the high humidity during rainy days.
The negotiations about instrument are still going on. We will purchase B&G, but not sure from which dealer.
The measuring for the sails are done and delivered to the sail maker and we are now waiting for a respond on that.
8 – 14 October Sunshine, rain and high humidity…
Several good things done, all possible stainless beams around the centreboard casing are now in place. Also the 1,8m along the keel plank at the very end, towards the rudder has got its stainless protection.
Now we have to wait until we have moved the two steel supports under the keel so we can laminate and finish the remaining part for the stainless beam under the keel plank.
The cork in the cockpit is more than half finished.
We are now starting to prepare the under water hull for painting – which means sanding, primer, epoxy and then at least four layers of anti fouling… And the mast and boom are also ready to be painted when weather permitting.
15 – 21 October A very wet week ended in heavy rain…
We have been preparing the laminated parts the under water hull for painting but still no paint.
Started to remove the old echo sounder sensor and the speed transducer. The new one doesn’t fit in the old thru hull.
Also finished the two new dorade ventilator boxes, now waiting for the cork to be glued on deck.
Only the cockpit floor is left to cover in the cockpit, and 20% on deck are covered with cork.
The bulkhead for the thrust bearing is ready to be laminated to the hull.
The chain locker lid has got its handle and locks in place too, recessed into the lid!
22 – 28 October A mixed weather week.
No paint work this week either…
The new thru hull for the speed and depth sensor is almost ready, and the two old holes are filled and laminated. The bulkhead for the thrust bearing is laminated in place.
The cork deck is advancing.
Sails and instruments are now ordered from Sweden and Thailand.
November
29 October – 4 November Weather change – It is now very warm and some days showers in the afternoon.
Have started to paint, both booms, mast and the bottom.
More than 50% of the cork on the deck is cut, and 30% is glued.
5 – 11 November A hot and rainy week…
Cork deck, more than 90% cut, 60% glued and 40% is caulked.
The thru hull for the echo sounder almost finished.
Some paint work done in between the showers from above.
12 – 18 November Another hot and rainy week.
We had 100mm coming down in a few hours the other night…
All cork on the deck is glued, but not fully caulked yet.
Centreboard, rudder and some patches painted with anti fouling.
Mast, booms and spreaders painted but some layers still remain.
19 – 25 November Some days under 26 C and rain – freezing cold…
All cork on deck caulked. Centreboard back in its final position in the casing! Big step.
Still some painting left on mast and boom.
We had a nightmarish Friday as the freight forwarder didn’t find our new navigation instruments that had been delivered to the drop of warehouse in Sydney. Finally they found them on a shelf in the Sydney ware house after several hours of intensive search. They arrived yesterday morning and we picked up the four big boxes at Langkawi airport.
December
26 November – 2 December Weather still unstable.
Started to sand the cork deck – and it looks very nice.
Made progress on many fronts.
3 – 9 December A windy, cool and relatively dry week.
Started with the installation of the new navigation instruments.
The keel is ready to be finalized after we have moved both supports. Started to mount deck fittings after sanding the cork deck. Painting mast and booms are still going on.
10 – 16 December The weather – almost back to normal, which means the north east monsoon has started.
Work – almost the same as last week…
We spent three hours in Thailand yesterday to renew our visas for another three months.
Hope we don’t have to use them all…
17 – 31 December A windy week continues the coming week.
It is nice as the climate in the shade is improved when the breeze reach even us in our sheltered corner of the yard.
We had an early X-mas delivery yesterday!
All our new sails and a lots of rope to the running rigging came by air from Sweden.
Port side stanchions and cleats are in place. The life line with its opening is mounted.
Odd to have the ladder back in its ordinary place after more than a year.
Almost the whole deck is sanded and most details on deck are finished. The mast and
boom are waiting to be sanded before the final layer of paint.
And we have started to install the cables to the new navigation instruments.
Happy Holidays to all of you.
Annika & Björn
Moon
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