Category: Winter 2013-14

On April 29th Isabell was launched at the Lake Malaren harbour of Rastaholm. Two days later she was ship-shape for a sailing trip to the summer berth at Bullandö marina. We (Monica and I) had a long weekend ahead, and with the boat filled with good food and drinks we enjoyed a super-nice trip through the city of Stockholm, past the centre, through the docks at Hammarby, and out into the salty sea at Nacka (Erstaviken). Our first night we stayed at the beautiful island of Agnö. It was cold, but good sailing weather (clear with a northern wind). Next we sailed around a short trip to the former island of Björnö. We found a nice little cove to anchor in, all by ourselves. Went for walks along the sandy shore and through the woods. The night was cold again, and we needed to start the heater. Next day, we sailed around the big island of Runmarö counterclockwise, and had to do some serious shallow water navigation. Great fun! We ended up at the SXK harbour Norrviken, not too far away from the home port. It was ten minutes after we had dropped anchor, that it started to rain. And continued raining all night. So the heater was back on duty. A quiet night passed, and we motored against the wind into Bullandö on Sunday. Now, Isabell is ready for the sailing season. And we had a great time!

Soon the day to launch is here again. This season has been particularly mild in southern and central Sweden. On April 29 Isabell will go back into the water.

In preparation for yet another fantastic sailing season a number of repairs and improvements are made to the ship. First of all, since it will become obligatory in the HELCOM region to empty sewage (black water) to a pumping station on land from 2015, Isabell has now been fitted with a new deck outlet for black water from the septic system. In the process, the whole septic system has been renovated with new connections (1 1/2 “) and 38 mm sewage hoses.

The toilet has got a new lid and new hinges. And the tubing to the water tap from the water tank is renewed.

All of the interior lights have been replaced with LED lights. In spite of the high cost of this, the low energy usage of the LED and their long lifetime do make it a worthy investment.
The navigational Hellas running lights (top, back, port and starboard lights) also have been replaced with special LED bulbs. As an additional option a combined LED light (tricolor and anchor light, Hellas) is placed in the mast top. New wiring has been drawn for these lights.

A new electronic horn is placed in the mast top as well. The wiring from the instrument panel to the cockpit navigation screen (computer) is redrawn through the starboard storage box. One of the 12V main batteries died during winter and is replaced.

A new bimini sun top is designed and installed across the cockpit. See the website for more details on this.

As usual a lot of the gear, sail covers, ropes and running rigging are cleaned and gone over at home. The heater is serviced and supplied with new fuel.

Some work was done on the packbox, but it is still ok for another season. Fuel and oil filters are checked and replaced, as well as the anodes on the prop and in the water cooling system.

New covers were sown for the fenders, this time in wooolly grey like material. Then there is the general cleaning and polishing to do, and here we are… SHIPSHAPE!!!