Lazaway Life

Skokholm Island We set off at 06.00 for what was to be our longest journey so far - 13 hours to Dun Laoghaire.  We first of all had to negotiate the lock gates out of Milford Haven marina, and then a very narrow channel from the gates into the main shipping channel.  Some parts were extremely shallow, but we made it. Before long we were motoring between Skokholm and Skomer - islands made famous for their Manx Shearwater studies, and indeed their large seabird populations.  As we passed these islands and headed for St David’s Head the wind freshened and the sea state became more lumpy.  We had several hours of very lively boating as we headed north - it was livelier than we were expecting and everything not tied down in the cabins ended up on the floor, including our new coffee machine.  Fortunately it is made of tuff stuff and survived unscathed, although some Vanish was needed for the carpet. We live and learn. While the lumpy sea made us have to hang on as we moved about the boat, th

  Father’s Day treat Our first job in Milford Haven was to resolve what the problem was with the port engine.  After some remote advice from Jeremy from Evolution Marine and some considerable wiggling of cables and cleaning contacts by Gordon, and resetting a trip switch, it was resolved that the engine was fine but a sensor had tripped a circuit breaker.  It didn’t take long before the engine was running fine.  We’re still not entirely sure what caused the circuit breaker to trip, but over the weekend we tested the port engine under load a couple of times and all was well.   Less than perfect weather meant that we had to spend 4 nights in Milford Haven.  This coincided with Fathers Day so we treated ourselves to a breakfast out at one of the cafes that line the edge of the marina.  Excellent.   We also explored some of Milford Haven. It’s probably not a great shopping destination but did have some very unusual sea art - unfortunately without any explanation.  Go at low tide if you wan

  Common Dolphin in the Bristol Channel We left Padstow at 07.30 on the high tide and very quickly passed the Doom  Bar and out of the Camel estuary, and set course for the long trip across the Bristol Channel to Milford Haven in South Wales.   About two hours out we saw our first Common Dolphins.  These are wonderful animals that just love to play in the bow wave of the boat.  We could see them about half a mile away suddenly realise that a boat was nearby, when they would immediately turn towards us and race as quickly as possible towards our bow.  It was as if each one wanted to be the first to get to us. For about three hours we were constantly accompanied by a dozen or more dolphins, the individuals of which changed as each new group arrived.  It is probable that we saw upwards of 500 individuals during our crossing. It was a wonderful wildlife spectacle. No sooner than the dolphins had stopped playing with us, than our port engine started playing up.  The oil pressure dropped dra

  Lazaway tied up in Padstow harbour   Another great day weatherwise - especially for motoring round Lands End.  Very calm. Rounding Lands End in beautiful weather Our trip from Newlyn to Padstow was fairly uneventful - the sea was calm, the tide was with us, and the weather was sunny.  What’s not to like! It all became more interesting when we got to the mouth of the River Camel where we had to pass the infamous Doom Bar - a sand bar across the estuary mouth - and then motor up a relatively narrow channel to Padstow.  At Padstow the harbour is protected by a single lock gate which is only open two hours either side of high tide.  The channel and harbour entrance dry out at low tide.  However, Gordon’s meticulous planning got us there at exactly on time and access was just as planned. Once in the harbour there is not a lot of room to manoeuvre and we were asked by the harbourmaster to moor up alongside a Trader 42.  We soon got used to the busy harbour pier side where there was a const

  BIG DAY!!  This is our first day out of Plymouth and the first day of our journey back to Bangor, Northern Ireland. We have a lot of trepidation and excitement.  As the video shows we have not only waited until all the essential work has been completed on the boat, but we have also waited for a spell of good weather in which to sea test our systems and ourselves. We decided that our speed would be dictated by engine revs (set at approximately 1570 rpm - a little above where the turbo kicks in) and tide. We are keen to maintain this as our normal cruising speed and to be able reasonably accurately calculate our fuel consumption.  The journey to Newlyn was calm an relatively uneventful, except for the autopilot deciding to go berserk on a couple of occasions, until we realised it needed calibrating - this involved going in a couple of tight circles and figures of eight. After this it was perfect    Our next excitement was our arrival at Newlyn. Our berth was occupied, so we were told t

  Throughout our stay at Plymouth Yacht Haven we have been helped and supported by Jeremy Linford, the frantically busy Managing Director of Evolution Marine, a marine support business based in Plymouth. It seems to us that there is little Jeremy doesn’t know about boats - maintenance, repair, driving - no matter what the problem he was keen (and able) to resolve and fix it. He was always happy to be at the end of the phone to provide advice and guidance, as well as on-site work. We are very grateful for his support.  Jeremy’s support has included:                  Generator service                       New batteries                   Engine service                  Drop rudders and service                  Remove shafts and fit new cutlass bearings                   Fit rope cutters                 Instal new shaft seals                 Antifoul                 Renew anodes                  Change fuel filters                Boat  management training                Remote  problem so

Lazaway had dark navy blue canvases - spray dodgers, windscreen covers, flybridge windshield cover, Bimini, hatch covers (though some of these were missing).  While from a distance these all looked in reasonable condition, up close they were showing their age - they were almost certainly the original canvases - with tears, cuts, abrasions and fading.   We decided to replace them with sand coloured canvases, and engaged Octagon Marine Ltd to make and fit them.  It was a major job, particularly the spray dodgers, but has made a huge difference to the look of the boat.  Much fresher and more contemporary (in our view!).  We even splashed out and got a cover made for the windlass.    

As part of our preparations for long sea journeys we had reviewed the condition of the sea cocks - there are ten in total below the waterline. Some seemed to be possibly serviceable while others looked in very poor condition. We contracted Nathan Bone to review all these while the boat was out of the water and in the shed at Plymouth Yacht Haven. In the end he replaced all the sea cocks and two strainers - this might have been a little “belt and braces” but we are content that all our below water skin fittings are now in as good a condition as it is possible to be.  The main engine water intake strainers were also serviced, and although one of these leaked afterwards, this was quickly resolved. A few before and after pics:

  Undertaken by Nathan Bone Yacht Repairs and Refits.  Fortunately Lazaway is a mature Grand Banks and therefore all the teak on the decks was thickly applied. This meant that there was plenty of teak left after sanding, and there was relatively little need for repair. The old deeply corroded teak has come up silky smooth and beautifully coloured. We are very pleased with it. Some befores and afters:

Through out the January to April period several visits to  Plymouth allowed us to undertake many minor but important repairs and improvements to Lazaway, but the big effort came in May when the boat was lifted out and put in a dry shed for three weeks.  This allowed a major amount of work to be undertaken, including:                    renovation of all the decks - sanding and repair                    replacement of all seacocks                     fitting new shaft bearings and seals                    servicing the rudders                    replacing all anodes                    anti fouling the hull                    fitting rope cutters Immediately after the boat was relaunched all the canvases were replaced - the old navy blue being replaced with sand coloured canvas - and a new 3kw inverter commissioned.  We have also removed the original ice maker which wasn’t working and replaced it with a modern fridge/freezer cooler for our drinks, and we have removed the original washing