Final jobs, deck repainted, tubes cleaned again and black rubber strafes cleaned and painted, mount for new GPS Plotter / Sounder fitted, seals fitted under seat, all cables tied up, (oars bought and fitted not that we'll ever need them). Job done ready for the open water, here's hoping she floats !!!!
Most of the credit goes to Dougie who done most of the work, but not to forget, those that dropped by and helped, Tom, Paul, George Carne & George from the yard from whom we borrowed many a tool and cleaning fluid.
First sighting of a potential rhib for purchase by Dougie & Ian at Granton Harbour, RFYC agreed to sell, approval from Carole Dallas, Fiona & Rhona sought and received. The boat had laid in the harbour for quite a few years, new engine (2 years old) but power tilt & trim not working, blue paint on hull is anti-fouling & the tubes were a wee bit tired, torn and dirty.
The boat first went to professionals at to get the worst rips & tares repaired and for Dougie & Ian to get advice on cleaning materials & how to repair the smaller tares, after some great advice from the guys at Cosalt, it was back to Dougie's yard sleeves rolled up, and let the work begin, one of the first jobs was to remove the white lettering from the tubes.
Then it was onto the hull, after much much much sanding, any scratches / dents were filled in, then a good clean down followed by 2 coats of underseal, and 2 top coats, this giving a fantastic smooth glossy finish, the boat was the returned to the trailer via Dougie's very handy forklift, definitely poop the pants job.
After a change of underwear, it was onto the inside electrics, radio, switches & compass remove along with the tired looking seat and scabby looking wood, the seat was recovered by the car seat repair chap that used to be cross the road from the Edinburgh Dive Shop, George Carnie rewired in the consul, note the nice new nav lights fitted by me and the A frame cleaned up with assistance from Tom Hares, the power tilt & trim (ptt) was investigated and found to be only an open bleed screw on the hydraulics causing the problem, new hydraulic fluid injected, and what a magical sound when the engine lifted up & down by the PTT, new plastic panels fitted and radio and swithces refitted with a new arial.
So the day finally arrived to launch the boat and see if she will float after all the work and money spent, after PFS christened the boat Diveaholic, in she went and Yippeeee she does float and goes like a dream, we would have liked to have invited more to the launch but as mentioned we hadn't seen her in the water so it could have been a bit embarrassing if she end up at the bottom of Dunbar Harbour, we'll endeavor to get you all out for a dive over the coming months this year.
