The last couple of days (a cloudy Easter week) I have dedicated to hauling Iris out of the water and giving her her annual bottom cleaning and antifouling paint. A lot of fouling had been accumulated on the prop over the last months and although I had cleaned it manually just over half a year ago using my diving gear and a knive, it had again turned into a foam generating brush, which caused me quite some effort steering Iris from her berth to the nearby boatyard. The movement in the travellift wasn't without incidents either. The aftmost sling slipped a bit and caught the prop axis. Apparently no harm was done to the axis but I'm a bit worried about what I might have done to the stern tube. Anyway, the port captain assured they would pay for any damage if this would be the case when lowering her back into the water. This return into the water will have to wait for another week or two because while I was painting Iris' bottom, the travellift broke down and it won't be repaired until at least one week. So Iris is now comfortably drying out on the hard. Comforting to see Iris' 37-year old hull yet another year without any significant signs of osmosis. As Wauquiez expert David Merlot explained me a while ago the Centurion really had a superior quality gelcoat which was regrettably changed in later Wauquiez models.
Making good use of the extra time, I also replaced the two cockpit drain hoses with new "Tubano" 33,5 mm hoses as recommended by David. I found the required hose for a cheap price on this Dutch website. One 1m piece is sufficient for the two cockpit drains. I also cleaned and lubricated the corresponding seacocks.