In freezing cold snowy conditions the survey was done this week and happy to report that no major defects or concerns were found. Because of the freezing conditions the button to engage the gearbox on the Morse control was jammed. This made for an interesting trip round to the travel hoist for the haul out. As everybody was keen for the haul out to happen, a small problem like not being able to control the boats direction or speed was going to stop us! With one at the helm barking orders - forward, neutral, astern - to another standing in the companion way who would in turn relay it to someone manually moving the gear selector on the gearbox. It all worked swimmingly.
Nick Vass of
www.omega-yachtservices.co.uk was the surveyor we appointed. One of the pluses for me was that he was happy for me to tag along while he was undertaking the survey. A picture may be a thousand words, but being able to see any issues and discuss them there and then made more sense to me.
Because of the issue with the Morse control, it meant that she couldn't be berthed pointing into the wind and therefore we couldn't hoist the main or fully unfurl the genoa. Also because the days are so short in January, Nick ran out of time and didn't complete a full mast survey.
The vendor was also there to helm the boat for the haul out, so they were power washing the hull and Nick was doing taking the osmosis readings, I was able to spend a couple more hours in the warm café picking Anthony's brain about some of the boats systems and quirks.
After Nick had finished his inspection we spent a couple of hours discussing the points identified and generally coming to the conclusion that the boat has been very well maintained and you should only need to provision her with food and fuel to cross the Atlantic tomorrow. That sounds like a great idea given that we had to remove the snow and ice form the deck!
As I was leaving to return to London, Anthony was on the boat and had dismantled the offending Morse control, found the problem and put it back together.
The other items raised by the survey included - anchor windless not working, small tear in the genoa, gas hoses getting old and due for replacement, starboard wind speed repeater not working and a couple of the fire extinguishers were getting a bit old.
Nothing too major.