aardvarkash10

the week is going to be pretty rubbish alright... http://www.metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain&region=nzni

Talk to the team at Fridgetech. Amazing folks, great advice and service.

Again, in your price range the construction specifics are irrelevant. Raf more important is the recorded upkeep of hte boat during its life and hte opinion of your surveyor. A well maintained yacht of any construction will be a much better buy than a neglected yacht of any construction. Which is not to put you off grp, just to widen the scope of your hunt.

probably more fun had as well

nope. Past that stage. In reality, we typically solar shower in hte cockpit, but I'm decent enought to wear budgie smugglers when I'm doing it. The solar shower tied to the backstay. We can get two long-ish showers out of one solar shower bag and we got into the habit of having two bags on the deck each day.

what, and take the fun out of it?

leaky old-man bladder?

I have quickly learnt that standing bollocks-naked under a solar shower in the cockpit is a good way for me to clear an anchorage of bothersome other boats. I also now know why its call a cockpit.

...and increases space in the cockpit

tempering valves would fix that...

it does on TV!

true deck jewelry. And I mean that in an admiring way, not derogatory.

Don't be so hasty with that. Like anything 40 or so years old, there are plenty of sad GOP, ply, carvel, steel and aluminium boats around. There are also good ones. In your price range you will probably be kissing a few frogs before you find a prince and whatever you buy will need maintenance or repair of some sort in the first year, so don't discount any particular construction unless a surveyor tells you to stay clear.

Haha! Great nickname for it. If you want to avoid grease, try the various teflon-based dry chain lubes for mountain bikes. Designed to do all the things you need in a winch pawl - corrosion resistance, dirt-sheading, low friction, non-binding.

Buy and definitely replace all the springs. Springs of any type work harden and evenually crack and stop being "springy". Buy a pair of pawls as spares but you will probably never need them. Correct. Grease the pawls, the springs, the pawl recesses and the running faces of the drum individually, then wipe MOST of the grease off and assemble with just the smear of grease on all the components. Use a good quality marine or waterproof grease. Do this every 6 months whether you think it needs it or not - even if you haven't used them in that time.

Panmure Yacht Club. https://pybc.org.nz/facilities/boat-maintenance/ Dawn is the Office Manager, Steve Hill is the Yard Manager. @Winter, you still on the hard there?

Hmmm, not so bad that I wouldn't send them around again. I'd definitely replace the springs though. Get the brasso out - we expect to see a high polish on these when you are finished!

yeah, we have this arrangement with a grease cup on top of the housing (not a picture of our actual set-up) I am thinking of removing the cup and doing this instead - imagine a grease gun at the other end of hte white tube:

yeah, I had intended to stay historically correct...

No on both counts. My experience with this yacht so far is that if I adjust something it breaks or it is already at the end of its adjustment. In light of that, I'm inclined to redo the packing so at least I know what I have - and its not expensive.

negotiate it. We paid for everything on our purchase, but we also basically stole the yacht, so swings and roundabouts.

Hey Harry - got any pictures of that? I thought it might be a good way to go, especially if I can fit it semi-permanently ie not via a grease nipple

this dude. Sells on Trade Me, but operates from an industrial unit in Takanini. Knows his sh*t.

^concur. Pull them off and do a really good service on them - they are simple devices and built to be serviced by the mechanically inept, so don't be scared of them. With the loads on a 20' TS, they will outlast most other components on the yacht.