Maintenance story / Rassvet · Ohlson 29
An imperfect launch: spring after winter work
Over the winter the yard in my marina was to service the engine, replace the shaft seal and the shrouds, and fit a bow platform and a chain hawse. The spring plan was simple: launch in the morning, step the mast by lunchtime and leave for Kiel straight away.
Entry dated May 26, 2026
Finish what the yard did not
The day before launch: no bow platform, no anode, the cut edge under the hawse unsealed and the fuel lift pump lever broken. The anode had to be ground down and the transducers cleaned with vinegar and coated with antifouling.
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An imperfect launch. Part 1: Before the water
Back in November, I gave DavidsWerft a winter list. Workshop in my marina: convenient, reassuring in theory. Engine service, bow platform, new propeller-shaft seal and anode, shrouds and backstay, deck chain pipe into the forepeak.
Simple spring plan: Friday launch at eight, mast at ten, straight to Kiel. Neat on paper. In my head, reasons not to sleep all week.
Would the keel leak? Shaft seal? Fresh epoxy in the bulwark distort? Saturday’s forecast force 8 catch me? In autumn, I knew the boat’s weaknesses. After critical winter repairs, I no longer knew what would leave the marina.
Then the plan itself: launch, then eighty miles west alone, where wind often comes from the west. Pure optimism.
A day early
I arrived Thursday morning to work remotely, sleep aboard and check everything calmly. Calm ended when I saw the boat.
No bow platform, no shaft anode, no epoxy sealing the chain-pipe opening’s exposed sandwich core. Especially invigorating after five litres of water had been left beneath the engine over winter, freezing the pump solid.
At the workshop, I asked them to finish. No correct anode. Urgent platform cut-out marking. While one worker handled that, another changed the fuel pre-filter, broke the lift-pump lever, began removing the pump, dropped bolt and spanner beneath the engine, then said he had to go home.
Left with unfinished platform, missing anode and a fuel pump newly added to the list.
Small jobs, no longer small
I did what I could. My shaft anode was eighteen millimetres wide; space, fifteen. Sanded 1.5mm off each side. Forty minutes, four discs.
External sensors next. First season, unprotected log, fist-sized barnacles by July. Last year, marine grease kept readings reasonable almost to September, despite barnacles at lift-out.
This year, specialist transducer antifouling: Marlin Yacht Paint Eco Transducer Antifouling. Vinegar first, generously rinsed. Ten minutes softened shell remnants enough for a wet cloth. Clean plastic.
Finally, syringe-mixed epoxy brushed onto the chain-pipe opening’s raw edge. Minimum moisture protection, hardly pretty.
By evening, my list was finished. Couldn’t say the same for theirs.
#maintenance
Back in November, I gave DavidsWerft a winter list. Workshop in my marina: convenient, reassuring in theory. Engine service, bow platform, new propeller-shaft seal and anode, shrouds and backstay, deck chain pipe into the forepeak.
Simple spring plan: Friday launch at eight, mast at ten, straight to Kiel. Neat on paper. In my head, reasons not to sleep all week.
Would the keel leak? Shaft seal? Fresh epoxy in the bulwark distort? Saturday’s forecast force 8 catch me? In autumn, I knew the boat’s weaknesses. After critical winter repairs, I no longer knew what would leave the marina.
Then the plan itself: launch, then eighty miles west alone, where wind often comes from the west. Pure optimism.
A day early
I arrived Thursday morning to work remotely, sleep aboard and check everything calmly. Calm ended when I saw the boat.
No bow platform, no shaft anode, no epoxy sealing the chain-pipe opening’s exposed sandwich core. Especially invigorating after five litres of water had been left beneath the engine over winter, freezing the pump solid.
At the workshop, I asked them to finish. No correct anode. Urgent platform cut-out marking. While one worker handled that, another changed the fuel pre-filter, broke the lift-pump lever, began removing the pump, dropped bolt and spanner beneath the engine, then said he had to go home.
Left with unfinished platform, missing anode and a fuel pump newly added to the list.
Small jobs, no longer small
I did what I could. My shaft anode was eighteen millimetres wide; space, fifteen. Sanded 1.5mm off each side. Forty minutes, four discs.
External sensors next. First season, unprotected log, fist-sized barnacles by July. Last year, marine grease kept readings reasonable almost to September, despite barnacles at lift-out.
This year, specialist transducer antifouling: Marlin Yacht Paint Eco Transducer Antifouling. Vinegar first, generously rinsed. Ten minutes softened shell remnants enough for a wet cloth. Clean plastic.
Finally, syringe-mixed epoxy brushed onto the chain-pipe opening’s raw edge. Minimum moisture protection, hardly pretty.
By evening, my list was finished. Couldn’t say the same for theirs.
#maintenance
Entry dated May 28, 2026
Launch, mast and shrouds too long
Checking the seacocks, keel bolts and shaft with tissues, a cracked shroud retainer at the spreader and new shrouds with no room left for tensioning. The passage to Kiel was cancelled; the mast went up two weeks later.
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An imperfect launch. Part 2: Shrouds to the deck
Friday, seven: the yard resumed fitting the bow platform, welded the lift-pump lever back and retrieved their tools beneath the engine. Finished only at ten.
Launch near noon. No admiring her afloat: tissues out, checking seacocks, keel bolts and shaft, pressing each joint to see whether it stayed dry. Five or ten minutes, then reassurance she wasn’t immediately trying to return ashore from inside. Mast crane booked for one. Original plan achieved in its artistic interpretation: still in the marina, at least afloat.
Mast and new shrouds before departure. After winter’s work, surely a formality. Ordered to the old ones’ pattern, mast aboard, crane ready. Just reassemble.
Mast ashore
At the appointed time, onto trestles ashore. They fitted shrouds; I installed wind sensor, VHF antenna, wind indicator and radar reflectors.
Unexpectedly, an aluminium shroud retainer at a spreader tip cracked. It keeps the wire correctly positioned where loads must run properly. They measured and cut a replacement from compressed plastic. Said it would hold as well.
I didn’t make a drama. Against everything else, almost routine: break, measure, replace, refit.
Almost ready
Around two, stepping the mast. I received it in the saloon, protecting furniture from the heel. Meanwhile: could I still reach Grömitz today?
Nearly in place, a voice above: «Andrei, probably we have a problem».
I asked, still holding it: «What kind of problem?»
A short answer: «It seems the new shrouds are too long».
Heel secured, I went on deck. Turnbuckles lay on it. Shrouds so long they reached the deck fittings without room for tensioning. Nowhere left to tighten.
When an error helps
The yard accepted responsibility: they’d ordered them. Remove, send back to manufacturer, refit and step again at their expense. Arrange free berthing with the harbourmaster until finished too.
I agreed. Honestly, a little relieved. Kiel cancelled for an unavoidable technical reason, beyond fear, forecast or doubts about the boat.
Launch, mast, eighty-mile departure: finally collapsed. So did the illusion of collecting a boat after major work like a car after servicing and simply driving away.
Critical work needs a short checking phase. Inspect afloat. Test the shaft seal under load. Check engine for fuel and air leaks. Tune rigging. See what changed before heading far.
Mast finally up two weeks later. The delay became a useful checking pause. After hull, shaft, engine and rigging work, a few marina days make sense before a long passage.
#maintenance
Friday, seven: the yard resumed fitting the bow platform, welded the lift-pump lever back and retrieved their tools beneath the engine. Finished only at ten.
Launch near noon. No admiring her afloat: tissues out, checking seacocks, keel bolts and shaft, pressing each joint to see whether it stayed dry. Five or ten minutes, then reassurance she wasn’t immediately trying to return ashore from inside. Mast crane booked for one. Original plan achieved in its artistic interpretation: still in the marina, at least afloat.
Mast and new shrouds before departure. After winter’s work, surely a formality. Ordered to the old ones’ pattern, mast aboard, crane ready. Just reassemble.
Mast ashore
At the appointed time, onto trestles ashore. They fitted shrouds; I installed wind sensor, VHF antenna, wind indicator and radar reflectors.
Unexpectedly, an aluminium shroud retainer at a spreader tip cracked. It keeps the wire correctly positioned where loads must run properly. They measured and cut a replacement from compressed plastic. Said it would hold as well.
I didn’t make a drama. Against everything else, almost routine: break, measure, replace, refit.
Almost ready
Around two, stepping the mast. I received it in the saloon, protecting furniture from the heel. Meanwhile: could I still reach Grömitz today?
Nearly in place, a voice above: «Andrei, probably we have a problem».
I asked, still holding it: «What kind of problem?»
A short answer: «It seems the new shrouds are too long».
Heel secured, I went on deck. Turnbuckles lay on it. Shrouds so long they reached the deck fittings without room for tensioning. Nowhere left to tighten.
When an error helps
The yard accepted responsibility: they’d ordered them. Remove, send back to manufacturer, refit and step again at their expense. Arrange free berthing with the harbourmaster until finished too.
I agreed. Honestly, a little relieved. Kiel cancelled for an unavoidable technical reason, beyond fear, forecast or doubts about the boat.
Launch, mast, eighty-mile departure: finally collapsed. So did the illusion of collecting a boat after major work like a car after servicing and simply driving away.
Critical work needs a short checking phase. Inspect afloat. Test the shaft seal under load. Check engine for fuel and air leaks. Tune rigging. See what changed before heading far.
Mast finally up two weeks later. The delay became a useful checking pause. After hull, shaft, engine and rigging work, a few marina days make sense before a long passage.
#maintenance
According to the last entry
How the story ended
I finished the anode, the transducers and the cut edge under the hawse myself. The boat did not leak after launching, but the new shrouds turned out too long: the yard admitted its mistake, and the mast went up only two weeks later. After work on critical systems the boat needs a shake-down pause in the marina, not an immediate long passage.
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