Now that the weather has turned to the better half1 of the year, we figured that we should start with the spring cleaning of Tornseglare. At the very least, this should involve getting rid of all of whatever algae and muck has accumulated over the winter, but possibly a lot more. To be honest, we kept going back and forth over what we should do. These varied between:
Raise her up out of the water, spray her down, plop her back in, 45 minutes DONE
Raise her up out of the water, set her on stands while we spray her, paint her, put her back in the water the next day, DONE
Raise her up out of the water, set her on land for a few weeks while we clean, sand, repaint, and do who knows what other maintenance
There were a few main details that made it difficult to decide. The first and most exciting is that we actually got a spot at our dream harbor: while Limhamn is lovely, it takes us about 80 minutes each way to get there by walking/biking + public transit. Dockan, on the other hand, is about 30 minutes from our apartment, making it much easier to go for a quick evening sail. The problem there is that it is a tiny harbor, and we’d been told it would take 10 years on the waitlist for a spot for our boat. But Kim managed to talk our way into a spot, so we will be moving the boat there asap. We’re eager to get to our new home, but there are no land spaces in the new harbor, so it seemed good to do what we can now.
The second detail was that we really didn’t know what the underside of Tornseglare actually looked like. We bought her last year, and all the above-decks parts were well-maintained, but we know that she had not been taken on land since 2021. Maybe we would pull her out of the water and she would be pristine; maybe we would pull her out and she would have a layer 10 cm thick of barnacles over the entire hull. Who could say?
After some deliberation, we decided on taking her up on land for several weeks, and to do a relatively major inspection and maintenance. This way we knew that when she comes back into the water she would be ready, and that we would have a much better idea going forward as to what maintenance was needed on what schedule.
And so we began.
The first thing we learned is that you can’t just take the motor that’s been sitting in storage for 5 months, put in on the boat, and have it start up, ready to go. One missed crane appointment later, and a short break for fika, and a little bit of wondering why it was revving up and down so much, the motor was fine. (Basically, after many unsuccessful start attempts, wait half an hour, then run it for 10 minutes.) We should probably read our motor manual.
The second thing we learned is that in order for the boat to be lifted out we needed to either completely remove the mast—which we were of course not prepared to do—or at the very least remove the backstay (the cable that attaches the mast to the back of the cockpit). Which we were not prepared to do. That said, it turned out to be relatively easy to do this; it’s just a bit disconcerting when one of the four line that holds the mast in place is missing. I’m sure it’s fine.
De-winterizing the boat
Bring back onboard all cushions, pillows, bedding, extra clothing- soft stuff that’s been in dry storage for the winter.
Bring back the battery and reattach it using the photo you thankfully took in winter
Bring back the motor (using the main sail halyard for safety) and reattach.
Look at the list of things to do you made in the fall, when you thought you’d have more time in spring, and remind yourself you haven’t gotten the parts needed or thought about how to fix them.
How to use a crane at Limhamn harbor:
Book a date and time online. Rent a vagga (metal holder for the boat) and power washer at the same time. The time should give ample margin to get your sad winter motor started!
Remove the back stay (clip to mast) and secure the boom somewhere out of the way. First unscrew the wheel at the bottom, then the fine tune tension at the top.
Put all the fenders on one side (to dock at the service marina). Add two long lines fore and aft to walk with the boat from land to guide it into place.
You have to back the boat in to the straps of the crane so the mast is close to the cross arm of the crane (a bit too close in our case, we dinged the windex).
Make sure someone on land is pulling the boat away from the crane (stay close to the water, not inland).
Bring a ladder so you have access to your boat when it’s up on the vagga! (Simon the climber could use the swimming ladder that started at eye level.) And a bike lock to lock the ladder to the vagga, so all the fools who didn’t bring a ladder (like us on the first day) don’t take yours.
It was unclear to me how land booking went but basically there are no fixed places— they just load your boat from the crane to the vagga, which a tractor takes and plops down on an available space in a gravel parking lot next to all the other land boat. Ideal location is next to a gammal gubber who can help you out a lot over the next few days. We definitely owe Rikard some cider.
Hull maintenance
Basically what you want to do is make the hull (the whole underside of the boat, including the iron keel) smooth and repaint with antifouling (paint with copper and other toxins in it that keeps algae and barnacles from growing on your boat and messing it up.) So that you will glide through the water with grace and glory!
We were pretty happy with the state of Tornseglare’s undercarriage. There were a few barnacles, especially at the waterline and rudder. A little bit of rust on the keel. And some flaking paint at the front of the hull. But overall, she looked pretty clean!
Power wash the hull and keel to remove slimy algae and initial barnacles. Remember that a power washer can strip skin as well as paint— never point at anyone. Scrub with brush on handle.
Use a scraper (the tough one, and remember to bring extra blades) to remove any major paint flakes and barnacles.
Use a power sander to smooth down the hull. We used 80 grit. Wear a fine particle mask and goggles and hearing protection. Work from upwind.
Repaint with anti-fouling… the right kind, which wasn’t the kind we bought… that’s for next post!
After cleaning, scraping and sanding
Harborspotting Inspo
What not to do and why
Some may disagree on the term “half”
I'll bet you are glad you hauled her out! You wouldn't want her hull looking like that other hull pic with all those barnacles! Cute pic of you two btw :)