Idril returns to the ocean!

 And hopefully we soon will, too.

Idril was hauled out on January 7th and towed to the Garcia yard for almost a month. During that time we have a bunch of projects done - a mix of system upgrades, minor repairs and lifestyle improvements. She was relaunched yesterday (Thursday, February 4th) and today we motored her back to slip Q32 at Port Chantereyne. There is still some work to be completed (most notably, new 24V winch motors to replace the 12V motors), but she's mostly ready for us to resume sailing. Yea!

Idril in the slings, ready to be re-launched

Back in the water!

Here's a list of what we had done; I'll try to elaborate on at least a few of these in subsequent postings. You can see pictures of much of the work in this album.

• Add a clutch at the mast for the gennaker halyard (replacing the clutch in the cockpit), so one person can deploy and retrieve the gennaker.
• Use the freed-up clutch in the cockpit for a cunningham for the second reefing point. We use reef two a lot, and there was so much friction in it that we always had to go forward to the mast to rig it. This should allow us to reef from the cockpit.
• Add permanently-attached preventer lines to the boom. We can now easily rig a jibe preventer without having to lasso the end of the boom.
• Add a set of inboard jack lines (straps, actually) to the coach roof, to supplement the outboard jack lines. This should make it safer to go forward as far as the mast.
• Add new tie-down points to the coach roof, to make it easier to stow our tender (the "F-RIB") on passage, when we don't want it hanging from the arch.
• Install turning blocks on the sides of the cockpit to make it easy to run a line across the cockpit to a free winch.  We've often found ourselves wanting another winch; since there isn't really room for adding winches, this will let us use winches that are otherwise not in use.
• Fix a few cosmetic dings: chipped or worn paint in the cockpit, and scratches and tears in the nice film wrap on the hull.
  
• Insulate the sail locker to reduce condensation, add plywood sheathing to protect the new insulation and provide attachment space for hooks, and put a plastic fender over the exposed aluminium struts, whose sharp edges have cut both us and sail bags.
• Put a check valve into the sail locker bilge pump outflow hose, to try to keep the bilge in the locker dry.
• Many changes to the Scheiber system that controls Idril's DC power system:
  
• Install a second "Navicolor" display and control panel for the Scheiber DC control system near the companionway. This will make it easier for the person on watch to control the system, and provides redundancy.
• Add a new "Block 9" power distribution unit under the nav desk, to provide some expansion capacity and accommodate some equipment we installed last summer (the Vesper AIS transceiver and our WiFi repeater).
• Replace the "Block 8" units that control our fuel and water transfer pumps; they did not have sufficient current-handling capacity.
• Upgrade the software throughout the Scheiber network to address some intermittent bugs (mostly equipment turning off at random...) and add new capability.
• install some new network cabling and (frankly) connector hacks to address network connector reliability concerns.
  
• Install a recording barometer to give us some improved situational awareness regarding weather.
• Add some new cabinetry:
•  A new shelf in the tech room to make it easier and safer to stow tools, spares, etc.
• A swing-down drawer under the cockpit floor and above the large central storage space, letting us use more of that vertical space.
• A cabinet in the forward head (which previously had very little usable space for things like toothbrushes and other personal care goodies).
  
• Install a built-in soap dispenser at the galley sink.
• Add lights to the tech room and aft cabin (which were pretty dark without them).
• Update the software in all of the B&G navigational instruments.
• Add a chain counter to the windlass so that we can easily see how much anchor rode we have deployed.
• Hinge the leeboards, making them much easier to stow.
• Install a USB outlet in the ceiling near the nav station for a clock.
• Add a coat to the bottom paint (which was in surprisingly good shape, probably due to the SoniHull).
• Replace the zinc anodes on the propeller and line cutter, clean all the other anodes.
• Fix the Iridium GO! antenna; one section of the antenna cable was damaged.
• Change the motors on our large primary winches from 12V to 24V and power them from the forward battery bank (which also powers the windlass, bow thruster and capstan). This project isn't quite finished; Garcia is waiting on parts. This will eliminate a voltage sag on the NMEA2000 network that we experienced when using the winches.
• Add a circuit breaker for the stove in a convenient location in the galley.
• Retune the standing rigging, now that we've done enough sailing for the metal lines to have stretched and settled.

I have probably missed a few things, as amazing as that may seem.

 Tonight should be our last night in the Airbnb in Bretteville. It will be nice to be back in our cozy little home.