Final Refit Details

We arrived back in Harlingen midday on Monday after our weekend shake-down cruise. With us we had a short list of arisings that needed attention. While Zonder Zorg is a hundred-and-five years old, that is on the outside only; inside, she is completely new. As with many new installations, there are tweaks and adjustments necessary that are discoverable only with use. We found several. One of these was the hand sink in the heads; in the standard Dutch fashion, it was plumbed for cold water only. The easy fix was to add a mixer to its feed line under the galley sink.

Another item was that a right-hand propeller had been installed instead of the left-hand I had requested. I much prefer a left-hand screw because of the ease of handling alongside starboard-side-to. When the engine is put astern, the stern kicks to starboard, nicely pulling it alongside. When leaving, the forward turning screw pulls the stern to port, moving it nicely away from the wall.

We motored Zonder Zorg around to the travel lift to be hauled and have the propeller exchanged.

The lift was quick and very efficient.

The retaining nut was heated and undone.

The propeller was then heated and then thumped off the tapered shaft end.

The new 22 X 20 LH screw was introduced to the taper, heated and snugged up with the retaining nut, which was then locked in place with a setscrew into a shaft dimple.

While the barge was out of the water, we had a good look at the original registration number stamped into her side in 1908. The S831N signifies that she was the 831st ship registered in Sneek in the Netherlands. Above the number is a line of original rivets joining iron plates in her century-old hull.

While we were out of the water, we had a new through-hull installed just below deck level on the port bow. This is to reroute the water tank breather line, which had been badly routed and had allowed water to overflow into the bilges when we had filled-up the fresh water tanks.

After the very quick and efficient work, we went back into the water and motored around to work wharves on the south side of the site. Shortly after we secured, a Lemmeraak rafted outboard. We counted seventeen boats being worked on in the water and on the hard, and inside the hangars there are another eleven vessels being built or refitted; every space is full. This is an extremely busy yard with over fifty workers and seemingly more work than they can handle, while other yards are idle.

Work immediately resumed, with such things as adding reenforcement webs to the main engine room hatch and installing new sound-deadening insulation.

We also had a locking latch installed, so that we can lock-up the engineering spaces when we leave the boat.

While work progressed, we kept ourselves busy adding interior details. The bedroom is spacious and comfortable, with lots of convenient hanging points. The washing machine and dryer are nicely tucked-away under the foredeck, and we gave them several loads to work with.

On our first trip to Ikea we had picked-up a MemoryFoam pad to put on top of our mattress; the bed is superbly comfortable.

We love the clean simplicity of the interior, and the wonderfully convenient cabinets behind sliding doors all along the starboard side. There is more than enough storage.

The galley is very well laid-out, with everything ergonomically arranged and conveniently placed. We have thoroughly tested the dishwasher. At 45 centimetres width, it is just large enough to swallow in one load everything that we use to prepare and enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The fridge sits conveniently under the port side-deck and is sufficiently large to store several days of food. Although with shops and supermarkets being very plentiful often within a short walk or cycle from the canals, we don't need to stock-up like we did in Sequitur during our three years sailing around South America.

Of course we have tried-out the new galley repeatedly, and it has consistently produced wonderful meals.

The last few details are being addressed and it appears that we will be ready to head out tomorrow morning. We look forward to many years of zonder zorg cruising in Zonder Zorg.