Now you're Suckin' Diesel !

This is just an update on works underway since last summer. In June 2024 we sailed from Malahide to New Ross boatyard where Leonard and his team have been helping to look after Suckin' Diesel ever since. The first job was to remove as much as we could from the interior as we wanted to spruce up the boat inside and out. We took home the cushions, sails and as many of the larger items as possible. I had driven the campervan down two weeks before so we had the benefit of the large space for carrying everything home for storage in our insulated shed. Johnjoe and Kevin were a great help in folding sails and stacking the van and after a couple of days all was ready.

Over the rest of the summer I had time to remove all fittings and possessions from the interior. Leonard had put me in touch with Anthony, the carpenter, who came in while Anne was still on board to go through what we needed and give us advice. We decided on starting with covering the floor to improve the look and bring it back to a more traditional appearance. For years Anne had hated the headlining which I had put in 20 years before. Anthony was great for advice here and we decided on a white pvc wood effect covering on a 6mm plywood base. It took a bit of back and forth until I sourced a pvc Anne was happy with. Anthony also said that he could spruce up the varnish on the saloon walls to improve the overall look. There were lots of other jobs we could have looked to add to the list but we decided to start with this vital job and see how everything looked after.

Over the rest of the summer I had time to remove the old headlining, much to Anne's delight !!! While it was down, I was able to rewire the whole boat. Suckin' Diesel is 45 years old and I felt it was time for replacement of most of the cable. I made sure to use proper marine cable as normal copper degrades and increases resistance over time. Some of the cable was covered by wood trims so I had to replace some teak pieces as I went, but Anthony said he would be able to make it look original as he prepped for the varnishing. At Kevin's suggestion, I added some USB sockets in the cabins as we are all so connected to devices for charging these days. I was very happy to have done that, as rewiring and deciphering the old cabling had been on my mind for a long while. By September I had left the boat ready for Anthony to start and headed back to work with Suckin' Diesel out of the work on the hard. I had also been in touch with Gary Mooney, a fibreglass specialist about reparing old damage to the keel as well as checking out the whole hull.

In October the mast was booked to come down. I got to the boat a couple of days before so I had time to disconnect all the cabling and loosen up the stainless steel stays holding it in place. It took a full day before I was happy that it was ready. One mistake I made in the process was dismantling a roller furling drum which I could have avoided but I had the riggers take the drum and pices to reassemble it for me. By then I had already decided that the boat would be out of the water for two years rather than one. This was because we were getting some work done in our house at home and I knew that summer 2025 would involve lots of work at home so sailing would be off the cards. A benefit of this was that the fibreglass in the hull would have another summer out of the water to dry out fully before Gary sealed it with watertight epoxy in the boatshed in the yard next autumn. While the mast work went on I was able to check on Gary's work and I am happy with the progress there.

A large mobile crane arrived the next day to lift 4 masts. I agreed to work with the owner of a boat beside me and we paired up to do both together. The process was a bit stressful but worked out well and in 3 hours we had two masts down. I then set about the process of rewiring the mast. Some of the wiring had been done using domestic cable and was showing the signs of wear. The rest was old and had been exposed to the elements and so needed replacing. That took the rest of the day but by the end of the day all was complete and I headed home glad that progress on the restoration was well underway. In particular, I could see the extent of the prep work Anthony had already done and I was glad with how things were looking already.

By December much of the interior had been completed and Anthony let us know that we could have a look. Over the break Anne and I headed off in the campervan and took the opportunity to drop in to check on progress. We were both very happy with what we saw so far. Anne was delighted with the new headlining and loved the brightness it brought to the interior. As always I have to agree that she is right !! We are now awaiting the finish of that work and plan to go down over the next months to plan to prepare for the reinstalation of the fittings. We hope that over next winter we will be able to organise the finishing touches so the boat should be ready for relaunch in May 2026. Heres hoping ......