Happy Christmas Jackaroo

The lovely members of Falmouth Wheelers cycle club raised nearly £150 at their Christmas Party raffle. With these funds, they decided to support our work renovating and adapting Jackaroo, through Mylor Sailability. THANK YOU so much Wheelers! http://www.falmouthwheelers.co.uk/. 

Planning The Funding Campaign

This week we have focussed on identifying potential funders and amassing all of the information that needs to be supplied to support bids for funds. We are going after both money and support for Mylor Sailability generally and also specifically for renovating Jackaroo. We are preparing presentation packs for our sailors and supporters to use to explain what Jackaroo will bring to Sailability and to encourage them to seek funds.

In the cold short Winter days, why not have a look at The RYA's Sailability TV on YouTube: https://youtu.be/clxanNm1wg4. Maybe Jackaroo will feature in future?

What's Next?

Project Manager Steve with Jackaroo

Jackaroo is now laid up next to the Mylor Sailability classrooms, giving us more room around her to work and more convenient for accessing equipment. Moving the boat required us to overcome brakes that were binding on the trailer wheels but she is now on her winter hardstanding, with views on deck Northwards up The Carrick Roads. We spent time planning fundraising with Tracey as this is now the priority because we need to buy things to continue. If successful, we will be able to prepare Jackaroo for hopefully many more years on the water, serving the needs of our Sailability clients (http://mylorsailingschool.co.uk/mylor-sailability/) by adapting her to maximise accessibility and enhance performance. We would love to hear from anyone who would like to support the renovation and adaption of Jackaroo. 

If you would like to see where your contribution would be used please view this document

Chandlery Choices

With several seasons in one afternoon bringing driving rain, strong winds and calm sunny spells, we made the best of each: In the rain, a productive visit to nearby Mylor Chandlery & Rigging (mylorchandlery.co.uk) allowed us to discuss anti-foul, deck grip and other options. In the clear patches, we opened up Jackaroo to finish up the drying process, hastened by the strong winds, while starting work on cleaning up the teak trim. We moved the mast back on top of the boat to keep it away from danger and dirt.

Off With The Old

We removed the old name and continued to clean down the hull. Rory began the task of cleaning out the loose paint inside. We are waiting (what may be many weeks) for the interior to dry out properly before we decide what further sanding is required to prepare her for interior decoration. The exterior looks bright thanks to a lot of hard work from Jonathan and Ben, our wonderful volunteers this week.

Roped In

This week, the first task was to ensure that our boat remains secure and stable, especially when the team are working on her. We propped the stern carefully to minimise any movement before we started cleaning up inside. Meanwhile, all of the ropes received a good clean. Ropes are never called ropes on boats because each has a particular job to do and gets a name associated with that role (such as warp, sheet or halyard). However, when they are all off the boat and getting a bath, they do look remarkably like ropes!

The painstaking job of cleaning out all of the flaked paint we removed last time was begun. A BIG thank you to Paul, Eleanor, Rory for their excellent work on 'Jackaroo' today, plus everyone else who got 'roped in'.

Interior Preparation

This week we jet washed the interior and decks to remove loose flaking paint and deck grip. The worst of the interior surface coat was washed off and will be swept up when dry. Most of the work involved baling out the water accumulated in the process. Care was taken to ensure no blockages to drains or bilges from the copious amounts of flaked paint removed. The top decks were in pretty good condition so were cleaned rather than surface removed. The PPE (personal protective equipment) required for this job was wetsuit and boots!

J24 Project at Mylor Sailability

Work starts renovating J24 (soon to be re-named) 'Jackaroo': The project plan is good to go and we are ready to begin renovations and adaptions to make her fit for Sailability use. Repairs will be made to the hull and after a winter of care and attention she will be joining J24 'Joker' on the water for 2016.

Today we established a safe access to the deck, reviewed the list of jobs to do and began by checking and cleaning the mast. After a few applications of bike 'Muck Off' and liberal application of the pressure washer it has regained that gleaming aluminum look once again. Hopefully the rest of 'Jackaroo' will look as good.