5th January 2008 – Nearly finished with the oil in the hold. It does take longer then expected and it does bore me more then in the beginning. Nevertheless it is a job that needs doing and that is part of the long life of the ship.
Last summer, when I dismantled a part of the anchor winch, the break of the chain with anchor moved forward. So I could not put back the cover on the winch on a nice way. Since it wasn’t raining, I took out a small winch and tried pulling the anchor and break backwards. I put it around the mast and around a bollard. It took me over an hour to pull the weigh in the right position. I had to jump on the cables and put my whole weight on the system to make sure it came back. Now everything is bolted and safe again.
The hatch cover can be taken of quickly now. It needed doing, since I’ll have to put some more grease on the winch to prevent it from rusting.