From our last video which was Beverley and I adding Dyneema as our guard rails, we had been asked by one of our followers about the rubbing of the ropes. As we follow the advice of a man we met at Ardglass, which was to wrap the fenders around the stanchions, then the fender does not pull on the dyneema. Although this really cuts down on the wear on the guard rails, I would advice to move the fenders prior to departure and hang them off the guard rails, so that the bite you are having to remove is not at your feet.

Fixing Leaks

The reason we went for Salty Lass was she was in really good shape, with very few leaks, but that does not mean she has none. One of the places that we had noticed leaks, were in and around the deck fittings. They had been put in with silicon, but seeing as they had been pulled on in various angles due to us using our harnesses in the cockpit and out on deck, the silicone had pulled away from the deck and a leak had developed in and around the hard point. With a leak detected, Beverley set out to fix it. First she drilled out the old silicone and a little bit bigger hole so that the fibre glass in and around the hole was in good shape. She then cleaned in and around the hole so that there was not little bits of muck and dirt around the hole. Once all the old silicone and dirt was removed, she taped off an area around where the deck fitting would be and filled the area with a butyl compound, which is great for when you can bold a fitting into place like you can with deck fittings. Once Beverley had got the deck fitting in place, Beverley then pulled up the tape and the excess butyl compound.

Mullion Suits

Once Beverley had fixed the leaks in the the deck, we decided to go and do some retail therapy down at Norwest Marine, one of our local suppliers. There we were interested in Mullion suits as these are designed for fishermen, so does not come with the normal price hike that you get for sailing gear. The nice thing about looking at things is that I would of been tempted to buy the two piece suit, but this was very restrictive in and around the midriff area, while the one piece suit gave you a lot more movement. I was glad to say that I fitted the small, but these are fitted for guys, so a small guy is just about right for me. Beverley and I have both decided that the mullion suit is the new go to item of attire if you have to get up in the middle of the night to check ropes etc. With our salopettes, we would need to get dressed and then put the salopette on, while with the mullion suit you just need to put the mullion suit on over your nighty.

The mullion suit is a great purchase and supplies a host of features

• 50N of buoyancy, this does not mean that you should not wear a life jacket, but extra buoyancy will help
• Insulation which will extend your survival rate in the sea
• Yellow hat, so that you can easily pick somebody out against the sea
• Reflective strips again so that you can see somebody
• Whistle in the pocket, so that you can alert another person of your presence

We think the mullion suits are a great buy and if we are ever having to sail a night, it is these suits that will keep us warm