We were in Malahide and we were concerned about out exhaust elbow. It was a task that we had been putting off for various reasons

• We had not done this inspection before, so we were apprehensive
• We did not have a spare on board
• We just had a belief that here was yet another reason to stop us going around Ireland

Regardless of the reasons, there are times that you just have to bite the bullet and do it and today was that day for us.

As it was something that we had not done before, we were super cautious as we removed the nuts on the studs. We were really aware as we removed the nuts that breaking a stud would give us a world of pain as they are really difficult to repair.

Exhaust elbow

To remove the exhaust elbow, Beverley had to use several tricks

• Lengthening a spanner – The nuts were on so tight that Beverley could not get enough leverage using just one spanner, so what she did was hook the ring end of a spanner over the jaw of the spanner so that the length of the spanner was lengthened. You do need to be cautious with this technique as you can very easily open the jaws of the main spanner
• Exert constant pressure – Rather than try and jerk the spanner, just exert constant pressure and soon the nut will release
• Use easing oil – Use easing oil to reduce resistance between the nut and the stud. We had been spraying the nuts with easing oil for about a month before we actually did the job
• On hoses use washing up liquid – To remove the hose put washing up liquid on a flat bladed screwdriver and ease the screwdriver between the hose and the pipe to break the seal. Use plenty of washing up liquid to put the hose back on
• Clean with wire brushes – Clean the inside of the exhaust elbow with wire brushes to remove the soot.
• Put on a new gasket – Even though our gasket was in good shape, replace it after all you have just gone to the trouble of removing the exhaust elbow so put on a new gasket
• Test your systems – After any job, test your system while you are tied to the dock that way if there are any problems you are in a good position to fix it
• Clean your engine – After any messy job, clean up afterwards especially in and around your engine

With the sorting out of the exhaust elbow, I was able to strike one of the items off our list. I unfortunately found two more items to add, one being just the purchase of a new spare, while the other is a new hose for our coolant because I found a hole in it while I was cleaning the engine. This is how life is, as soon as you have done something there is something else to replace it.

After leaving Malahide, we sailed over to Ireland’s eye to anchor for the night. We had a great ime at the anchorage, and a good nights sleep. But the next day we had a lot of swell so we moved over to an anchorage just outside Howth Marina, I was parked a little bit too close to the Marina entrance, but we had a great nights sleep.

After anchoring for two nights we had to motor, the next day so that we could move on. We motored across Dublin Bay passing close to cardinals, fairway buoys, several racing marks and lots of large vessels.

Once we had crossed Dublin Bay we went through Dalkey sound, which is a rather picturesque little sound as there are some really nice buildings on the shore. There was also lots of pots, swimmers and other people out enjoying the water, so as crew there was lots for me to look out for and make Beverley aware of.

After we were through Dalkey Sound, we managed to get the sail up for some motor sailing. It was not much but I will take all the sailing action that I can get.

Entering Greystones

As you enter Greystones there are some buoys just inside the outer harbour entrance, these are for small boats, you then need to turn to starboard to enter the inner harbour and the marina.

We had been told what our berth allocation was so I used the binoculars to read the berth numbers. Getting a berth allocation is always a good idea because they can tell you things like which side to put fenders and approximately where the berth will be, so in our case, I knew that our nose would be pointing South and to put the fenders out on the port side. As Beverley went around the marina looking for our berth, she kept the boat under control by applying power in short bursts. I kept Beverley informed about the berth numbers so she knew where she was going. Then it was just a case of going into the slip under control.

When we got in we got a call from Bangor Marina saying that a new tool had arrived for us, so thank-you our kind donator and thank-you to all our supporters.