The Peterson 34 Bierkaai - BRA 30630

Now about some of the (minor) improvements done. Most will not notice these, apart from maybe the previous owners.  As I will be sailing the boat short handed most of the time, easy sail handling and safety are important. So one of the first additions was to install a lazy bag for the main sail and a fixed boom vang. The vang, apart from the easier trimming of the main sail, it also avoids somebody being hit by the boom, when lowering the main. The lazy bag. The boom vang. Another change was to make a new hatch cover for the entrance.  The wood of the original one was very dried out and parts were broken off. Before. During. And the end result. The boat came with a GPS, but after the removal of the steering wheel, there was no real place to install it. Therefore this small hatch cover was created, which can serve as a seat (which also protects the GPS) and avoid water coming in the accommodation from the cockpit. Talking about water

One of the main jobs of the project was to have the hull repainted. The previous paint job was done in 2008, but it was ready for a new coating. I have seen the end result if you try to paint a boat without any protection to wind. Not worth a try. So if you do, do it well. The boat had to be removed from this location. Therefore it was clear a tent had to be built. As the sailing club is used a lot as a wedding location, I contacted the builder, which normally builds the covers over the party area. He confirmed it was possible to build a tent around the boat.   Preparation of the location to leave the boat. Building of the tent - oops this Soling needs to be removed. The area was cleaned. A Soling which hasn't moved for some time was in the way, so there was no other choice than to move it. The tires were completely dried out and had to be changed. Also the bearings were in a questionable state, but it was good enough to move it out of the way.

When I changed to the tiller it was clear that the rudder had slack. Therefore when the boat was out of the water this was one of the first items which was looked at.  The original installation did not had rudder bearings, but a short section of bronze on the top and bottom. As the bottom one was worn out, there was no other choice than to remove it and have it replaced by bearings. The measurement of the shaft has to be as exact as up to a 10th of a mm.  The rudder stock is 73 mm diameter and to make an exact measurement, this would mean a huge vernier caliper.  Therefore  I decided to buy a PI-measuring tape first.  This is is a measuring tape which is put around the shaft to measure the diameter without having to calculate the diameter.  It was not cheap, but it is better to purchase the correct bearings for the shaft, instead of having to replace them later on. Here the PI tape. The next step was to measure and choose the type of bearings to use.  Also important

When the boat was taken out of the water the first time there was showing something strange on the STB side of the keel. It looked like something was growing , which is strange on a lead keel. It turned out that additional weight was added to the keel and these were the bolts sticking out. Apparently a very strong construction, because it must have been done more than 10 years ago. But not really a nice solution. Being an engineer, this had to be done the proper way. The first sight of the keel.   Removing the paint showed rusty bolts sticking out. Here the bolts showing from the aft side.   New brackets were installed on the aft and forward side where the bolts were really sticking out. After the modification. Nothing sticking out anymore. Shaping of the keel. Final result. Nothing to see the keel has been extended.