Preparing for the coming season , Yo-Han joins a merry band of volunteers tasked with maintenance of the club boat
UKDIVING YO-HANCHA
Re-glazing the RIB
Preparing for the coming season , Yo-Han joins a merry band of volunteers tasked with maintenance of the club boat
I
remember my first dives off a RIB . It was off Byron Bay in Australia . They were also my first dives as a qualified diver . After signing up for a day ’ s diving , I rather excitedly headed out to sea on the dive centre ’ s RIB . I then did my first non-training backward rolls and descended into a world of excitement . Clifton Sub Aqua Club ’ s RIB , Badger , doesn ’ t go out to sites quite as exotic as Byron Bay . Since I ’ ve joined Clifton SAC , it has usually resided in Queen Anne ’ s Battery in Plymouth during the summer and stored elsewhere during the winter . Not all clubs own a RIB ( or hardboat ), but it ’ s a great piece of kit for those that do , as it allows more diving opportunities and greater selfsufficiency for the members .
However , the RIB does need to be able to function reliably . So , over the winter , the club ’ s Boat Officer , Haydon Saunders , organised a weekend for volunteers to help him with essential maintenance . On top of the usual tasks , Haydon had decided to tackle some of the other jobs that had built up over time . And as I had nothing better to do that weekend , I turned up on the Sunday .
I ’ d apparently missed a lot of excitement , industry and colourful language during the previous day . Clifton ’ s volunteers , under Haydon ’ s direction and guidance , had washed Badger and its cover , replacing the prop , the hatch and winch strap . They ’ d also fitted a new wheel bearing and throttling gear cables . The brakes had also been adjusted on the trailer and a new shot had been cast from scrap lead , I ’ m told in a very safe manner - I asked no further questions .
They ’ d also found that during Badger ’ s lifetime , some of the work done to her had involved the use of non-stainless-steel screws and bolts , which had inevitably turned to rust . Haydon maintains there ’ s a
“ The brakes had also been adjusted on the trailer and a new shot had been cast from scrap lead , I ’ m told in a very safe manner ” special place in Hell for people who don ’ t use stainless steel on boats , and there were further exclamations in Anglo-Saxon as he tried to remove a bolt that had rusted into place .
As my boat knowledge is limited , I was one of the volunteers given the job of measuring the new shots , which had the main advantage of being an indoors job . It wasn ’ t your typical rainy Bristol Sunday , but it was certainly a chilly one ! Measuring and labelling the new shot lines , none of which I ’ d done before , involved more equipment than I expected . I certainly hadn ’ t expected that the process required , among other items , a blow torch and heat gun .
My next job was to sort out the various keys that had been collected over time . I know , I got all the fun jobs ! But it all needed doing and I learned a lot about the time and effort required to keep a club RIB properly maintained . Many thanks go to Haydon and everyone who turned up over the weekend to help . And many thanks to all the other volunteers in all the other BSAC clubs who do the same , hopefully with less rust to deal with and about the same level of colourful language ! �
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