From Weathered to Wonderful
Our boat refit adventure
By Jess Rowe
So … where do we start?
When we bought our boat, Velocity back in March, she’d spent rather a long time sitting outside in the weather, uncovered and exposed to the elements. We knew there'd be a fair bit of work to do, but we weren't prepared for what was to come.
We were eager to bring the boat back to Miriam’s farm for a thorough clean right after purchasing her. Armed with buckets of hot, soapy water, we spent an entire weekend pulling out all sorts of surprises. If you’ve seen our Instagram reel from that time, you’ll know the sound effects weren’t exaggerated!
Early Training and Initial Modifications:
After a few chilly training rows in the North Sea out of Hartlepool Marina, we moved Velocity down south to begin work on a few changes we knew we wanted to make. We were lucky to have a spot on a friend’s farm for part of the summer, where we tackled a list of projects as a team (with help from others):
Sanding and painting the cabins
Repairing dings in the hull
Cutting the side compartments out of the bow cabin for more space
Adding hatches over the cabin footwells
Creating a new vent in the bow cabin
Drilling holes for new cleats
A Visit to Jim’s Workshop
With bigger updates in mind, we planned to replace the solar panels and batteries before tackling our Pacific expedition. We knew Jim Bastin was the ideal person for the job. He owns Rossiter Ocean Rowing Boats and runs the GB Row Challenge, so we booked Velocity into his workshop.
To prepare Velocity for Jim’s, I spent several evenings that week at the marina, removing the old solar panels from the cabin tops. It didn’t take long for Jim to lend a hand, joined by the marina crew and a couple of other dedicated workers, toiling late into the dark, rainy nights under relentless downpours.
The list we brought to Jim included:
Replacing the batteries, solar panels and watermaker
Moving our oars further outboard with new riggers to stop thumb injuries
Redesigning the life raft hatch for quicker access
Adding a pin above the daggerboard to keep it from popping up
Installing a foot steering system
Stabilising the Echomax and replacing the SIMRAD deck repeaters
Repairing the seat rails (so Lottie and Mims didn’ feel like they were rowing over speed bumps)
Completing several GRP repairs
New hatch for access to unused area in hull
Tackling Unexpected Issues
While Velocity was booked in for just a week or two, Jim kept uncovering more problems, messaging me regularly with updates. I’d usually get a text that would say something like “Jess… we’ve found another problem, please call me.”
One major concern was how long it would take to retrieve the life raft from the central locker in an emergency. Previously, you had to unscrew four bolts holding the footplate down, slide the plate off the rails, unlock the hatch bolts and remove the top piece to reach the raft. Jim designed a new footplate system with a quick-release mechanism and shortened the rails, reducing the time to access the raft to less than five seconds.
The Echomax, sent off for inspection, turned out to be completely broken. It was refurbished at a hefty price, but the wobbling that could’ve damaged the navigation light was finally fixed.
Jim discovered unused space around the daggerboard housing that had been completely inaccessible—a crucial find, as we needed every bit of storage for our 200 days' worth of provisions. However, photos he sent revealed something unexpected: the area was filled with water that should never have been there. It turned out to be fresh water that had slowly leaked in over time through cracks around the daggerboard housing. This hidden weight—more than 20 litres sloshing around for who knows how long—was promptly pumped out, lightening our load considerably.
Our footplates looked worn and were sent to Neaves for refurbishment. They found that not only were they oxidized, but some of the frames had snapped, which explained why we felt we had one leg longer than the other in training rows!
Electronics
The white cabin LED lights were unbearably bright—more like being under hospital operating lights—so these were swapped out for softer dome lights. Many of the USB and cigarette charging points were non-functional, so Jim’s team replaced every single one to ensure everything was in working order.
In addition to replacing the two lithium batteries, we decided to add a third as a backup, keeping it on a maintenance charge as a precaution. To accommodate it, Jim and his team had to cut into the stern cabin floor to create a separate locker—and you’ll never believe what they found!
I received a photo of a Hieneken beer can and the remains of beer splashed all over the interior of the locker, which must have been there for a year – maybe two! We somehow didn’t find this when we cleaned the boat, but it had slipped around the back of the batteries and now was only seen due to the big hole that had been made for the new battery.
After sending our EFOY fuel cell—a backup power source—off for servicing, we were informed that it was beyond repair and would need to be replaced with a new one. This was then installed and a new watertight locker was made in the bow, to protect it from salt exposure, which likely caused the first one to fail.
Other Repairs
Hypro Marine came over to take off the hydraulic cylinder and helm unit and came back to me with yet more disappointing news. They couldn't actually get the cylinder open back at their workshop because the salt had seized the casing, meaning we needed to buy a new one. Salt had also caused degradation of the helm shaft causing oil to seep through. Unfortunately a new shaft seal would not compensate for the pitting around the casing and so we also needed a new helm unit. When Hypro came to install everything, they concluded that of course we needed a new pump too.
Andy, who originally built Velocity, handled the GRP work, tackling holes, delamination of the rudder and other repairs. I kept adding to his list—probably testing his patience by the end of the refit!
Other updates included:
Replacing warped Lewmar hatches that had been overtightened
Installing a new Shenker watermaker and pump, the most reliable option available.
Re-sealing the Airmar blanking unit with new O-rings to prevent leaks
Painting the rudder housing and replacing rusted fixtures
New storage pockets made for cabins
We had been dealing with dead legs during rows and suspected the issue might stem from the high ridge at the front of our seats. While collecting our newly refurbished oars from Croker, I was introduced to a carbon seat specifically designed for women—and what a difference it made! I hadn’t fully realised how uncomfortable it was to sit on seats made for men, given the difference in pelvic bone width.
The final metal parts for the foot steering system are being polished this weekend ready to be fixed in the following week and then we’re pretty much set.
I haven’t listed every detail of what was done during our refit, which was supposed to take two weeks but stretched into six—otherwise, I’d risk boring you to tears. Suffice it to say, we faced more than our fair share of challenges but made the best of the hand we were dealt.
Thank You’s
None of this would have been possible without the hard work, effort and kindness that Jim Bastin has shown us these past few weeks. He’s worked tirelessly day and night, seven days a week for most of this project, alongside his team of Andy’s, to ensure Velocity is in top condition for the challenge ahead of us. Nothing was ever a problem for Jim; he always found a solution, no matter how challenging. A huge thank you for your patience, expertise, invaluable advice and hard work. We now have a boat that is ocean ready and feels brand new. We couldn’t be more grateful.
This refit also wouldn’t have been possible without the rest of our incredible support network, and we owe a huge list of thank yous to those who made it happen:
Hollycombe Home Farm / Edd Jenner – for generously providing storage space.
Premier Marina Chichester – for letting us train and store Velocity.
Rory Pulman – for sharing your boat building expertise and skilled carpentry.
Charlie Lunt – for teaching Jess trailer driving and towing Velocity around for us.
Lewmar – for supplying top-notch hatches and essential spares.
Sunbeam – for the solar panels powering our journey.
Victron – for the reliable batteries and regulators.
Billy Taylor and SIMRAD – for equipping us with deck repeaters.
Hypro – for your excellent work on the hydraulic system.
Cobra – for providing handheld VHF radios that keep us connected.
Seadek – for the foam deck protection that’s both functional and protective.
Mactra Marine - for Jim’s valuable advice and expertise in all things watermakers.
Naturalmat - for the wonderful custom made mattresses. It’s a real treat after 7 months without any.