The Fairey Owners' Club

Having spent the winter (when allowed) slowly going through all the little (and bigger) jobs, I am happy to say I am nearly done:

The Governer (Perkins T6.354) has been overhauled by P.B.Asher and recalibrated for 2700rpm
The prop has been repitched to 16.5 x 18 (with 0.13" cupping) by Hamble Props
Engine oil and filter change
Raw water impeller change
Full antifoul
A repair to the starboard transom and under-deck structure by Tim Gilmore and thanks to K.Horn who sold me a small amount of AWLGrip paint.
Renovation of teak planks, resealed (ongoing) and recaulked, where necessary.
Repaint the superstructure (previous paint was household gloss!) with minor repairs where necessary.
New starter batteries
Addition of a Leisure battery for the 12V circuit and a Victron 24/12V 30A charger/inverter.
Rewired the dash instruments to the new installation including changing the temp gauge to a 24V version
Additional 12V bilge pump (to supplement the 24V pump already installed).
New cockpit lights (none previously)
New cabin lights (none previously)
Dashboard lighting for instruments (none previously).

Still to fix the broken/sheared cotter pin on the rudder stock/tiller arm and a new helm boss nut (located one, not yet collected).
Also still to install a masthead anchor light (working out a decent mounting and wiring solution), fix a new (Ritchie) compass to the dash coaming.

Yesterday, whilst testing the new temp gauge install, I noticed that, at neutral with increased revs, the water/air charge-air cooler outlet pipe (raw water to the impeller) was partially collapsing...There is a good water flow,so will be replacing this pipe...Has anyone got a link to a source of these?

Would a Navy Huntress have had a Sestrel compass? They come up on ebay from time to time.

Ref the charge cooler, you got the answers on facebook. Should be an annual job.

Ben...It would have had a Sestral...In fact, I do have the (presumed) original...but it had been painted in a horrible paint that I am still attempting to remove, it has a large bubble in the fluid and it is a large, cumbersome device with no facility for internal lighting.

I am keeping it and will have it restored, but decided I needed a modern, easy to read compass.

Thanks for the info on the cooler...job added to the list!

The Sestrel had an external lamp on a little bracket.

The Sestrel compass was the standard Navy Huntress fit. As I recall it was a type known as a Sestrel Speedgrid, which looks very much like a Sestrel Minor but without the gimballed mount. However, I found it had its disadvantages. One was the light, which was a little external lampholder on a bracket, fed by a rather vulnerable wire which in Loyal Huntress’ case was plugged into a miniature supposedly waterproof plug and socket joint. But more significant was the fact that the Sestrel is a grid compass - one where you set the desired course on the bearing ring and then steer to keep the grid lines aligned. Which seems all well and good, but there is no facility for edge reading. So you have to use the compass looking down on it from above, and with the compass mounted quite high in front of the wheel that means you have to be quite tall (certainly taller than me), or standing on a box, to use it.