Spring Launch 2025 — A Year's Work, One Big Splash
May 5th. Blue sky, a light breeze, and a yellow travel lift waiting at the end of the yard. Iris was going back in the water.
Getting to this moment took a full year. Not just the usual wash-and-antifoul kind of work — proper, down-to-the-epoxy work. The kind where you spend full weekends in coveralls and a respirator and come home looking like you lost a fight with a sander. Arne and I put in well over a hundred hours of yard work from spring 2024 through to this launch, and the list of things we touched is long enough to fill a logbook.
Here's the full story.
The Bottom
The hull bottom was the centrepiece of the 2025 winter. We'd known for a while that the old antifouling layers had built up unevenly, with peeling patches and areas where the epoxy barrier underneath had taken hits. The decision was to strip it back properly.
We sanded all the old paint down to the epoxy barrier across the entire bottom. This is the kind of job that sounds straightforward until you're six hours in, covered in grey dust, and you realise you've done about a quarter of it.
Once the surface was clean, we filled the keel grounding damage and any surface defects with epoxy filler, then applied fresh barrier epoxy coats. Then came the antifouling — Arne and I suited up together and rolled it on.
A walkthrough of the finished bottom the morning before launch:
The Rudder
While we had easy access, we pulled the rudder completely. At around 75 kg, it's not a trivial thing to lift and manoeuvre — but out it came. It had taken some damage and the top bearing and seal were overdue.
We repaired the damage, fitted a new top bearing and seal (damask), then gave it the same epoxy treatment as the bottom. Arne with the finished rudder:
The Bow Thruster
The bow thruster got a full rebuild — new gear unit, new seal, new hatch and mounting. The compartment is now clean and properly fitted out.
Rigging and Sails
A full new sail wardrobe: mainsail, G2, two G1s, and jibtop. The old Furlex furler came off, went to Gransegel for a service and sign-off, and came back with new line drums. Gransegel also did an excellent job renovating the boom and the vang — both came back in great shape. We replaced the main halyard, the top mainsail blocks, fitted a new cutter stay bracket, replaced the shackles and straps on the boom for the mainsheet, backstay extended with a new terminal, reefing system serviced and improved. The lazy bag got new velcro and some patch repairs. The sprayhood got a hole fixed. The genoa track end stops were replaced.
Mast and Rig Tuning
For the mast stepping and full rig tune, we brought in Henrik Löwing — one of Sweden's most respected rigging specialists. Having an expert like that go over everything properly is a completely different experience from doing it yourself and hoping for the best.
One of the key findings was that the forestay was 12 cm too long, throwing off the whole rig geometry. It came off, got cut, and went back on with a new terminal. Henke went through every stay, every tension, every angle.
Electrical
This was the biggest systems project. We built and installed a new lithium battery bank — 3×280Ah = 840Ah total — which involved designing the whole installation from scratch. Along with that: new main fuse, new main bus bar, new shunt, and a new CerboGX with Multiplus now online for full monitoring. A completely new electrical panel at the mast foot. New RGB deck light. Replaced the bow navigation light entirely, replaced the top light with a new unit, new cable, and new bracket. The motor lantern bulb was swapped out.
We also registered a new MMSI number and name and got the AIS sorted.
Everything Else
And from autumn 2024: all lights converted to LED, mast foot sealed, engine oil and filter changed, diesel filter changed, glycol leak almost fully resolved, Raymarine software updated and compasses calibrated, heater diesel pump fixed, VHF handset repaired, new toilet pumps, all deck hatches sealed, sail locker completely rebuilt (new framing, floor with epoxy lacquer, new panels), Yanmar descaled and new hoses.
Launch Day
She went in without a hitch.
After all of it — the weekends in coveralls, the bruised knuckles, the never-ending to-do lists, the trips back to the chandlery for the one fitting you forgot — watching her float again made it all worth it.
She's ready.
Full renovation log
2025
2024
— Marcus & Arne
