Should have..

..been in by now, but here she is still sitting in splendour in the car park at the club! 😏

About four boats in, on the first day of the lift, the hoist developed an issue; one of the lifting wires was fraying. All further launches were halted/postponed while the team went to work trying to find some replacements so my launch was one of the casualties..  no worries, it is what it is, and these things will happen - happily no people or boats were hurt so it's a win win, most of the guys who were going to launch have just found further bits of work to do on their boats!

I was no different so the following is now done, 

• having assumed I was going in, I have 5 litres of fuel on board
• the engine is on - with lock
• I took the opportunity to fit the new Windex - a thing of shiny beauty that will probably last all of 5 minutes 😏
  
  
  
  
  
• I've got the tender ready - she's  now sitting upright following a winter upside down
• ..then last of all, the traditional very last job, it was time for harbour plaques to go on!
  
  
  
  

That's it - I'm calling the winter maintenance over, done and dusted - I am more than ready for launch if only for a rest! 😁

Postscript: the hoist really needs both wires changing but our supplier only has one in stock which will arrive Monday - the guys think that will be enough (there's a 4 week delivery for the second one!) and they can bodge a solution with some heavy duty straps to at least start the launches going again - just waiting on the word when I need to make myself ready.. 🤞

First trip of the year ..

.. had to be Cowes didn't it..   😁

Turned out to be a day of two halves weather'wise..  the morning wind was very light, so motoring was the order of the day. To be fair we didn't mind - it was good to be on the water and although a little chilly, the sun shone - apart from when it started to rain! We'd been watching the clouds in the distance dumping loads of rain - it was so bright elsewhere you could see the clouds joined to the sea so it was only to be expected that we got a bit as well - first time I've worn foulies in I don't know how long.. 😏

That said it was a massive tide and the 'Solent travellator' dropped us off in Cowes in quite possibly the one of quickest transit times we've had..  

Always know it's Cowes when I see that crane..

..so quick in fact that at a little over two hours door to door, we was too early, and the pub wasn't open! 😏 

Having grabbed a lunchtime berth in East Cowes we went for a walk out along East Cowes sea front until it was open.. which was then followed by an absolutely cracking lunch in The Lifeboat - absolutely stuffed, we lounged on the boat until the travellator was due to turn at about 3'ish..

Where we then had one of those classic sails back to Portsmouth - it was just south enough to bring the wind over the quarter and allow both sails to do the pulling, and once it settled down, we had a lovely F4 all the way home..

Cracking days sail rounded off by an international show of might in the dockyard..

Ukrainian minesweepers here on training I believe, a Portuguese frigate (NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida - F334), the UK Type 45 Destroyer HMS Daring (and unidentified partner), and the German frigate Saschen (lead ship of her class)

Log:

(NB. My Strava was playing up so I had to rely on Smithy's Smart watch for the following 😁)

Distance: (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top) 22.21 miles

Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 (AM) F4 (PM); S (AM) SWxS (PM)
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa on the way back - motor out
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.8 / 7.6

...and more ticks...

More work is being done/has been done..

• Companionway hatches have been sanded, filled, sanded again, and had a first coat of paint - they need another but look OK, some further remedial work is required on the upper one..

• An addition steel keel plate has been added to the bottom of the tender to help protect against dragging when I come ashore..  it and the rest of the bottom of the tender where it was scratched over last summer have been painted.

• The tiller pilot rest, and the tiller pilot support have both been sanded and painted - calling them done

• I also went round the waterline with a detail sander and removed as much as I could of the ingrained green staining she's picked up over the years - she looks a ton better

• Yesterday I went to pick up the foresail from the sailmakers where they have been fitting a smaller luff bead/tape to allow it to fit the new furler - here's hoping! 😏

Launch day in a week...  better get cracking with the last bits, first though the Jolly Boys are going on their first trip on Monday!