More Marker tacking practice...

I'm off this week as a result of having been made a granddad (I wasn't even asked if I minded! 😀) so after a couple of visits to put the boat back together following the recent re-rig I finally got off the mooring this afternoon for a sail...

Oooh....  shiny....

 

The plan (as conveyed to Jelly Bean Phil who rang just as I was about to set off!) was a trip to the West Pole and back, but the wind gods and tide gods conspired to scupper that little idea...  light winds (force 2 or less) and a big spring tide resulted in little or no forward progress... at one point I was sailing forwards while going backwards...!

Refurbished tabernacle...  amazing what a wire brush and a coat of Hammerite can do...

I then spent my usual afternoon trying to reach Marker while the tide swept me backwards up the harbour on every other tack.. Did I mind? Not a bit of it...  though a Leisure 17 went past me, two up, like I was standing still - clearly I'm not set up correctly, so I spent the afternoon doing exactly that...

New flag pole - thanks to bro-in-law J for this!

 

Bit of sail tweaking then ensued (down haul via goose neck traveller, then topping lift, then kicking strap, then jib traveller). I also noticed that the opposite stays are still quite loose when on one tack or the other so tightened these up when I was back on the mooring - not bar taught, but certainly firmer....  fellow club member Giblets has a Loos rigging tension gauge which I'm hoping he can bring down one weekend and we can have a play to get the tensions equal - at the moment I've done it by feel..

Had a good luck round the waterline when I left the boat, and noticed she's growing some weed on the rudder - poor anti foul, or evidence of the sunny hot weather we're getting...??  Either way I need to bring a broom out next time and clean off as much as I can..  keels/waterline look to be OK, and I'd rather not have the faff of finding a beaching spot to do the whole hull...   she'll be out of the water for the winter in a couple of months and enough time has been lost!

Log:

Distance: 8.76 miles (cumulative total in the 2013 mileage tab at the top of the page)
Wind: Force 1 gusting 2.. SSW (straight up the harbour) going to SW
Sail Plan: Full jib and main - engine for manoeuvring..
Speed: GPS track says max speed was 4.7 knots (that was definitely under motor) - average speed: 2.1 knots

Standing rigging replace.. done!!!

So, it's all done...

I took Sparrow round to the Yacht Harbour yesterday morning on the early tide (0730) expecting to stay there for 24 hours, but a confluence of events found me returning to the mooring on that evenings tide, no time for a detailed investigation but the rigging is very nice and shiny...! 😀

It was a good day all round, as having dropped Sparrow off, "Coral Paul" and I fast footed it to Tesco for a slap up brekkie before then going down to the club to hoist the mast on his boat (Sunray 21)... I do like mucking about with blocks and tackles, and boats always look better with masts up anyway... two of us did this one with the help of an A frame, a jib halyard, and a main sheet - good fun...

So now the rigging's done, let's go sailing!

For reference:

• Replaced 2 cap shrouds, and 2 pairs of lower shrouds, in 4mm 1/19 stainless steel wire with new 5/16^th rigging screws (Swage stud to Fork) and new swage eyes.
• Replaced the split backstay in 4mm 1/19 stainless steel wire using a triangular plate with new bottle screw and new eyes and forks
• Replaced the forestay in 6mm 1/19 stainless steel wire (the fitting on the lower part of the roller furling needs a swaged eye with a diameter of 12mm which is only available to fit 6mm wire. ) with new eye at the top of the forestay and new stud or bottle screw at the lower end.

 

Standing rigging replace.. part the second

Still being done... 

 
All finished apart from the forestay, which despite her diminutive size is 6mm. We had every intention of replacing this with 5mm, but the roller furler (a Goiet) drum has a forestay fitting that uses a 12mm (!) clevis pin, and the swaged end that would accommodate this only comes for 6mm rigging wire - so we'll replace like for like....  it made me chuckle - the entire forestay design is built round one clevis pin!

In the interim,

I've wire brushed and Hammer'ited the tabernacle - I'll give it a second coat this weekend (so that's one good side effect of the delay as I ran out of time last weekend)

"Before".... I'll get an "after" picture this weekend...

I have also fitted a burgee halyard on the starboard spreader - just an eye strap pop riveted to spreader, and then a small shackle and block I found attached to the top of the mast when I was cleaning... it wasn't being used there and now is - not the most important or momentous of fixes but it's something else done, and off the list....and I can now fly my pirate flag.... 

While cleaning and checking the mast I was surprised to find that the light at the top of the mast was actually a tri-colour navigation light, rather than an anchor light as I had assumed - the reason for the confusion is that the lens for the light is so fogged and crazed (UV damage) that it appears white. It's also useless as no light can be seen thought it - it's a shame as the fitting is in very good condition apart from that. There are alternatives though, and the need is not urgent. I'll replace it when I fit the VHF this winter - in the meanwhile I'll keep an eye on eBay for an old light to cannibalise.

As preparation however, I've had the electrical wire replaced - this runs inside the mast so it makes sense to do it now. I've also replaced that manky plug you can see in the picture above - we'll see if I also end up having to do the through deck fitting...

All being well I hope to take the boat round to have the mast put back on, on Monday (15th)

Standing rigging replace..

Sparrow is in to have her standing rigging done... a good day

Up early to meet "Coral" Paul at Emsworth Yacht Harbour at 7:30, where we left one of the cars..  round to the club, rowed out to "Sparrow", lost the tender (the mooring line slipped through my fingers honest! ), fell about laughing, quickly strapped the outboard on, cast off, chased tender, recovered tender, pulled tender back to mooring, tied it to the pick up buoy and headed for Emsworth...

35 minutes later we were gently pushing through the entrance to the marina over the sill, sharp left and glide on to the visitors pontoon...  £16 plus odd change for 24 hours but inclusive of free water/power...

After a slap up brekkie at Driftwood [clicky], Paul dropped me back at the club and I headed home for the pressure washer - I'd been looking forward to this, she's needed a damn good scrub for 6 months now... and following two pressure washes and an intermediate scrub with broom and bio washing powder, she's looking much better.....

Mast is unlikely to be ready before the weekend so I'll take her back to the mooring tomorrow morning.. and then bring her back for 24 hours when it's ready....

Before....

After....

Before.... what a grub...   for shame....

After... clean as a new pin...  you'll have to trust me as the pictures don't show it!

Brilliant day....

Marker tacking practice...

First time out in over two weeks so more than a little happy with the weather this weekend..  shame the tides didn't want to pay ball...  18:10 high tide on Sunday so earliest I could get off the mooring was 15:00, which I duly did..  just... 

Met Giblets and mate coming up the Northney channel - they'd been out for the day in the harbour...

Giblets and the almost legendary "Boobalena"..

Giblets tells me he may have stayed here for a short time while 'enjoying the scenery'..  I can't possible comment... but I have enjoyed the scenery myself there once or twice.......

 

The wind had seemed a bit fresh when I got to the boat, and Cambermet was saying Force 4 gusting 5 just before I left, so I took the decision to put some reefs in the main (first time..), and then pushed on past Northney for the Emsworth channel. The roller reefing worked a treat (I stripped and cleaned it before launch as it was stiff) and ended up putting in about 3 reefs (I count by the number of sail slides) - sail still set well - no "boom sag"...

...and that was mostly it - I wasn't out for long, a couple of hours at most as I wanted time at the end to strip sails and boom ready for the standing rigging to be replaced this week (currently planning for Wednesday). The wind direction and tide being what it was I spent most of the afternoon trying to get to Marker, down harbour tack was fine, but I then watched myself slip sideways on the tide back up towards Emsworth every time I tacked across! Still - never mind - it was sunny, warm, and very very good to be out again...

You can see from the track that about an hour in the wind swung more westerly at which point it was just about possible to aim at HISC on one tack.... got to Verner and it was time to head home if I was going to do everything I needed to...

Boom off and stored below, took the jib off to bring home (I want to measure the luff against the jib Jelly Bean Phil passed to me at the beginning of the season) and all done - time for new standing rigging!

Log:

Distance: 7.72 miles (cumulative total in the 2013 mileage tab at the top of the page)
Wind: Force 4 (both ends of the scale).. SW going to WSW
Sail Plan: Full jib and 3 reefs in the main - engine for manoeuvring..
Speed: GPS track says max speed was 5.4 knots (under sail) - average speed: 3 knots.