Ships Log - Yacht "Sparrow"

"My my my Delilah
Why why why Delilah
I could see, that girl was no good for me
But I was lost like a slave that no man could free"...
Lyrics by Tom Jones
...passed by the sailing club this morning on the way to work (just to make sure the mast was where David and I left it ) and as it was a low tide thought I'd check out "Delilah" the Langstone Harbour Board moorings service/maintenance vessel...



Sometime overnight on the 27th she broke her mooring and then made the following trip....


 Little over 5 nautical miles if I read the scale right...  even more amazing, just before she ended up where she did, she either went through, or across, this...


She ended up just about where that white yacht in the background is - in the first picture you can see the blocks in the background - I'm guessing she went over one of those concrete pilings (they're the old bridge supports for the Hayling Billy railway line) as the navigable route is through the middle of the l…

Just a month and a half after "Imogen" [clicky] and now we've just been pounded by "Katie" over the last (Easter) weekend..

The graph shows three days worth - I was working on Sparrow during the day on the 27th (peak of 45 knots, force 9) and at times the rain was horizontal, and even down in the "valley" between two much bigger boats, and with her mast down, she was rocking.... As it turns out that was nothing to overnight on Sunday into Monday, when we had a gust of 65 knots which is full blown F12 (hurricane) but consistent gusts of F11 , and that was inside the harbour..  I suspect that was when this occurred...


Thankfully - no damage was done - even the mast head light seems to be OK (but I need to test it), but it was a bit of a shock, and huge thanks to fellow club member David who tipped me off to the problem and had already replaced and lashed down the mast by the time I got down there.... I'm guessing that the rope lashings at the foot a…

Just over two weeks to launch, and with another Atlantic low tracking in (it must be a Bank Holiday weekend ), I decided to take a day off on what looked to be the last good weather day for a while in order to get some work done on Sparrow..

First order of the day was anti-foul..  for good reason the club likes members to anti-foul at least a week before launch as it means the paint has a chance to harden off a little, and therefore not leave deposits all over the strops used on the 8 ton lift, which then get transferred to top sides of the next boat, and the next, and etc..  With this weekend looking to be a wipe out, and the low staying with us until well into next week, it was a bit of a "no brainer"..

So obligatory "before" shot..  all taped up and the first tray loaded...


..and that ground is as hard as it looks...


...and I love this bit... "after"...  my absolute favourite bit is taking off the masking tape - watching that straight line appear...  s…

So how did I do??

1/. Fledgling 12v electrical system... job #5

I put up a separate post [clicky] but all initial goals were met..  the battery box and the switch box were installed..

2/. Job #4 Lead halyard/topping lift back to cockpit:

Not started..

3/. Job #18 Padlock hasp on wash boards - old one was rusting solid - completed...

From this...


To this...

Just need to fill those old holes and then re-paint....


4/.  Job #21 Rub down and coat of paint on the wash boards - almost done - two coats applied, I'll put another coat on before I'm finished - in addition the top/upper board has a batten reinforcement that proved to be hopelessly rotted - I whipped that off and will replace with fresh...



5/. Job #22 Rub down and coat of wood preservative on rubbing strakes / cockpit board - done - ended up putting two coats on, and also rubbed down and gave the tiller two coats, and also a coat on the outboard board, and the sides of the companion way (the last two will get an extra …

Progress on job #5, installing some electrics, is progressing.. as a reminder first post was here [clicky], but I've set up a blogger label for this series of  posts so just select "12v" (over to the left) and you should get any/all of them as I progress...

So just a recap - basic requirements at this stage is nothing more than:
batteryisolator switchbus barswitch panel 1. Battery

My original idea was to strap the battery box to a sheet of epoxied marine ply bolted to (some) part of the boat, but in the end the solution I used was much simpler - using part of the original idea (to use the lip of the opening under the cockpit sole), I :
trimmed part of the carrying handle on the battery box so that the handle then sat comfortably on the lip,and then cut a wooden batten the width of the inside of the box to act a strengthening braceclamped the whole lot in place - batten inside box to lipdrilled through the lip, box, and batten twice - once at each end to provide lateral br…

...well new to me anyway...  err.. second hand ... "previously owned"... 

Been pricing up new main sail for Sparrow as it was trickling up to the top of my "urgency" list as launch approaches.. I'm no boy racer but I can tell the sail is err.. past it's "sell by" date, and fast approaching its "use by" date...

I like to use local sail makers if I can, and if they hadn't gone bust () last year the guys who made my genoa (Arun) would have been first choice, either way, they have, so I've had to ask a few others... No response from Batt Sails (they're in the same local industrial park as Arun was), but a quote of £620 from Kemp Sails (Gosport but still fairly local), with a small/possible discount if I order it off season (probably the £20 )

While I was doing that I also put out  a gentle word round various forums to see if there any second hand mains knocking about and got lucky via a contact on the YBW forums...  much measurin…

Remember saying that last winter as we got close to launch, but despite getting a lot of stuff prepared, I've not quite hit the heady heights of last Spring... It's been a cold wet windy winter, and I've been busy with work and family stuff so I've not done quite as much as I would have hoped to date, but having said that most of the stuff on the list is "non-urgent" - I've done the critical stuff in previous years...

So this is what I'm hoping to get done this weekend.... the forecast is for warmer sunny weather and I also have Monday off so I can crack the back of it...

1/. Fledgling 12v electrical system... job #5

All the stuff I ordered has arrived with the exception of the stainless steel earthing bar (parts availability crisis apparently - should be with me soon though)..

I also devoted some thought to a cupboard or box to keep it all in and rather than make one (which I could do, but it wouldn't be as nice) I ordered one of these from eB…

One of the mini-projects this winter was a temporary solution to my requirement for a permanent VHF. As good as the winter was in terms of crossing stuff off the job list, I never managed to get to the electrics, and a fixed VHF requires pukka 12v power. In order to resolve the issue temporarily, and to increase the range of my hand held, I came up with a plan to use it with an external antenna suitable to be used with the fixed VHF when I get it...

Now I'll be the first to say that the subject of VHF sockets/connections was Greek to me, but with the assistance of some of the guys on the Practical Boat Owner web forum, I now have a significantly slightly better idea of what's going on - but I'm no expert - so if anyone chooses to believe the following, I would advise double checking....  having said that, with the exception of the external antenna most of these adaptors and connectors come in at less than a fiver...

There are a number of things to bear in mind when looki…