Sticks up.. rags on...

...so it was that on what was quite possibly the best day we've ever had for raising a mast, the Jolly Boys "mast raising annexe" convened on Sparrow on Saturday afternoon to do the job we were born to...

What can I say? Easily one of the best raises we've done..  which given it is the first time we've done it in over 24 months is not bad going at all -  no issues, no surprises.. and up she went to be followed by beer, banter, pork pies and kettle crisps...  a libation was made to Neptune, the boat and the skipper in equal parts, fair winds, please...

...then on Sunday, in more astonishing weather, I came down and put the rags on, but not before I had to repair a rowlock on the tender - opposite side to the last repair, and a right royal bodge, but it did the job and all I needed was for it to be secure to get me out to the boat...

Half way through, Smithy came by on his kayak, so the beer supplies were damaged again, but it was good to sit in the sun, chat, talk rubbish and watch the world go by..  so that's it, all done...  better go sailing then!

....last jobs.. and splashed..

....and breathe....

So after the most frenetic 3 or 4 days in some time she's back in...  but I'm jumping ahead...  so final jobs done...  rub down and two coats of varnish on the grab rails...  

look, shiny..  given what they looked like before that's a little more than miraculous...

...as I had the varnish out, the tiller got the same...  I also rubbed down the companionway sides and gave them two coats as well...  varnish central..

Pleased with this one...  there are moments when you need to disengage the auto pilot from the tiller and then you have the issue of what you do with it, to stop it flopping all over the place..  it was driving me up the wall..  answer? Plastic uPVC pipe clips.. 20mm size...  

Seemples, when not in use the wand/ram just clips in and is held...  chuffed to nuts with this one..  simple things... 😀

Don't laugh (Jolly Boy skipper Rod the Mod already has)..  I have  history with windex's but they are quite useful...  lost the arrow on the last/latest one, but as I still had the arms I just replaced it with a dinghy indicator

Jobs done...  time for the very last thing to do...

Morning of the launch and fit the outboard.. more importantly though, will the lock fit...   answer yes, but only upside down..  decided I don't care, and that will do very nicely..  I may have a play about to see if I can turn it over, but upside down is OK - what I will do is get a plastic bag to keep the water from filling it up..

...and that was it...  along came the hoist...

...dragged Sparrow off, and set her down on the mud and shingle to await the tide...

...and an hour and a half later I was on the mooring for the first time in 18 months...  been a lonnnnnnng wait... 

A good launch for me, 3 other boats also went in, but one came straight back out (leaking skin fitting..  a new one)..  we also recovered a boat that was already in, but which had hit some object floating under the water in the harbour and given its rudder an almighty clout, the rudder was bent at least 10 or 15 degrees out of true, and had lost a pivot pin..  very worrying for the skipper, and an earlier end to his season than he would have hoped, though he's hopeful to be back in again this summer...

The Jolly Boys are convening Saturday afternoon to put the mast up..   should be fun, I only hope we can remember how to do it!!

More jobs being done.. and a launch date..

...the annual bodge'fest that is the job list on Sparrow continues...  

First on the list was a club duty - we're a self help club, and I've taken it upon myself to maintain the tender pen we have on the Chichester harbour side (where I keep my tender - so I'm not entirely without interest) - the grass in the pen was up to my waist at least (small exaggeration) but an hour and a half with a strimmer later and it was up to my ankles..  I'd also discovered at least three Japanese soldiers waiting for the end of the war to surrender, and sent them to the pub.. 

 

Time for a beer and to contemplate the next job - and I apologise wholeheartedly for the lack of pictures - you're just going to have to believe me..

• she was filthy, utterly green, for shame..  she is no longer...  long session with a broom, a hose, and a couple of litres of car wax/wash and she looked 100% better
  

• we've have had some monumental rain since the last session on the boat, and the fix to the screws holding the grab rail is confirmed as a good'un..no water ingress - in fact despite the torrential nature of it, no ingress at all

• so after the fun and games with the starboard cockpit locker lid [clicky] in spring last year, the new port side one is made and sized.. it's got a couple of coats of epoxy primer, and two or three coats of exterior white..  I have no expectation it will last much beyond the first decent rain but it's better than the one that is there and delaminating, and this summer as COVID eases and stock levels begin to recover I will be ordering some Stokbord (a recycled plastic sheeting product) to replace both cockpit lids permanently..

• the outboard pad lasted two years before it delaminated... the new one is fitted..  this will be another candidate for the Stokbord when I get it
  

• I also gave it a wash down with Oxalic acid to remove the brown stains on the water line, and also some old rust stain residue - the stuff is amazing, staining disappears almost before your eyes:
  
  
  
  
  ...and after..
  
  
  
  
  

•  I have a launch date of  10th June (if the weather stays good) - before that I have a few last jobs I need to get done while I still have access to power and water:


1. A light sand and a coat of varnish on the grab rails
2. Fit the cockpit locker lid 
3. Fit the replacement windex indicator
   
4. A retaining clip for the auto pilot ram for when it's not in use (was driving me mad the year before last)
5. Time for a tender trip out to the mooring to fit the top tackle and check it out