Toe in the water..

Been a while, but following the last sail where the engine decided to go "putttt" I took her off to the outboard engineers for a once over convinced that the issue was the throttle cable (despite it being in good condition)..

With the delivery issues we're currently experiencing in the UK (bottom line a shortage of HGV drivers that may, or may not, be caused by Brexit depending on who you believe) he was concerned that it could take 3 to 4 weeks, but as it turned out 2 weeks and she was done, and yes, it was a throttle cable which was replaced..

Took a day off and refitted it over one high tide - again using the boom as a crane, and the main sheet for lifting "grunt" - this worked so well that I could almost get it into the outboard scoop  whilst still using the tackle - excellent, and so much easier...

I'd also noticed that I seemed to be leaking oil from somewhere (I suspect the oil dipper wasn't screwed in tight enough), and after a top up of oil gave her a run just to confirm all was good - and it was..  

Going forward I have decided to not raise the outboard leg to the top position when I leave the boat..  because the boat is nose heavy, it can mean the prop is higher than the block at times, and that can't be a good thing, so I now leave it in the mid position - the prop is half/quarter submerged while she's floating, but the angle of the leg when she dries is much better, and when I went out this time there was no sign of any further leakage, so job's a good'un I think..

I had no intention of actually going out at all when I got to the boat, the intent was to give her a once over and make sure everything was OK as the weather when I left home was grey, humid, and wind'less - when I got to the boat however, it was warm , sunny and with a nice breeze!

Throwing caution to the wind I dropped the mooring and headed off down the cut in a weaving and zig zag manner as I re-learnt some sail raising skills after what seemed like a long time..

It was a short trip - by the time I got to the headland at the bottom of the Emsworth channel it was gusting a good top end 5, and greying over..  I wasn't ready for it (too much sail up, couldn't be bothered to reef, and just after HT anyway) so turned, dropped the sails and went back to laze in the cockpit on the mooring, but not before losing my prized BAR America's Cup hat over the side... a perfect man overboard recovery (albeit on the the 3rd attempt!) however, and she was returned to the boat..

Log:

Distance: 2.5 miles  (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 gusting F5; WxS
Sail Plan: Full main partial genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  3.5 knots