...and we're out.. that's a wrap..

...and that's it for the 2025 sailing season..  Sparrow is now out..

12:57HT and a mahoosive 5.2M rise saw me on Sparrow, having cadged a lift out on the club launch, at about 11'ish - big Springs like that take their time coming in, and then it's like someone switched the light on and they are just there..

Waved goodbye to the rest of the Jolly Boys (who were going round the island for lift out on Dave's boat) and I thought I'd have a go at retrieving the top tackle from Sparrow rather than have to come out again in the tender, so I slipped a mooring line through the top shackle of the buoy, hauled it in, made it fast so as to make reaching it easier, and applied largest spanner and wrench that I had to the shackle that secures the swivel to the mooring buoy shackle...  and bugger me if it didn't come undone! 👏

Very very good indeed.. clearly application of lithium grease at the beginning of the season had done the trick!

Much cheered, I deployed some fenders, rigged mooring lines, and dropped the mooring for the last time for the motor under the bridge - tide was flowing fast and rising rapidly, I reckon I got under with no more than 30 minutes to spare..

Picked a spot on the pontoon, pulled her back to make room for the big boats, and waited my turn..

..really could do with a mid-ships cleat..

...we're trying a new system this haul out - which is to pressure wash the boats as they are lifted... it saves turning the hard standing into a boggy morass, as normally we would all pressure wash once we get put down, but that also slows us down - the lift team were planning on only about 10 boats a day for this one..

..and a wash..!😁

..three boats later and about an hour after high it was my turn..  no fouling video (again) this year as the lift out and pressure wash were so quick, no damning evidence could be filmed - suffice to say she was hideous...  a solid carpet of barnacles on the inside of both keels and the hull between, with weed and slime all over..  no wonder she was slowing down towards the end of the season...

..awesome skies for lift out, but warm'ish and more importantly no rain..

I've got a good spot this year, top of the yard, right next to power and water, and more importantly away from the spot I've had last few years which always seemed to form a puddle - most irritating when you have to work under the hull.. 😏

So - first ticks..

• outboard is off the boat, has been flushed, and is now safely on it's trolley in the garage
• cockpit locker lids have been swapped out for the (over winter) temporary ones - they're also in the garage awaiting the first sand, and primer
• the windex bit the dust sometime during Storm Amy - with the mast down, a windex will always get lateral wind force, and Amy was too much - the direction arrow/pointer has gone.. 😒
• new boom cover has arrived

Catch up - deliveries, boatshows, mast drops

Been a bit busy, so by way of a catch up...  

First - the Southampton Boat Show..  much chat and blather on the so'shuls (sic) about how the show is 'a mere shadow of it's former self', 'much smaller', 'full of expensive food emporiums', blah blah blah, but I would say that the event is one of my favourite of the year, and after this years attendance, is still one of my favourites..

...busy cruise liner port is Southampton..

Yes, the surface area is reduced over what it used to be three or four years ago, but I still managed to spend the entire day there and come home feeling like I'd rushed bits - well done the organisers, another cracking show..

Stand outs - the Halberg Rassy 69 without a doubt

Second main cabin..

Main main cabin.. what you don't see is the mahoosive (40"??) TV mounted on the cabin wall facing the bed..😁

LOL...  the Jolly Boys can only dream..

Full colour!

..there you go - yours for about £4.5M, plus VAT, plus any extra's you want to kit her out with..😏

Next ..this caught my eye (following) - very futuristic (reminded me of a Star Wars storm trooper).. 

More here.. ALARIS™ 6.0 [clicky]

While I correctly identified it as electric, I quite incorrectly assumed that the 6 referred to a HP rating..  it's not, it's to do with the Kw power rating - 6Kw is the equivalent (if I understand it) of a 9.5HP petrol engine..   looking at the price list it's about £8K (including VAT), tiller version is available (which I suspect will cost more), and you will also need to source your choice of battery..  this is as far as I can tell, cutting edge for Tohatsu, as I think it only hit the markets at the beginning of the year - be interested to see if they release some other sizes..   it needs to be cheaper if it's going to get general acceptance..  I can buy five of their brand new petrol 6HP's for the same price as the engine alone...  never mind the battery's as well..

Next - delivery time...  the first of the Jolly Boys boats to leave the post season water was AmiLy, a much reduced contingent of just me and the skipper took her round from Whale Island to her winter quarters in Port Solent...

..always a bit of a downer if I'm honest - just a reminder that we now have 6 months of dark, cold, and rain before the boats hit the water and we can start sailing again.. 😔

Trouble free trip - including filling the tanks ready for the winter hiatus..

😍

Then next it was time to drop the mast on Sparrow [clicky]

I'd tried (and tried!) to slip in another sail, but a combination of tides, weather, and unavoidable commitments elsewhere meant it just wasn't going to happen, and with time slipping on, and Jolly Boy availability being key, there was no time left. The mast has to come down before lift out, and with some pretty dire weather in the forecast for this weekend, I went for it while I still had time.. 

So it was that Dave, Rodders and I (as Smithy had an unavoidable appointment with a tree surgeon) conjoined on Sparrow for the now traditional mast drop, beer, and pork pie combo..

One of the best drops we've done I think - no issues - certainly one of the quickest as I'd had time to do a lot of the prep before they arrived..  always a relief when it's done though, and what a gorgeous day to do it on, warm, sunny and no more than a light breeze..  perfect..

..and then last of all, the winter refit starts here ..

..the one it's replacing did as well as the one before it, having also lasted about 6 years - which works out at about a tenner a year..  I can live with that. The old one was paper thin, beginning to split, and generally had had it's day..

Next stop, my lift out which is next Wednesday.. 

Kissing the putty..

Just a quicky - I had a feeling it would be, before I even left, but with the lift out fast approaching (week next Wednesday) and the need to get the mast down (probably next Tuesday), and a long winter of no sailing and dark days approaching it had to be done..

HT 13:59 and another massive Spring at 4.7m, but the forecast was telling me it was going to be a NE'ly which would be good, but unfortunately a F4 gusting F5..  yeah, more wind...😏

...and so it was - the forecast was spot on - and it was a northerly, and I've said it before, they can be a bit fractious, and so was this one...

Chose to go with just the genoa once I got to Sweare Deep, and then do a run down to Marker before I assessed what to do (go further or turn for home) - it worked, but I had to roll some back in as conditions were indeed fractious...  wind over (considerable) tide was creating a little swell'y roll. and I eventually bailed out about a 100 yards short of Marker - I wasn't enjoying it, it was cold, and it was grey - time for a beer..

Gybed and headed back - wanted to see if she'd go under just genoa, and because of the tide we were seeing 4's SOG!

One beat though and it was time to tack, and she (or rather I) missed stays.. gah...! Too far over, too thin in the water department, and the depth hit minus zero (an ever so helpful "out" message 😁) and the engine went on pronto, the sheets let fly and we reversed out successfully..  phew..

...and that was it - slow'ish motor back to the mooring, and home for aforesaid beer... now  can I get one last sail in????

Log:

Distance: 4.85 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 gusting F5 ; NE
Sail Plan: Full/reefed Genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.7 / 2.6