An "ish" day...

Not the most exciting of days but boy did it de-stress....  a sunny (ish), warm (ish), gentle breeze, type of a day and with the winds from an interesting direction..  mid day high tide, all the omens were good, and it was a cracking day to be out on the water...  didn't quite manage to hit the "outstanding", but definitely hit the "good"...

The seals were also enjoying it... 

...and this was just beautiful...

...a remarkably low key kind of day for such a cracker..?

...talking of beautiful - I've had this as a desktop for ages

...and yesterday I saw Freyja (the one in the middle) in the flesh - an Emsworth boat, and I can confirm she is definitely beautiful...

...quick motor back to the mooring for a beer, cigar, and watching the world go by as I waited for the tide to drop a bit, which it did, but still no joy on the windex..  water too cloudy and too deep still... 

Log:

Distance: 10.24 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind: Both ends of a F3; WNW going SWxS (sea breeze)
Sail Plan: Full main; full/partial genoa
Speed: 4.4/2.9 knots (max./avg.)

Completed job list - winter layover 2017/18

So one of the worst winters for maintenance in my history of boat ownership (and this is the 9th year so where did that time go?)... rain, after cold, after rain, after snow, after wind, and repeat....  all in all I found it particularly stressing, as I had stuff to do, a rapidly advancing launch date, and the weather wasn't playing ball...  but hey ho, them's the breaks, and as a mate of mine said, "that's life on the water for you"..  

So what did I get done..?  Not too much, but more than was expected in the time allowed (couple of sessions)

1. Fit electrics:
   • fit fixed VHF (which I have) - fitted - just need to wire it in - which I'll do on a quiet day while on the water
   
   
   
   
   
   • Tiller pilot and electrics -dri plug fitted for power (just need to wire it in - which I'll also do on a quiet day while on the water) - no time to fit the actual pilot.. it'll have to wait for next winter, I may be able to jimmy rig a temporary fitting, we'll see
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


2. Fit recently obtained boarding ladder (a #1 priority after this little event [clicky])







All done, and very happy with the end result -t he one modification |I've made after floating is to fit a strop to leave the ladder in a half raised position - at rest, and unloaded the ladder is well clear of the water - when on starboard tack it touches the water and causes drag - leaving it up fixes that issue


3. Handrails - completed, but not without (more) incident... touch wood the quarter berths have remained dry - so this is a qualified "good"
4. Windex - source and fit and this time get a permanent solution! Clang...  resounding fail...
   
   
   
   
   Was hugely pleased with this one, and then a series of errors on mast raise day [clicky] saw yet another of my windex's hurtle in to the briney..  this was the third one..  maybe I need to accept that it just ain't meant to be....
   
   It has however potentially raised something I need to check next winter - I had assumed the polyethylene (chopping board) material I used would be good for years as it has an almost oily texture - the fact it cracked so easily may mean it is more susceptible to UV than I thought.. I'll replace it next winter with aluminium sheet...  and I may then just fit a flag halyard and buy a burgee!!
   
5. Reinforce outboard pad and surrounding area - replaced pad
   
   
   
   
   
6. Rub down and coat of paint on cockpit locker lids / wash boards (as needed)
   • the cockpit locker lids got a coat of paint mid last season and I refitted the padlock hasps and they look pretty good (but I would also like to trim the edges for a better fit)..
   • The wash boards needed doing - especially the bottom one - I'm going to have to replace them at some time but they'll do for now...
7. Rub down and coat of wood preservative on rubbing strakes / cockpit board / outboard pad / hand rails (as needed) - the outboard pad was done as part of the renewal, I also had some areas of raised/bubbly preservative on the rubbing strakes - rubbed back and patched these but I think a more complete job will be needed next winter....
8. Antifoul - done - hideous job...
9. Service outboard - also done - new engineer this year, and the price was up (£123)
10. Service Life Jackets - done..

First sail.. Marker and back...

Hottest early May Bank Holiday on record according to the weather gonks in the national press, and it certainly felt like it, but as is usual on this weekend the tide gods were not with us...  There was the option of an all day/double-tide'r (go out on one, come back with the next), but the same hot weather high, had also brought in the typically windless days so I opted for a late afternoon sail, hoping for some sea breeze... if I'd been out all day I'd have roasted slowly while going nowhere...!

Arrived four hours before high tide as my new magnet had arrived in the post, spent a fruitless half hour rowing around trying to find the windex..  no joy...  time to try the mini-grapnel and then gave up... 

For a first sail of the year I'm late this year - last year I'd been sailing almost three weeks by now, but seemingly the weather was better earlier last year - this year two weeks to get the mast up, and then another two weeks to get some decent sailing weather starts to chew up the time...

Either way - for a shake down sail there were none better - perhaps a little more breeze, but the sun and warmth were splendid..  real shorts and tshirt weather and we played the traditional (delightful!) game of fighting the tide to Marker in light winds...  which was done just as the breeze began to drop....

Marker ahead..

...so we turned, rolled the genoa away, and ran all the way back to the mooring in a dying breeze, but on the last legs of the flow'ing tide..

...could be the Med...  end of the Emsworth channel....

...beautiful day, lovely first sail, summer's coming....   bring it on!

Log:

Distance: 7.04 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind: Both ends of a F3 dropping to a F2 - SWxS / SSW
Sail Plan: Full main and 75% genoa
Speed: 3.4/2.2 (knots - max/average)