hot!

Well, we didn't do many miles this weekend, but they were nice ones!After a late arrival Friday night we awoke Sat morning to a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm...I fairly immediately set to in getting the new tender set up and onto the davits.... the plan was a couple of hours work, and then we'd get out sailing... As ever, blind optimism was in play, and the 'couple of hours' of work, turned into a bit of a marathon. By the time i'd worked out how to rig the downhaul, boom retention, routed the halyard half a dozen different times, and finally fitted the davit fixings, it was 14:00, and when SWMBO handed me a cold beer, the afternoon had turned into a bit of relaxation exercise....So we sat and chilled out for the remainder of the day..... the evening finished off with a fine curry and two or three more cold beers!Sunday started a little greyer, but still warm, and the sun kept poking through making it really quite nice. By 09:30 we locked out, after a short delay while a dozen Ajax's locked out... Ajaxs are a small engineless keelboat, and we watched without any envy as they paddled furiously to try and get into the lock!Once out at sea, we found 18kts of wind, bang on the nose out of Harwich, so motored into the choppy swell and made our way into Hamford water, where we dropped the hook.We'd motored past all the anchored boats and cautiously nudged our way into the shallowing water until we daredn't go any further on a falling tide, and dropped the hook.... with the anchor down, I engaged reverse, and we gently slid backwards and carried on sliding..... it clearly wasn't going to hold.... so I lifted the anchor back up to find it liberally covered in pipe weed. This weed is the scourge of east coast anchorages.... its tough, slippery and prolific.... and it makes anchoring very hit or miss..... so we motored back through the anchored boats and selected a spot a bit further back down the creek... down went the hook and it set almost immediately.... proves that picking your spot is important. This care was to prove sensible.Now that we were in, we had a few hours to wait for the tide to continue dropping and start rising again. We'd been there an hour when we heard a shout....The small Westerly that had ironically been glaring at us, saying (with their eyes) don't anchor too close when we'd tried the first spot, had dragged.... they were pinned across the bows of another boat, and in a bit of a pickle.... their chains had got mixed up, and one chain was round the keel of the other..... it took them the best part of an hour to sort themselves out.... but fortunately looked to be no damage....Back out the other way to sea, we could see a boat over at 45 degrees.... hard aground.... thankfully it was a neap.... but if was definitely a weekend for calamities!By 15:00 we ruefully pulled up the anchor, and left this peaceful and relaxing anchorage and headed out to sea.... with the wind now behind us, the apparent wind was much lower, so we set the genny and had a very pleasant sail at 5 to 6 kts back into Harwich, where we finally rolled the sail away and locked back in...Not many miles, but with the warm weather, a grand weekend.

Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 333nm
Miles since this blog started 3,270nm

400 not out!

Can't believe i've put 400 entries on here!I must waffle even more than I thought... (and thats saying something!)Anyway.... the remaining chandlery bits arrived.... hoorah...... I ran out of stainless screws.... boo!And i've decided that the rowlocks won't fit.... they are top loading ones, and the fitting is just marginally too wide for the gunwhales.... so I need to get some side mount fittings, and then we are in business.The boat is loaded on the car roof... the bag of bits to fit in the boot.... a quick visit to the chandlery and an hour in the morning, and she'll be done!I still need to work out how to fit her on the davits... so a bit of lateral thinking in the morning, and that'll be it...Only remaining task then is to make and fit a cover to stop her filling with rain water.... in the mean time, i'll hang her sideway on the davits so she can't fill up... I ummed and arred about fitting a bung or a self bailer, but decided to go the traditional route.... a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off and manual labour!Just waiting for C to finish at Sea Cadets, and we'll be off. Forecast looks surprisingly good.So thats 400..... I wonder what adventures and experiences we'll have had by the time 800 come along?

chandlery

Half the bits arrived.......I still await two pulley blocks (for the horse and mainsheet) and a number of stainless bridges (to fit to the gaff for the uphaul, for the mast retainer, to fix the horse in place, for the downhaul and for the centreboard retaining strap.....)I could do with getting the tender down to the boat this weekend as its pirate weekend the following one, and we'll end up with loads to take.... so I may have to bite the bullet and buy the bits from the chandlery..... never mind....At least I can fit the sheave in the mast head, and the rowlocks....I also finished fitting the rudder last night..... locating the pintles in the correct place is harder that it looks!... but it's now all done, and looking great..... i'll try to fit the sheave tonight, and then more piccies!

getting closer

Just waiting the final few bits to finish it....But I couldn't resist seeing what she'll look like!

The rudder and centreboard are now painted..... so no more than 2 or 3 hrs work in total, and she'll be done.

dinghy bits

...sigh... my bits ordered online still haven't arrived.... sitting and waiting...I'll be running out of time unless they turn up soon....

rubbish forecasts!

So the forecast got more optimistic, and the weather got worse!It was grey, raining slightly, and the wind was steadily buildingWe did get out on Saturday for a short sail, just up the river to Pin Mill, which was pleasent enough sailing downwind, but as we turned to head back, into the wind, it was darned cold!So we motored back to the marina, and got on with a few jobs instead...I finally traced the wiring from the batteries to the isolator switches, and mapped it out so that I understand exactly what the switches do, which is about time really!I also installed and fitted a few bits and pieces....I eventually decided that i'd go up the mast and install the windex, but got the secondary halyard (my extra safety line) the wrong side of the spreaders... and every time I reached a spreader, had to untie it, and thread it the other side of the spreader.... as I reached the second set, the wind was rocking the boat, and untying the safety was making me nervous.... and I ended up with (for me an unusal) bout of vertigo and gave up and came back down.... it'll be easier of a warm and windless day (I hope!)So Sat evening, we wandered over to the Shipwreck and had a quiet pint, and then when we got back to the boat, SWMBO produced a rabbit out of her hat!... she'd brought all the ingredients for a Mexican....Before you knew it, she'd knocked up Chicken Fahitas and Tacos.... so I sat there, with an ice cold beer, feet up, eating Mexican, watching the footy after a day of sailing.... life can't really be that bad can it!!!!!!!Sunday saw the wind even stronger, reaching F7, so we idled for a while, and then packed up and came home....With just two weeks to the Pirate weekend, I do believe she'll be ready..... she's busted the budget (which i'd optimistically set at £100), as she'll end up costing £140, excluding the oars.... but still pretty good I reckon for that money!Anyone want to buy a Plastimo 2.7m inflatable?

Miles logged 9nm
Miles this season 321nm
Miles since this blog started 3,258nm

forecast..

.... isn't looking so rubbish now.... will be going down to the boat after all!Ordered the remaining bits for the tender... well almost all of them... still have to get the pintles for the rudder, the oars, and the eyelet kit to finish the sail.... other than that well on the way.....

weekend forecast...

.... is looking pretty rubbish...Not sure what we'll do yet.... forecast to be cold, windy and wet....Good June weather. :(Maybe i'll be getting the tender finished.

sail complete

Hoorah... I've finished the sail.... (well bar the eyelets, but that doesn't count!)Apologies for picture quality... taken on a mobile...

I'm now slightly more confident that we'll be ready for the annual pirate weekend at the beginning of July....I'm chuffed to bits with the sail....The light is shining at the end of the tunnel!Its also been a good week in other ways too.... my mate Alan has finished the Jester Azores challenge.. its a single handed race to the Azores for boats under 30'... he's completed it in his Westerly Centaur, Pipedream.... The Jester is brilliant event, inspired by the exploits of the original Jester boat and its owner/skipper Blondie Haslar, and all about the taking part... there is no prize other than self satisfaction, and its an event populated by very low budget, self maintained boats of all sorts of variety.... no racey craft here!... as said, its a brilliant event.... and Alan is a brilliant bloke.... well done mate... you're a star!

sailmaking

Yes... I finally got on with the sail..... it wasn't as big a job as i'd expected..... one good evening on the task, and its nearly finished....Its quite a rewarding challenge, and i'm quite pleased with the results even if I do say so myself!pictures coming this way shortly....All I need now are a few bits of chandlery, to paint the rudder and centreboard and the eyelet kit for the sail, and we are away!

Outboard

No sailing this weekend.... SWMBO has to work again (her busy spell at work will soon be finished thankfully), and we also needed to get her car through an MOT (successfully!)So, I have taken the opportunity to get to grips with the troublesome outboard, a Honda 2.3.... it hasn't been running well, and last trip simply refused to start at all... so I brought it home to check it out...It's not the easiest engine to take apart, with a tight fitting plastic guard cover over the working bits, that requires the fuel tank, throttle and choke cables, and various electrical bits to be removed, and then the starter recoil mechanism as well.... and then it is a very tight fit, so needs a little 'assistance' to remove.... once it was off, then I could get at the exhasut and carb.... the drain bolt is locked solid, so no chance there, so I had to remove the two bolts that hold the carb/exhaust on, and very carefully remove the assembly to avoid damaging the gaskets (as i didn't have replacements)... once the carn was off, then I removed the top and cleaned it out... quite a bit of gunk in there, and then the float chamber/bowl came off.... ahh.... thus looked like it might be the problem.... there was a significant amount of solid matter in there, and the needle area was well gunked up, with two small air holes completely blocked.... a good few mins of cleaning, and it looked better...Reassembling and reinstalling the carb was straightforward... but the remaining plastic less so!.... it took me a good while to get the cover back on.... But eventually it was in place.... I pulled the starter and there was a funny graunching noise..... I immediatly looked and the plastci cover that had taken 30 mins to remove and 30 mins to refit was on wrong!!!!!... inside is a small metal heatshield and i'd got it in the wrong place and it was catching on the air fins on the cylinder head that provide the colling air flow.... ******!So it was removed again, and reinstalled... this time a bit quicker with the benefit of practice, and then the outer cover was put back.... two quick pulls with the kill switch off to fill the carb.... pop the kill cord on, pull... and off she went!... running beautifully..... hoorah!I've also painted another coat on the gunwhales of the dinghy... she's looking fabulous.... i'll start painting the centreboard and rudder later, and then this evening... i'll start the sail.... promise!

Painting nears an end

Still no piccies... must sort that....But... the painting is drawing to a close..... two more coats on the exterior... and another coat on the interior.... plus extra coats on the bits under the benches that had been hard to reach when the boat was the right way up.....So.... bar a bit of touching up on the gunwhales, she not far off done...I need to buy and fit some rowlocks.... and we are away... Now I must face the task of the sail that i've been putting off for too long..

changeable weather

Rather mixed bag weather wise this weekend.... arrived down Friday night in pouring rain..... forecast was for it to continue through to early Sat afternoon, but becoming scattered showers.....Like heck..... it chucked it down all day..... so I was dragged shopping....Only consolation was that we found a 12v portable satellite dish, which I promptly set up upon getting back to the boat.... and it worked brilliantly.... that kept the kids happy.... 200 channels to choose from!We sat back, and chilled with a bottle of beer for a while, until our friends David and Helen called..... did we want a fish and chip supper along with quiz night at the Haven Ports Yacht Club.... seemed as good a plan as any, so we drove over.... proved to be a very entertaining night, with a solid second place in the quiz earning us a decent bottle of red!Sunday dawned as still rather grey, but at least no longer raining.....By 10h00, the skies had cleared a bit, and the sun was starting to peek through, but we decided that as low water was just after lunch, it wasn't really worth getting too carried away going anywhere, so we all agreed that a day of boat cleaning was in order....By midday, it was hot.... with me just in shorts scrubbing the decks.... I will pay the proe now as my back is rather red.... but at least the boat is shiny again!The kids dawdled around the marina in the tender.... a fine day all in all...By 13h00, we'd finished cleaning, so decided to set off home.... and when we arrived,I set too again on the new tender.....A second coat on the interior... one more will do it.... and then a coat of the final nay blue on the stern and around the gunwhales.... looks fantastic... no pics though.... may try later....All thats left to do on the hull is...

1] another coat on the interior
2] invert her, and do the bits under the seats... another 3 coats I suspect
3] coat on the exterior
4] re-do the gunwhales (probably twice)
5] final coat on the exterior
6] flatten off the exterior
7] fit the rowlocks

So plenty to keep me occupied!

2nd coat on the hull

Another coat on the hull.... a few minor runs becuase i've piled it on quite thick to create a decent base..... will flat it off when the paint is hard (probably after the weekend)

I also set the sewing machine up last night, a tried it out.... wow!... its a little more powerful than SWMBO's domestic machine.... and runs at about 5 times the speed..... will be entertaining!

feeling blue

Got home from work this evening, and straight out into the garage to get on with the tender....The interior coats will still need another 24 to 48 hrs to go properly hard, and so I flipped the tender and put the first coat on the exterior..

This was only ever so slightly thinned, as there was a coat of very light primer already on much of the hull, but as you can see it still soaked in quite a lot.Its a lot lighter than the final colour, which will be a royal blue, but I had a tin of hardly used International paint in this colour, so figured that would do just fine to get a first coat on, and provide a decent base for the darker colour..Besides that, I don't have the royal blue paint yet.... I've ordered it, along with another tin of brilliant white, so that should just about be enough paint to finish the job.I've got to start the sail at some point, but not sure I can be bothered tonight...Another bit of a challenge is that when we bought Morgana, she had a set of dodgers with her, but with two problems.... firstly, after damaging the spray hood slightly, the previous owner had cut a lump out of one of them to use as a matching repair, and secondly, the dodgers have the previous boats name on her, before she was renamed... 'distant dreams'.... I had plans to make a repair to the dodger with a bit missing by sewing in a dark blue panel disguised as a winch pocket, and also match the other side, and then to unpick the name sewn on, and redo with 'Morgana'... I have thus far been thwarted as the name is not only sewn on, but also stuck on, and it looks unlikely that i'll be able to peel the letters off... i've tried!So, I may need to buy a little bit of material to make some new ones, using the old ones as patterns.... but it'll have to wait... too much to do.... too little time to do it... too little money to pay for it!

2nd coat

Got a second coat on the tender today... 1st coat was dry, but not hard enough to sand..... so with this second coat, it'll now need leaving a few days for the paint to go properly hard before I can flat it, and start the 3rd coat...This coat however was nice, as it started to seal it all up....panel joints etc all started to dissapear, and you can now see a watertight boat appearing....[insert image here] [insert image here] [insert image here] I hope to get the hull on the water for the Pirate weekend we do every July... so only a few weeks away... best keep at it!