Can't stop making things!

Finishing the first dodger seems to have set me off on a spree of making things!Besides being well underway with the second dodger, and having plans for a parbuckle, i've bought a flourescent jacket/waistcoat, that is being cut up to make a new flag for the danbuoy ( the old one is faded beyond sensible) and ordered a pile of diodes, resistors, transistors and light sensitive resistors to make an LED anchor light and a set of emergency nav lights.... i'll post up the diagrams when I make them, but for £25, i've got the bits to make an anchor light that consumes 50mA, and turns itself on an off, and has full redundancy, eg half the bits can fail and it'll still work, and a set of emerency nav lights that will consume a mere 25mA, and work at voltages as low as 10V should things get desperate on the battery front... oh the joys of winter's long dark evenings!

Jobs I can't put off

There are a few jobs that I can't put off this winter....

Fit the Windex
Fit the hydrostatic release (yes, the one I bought 18mths ago)
Replace the mainsheet
Replace the mainsail furling line
sort out why the engine temp guage always underreads, and fix it
Fit some D-rings in the cockpit for clipping on

and a few jobs that i'd like to get done, but will fit in if I can

Sort out the water tank guages which don't work properly
Fit a holding tank
Wire the nmea from the plotter to the other instruments, especially the autopilot
Fit the clutches for the kicker and spare foresail halyard
fit a small pump to help empty the fridge drain

While I am at it, I also had a thought last night.... I was reading through an old PBO about techniques for recovering a MOB, that had a lengthy section about using Parbuckles. For those that aren't familiar with a Parbuckle, its a piece of material, usually traingular but not always, of which two corners are fitted to the edge of the boat (the toerail) and the other corner to the halyard, which is then let right off so that the trinagle is point down in the water.... the casualty is then fed inbetween the triangle and the rope, which is then winched up effectively rolling the MOB back up into the boat.
I realised that I have enough sail material left over to make a decent sized parbuckle. I just need to work out how to make the corner attachments really robust, and voila... another decent MOB recovery tool!

Final bit of news.... PyroJames has kindly donated a 45Lb CQR to me... this will be perfect for several purposes... firstly it'll make an enormous kedge... secondly, it makes an excellent spare Bower, and finally, I can try a few different mooring technqiues.... I don't think its of any huge value on the Thames Estuary... but i'd like to try a Bahamian moor, just to see how I get on!

First Dodger completed

Managed to get the first dodger completed this weekend.... well bar fitting the brass eyelets (yet to be sourced) The second is cut out, and the letters also cut out.... more work to be done

Crikey, its cold!

Its been unseasonably cold in the UK. Or rather it probably hasn't. Its just that we've got used to mild winters over the last few years, and with this one returning to what is 'normal', its caught everyone out a little.So thats made sailing a little less appealingIt hasn't however, stopped things like thinking "did I drain the water system down properly", or "I wonder if there's enough antifreeze in the engine"I guess I'll find out next time i'm on the boat..... its just been a long while since temperatures reached 10 below freezing here!So, I must while my time away doing jobs off the boat....I have bought a roll of dodger material to replace the dodgers that came with Morgana. They were perfect in every way, except for two things... firstly, the boats previous name (under the owner before last) was on them, and the letters were not only sewn on, but stuck on too, and despite my best efforts, its was going to be a mammoth job to remove them, and secondly and more importantly, the previous owner after damaging the sprayhood had cut a large square of material out of one of them for a repair piece!So... new material purchased, I also set about using the spare sail material I have from making the tender and cut out the letters to spell Morgana twice... not difficult, but time consuming... but is now done... just need to cut and sew the dodgers now, and then sew the names onA good tip from the material supplier... when I sew the hem on, sew in a samll piece of vinyl where the eyelets will be as it helps them grip much better and adds a lot of strengthBesides my sewing skills being tested again, I have also been invited on a small trip at the start of next month... a group of 10 people on 3 boats will be making the epic voyage from the Solent to Poole for a winter boys trip....It has the making of a boozy affair... but does sound like we'll be having quite a laugh, taking in such high points as the Lymington Town Sailing Club quiz night.... Looking forward to it enormously.

Off and running

The first trip of the year under our belt...It was a grand new years eve, with Jim and Lynne onboard, Doug tied up on the next berth, and two other forum boats, Cento and Yuletide just a couple of berths up...We celebrated accordingly, ending the year, and seeing in the new one standing on the holding pontoon looking out over Harwich, watching the splendid fireworks, and drinking Champagne... The following day didn't start very early, and by the time we risen, cooked and eaten breakfast and sorted the boat to leave her berth, it was nearly 14h00,so we had a slow drift up the Stour as far as Wrabness, where the tide finally turned, and we rounded and set back....,br/> after just a couple of miles, the already fickle wind died, so we had to motor the remaining short distance...it was however, a complete treat, with mulled wine being served out of the galley, and complete and utter peace... we saw just one other boat on the wateWe tied back up again by 16h00, needing nav lights for the final mile or two, and once in our berth, Jim immediately set too and made a truly marvellous Chile con Carne, which sat nicely with a decent Claret.... Exhaustion firnally won out, and we were all in our berths and snoring by 23h30!What a great way to see in the new year!

Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 12nm
Miles since this blog started 3,909nm