Shakedown sail...

Bit of a big one, but a fairly trouble free shakedown it was..  before we get to that though, a few other bits and pieces happening...

First off, sniping a suitable hole in the abysmal weather we've been having recently, the sails finally went back on three or four days ago. I also took the opportunity to tighten up the rig, and to refresh the fuel in the outboard tank..  I get worried when it's over four weeks old, and it's no problem just to drain the tank of the old, shove that in the car, and then fill up again with fresh the next time I'm on the boat..  so 5 ltrs of Super added..

While putting the tender in however, one of the wheels fell off the launch trolley - so that was a slightly bigger job - took it home and found they had been held on with captive/locking washers..

Tidied up the hub, and rather than get new locking washers I decided to drill and pin it with a nice chunky washer between to protect the pin and wheel from rubbing...

Job done - the other one is OK, so I'll just do the same when it (inevitably) fails - let's go sailing..

Quite possibly one of the loveliest days of the Spring so far this year, with a F3 promised (albeit expected to drop later in the day) and wall to wall warm sunshine was chosen for the first sail..  what a blinder, and so good to be back on the water..

HT was 11:46, and I was on the boat and getting ready by 09:45, funnily enough, and unlike normally happens on the first sail of the year, I actually remembered what to do, and even in the right order (😏) including remembering how to reef - the wind in the moorings was a little feisty, and given it was the first sail of the year, I decided a light reef was in order despite the forecast saying it would drop. That done by half past we dropped the mooring and for the first time this year were motoring down 'the ditch' (it's actually called 'The New Cut' as it was dredged back in the day for the barges that ran between Chichester and Portsmouth) towards Northney...  sails up off the entrance to the marina and the (most unusual) NE'ly was swinging around enough for us to get down Sweare Deep to the Emsworth Channel on a single tack before bearing away against a Spring tide flow to have a glorious beam reach to the bottom of the harbour - making 3's and 3.5 knots against a a 1 or 2 knot tide..  most pleasing - clean bottoms are a help.. 😀

Short cut cross Pilsea Sands, then Stockers Lake (interesting to see the depth jump as we went through, or rather over, it) and over Stockers Sands before tightening up for Snowhill Creek...   remarkably un-busy at East Head for such a lovely day but I guess most people were at work, so a bit of pootling round admiring the boats, and it was round Snowhill buoy and aiming back at the top of the harbour..

Close hauled, and close reach, to the top of the harbour with the wind dying all the time, hove to to take the reefs out just shy of Marker, and then persevered for another half an hour before admitting defeat, dropping the sails and heading back to the mooring on motor.

So "shakedown" issues?

• Standing rigging is good - all taught and little or no slack on opposite sides when beating
• Main halyard run was a bit skewwhiff - it was running behind/around the genoa halyard so friction when raising and dropping the sail - dropped the genoa, restored a clean run for both halyards, and re-raised and tied off the genoa..  job done.
• Dropped the boat hook when I was picking up the mooring - no idea how - but happily I managed to get back to the cockpit, leant over the side, and collected it as it floated past..  another vote for wooden boat hooks..  they float.. but easier not to drop it in the first place! 😏

Log:

Distance: 10.18 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):   Both ends of a F3; NE going SxW (sea breeze)
Sail Plan: Reefed/full main; reefed/full genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  5.4 / 2.8

...and up!

...and not with a whimper but a bang the mast is up.. 

The weather is the usual bag of spanners we get at this time of the year so with long experience I always provide the Jolly Boys with a couple of dates so that we can shift if necessary, and so it more or less was this year. Forecasts were shabby for the first day so I shifted to the fall-back only to get up on the first day and the weather being nothing like was forecast a mere 12 hours before..  

The phone started pinging from various Jolly Boys saying 'should we go ahead anyway' - so the plan was changed again, and a mere hour later we were on the boat prepping for the mast lift.

It was a good, fairly trouble free, lift as per the previous efforts (and as documented here [clicky]); the only niggle we had was the topping lift (which I use as a fail safe for the jib halyard) wrapped round the furler - but that was easily resolved, and if anything was a help as it kept the foil out of the way during the lift.. 😏

Nothing for it but to adjourn to the cabin and cockpit and drink beer* and eat pork pies and picked eggs in celebration.. good one!

Will get the sails on next time we have some decent weather..

*Appropriate libations were also made to boat and Neptune for the coming season.. 😀

....and in!

..yep, Sparrow's in, but not before a whole load of extra work and "doings"!

As storm 'Kathleen' launched herself upon the south coast (and her straight after storm 'Olive'!), I heard through the grapevine that the lift in on Sunday was cancelled, so when I did my club "lift in" duty on the Monday I knew it was going to be busy as the guys were trying to concertina the two days into one...

Suffice to say that Monday duty was a 'mare of a day that I was more than happy to finish 18 boats later..  I was doing launch duty which normally I love, but the day was a catalogue of disasters for me..  the spring tides were running stupidly fast so the first issue was wrapping a mooring rope round the prop that I simply didn't see (pick up float was at the wrong end of the warp for some reason, so the warp was floating free just under water 😕)...  then at the end of the day, as the tide was going out, t'other Dave gave me a shout for a lift back to shore, it looked like there was enough water so I set out to pick him up, but clearly there wasn't as I hit the only submerged rock in the whole inner bay and totalled the propeller! Gaaah... 😩  I blame myself for not weighing the odds better..  lesson learned, and the guys have managed to recover and refit the propeller..  no harm done apparently..

As I was going home I was advised the Tuesday lift in was also cancelled due to heavy winds, so my lift in was shifted to Wednesday. 

Popped down the club Tuesday night to strap the engine on ready for a potentially early morning lift..

..an Oxalic wash removed the staining a treat to the sides of the new outboard pad..

...which was well timed, as when I arrived Wednesday morning at at half eight I was told I was next to be lifted for a 'dry launch' (which I prefer) from the shingle at the bottom of the slipway.. far more relaxing to sit and wait for the water, than be launched like a missile from the hoist.. 😏

So many expectations... 

The timing was also perfect for the last job of the winter maintenance cycle..  borrowed the long ladder, and then removed the old windex and replaced it with a nice shiny new one...  I am offering no better than 25% odds this one survives the summer, but hey ho.. 😏

That done, it was time for the traditional very last job of the season.. 😀

...the last job...

..before sitting down in the cockpit with a coffee to wait for the water to arrive. An hour later and she started rocking gently, and 15 or 20 minutes later and I was off..  thanks to the club CCTV for the following.. 

Just floated off and now heading for under the bridge... at 10:14, unbelievable.. 😀

...it was good to be back on the mooring even of the weather wasn't the best..

 

...thoughts now turn to getting the mast up!!