At Last

So I finally got out today, no fog, no rain although no sun either but the crews' faces are glowing.

I had thought originally I’d be sailing on Sunday as skip thought it appeared to be the less windy of the two days and as it was a bit of a shakedown, he didn’t want to discover what was discovered in stronger winds.  The direction was North Westerly and at around 15.0 kts, so they thought they’d put a reef in until they’d settled down and at least cleared Gurnard.  Skip with a lack of practice managed to put in No.2 reef by mistake and whilst I was flatter I still managed around 8-9.0 kts SOG (the log skip left in wasn’t recording).  Halfway along the Western Solent the wind eased and they hoisted the whole main, this gave Skip the opportunity to re-tie the No. 2 reefing line and put it back on the same side of the sail as its pulley, taking out the twist they discovered when setting it.  No. 1 reefing line was correct no issues there.

Marley the wind generator was keeping my batteries up at 13.1v despite having the Autohelm holding course and we screamed along.

The crew opted to stop at Totland for lunch as this tested my windlass and those systems, besides skip bought a load of unpeeled prawns for £2 and the crew brought a partially baked half baguette and some salad, they found it warmer in the saloon than up top for sure.

The wind had dropped by the time they’d cleared up and fed the seagulls and so Thor Junior came out on deck.  The wind too had backed and was now North Easterly. So it would be on the nose again for the trip back.  The log was cleaned and Thor Junior was taken on deck and set up and hoisted. It took skip a couple of attempts to sort out the lines.  He had passed the lazy sheet around the furled jib but then thought that if he was to tack it would be an inner tack as opposed to an outer around the forestay tack as per the Gennaker.  He also managed to get the sheet inside the strop too.  Once sorted and having thought about this previously, he got his crew to go to set my Autohelm leaving her free to play the working sheet as he un-bagged the beast.  There were no hiccups, it un-bagged, although he did have to take the snuffer line around the working sheet to reverse a twist, which made it easier and off we went.  We climbed from 3.5 kts to 6.5kts.  In the end, we got headed and so, we opted to snuff the sail and ease the jib out, drop Thor Junior behind the jib and bag it.  We tacked out to clear Gurnard and tacked back in, we exceeded 9.0kts at this point too and watched another yacht being blown aground as we passed Gurnard, with the real RNLI in attendance.

Astonishing! Clearly, the log is not recording the correct speed, so we need to re-calibrate that at some point, but I think they understand what ticks my boxes.

God knows what I'll be like with a J3 flown in tandem with Thor Junior, probably rip the bow section from the stern!

False start ?

Having been returned to my pontoon, all clean and ship shape, it took about a week before the Medina mud had been splashed up my starboard side against the pontoon. Skip thinks it might have been where something had been washed down on the pontoon by next door, I'm saying nothing.

So Saturday gone (14th), skip turned up and busied himself in getting me ready to go out in what was beautiful sunshine, although the sounds of fog horns from commercial shipping were not to be ignored.  In fact, I thought he was going to take me out again on his own until there was a knock on the hull and his crew complete with two friends arrived by boat taxi.  I was soon ready to leave the pontoon and headed down the river as my fenders and warps were put away.  As we passed the Yacht Haven, my home for the past four months, you could see the waterlines of the freighters but as for their superstructure, well that was up in the fog.

With one nervous and one new passenger, I was pointed towards Osborne, however, before I could reach Norris Point, the fog started to thicken and the temperature plummeted.  It didn't take long for the decision to be made to return back.  Lunch was served in glorious sunshine, with the sounds of the fog horns in the distance.  Skip stayed on board for the remainder of the afternoon and did his usual pottering about until his lift home returned.

Maybe next time, I'll actually be able to air my sails and get going again.

During the winter period skip obviously works through his list of things to do but this time he had a few 'would likes' on his list that he actually started to get going.  The main one and one out of the blue is to rig me up with a small staysail, a J3.  He's made a bracket as a template out of wood that will go behind the anchor locker and the clew will be attached to it. That's gone to Richardson Engineering at Island Marine to be made of stainless steel.  There's already a pulley 3/4's of the way up my mast, usually used for the Spinnaker pole up halyard, but this will be used to clip on the top of the torsion line that will be sown into the J3. He's taken the idea from the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, that has up to three sails in front of the mast.  In light winds not only will he have the Code 0 up but the J3 inside.  Be interesting to see what the different combinations will achieve with higher wind angles or lighter winds.  The conversation has been had with Peter Saunder, the maker of my Code 0 and dimensions passed across and materials chosen, cloth will not be cut until the bracket is secured in place and the dimensions re-checked.  Then skip will go over to Lymington, with me possibly, to have a final chat and much sketch drawing before any monies paid.

Another would like item that may also come to fruition, brought about by trial and error, is the purchase of an FX4500+ furling system for the Code 0 which will necessitate the sowing in of the torsion line for that too.  When Son of Thor was flown last year the awkwardness of tacking with it and getting the whole snuffed bag around the furled jib, lead to thoughts of another way.  Furling is that other way.  So I'm excited that should this all come together this season I will be able to perform better and skip will have choices of sail suit and combinations, should he so wish.

Easter

So the weather is typical for an English bank holiday, variable, uncertain and by no means bathed in sunshine.

Skip had some work done on my port side gate and so now fitted, I have both with a matching rake, it looks as it should.

Today Easter Sunday, skipper went up my mast to apply some lubricant to the pulley wheels up there, he also took the time to measure the distance for the new J3 staysail.  With the gate out of the way, the bracket for the baby stay can now be made and steps can be made to have the J3 made, an item on Skips wish list, how cool is that.  It's almost a trophy for all the hard work he's put into me over the winter in keeping me in good condition.  He wants to emulate the Farr Open 65's of the Volvo Ocean Fleet he's been watching and is fascinated with, tragic about John Fisher and the second MOB on board Scallywag, thoughts go out to the family and to the team.  Today I had two crew members from British Soldier on board who'd rafted next to me for the bank holiday races and they said what such good condition I was in, well done Skip.

Yesterday skip wound on my jib and so today, Sunday, the forecast day of the lightest winds, put my newly laundered main back on, but not before Skip ventured up my mast.  The first trip was to get the lazy Jack bag line back down, the second was to lubricate the pulleys up top and the third was to take some dimensions for the new J3.  Once all done I was moved back to my mooring down the river, let's hope the weather soon picks up so I can go out, now that the big works on the house are complete.

I know as part of the J3 works a new furling system is intended for Thor Junior and possibly the J3 itself. At £2.5k a piece it's not cheap but I know will make a huge difference to the ease by which it can be used.

Well, second Sunday in April and fog and constant drizzle has prevented a shakedown sail, but Skip came onboard.  He took the missing dimension from the mast and tidied me up inside.  Eventually taking the strap made out of wood to his man to make out of stainless steel.  Once that's fitted and a Dyneema halyard is likewise drawn through, then the J3 is to be made out of Tri-radial GPL21LS material in black.  Looks as though the 'Would likes' is moving forward.

Watch this space

I'm in !

Yes, I'm in.

Tuesday 27th March I finally went back into the water.  After the weather hampered things, holidays for the staff of the marina and then my skipper tied up on the mainland helping out with an Engineering practice in Romsey, I'm finally in.

Sails on board but the weather not good enough to allow my crew to attach (hank) without probably causing injury to themselves.  Bearing in mind that my crew member has her hand in a support, still recovering from her fall in the first lot of ice.

Skipper had taken the replacement gate to an Engineer on the other side of the river and it came back wrongly handed, but they've gone back and are ready to be fitted this Easter.  The strap for the babystay has been made out of wood and will be handed to the Engineer to be made out of stainless, then one of my skippers 'would like' items move's very much in a forward direction and is likely to bring with it a few others.  Once this has been manufactured and fitted, a new halyard needs to be fitted to the mast including an internal mast pulley, this will enable measurements to be taken required by the sailmaker Peter Saunders to make a J3.  Once this has all been achieved, if not huge in its self, then the Code 0 will be handed to Peter to put a torsion line required for a furling system.  Skipper's thoughts are to fly both Code 0 and the J3 similar to the Farr Open 65 in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The staining that's occurred due to the snow settling on my decks has all gone, skip came down and washed me once again.

On the day of my re-launch skip also had time to catch up with his old skipper Mr Jackson, who happened to be in the marina. He disappeared with the socket set so assume he's been asked to look at something.  My Marlec Rutland wind generator was reinstated and allowed to run to clear any build up of nasties from the plates and put some heat into the system.  Skip was pleased that all went according to plan and so turned off the shore powered charging system in favour of the wind generator.

With the Easter Bank Holiday approaching, plans are afoot to take me up to Totland Bay then on to Swanage or even Portland, however, the weather will have the last word and so, for now, I'm still in the marina and skips been on board to do some more work.