Hi folks well the good news is that I'm still here.
With June very hot and little to no wind, then of course heavy rain for parts of the UK, although down here on the island it wasn't too bad and much needed by those gardeners.
We did go out a couple of times but even those were fraught with either problems or issues. The usual run to Totland for an overnight stay was a sleepless night for the Skipper. Not sure if it was the abandoned motor vessel on the rocks that played on his mind, but needless to say he was kept awake by all the noises and creaks. This isn't unusual for him for the first night, but clearly, he wasn't happy as the engine went on and despite decent winds, we motored all the way home.
On the next trip out, and there could be quite a few weeks between, my impeller decided to shatter itself, despite being replaced during the winter servicing. They took me out as it was first thought that weed had gotten into the system. but by the time we were in the Solent and spun me round and round, the problem persisted. With tide against we managed to make Trinity landing at the entrance to the river and the engine was at 105C. We tied up there and let the engine cool down. This was when the state of the impeller was discovered, with a replacement fitted it was thought the problem was solved, but no.
Some water did come out of the exhaust on the way to the home mooring but nothing like usual. It took a further three weeks to work out that where the butyl rubber impeller had worn and scored the stainless steel plate the vacuum had been broken! This allowed air to pass breaking the suction the impeller created to draw water through. A few weeks later the new plate arrived and all was well. Except, where the engine had gotten so hot the plastic on the exhaust had melted allowing water to now enter the engine bay and the bilge. It took another couple of weeks before the new parts arrived and could be fitted.
Skipper and crew had promised, as usual, to look after two Pointers and a Viszla for a week around the August bank holiday.
Skipper has been back and forth more recently. The Webasto heater took three attempts to start up and by accident, he learned that the socket in the cockpit had no power, which was only recently discovered that the connection had been pulled apart. He also had ordered a pair of six pulley organisers from Spinlock to replace the existing ones that still struggle to turn despite several trips through the dishwasher. With the deck wash pump, they can now be washed down with fresh water before the build-up of salts and dirt.
Skipper was also recently looking at an anchor counter and remote control system. The intention was so that anchoring could be done without leaving the cockpit, baring getting the anchor out of the locker and secured of course. However, the counter available is not compatible with a horizontally orientated windlass so the project may be shelved.
I'm already booked in for my usual winter tern on the hard, but hopefully, I might get some wind in the sails before then.
Till next time 'fair winds'.
