Shakedown cruise....

So on Sunday, with not a little trepidation, but accompanied by smallest little'un, we departed for a shakedown cruise... click on any of the pictures for a gratifyingly bigger view, by the way....

..and this is the track - a four hour trip (start of tide to end of tide), at an average speed of 3 knots (best speed 4.5, but I suspect that was probably under engine coming back!), and a distance of just over 13 and a half miles... the mark labelled "003" is actually the CamberMet pole [click here], a local weather station...

Best, best, best of all though, we ran into Rod (not literally!! ), the friend who had helped with the launch and mast raising, just off HISC [click here] in his own boat... pure luck, but he had his camera with him, and the following were the result...

Very pleased with them... chuffed isn't in it! we sailors like to see pictures of our own boat...

We returned to the mooring, tired, slightly sunburnt, and happy - nothing broke, nothing hit, boat behaved impeccably... no idea who this last boat is by the way, but we spotted her while we were out, and she was absolutely beautiful (nice picture little'un)!

Optimist open meeting, racing off of HISC...

Distance: 13.65 miles (cumulative score just over there to the left) fighting against the wind to the bottom of the harbour and a lovely run back..
Wind: Force 2 to 3, occasionally gusting force 4.

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Papillon is....

..afloat!!!!!!!!

The plan was for me to tow her across the road from the sailing club and launch from the slipway I used last time [click here] - I need to do this as the sailing club slipway is on the opposite side of a low bridge to my mooring, so if I didn't tow it up the road I'd be looking at a long trip, to sail her all the way round Hayling Island to get her to the mooring. All in all, a 50 yard tow up the main road (with the mast up!) is far less hassle, though nerve wracking none the less - the trailer is old, and I have constant visions of it losing a wheel and "Papillon" lying on her side in the middle of the road....

No such worries this time, and before you know it I was on the slipway waiting for the tide to come in... the tea flask was deployed and following a couple of cups of tea all was looking well with the trailer wheels already submerged... the only problem being that this was within 30 minutes of high water and we still needed a lot more to get her off the the trailer! The problem of course was that the tides were neaps - not big at all - happily though, with a bit of shoving, and using an oar as a makeshift leaver, we got her off the trailer and into the water.... it's never easy getting her on or off the trailer!!

All went well and the lessons learned last time were deployed in full, all in all a much less fraught occasion. I was on the mooring by 9, tidied up, then into the tender and back to shore and at work by 9:45... no time off required!

The good news is that the oars I recently bought as an upgrade for the tenders power plant (me!) worked well - both is the propulsion mode they were desgined for, and as an ad hoc way of getting the boat off the trailer!!

Thoughts now turn to the first sail.....

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Mast is... (part 3)

...up!!!

..and just to prove it - here's Papillon looking like a proper boat again..

I dragged in a couple of "willing volunteers" to help me put it back up (thanks Dave, thanks Rod!) as although the mast is not big - it is long and awkward...

As it turned out the mast went up far easier than it did last time - last time we struggled with the back and forestay, this time Chris (the rigger) had added an inch to the forestay and it went back together far easier...

After the usual fun and games getting the mast straight (lay your head on the deck looking straight up the mast track - it foreshortens the view of the mast and allows you to see any bends more easily) we packed, and moved the boat back to her original position...

Happily Dave is an electrician so I took the opportunity to get him to deploy his magic box of tricks (volt meter...) to identify which of the two deck plugs belonged to which of my two mast lights. When the mast went over the side it stripped the wires from the plugs so I need to wire them back in again, but before I could I need to figure out which one went in which... he also confirmed for me that the truly ancient solar panel on the back is defunct, it is no more, it is an ex-solar panel, etc etc. No surprises, the panel is very old and has had it's time - I'll remove it and the associated wiring when I have a moment.

Last of all a view of the truly elegant fix that Chris the riggers mate put together - this is a solid piece of kit. All in all - very nice and everything is coming together...

I'm aiming to put her back in the water next Tuesday (22nd) on the early tide and I can't wait - my Dad is down at the moment so we went down today to give her a solid wash, she's looking almost ready but I have a little work still to do - the sails need to go back on if nothing else!

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Mast is... (part 2)

..back!! The rigger delivered it back yesterday afternoon - went down to check it last night and he's done an amazing job on the mast foot - I'll post some pictures when I remember to take the camera with me..!

I have volunteers with two pairs of willing hands laid on for Thursday morning so all being well the mast should be up by lunchtime...

Will ask the rigger to check the set-up over the weekend, and all being well I will then aim to launch on an early tide one morning next week...

Can't wait..

In the meanwhile, to help keep my hand in I'm helping a friend deliver his boat from Port Solent to Emsworth Yacht Harbour (pictured) on Sunday - it's too early for a forecast with any degree of likelihood, but at the moment it's looking windy, and northerly - so cold...!

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Mast is...

..repaired!

Got a call from the rigger this morning that the mast is repaired, only the bottle screws and forestay to complete and it'll be coming back - hopefully next week...

Put the mast back up, get the rigger to double check, and then it will be time to start looking for an early mid week high tide to re-launch!

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Mast collected...

The rigger came and collected the mast yesterday - he tells me they're very busy, but that the critical path is the stainless steel fabricator (the new mast foot)...

Fingers crossed now that all goes well - my main concern is the electrics on the mast (deck and mast-top lights, and VHF aerial) and whether they survived the dunking - I've told the rigger that the main thing for me is the VHF. The rest could wait until the end of the season....

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