Sailing promotes phlegmatism

After wonderful weather in April/May when we were not able to sail a succession of lows has been sweeping in from the Atlantic bringing strong winds from the direction we need to go in so we are still in Emsworth, though the upside is that we have got more jobs finished; The cockpit tent is finished and looks great.

There looks to be a weather window on Thursday/Friday that will enable us to get out of the Solent to Poole.

Our biggest problem is managing the amount of stuff on board as we are near the design weight limit for the boat, we were wanting to have enough tools and spares to be totally self sufficient but we will have to compromise; but there again we will be mainly doing coastal sailing so it is an acceptable risk.

Helen is now a Granny so a visit to Yorkshire is also scheduled and we are hoping the weather starts improving after that so that we can have a leisurely journey West and South.

Back on the water

We were lifted back into the water this morning and I am writing this at anchor off East Head in Chichester Harbour.  The new tabernacle is working and the furler seems to be working OK with the new forestay and bridle.  I changed the shroud lashings to spectra which has enabled me to get a lot more tension in the rig so we should sail better.

We still need to finish sorting out the boat so we will be pottering around the Solent for the next week (also it is forecast to be strong winds on the nose with heavy rain so we are not in a hurry to sail off into that!).

It is just great to be back afloat!

And we have a trysail

Made my first sail last week: a try sail (emergency / heavy weather sail) made out of bright orange material so it will show up for miles. Pics to follow.

Minus a gall bladder and almost ready to sail

Our last sail got aborted when another boat lost control in the marina and knocked off a rudder.  The accident coincided with my getting a short notice appointment to have my gall bladder out so after a 4 week hiatus we are back on the boat and aiming to start sailing in the next week. 
The downside is I have not been abl to do much physical work until now, the up side has been that we have got lots of other stuff sorted out and are about to fit a tabernacle so that we can raise and lower our mast on our own (which means we will be able to do it anywhere we can dry out safely without incurring the expense of yards and cranes).
One of the things we have found is that our little SSB radio can pick up weather faxes and save them on the laptop which will be a big help when we are out of range of the internet and the shipping forecast on radio 4.

Back in Chichester Harbour

Motored (no wind and I had a rotten cold) round to Emsworth on Wednesday to get our last bit of kit built and fitted: a tabernacle for the mast so that we can raise and lower it on our own. For  the next 4 days we are going sailing with friends and then family to enjoy the weather.  We will be doing the final preparations towards the end of May and then we will see where the wind takes us.

Almost in the water

We are getting lifted back into the water tomorrow.  After 2 weeks of frantic activity we have got an awful lot done including wiring in a new wind generator and constructing most of a cockpit tent.  We hope to do some sailing over the bank holiday and then will be heading back up North and sailing will be on hold until the end of May.

We have a launch date of the 19th April and are busy getting as much done as possibe before then. Here are some pictures of our set up for making our cockpit tent, the sewing machine is on top of the cover for our outboard engine.  The tent is proving quite complicated to make, not helped by the wind blowing when ever we are trying to offer it up