And the work goes on. Here we are, closing in on the fourth Christmas I've owned this boat and progress continues to happen. The new naming stickers went on last weekend and after a bit of rain, seem to have settled in well. The boot stripe stickering is having trouble adhering tho, so we might paint that on next time the boat's hauled out.
As some of you will remember, last winter was also truly a misery. Cold temps, constant easterly winds and snow. Having [.....]
Now there's a post title to get you wondering what's going on. Sadly, no, the boat hasn't sunk. Yet. A good chum (Grant) and I have however spent the past two weeks tearing aspects of the boat apart that I've never really been happy with, and rebuilding them into something a bit more useful.
Let's start with the salon table. It was one of those great ideas in principle - use a heavy bit of wood on a skinny adjustable pedestal so everyone could sit around for [.....]
So another weekend out and about. Winter's on the way so having fitted a Mikuni diesel heater (3.9kw) two weeks ago, a nice cold morning presented the perfect opportunity to crank it up and burn out all the crap. This is the salon with a nice haze wafting through....
After two days of quite breezy conditions, Saturday dawned bright, sunny.... and windless. 0.0kts. We reasoned a motor out for mooring and berthing practice wouldn't be a bad way to spend a sunny day, so lines were cast [.....]
Quite the storm blew through this past week, with winds topping 45-50kts at the yard and 99mph off the Needles. The boat came through relatively unscathed but the same couldn't be said for the tender..... on the plus side, I only insured it all a week ago, so that'll be a new tender and outboard, thank you very much....
Anyway, that storm produced some interesting weather but blew through pretty quickly.
Having taken half the week off to get some sailing in, it was looking [.....]
So today is a big day.... after much messing around with the engines, FINALLY the boat left the dock today. It was a case of make or break really - if I didn't finally start using it, it was going on Ebay, so after a bright & early start and trip down to the coast, we ran up both engines, plowed our way through the mud and made a break for Chichester Harbour.
Granted, we were only off to Sparkes Marina to fuel up [.....]
September 5th, 29 degrees (Celcius that is) - rain and thunderstorms forecast for the next few week or so. Is the end of summer upon us?
The boat continues of course. Engineer came out, flushed engine, I made some changes, engineer came out again to check those changes, ran them both up - all systems go!
The to-do list is shrinking and growing on a weekly basis - movable objects have been more-or-less secured in preparation for sea trials and the electrics slightly reworked to remove reliance on shore power.
Sea trials were set to commence two weeks ago but with a storm forecast for the Saturday, the decision was made to wait for a [.....]
Time for another update methinks. So... what's happened since May? Quite a lot really, although having to return to work has meant I've not had a chance to post many updates.
From the top then - this is how the boat looked externally at the start of the summer. 99% finished on the painting (just the boot stripe and porthole surrounds to go).
The interior is coming along nicely as well - those cushions still need final finishing, but it's getting there...
Interior [.....]
After the great engine fiasco of 2011/2012 and the subsequent wrapping up of the court case, it was time to order new, *working* engines, haul the boat out and have everything fitted up. Nice and easy, just like that. Hahahahaha. If only.
First up - hauling out the boat. Now, living on a boat in the water is quite easy. There's unlimited water, showers and toilet facilities aboard, etc etc. Living on the hard? No siree. The saving grace this time was the yard's new facilities block [.....]
So some of you will know the story, but for the benefit of everyone, let's go back to the start.
Having allowed sailing to wreck my life a few years back, it became apparent that this was where I wanted to be and no amount of bricks and mortar were going to suffice. Wreck my life, you ask? In jest and a manner of speaking, yes. I was quite content grinding out the 8-6, six days a week, swanning around London and enjoying what life in the City has to offer UNTIL I followed a friend on a boat shopping expedition to Florida. Through a series of events, I found myself the owner of a gorgeous sloop [.....]
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