A couple of Jobs

No sailing this weekend but it did provide the opportunity to complete a couple of modifications that I should have done during the winter, as well as adding the fittings for the new sails, which should arrive this week.

To hold the canvas doorway cover down, we decided to add two additional fasteners to the bottom. This should stop it lifting while sailing.

 

The second job was to add a cam cleat for the centreboard control. This should be easier to use. The wooded supporting block was quite a complex shape, as it needed to be shaped to fit around the starboard pump. We are also considering changing the rope for a slightly thinner piece, as the current rope can roll off the top of the drum, when lowering the centreboard. The block is held in place by two screws and a plate from the inside of the bridge deck, this does mean the need for two people to fit it in place.

Ice on the decks !

Three days of excellent weather but with wonderful clear skies at night, I woke up to find ice had formed on the deck, which meant the step onto the pontoon was taken with care. Friday and Saturday gave some excellent sailing. However, on the Sunday the wind go up to force 5, which gave a more exciting sail, with the main and jib both reefed I still needed to let the mainsheet out at times.

 

The Lugger is owned by another club member, who had come down for a sail.

The weekend was a Dinghy Cruising Association meeting, which brought some interesting boats and their owners to the club for the weekend. The Coaster seemed luxury, when compared to cramped space for sleeping on board under canvas, which several of DCA members did.

http://www.dinghycruising.org.uk/

Two further developments on Kathleen was another doorway cover but with a mesh panel to keep some ventilation but not allowing any midges etc. in (hopefully). I intend to add a length of shock cord along the bottom of the doorway to hold the canvas cover down, if needed while sailing.

The plastic tarp has had some modification, with it being cut along the ridge, so it wraps around the hood, also a short piece of plastic tube has been added to hold the sides out at the rear. The end of the cut was reinforced to help prevent it from tearing.

Four Days at Coniston

This was the first sail of the year and the weather ranged from warm sunshine and a light breeze through to snow on the hills, gale force winds and even some ice on the deck of the boat. We'd made a few small modifications to the boat and look forward to the arrival of the new High Peak mainsail from R&J.

As always the first sail of the season was a chance to see if everything worked and what had been forgotten. It also gave a chance to catch up with some other Drascombe sailors, including the Association's webmaster, Jol, who I met in a near by pub. A good website and journal are essential for any organisation and the DA is fortunate to have both. His obvious successful contribution to both of these means there is good communication between the membership.

 

Tesco's had Corned Beef Hash on special offer - so I couldn't resist!

 

Crew's Birthday Present!