DCA @ Derwent

An enjoyable and breezy weekend spent with the DCA at Derwent. It was quite noticeable how low the water was. There had been no rain since Easter and the lake was the lowest it had been seen. The cruise boats were not able to reach all the jetties and it also took care to ensure you didn't run around, when leaving/arriving at the slipway.

Centreboard - Webbing Repair

When we took the boat out at St. Mary's Loch, I forgot to check the centreboard was fully up, this lead it to suddenly drop when going over a roller, which in turn broke the stitching in the webbing that is used to lift the board via the winch.

I did wonder if this had been designed a purpose "weak link", as the size of the thread and amount of stitching was disappointing. However, I can see not reason for a "weak link".

Initially I glued the webbing and then stitched it using waxed sail makers thread. It was necessary to drill 1mm dia. holes for the needle.

 

It was then necessary to lift the metal fixing at the front of the casing, so the centre board was raised and therefore I could gain access to the attachment hole. The metal fixing was held up by some blocks of wood. Once the webbing was reattached it easy to lower the fixing and board back in place.

 

The photo above is in B/W due to the un-natural lighting in the cabin, which lead to some misleading colours.

St. Mary's Loch

Luing

 

This was our second visit to the traditional small boast muster, that is held on Luing. Although the weather was fine for the weekend, it did get quite windy at times.

 

The weekend is a mixture of sailing, music, entertainment, eating and general socialising.

 

 

Cookers and Navigation

 

When we bought the boat it came with a GRP cooker box, which slides in/out from under the doorway, this is not an ideal place to cook. It creates condensation in the cabin and also traps the user if something goes wrong. However, the cooker holder looked useful, so finally I got round to making it fit to the outside, by use of a wooden fixture, so it hangs off the winch. 

 

We have always kept things simple on the boat and have not fitted any electrics such as a ChartPlotter.  A handheld one is quite expensive, so a simpler solution was sort. An old iPhone 5, waterproof case and a homemade plastic clip, which will go over either a weather board or onto a halyard bag provided a good start. With both MemoryMap and Navitronics loaded it seems to work very well.
 

 

To help keep the phone charged a solar charging battery was obtained. Only time will tell if this combination will work. In the past we have only used the phone when approaching a destination and use old style "paper" charts during a trip. This should keep the battery use in the phone down to a minimum.

 

Aedon A8 Portable Power Bank 20000mAh 2-Port USB Solar Charger

 

 

Fine Weather Continues

If weather stays like this for the rest of the year, we're in for a treat. Five days a Coniston soon went by, only light rain on one day and a variety of winds, meant we had a good time.

Warm and Sunny

It may still only be March but is was warm in the day and frosty at night, with a clear sky all weekend.