Anchor - ready to use

The new anchor has worked well. The storage was the concern, but that seems to have been solved using an old bag with a hole in the bottom so the line can pass through and onto the cleat. There is only 5 metres of 6mm chain and 30 metres of rope, but we carry another 40 metres of rope if it was really needed.

Sun and Wind

Over the weekend 17 & 18 May the weather was excellent. A good sail on Friday evening was followed by a more exhilarating one on Saturday. Other club members seem to think the wind reached F6, it certainly was a challenge at times, even with a reef in the main and several rolls in the jib. Sunday was slightly more relaxed but the reefs were still needed.

The club's new pontoon. The result of much hard work by some of the members.

St. Mary's Loch

St. Mary's Loch is situated high up in the Scottish Borders, about 15 miles east of Moffat. It was the location for a Drascombe Assn. Rally, which was attended by 13 boats. A full range of weather conditions were experienced and provided some excellent sailing, including an interesting treasure hunt on the Sunday. A very well organised event by the members of the sailing club.

Three Days Sailing

One of the advantages of sailing at Coniston, is that it is close enough to collect the boat after work and get to the club, launch and have a sail on Friday evening. As the days grow longer this sail is really becoming worth while and club is trying to encourage some social activities afterwards. The weather was far kinder this weekend, sunshine and a variety of wind strengths, from an equal variety of directions.

Four Days Sailing

The first sail of the year was at Coniston. Sailed on four days and it rained - hard - on three of them, but with out the rain there would be no Lake District! The boat rolled off the trailer with ease, after an initial push with my shoulder! I never did replace the rubber rollers with nylon ones. After discussions with other owners, it was felt the rubber ones provide good cushioning. There has been some bad experiences with the nylon ones, damaging the wooden keel band. It seems a good idea just to remove and re-grease the rubber ones each year. They are not expensive and replacing any that develop a flat spot will keep launching an easy exercise.

The wind ranged from nothing and I tried rowing and sculling for the first time, to force 4. The range of conditions gave chance to see if the small changes I'd made over the winter would work, certainly the new curved tiller was a success, especially when there are two in the cockpit, as it clears the helm's knees, which the previous straight one wouldn't.  One thing I did learn, is that with the cabin hatch in place - because of all the rain - it is difficult to reach forward and roll the main up. Will need to think of how to deal with this issue.

Although the "tarp" doesn't look great, it certainly works. Keeping the worst of the weather out, it is easy to pack away in the aft locker and there is no pole taking up space. It is also much cheaper than a purpose built tent. The tarp came from http://www.tarpaulinsdirect.co.uk/, I also bought a larger one to cover the boat during the winter, the service and quality were excellent.

Launch next weekend

There were a few jobs to be completed before the seasons first sail, planned for next weekend. The first was to mend the loose lower rudder bearing. The best description for doing this can be found at Tim Pettigrew's website, where he provides very detailed descriptions of many different maintenance and repair jobs.

http://www.pettigrews.org.uk/lm/page025b.htm

It was much easier to complete than expected. I only replaced the two loose screws with bolts, unlike Tim who used four bolts. However, I did use plenty of resin to bed the casting down well. I was surprised how small the two screws were and therefore not surprised they had come loose.

Last year I found the roller reefing to be quite difficult to use, it was quite stiff and reluctant to unfurl. I simple modification, of adding a stainless washer below the drum seems to have fixed this. It was necessary to cut this washer so it could be bent over the forestay wire and then straightened once in place. The cut can just be seen in the photograph below. This washer provides a bearing surface and means the drum is much easier to turn.  The washer has a 13mm I/D.

Latches

Fitting hinges to the rear hatches was one of the first jobs completed but it was not until now were any latches fitted. This secures the hatches down when on the water, the latches also provide a handle for easier opening. They were obtained from www.protex.com, easy to order and pay via paypal. There is a considerable range to choose from, these come from their ProLatch range. There are detail drawings on the Protex website, so it is easy to check for any location.

 

It was necessary to raise the catch plates using some 3mm thick plastic and also to cut away the lip of the opening, to clear the nuts and washers from the actual latches, enabling the hatch to fully close. With the hinges and latches now fitted the boat is certainly more secure to rough weather. There seems little point in adding a rubber seal on the hatches, as if the boat becomes swamped to that point, then the situation is very serious and a good VHF radio will be the most useful piece of equipment.

 

Having now sailed with the latches in place, I noticed on a few times ropes could get caught under the end. So I've now cut these short and rounded the ends, so hopefully any rope will slip out.