I had pencilled-in today and tomorrow for a post-refit shake-down passage to Fowey and back – weather permitting.
Folksong
Dowsing the foresail
Now the boat is back in the water, I can assess the changes made over the winter.
One of the tricks for a single-hander is to be able to lower the foresail and dowse it before the bulk of the sail slides under the lifelines and into the water. 99 times out of 100, there’s no problem. Occasionally everything goes wrong. It happened to me at the end of last year and it was time to do something about it.
Coming alive
Yesterday I experienced what everyone who has ever owned a boat must feel – that moment when the elaborate and expensive shed you have spent the winter accessing via a wobbly metal ladder reenters the water and comes alive. Continue reading
Ready to go back in the water
Blue Mistress is due for relaunch this morning – complete with a new teak rubbing strake.
The Folksong ‘Harrier’
In a recent post, Bill Serjeant has reminded us of his Folksong (Zeta), which he passed on to Julian Mustoe. The latter bought her for a specific voyage, totally rebuilding her coach roof and renaming her Harrier. It’s Bill’s story and I will let him tell it – (link below).
Brush strokes – good enough – sometimes
Blue Mistress is slowly coming together.
Because we won’t be back in the water before Easter, I have had time to tackle the planned jobs and some unplanned ones as well – like painting the floors of the quarter berths.
I now know why I avoided this for so long. It meant forcing my 42 inch chest five feet down two 38 inch holes – cleaning, sanding and then one, two, three coats – shoulders hunched, arms outstretched, pushing an open paint-pot before me, having to work out how to use my right hand accurately and then how to worm my way backwards without touching the fresh paint.
Winter refit 4/4 – new hatch fitted – lifelines rethink
The new hatch (Gebo Houdini replacement hatch) and ventilator (EC Smith Tannoy Ventilite) were fitted yesterday.
3/4 Winter refit – the list builds: electrics – safety
Just before we lifted the boat, I noticed the cockpit speaker was cracked. I don’t remember doing it but I must have kicked it in a frenzied moment. Worse, it had become loose in it’s fitting – alarming because water could get in and the fuse box etc is located perilously close inside. It had been fastened with four very short screws. Continue reading
Winter refit 2/4 – rubbing strakes and rudder post
Blue Mistress has a grp hull but there is a certain amount of woodwork that needs watching. In retrospect, it has been overlooked more often than not because the amount is small. This is not clever.
Blue Mistress is moored fore and aft on a trot mooring. She is facing west. The sun rises over the stern, travels round the port side and sets over the bow. It means the starboard side of the boat gets less sun and less opportunity to dry out, Water builds-up along the angle where the rubbing strake butts against the hull, the damp persists, algae forms, water soaks in. Continue reading
Winter refit 1/4 – inventories – fore-hatch – ventilator – exhaust outlet
Blue Mistress was lifted in November and slotted into a tight spot between another yacht and a fishing boat – both much larger.
This seemed a good idea at the time because she would be protected from the worst of the winter weather but is proving awkward now because there is work to do on the rubbing strakes and access is poor.
Continue reading
Beyond Steeple Point 