Polishing Boats

OK so the second excursion of the year has now taken place. This time on the RS.

So - what drama has there been? Well actually very little... which must mean we've dreamt it and not actually been out ;-)

There was a brief moment when the helm decided we were going to flip and had is feet trailing in the water ready for the boat to stop. But the fat bloater of a crew brought the beast back up! And there was another scary moment when the tiller extension parted company from the tiller - quite scary when you are planing at some speed and the rudder decides to act like a break by its self.

New sails performed well.

Rudder fitting on the pintle which was replaced over winter was hopeless - but had been sorted with some string ;-)

However the GOLDEN TIP: don't polish your boat! Or at least if you do - don't polish the side decks where you sit - you'll end up sliding all over the place...

A little off course

OK so this is off the sailing track... but I just had to boast about my Nerd Score!

Go on - give it a go and tell me how you score...

Exercise Programme

I have obviously forgotten to report progress of the fitness campaign here, so better quickly catch up.

On Sunday 25th march 2007, I managed to hold a wall site for 4min 54seconds.

That's my best so far. Today (my first day sailing) didn't really put that to the test. But I'll report back as soon as I've been properly tested...

And now the season HAS begun

Yip, I've actually been afloat this season!

Took the misses and went out on the heron using the old sails and boom. (Quick reminder to myself why they were to be replaced,..)

The hull is not as tidy as it should be - strangely those cracks weren't there 2 weeks ago! Never mind - nothing that half a roll of duct tape wont fix.

Went out in a nice stead 8mph wind from the North East. That makes for an easy launch and safe recovery at Derwent so perfect weather to get the misses back into thinking she might actually like this sailing malarkey - but it looks like its going to take some work... ...she was still petrified every time the wind went from 8 to 10mph!

It wouldn't be one of my sailing experiences if it didn't involve a disaster, sinking, crash or other boating incident on the way, and today was of course no different. We took a short cut around one of the heads (on the safe side of the low water marker incidentally!) and yip you've guessed it up comes the centreboard. Now that's hardly a drama - that's part of the advantage of sailing a centre boarded boat you CAN sail into the shallows and get back out. The drama was that the misses somehow (and I have no idea how!) managed to get her leg trapped between the kingpost for the mast and the rising centreboard!

Anyway that was enough to convince her that we weren't staying for the race. But at least we've been out and blown a few cobwebs (and lot of spiders) off the boat...

Finally the season feels like it has begun!

Fantastic Weather, Sun, Light but Reasonable Winds... Sailing Season has arrived. Of course - if you've been following the blog so far you already know that we aren't ready for the season! But that's irrelevant - there's beaming smiles here simply because we could have sailed today! Winter is officially over (after all today was the start of British Summer Time) and we can now focus on getting on the water as soon as possible. Of course the sceptics would say its the fumes from the Epoxy which are creating the beaming smile ;-)

The RS is back on its trailer (after blowing off it in the winds) and is now being cleaned and polished, and the little knocks and chips ironed out (well actually epoxied out... but you know what I mean). The rudder has been sanded and filled and will be sanded again as soon as the epoxy goes off.. the hull will be overturned in the week and filled and sanded... so late, but better late than never we are on our way.

Sails - those all important things for making the boat move - are on their way for the RS and the Heron ones are virtually ordered, as is its new boom.

Anyway I'm off to inhale some more epoxy fumes...

50MPH + winds... Another Why Question?

Well it had to happen really didn't it! Wind speeds well in excess of 50MPH perhaps 70-80MPH during the night.

Forcast from Thurdsay - less than 30MPH - [b]WRONG[/b]!!

Even last night accuweather were predicting the winds would drop by 3pm to less than 30MPH and they haven't.

So the long and short of it is we haven't even headed up to the club to do any work on the boats - perhaps the snow was the final clincher!

We have however negotiated a deal on sails for the RS which i think we are happy with.

So todays question to ponder:

Why - the minute you think you've got a plan and the forecast checks out OK is the forecast wrong...?

Getting the Boat Ready

Why?

That's all I really need to ask! Anyone who sails knows the rest. For those who don't sail perhaps I should explain.

Every year sailors finish the season with great intentions. Clean this, fix this, sand and polish that all during the winter break, and it'll all be finished well in advance of the season starting. Well guess what! None of its been done!

Actually that's not quite true, the jib we ripped on the second last race of the season has now been patched and the shattered baton has been replaced. The little tear in the spinnaker is also patched, and both sails are washed and dried. As for the rotting mainsail... yeh you guessed it - its still sat in the hull of the boat. The chips on the rudder - still not filled. The damage to the hull - still there. The boat polish still in its wrapper.

The Heron, not touched at all! I have the quotes for the sails and the boom, but have done nothing. I have a plan for the trailer and I have looked at plans for this years races - but nothing done so far to actually commit to them!

Every year is the same... the annoying thing is there will be people ready to sail on Sunday, who get a win on a race simply because they got their boat ready before us. That could be our win (lets face it - it might be our only win all season!)