Launched...!

Apologies for the qualities of the pictures, it was a bit of a grey day, but the following is of Papillon the day after the launch..

We got lucky with the rain - we didn't have any until we were successfully tucked up in the pub with the job done...

So how did it go?? OK... managed to get the boat from the club to the slipway up the main road without any issues or problems, on to the slip, and eventually off the trailer and out to the mooring...

Lessons learned??

1. Get the fenders, and anything else you need, out before removing all the chocks as it means you then can't get into the boat without it tipping the trailer fore and aft..
2. Take the trailer as far down the slip as you can, but when you come to lift the trailer off the towing ball remember to run a rope from trailer to towing ball first so as to control the speed with which the trailer wants head off down the slipway!
3. Tide was coming in with wind behind it - a mooring line from the back of the boat to one of the upwind pilings at the side of the slip way would have helped get the boat of the trailer in a more manageable manner...

So - could have done it better, but I reckon a good 7 out of 10... & the boat is back in the water just in time for some serious wind and rain this evening! Good job she's moored (new mooring) with 6mm chain, and a hawser for backup... but I'll still be going down there tomorrow morning on the way to work to make sure she's OK!

Oh, and by the way - the job list from the last post?? Did them all except the jib...!

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Phew....

My beloved, but aged (1990 vintage), Yamaha 4HP short shaft two stroke has been in for a service, but it being the time of the year it is the mechanic has been very busy. It went in two weeks ago and I got a call this afternoon that it was ready to pick up.... given that I'm launching on Monday that's cutting it fine...

So before she goes back in I need to:

• Attach mooring chain to new buoy which requires me to..
• fit new rowlocks to the tender so that I can row out to it
• if the weather is OK I'll try and finish the tin of anti fouling by putting a second coat on the bottom of as much of the boat as possible
• if I have time the jib will go back on to the furler, and
• the boom/mainsail will go back on the mast
• pick up outboard
• get a tank of fuel
• ...and and and

The picture by the way is launch day last year...

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Final push...

On the sailing front a huge amount of work has been done over the last couple of weeks; this weekend just gone the anti-fouling went on the bottom... by way of a glimpse at just how much, here's a before and after shot..

Before:



After:

The Rubbing strakes (thats the wooden strip along the side to the uninitiated - and to be honest I still call them that!) have been wood treated (no I didn't do 18 coats!), tiller the same, standing rigging replaced, outboard is being serviced this week...
Classy or what, eh??

One final push this weekend should have us all set for the launch date which is....... next Monday (the 29th)!!!

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Painting painting painting...

My apologies for the dearth of posts recently, but with the launch day for "Papillon" just three weeks away things have been a little busy....

Last weekend was spent sanding and varnishing, a fairly useful enterprise should you wish to ensure that your pride and joy doesn't fall apart under your feet.. Despite the fact that she's almost entirely made of plastic, there is a surprising amount of wood on my little boat (teak, I think, well at least on the outside)... and it all requires quite astonishing numbers of coats of whatever product is used... whilst browsing in the local chandlers the other weekend, for example (fascinating places.. but real money pits), I spotted some yacht varnish that, not a word of a lie, spoke of 18 coats!

Either way, that tin was soon put down in preference for something from the local DIY super-emporium that promises to do "exactly what it says on the tin" (other irritating adverts for wood preservative products are available) - time will tell whether it's any good...

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