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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Summer on the horizon...

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few weeks - although it's only February I think it safe to say that there may be a sniff of spring in the air (although that may be wishful thinking) as boating matters have begun to bite - delightfully - into my available time....

The mast went away this winter to have all the standing rigging replaced - this is a 10 yearly task, and by some strange case of serendipity, just after I'd arranged for this to be done, I found some old paperwork in the little pile that came with the boat that shows it was actually last done exactly 10 years ago...

It's now back so the last two weeks have been involved with rounding up the innocent for a little mast lifting exercise - which was successfully completed last weekend. It looks like the rigging needs to stretch a little (being new, and made of twisted wire it does) as it was a tight fit - but the boat looks "complete" again...👍

Tick that one off from the 10 year plan then - that was the "big" project for this winter - next winter there'll be something else to do...

There's also been sailing club membership to renew, a new mooring to check (it was renewed by the club this winter), voluntary duties to perform (I was making cheese and onion toasties and Ploughman's lunches for a couple of hours last weekend, and I'm breaking up the old gentlemen's conveniences this weekend in readiness for new one's being built!) and boat insurance to source...

All of which is guaranteed to make you start thinking about getting back on the water, the current target for which is the first week of April - just 7 weeks away! 😕

...and that's quite enough for now...

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Brrrrr........

Minus 8'C around here this evening... I know there are places in the world that are colder, but it's very unusual around here...

Stopped off to check Papillon this morning and was presented with this beautiful view... OK, the fact that the car then got stuck is beside the point, a bit of digging and some welcome assistance soon saw me back on less slippery surfaces.. 😁

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...out of the water...

In case you were wondering where I was, I can confirm that I've not passed from this mortal coil, but the family and I have only just got back from Scotland - apologies for the lack of posts in the interim but as you can imagine, the days were full, and (seemed to) mostly consist of eating and drinking, and since then, the days have been packed to the gunnels with "stuff" that really needed to be done..

...and so, with 125 miles under her belt (in my ownership), no collisions, no injuries, no (major) breakages, a store of new found knowledge, and I guess the more important lesson understood that I have a whole shed-load still to learn, "Papillon" came out of the water for the winter yesterday... I'd say that it was a brilliant season on the water, and I enjoyed every minute of it... to be honest the boat has paid for itself in terms of enjoyment in one season!

..my brother in law and I had a fun time trying to get her on to the trailer (she came off it so easily... had I but known it would have been so difficult in the opposite direction I might have left here on it! 😏)

Suffice to say that it may be November, but Steve the Wargamer had to go swimming... and that water is quite cold...

...funniest sight of the day was bro-in-laws boots beginning to float towards the horizon... upright... with socks still in them..... you had to be there!

Either way - here she is - all tucked up, and chocked up, safe and sound... now the work starts to get her ready for the next season a mere five months away... I'll post on the progress every now and again....



...and that's it for now

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So where did that week go!!

Difficult to believe that yet another week has gone by, but so it has, in fact, do you know it's Christmas in nine weeks time this Friday??!

Apologies for the lack of posts - part of the problem is that this is my first blog from a new PC. I've been meaning to upgrade for ages, but with life as hectic as it is I finally managed to get round to it on Saturday, and have spent the time since then putting it together - not in any physical sense, but reloading the software, applications and settings that make a computer your own... all done now though, and all I need to do is a refresh on the old machine to have finished the swapover. All takes time, however..

So what else have I been doing in the interim?? The week wouldn't be complete without at least a little jaunt on the water, and that was completed on Sunday...

A beautiful day, but no wind at all, hardly a breath in fact, and not enough to move us against the tide so I anchored up (with new kedge anchor!), got out the tea flask, and did a little fishing... caught nothing, but not a care in the world, trust me my friends there is nothing, simply nothing, like messing about in boats...

All the more sad as it has to end soon, and just another few weeks and out she comes - she needs some work doing on her so the timing is good....

Oh, and "Palmerston's Folly"??? Named after the Victorian forts that ring Portsmouth which were built at the behest of the aforesaid prime minister to counter the French threat posed by Napoleon III, this is a rather pleasant beer brewed by Suthwyk Ales and made using barley grown on their own farm on Portsdown Hill (site of at least three of the major forts).

As I was going to pick up the PC nearby it seemed churlish not to stop in at the Southwick Brew Shop [click here] and pick up a four pint cary out on the way home... an inspired decision, it was absolute nectar!

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Solent sniffing & Nab intro...

The sailing season may well be coming to a close, but the summer down here in the south of England is gripping on by the skin of its teeth, and so yesterday found me out on the boat for an afternoons sailing, in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, despite it being the second week of October. Winds were westerly (with just a little south in it) and I guess force 3 predominantly, though there were a few agreeable gusts to keep you on your toes...

Beautiful afternoon with little motoring (except the last bit to get home) and another first as this was the furthest I'd poked my nose out into the Solent all summer as I rounded well after the Eastoke mark before turning for home..

I think I'm ready for my first big trip now, and to get more prepared I've even started shopping around for GPS equipment . I strongly suspect that it's not going to happen until next year (simply not enough time left this year) but it's something to look forward to over the winter... the first trip I'd like to do is to the Nab Tower [click here] (pictured right), for no other reason originally than that I've always fancied seeing it (!), but I now understand that there is a second reason, as it also has a military heritage... more on that when I get there (and more importantly get back!)

Distance: 10 miles (125 miles year to date)
Wind: Force 3 occasionally gusting force 4.

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