Windy!

Forget Abigail and Barney, the first big storm of the season hit the South coast today.

I went and checked on the boat:

It was a bit windy!

I also met Guy, a chap that follows this blog but for some reason can't comment here.

However we do keep in touch via Facebook.

The bad news is there's another casualty. A yacht, looks a 30 footer fin keeled yacht has broke it's mooring gone aground on the Hayling side of Langstone harbour. Not good for the owner.

I noticed that Lazy Days has had it's forestay fixed:

This dinghy was having trouble staying afloat. I assume it's foam filled!

UPDATE: I got a picture of the grounded yacht from Eastney. Sorry for the grainy picture but its about 2 miles away!

Stormy Weather

So, we've just had the first two storms of this winter, Abigail and Barney.

I've been down the boat on a regular basis and have also had regular updates by text or email from Nicky, the owner of Meagles. She lives at Eastney so its easier for her to nip down and check.

So far no boats have broken their moorings, but one boat suffered damage this week.

"Lazy Days", a small yacht has a broken forestay. The furling gear is hanging at the side of the hull and the mast is leaning back at an angle. I suspect the mast foot is bolted to the cabin roof and the bolts have either sheared or the mast foot is pulling out of the cabin roof. Either way the prognosis isn't good as there will be damage somewhere around the mast foot.

Looking at it, it makes me grateful I spotted the loose forestay shackle on Sprite 2 a month or so ago and tightened it up again.

The constant battering by the wind and the motion of the boat on the waves and when it lands on the ground as the tide goes out has a way of vibrating shackles and fittings loose, or putting stresses into them that make them fail.

Lost Weekend

Last weekend was a lost cause. Lots of rain and wind on Saturday, which meant it was no fun rowing out to the boat and staying on there. So I just checked her over and came off after an hour.

Sunday was a complete washout as the traffic was stacked off Portsea Island thanks to Portsmouth FC having a home game. Luckily Nicky gave me updates during the day and evening, so I didn't have to worry too much. Thanks for that Nicky.

There's another storm on its way with winds of 80mph predicted for the next couple of days. Certainly the sailing season is over for the time being.

Pound Shop Field Trip

I went to the pond shop today to stock up on supplies.

More epoxy, to replace my depleted store:

Epoxy for a pound. And I thought Toolstation was cheap at 3 quid!

I also bought a couple of dehumidifiers. My last one lasted the winter and kept the cabin pretty dry. I noticed last week that the cabin was damp again and found the dehumidifier I had was used up.

So another couple of these went in the basket:

Finally I was just looking around and found a set of small baskets that should fit behind the seat back and help tidy the bits up:

So, a fiver spent on the boat today!

Just Playing.

Had a nice few hours on the boat yesterday and today. Nothing special going on, just a visit to see everthing is okay and just do a little fettling like tighten the forestay a little more.

Yesterday I also epoxied the bottom of Jim's dinghy. Poundworld are selling epoxy resin adhesive. A pound for one of those twin syringe packs is a bargain, so I bought a couple. Yesterday I slathered the stuff on Jim's dinghy and it soaked into the resin-poor matting, making it watertight again.

A watertight dinghy re-enthused him and he came down to the boats today:

I also tried out my phone and did a 360 degree panorama. Had to chop it into 2:

It may well be  unviewable without the ability to zoom in, but its just an experiment.