Costs for 2016 and a Review of the Year.

So, here's the annual round up of costs for the previous year.

As usual first are the basic expenses.

£132      Mooring Fee

£160      Insurance (reflecting a higher valuation).

Up £10 on last year at £292.

Fuel this year was £11. I only bought 10 litres as I spent most of the year using up 2015's stockpile.

£2.50 Absolute tides Update.

£13 Navionics Update. I think it was around that much.

£5.00 Sail Bungie Ties.

£6.00 20m of 8mm Rope.

£5.95 Barometer set from Sue Ryder shop

£0.00 2.5 litres Hempel Classic Antifouling (was £35, but it was a late Xmas present so zero cost)

£19.95 Hempel Waterproof Undercoat.

£25.00 Various bits of sandpaper and cheap paint brushes.

£8.00 A few sets of needles for sail stitching from the Craft Shop.

£12.99 Speedy Stitcher.

£6.95 Mooring Buoy (subsequently lost)

£15.98 2 x 1oz Reels of Polyester sail Thread.

£28.88 Marine Ply for locker tops.

£19.00 Stainless Hinges for Locker Tops.

£19.95 Grey Paint for Locker tops (Hempel Gloss)

£17.95 Undercoat for locker tops.(Hempel Primer)

£20.88 Head Gasket for 2.2 outboard. (still needs an impeller)

£6.00 Assorted Stainless screws. (for cam cleats, etc.)

£17.75 Barton Cam Cleat.

£7.70 Second (and hopefully current) Mooring Buoy.

£2.99 Polyprop rope to secure Mooring Buoy.

£4.99 Set of 4 Nautical themed mugs.

And they were my last purchase for the boat.

£570.41 is the Total Expenditure on the Boat for this Year. (£47.54 per month)

Which isn't bad as it corresponds quite well with last year's £556. Considering the amount of  Paint and related painting kit I've bought this year, it surprised me that the yearly costs were so close.

One of the stand-out features of this year has been the lack of time spent on the boat. This time partly to do with the weather (which still didn't deliver a long enough spell of settled sunny weather to do any planning ), the other part to do with other commitments: Birthdays, weddings, holidays and the like.

The plan to grab odd days or half days on the boat worked reasonably well. So that will probably stay as a theme for 2017. I neglected Sprite a bit last year, not really following through with jobs like the antifoul and the port side locker top. Hopefully I can muster the gumption to get these done this year. From the amount of time it took last year, I'd say I need a long weekend when the tides are right to clean the hull and get it painted.

I learned in 2016 that a sailing boat needs a clean hull to perform well. I also came to the conclusion that I really do need to do longer sails than just up and down the harbour. But to do that I need to be able to plan a couple of consecutive days of mild weather. The only decent periods of weather we had in 2016 I was either in France or at my stepdaughter's wedding.

I also learned that Sprite's rigging can take a bit more stress than I thought, having sailed down Langstone Harbour with Sprite on it's scuppers, although at the start the weather helm was horrendous. Trimming the sails for less weather helm is another lesson learnt. :-) In my case, ease the main as the wind picks up.

In 2017 I'm visiting family in April so if things continue that may be the best weather period of the year for everyone else out there. Mark your diaries.:-)