Small Sail

Had a small sail around Langstone yesterday. Just went out and came back, no real time to take pictures, mainly due to the dinghy sailors racing around the harbour.

Pains in the arse that they were, criss-crossing the deep water channel and generally getting in the way. Me and another yacht had you slow down and speed up as they kept crossing the channel. The chap in the other yacht was nice, he mentioned he'd had a Seawych in the past. I jut shouted across I wish Sprite would sail a bit better.

But then the weed is growing back on the hull again, so Sprite's tacking ability is badly affected. As I found out when I started back down the harbour against the wind. Once up to speed she was ok, but slowed abruptly when tacking across the wind.

The past couple of days I've noticed the window rubbers are in a desperate sate, so they need attention before the worst of the winter weather sets in. the rear windows are pretty crazed and cracked, so the perspex needs replacement at the same time as the rubbers.

It's looking more and more likely that at some point I'm going to have to pull Sprite out of the water for a period of time. Something I'm not looking forward to. It either involves expense in putting her ashore in a yard, or vulnerability putting her ashore on the beach.

The house move during September is going to get in the way, so I'll get that out  of the way and then start to plan the shore time. By then I'll know how much storage space there is at the new house to hold all the parts I take off Sprite for safe keeping if I leave her on the beach for a few days.

Sneaky Half Day..

....off work today.

Didn't do any sailing, just installed the clipper log properly on the instrument flap:

The hole making was made easy by the DIY 12v drill again, plus thanks to the larger leisure battery, I had a good hour of drilling with no drop in power. Lots of small holes drilled and then linked up to make the big hole to accommodate the back of the log unit.

Once done, I had my lunch and chilled, watching the boats entering and leaving the harbour and the people on the shore.

A nice afternoon and a refreshing change from the rush at work.

Finally....

Some fair weather and spare time today so off to the boat to soothe the withdrawl symptoms.

Just a potter round the harbour, although I also tried out my new eBay bargain:

Yes, Sprite 2 has a speedo, or will have once I cut out the hole for it in the instrument mounting flap.

I'm not sure the paddlewheel is the correct one, as the speeds seem to be a little off and it doesn't register any speed at all above 3 knots. So some more work required I guess.

But a bargain at £30.

This week I bagged another eBay bargain: a Seawych keel shoe for a fiver. Fantastic, because Sprite 2 is missing a keel shoe. So an odd one is just what I need.

Also earlier this week I watched HMS Queen Elizabeth come into Portsmouth harbour for the first time. I wasn't one of the flotilla of small boats trailing behind her, but before going to work me and the Mrs watched her come in from the seafront.

So although I may not have been actually sailing, I have been busy. Last weekend I was up North visiting my Parents and my daughter who's studying at Salford Uni.

The next month or so may be sparse for sailing stuff too, we're moving house. The landlady has decided to sell... just after we spent a fortune decorating too. The perils of private renting I guess.

We're downsizing as part of the move, so no garage. That's got to be cleared, including a spare jib furling setup that I got back in 2012 when I was boat-hunting. It was another eBay bargain that was too good to miss and I suspected I might not get a boat with a working furling system or one at all, so I bagged it. I'll stick it on eBay in the next week or so along with my old, dead motorbike.

Lots to do... none of it sailing unfortunately.