Sandbar swim

 

I was planning a sail down at Swan Bay with Mike and Khiem down from Sydney for today, 31 December, but it was clear from the forecast it would be too hot for us older geezers, so that has been postponed.  I was going to rest up and get organised for the Swan Bay expedition, but cancellation freed the day up, so I got the Skerry out. Anne wanted a swim, and wanted to come out for a sail. Andrew was down with his laser and took this photo of us getting ready to set out. Which was just as well as I had all my cameras and gps in a lovely new canvas bag Jess gave me for Christmas, but managed to leave the bag sitting on the floor at home.

It was Anne's first sail in the Skerry, and given less flexible knees, it took us a while to find a workable crew distribution. Starboard tack was a bit problematic with Anne sitting to the rear - next time I will get her to sit amidships. Or build some side sears for that forward section. But Port tack was fine. We sailed over to the little sandbar which has appeared behind Wise's reef, and anchored using the little grapnel, with about a foot of water beneath the boat. Anne went for a swim, I experimented with some bits of ply between the side seats. I can lie down and the boat felt quite stable. I think I can camp in it. Next step, work out how to rig a fly sheet. I think I need a pole at the stern, which may require some modifications.

When we got going again, I sailed Anne over to Flemmos beach so she had a shorter walk home. I dropped sail and rowed in,  which was a bit of a circus. I should just have sailed as I can see better where I am going. A chap on the beach was very envious of the Skerry. After depositing Anne I rowed out a way, raised sail, and continued over towards Point Cook for a while, before turning for a great reach back to the red stick and home. 

I think that is the sort of sailing that I really enjoy. I like solo stuffing around sailing. John Welsford in his happy new year post invited his readers to think about what they want to achieve in the coming year and what they will do to make that happen. My aspirations are pretty modest: I would like to do lots more solo stuffing round sailing, and get around the bay with a few overnights. 

My performance for 2021: I got out on the water 62 times, launched Kirsty Anne 21 times, Derry 28 times (not bad as first launch was 5 July), the Sabre and Mirror both sold now accounted for 10 launches, and I sailed with other people 3 times. Given all the lockdown restrictions that's not too bad, but I hope to have a better record in the log book for 2022.

Four go to Williamstown

 

Peter who built my Core Sound rang and suggested a sail on the 29th. On the day, four boats launched, Peter and Kirsty in their newly built Lapwing, Andrew in Mars, Gerard in his ts14, and Jim came along with me and Oz in the  Core Sound. A lovely not too hot day with a steady southerly breeze. We sailed round into Williamstown and back. Gerard needed to be back by 2 to take Jennie to a medical appointment. 

It was a very nice sail.  We were hooting back on a broad reach, going 5+ knots, when Sandra came whizzing past in her Sabre,looking like she was going 8 knots. She has some fancy glasses that can take 30 second video clips.

It was a nice way to spend some of my 70th birthday.

The sleeping crew

 

When she sees us setting up down at the beach, Lena who minds Ozzie for us sometimes, has been keen to get her son Connor to come out for a sail with me. Poor lad got marched down at 8.30 on the 22nd and shipped aboard as crew. It was a steady southerly, nice and steady, quite the sort of sailing I like. But I think not that interesting for a teenager.  I put him on the helm but he handed that over pretty quickly. We sailed over past T28, and luckily the seal was home. On the way back, the crew retired to the shelter of the dodger and went to sleep for most of the rest of the trip.  I don't think that my sort of sailing is all that engaging for that age group.

Coming back into Altona we met Mark coming out in his brother's Dolphin, a lovely open sailing boat. I dropped Connor off, then went out again for a sail around with Mark.  

2 big questions

 

Gerard was itching to try out his Hartley ts14, Jim and Penny wanted to get out for a pre Christmas sail, I had my Pfizer booster shot appointment at 9. I arranged to meet them at Werribee South ramp round 10. Jim and Penny brought their Drascombe.  It was a bit of a grey windy day but we got out inthe chop. The two boats were fairly similar in speed. Gerard is still sorting the rigging on the Hartley, and his furling gear got into a right tangle. Once we sorted that, I managed to rip the vang attachment off the mast. Either I don't know my own strength, or those rivets were just not up to it. 

We sailed round for a while, almost to Wedge Point, then hove to for lunch. Heaving to in the Hartley was a fairly bumpy experience, but fun, sort of like being cast away, watching the waves come rolling by. We got going again, ran Bach to the river mouth, dropped sail and motored in without incident.Along the way, we discussed some of dinghy cruising big questions.

 

To the island

 After Monday's rather sketchy sail, Andrew was keen n to get out again with his new Laser sail. Jamie with his Mirror wanted to get out too, and Paul and Sanddra both launched their Sabres. It was a beautiful morning for it.

The Sabres and the Laser are way faster in the light airs and quickly vanished over the horizon. The Mirror and the Skerry much more even in pace. Jamie and I sailed to the mouth of Kororoit Creek. The tide was rising, but there was a little sandbar island there. We stopped and had a cup of tea. While we were there, the wind picked up bit, and getting off the lee shore in the Skerry was interesting. I nearly collected a few obstacles, but we got away ok eventually. It was a nice sail, but I wonder what the future of sailing with the faster boats is.

House quest

 Anne has wanted a serious dollshouse for ages, and a promising one came up on Gumtree. Not completed, lots of bits and pieces. Older couple, wanting the house to go to a good home.  The only downside, they live in the Southern Highlands NSW. After some fruitless attempts to arrange a courier, I drove up Wednesday, loaded up,  stayed with them overnight (a story in its own right) collected the house and bits, and drove back down Thursday. I listened to Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, all the episodes on the English civil war, which really helped the kilometres pass. Now we have another project.  Maggie seems to approve. She can't wait till it is filled with small delicate objects that she can knock over.

Sheetless

 A hot, northwind gusty morning, not ideal for a sail but the only free slot. The forecast not too bad. I met Andrew down at AYC, and we rigged up with flapping sails and a bit out of practice. I put in the reef.  Andrew trying out a new sail, and forgot battens. We sorted that a launched. Oz I think quite enjoys sailing as long as he doesn't get cold and wet. I didn't set the lazy jacks up so well, maybe I neeed a clip on the boom for the front line.

It was gusting and we were scooting along, when I noticed Andrew was having some issues. He had lost his mainsheet and was drifting off towards Portarlington. The sail was out at about 40 degrees to his boat, well out of reach.

I sailed past him, tacked round and came whizzing past his leeward side on a broad reach. He is drifting down wind at a knot or two, I pass him up wind probably going 4 or 5. I did manage to grab the sheet, but of course with the momentum I couldn't hold it. Luckily it was enough for Andrew to grab it and get sorted.  

I helped him pull his boat out, and after he packed up, went for another sail, over to the gas pipe light at Kororoit Creek mouth. I was hitting 6 knots most of the way back. Wind at Laverton gusts to 23 knots. An eventful day. Heat really doesn't help set up. 

Port Fairy

 

The weather forecast was good for a few days, we had no commitments, and holiday season is yet to kick off so we packed the teardrop and headed down to Port Fairy for a quick break.

There are some great campsites along the river shaded by huge New Norfolk pines. It is a fortunate place, with the river and the beach. We had lots of pleasant walks. If someone offered me a swap with one of those houses I would be mighty tempted. 

I thought about taking Derry the Skerry, but the roof on the new Subaru is much higher than on the old one, and I realised that I need some better system to get the boat up there safely. I took the inflatable canoe instead, and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon exploring the Moyne River up to Belfast Lough. One sponsoon has a slow leak which required repumping every half hour or so. 

We came home early as the weather packed up. A good little trip though, a reminder of how good the teardrop can be.

Mallacoota Day 3 - rain and range anxiety

 The campers a few sites down had a big night Friday night. No music, but lots of grog and talking. By midnight I went down and asked them to quiten down. I thought one guy was going to have a go at me, but, surprisingly they did stop, and after I calmed down, I got a bit of sleep, awakening to a bright tent at 5.30.

It was raining.  After breakfast we rigged up and loaded the boat, then drove the trailer down to the ramp, then walked back and set off, about 7.30. I was keeping close in to the mooring piles, but a boat appeared coming the opposite way, so I moved out to give him room, and shortly ran aground. The Padook earned its keep. We wound up backing out, as I could see the water and the channel better over the stern. Poor Oz didn't think much of all this.

There was not much wind but enough to sail. I met up with the other WBA boats off Kabeethong jetty round 9. Jim and Norm had launched from there, a smart move skipping all the channel. Andrew in Mars caught us up. Andrew took this photo of us in the rain, ghosting towards the Narrows.

I had to use the Toqeedo in the Narrows, and when I got to top lake, the rest of the fleet had vanished. I tried beating across with a shifty wind mostly on the nose,but started to worry I was getting too far behind, so I fired up the Torqeedo again.

There is an interesting balance of factors that come into play with the Torqeedo.  The faster you go, the less distance.  Sailing into the wind, the CMG can often be about the equivalent of a knot made good in the direction you want to go.  With the Torqeedo, you can burble along about 2 knots and have a range of round 16 NM.  

Into the Genoa River, I met Jim and Penny and Chris coming down.  They had given up on Gypsy Point and were heading back to a jetty in Top lake for shore leave and lunch. I kept going, and met Andrew and Bob in Mars at Cape Horn.  Just as well I did go on, as they thought Jim and co were up river, and would have been waiting a long time for them to come down.  We rafted up, and Andrew provided a very welcome coffee from his thermos.   

Andrew offered a tow, which I declined, but in retrospect it might have been a good idea.  It was round 9 NM up to Cape Horn from Mallacoota, and my Torqeedo said I had about 7 NM left, at 2 knots, and well after 2 pm.  The WBA dinner in the pub was at 6.30, and I had to get back, get the boat on trailer, get back to campsite, unhook, and clean up.

I sailed and motor sailed as much as I could, and had a good sail across Bottom lake, in strengthening wind.  I ran aground on the Goodwin sands again, despite being well inside the line between markers. It was a good sail though,  something in me really likes that sort of thing.

The wind was blowing strongly right on the nose, and I had 1 NM of torqeedo left at the top of the channel.  I was doing ok, till I ran aground yet again a few hundred metres of the ramp.  I got off, managed to start up the Torqeedo, which now said I had less than 10 minutes.  If I had run out, I am not sure what I could have done, as the wind was right on the nose, and the channel too narrow to sail/.  But we got in, with 4 minutes battery life left. 

Oz had been on the boat for 8 hours, and as I was taking down the mast, he took off, through the campground and everyone cooking sausages.  It was a real mutiny, I was calling and running after him, but he looked over his shoulder and kept going. But I caught him, and we got the boat packed, and trailer back to campsite, and to the pub by 6.45.  

It was the Flathead Fishing competition at Mallacoota this weekend, and there was a group behind me that got right on the sauce that night.  I vaguely heard them, talking bullshit, when I got back to the tent, but I slept through whatever racket they made that night. 

Next morning, I got up at 5.30 again, packed up, hit the road about 8.30 and drove home.  It was a good trip all in all, but hard work.

Mallacoota Day 1

 No need for an alarm this morning.  The tent is bright when I wake up around 5.30.  Porridge and tea and coffee, and I am ready to go.  I drive the car and boat on the trailer down to the ramp.  It seems to take forever to get rigged as I have got the boat in long distance travel mode, with everything moveable taken off.   Eventually I get rigged and launch.  A local is interested in the boat and is ready for a yarn.  Eventually I get organized and cast off, running aground on the shallows within about 100 metres. But we get off that, and head off down the narrow channel past Rabbit Island, and out into Bottom Lake. 

Blue sky, tannin stained water, no wind.  The Torqeedo gets a good work out.  There are many largish aluminium fishing boats with very large outboard engines hurrying around.  I discover later that this weekend is the Flathead Fishing competition.

A light Northerly breeze picks up, and we work our way round Godwin Sands, a large shallow area in the middle of Bottom Lake. A bit of rowing to help us clear the markers.  As we get over towards Allan Head, the wind increases again, maybe 12 knots.  I flatten the camber in the sails as best I can, and hike out.

We tack our way round Allan Head.  There is a nice little jetty there.  A good opportunity for some boat handling practice.  I spend the next hour trying different strategies to get to the jetty.  The boat does go backwards if the mizzen is sheeted in and the main freed, but getting it to go where you want without it veering off and starting to sail again is beyond my current skill level. Eventually I give up, and resort to the old "head in and point up head to wind at the last moment" trick.  We tie off on the down wind side of the jetty, and leaving the sails up, Oz and I go for some shore leave. 

When we come back, the wind has shifted and strengthened, and the boat is pinned to the jetty. I put a reef in each sail. and with some difficulty push us off.  We barrel off back across the lake, clocking nearly 7 knots and mostly over 5 knots on a broad reach/run.   Heading back in a straight line from the most southerly marker towards John Bull, the light for the head of the channel to Mallacoota, we run aground.  Centreboard up, we free easily and get back into the channel. 

I got back down the channel quite late, and must have been tired.  I didn't think through the docking very well, and made a complete hash of it, thanks to strong wind and tide.  I wound up a few berths down, and hit the jetty quite hard. Ouch.  A nice camper, Ashley, made me a cup of tea, and I gathered my wits, took the sails down to reduce windage, got the engine properly organised, then reversed slowly back to my allotted spot. Which is what I should have done in the first place.  You live and you learn.

Good to be home

 There's a roaring Northerly this morning, gusting over 20 knots. My weather forecast predicted 12 knots.  I drove back from Mallacoota day before yesterday. I am glad to be home, not in a tent!

Oz was a real trooper on the trip. Here he is, after our first sailing day, on the Core Sound in our mooring, with our tent in the background. 

The lost train wheel of Atlantis

 

The water was super clear today. I spotted this artefact, in about 4 metres of water. It is a long way from the moorings area over where Mr Wise's boathouse was, but it probably is from some blokes boat mooring from long ago. 

It was one of those truly beautiful mornings. The ramp was busy, and I had a close encounter with some guy who suddenly backed in front of me at the jetty (just as well I had been practising reverse) but it was just lovely on the water.

Dolphin Day

 

I met Gerard with his new to him Hartley ts14 at Werribee South yesterday morning. Took us a while to get rigged and on the water - I have been spoiled by the Skerry and how quick and easy that is. It was a bit grey and blowy, which helped keep the number of fishing boats down. It was very quiet and relaxed at the ramp.

Once we motored out through the chop and put the sails up, the wind easedright off, and the sun came out. It was very pleasant pottering along at about two knots, parallel to the coast heading towards Little River, and we were almost asleep, when a dolphin surfaced right beside us with loud exhalation of breath. Made all three of us nearly jump out of our skins. I think it is the dolphin equivalent of playing "Boo!" He stayed with us for about three minutes swimming backwards and forwards under the boat and checking us out, before finding us too boring and heading off. 

So, I have had a close encounter with a seal and a dolphin on the Bay this week, a reminder that the Bay truly is a wilderness.

Sealed again

 

I was planning on having a slow Monday, and feeling a bit seedy, but there was a text from Andrew saying he would be launching at 10, so I stirred my stumps and got down there. 

I am very glad I did, it was a perfect Skerry sailing day, wind about 12 knots, steady, blue sky, and Mr Seal was home. 

Swinging the lead

 

Sunny Sunday in snapper season, and predictably the ramp is chockers. The overlow carpark has overflowed, cars and trailers everywhere. No launching for me today.

Instead I decided to try making a weight for a depth finder, a bit of copper pipe, bashed shut at one end, and filled with melted lead. My first try at smelting. It was all very exciting. I wore a mask, and stayed down wind, but I have had an odd metallic taste in my mouth since. I hope I am not lead poisoned.

I  attached the old haliyard line from the Sabre, and put a mark every metre up to 5 metres. Now, when anyone accuses me of swinging the lead, I won't be able to deny it.

Tempest

 A huge storm blew through in the early hours, bringing down trees and scattering rubbish. That's the challenge of cruising on Port Phillip, it is hard to get a series of decent sailing days in a row.

Two different days

 I got the Core Sound out yesterday, with Gerard as crew, and Ian along in Westy. There was almost no wnd. I believe my moving average for the outing was round 0.8 knots,but you would need to subtract the torqeedoing out and back at round 5 knots from that. It was very pleasant.

We rafted up for morning tea, still moving at about 0.6 of a knot, perhaps backwards.

It was a nice morning to be out. 

This morning, I arranged to meet Andrew with his laser and Paul with his Sabre. By contrast to the day before, the Northerly was gusting while we were setting up.  My boat blew over on its trolley while still on land. Andrew decided to stay on land, Paul launched but capsized in a few feet of water.

I got out in the Skerry with the reef in. It was an exhilarating rather wet ride. Nearby BOM Laverton weather station recorded 20 and 22 knots gusts while I was out. Good to know the Skerry can handle that.

 

After my troubles tacking in strong winds on Sunday, I did some research on how to get out irons on your desired tack.  The suggested method, push boom over to the side you want it to be on, point rudder towards it, worked a treat. 

It was not as relaxing as yesterday but still fun.

Lake sailing

 

It was the first WBA sailing day for ages on Sunday. The weather was not so great - 30 knot gusts at St Kilda - but parts of the lake are relatively sheltered and really nothing that bad can happen. Jim came out as ballast, and we had a few close encounters with the concrete wall on the far shore, after a fluffed tack, a hat overboard drill, a tiller overboard too, but all learning. I went out in Peter's Lapwing. I am glad I put sailtrack on the Core Sound, the rolling the sail round the mast reefing is definitely not something you would want to do on the water in a blow. Good fun though. 

Swell day

 

I arranged to meet Ian with Westy down  at the ramp yesterday.  It was a perfect spring morning, beautiful blue sky and light wind. Andrew from the WBA was down there with Mars. He took the photo above,for which I thank him. Andrew came out in his Laser too, but got cold I think.  The laser is not what you would call a comfortable boat. Ian tried raising his spinnaker, which sent him off on a down wind tangent towards the dog beach. 

It was very light airs, so I raised the staysail, and got it set on a broad reach, after a bit of faffing around. I am very glad to have a photo that shows how it sets, as it is hard to tell from on the boat.  After watching me fiddle round with the staysail for a while, Anne asked:"Do you ever, you know, just go sailing?"

I was also testing the outboard bracket box for the Torqeedo. It works very well indeed. Puttering in and out, quite a way, at 4 knots, I burned up 28% of the battery, so with care I could get about 4 return trips with it. It does make everything a bit more relaxing, as it is quiet and just goes, unlike the Honda which always adds a bit of suspense, and a lot more noise. Anne likes it a lot, and enjoyed our outing.

Coming back in, we saw a pod of at least 4 dolphins, quite close by. I wonder if they were investigating the torqeedo noise.  Coming into the jetty was pretty good too, a touch of reverse and we stopped right next to the cleat. 

All in all a great outing, but I was seriously stuffed last night, and I have been pretty useless today. I hope I have not got out of condition.

Mistakes and projects

 

Last year I made a terrific batch of marmalade from Seville oranges. For some unkown reason, I went and bought a pile of blood oranges this year. 

I've made the batch. It is a bit a case of bad news good news, the bad news is it doesn't taste or look so great, the good news is there is plenty of it. Oh well, I guess it is good vitamin c.

I got out for a great sail in the Skerry late last week and took some great footage. As I was uploading, a bit tired and distracted, a notice flashed past on the computer monitor something like "can't load profile" but I uploaded, deleted media from camera, viewed it all and was having a great time till I went to edit. No video editor available, so I rebooted, and all media files had vanished off to that big hard drive in the sky. Oh well. So no photos from last sail.

Last time I took the Core Sound out, I felt that the Torqeedo prop was too close to the surface of the water, and definitely too close to the rudder. After a huge amount of faffing around I have built a ply outboard extending/lowering bracket, basically a box with a bit that drops over the transom. I managed to make version 1 of this just a little too small to actually tighten the outboard clamps. Version two I tried to be clever and got in a huge mess with angles all over the place. Version 3 is hopefully large enough and strong enough. I plan to test tomorrow.

My other project is making a sort of spray dodger for the Skerry. Poor Oz doesn't like getting splashed and blown around. 

I am making a prototype with an old  blue tarp. I am sure there are plenty of mistakes in this project also, but I am not far enough advanced to have discovered them. If the prototype works, I will make a better one from canvas.

 

Northerlies

 

I got out Wednesday and Friday, basing my decision on BOM forecasts of 5-10 knot winds. Instead, we got gusts round 20 knots Wednesday and 17 on Friday. Northerlies tend to be very gusty here, and given to sudden shifts in direction, so concentration and attention are required. I tried out the reef on Wednesday, and full sail yesterday. Derry the Skerry handles very assuredly, it seems to have a lot more stability than a Sabre or Mirror. There is still a touch of weather helm - when the big gusts come through I was fighting the boat wanting to round up into the wind. But I am starting to learn as muscle memory how the sail needs to be setting, and sailing is becoming more instinctive. 

We sailed over to T28 to visit the seals. One was in residence swimming in the water nearby.  That sail along the coast is splendid. Only two hours on the water but I felt like I had been on voyage.

Neutral

 A light airs day with some sunshine, and Andrew was getting out,  so despite the Sunday crowds I got Derry in the water. We met Bjorn and Poppy down at the AYC ramp, which cheered Ozzie up - he likes a dash around with Poppy.

I think the sail is getting close to right.  I could tack ok, and there helm seemed pretty neutral.  It will be interesting to see how it goes with more wind. 

We had a few brief interludes of good pressure, and recorded a max of 5.1 knots, but our average for the outing was 2.2 knots.  Still, a lot easier than rowing, all that free energy!

Listless

 

I have a check list to make sure I don't forget anything when I launch the Skerry.  Why the heck don't I use it?  

On impulse today I decided to launch the Skerry, as the rain seemed to be holding off and the predicted winds were light.  I got down there, rigged the sails, talked to Ron, a member of the Port Phillip Dinghy Cruisers group who happened to be there, and discovered, at the last moment, that I had forgotten the tiller. And the side seats. 

I managed to make do sitting on the floor and steering with a rope tied to the rudder stock.  Turning to port was easy thanks to the leverage of the asymetrical rudder stock, but turning to starboard required a bit of force.  But we got along, about 5 miles, over to the jaw bone, back past the red stick, a bit of footling around tacking backwards and forwards.

I sent of photo of the Skerry under sail to Mik Storer at Really Simple Sails, who made the sail for the boat.  I mentioned that I was trying to dial out excess weather helm.  He suggested that it might be the gap at the throat of the sail.  I made some other adjustments, basically moved the whole sail back a bit, and today I had a slight lee helm.  A couple more sails and I can nail it I hope.

It was exceptionally nice just to be pottering along on the water today, even in the light rain that set in when I was coming back home.  I am coming to seriously love the Skerry.

The crew show their excitement

 It was a lovely sailing day yesterday. At last, with our 4 hour window, we could get the Core Sound out. The crew demonstrated their excitement.

I made a sort of wooden tiller extension, so I can steer better with the Torqeedo, and a wooden chock so I can tilt it up. At this rate I will have an all wooden Torqeedo soon.  It worked quite nicely. At about 3 knots, the gps on the throttle was telling me I had 19 miles range. It is lovely and quite, and none of the engine starting rigmerole of the outboard. It is a short shaft, which means i and passenger have to sit watch where we sit or the blade gets too close to the water surface.

Paul, Andrew and Sandra all got out too. It was nice to have some  other friendly boats about. Snapper season is upon us, and the ramp was busy and a bit stressy. I think I will be using Derry the Skerry a bit more for the next while. I was pretty rusty with the Core Sound - I forgot to put the centreboard down to start off with. It was only when I saw  how well Paul in the Sabre was pointing that I twigged. But I do love that boat. It has a bigger boat feel that I really like. It is nice to be able to walk around a bit, and let it take care of itself.

Weather helm

 

Light winds, 4 hours outside time, time for a sail. A bit more sunshine and a bit more water at the launch ramp would not have gone amiss. I cleated off the main and fixed the tiller, and Derry jogs along nicely, good for having morning tea. I can imagine making some long trips in this boat.

Paul and Sandra in their Sabres, and Andrew in his laser, all got out. They sail rings around me, literally, but I the sailing performance is improving. Though, from the photo Sandra took I can see I considerable weather helm. My research says the solution is to move the sail force forward, so that is next. Also, I will invest in a better cleating arrangement for the downhaul. It was good to get out though.

The WBA had its club night via zoom last night. The Williamstown St Ayles Skiff group gave a presentation. Like many small community groups they are struggling in these covidy times. It is such a nice idea, I hope they can find a sustainable path into the future.

Three in a row

 

It was another blue sky light winds morning, and my rudder repairs seemed to have worked ok. It looked like a perfect morming to test it out, so I loaded rudder, centreboard and sails and we set off down to the launch spot. While I was walking Oz, I realized I had forgotten the tiller. After his walk, we drove home, collected the tiller, and drove down to try again. As I was unloading, I realized i had forgotten the mast as well. At that point I decided that the universe was telling me I was too stupid to go sailing today, so we went for a row instead. 

Two nice ladies in sea kayaks caught up to us. They thought Oz was a good sea dog. The sea kayaks can move along a fair bit faster than I can in the Skerry. 

We rowed past the pier, then back home again. From Saturday we will be able to get out for four hours, which is much better, it will be worth rigging up the sails, and I will be able to get somewhere a bit different. And launch the core sound, yay.

In the afternoon I flipped the Skerry and sanded and painted some of the gouges on the bottom, and epoxied where a chunk had been taken off the wormshoe. I am not sure why the bottom seems to be incurring so much wear and tear. I might get some better rubber pads for the trailer and trolley runners. 

No more good sailing days for a while so I am glad I got out while I could.

 

Twoareen

 

Another lovely spring day. We got the Skerry out for a row, with Anne in forward station. I think she was a bit dubious  about it.

Oz was pretty relaxed about it all, old seadog that he is.

A pigeon took up residence on the seat in the sun in the garden this afternoon . We sowed some grass seed earlier, maybe he was too full to fly off.

On the roof

 Another light wind blue sky spring morning this morning. Anne had some medical appointments in the afternoon so Oz and I went for a one hour row. It was lovely. 

Later in the afternoon I tried putting the Skerry on the roof of the car using the loader.

It is a bit of a work out, but doable. Proof of concept successful, which means we can think of some boat and teardrop combo trips. But the trailer is so much quicker and far less effort and stress. I would need to be somewhere for a few days to make it a worthwhile return on effort.

Maggie was a huge help though.

While the boat was upside down I could see that I need to sand and repaint the bottom, as some of my rough launchings have left their mark. Lucky I have plenty of time to do the boat maintenance.

Father's day

 

Because of the lockdown, the kids couldn't come over. Anne made a memorably splendid dinner, which was some compensation.  

Free entertainment

 

A beautiful sunny early spring day today, with light winds, so I gave the Skerry's sail a try. It took me longer to get set up than I had managed in the driveway, and I was a bit disorganized. I forgot both hat and oars. 

I had the sail set too far back I think. I tried multiple times to sail out of the shallows but kept getting blown back onto the sandbar. It would have been good free entertainment for anyone watching from shore. Eventually I twigged, and adjusted the sail, and we had a lovely sail, tacking back and forth in the little bay there, for about 20 minutes. Frank saw me out there and sent the photo below. Just as well he didn't come along earlier.

A lovely day to be on the water and, as always, I learned a few things.